I'm falling behind on these blogs, so I'm going quickly knock out the next few.
I started my morning with a ca phe den, or black Vietnamese iced coffee, at a cafe recommended by the hotel concierge. It was probably the best black iced coffee so far. I liked how they brought it out with the phin device. I might be adding the phin to my collection of coffee paraphernalia.
For lunch, I tried bun cha for the first time. I can't believe I haven't had this before. It's delicious. The restaurant had several floors. Each one had Japanese-style seating in which you had to take off your shoes before entering.
Following lunch, I wanted a dessert, so I visited the OG egg coffee spot, Cafe Giang. I was surprised by how cheap the coffee was for such a famous location. The coffee itself was unremarkable though. It tasted about the same as the others I've had in Vietnam so far.
My main excursion for the day was the Temple of Literature. The Temple of Literature is a temple built in 1070 dedicated to Confucius. It hosted academic examinations and acted as a university back in the day during the Ly Dynasty (Vietnamese dynasty of Chinese ancestry). The grounds of the temple offered a pleasant escape from the busy streets of Hanoi surrounding it.
In the evening, I attended a WOD at Crossfit Tay Ho. I enjoyed the cardio workout of running and rowing. Running at night on the streets of a foreign country with motorbikes and cars zooming past was an interesting experience.
Dinner consisted of pho from the first restaurant I ate at when I first arrived here in Hanoi, as well as a second meal of Chinese rice porridge with pork floss.
The meat floss reminded me of the beef jerky cans we used to get as teenagers and pretend we were dipping tobacco.