Thanks to my enthusiasm, I bullied my friends into walking round most of Hanoi Old Quarters and Hoan Kiem Lake in search of Fanny's Ice-cream Parlour. The ice-cream there is reputed to be reminiscent of Paris al-fresco Ice-cream Parlours - the closest to that in the East.

So I had to have my dragon-fruit split before agreeing to leave Hanoi. And after walking for miles (or kilo-met, as they say here), we still couldn't locate the shop. We settled for ice-cream in Kim Guy but not quite what I had in mind. Though the coffee ice-cream poached in black coffee was really quite tasty.

Surprisingly, Friendster saved the day. My old uni-mate, Guna, found me on Friendster the day before my trip to Hanoi. I didn't know before that he was based in Hanoi, so we had made plans to meet up for supper.

He brought all of us to Fanny and I had my dragon-fruit split.

Yeah! Thanks Guna, thanks Friendster, thank you everyone (Christine, Elsie, Lay King, Stephanie, Angela and Benny) for tolerating my quest for the perfect kem (ice-cream) in the East.

I truly appreciate it!