TNH

I had some lessons with Ryan. When i came to his place, he always invited me some snacks and drinks. when i was tired, he took me for a walk by the lake and taught me something like vocabularies which met the eyes. And believe me, it worked perfectly. He was also the one who taught me Viet Nam's history, yeah if i were you, i wouldn't believe that, either. He's not only an experienced teacher, but also a good friend. Sometimes we hanged out, and i hadn't believed i could talk and share with a person who was not a Vietnamese, but he encouraged me so i made it, and the optimism and cultures were the things i have learned from him. he even taught me how to play cards and it felt so good as i won a such a good player as him a few times.

Right now i have to finish final exams at school, but i will catch him up as soon as i could!

Went to a concert there yesterday and the other reviews put me off from not going for at least 6 months becuase of the "disruptions" in the audience. Well perhaps it was only half full but the audience was very well behaved and if there was talking the neighbours would shhush them.
I am not a classical fan and the music at times was a bit disjointed for my liking but it was a great experience and I really did enjoy it, it certainly gave me something else to do in Hanoi. I will go again.

I recently sent some documents on a Tuesday early afternoon express to Chicago and I was told it would be there before the end of Friday. Sure enough signed for and confirmed Friday afternoon.

Not cheap by any standard hover around the 1.8mill mark for 1.36kg, but lady at the counter helped and took care of everything else and it arrived on time. Can't complain about that.

I needed to send a faulty hard disk to Singapore for a warranty replacement.

FedEx's station in Thanh Xuan (they also have one at Noi Bai International Airport) was very close to my home, so I tried here first.

The guy at the counter helped through the various forms I had to fill out, loaned me glue and a thick marker to attach my mailing label to the box, and generally patiently guided me through the process.

He was able to find some packing material to pad out the box, and the box I had was larger than the hard disk and I didn't have as much padding on hand as I'd have liked.

The package arrived promptly at its destination and wasn't damaged to the point of being rejected. I assume it wasn't damaged at all, but can't say that for sure.

Only four stars because I paid about 50% more than the FedEx website's online estimator estimated (FedEx International Priority cost me about 1.5 million VND for about 1 kg to Singapore) and I don't know why.

I would definitely ship with them again, but I'll query the price if it is higher than estimated next time.

I went in with a few of the guys for a beer last night. The Russian beer was good, as always, served in cold mugs by friendly staff in a nice and relaxed bar atmosphere.
They don't serve food, just snacks, but allowed us to bring some food in from a nearby eatery. Very accommodating.
Will definitely return!

The locations is definitely one of the biggest problems for this place. Dark and surrounded by dirty neighbors. Inside wasn't half bad, but the selection of food was really limited in comparison to the many other personal hotpot restaurants around town.

The normal evening rate is 205,000 plus tax and it's definitely not worth it. I bought a couple discount vouchers for this location and it felt like it was worth the price I paid, but there are much better places to havea good personal hotpot.

I would recommend the manager here to go out and take a look around at some of the other joints around and learn from them. And definitely change locations as its only accessible if your coming in from the Giai phong side as there is a divder in the middle and you must do a big loop to go around the intersection of dai co viet, Lê duan and Giai phong to get there.

I decided to take Vietnamese lessons are listening to my friend communicate with staff at a karaoke bar who only spoke Vietnamese. It's the best decision I've made since moving to Hanoi.

The classes are convenient- my teacher comes to my house; the classes are well-organised-we work from a course book but the lessons are mainly speaking practice with some writing practice; my teacher is friendly and approachable- the lessons are set at my pace, which is something you don't get from group lessons.

I would highly recommend Viet Learning Group for learning Vietnamese. Learning the language will help you integrate with native speakers and will help you to truly involve yourself in Vietnamese culture.

Ryan is a friend as well as a teacher to his students.In the classroom, he looks grave and solemn but he is a man of sweet and soft temper. He sometimes appears rather old and sometimes young and bright but he is always, active and alert. He is like and respected by all who know him. When he finds any of his students lazy, he admonishes him, for he wants them all to do their work satisfactorily. He explains the lessons in much detail, and does his best to answer any questions possibly raised by his students. He is indeed a patient man; he continues to explain to his students the points that they do not understand until they are perfectly familiar with their lessons. He takes great trouble in correcting papers, and is very strict in giving marks. In the classroom, he always keeps the dignity of a teacher.
The greatest thing i learned from him though is knowing that i could do it; that i could write essays, have a voice, to believe in myself. MY last words is, in my side, Ryan, You are the best tutor ever!!!

Jenny.

I came to Miss Ly's because of the impressive rating here on the New Hanoian. I was in need of a third visa extension, and considering the drama I'd gone through for my second visa extension - dealing with "travel agents" who didn't really know anything - I was prepared for another bureaucratic nightmare. Miss Ly got it sorted out with one phone call. Then she set me up with a letter which will allow me to get a 3-month multiple entry visa when I return to Vietnam. Easy!

I later returned to book a Halong Bay tour. I got a great price - significantly lower than other agents were able to arrange. When we were nearing the end of our transaction, she excused herself from the office for reasons I didn't understand at the moment. She returned a minute or two later with a bag of fresh fruit that she gave me as a present for my continuing patronage of her first-rate shop.

Miss Ly's English is first-rate, which is yet another plus in the over-saturated tour booking business. Obscure problems are easy to fix with Miss Ly on your side. Don't bother going anywhere else!

This is such a refreshing place to go to. I've been there a few times now at different times of the day.

There cocktails are REAL cocktails...Damn, a whiskey sour made with lemon juice! A martini that is ice-cold? YES. Thank you.

As for the food: the hummus plate is something I had to order 2 plates of. I can't get enough. The 'grown-up' macaroni and cheese..? Well, I'd say something about it, but I'm afraid it'd be a cheesy one-liner.
For God's sake, order the ribs. Those ribs are to die for.

Then there was the breakfast...I've strolled in late on a Sunday and found that they have all-day breakfast on Sundays. Ordered eggs, roasted potatoes, bacon, sausage, roasted tomatoes, and toast. A bloody mary was in the works as well. Important note: vegemite and tabasco were on hand.

After it all, I ordered a latte. Thank you Commune for giving a damn about your coffee. The milk was textured and sweet and the espresso wasn't bitter.

WHAT ARE YOU COMMUNE? A cafe? A bar? A small restaurant? Whatever you are, don't stop. I need you in my life to balance out all the other places that 'fake the funk'.

I ate, I enjoyed the best view of West Lake, and I forgot about all the woes of my week. It was glorious.

Honestly, do yourself a favor and check it out. It has yet to disappoint my tastebuds once.

This place is full of awesomeness. The funky decor and retro cool paraphernalia really give the place a unique feel. Even the toilet is decked out well in retro.It really reminded me of my home town,Brighton ,England..made me feel at home. The roof terrace is a must for warm summer evenings and the drinks menu is pretty good. Its also not as expensive as other western bars - but I didnt try the food yet. Its easy to get to- just go down nguyen thai hoc and veer into the left street cao ba quat after chu van an.A must if your heading to BBQ Chicken street first for dinner! I re-rated this to 5 stars as they were playing Pavros stella (funky balkan)on the terrace then changed it back to 4 stars as I then remember they switched it to country and western after about an hour. disappointing.

I had 30 lessons with Hang and have learnt so much. Her lessons are friendly and professional, and she has been flexible to my needs. I am getting so much more out of Hanoi by having learnt Vietnamese. She has also been great at helping us with things like writing letters, bartering, and knowing the best things and places to eat. I highly recommend taking lessons with Hang.

I only wish there was an option of 0 Stars... I worked for this company some time ago and agree with the negative reviews. The management is a disorganised rabble! They offer little or no resources to their teachers, I spent a ton of my own money and time making flash cards etc as something as basic as having a working copier was too hard for them ( it was broken the whole time I was there), they would pull shift swaps and not even inform me so I would turn up to work for nothing... Then they fired me telling me the parents and Vietnamese teachers didnt feel my classes were necessary, which proved false as all the teachers I worked with came to me after and told me this wasn't the case. The truth was, they wanted me to sign a contract which required twice the work with a fraction of the pay. THEY ARE VERY VERY SUSPECT!

My family (especially my Dad) has enjoyed Ba Van's roasted peanuts for years. Highly recommended!

I have used Regency International for a few things over the past 6 months, for personal and business insurances. Nick’s service is great. He usually responds to emails within hours, sometimes minutes.

Nick is a straight shooter and gives you all the relevant information without wasting your time with a long winded sales pitch. He is aware that not everyone wants (or can afford) the top shelf insurance.

I have dealt with other insurance agents that want additional payment on top of their commission without providing a fraction of the service that Nick does.

Regency (and Nick) trumps them all.

I just had Toomtam over my place and he taught me some real good authenthic Thai cooking - tom yum soup, steamed fish with lime and chili sauce and thai prawn fried rice. It was a very enjoyable session and many tips and pointers were shared along the way. I now will never view Thai fish sauce the same way again and i'm sure one bottle of it would finish very quickly in my household from now on.
Toomtam's teaching made me realize that what i thought was difficult is actually really easy. And now, i don't really have to go out to a restaurant to get good authenthic Tom Yum because i can cook for my family ( and probably tastes even better ;))
Thanks Toomtam and to those who loves or thinking of learning to cook Thai food, Toomtam is the person you should go to.
Cheers!!

After trying the dreadful yoga and pilates classes at a Tay Ho gym, I realise how well trained and professional these teachers are. Being talked through the correct way to do various postures is really important to train up the correct muscles and avoid injuries and these guys really know their stuff.
There's a variety of teachers with different styles to choose from, so something to suit everyone. And the recent addition of classes in French, Vietnamese and Japanese for yoga is fantastic.
Now they have zumba classes, which are a lot of fun, and I can get my cardio exercise there too, I realise there's no need to join a gym at all.
Drop-in visit prices are a bit steep at 250K, but once you commit and buy 10 or 25 visit passes the price per class drops dramatically. You are also encouraged to bring your own mat, though you can hire them there.

A welcome addition to the clothing available in this area - beachy type clothing (though not swimwear) that I imagine will be very popular with teenagers here in Hanoi.
Some of the items I've seen in Made in Vietnam stores nearby but I like the owners taste so happy to pay a little bit more to go to a place where I don't have to go through piles of stuff to find one thing that fits or that I like. They have foreigner size shoes at good prices and best of all, Havaiana thongs (or flip flops as the Brits call them).

All around a nice setup and great location though while they clearly have a kitchen its not really much of a place to eat.

In general, the drink deals are average, the service is poor, and the western food items are rather overpriced considering the quality. And yet on the other hand, the food portions are large, the place is very nicely decorated, and its prime location make this a good option for meeting up after work.

After much consideration our group agreed that this is very much a 2.5 star kind of situation if you are looking for drinks and a bite, but if you just want some simple place on West Lake to grab a drink, then you are in for a treat