Hanoi with tiny tots

So far in the three months we've been away we have steered clear of cities but our visa run to Vietnam sees us in crazy Hanoi. The destination was chosen partly as it was the cheapest international flight on skyscanner out of Bangkok on the day our Thai visa expired but we were not expecting to enjoy it so much.
We've been to Southern Vietnam before but never up North. Of course The North is best (as ever!) Hanoi is a crazy place to be with kids. The streets don't feel very pedestrian friendly but they are great to explore with the kids on shoulders (ducking the electric wires every now and again). 
The motorbikes crowd the pavements of the old quarter leaving only the road to walk on and dodging the traffic and the burning BBQ s and hot fat burners at toddler level is fairly eventful. That said there is tonnes of stuff for the kids to do and we were staying close to the Hoan Kiem lake so the kids still had a place to stretch their legs and race off some energy.
So far we haven't bought anything from the many shops but it's very tempting to buy an extra suitcase and fill it with knockoff North Face gear and awesome paintings and guitars and electric goods and everything else abound. Perhaps it's because we've been on small islands with next to no goods for sale that has lead to our over excitement but a bit of retail therapy may be in order.
As for the kids they have thoroughly loved Hanoi. We've spent a rainy day at tiniworld an indoor soft play area that is brand new and filled with more than they can believe.
We've visited two playparks - one Thing Nhat (Lenin Park) even had two of the same climbing frames from our two favourite parks in London (see if you can recognise them from the pics). Granted they may not have been in pristine condition but they still did the job. The kids also joined in a dance group practising for the New Year celebrations and we visited the zoo.
The zoo was super busy but pretty good despite the dubious reviews from trip advisor. There were loads of rides including zorbing in the water which Jessy loved but the older Vietnamese girl in with her hated. It didn't seem to put Jess off the fact that the girl was crying, she carried on jumping and rolling around having loads of fun and eventually paddled it back to the shore when she'd had enough.
The kids were a  bit like another attraction to be photographed but they coped really well and the personalised balloons from the lovely receptionist, Kim, at the hotel helped!