'Beautifully written and very funny, the perfect combination of Hanoi, sexual taboo and gender politics.' Emily Maguire (Bestselling Australian author)'Original and quirky, a warm-hearted and very funny tale of noodles, sexual longing and cultural misunderstanding in the new Vietnam' Mark Dapin (Journalist, columnist and author) Sydney-based musician Carolyn Shine moves to Hanoi virtually on a whim, expecting to find romance and available culture. She's in for some big surprises. Funny, warm and engaging, her travel memoir introduces us to a cast of memorable Vietnamese characters as well as her fellow foreigners searching for love and adventure. From teaching English, sub-editing a propaganda news sheet, to forming a blues band, against the backdrop of a world seemingly alive with the promise of romance, this is a beguiling evocation of Hanoi and its people: pungent, earthy and sensual.

‘Beautifully written and very funny, the perfect combination of Hanoi, sexual taboo and gender politics.’ Emily Maguire (Bestselling Australian author)'Original and quirky, a warm-hearted and very funny tale of noodles, sexual longing and cultural misunderstanding in the new Vietnam' Mark Dapin (Journalist, columnist and author)Sydney-based musician Carolyn Shine moves to Hanoi virtually on a whim, expecting to find romance and available culture. She’s in for some big surprises.Funny, warm and engaging, her travel memoir introduces us to a cast of memorable Vietnamese characters as well as her fellow foreigners searching for love and adventure. From teaching English, sub-editing a propaganda news sheet, to forming a blues band, against the backdrop of a world seemingly alive with the promise of romance, this is a beguiling evocation of Hanoi and its people: pungent, earthy and sensual.