Socceroos coach Graham Arnold certainly knew what he was talking about when he said the surprise switch to Vietnam for the team's Asian Cup quarter-final clash against Japan would do the team the world of good.
In fact if the switch from Bangkok to this magnificent French colonial city has had the same impact on the morale and spirit of the Socceroos as it has had on yours truly and my curly-headed colleague then Australia is certain to beat Japan at the My Dinh National Stadium here on Saturday night.
Like just about every other Australian, Bren and I had expected the Socceroos to top their group, remain in Bangkok for their quarter-final and then hopefully move onto Malaysia for their semi-final and Jakarta for the final.
But thanks to the shock 3-1 loss to eventual group winners Iraq, the Socceroos only finished second in their group which meant travelling to Vietnam to tackle the winners of Group B (Japan) in Hanoi, where the Japanese have been based from the outset (lucky them).
When Arnold was quizzed about the advantages/disadvantages of this switch, following the 4-0 win over Thailand which enabled the Socceroos to qualify for the quarter-finals, he spoke positively saying a change in the routine would do the team the world of good - adding there was a danger of becoming stale by spending too long in the one place and the one hotel.
To this natural cynic it seemed like wishful thinking and it appeared as though the Aussies would be conceding Japan a huge advantage, considering they had played all three games in Hanoi while the Socceroos had not set foot in the place.
And considering the short-term hassle involved in getting here - considering Bren and I had no hotel bookings, flights or visas after having mistakenly presumed the Socceroos would top Group A and remain in Bangkok - when Arnold spoke about the benefits of switching to Hanoi his words seemed very hollow indeed.
Arnold even went on to say jokingly that one of the best parts of switching to Hanoi was that it would force 'you blokes' - meaning the travelling Aussie press contingent - to do some more travelling as well.
Well, Arnie I have to admit it you were spot on.
From leaving a city where you cannot even see the sky because of either freeways or sky trains over your head and where you seem to spend most of your day sitting in traffic - the Socceroos failure to win the group has instead led the team and in turn Bren and myself into surely what must be the most beautiful city in Asia.
And while Hanoi, as Bren pointed out in his blog is hardly a sleepy little town, it has a character and charm that a city like Bangkok will never have.
And thanks to the fact that nearly every person in this city drives a motorbike, the traffic at least constantly moves (unlike Bangkok) - even though the roads are extremely busy.
In fact one of our favourite pastimes here so far has been trying to see just how many people can fit onto the one motorbike.
So far the record is five, although we have seen numerous examples of three and four as well.
And as for the value in Hanoi - well where else could three people go out for dinner order a meal each and two beers each and have the combined bill come to just $A12.
And the best part of all is if Australia wins its quarter-final clash against Japan, the team will remain in Hanoi for its semi-final against either Saudi Arabia or Uzbekistan.
Maybe finishing second in the group was part of Arnie's plan all along.