After spending some time out in the cold trying to take photos of the sunrise at Ha Long Bay, I went back to my cabin to get ready for the day. By then Kristi was already up as well, and we went to the dining room afterwards to meet others for breakfast.

The breakfast for the day was a traditional Vietnamese dish, pho ga (chicken noodle soup). For many of the passengers, it was unusual to have noodle soup for breakfast, but in Vietnam they pretty much serve pho all day long, and some would have it for breakfast. Coming from Indonesia, Kristi and I were also used to having noodle dishes for breakfast. I guess it must be a Southeast Asian or Chinese thing.

Since we arrived in Vietnam few days before, we’ve been constantly moving that we had not had the chance to try out pho, the Vietnamese dish that is well-known and available everywhere. So here was our first pho in Vietnam during this trip. The serving was pretty small in comparison to the portion they serve in the US, but it was just about the right amount; it was filling without making me feel bloated. And after being out in the cold for the morning, having the warm soup dish was definitely perfect for the occasion.

You can see on the photo below my bowl of pho. It was not that big but quite packed with chicken meat, noodles, and some greens.