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I don’t ride my motorbike much anymore, I guess I just drive Thuy’s on the way home from work. Besides it’s a 6 min walk, and since I don’t really go anywhere, coupled with Saigon trips, I have gone for 3-4 weeks at a time without riding my bike.

Tonight, though, I got a good ride out of my bike, going all the way to Giang Vo to eat at a place called Hot Rock (117 Giang Vo) to have dinner with Jimmy. It’s a new joint, right next to Pepperoni’s, not sure when it came up, but there’s 2, one right across from the other. It’s a maybe-western style of place, definitely looks nice (for VN) for a restaurant. Food isn’t too bad, but even though they have LCD screens to monitor orders, they missed out on 3 of our items.

Sloppy.

But I’d try it again. Ended up being $11/person for Australian beef, a couple of beers, salad, garlic bread, chicken with tomato sauce, and pizza mini-bagels.

On the way home, stopped by Jimmy’s to play Ghost Squad for the Wii- an hr of fun, and that’s probably it for me for the next year.

The weather in Hanoi right is super cold. On the ride home, wind chill really kicks you in the butt. The air can get in anywhere when you’re riding, so not good to wear loose clothing. I wear a jacket, a shirt, and thermals (pants and shirt), but it’s definitely not enough. Did a wind chill factor test to see how cold it really was riding home. (see picture, click to estimate your own)

0 Degrees C.

32 Degrees F.

Freezing! And I don’t even have gloves for my hands, and they definitely feel the bite.

It’s super rainy right now too, will probably last all week. Nothing like 40 degree water hitting you in the face at 35 mph.

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Missing pictures from the trip with Thuy last weekend, will post those later. Watch me drive! (good thing Thuy didn’t faint from fear)

(updated: added video #2)

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“75% of road accidents occur at night” – Hanoi traffic safety pamphlet encouraging use of a helmet when on a motorbike.

I fell off my bike last night. I wasn’t on a long trip, I wasn’t on a busy road, but I had some drinks beforehand (though of course, I thought I was near completely sober).

Celebrated Jimmy’s 25th birthday at Highway 4 on Mai Hac De, only a few blocks away from my apartment, had a good amount to drink but had rested for the last hour or so. When I got on my bike, took off fast as I do whether I’m drunk or not because I am just that stupid, and as I was about to take a left, I saw another bike heading my way and for whatever reason, I panicked or did/felt something that made the bike fall out of my hands.

My bike is set up so the throttle and brake are together so I think my inebriated reaction time may have caused me to begin to accelerate but then I needed to brake, so I kind of did them at the same time, or one slightly after the other- anyway, I can’t really imagine it again, I just felt the backside of the bike fall out like it slipped on the road. The road wasn’t wet even though it had been raining. I had just bought a bottle of wine for home and that broke as my bike slammed into the road. Feeling a little embarrassed (other people were sitting around on the street watching even thought it was 11PM), and defiant in that –I am going to deny that alcohol had anything to do with this and blame it something else- way, I just got on my bike and got home. Of course, as I stood my bike back up, it fell the other way, and it’s even more scratched up now.

As for me, I feel like I just stood up while the bike fell under me and slammed the ground. I saw later I cut my leg a little bit, but definitely don’t remember being on the ground.

For that other guy, he just never stopped, just went on his way. This is true Hanoi style. Julie told me early on last year when she got her bike, she fell down on her bike when it was rainy, so she was sprawled out the street and no one checked if she was ok.

Then again, Aimee had the same type of problem when she had a stalled car off of Great America in Santa Clara (the Bay Area), so people are just people.

I admit myself, I am not the best at helping people out either.

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