TRAVELLIVE 09-2016
In a late afternoon in the early autumn, I’m standing at the balcony overlooking the playground of my apartment building. Children are excited to go outside after a heavy rain. Some boys are noisily fighting to catch a plastic ball. Under the shade of trees, my daughter and her friends are drawing strange images on the stone chairs with a pen of tree’s branch dripping with water. The space is noisy yet peaceful. Autumn comes and brings with it a lot of expectations such as milk flowers in every corner or green young rice for delicious dishes. Some people are complaining that their skin is getting drier despite cool weather. Children are eager to meet their friends after a long summer holiday, participate in outdoor activities on the weekend, or gather and make crazy things at one’s house while their parents are worried about their workload. Who will take care of the kids, take them to school, contact with teachers, help them with homework, and clean the messes they make? You see, whether or not autumn is wonderful depends on our mood. While reading this letter, perhaps, you are a bit busy preparing for a new business trip or getting tired of work. But spend a few minutes this autumn to take up some intriguing things, letting the autumn winds help you find out your own tranquility!
In a late afternoon in the early autumn, I’m standing at the balcony overlooking the playground of my apartment building. Children are excited to go outside after a heavy rain. Some boys are noisily fighting to catch a plastic ball. Under the shade of trees, my daughter and her friends are drawing strange images on the stone chairs with a pen of tree’s branch dripping with water.
The space is noisy yet peaceful.
Autumn comes and brings with it a lot of expectations such as milk flowers in every corner or green young rice for delicious dishes. Some people are complaining that their skin is getting drier despite cool weather. Children are eager to meet their friends after a long summer holiday, participate in outdoor activities on the weekend, or gather and make crazy things at one’s house while their parents are worried about their workload. Who will take care of the kids, take them to school, contact with teachers, help them with homework, and clean the messes they make?
You see, whether or not autumn is wonderful depends on our mood. While reading this letter, perhaps, you are a bit busy preparing for a new business trip or getting tired of work. But spend a few minutes this autumn to take up some intriguing things, letting the autumn winds help you find out your own tranquility!
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It felt so nostalgic as I walked into the<br />
foggy room filled with incense, touched<br />
the stained yellow walls, and looked at<br />
people waiting for every drop of the brown<br />
liquid from the ill-shaped filter. The clock<br />
reversed to bring back what once was ours:<br />
slow living. Slowing down let us savor life more.<br />
As a Saigonese, I got used to the fast speed of life<br />
in bustling coffee shops which were crowded with<br />
groups of friends talking, laughing and taking<br />
photos; hence, I was so surprised when the coffee<br />
house was so silent despite of being packed. There<br />
was something in the air that made us whisper.<br />
It was a tranquil yet strange experience, drinking<br />
coffee in an ancient house in Ha Noi.<br />
EGG COFFEE - RECIPE OF AUTUMN<br />
The most special drink of most long-standing<br />
cafäs in Ha Noi was, of course, egg-coffee. Egg<br />
coffee was a rich and creamy dairy-like concoction<br />
made by whipping egg yolk with condensed<br />
milk into an airy froth, then adding hot black<br />
coffee. Making egg coffee is pretty simple, but<br />
each barista has their own secret recipe to create<br />
their signatures: some added cacao powder,<br />
others honey, etc. I loved it most when it was<br />
hot. Instead of stirring up the cup, I appreciated<br />
a spoon with different layers: the strong dark<br />
traditional Vietnamese coffee topped with soft<br />
froth has the texture of a cappuccino, and the<br />
flavor of flan. The beverage tasted like a melody!<br />
It was hard to describe that feeling of egg’s sweet<br />
fragrance and the aroma of coffee lingering on<br />
the palate... The fragrance and taste, coupled with<br />
the atmosphere made the whole experience very<br />
Hanoian.<br />
At that moment, I thought I knew why old-time<br />
coffee houses like this one became one of the<br />
most popular features in Ha Noi, and still are to<br />
this day. Even though this coffee house was old,<br />
dark and plain, it carried a captivating tacit charm,<br />
which inveigled people who once walked in to<br />
keep coming again and again. The best days to<br />
go out for a cup of egg coffee are windy days in<br />
autumn and freezing days in winter. Eggs became<br />
more delicious and condensed on cold days,<br />
hence, egg foam is more cloudlike. It is like how<br />
cows’ milk in the highlands often stays richer and<br />
creates heavier whey as cows had to keep more fat<br />
and nutritions in colder weather.<br />
This autumn, have you found out your favourite<br />
place to come for a sip of egg-coffee?<br />
ü<br />
N•I ßÕ THôNG TH`C CAF– TR`NG<br />
C‡ ßIÕN ô HÄ NóI:<br />
Cafä Gi∂ng<br />
1<strong>09</strong> Yn PhÙ ho∆c 39 Nguy‘n H˜u Hu©n.<br />
ü<br />
Cafä ßinh<br />
13 ßinh Tin Hoµng.<br />
N•I ßÕ THôNG TH`C CAF– TR`NG<br />
C‡ ßIÕN ô TP.HCM:<br />
ü<br />
L≠u Gia Cafe<br />
8 Hoa CÛc, P.7, Q. PhÛ NhuÀn<br />
Välo De Piste<br />
ü 10 Pasteur, Q.1.<br />
YOU CAN ENJOY EGG COFFEE IN HANOI AT:<br />
ü<br />
ü<br />
Cafä Gi∂ng<br />
1<strong>09</strong> Yen Phu; or 39 Nguyen Huu Huan, Hanoi<br />
ü<br />
ü<br />
Cafä ßinh<br />
13 Dinh Tien Hoang, Hanoi<br />
SAVOR EGG COFFEE IN SAIGON AT:<br />
L≠u Gia Cafe<br />
8 Hoa Cuc, Ward. 7, Phu Nhuan, HCMC<br />
Välo De Piste<br />
(Heritage Coffee and Clothes)<br />
10 Pasteur, Nguyen Thai Binh, Dist.1, HCMC<br />
<strong>TRAVELLIVE</strong><br />
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