Tuesday, March 4, 2014

My dish of the day is... drumroll... Cabbage! (?!) Cabbage, you ask? Yes. But it’s a perfectly steamed cabbage dish with bean sprouts and green onions and a very light oil and goes perfectly with meat dishes and rice. Everybody needs some greens! This is the equivalent of American picnicking coleslaw, of Korean kimchi and of Polish sauerkraut or kapusta.  It deserves a day, too.

6:30am on a Tuesday morning in Ho Chi Minh city looks much different than how one might expect.  As a rolled out of bed and got for work (at the new middle school I started at on Monday), I was not particularly thrilled. Having to dodge motorbikes and say “khong, cam uhrn” to xe om taxi drivers on every corner and hurry just enough to make good time while avoid sweating, are not things I like to do at 6:30am.  But I ended up trying out a new short-cut / detour through a park, cutting off an entire corner (which just so happens to be a very busy intersection).  The park was teeming with people jogging, exercising on the park’s exercise machines, stretching, playing badminton, walking their dogs and simply enjoying the outdoors.  I had never seen a Vietnamese park at 6:30am, but now I understand why they go.  It’s beautiful, de-stressing, much cooler than at 10am+ and is a great way to energize before a day of work.  I think I’ll be taking the “park” way every time.

After a morning of teaching, I enjoyed a great iced coffee at a street stall on my side street and went for chicken pho with Patrick nearby.  We checked out a nice salon and Patrick got a haircut for less than $5 (while I lesson planned and was entertained by a very adorable dog that seemed to bark at the air).

In the evening, we both taught lessons, but following work, I ended up going on a bit of a bus adventure.  Every Vietnamese person here tells me to avoid the bus and just take a motorbike (or xe om) to get anywhere. But no! I wanted to see if I could make it all the way up to the northern part of District 1 (to meet some friends at a bar/restaurant called Decibel), without even knowing the bus numbers I’d need.  SOMEHOW I made it! After 2 buses, only 11,000VND tons of confusing broken English and gestures, my 3G/google maps and almost falling off my seat from some really tight turns, I made it! I just had to walk 10 minutes from there to get to Decibel.  So, yes, it IS possible to take the bus in HCMC!

I recommend checking Decibel out – it’s a laidback bar/restaurant, popular with expats.  I got to meet some new people, enjoy good food/drinks and play Cards Against Humanity (the best way to get to know people!) Also, on Tuesday nights they serve you some free food if you order a drink (non-alcoholic or alcoholic). This time it was a tasty pesto pasta with shrimp and basil on top.  My photo ended up turning up fuzzy and un-usable because of the lighting, but next time I’ll try again, promise!