Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Today’s dish features a hot n’ spicy Thai Seafood Hot Pot that they heated from underneath with a small fire.  We watched it cook in front of us, turning the shrimp a nice bright pink.  I got it at NowZone, a neardby department store with an international-inspired food court.  It was just under 70,000 VND ($3.50) and included lots of noodles to add in, shrimp, baby clams, thinly sliced seafood (I believe it was squid because it was chewy), fish balls, lots of greens and herbs, chili in a fish sauce to pour in, mushrooms and the broth, which was perfectly spicy with a hint of tomato.  Patrick and I both agreed that the broth vaguely reminded us of Heinz tomato soup! Haha hmm... Nevertheless, the dish was delicious and I’d like to try their other hot pots!

In the morning, I met my first private student at Highlands Coffee in the backpacker’s district. It went really well and we’ve arranged to meet 3 times per week to help him prepare for an English speaking interview next month! In fact, we met again for a second lesson of the day after he finished work at another cafe on my street. 

In other teaching news, I also found out I will be teaching 6 hours a week at a public middle school (grade 7) that is approximately 20 minutes walk from where I live. I will be doing 45 minute ESL lessons there, focusing on speaking and listening.  Middle school again – scary but exciting! Somehow I find my groove well in high school and with elementary, but middle school is that awkward middle age when they don’t want to be treated like kids, but many of them are definitely not mature enough to act like young adults! Wish me luck! 

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Today was a real “getting things done” type of day. I got business cards made (after several failed attempts because of not having the proper software, files and miscommunication!) as well as posters made for my private teaching.  I also was able to get a couple private students to teach – it just takes some perseverance and eventually I’ll get myself going with my private teaching!

I also got to try an interesting new dish that is essentially a round piece of thin rice paper that is fried on a grill with some oil, fried quail’s egg, meat and green onions.  I really don’t know what the seasonings are, but I’m going to try to find out!  It was a light and cheap snack (6,000 VND) – a little greasy, but good flavour.  I found this particular vendor outside of a school, waiting for all the children to leave.  They lined up in drones for some! Definitely popular!

Monday, February 24, 2014

After lesson planning in the morning and a nice breakfast of tea with homemade orange and cinnamon oatmeal and orange slices on the side (actually, I call it a “green” because it’s green on the outside, but an orange inside!) Patrick and I hit a local pool for the day. We tried out one across the street from Reunification Palace this time.  We are still figuring out how pools work here, but this one was different from the first one we visited – this one didn’t divide the men and women and it was also much deeper and Olympic-size. There weren’t lounge chairs, but there was plenty of space to lay a towel down!  It cost only 16,000 VND each and it’s quite close – definitely going back soon!

Sunday, February 23, 2014

It’s the Gold Medal game between Canada and Sweden! My Vietnamese TV doesn’t air the Olympics, but that doesn’t stop me from finding somewhere that does! Patrick and I went on a hunt for a sports bar for the 7pm game (4pm in Sochi). It was a great way to wind down after a weekend full of teaching!

Here’s my delicious dish of the day:

I got this close to the Coop market on our street. This is called Com Tam (a rice dish) and at these food vendors, you choose your protein (I went for pork this time) and they put it on top of rice with sauce and veggies. The barbeque flavour was amazing. I know for sure this place will get lots of business from me! And for only 25,000 VND (about $1.25), how can you go wrong for dinner?

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Saturday morning at work always saps all my energy out of me.  What better way to get some carbo-energy than with lots of rice.  Today I had lots of rice, rice for 2 meals – lunch and dinner.  It’s called com tam (rice dish/plate mixed with other ingredients).  I had lunch in a street restaurant where you can sit n or on the sidewalk. I got com tam with ga (chicken): chicken, rice, bean sprouts, sweet-chili dipping sauce and a small bowl of soup made with broth and pumpkin.  The man serving me was really sweet and even began trying to teach me different Vietnamese words in his broken English. 

Unfortunately, the photo didn’t turn out from my lunch, so I’ll share with you another rice dish (actually a dessert!) that I had recently! I didn’t expect it to be sweet – in fact, I bought it at lunchtime, but they put shredded coconut, a bit of sugar, chopped nuts, and a dollop of coconut cream (sauce) over a variety of types of rice, each with a different colour and things inside them.  I think there was even a little bit of something reminiscent of mashed potatoes in one corner of the container. Somehow, it worked though. I don’t usually eat a ton of rice, but I know I’ll get this treat again sometime!

Friday, February 21, 2014

Today I went into my first Vietnamese public school to observe two ESL kindergarten classes – one with 5 year-olds and one with 4 year-olds.  It was so different from working at a language school.  For one, it was more open, walking between classes outdoors, instead of in one large building.  It was also more colourful with student work displayed all over.  Unfortunately, the CD players don’t work and technology is not often used because it is so unreliable.  Also, the classes are also much larger – 25-30 children instead of 6-12 like in my language school classes.  The native English teachers I observed gave me some good ideas though, and it got me excited to begin teaching there! The kids were so energetic and enthusiastic, it’s hard not to let it catch on – it’s contagious!

Following the observation, I went to sort out getting a 1 month tourist visa extension, which is necessary while I wait for my working visa to be finished. Then Patrick and I spent the rest of the evening working on lesson plans, which has become pretty time-consuming, but I know it will become faster as we get into the swing of things and understand how our classes and curriculum are put into practice.

For dinner we ended up ordering in pad thai through the online food delivery service, vietnammm.  Mmmm.  It was delicious chicken and shrimp pad thai and cost about $4 for one. I was so hungry though that I didn’t want to leave the kitchen and go downstairs to find my phone. Sooo, no photo!

BUT, here’s a shot of another food that I just stumbled upon at a grocery store on the corner of my street... it’s called a salted duck egg, but at the time, I had no idea what is was called because there was no English on the packaging.  I was just intrigued by it being really big and – get this – black. Covered completely in a thick layer of charcoal. When I bought it, I figured it was already cooked through and expected a boiled egg inside.  You’ll imagine our surprise when we washed off the charcoal, cracked the egg to peel it and instead were presented with an uncooked egg! Patrick quickly rescued it and put it in a pan and fried it up.  But that was not the only surprise. Patrick took a bite and looked skeptically at it, remarking that he hadn’t remembered adding that much salt. I tried some and wow – the white part is REALLY salty and the yolk is nice and rich. At this point, I just had to Google this. “Charcoal egg Vietnam” brought me to some real insight.  They’re called salted duck eggs and are most common in the Philippines, Vietnam and China.  The duck eggs are left for weeks in salty brine and go through a long preparation process.

 Learn more about blackened salted duck eggs here.

Needless to say, I definitely can’t eat an egg like that on its own.  It needs to be in a sandwich with veggies or with rice and stir-fried vegetables, udon noodles or something else that will balance out the saltiness.  Time to get creative!

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Today I visited another campus owned by my school (in district 10).  It was great to see a new area and to experiment more with the transit system here.  Note to self: Find a decent transit map, app and/or website to look up bus routes! I found out that I will be able to get a few hours per week teaching Kindergarten English at a public school and that the school is only a 15 minute walk from me! I picked up my books, CDs and curriculum materials today and tomorrow I’m going to observe a couple of classes. 

After my evening classes, in which I scored oral speaking midterms, I strolled into the Coop on the way home and bought some veggies to make myself a salad to go with some boiled eggs – for 46,000VND (about $2.30), I got: greens (looks like a type of spinach), an oversized carrot (no puny ones here!),  a huge bag of long green beans, 2 cucumbers and 300g bag of dried white beans.  For the dressing, I had to make due with whatever I could find. It was pretty sad. It’s my goal to find balsamic vinegar here because so far... no such luck...  I’m in balsamic withdrawal!

Below is the experimental salad I made.  My first homemade one as an expat in Vietnam!

The ingredients are:

-          Greens

-          Diced cucumber

-          Diced tomato

-          Boiled green beans

-          Chopped and sliced carrots

-          2 boiled eggs

-          Sliced green pimento olives

-          The “Sad” dressing: Basil, mustard, white vinegar (ugh), vegetable oil (ughX2), black pepper, minced garlic

After dinner, I even got to try a few bites of a housemate's Indian chicken meal - A couple of my housemates are from India and always cook at home. It was so nice of them to give me some! And it was so delicious.  The coriander chili sauce on the side was such a colourful punch of flavour.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Happy Hump Day!

Today’s dish features food from the Spotted Cow, a restaurant in the Backpacker’s area of district 1. But first... a bit about my Vietnamese Wednesday J

I spent the whole morning at an Oxford educational conference about building success in English teaching though the Multiple Intelligences. The wonderfully engaging  and energetic presenter was  Kathleen Kampa – her blog can be found at the Magic Time Kids Blog. 

Here’s an example YouTube clip of one of her songs about the body parts for young learners: Skeleton Dance

I learned a lot and met some great people (and got to spend time with some co-workers too!) After a trip to Satra Foods where I got a small haul of some everyday necessities (including a little jar of peanut butter!), all for about $4, I arrived home to find a matt black Attila motorbike parked by the door! 

Then, after a short killing spree of an ant mob in our bedroom, Patrick and I caught up and filled each other in on everything, including the deets about our new (used) scooter motorbike!  Everyone looked at us like we were crazy at the beginning when we said we might not get a bike... I can understand why.  It’s so vital for life in a city like Ho Chi Minh City. Anyway, Patrick and I went out for a spin on the motorbike (myself as the passenger) to go to Lam Son pool.  It ended up being closed, but at least I got to go for a ride! We spent a couple hours lesson planning at a cafe across the street from our house instead.  Apparently they deliver coffee for free... hmm... 12,000 VND ($0.60) coffee delivered to our door? Yes, please!

At 6pm, we met up with a new friend (who also taught in Korea!) for dinner and drinks in the Backpacker’s area.  We started at the Spotted Cow for food, swung by a Tailor Shop as a pitstop, then had another drink at The Observatory.  Wednesday is 2 for 1 pizza and wow, their food is good! We got 1 supreme and one veggie pizza. So for 80,000VND (about $4), I got 1 whole pizza for myself and a Saigon Green beer. Huzzah.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Today was a lazy day to begin with, but we had an awesome homemade breakfast in our new place – a breakfast of eggs, toast, thin ham-bacon, sausage and tomato! Patrick did an excellent job - runny egg and all! Don't mind my sloppy sliced tomato haha. Despite not having a toaster or toaster oven, we still had toast... Our frying pan is going to get a lot of use :p Who knew!?

Eventually we went for a walk to visit a couple of gyms to inquire about membership fees.  It ended up being more expensive than I expected for Vietnam, but perhaps that’s because larger buildings (i.e. needed for gyms) are much more costly with the limited space in a big city like HCMC.  After work in the evening, we went for pho nearby. Going a couple days without pho now feels absurd to us! ... a true sign of Vietnamese acculturation. Mmmm.

Monday, February 17, 2014

Today we went to the historic Cu Chi Tunnels, about a 90 minute drive from Ho Chi Minh City’s centre. It was really interesting to learn about the history of the American War in Vietnam from the perspective of a man (our tour guide) who lived through it and whose father fought in it.  The tunnels themselves are incredibly narrow – you need strong legs to crouch down while walking and squirming through them.  And you definitely can’t be claustrophobic!  The total cost for the round trip bus, tour guide and entrance fee to the tunnels was 160,000VND, just over $8.

We were starving when we came home from the trip, so had our leftover pasta – our first dinner we ever cooked in Vietnam in our apartment! We got all the ingredients at a grocery store by Lam Son Pool and the total (for 4+ servings) was under $10 – and that INCLUDES a $4 jar of olives and the pasta (of which we’ll still have lots left over)! So really, less than $6 for 4 meals! Our pasta sauce was made with chicken breast (about$1.50 for 500g!), sliced green olives, broccoli, onion, garlic, fresh basil leaves, pepper and chili pepper and blended/pureed cherry tomatoes, served over penne.  A bit of baguette on the side... parfait J Here’s a photo of our leftovers on Monday night:

As a side note, these fruit on the trees at the Cu Chi tunnel site (jack fruit I believe, but correct me if I'm wrong!) were seriously huge. Bigger than my face!

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Today we got a TV for our place! A nice 32inch TCL (don’t ask – I never heard about it before either!) used for a good price.  PS3 and movies will be SO much better now J

After work, I went out with a couple of colleagues from work for lunch. We had a Vietnamese-style of Stinky Tofu (but more mild and refined compared to what I had in Taiwan).   I never ended up taking a photo though because I figured I’d take a photo of the leftover pasta meal for dinner.  BUT then, we got invited for dinner on the rooftop of our house by a Vietnamese woman and her daughter (along with a couple of her other foreign friends).  It was beautiful sitting on top of the roof, seeing the city lights below and all around us and even a few stars. 

I took a photo before we began eating, but unfortunately I forgot to take a shot of my full plate – it was too good to think about anything except eating!

In a nutshell though, we had an international meal. It was a little random, but somehow it just worked.  

Here’s what we cooked up:

-          Fried chicken

-          Mashed Potatoes

-          Fried fish

-          Korean Kimchi

-          White sticky rice

Shredded Cucumber Carrot Scallion and Tomato salad with a French mustard olive oil dressing

Saturday, February 15, 2014

After a busy morning full of marking students on their speaking exams, I met up with Patrick for lunch before going shopping at NowZone’s Lock&Lock and a big grocery store to find shelving/storage.  We ended up getting some food in the food court of the NowZone department store. 

I got a chicken salsa crepe (which was highly lacking in both chicken and veggies/tomatoes haha), but I didn’t bother taking a photo – it was folded very un-crepe-like! But I also ordered a sweet thai hot soup made with black sticky rice and hot sweet coconut milk.  And I ended up dipping in unused bits of crepe in it. It was super delicious! Here’s a shot:

Friday, February 14, 2014

Happy Sappy Hearts Day <3

Patrick treated me to a really nice meal at an Italian restaurant called Casa Italia, opposite Saigon Square.  There were some interesting characters seated around us... I tried to snap a shot with his crazy socks too, but it would've been obvious if I went down low with my camera haha. Shhh.  We started with some wine and beer, breads with a tasty red pepper dip and some carrot soup.  Patrick got a Salami, olive and pesto pizza (craving satisfied!) and I got a delicious salmon with mashed potatoes, clams and a cherry tomato fennel sauce.  It also came with the fried salmon skin (crackling), which I’d never eaten before, but loved.  So much flavour!

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Moving day! Lots of good food needed for energy, right?! I skyped home with my dad for his birthday in the morning (12 hours time difference), which was a nice chat, despite the horrible internet connection.   Then we got everything packed up and into a taxi.  Xe om (motorbike taxi) just couldn’t quite cut it for our massive amount of luggage. We settled in, did a bit of shopping and lesson planning, then I worked in the evening. We had chicken pho for dinner, but below is a photo of another meal I had earlier that is definitely one of my favourite street foods! And it was only 15,000VND, about $0.75!

“bột chiến" (plus accents) is similar to an omelette. You take an egg and you take fried rice cake cubes (I thought they were potatoes/hash browns at first) and fry it all together.  You throw in some green onion and put it on top of greens or cabbage and they might throw other veggies on the side too. You pour over a soy and red chili sauce right before eating. Vietnamese-style fried eggs!

Here’s a YouTube video showing how you make it! SO simple! Nommy egginess... 

How to make Bot Chien

Note: google translates bột chiến as "powder war"!

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

The last street food we had on the street of our hotel in district 10 before moving to district 1! Fresh spring rolls with a peanut soy and chili dipping sauce of course! I’ve eaten Vietnamese spring rolls here a few times already, but it wasn’t until today that I took a photo! It’s classic Vietnamese. So fresh and light, yet full of flavour.  Check out wiki to learn more: Gỏi cuốn Wiki Page

Here are the basic components of a fresh spring roll (Or “Gỏi cuốn” in Vietnamese):

-          Rice paper for wrapping

-          Cilantro and maybe mint

-          Lettuces

-          Green onion

-          Sticky rice noodles

-          Cucumber and carrot (sometimes)

-          Proteins like shrimp and thinly-sliced pork

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

We spent most of the day in the area between my school and where we’ll be living (soon! Move in is on Thursday!) My bf had an interview early afternoon in the area and I started work at 5:30, so it was a good opportunity to explore the area! I found a little cafe/restaurant with vines hanging over the entrance and thought it could be a good bet! So for lunch we settled in there and both got tasty beef/steak. 

Mine was called “Beef Wag” (I was curious what wag meant...) and my bf ordered the “Beef bittek”.  They came piping hot with onions and garlic and a chili soy sauce mixture as a side dip. Mine also had fresh tomatoes and cucumber on the side. Then we were each given a baguette, so we piled everything inside and dug in.  For the equivalent of about $2 each, plus incredibly saucy faces and hands, we had delicious steak baguette sandwiches. The flavour was so vibrant and had me craving more afterwards, despite being so filling! Nommy! Here’s a pic of mine:

Monday, February 10, 2014

Monday was definitely a “getting things done” sort of day. I went for my health check at a hospital in district 5 (the biggest hospital in all of Vietnam, apparently). And oh yes, it was big. And chaotic, confusing, full of... interesting smells, and definitely not easy to navigate.  They also just take a lunch break and have no one to cover... um. That makes me feel safe! It’s a good thing I had a Vietnamese person from my work to help me out and find everything (i.e. I think I went to 15-20 different rooms, each with a different purpose and each somewhere different in the hospital X)While I was there, my bf had an interview far far away, north of the airport.  In the afternoon, he had another interview (except on the same street as my school!) and then in the early evening, we met up with our soon-t0-be landlord! We finally decided on a place to live. It’s got a lot going for it – location, price, cleaning services and amenities... We’ve signed our life away now!

Exhausted from all the running around, we ended up just grabbing dinner at a place down the street from our hotel.  It looked amazing from the street. Little communal meals with a gas burner in the middle of the table and a noodle soup with all the fixings in the middle to scoop from.  To be fair, the flavour was good and typical of many Vietnamese soups.  BUT, when you find something that looks like an ear in your dish, it’s easy to be turned off. The name of the dish, I couldn’t tell you. The signage was really lacking.

Here’s my (amateur) interpretation of the ingredients:
- Beef broth (which they top up whenever you’re low)
- ears (seafood of some sort? Maybe?)

-        - other bits of chewy seafood

-         -  processed meat/fish pieces (actually tasty!)

-         -  beef pieces (actually just the fat and skin of the beef...)

-          - taro root (yum! It has a texture similar to potato)

-          - Lotus root (white, has holes (pretty root veggie), slight crunch to it)

-          - 2 types of noodles (you choose and put them in)

-          - Greens: green onion, lettuce, cilantro, parsley

You’ll be proud of me though – I managed to eat 2 ears somehow. No flavour, just really chewy... Mmmears.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

My second day of work felt much smoother in comparison to the first! And the students’ enthusiasm was pretty contagious.  We just built off of each other and I had so much energy.  I definitely enjoyed my classes today and was able to connect with students more J

On the street where our hotel is, there was a small street vendor selling a rice dish.  I wasn’t quite sure what it was (I gathered there was rice, vegetable and seafood), but for about 17,000VND (less than $1), I figured, why not? That’s definitely the attitude you have to take when trying new and unknown foods when traveling abroad. Just give it a try. And learn to trust the local Vietnamese cooks. They know what they’re doing.

So, from what I gathered, this dish contains: sticky rice, small dried shrimp, some pork pieces, dried fish (flake/strips), cilantro, onion, red hot chilis, cucumber, carrot and a type of light soy/chili sauce that you pour over. I enjoyed it, but I enjoyed it even more when I took out the fish flakes.  That strong fishy taste isn’t my favourite, but without it, it was pretty good!

Saturday, February 8, 2014

My first day of work! It was a whirlwind, with everything new and muddy.  The support I am getting though is incredibly helpful and I know it won’t be long until I’m completely comfortable teaching here. After a long morning and HIGHLY energetic children J, I came home and with the sun-ablazing, needed something refreshing.  Before heading over to a pool a 10 minute walk from our hotel, we naturally chose to eat piping hot soup in the 33+ degree weather. Makes sense, right?

We stopped at a place advertising "Hu Tieu Mi" (plus accents).  We had no idea what it was, but google translate tells me "tieu" is pepper and "mi" is noodles.  Hm, ok. Following a confusing moment in which the man brought us only 1 bowl but with 2 types of noodles- vermicelli and egg (instead of 2 bowls with 1 type of noodle in each), we got another local man with passable English to tell the vendor we wanted another bowl.

We weren’t quite sure of everything in it, but here’s a basic rundown of the main ingredients: egg noodle, vermicelli noodle, beef broth, a quail egg, liver (I think), ribs, pork pieces, a couple of meat balls (or fish balls??), little crispy crouton-like pieces, green onion, cilantro, parsley, lettuce, red pepper hot sauce, soy sauce, garlic, red chilis, lime... It seemed like a long list of questionable ingredients and to be honest, had me skeptical at the beginning. I wasn’t particularly confident about it. But one bite in and I was hooked.  When it comes to local Vietnamese food, you just have to learn to trust them on it! They know how to make anything tasty.  And for just over a $1, how can you go wrong?

Friday, February 7, 2014

Today was a big day – we began our apartment hunting and visited our first apartment in the morning. In the afternoon, I went into my school for the first time to get a tour, pick up my teaching books and textbooks and to begin to figure things out. My school being a 15-20 minute walking distance to the backpacker’s area, I decided that this would be a good chance to explore there some more and grab dinner! We ended up on a side road just across from a Baskin Robbins that had a huge menu, something to suit almost any international taste you could be craving. 

I decided to go for a thai curry with fish and vegetables, served with rice.  It was one of the best curries I’ve had in a long time! And to wash it down? (er, to give me a sugar rush, should I say?) A Miss Saigon cocktail – sugary sweet drink made from tropical fruit juices and rum, topped with lime and a piece of aloe. Mmm!

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Today we took a day trip south to Vung Tau Beach.  No day trip to the beach is complete without some beer. And hence, today’s dish is actually a drink. Perhaps it is a dish for some. I’m not a big beer drinker, but I must say, Vietnam has tasty ones.  Maybe I came with low expectations after Korea’s Cass and Hite... but seriously, I can get a whole beer down here, and that’s saying something!  Vietnamese beer can range anywhere from 4,000VND (extremely rare) to 50,000VND, but generally we see it for 10,000 ish in many stores and 15,000VND ish in bars. So $0.50-0.75.  Not bad!

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

This dish is called Bun Bo Hue, which I’ve seen on many signs around HCMC. “Bo” means beef and “hue” means the city it is from (it is in the style of Hue).  It was similar to pho in my mind; I suppose because I have only been here for several days so any soup with noodles in it looks like pho to me! Maybe by the time I leave, I’ll understand how to distinguish them and their finer nuances :p 

This particular dish was from a small home-based vendor/restaurant down the street from our hotel.  I loved the onions and nice pieces of beef. The long piece you see is quite common here in soups (but in different shapes) and I believe it’s simply different meats and proteins processed together.  Better than it sounds, believe me!  This photo shows it before I added all the lettuce, cilantro, lemongrass, bean sprouts and sauces that they provide you with on the side.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Annyong! I may be in Vietnam, but there is no shortage of other Asian food as well as other international foods. I just couldn’t pass up a good Korean bibimbap for old times’ sake.  Definitely one of my favourite meals of all time.  This one was from the NowZone Department Store.  They have a neat system where you load money on a card and can use the card to buy food anywhere in the food court.  This one was complete with all the mixed and sautéed veggies, sticky rice, touch of ground beef, runny egg, and red pepper paste sauce with a side of kimchi and other banchon and some fish miso soup.

It was a perfect way to get energy before walking around district 5 of Ho Chi Minh City in search of the Lam Son Swimming pool! Although it was closed, we stumbled upon the first *open* grocery store in HCMC right beside the pool – everything has been closed for the Tet holidays. It was huge, clean, quiet and open and full of everything we could want. Good find, for sure. 

Monday, February 3, 2014

I was told coffee was a big thing in Vietnam, but it wasn’t until I arrived that I realized just how much of an understatement that is.  Not only are there many stores selling coffee beans, but cafes are definitely not in short supply. Iced coffee, or “ca phe da” (da meaning iced) is very strong in Vietnam, but is also quite sweet.  The strong coffee and sweetness is insanely addicting. I never used to be a big coffee drinker, but this may sway me! It also is common to order the iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk. Addicting on a whole new level.  Shhh, don’t tell Timmies...

 Iced coffee can be found on every street, corner and at many local street vendors with their little tables and chairs out.  You can sit and enjoy one for as little as 8,000VND (about $0.40) on the street or sit in a coffee shop and spend anywhere from 10,000-35,000VND.  I tend to get ones around 20,000VND or so generally (about a dollar).  It’s basically something that people of different social backgrounds drink – but where they drink it is what changes the cost. 

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Sunday funday! We went for Mexican for dinner – and it was the best Mexican I’ve had in a long time. Burrito Bowl, yes please!  As an appetizer though, we went for a Vietnamese-style dish: Fried Spring Rolls with sweet chili dipping sauce and greens (mint) for wrapping around and cleansing the palate. Does using “palate” make me sound less like an amateur at this? :p

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Our first pho in Vietnam. Because you can’t go 2 days in Vietnam without eating some! This was in Tan Binh Market, a bustling and busy market filled with street food, goods and souvenirs and vendors selling fruits and vegetables. Just be aware that it isn’t the best place if you want to eat your meal in peace – you’ll likely get hassled by locals selling lottery tickets, tissues, snacks and drinks.  The vibrant atmosphere is definitely worth it though every once in a while!

This pho was a classic ga (chicken) pho with noodles, bean sprouts, chicken, cilantro, green onion, lime wedges, a light meat broth and sauces on the side – soy, spicy chili, etc. 

Friday, January 31, 2014

Happy Tet/Lunar New Year! I’ve literally JUST arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for 6 months of teaching, exploring and of course, eating! After a 30+ hour journey, followed by me mauling my boyfriend at the airport (after 4 months of being in different countries!), taking a taxi to the hotel, throwing my luggage in a corner and showering 30 hours of plane-y-ness off of me, I had a reunion with one of my university besties who happened to be traveling in Vietnam. We went out for dinner, but because it was Tet, the Lunar New Years, not much was open. We ended up eating fancy (but cheap by our standards) in a hotel. We were the only ones there! But we had a nice view of the neighbourhoods J

Here is my very first meal in this bustling and culturally-rich city. Chicken with a thick pineapple sauce with salad and sticky white rice.  I’d really like to learn how to make a tomato-flower... hmm

A Dish a Day

Over the past few years, I’ve grown an insatiable thirst for trying, discovering and cooking as many foods as I can.  And so, as part of my blog, Letters From Leana, I am concocting an off-shoot: “A Dish a Day – Dishes from Leana”. I’ve decided to chronicle my daily foodie ventures. Every day will feature one “dish from Leana”.  Over the next half a year or so, I’ll be in Vietnam teaching, along with my boyfriend... so be prepared for lots of noodles!

And the ingredients of this delicious blog?

3 cups Dishes during my stints teaching or traveling abroad

1 cup Dishes simply from home sweet home, Canada

2 cups Recipes tried from my own kitchen

½ cup My experimental concoctions

2 tbs of amateur food photography

A dash of gluttony

Salt and pepper to taste.

For my first dish, I’ll choose one from when I went to Quebec. After living in Korea for a year, I was home for 4 months in Canada. How could I possibly go for that long without some good poutine? – real cheese curds, chicken gravy and homemade fries!