Dining at Aeon Mall

This is a huge, recent, top-of-the-shelf mall in Hải Phòng. Had I been teleported inside, apart from the ads in Vietnamese, I would have thought I was in Singapore. Very clean. The mask is mandatory everywhere inside and the hawkish private security will remind you as soon as you get up after your drink.

Parking Entrance

It looks like we are entering an airport:

Main difference, not that many people would ride a scooter to the airport.

Inside

A lot of Western brands and restaurants.

Rice Cooker

We needed one. Here is roughly 25% of the available choice of rice cookers. Welcome to Asia.

However having tried it already, I can confirm that rice cooked with a high-end rice cooker does taste better. The above model, not even the most expensive, was around 800.- CHF.

Japanese Creativity

They are famous for their awkward inventions. Here is a toilet seat-shaped candy:

Because this would not enough, you are supposed to mix the candy with water and then scoop or drink from the bowl:

Yes, of course I bought it and the kids loved it. I did not try though.

Dinner

We met a friend in a fish restaurant. At first they stir-fry fish and vegetables on the table and later they bring a fondue.

We ate all of that with rice noodles:

There were two sauces:

• the usual fish sauce with chili, lime juice and pressed garlic
• or the special one, not for the faint of heart : Mam Tom, in the bottom-right corner below, which is made with fermented shrimps. Although the smell is strong, it tastes good with fish or fried tofu.