I live in a house with five stories. The first story is the kitchen, the dining room and the first floor bathroom. The second story has the cot where the security man sleeps and a TV and common use computer. The third floor has my room and a currently unused second room. The fourth floor includes my co-volunteer friend Thien's room and a second unused room. The fifth floor has a laundry machine and place for hanging up clothes as well as a balcony with a view of the "new" bridge. One note about Vietnam. They LOVE multicolored lights. The streets are lit up with green street lights along the river, the bridges look like a technicolor display show at night because they light up with lots of colors and the colors arc into different patterns. It's quite something to see.
We have a cook and housekeeper, Co Quyen, who keeps insisting that I need to eat all of the huge plates of food she serves me to make me "strong". I keep telling her that the only thing that will happen is that petite Erika will no longer be petite (and I am no petite by Asian standards)! We've finally come to an agreement about just how much I will eat and she now serves me on the smaller plates and I no longer feel like an oompa-loompa waiting to happen.
The food here is delicious. I eat a lot of rice and noodle dishes, often with tofu or another similar protein. To be easier, I eat some fish here and have tried cuddle fish (blech!), lobster, shrimp, many different kinds of ocean fish, clams (also blech!) and jelly fish (texture like gelatin and basically tasteless). One of my favorite dishes in My Quang, which is noodles and vegetables in broth. I also like ban kiep, which is a rice paper "pancake" with either meat or egg, green onions and spicy sauce. I usually have yogurt, bread and fruit for breakfast even though most Vietnamese have Pho (beef, noodles and vegetables in broth) or rice for breakfast. I LOVE the fruit here. Because Vietnam has a tropical climate, I have plenty of options for amazing fruits. I eat many mangoes, I love durian and jack fruit, even though they are very stinky in their whole form, watermelon, pineapple, lychees and several fruits I don't know the name of. I don't eat fish in the states, but I love Ca Ran Chua Ngot : a special main dish of quickly fried whole fish served with a delicate sweet and sour sauce touched lightly with chilies and onions, nuoc mam, vinegar, and sugar. The fish is caught right before it is served, so it's incredibly fresh. I frequently put hot sauce on my dishes, because it makes them so delicious! This site has a lot of info on Vietnamese food if you're interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_cuisine.
We have one big supermarket, Big C, which has four floors, including a theater on the fourth floor. Several other volunteers and I saw Ironman 2 there last night for 40,000 (about $2). A far cry from what you pay in the states! Most people buy food from Han Market or Dong Da market, which are huge, two story buildings with hundreds of little stalls. There is a section, at least 4,000 or 5,000 sq. ft. of just meat. Needless to say, I got out of there pretty quickly. Many people sell fruit at little stands on the street.
Another day in paradise!Photos are: From top right: 1) My very pink room; 2) the small kitchen (no oven, they don't have ovens in most kitchens); 3) Han River Bridge at night; 4) during fruit, not quite ripe (another month or so) 5) dragonfruit plants; 5) a fruit stand and small store; 6) delicious coconut 7) cloud formations at the ocean.
The food sounds abolutely wonderful. How lucky to have a cook and many advisors so you can explore the cuisine. When I travel logistics, uncertainty and cost usually limit what I eat. My friend Leena and I often have pho on our adventures through Chinatown and it is delicious even though we always get the simplest one because some of the meat additions are pretty adventurous for American tastes (not Fernando, of course). Love your blog!
ReplyDeleteYes, Erika, I'm finally getting around to catching up on your postings. Vietnam sounds absolutely fantastic and I'm so glad that you are happy there and enjoying the time of your life! Take notes on the food for me and how they prepare it and what utensils they use. I should have been a food anthropologist. Or a botanist. Or a ...
ReplyDelete