Vietnam reminds public of hard times

HANOI: A bowl of noodle soup for breakfast was beyond the dreams of most people back in the days before Vietnam's economic reforms.

Once a month, my mother would take my three sisters and me to a noodle restaurant. We could only afford one small bowl each, with boiled rice we brought from home to make it more filling.

These memories pour back at an exhibit at Hanoi's Museum of Ethnology titled "Thoi Bao Cap" - the Subsidized Period.