Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Happy Tax Day! That's only so funny right now, since we have just filed-one of the most complicated years ever...after putting my parents through a ton of FUN!!!! Thanks, Mom and Dad! You are truly the BEST!!)
I am sitting in the "living room" of the house that I am subleasing from a friend in the area of Ho Chi Minh City known as "Little Tokyo" watching one of my favorite shows on TV...Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations..He's in Japan for this episode. Phew! Commercial break, now I can type!
So, living in the city is really zany fun! I have been studying Vietnamese 3 evenings a week and really enjoy it! My teacher is really helpful when it comes to everything, but I love the way she corrects my pronunciation, because I NEED the work! I am in class with 3 other people, who are all from Korea! It's so much fun!
At the moment, I am not very busy with organized stuff, and it's hard for me to deal with that! I am trying to just be (ohm)...Anthony is back on, wandering the streets of Osaka eating wonderful street food, and it makes me think about all the street food in Asia..In China the fast food served on the street, xiao chu, was OUT OF THIS WORLD! Here, in Vietnam, the food on the street is also wonderful. I can't wait to go out for banh xeo again! Last night as I left the gym, I walked by the Ben Thanh Market. This is one of the most famous markets in Ho Chi Minh City. When cruise ships come to port they bus guests to the market. During the day the colonial style building is filled with stalls selling everything from lovely hand-made pottery and lacquer to raw meat and fresh vegetables.
...So what IS the thing with Karaoke, anyway?!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Some Beach Photos
Even in Vietnam, or maybe especially in Vietnam, kids love to get their picture taken! This little guy was with his family where we had coffee.
Vietnamese iced coffee, or "ca phe sua da" is served this way. The grounds are placed in the metal press, and then hot water is added. The coffee slowly drips down to the cup below. The white goo at the bottom of the cup is sweetened condensed milk. Once the coffee has dripped, you stir it up together. If you want it iced, you then pour it over ice! Yum! Very sweet and intense.
A wee little crab made this design! It must have spent hours making little sand balls and then moving them around to make this. The rocky beach where people were fishing was covered with these designs.
This fisherman is watching the water, looking for fish. In his right hand he holds a rock, and in his left, a net. He will through the rock at the school of fish to scare them into his net. 
A starfish we saw on the beach.
Vung Tau
March 27, 2009
Today Sherri and I took a trip to Vung Tau, a small community and local beach resort. This is a popular beach destination for many Vietnamese tourists, and some foreign tourists, too. The draw is not only that it is a lovely beach, but that it is so close to Ho Chi Minh City..only 1 1/2 hours by hydrofoil!
We left at 8 a.m. and arrived by 9:30. We had some coffee at a little restaurant across the street from the ferry station, and then walked the 2 km to Back Beach. On our way we walked along the rocky Front Beach, where many people were fishing. We saw wee crabs pushing their balls of sand, a starfish, and even some goats in the park! Before arriving in VT, I had been warned about: a) the crowds, b) the trash, and c) the vendors who come up to you every 5 minutes and sell you all sorts of things from food to little plastic necklaces and guns. To my surprise, it was beautiful! Peaceful, quiet, empty, and hardly any vendors..
There are makeshift shacks along the beach that might be used as houses, or for storage of chairs and other things people rent to visitors. In front of the shacks are lines of lounge chairs and umbrellas. You can rent a chair for 15,000 Vietnamese Dong (VND, less than $1 US) and an umbrella for 20,000 VND; $1= about 17,000 VND). You can buy drinks, so we had some soda, and when you get hungry you can buy food..A woman walked by selling noodles. We both decided that we were hungry and wanted some, but when we tried to flag her down to get some, she didn't see us. We got some spring rolls from the next woman who walked by.
We sat on the beach relaxing, then did some swimming and exploring. We saw some little squid and some shells. When we decided to work our way back to our 5 p.m. ferry, we walked up the beach a bit further and watched some fishermen pulling in their net. We also so a BUNCH of jellyfish washed up onshore.
We decided to take motorbikes back to the ferry, but we both had wrap-around sarongs on...so we chose to ride on the bikes SIDE-SADDLE. Vietnamese women are skilled at this! They perch on the back of the motorbike and sit so gracefully in their beautiful skirts and high-heels. I was not very good at it-I was off-balance the whole way back (up-hill and around on curvy roads...fortunately there was hardly any traffic!). When we arrived, the drivers were guffawing..I can only guess that this is what they were saying:
How's your drive?
Not good, foreign lady can't ride side-saddle!
Yeah! Mine either! She kept squirming..I thought she was gonna throw us to the ground!
Oh, yeah!
She was so bad she had to hang on..wrapped her arms 'round my waist..I'm still trying to get a full breath of air!
Hehe.
Today Sherri and I took a trip to Vung Tau, a small community and local beach resort. This is a popular beach destination for many Vietnamese tourists, and some foreign tourists, too. The draw is not only that it is a lovely beach, but that it is so close to Ho Chi Minh City..only 1 1/2 hours by hydrofoil!
We left at 8 a.m. and arrived by 9:30. We had some coffee at a little restaurant across the street from the ferry station, and then walked the 2 km to Back Beach. On our way we walked along the rocky Front Beach, where many people were fishing. We saw wee crabs pushing their balls of sand, a starfish, and even some goats in the park! Before arriving in VT, I had been warned about: a) the crowds, b) the trash, and c) the vendors who come up to you every 5 minutes and sell you all sorts of things from food to little plastic necklaces and guns. To my surprise, it was beautiful! Peaceful, quiet, empty, and hardly any vendors..
There are makeshift shacks along the beach that might be used as houses, or for storage of chairs and other things people rent to visitors. In front of the shacks are lines of lounge chairs and umbrellas. You can rent a chair for 15,000 Vietnamese Dong (VND, less than $1 US) and an umbrella for 20,000 VND; $1= about 17,000 VND). You can buy drinks, so we had some soda, and when you get hungry you can buy food..A woman walked by selling noodles. We both decided that we were hungry and wanted some, but when we tried to flag her down to get some, she didn't see us. We got some spring rolls from the next woman who walked by.
We sat on the beach relaxing, then did some swimming and exploring. We saw some little squid and some shells. When we decided to work our way back to our 5 p.m. ferry, we walked up the beach a bit further and watched some fishermen pulling in their net. We also so a BUNCH of jellyfish washed up onshore.
We decided to take motorbikes back to the ferry, but we both had wrap-around sarongs on...so we chose to ride on the bikes SIDE-SADDLE. Vietnamese women are skilled at this! They perch on the back of the motorbike and sit so gracefully in their beautiful skirts and high-heels. I was not very good at it-I was off-balance the whole way back (up-hill and around on curvy roads...fortunately there was hardly any traffic!). When we arrived, the drivers were guffawing..I can only guess that this is what they were saying:
How's your drive?
Not good, foreign lady can't ride side-saddle!
Yeah! Mine either! She kept squirming..I thought she was gonna throw us to the ground!
Oh, yeah!
She was so bad she had to hang on..wrapped her arms 'round my waist..I'm still trying to get a full breath of air!
Hehe.
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