Living in Hanoi with a Toddler: First Impressions

Arriving in Hanoi with a Toddler

This post will be a little taste about our first impressions of living in Hanoi with a toddler.

We arrived in Hanoi on December 30 at 11 pm, and made it to our apartment, unpacked a few things and finally tried to settle in and go to bed. Of course, with a toddler, a new place is always exciting no matter how exhausted you are so it took a couple of choices on where to sleep to finally get her situated. We slept about 5 hours and we were up before the sun, thanks to jetlag.

Matt was eager to get out and use his Vietnamese language skills, but we waited until breakfast opened up in the restaurant on the ground floor of our apartment building and ate a hearty breakfast. The foods were made up of a mix of buffet-style western and local cuisine, with made to order specialties as well. The family that welcomed us and served as our sponsor to Hanoi left us some food items for our arrival so we weren’t totally without food. After breakfast, we checked the amenities of our apartment building—the gym, pool, outdoor playground, and indoor playroom.

Then, Matt was itching to get out of the building and hit the town. So, he took Lily in her stroller for a walk around the area and to the nearby lake while I tried to rest and unpack a little more. Our apartment is a little bit of a comfort zone and once you step out of the grounds you are in the midst of Vietnamese culture. No matter where I live in the world, I need some time to slowly adjust to a new culture and dip my toe in very slowly. Matt is the opposite. . . .

Views from our apartment

The days that followed included Matt going out to the local store to get food and little items we needed—a bed topper, diapers, and more pillows. Most of the items in our apartment are on loan so we wanted to get some items of our own for later. We also went out to a few Western-style restaurants as well as ordered food for delivery. As it turns out, restaurant food delivery is quick, convenient, and affordable in Hanoi, so this might be a recurring necessity.

I also did a trial run with a nanny/housekeeper, which didn’t work out because she didn’t speak English and I needed to communicate more with her on what I like or dislike without Matt being around to translate. Instead, I hired a cook to make dinners and enough for lunch the next day, so far so good! She has made Vietnamese dishes, spaghetti, lasagna, and chicken nuggets for Lily. Hiring extra help is very affordable in Vietnam—so why not?!

Lasagna and salad prepared by my help

Pho made by my help

Since being here, we have noticed our apartment complex is half hotel and half residences, so people are always coming and going. I take Lily to the toddler playroom every day to help get her energy out and to socialize her with other kids. At the playroom, I’ve met a few other English-speaking moms with kids, and there are a lot of Japanese moms with their children who frequent the playroom too. Every so often, nannies with young children are there as well, so you never know who you will be sharing the playroom with. The people who live here is a diverse population among foreigners working in Vietnam, which is nice to meet other people in the same boat you are in but from another country. This can make living in Hanoi with a toddler much more manageable. But, I’ve yet to meet any Americans in our building—we might be the only ones!

Lily in the playroom of our apartment

A day or so later, Matt showed me the local grocery store to get most items (including pancake mix and goldfish—a must-have for my toddler).

Then, a little bit of culture shock set as we walked to the store. Motorbikes are everywhere, as they are the primary means of getting around Hanoi. Thankfully for us, Uber is a very popular alternative (since we didn’t ship our car) and incredibly affordable! You simply use the same Uber app as in the States and plug in where you want to go and poof, a driver will pick you up and take you to your destination! Before now, I only thought Uber was in America, but we were pleasantly surprised to know it is a popular means of transportation here in Vietnam, plus it’s cheap!

My first experience alone in an Uber without Matt took place on the first day he had to in-process at the embassy. Family members are encouraged to attend to get information on living in Hanoi, so Lily and I attended with Matt. We made it through the medical brief and went to meet with the Community Liaison Office and Lily had a breakdown, she did not want to sit or be without her dad (she is daddy’s girl after all). She was just screaming in the embassy like a maniac. I was so embarrassed, so I had Matt set me up with an Uber on my phone. As I get in the Uber, to my surprise, Lily calms down and just asks for her dad once. Can you imagine being driven around by a stranger in Hanoi with a toddler screaming at the top of her lungs? Luckily, I dodged that bullet. Anyway, I had not yet set up the Uber account fully and it defaulted to a cash payment, which I did not know until I arrived and the driver asked me for money. Which of course I had none. I tried to communicate with him and ask to pay by credit card, but it was too late for the app to switch payment. With panic on my face, the bell-hop who opened my door told me where the nearest ATM was but he told me to talk to the apartment reception desk to borrow money. Thankfully that worked! Now I am embarrassed to show my face at the embassy and the front reception! Good news is Ubers are so cheap, usually between $1–7 per ride (anywhere in Hanoi), so as long as you can sometimes wait a bit for the Uber to come, it’s worth the price. Otherwise, taxis and another ride-sharing app “Grab” can be easily used as well.

Aside from Uber, getting around in Hanoi with a toddler is not what I expected. There are hardly any sidewalks and when there are sidewalks they are usually not pleasant to walk on so pushing a child in a stroller in the streets or on broken pavement is dangerous and frustrating. The number of cars, bikes, and scooters on the road make for quite a hectic outing when walking, while the fumes and constant horn-honking can be a lot for a little one to endure, so we try to take an Uber as much as possible.

Since receiving our Unaccompanied Baggage (600 pounds of our household items) from the U.S., we tried using our LILLEbaby carrier to attach Lily to Matt’s back and carry her along the street. Lily was excited since it was something new and off we went down the busy street with Lily on Matt’s back. We walked to a Spanish-style Tapas before heading back home. On our way back—walking on the side of the road at night—with Matt in front of me, I see a motorbike come really close to us and I yelled out an obscenity (a bad habit of mine when taken by surprise), while the guy on the motorbike yells “Sorry, sorry!” I was freaked out and asked Matt what the motorbike driver was doing to which Matt informed me that he was on his phone. I think I will stick with the Uber transportation when going out with Lily!

Lily with some of her toys that came in our shipment

Matt carrying Lily to dinner in the carrier

Speaking of the amount of traffic and fumes, the pollution here is terrible! The embassy gave us three air purifiers and three dehumidifiers to use within our home in order to keep the air clean and not humid. We live on the sixth floor with a gorgeous view of the lake, but when the pollution and weather mixture is so thick, you can’t even see across the lake to the other buildings. The first three days of being in Hanoi I had a headache, felt nauseous, and was dizzy, all thanks to the change of air quality. Over time, I’ve gotten used to it I suppose, but our first trip outside of Hanoi is coming up I am looking forward to some fresh air! Speaking of weather, early January here has been pretty mild, but jumping from temperatures in the 50s–70s. We moved here at a great time as the U.S. has been covered in snow and ongoing freezing temps, even in Tallahassee, Florida! We are thankful that we have mild weather because maneuvering around Hanoi with a toddler in big puffy jackets, hats, and gloves do not sound appealing.

Some other things I have experienced while living in Hanoi with a toddler is that there are a lot of child-friendly activities. I went to an international school with a friend and her toddler as they host weekly playgroup for kids Lily’s age. She enjoyed meeting new friends and playing with different toys, painting, singing and playing on their playground. She enjoyed it so much she was very upset when we left! There are also a lot of coffee shops that have play areas for kids while the parents enjoy their own little treat, which makes for a nice outing when needing some caffeine or sweets from the bakery. We have also taken Lily to a little area downtown where they close off the street on the weekend and allow kids to drive motorized cars, in our case Matt was the driver of Lily’s car. There are also inside gyms, swim lessons, and playgrounds for keeping active in Hanoi with a toddler.

We are excited to continue to travel around the city we will call home for the next 10 months and plan to share it all with you!

Lily driving her own car!

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