The heatwave, my birthday and Trang's last supper that really was lunch

This past weekend saw a heatwave of epic proportions roll into Hanoi, just in time for my birthday. Legs were bared and sweaters were taken off, sighs of relief were breathed and eyes were shielded against the sun. It was nothing but glorious, and even if by now temperatures have dropped by 10 degrees, it was awesome to have a birthday party without wearing our jackets indoors, to walk over to meet my friend Sophie for birthday brunch in flip flops and to eat eggs benedict and not have them be cold halway through because the restaurant does not have central heating. On a bit of a sad note, my fellow intern Trang is leaving Hanoi to return to Germany. For a last farewell meal, we all headed to this fancy restaurant where you can get an all-vegetarian set menu including "snail" (read: tofu) soup and desserts like sweet alcoholic rice and passion fruit créme. I wish I could go and eat there every week. Face-stuffing good times :)