Hanoi- A popular Hanoi hangout is The Water Puppets Theatre-whichis basically a Punch & Judy in water.It is an ancient artof wooden puppets carved from water resistant fig tree timber.Modelled on villagers aswell as mythical creatures . With a support orchestra and folk doing the speaking parts it is quite brilliant. It is an old theatre- the stage being a square tank.Behind screens the troupe of puppeteer handlers stand waist deep inwater and creature the puppet movements using long sticks.All this is hidden to the audience and it just looks like a scene happening on top of the water.The puppeteers must train for 3 years .Because they spend hours waist deep in water they traditionally suffered from a host of water borne diseases- nowadays they were waders! The puppets are replaced every three months and are very bright and gaudy.A good evening show. There are some cool restaurants in Hanoi- every range of cuisine and style- so I Am mythodically going through the guide. First conquest was Brothers Cafe-A Buddhist temple which has been transformed into a restaurant.Excellent food-buffet style with sections of girls cooking up Pho Bo or Crab & pork soups or anything else off the long menu.Very zen and plan on going back for the dinner menu on Monday night. Yesterday went to Le Cyclo- which as you can probably guess has a load of cyclos as the table and chair set up.Food Ok but atmosphere better. Am off on the Ho Chi Minh Museum and Stilted house today (Mon 03)- Rain & thunder asunder last night - got a bit scared- hate the crackling and stuff- not sure of the architectural structures of some of these houses in Hanoi. Sunday night- was that only last night? My sense of timing and dates are completely up the gazooba. I went to The Opera House to see the Hanoi Philhamonic Orchestra.An absolute highlight for me. They played Mozart-Symphony 42 "Jupiter" in C major- also P. Tchaikovsky- 5 things from Swan Lake,3 from Sleeping beauty and 3 from Nutcracker- at this point I had tears welling in my eyes -it ws so beautiful particularly the "Couple Dance". I must make a point of going to classical evenings when I get back as I get so much joy from them. My cyclo awaits so off I toddle.