Nha Trang

 A short and sweet break is always great especially when it means returning to my hometown to visit friends, family and eat amazing food. I never get tired of eating seafood and Nha Trang is famous for the stuff so it's the perfect place for me. Seafood is involved in most dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I have a kind of 'eating routine' when I go home. I start my morning with a bowl of fish noodles soup or Bún Bò Huế then drive to some random cafes to meet old friends. After that, I stop at a favorite place for a snack where they make crunchy rice crackers and steamed rice pancakes topped with stir fried spring onions and dried shrimps. I try to get some exercise in so I can eat more so I normally play tennis for a couple of hours at my old club. After that, I'm hungry again.

One of the other best things about going home is eating home cooked food, getting spoiled by my mum, my sisters and sister-in-law. I know there will always be lots of excellent food awaiting me. Sweet and sour fish broth, steamed squid, deep fried tuna with special dipping sauce (fish sauce, chilli, garlic, lime and sugar), salad and deep fried pork belly. I pretty much always have to have a nap when I eat at home. Normally I am encouraged to eat way too much. Nothing like the hospitality of home.

In the evenings, I catch up with my good friends for dinner. We go to the new part of the city for special seafood feasts;  barbequed prawn, squid and fish with salt and chilli, fresh jelly fish salad and steamed crabs.

And if that isn't enough, I always return to Hanoi with a polystyrene box full of snap frozen fish and squid which keeps me going until I'm in Nhatrang again

Tokyo

Five nights in Tokyo is not enough but I'm very happy with what I experienced. People are so friendly, things here are amazingly clean and people love to queue for hours just for popcorn which surprised me.

I stayed at a very convenient hotel located right next to the Hanzomon subway near the Imperial Palace grounds. From there, we travelled around Tokyo with three day passes for the entire metro , which is a phenomenal system. With loads of recommendations from friends and clients, I think I discovered Tokyo almost like a local.

We arrived on a Friday evening so the Japanese people were dressed up a bit different compared to week days. Over the weekend, it was amazing to see how many different styles being worn, especially in the Harajuku area. One of the best places to people watch that I've ever experienced. It was like sitting beside a fashion runway. It doesn't matter which direction that I looked there was always a surprise. 

I love Japanese food even more here as Japanese people are very careful with their food and also the way they decorate the food. Sometimes, it didn't feel right to eat it because it looked way to good to be eaten. There are way too many places around but I'd love to list some of my top favorites: Maisen, Jomon, Harayuku Gyoza Lou, Watamin-chi and Luke's lobster (bread roll)

I wouldn't have thought coffee is a big deal in Japan or that I would've able to get good coffee here at all. But I rolled my eyes many times because they do have so many great places serving amazing coffee from old-world Japanese style to modern style. I highly recommended: The Roastery, Omotesando Cafe, Chatei Hatou. 

Because of the incredible public transportation system, traveling around Tokyo is easy. We never got in a single taxi. Most of the signs around Tokyo are both in Japanese and English and people don't mind to walk with you for a couple hundred meters to show you where you should be. We experienced very generous hospitality from the locals during my stay. 

I went to several tourist spots after my stomach filled up with food just trying to see something amazing and burn some calories and make room for more. I would love to come back here to Tokyo for another week just to eat, drink and walk around. Arigatogozaimashita どうもありがとうございました and See you again: Mata o ai またお会い

Mui Ne

My two night-three day escape to Mui Ne right before Tet was great even though the bus trip to get there from Dalat wasn't as I expected. I thought I would be in a nice big bus with a very smooth journey but only 25 minutes after we started, the bus got a flat tire. Then the bus conductor put me in the last row with four young Chinese women who took nonstop selfies and chatted very loudly. It was hard to block it all out!

Anyhow, I arrived in Mui Ne and checked into the Cham Villas, a very pretty boutique resort, very private and quiet compared to the bus journey. 

I started my Mui Ne exploration by checking out the area and quickly realized it was pretty much similar to my hometown, Nha Trang which is also popular with Russian tourists and therefore caters very much to them. Even the local staff speak Russian. After I had lunch at the seafood restaurant nearby, I went back to the Cham Villas to swim at the hotel's beach and enjoy a couple of cocktails, very well made I must say!

Later I walked to the other end of the main street where all of the tourists go and all the street seafood restaurants are located. I picked live crabs and prawns to be barbecued and a small fish for sweet and sour fish broth. Way too full, I walked back to the hotel, keeping an eye out for a nice decent bar but I actually couldn't find one. I like to sit at a relatively quiet bar with not many tourists but most of them were packed with tourists. I decided to hang out at the hotel pool swimming again before heading to bed, ready for the next day when I would go with a local guide to see some of the sights.

My guide picked me up at 12 after my morning of relaxation at the beach, pool and a very nice lunch at a small local chicken restaurant. I ordered half a chicken barbecued with chili and another half boiled, eaten with salt, chilli and lime. It was my best meal in Mui Ne. 

I visited Mui Ne's famous Fairy Stream for a pleasant hour long walk in the shallow water with quite a lot of other tourists. Then I headed to a fishing village where fishermen were painting their boats, picking at mussels while their kids ran around. Life is so peaceful there and the people were very warm and openly friendly. They didn't mind that I took pictures while they were working. The last stop was the sand dunes, where I hired a guy with a three wheel buggy to drive up and around the area for a wander. He scared me so much when he sped up and down the hills very quickly. I thought I would roll a thousand times down hill and as I screamed the driver laughed out loud. 

I took it easy that evening and the next morning relaxed at the hotel and beach before heading back to Nha Trang for Tet. I would highly recommend the Cham Villas. It is a great little resort, with decent food and friendly staff. Hopefully I can come back again in the near future.

Dalat

I haven't been back to Dalat for more than 10 years so I decided to spend two nights there recently during the Tet holiday period. It probably wasn't enough time but because I traveled by myself, two days was enough that I didn't get bored with my own company. I didn't think Dalat had many types of food on offer but funny enough I spent most of my time trying heaps of them. Some snacks are interpretations from other cities but some are Dalat specialities.

I had lunch at a small family restaurant recommended by my taxi guy where they cook great Vietnamese food and food from Dalat. It was really good especially the local dishes; artichoke broth with pig trotters and BBQ deer with sesame seeds. After lunch, I walked a bit and had a coffee in a very small cafe where all the men came for a quick caffeine hit and to purchase tickets in both the normal lottery and the black lottery. It was a bit awkward but there were many funny and interesting conversations between those men and the lady who runs the black lottery business. In the afternoon I followed my friend's recommendation: avocado ice cream. I was really looking for it and it was super. The ice cream mixed with fresh smooth avocado went down so well that I can still taste the gorgeous flavor.

On the last day, I hired a taxi to visit Truc Lam Thien Vien pagoda. I walked around the beautiful pagoda then wandered around the lake. The view was very nice, the atmosphere peaceful except for the noise created by Chinese and Russian tourists. Anyhow, we went to Love Valley, a place decorated with over-the-top decorations, most of them were very truly ugly. Another interesting but ugly structure in Dalat is Hang Nga Villa, also known as the Crazy House. It is quite a fascinating construction but unfortunately full of tourists shouting and taking photos. I admit I was taking photos, too, but I did feel a bit stupid!!!!

My visit to Dalat was short and sweet and cool, by the way. Because it's located in the central highlands, Dalat has a climate that is not as cold as Hanoi but cold enough for me to have to buy a jacket. Keep that in mind if you ever visit. As for me, I wouldn't mind coming back here again for a short break but next time with a friend.

Côn Đảo

We took a very short escape for four nights to Côn Đảo for relaxation which we enjoyed very much. The surroundings are still pretty much wild jungle with beautiful pristine beaches. The locals are very charming and friendly. I love the way the main town is nicely planned with good tidy infrastructure (unlike Hanoi) which makes the town run very easily and smoothly. One main priority when I'm on the coast is finding good seafood. Not difficult on Con Dao.

We hired a motorbike for the whole time to discover the island ourselves instead of taking taxis or joining tour groups from the hotel. We found wild beautiful beaches around, great little coffee shops and also great local seafood restaurants. We kept going back the the same restaurant for the whole four days. Called Ớt (Chilli) Seafood Restaurant, it was serving a great selection of live fresh seafood from crabs, shrimps, Moreton Bay bugs to lobsters and fish. I love the simple cooking methods they suggested, either steamed or barbecued, but always tasty. They also cooked a very nice sweet and sour fish broth to eat with rice and also steamed veggies eaten with a special dipping sauce: Kho Quẹt.

After lunch each day, we headed to Góc Phố Cafe to enjoy their coffee. Sitting on high plastic chairs looking over the road without any traffic and the town's clock tower. Life is so easy, calm and peaceful in this town.

Food is always my first highlight and I'd like to mention my second highlight; the Six Senses Resort. We had such a fantastic time with good breakfast and dinner even though it was more expensive than what we normally pay. We really enjoyed the ocean view from our room, the infinity pool and private beach.

I'd come back here again and hopefully the place stays the same as it is now: charming, peaceful, friendly people and great seafood.

Nha Trang Dec 2014

A short and sweet break is always great especially when it's back to my hometown to visit friends, family and eat amazing food. I never get tired of eating seafood and Nha Trang is right on the coast and therefore offers plenty of options. Seafood is included in most dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I started my morning with a bowl of fish noodle soup or Bún Bò Huế then rode to some random cafes to meet old friends. After that, I stopped at my favorite place for a snack, where they make rice crackers and steamed rice pancakes topped with stir fried spring onions and tiny dried shrimp. It was so yummy. I had two hours break in between meals to play tennis at my old club where I used to play 13 years ago. It was fun to meet old friends at the club. We always laugh so much as tennis in Vietnam is completely different compared to western style tennis. Much louder. More like the atmosphere at a football match.

I followed tennis with lunch at home, prepared by my mother and sister in law. I know there's always lots of excellent food waiting for me. Dishes on this day were sweet and sour fish broth, steamed squid, deep fried tuna with special dipping sauce (fish sauce, chilli, garlic, lime and sugar), salad and deep fried pork belly. I'd never ever be able to finish this food even though I try. I was so stuffed that I couldn't breath. Thanks my family for the generous great spread of food.

The next day, I caught up with my good friends for dinner. We went to the new part of the city for a special seafood treat. We had way too much food to eat again. We ate BBQ prawns, BBQ squid and BBQ fish with salt and chilli and fresh jelly fish salad and steamed crabs. Surprisingly we finished them all then headed back to town for a drink at the Intercontinental hotel. It was a nice bar but unfortunately empty and drinks weren't the best!!!!

I spent more time over the next two days focused on eating and I tried all my favorite dishes in Nha Trang but I still didn't have enough time to eat Nem Nuong.

Good reason to come back in February for this dish.

Secret Garden Restaurant, Saigon

I like this restaurant pretty much for its location on the top floor of an old building right in District 1. Secret Garden has a very simple design for both inside and outside on the terrace but I prefer sitting outside where I can enjoy the breeze even though it was in a very hot day in Saigon when I visited in May. The open space idea is great with wooden tables and chairs and some colourful flowers around that made me feel like I was in the small garden.

The restaurant has short menus for both food and drink which is great as I don't like too many choices. I love the simple way they cook the food but without compromising on flavour and authentic Vietnamese style. My favourite dishes the day I visited were the stir fried beef with càng cua vegetables and the crab broth served with pickled baby eggplants. Another rustic idea was the serving of drinks in small bottles with lemon grass, a slice of lemon and ice.... a very refreshing look!

I'd love to come back to the Secret Garden again on my next visit to discover more of their delicious food and drinks menu.

The Secret Garden 
158 bis Pasteur, 
District 1
Ho Chi Minh City

Tuy Hoa - Phu Yen

Earlier this month, I spent two nights in Tuy Hoa, Phu Yen province in the centre of Vietnam. I joined a group of friends and their company, a group of over 200 people. It sounds not really fun with such a huge group but because they all work in the tourism industry, they do know how to balance between activity and relaxation. I just fell in with the group, wandering around the Vietstar resort eating, swimming and drinking the whole time. I joined a smaller group on an excursion to Gềnh Đá Dĩa, about 30 minutes away by bus. It was the place to observe the sunset where you sit on big flat rocks laying on each other like a stack of plates. On both sides of these rock formations there are nice beaches.

On my second day, I woke up early and went solo by taxi down to the town. About 15 minutes from the resort, the town has enough interest to occupy me for a whole morning. I have to say Phu Yen has changed so so much compared to the first time I was there 24 years ago. The good thing remaining is the quiet atmosphere of the city and its friendly people.

I went to Tan Binh Noodles at 121 Nguyen Trai Street for my breakfast, picking a southern style bowl, which was very much like the Nha Trang beef noodles of my home town. It was just a little bit sweeter but very tasty. The owner noticed me taking photos and he tried to re-arrange the table and told me: don't forget to put it on Facebook. It was so funny!

Walking down to the Tuy Hoa market, the biggest one in town, I wasn't that impressed at first look but as I walked toward to the back, I loved it. I love to see live and fresh produce from herbs to meat and seafood and I had no trouble spending about 2 hours there. The sellers were more than happy to talk to me and some even asked me to take their photos, which is very different to Hanoi. I had a lot of laughs with the vendors there. I bought lots of rice crackers from Tuy Hoa and also rice crackers with coconut, chili and sesame seeds from Binh Dinh which are renowned in the region. I was so excited to see them there.

Then I headed to an eatery serving roasted chicken in fish sauce. The Thien Huong restaurant at 211 Le Thanh Ton Street is Tuy Hoa's answer to KFC but very Vietnamese in style, served with fresh herbs, green tomatoes, cucumber and mayonnaise mixed with sweet chilli sauce. Open for lunch and dinner, it was packed with local people, which is always a good sign.

My last stop of the day was Cafe Tung at 69 Tan Da Street. According to the locals, this is one of the oldest coffee houses in town, considered to serve the best coffee. I ordered a black coffee which is unusual for me but it was very good. The coffee shop itself looked a bit tacky with the two parts of the shop very different in character; the entrance was red and modern with high tables while the other section was more relaxing with low chairs and tables with lots of plants around. I bought more than a kilogram of coffee back to Hanoi to drink at home.

It was a short and sweet visit but I'd like to go back again for a longer vacation when I can spend more time on the beach and discover more food.

Seoul

I have to admit that my travels really do revolve around food. Eating, drinking and taking photographs from place to place is my main idea of travel. Most of my friends think I'm crazy and obsessed but I can't really change it. A couple of months ago, I went to Seoul for a week, a period not enough to fully discover the fascinating, lively city. Of course, my itinerary was packed with great food places to seek out, from Korean-style to noodles and dumplings.

Although this is a bit predictable, my highlight was sitting around the grill plates with lots of locals drinking soju, beer and wheat rice wine, called makgeolli. Cooking lovely cuts of tender skirt meat, garlic and mushrooms and then wrapping it all in lettuce is a fun way to eat. On the side, of course, lots of kimchi and different sauces can be used to spice the food up a bit. I observed the locals to see how they eat and to learn local eating etiquette.

The noodles and dumplings in Kwang Jang market were so delicious that I went back twice. I wish I could speak a bit of Korean to learn the secrets of how she makes her hand-pulled noodles and kimchi and tofu filled dumplings so fresh. Lots of people had also recommended the fried mung bean cake, which is a specialty of the market. Served with white onion and soy sauce, they were great but you need to eat where they make it, fresh and hot. I enjoyed the vegetarian cakes better the coloured seafood stuff.

The third dish I liked was the deep fried chicken and deep fried green pepper stuffed with pork, all washed down with big tankards of beer. The drinking culture reminded me a lot of Vietnam, where we often have beer and rice wine on the table, except in Seoul it's beer and soju. One interesting drink we tried was called 'Sweet after Bitter', a big glass of beer containing two shot glasses, one with soju and one with coke! Of course, you have to drink it down in one go!

Topokki, a dish of sliced rice cake with fish cake and a rich sweet chili sauce was not on the top of my list as it was too spicy and too stodgy . I tried it twice and even after a solid evening of drinking, I didn't like it. But the street food tents all over the city have lots of other stuff to try, too.

Visiting market is another way to see the local culture and Seoul's best market is the Noryangjin Fish Market. I spent hours there taking photographs. What an amazing market with so many different types of fish and I loved the way they arrange their shops and also how they prepare the fresh seafood. It was fantastic experience and I don't think I could ever forget it.

Shopping in Seoul is also great with well-known brands and local products but they aren't cheap. I loved looking at the fashion-conscious young local people walking around shopping centres with cool glasses, fashionable clothes and bag fils of cosmetics. They are obsessed with cosmetics, especially skin whitening products. I've never seen so many cosmetic shops in my life. I wonder what they thought of my country-bumpkin tanned skin!

I'd love to go back to Seoul again for another week as I had a fabulous time there.

Hue

I like the central coast city of Hue and have been there many times over the years. After a four year gap, I recently visited this charming city again and definitely got my fill of Hue food. We enjoyed very much our stay with La Residence Hotel, fabulously located on the river and within easy walking distance of lots of great street foo

We walked along the Perfume River/ Sông Hương to have breakfast, starting with Bún Hến (clam noodles) and Cơm Hến (clam rice) at 2 Trương Định St. The vendors were pretty funny when it came to bill time. There was quite a long conversation before they decided to charge us 20,000VND - $1 per bowl. I have no problem at all with the price but I did realise that the Hue locals were only charged half what we payed. I said I'm Vietnamese too, you know :). I suggested to her that if she was poor, she should ask me and other people, they probably wouldn't mind donating or loaning her some but cheating is not a good way to do busines

Further along the road, we dropped into two different coffee places where we paid just 7.000VND (35c). It was not the best coffee but it was nice to be treated as a Vietnamese again :). After getting our caffeine hit, we headed to hue's main market, the Dong Ba Market just over the Trang Tien Bridge. As we headed across, I saw a middle aged woman walking along selling bean curd drink. I ordered two bowls and I was ripped off again. I was so upset but just gave her my money and walked away. It seems that Hue people have changed so much, only thinking about instant cash and taking advantage of tourists as much as possible. I felt sad more than angry with them. I've chatted with friends since and they all had similar stories when they visited Hue. Some are even refusing to return, which is a pity!

Anyway, things improved after that. The highlight of my short vacation was the Bún Mắm Nêm from an old lady who has been sitting outside 15 Phan Đăng Lưu St for more than 30 years. It's only 15,000VND (75c) but it was so satisfying after a long walk around the fascinating Đông Ba Market. I have to say that the noodles were really spicy; I was sweating and tears were running from my eyes by the time I'd finished my bowl of noodles. It was fantastic! A second highlight was Huyen Anh restaurant, where they serve grilled beef with noodles and herbs. It was so yummy

Later in the evenings, we normally headed out for supper, too. Two snacks I was really impressed with were Banh Ep (a rice pancake with egg, served with green mango and herbs) and Bang Trang Trung (a crunchy rice cracker with egg, pate, potato and herbs). Of course, I slept very well at night after eating so much each day.

 

By the end of the trip, I'd completely forgotten about getting ripped off. But one thing I have yet to discover in Hue is really good Bun Bo Hue. We had a couple of bowls but I honestly don't think they were as good as what I've had in Hoi An or Nha Trang. When I go back, I'm going to do more research on that one.

 

 

 

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Hủ Tiếu

Hủ Tiếu Saigon is a signature noodle dish from the south. In the north, it is more of a dry noodle dish, while in Saigon it is clearly a soup. It consists of a choice of egg or rice noodles, a rich porky broth and lots of fresh salad and herb content on the side to counter the meat in the dish. This is one of the dishes on the top of my list whenever I'm going to Ho Chi Minh City. I'm sure there are plenty of people there who make amazing Hủ Tiếu but I love my lady in Bùi Viện street, who serves the best version I've had.



In the last 10 years or so, regardless of where I stay when I'm there, I always eat her noodles for breakfast. It's not just because it's cheap but also about how delicious the broth is: cooked with pork bones for a long time, with incredibly tender meat and the smile she greets me with.



She knows I like to eat fresh bean sprouts, soft knuckles of bone and some thinly sliced pork with not many noodles. I suppose you could say I'm a difficult customer - maybe that's why she recognises me! I enjoy her company and her staff seem to have been the same for years. So she must be a good employer, as well. All middle aged and very funny, sometimes it sounds like they are arguing but it is just a normal conversation. I enjoy being part of their conversation and laughing with it. She told me she doesn't care who her clients are or where they're from, they all human beings and she charges everyone with same price and I like that.

Maning market, Colombo

After 2 delays in Hanoi and another 2 delays in Bangkok , finally, I arrived in Colombo at 1.30 Am local time (3 AM Hanoi time) Sometimes what seems to be a relatively short flight in the region ends up a full day of travel. I felt sorry for the driver waiting for me at the airport but he met us with a very nice smile which took my exhaustion away.

After a short but lovely welcome to our hotel at Mount Lavinia, the next morning I walked along the beach after a very big fresh fruit and small omelette breakfast. The hotel is about 5 minutes walk away from the beach and hardly any tourists around. There were lots of people playing cricket on the different ovals but no one playing tennis on the sandy courts which made me wonder.

So far Sri Lanka has proven a very reasonable destination for both food and transportation. Most trips in the ubiquitous tuk tuk costs about a dollar and the drivers usually offer the real price and drive very carefully. I'm not a bit fan of heavy food and I expected Sri Lankan food to be heavy but I've been pleasantly surprised by the great vegetable curries and fresh fish dishes, which have been the highlights so far.

I went to the Maning Market, Colombo's main wholesale vegetable market, after a crazy crowded local train trip. I was a bit worried about the passengers hanging out the door and it is amazing how many people can be stuffed into a train carriage. The worst part was when the train arrived at Colombo's Fort railway station and I wanted to get off but I couldn't because people were pushing to get on the train at both doors. At the last minute, I managed to jump onto the tracks on the wrong side and climbed up onto the platform on the opposite side. It sounds crazy but that's what most people do here in Asia and I felt fine at the end. The good thing here in Sri Lanka is whoever I meet on the train or on the street, they always smile and come up with a conversation or give me a hand with directions which I love.

Walking toward the market right near the train station was a bit of a worry at the beginning as there were so many buses, the bus station being next door. Thanks to the lady who pointed me in the right direction; the Manning Market is an amazing market where I saw only male vendors with big smiles who offered me their fruit to try with no hassle and also asked me to take photos of them. I will definitely send them their photos as they also gave me their shop address. I'd never seen such beautiful fresh fruit and vegetables in what seemed like a very quiet market. I wonder why all the sellers are men, which is very different to the situation in Vietnam.

Anyway, I had a fabulous time and it is definitely a highlight of my trip to Colombo and I wouldn't mind going back to this market again.

Nha Trang Cake

Almost every year, I go back to my hometown, Nhatrang for Tet (Lunar New Year) for at least a week to meet old friends, family and also to eat and relax. This year was a bit different compared to the last couple years because I had to work in between. It was very interesting wandering around with my clients and proudly talking about my hometown's amazing food. And for sure, I showed my clients all of my favorite places. Now they have some of my secrets.


One of my favorite dishes is called Banh Can. I ate it many times during my 2 week holidays for both breakfast and dinner. I love the way they cook the cake with either egg or seafood or mixed together. There are a number of people who don't really like this dish very much but I think its kind of unique. The rice flour batter is poured into little clay cups over a hot brazier, a quail egg is broken onto the top, sometimes a whisked chicken egg. Also I have enjoyed the cake with squid or shrimp steamed on it for a little while. The dipping sauce can be a challenge for some people; but I love "Mam Nem" a fermented fish sauce with a milder flavor than "Mam Tom". Added to the sauce is shredded green mango, stir fried spring onion, chilli and minced pork balls are served on the side. I love the rich and spicy taste of the dipping sauce and the smokiness of the grilled cake in my mouth. It creates a great flavor combination. This dish is not available in Hanoi. Perhaps that's a good thing as I would probably eat far too much of it.

Nha Trang - Wedding

I went back to Nha Trang to attend my cousin Huyen's wedding. that was the main purpose and the other reason was to take my mother, sister and my niece on a short trip to visit Siem Riep. I'm always happy to be at home with my family and also to visit old friends.

I have been to so many weddings before, mostly in the north and they are celebrated differently compared to the south. Anyhow, I like to see the ceremony of gift giving between the parents to their children and their relatives as well. Everyone loves posing for photos and sometimes I had to be patient as it takes a little while just putting the earings or necklace on the bride.

In the evening, everyone went to the hotel reception centre for dinner and the main wedding celebration including opening champagne and cuting the 5 storey cake. There was entertainment on the stage while people were eating and the MC also asked if anyone would like to come up to the stage and sing a song to congratulate the young couple. My nephews from Lam Dong and Hanoi came up and sang 3 songs, even Huyen's father - Mr Hop came up and sang 2 songs. It was so funny !!!!

The wedding was very well organized by the reception centre though the entertainment was a bit over the top at times. They served very delicious food and the staff were really helpful. Everyone had a great time at the wedding and we finished at 9pm. While the other guests went home, my mother, my sister, my niece and I went to the railway station to catch a late night train to Saigon before the morning flight to Siem Riep. More on that later.
Congratulations to Huyen and Tuan, all the best for your future happiness.

Saigon, July 2010

I'm in Saigon for a few days before taking some members of my family to Bangkok for a short vacation. The weather in Saigon is a bit different to Hanoi but I like Saigon as it always cool from 4pm which is much better. At the moment it's rainy season which helps keep temperatures down a bit.

Yesterday, when I wandering around the market in the afternnon when I realised my Iphone had gone. I'm very upset with myself for not being more careful with my bag. Normally in Hanoi I know exactly what's going an around me and where my phone is. I just lost concentration for a second and it was gone!

I'm trying not to let this incident ruin my holiday but it's hard. After trying to call the phone a few times I gave up and went back to the hotel. Later in the evening I went out for some snacks, including duck eggs and crabs with tamarind sauce. This made me feel better but I'm still thinking about the phone.

I was trying to take few photos of the food but I couldn't get them in focus, which I hate. There must have been something wrong with me at the time. I decided to walk back to the hotel for an early night. The next day I returned and had more success taking photos of the food. I really love eating from this old lady who has quite a striking face. She is quite a character, smoking, swearing and laughing with all of her customers. She rocks everybody who comes to her stall.

I also went to my favorite Hu Tiu vendor for breakfast. It was great to see she remembered me and what I normally order as extras such as fresh beanshoots, a bit more dried onion... The only thing that she doesn't know is that I don't eat lots of meat and noodles now because I am trying to loose some weight and workout on my belly. Anyway, I went back to her shop for every breakfast and the day I left early for Bangkok, I got up extra early for another serve of noodles.

A smile and a wave from her was a great start to my trip.

Traveling

I have been to Bangkok quite a few times and even though it's actually an interesting city, it's not my favourite destination. I'm going back to Bangkok this time to take my mother and sisters for a short trip to fullfill my promise to take my mother to one country in southeast every year. My sister and I took her to Malaysia and Singapore 2 years ago and she loved it very much.

I hope the Thai drama is over as my family are a bit worried and I had to spend hours trying to convince them that is was safe. One of my friends told me, as a joke I think, that we should take some red shirts which may help if the trouble starts again :). Anyway, I hope Mum enjoys our trip to Bangkok.

Tam Dao 2010

A week ago, I took a short trip with my friends to Tam Dao, a hill station about 90 km from Hanoi. Like so many Hanoians, they have recently bought a car and, according to Vietnamese custom, whenever you buy something new, you have to celebrate with friends. It also meant we could escape from the horrible heat of last week. During the week is the best time to go to Tam Dao as it's very quiet compared to weekends. It seemed there was only us and about 10 other tourists also from Hanoi.

I have been to Tam Dao several times during the past 8 years and it never seems to change much but there do appear to be more guest houses. The last few times I've usually stayed in a small guest house on the top street of Tam Dao, but I changed my mind this time to stay near the market which is close to the main street where the restaurants and shops are located. After checking out a few different guest houses, we picked Mai Hoa guest house which only coat a cost of only 100,000Vnd per night. The hotel was very clean, the proprietor and staff were friendly and they served great food. The only thing that they didn't have was airconditioning but in Tam Dao it's hardly necessary as it's always cool and a bit chilly in the evenings. In fact, I needed to use the colorful blanket provided to keep me warm.

We had lunch at the hotel the first day, which of course included the local specialty vegetable, Susu. I ate so much of this vegetable during my trip there along with wild boar and wild chicken. For our second meal, we went out for dinner to a restaurant near the hotel but like so many restaurants in these kinds of semi-remote tourist destinations, it was very expensive. I hate it when they just make up the price. As a consequence, we decided to eat at the hotel for the rest of the trip and the good thing was they served us at our balcony on the second floor with a very nice view of Tam Dao.

On the last day, we went to visit a temple called Tay Thien Quoc Mau, which is reached by climbing up about over 100 steps to the top of the hill. The Tam Dao people are investing to make it bigger and now it's almost finished, and includes many statues. I wondered how they could transport all the huge Buddha statues up the hill as it was very steep and hard to climb. Anyway, we spent about 30 minutes there praying, taking photos before going the same distance down the hill to see the Thac Bac waterfall, which my friends hadn't seen before. I felt exhausted on the way back up even though I exercise very regularly. We stopped quite a few times in between to relax and take some photos of the surrounding countryside. Sweating when we reached the township, we decided to take a dip in one of the other hotel's swimming pools. Buy, that felt good.

Finally, after two nights, it was time to get back to reality, back to Hanoi to face the heat and work. I really didn't want to leave as Tam Dao's so peaceful. I need to go back here in the near future. Thanks to all of my friends for the fun times.

Hoi An

I am in Hoi An for a few nights with my ex colleagues. I made a really long list of MUST eat food in the old ancient town to try. I also would like to have some summer clothes made there as they're quite cheap compared prices in Hanoi. I'm staying at the Trade Union hotel for the first time and, so far so good. This is not a very expensive hotel compared to others in town but it's in a good location.

Hoi An today is crowded all the time, full of western tourists and Vietnamese tourists on weekends. It's actually not as relaxing as I remember it but still nice to escape from the busy traffic and crazy noise of Hanoi. I will try to post some articles about Hoi An in the next few days. Hope everyone has a great week at work!!!

Disappointing Aspects of Phu Quoc

I spent two weeks in Phu Quoc and everything seemed perfect with great weather and beautiful food, especially the seafood. But as always, there were some issues that came up

I went out for lunch on one particular day, walking along the beach just up from the bungalows we stayed at to try to have some different food instead of going into town. Unfortunately, it was a mistake to choose the Lien Hiep Thanh Hotel and Restaurant right on the beach. I ordered grilled squid with salt and chilli, spring rolls and sour broth with tuna. It sounded great as these are specialist dishes from Phu Quoc and most places I've been they had been so nice and yummy. Well, they served us boiled squid instead of grilled and I told the waiter that it was not what we ordered in a polite way but he denied it, telling me this is their restaurant's grilling technique. I was a bit upset and I ended up taking it back to the kitchen myself and they promised to make a new dish for me. Ten minutes later, the same plate came back with the half bitten piece of squid. I couldn't say a word as they were so hopeless and they waiter tried to make a joke but it turned out all stupid. The sour broth with tuna which should be great as it's simple to make was tasteless, the tuna wasn't cooked enough and, if that wasn't enough, the spring rolls tasted like they were from the super market. Totally sucked down there at the Lien Thanh!!!! No tip and worst meal of my life.

On another point, I was expecting the food at the night market to be cheap but it didn't work that way. Most restaurants at the night market were more expensive than restaurants in town and in the hotel. A prawn cost $4, 4 pieces of squid cost $5, a pice of tuna cost $5. Hello!!! this is Phu Quoc, an island where you can catch fish anywhere.

Phu Quoc, Here I Am....

I am in Phu Quoc, the place to be!!! This is my second time here but I feel like I know this place very well. The people I met last time, from the hotel staff to the people who live around, are all still here. They are gorgeous with smiling faces and so sweet. We're staying at the Thanh Kieu Resort, the same place I stayed last time. I was lucky enough to get a room here as I booked way in advance as I heard some people couldn't get a room or had to pay lots of money for due to Tet holiday.

This is the first time I am not going home for Tet. I just want to do something different as I've been home every year for the last 8 years. I also want to spend sometime here to relax and enjoy myself. I do love my city but I went home last month to visit my family and my mother seemed happy with my decision.

The weather in Phu Quoc is so beautiful compared to the freezing cold in Hanoi and it makes me feel so great. I am going to go to the beach to relax for the first few days and read a bit then off to the city for dinner at the night market which has the best food in town and REALLY CHEAP!!!! They're cooking fresh seafood in the Phu Quoc style which is a bit different compared to other cities in Vietnam. I will eat all of my favorites, especially stir fried crab with tamarind sauce. My mouth is watering now just thinking about it!!!

Happy Tet every one and see you in the next few posts.