Enjoy your Saturday or Sunday, depending on where in the world you are! I'm off to Cuc Phuong National Park and will hopefully have lots of pictures to share tomorrow.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
This morning's Flower Market
I woke up early this morning for usual Sunday drive and decided to make good use of my extra time by hopping on the Scooter and heading to the nearby flower market. It opens very early in the morning (3am, I think), so it was pretty picked over by 5:30am when I arrived.
Enjoy your Saturday or Sunday, depending on where in the world you are! I'm off to Cuc Phuong National Park and will hopefully have lots of pictures to share tomorrow.
Enjoy your Saturday or Sunday, depending on where in the world you are! I'm off to Cuc Phuong National Park and will hopefully have lots of pictures to share tomorrow.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Quan An Ngon
For the fifth night in a row this week, I had plans for another evening out on the town, this time to send Good Wishes to Ms Hoa, an Air Mekong employee who will be leaving for the Netherlands in another month to complete her Master's Degree near Maastricht. As a going away gift, I had hoped to find some books for her on Holland, so Chi and I decided to head downtown for lunch yesterday to see what we could find.
Ok, that was really just an excuse to go to one of my favorite restaurants in Hanoi to eat. The restaurant, Quan An Ngon, is an extremely popular eatery started by an entreprenuer here in town.
The premise is amazingly simple. He approached the best street vendors in Hanoi, basically gave them stalls around a courtyard where they could prepare their specialties, a share of the restaurant's earnings which far exceed what they could make on their own and, in the process, created a one-stop shop for all sorts of great Vietnamese food in a clean, comfortable setting.
The setting is awesome. The courtyard is built around a huge tree in the center (see trunk unflatteringly extending from woman's head, center). Awning's have been attached to the tree and extend to the vendors stalls along the sides to provide shade. (This generally works fairly well although on a visit a month or so ago, I got caught in a downpour for nearly an hour; the restaurant was partially flooded as we waited for the rain to stop; of course, the next day, all was well).
Better than the setting is the food. The menu is huge and food from all over Vietnam can be sampled here. Today we got Bahn Xeo, a specialty from Saigon which is one of my favorites.
The main ingredient is a thin, crepe-like pancake filled with, in this case, pork, shrimp (or as they often like say here, "shrimps") and bean sprouts in the center. The waiter cuts the pancake with pair of scissors to create wedges small enough to fold into rice paper along with fresh herbs resulting in a modified springroll. Add a dip of fish sauce and it's "Yum!".
In the background, you can see the second dish, which is bahn cuon which is a crepe-like roll made from a thin, wide sheet of rice flour filled with ground pork and minced mushroom. It's like a Vietnamese dumpling, except shaped more like a springroll. And did I say "yum"?
Finally, we had a serving of bun mang suon moc. This is another pho-like dish featuring pork ribs and bamboo. It's got a slightly tangy flavor and is, like virtually everything else I've eaten in this country, delicious.
You may have noticed that the bun mang suon moc you see here happens to be flanked by the best part of Quan An Ngon of all and that's their ca phe sua da. As you might have guessed, I've tried this at every restaurant north of Indonesia and the ca phe sua da is, hands down, the best anywhere. Since Craig and I now have a set of ca phe sua da brewers, we shall spend our remaining days attempting to determine how we can best replicate this recipe once I return to the US!
After all the good eats, we rolled out of the restaurant and down the street to a couple of nearby bookstores in hopes of finding some books on Holland for Ms Hoa.
We didn't have much luck finding books on Holland (it would have been much easier had she been getting her degree in China, France, the US/England or Poland). But it was fun to poke around several Vietnamese book stores to see what they had.
For Ms Hoa's going away party, we gathered at a nearby Vietnamese restaurant here in Tay Ho. The restaurant was fine and the food, pretty tasty (although I'll spare you more pictures; you can only take so many pictures of chicken and fish heads!), but more than anything else, it was the company.
First off, Ms Hoa's probably the sweetest (next to Chi, at least), most naive girl you could meet. I'm so excited about her plans to attend school in Holland and know it will be a life-changing experience for her. She's smart and is a hard worker, so I know she'll do well. But she's going to be terribly homesick during her initial weeks in Europe, so if anyone out there has any friends in the greater Maastricht area, let me know!
Second, there was a group of twelve of us, none of whom was much more than half my age. As is customary for the only lefty in the group, I sat at the end of our table with Thanh, Mr Liem (this week's groom) and Mr Long (the guy Chi and I went to Bat Trang Village with a couple of months ago). Chi, Ms Hoa and Mr Minh (my karaoke buddy) also sat nearby and we just had a great time. We talked about food and work and Holland and about how Ms Hoa should meet Thanh's brother (who also lives in the Netherlands) and we ate and drank beer and laughed and toasted (Update: the proper toast, at the top of one's lungs, is "Mot, hai, ba, yo!; hai, ba, yo!; hai ba, uong!" or "one, two, three, cheers!; two, three, cheers!; two, three, drink!") and it was just an exceptional evening.
There's a lot I will miss about Vietnam when I leave in another six weeks, but it's the friends I've made here that I will miss most.
(And Quan An Ngon's ca phe sua da).
Ok, that was really just an excuse to go to one of my favorite restaurants in Hanoi to eat. The restaurant, Quan An Ngon, is an extremely popular eatery started by an entreprenuer here in town.
The premise is amazingly simple. He approached the best street vendors in Hanoi, basically gave them stalls around a courtyard where they could prepare their specialties, a share of the restaurant's earnings which far exceed what they could make on their own and, in the process, created a one-stop shop for all sorts of great Vietnamese food in a clean, comfortable setting.
 |
| Two of many booths surrounding the courtyard |
 |
| Looking into the courtyard from the entry |
Better than the setting is the food. The menu is huge and food from all over Vietnam can be sampled here. Today we got Bahn Xeo, a specialty from Saigon which is one of my favorites.
The main ingredient is a thin, crepe-like pancake filled with, in this case, pork, shrimp (or as they often like say here, "shrimps") and bean sprouts in the center. The waiter cuts the pancake with pair of scissors to create wedges small enough to fold into rice paper along with fresh herbs resulting in a modified springroll. Add a dip of fish sauce and it's "Yum!".
In the background, you can see the second dish, which is bahn cuon which is a crepe-like roll made from a thin, wide sheet of rice flour filled with ground pork and minced mushroom. It's like a Vietnamese dumpling, except shaped more like a springroll. And did I say "yum"?
Finally, we had a serving of bun mang suon moc. This is another pho-like dish featuring pork ribs and bamboo. It's got a slightly tangy flavor and is, like virtually everything else I've eaten in this country, delicious.
You may have noticed that the bun mang suon moc you see here happens to be flanked by the best part of Quan An Ngon of all and that's their ca phe sua da. As you might have guessed, I've tried this at every restaurant north of Indonesia and the ca phe sua da is, hands down, the best anywhere. Since Craig and I now have a set of ca phe sua da brewers, we shall spend our remaining days attempting to determine how we can best replicate this recipe once I return to the US!
After all the good eats, we rolled out of the restaurant and down the street to a couple of nearby bookstores in hopes of finding some books on Holland for Ms Hoa.
This shop was air conditioned (note fan on sidewalk)
(I think the books for Holland in this store are right next to the #6-1 5/8 inch coarse phosphate-plated steel bugle-head phillips drywall screws I mentioned in yesterday's blog). :o)
For Ms Hoa's going away party, we gathered at a nearby Vietnamese restaurant here in Tay Ho. The restaurant was fine and the food, pretty tasty (although I'll spare you more pictures; you can only take so many pictures of chicken and fish heads!), but more than anything else, it was the company.
First off, Ms Hoa's probably the sweetest (next to Chi, at least), most naive girl you could meet. I'm so excited about her plans to attend school in Holland and know it will be a life-changing experience for her. She's smart and is a hard worker, so I know she'll do well. But she's going to be terribly homesick during her initial weeks in Europe, so if anyone out there has any friends in the greater Maastricht area, let me know!
Second, there was a group of twelve of us, none of whom was much more than half my age. As is customary for the only lefty in the group, I sat at the end of our table with Thanh, Mr Liem (this week's groom) and Mr Long (the guy Chi and I went to Bat Trang Village with a couple of months ago). Chi, Ms Hoa and Mr Minh (my karaoke buddy) also sat nearby and we just had a great time. We talked about food and work and Holland and about how Ms Hoa should meet Thanh's brother (who also lives in the Netherlands) and we ate and drank beer and laughed and toasted (Update: the proper toast, at the top of one's lungs, is "Mot, hai, ba, yo!; hai, ba, yo!; hai ba, uong!" or "one, two, three, cheers!; two, three, cheers!; two, three, drink!") and it was just an exceptional evening.
There's a lot I will miss about Vietnam when I leave in another six weeks, but it's the friends I've made here that I will miss most.
(And Quan An Ngon's ca phe sua da).
Friday, July 15, 2011
The Home Depot
Since my week's have been getting busier, I thought I'd go back through old pictures I've taken, but haven't yet had a chance to post. Often I'll be out and about and just snap a quick photo of something in passing, not really having any idea how it might fit into the blog. So today's posting theme is "home repair" and consists of some random shots I've taken over the last few months.
Where home repair (and retailing in general is concerned), Vietnam is still 40 years behind (and that's not necessarily a bad thing). The vast majority of business is done in mom and pop shops, usually run out of the first floor of their own homes. There aren't any big box stores to speak of (with the exception of "Big C" which looks like a Costco, except tackier - Sam's Club, maybe?). Even the FiviMart Grocery store is only about the size of a 1970s super market (not that I'm old enough to know what one of those might have looked like).
So it's always interesting to walk down the street and look inside at the various businesses which line the road. There seem to be an inordinate number of "home repair"-type businesses, several of which can be found here in Tay Ho. They're the equivalent of the Vietnamese Home Depot. Same, same, but different!
Good luck finding a #6-1 5/8 inch coarse phosphate-plated steel bugle-head phillips drywall screw in there!
Of course, buying something here means you've got to get your purchase home. And that leads to this:
And this:
And this:
Can anyone say "home delivery"?
Tonight I'm attending Ms Hoa's going away party (she's moving to the Netherland's to get her Master's Degree next month). Hopefully I'll have good stories and none of which will involve karaoke!
Where home repair (and retailing in general is concerned), Vietnam is still 40 years behind (and that's not necessarily a bad thing). The vast majority of business is done in mom and pop shops, usually run out of the first floor of their own homes. There aren't any big box stores to speak of (with the exception of "Big C" which looks like a Costco, except tackier - Sam's Club, maybe?). Even the FiviMart Grocery store is only about the size of a 1970s super market (not that I'm old enough to know what one of those might have looked like).
So it's always interesting to walk down the street and look inside at the various businesses which line the road. There seem to be an inordinate number of "home repair"-type businesses, several of which can be found here in Tay Ho. They're the equivalent of the Vietnamese Home Depot. Same, same, but different!
Good luck finding a #6-1 5/8 inch coarse phosphate-plated steel bugle-head phillips drywall screw in there!
Of course, buying something here means you've got to get your purchase home. And that leads to this:
And this:
And this:
Can anyone say "home delivery"?
Tonight I'm attending Ms Hoa's going away party (she's moving to the Netherland's to get her Master's Degree next month). Hopefully I'll have good stories and none of which will involve karaoke!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
A Day of Firsts!
After being here for nearly five months now, it's hard to believe that there are many "firsts" left to be had. But today I had a few, the highlight of which was my first Vietnamese wedding.
The "first first" wasn't so fortunate. Chi's grandfather (and the father of Air Mekong Chairman, Mr Viet) was admitted to the hospital early this morning after vomiting blood during the night. He's generally been in good health, but they're afraid it may be stomach cancer and are running tests.
As is customary in Vietnam, Les and I made a visit to see him this afternoon at the Military Hospital in Downtown Hanoi. If circumstances permit, I'll write more about our visit at some point in the future. For now, he seems to be doing well, but I'm sure he, Chi and their family would appreciate your thinking of them in your thoughts and prayers.
The second first was that Les, our CEO, upgraded Scooters earlier this week, and, like a little brother who gets the hand-me-downs, I've inherited his Scooter. It's a red, automatic Yamaha Nouvo and, compared to the manual Wave I've been driving, rides like a limousine! Tonight was my first trip out and it, as my friend Thanh would say, "was fantastique!"
My third "first" was that my initial outing on my new Scooter took me out of Tay Ho during rush hour at 5:30pm. Normally any driving I do is well after rush hour if I travel into town or is over the weekend when there's less traffic.
Tonight we travelled west of town and there were cars everywhere. In an attempt to avoid construction, we took what I think was a shortcut on a very narrow street which was clogged with Scooters. As we sat idling, there were folks on both sides of the alley selling fruit and live chickens and sunglasses and brooms. Definitely not your typical rush hour.
After driving for 20 minutes or so, we arrived at my "last first", the wedding (or wedding reception, I'm still not quite sure) of one of my fellow co-workers, Mr Liem. Mr Liem is a very nice guy with a big smile and happy demeanor and works in our Cargo Sales Department. He married one Ms Phuong from Saigon and they've spent the last week travelling around Vietnam, holding receptions in Ho Chi Minh City, here in Hanoi and last in Mr Liem's hometown outside of Hanoi.
We arrived at what looked like a commercial hall which looked like it hosted wedding events as a business. Outside, the bride, groom and their families greeted guests as they went inside.
Once inside, there were dozens of dinner tables around which guests sat, waiting for whatever was next. After everyone had arrived, the wedding procession began.
It was quite the production! Glitter cannons, fireworks, balloons, a procession of men with things on their heads (see stage left) and free food! It was almost as good as a Las Vegas show!
After the couple had exchanged a toast, everyone began eating...and drinking. There was plenty of good food to be had and Chi thought it was especially funny that anything which had a head happened to be pointing in my direction.
Once everyone had finished eating, it was pretty much a race for the door (for the most part, very much like most receptions I've attended in Utah!). Aside from the Air Mekong group, the place was empty by 7pm.
I work with a young, lively bunch, however, and my group wasn't finished drinking or toasting the happy couple. In the Vietnamese tradition, several traditional "Mot, hai, ba, Yo!" ("One, two, three, cheers!") toasts were given, followed by beer guzzling to the bottom of one's glass (this would be the part which is very much unlike most wedding receptions I've attended in Utah). I was able to hold my own largely due to the fact that Hanoi Beer really isn't all that potent.
Curiously, the more my Vietnamese buddies drank, the redder they became. We talked about this and apparently between the more common Vietnamese blood type (O) and/or the yeast content in Vietnamese beer, it's not unusual to turn very red with every beer you consume. By the end of the night, several of my buddies were beet red.
Of course, the evening wasn't yet over. There was karaoke to be had! We left the wedding reception and motored through Hanoi to a nearby karaoke hall (which, in Hanoi, is really not hard to do. They're like Starbucks in New York City; there's literally one on every corner).
While the crowd requested yet another Celine Dion, I deferred this time in favor of Abba ("Mamma Mia") and a Michael Jackson song ("Heal the World"?) chosen for me by Chi and Mr Minh, respectively.
All in all, it was a great evening spending time with my friends here in Hanoi.
 |
| My first Vietnamese wedding invitation |
As is customary in Vietnam, Les and I made a visit to see him this afternoon at the Military Hospital in Downtown Hanoi. If circumstances permit, I'll write more about our visit at some point in the future. For now, he seems to be doing well, but I'm sure he, Chi and their family would appreciate your thinking of them in your thoughts and prayers.
The second first was that Les, our CEO, upgraded Scooters earlier this week, and, like a little brother who gets the hand-me-downs, I've inherited his Scooter. It's a red, automatic Yamaha Nouvo and, compared to the manual Wave I've been driving, rides like a limousine! Tonight was my first trip out and it, as my friend Thanh would say, "was fantastique!"
My third "first" was that my initial outing on my new Scooter took me out of Tay Ho during rush hour at 5:30pm. Normally any driving I do is well after rush hour if I travel into town or is over the weekend when there's less traffic.
Tonight we travelled west of town and there were cars everywhere. In an attempt to avoid construction, we took what I think was a shortcut on a very narrow street which was clogged with Scooters. As we sat idling, there were folks on both sides of the alley selling fruit and live chickens and sunglasses and brooms. Definitely not your typical rush hour.
After driving for 20 minutes or so, we arrived at my "last first", the wedding (or wedding reception, I'm still not quite sure) of one of my fellow co-workers, Mr Liem. Mr Liem is a very nice guy with a big smile and happy demeanor and works in our Cargo Sales Department. He married one Ms Phuong from Saigon and they've spent the last week travelling around Vietnam, holding receptions in Ho Chi Minh City, here in Hanoi and last in Mr Liem's hometown outside of Hanoi.
We arrived at what looked like a commercial hall which looked like it hosted wedding events as a business. Outside, the bride, groom and their families greeted guests as they went inside.
 |
| Outside the wedding hall (you can see Mr Liem in his suit in the upper left) |
 |
| The groom and bride |
It was quite the production! Glitter cannons, fireworks, balloons, a procession of men with things on their heads (see stage left) and free food! It was almost as good as a Las Vegas show!
After the couple had exchanged a toast, everyone began eating...and drinking. There was plenty of good food to be had and Chi thought it was especially funny that anything which had a head happened to be pointing in my direction.
Once everyone had finished eating, it was pretty much a race for the door (for the most part, very much like most receptions I've attended in Utah!). Aside from the Air Mekong group, the place was empty by 7pm.
I work with a young, lively bunch, however, and my group wasn't finished drinking or toasting the happy couple. In the Vietnamese tradition, several traditional "Mot, hai, ba, Yo!" ("One, two, three, cheers!") toasts were given, followed by beer guzzling to the bottom of one's glass (this would be the part which is very much unlike most wedding receptions I've attended in Utah). I was able to hold my own largely due to the fact that Hanoi Beer really isn't all that potent.
Curiously, the more my Vietnamese buddies drank, the redder they became. We talked about this and apparently between the more common Vietnamese blood type (O) and/or the yeast content in Vietnamese beer, it's not unusual to turn very red with every beer you consume. By the end of the night, several of my buddies were beet red.
 |
| You can see Mr Thanh, left, who doesn't suffer from beer redness much. Our friend, Mr Truong, however to his left looks to be ready to burst he's so red. |
While the crowd requested yet another Celine Dion, I deferred this time in favor of Abba ("Mamma Mia") and a Michael Jackson song ("Heal the World"?) chosen for me by Chi and Mr Minh, respectively.
 |
| Mr Minh singin' his heart out while Chi and Ms Dzung listen |
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Not much I can add...
Now that Craig's safely returned home (with an unexpected stop in Minneapolis), it's great to re-read his account of our vacation last week. He couldn't have summed our trip up any more perfectly. More than anything, it was fantastic to share with him all the great things about Vietnam I've discovered over the last four and a half months and it was hard to see him leave.
Since Craig's post was so thorough, though, there's not much I can add other than to share a few additional pictures I had from the trip.
As Craig mentioned, we spent two days aboard a Syrena Cruise at Ha Long Bay. Between the group of Taiwanese we travelled with, their karaoke-fest late into the night and our lack of air conditioning, it was an interesting trip.
After returning to Hanoi, we spent time with Thanh and his girlfriend Van. They were kind enough to take Craig and I on a last minute Sunday morning drive before his flight left Sunday afternoon.
We made a short drive to the Thay Pagoda in Chua Thay, about 30km Southwest of Hanoi.
After being eaten alive by mosquitos at the Pagoda on top of the hill, we then climbed back down inside the hill while visiting the Phat Thic and Cac Co Caves. (Sorry, no pictures. It was dark). Of course no trip to a pagoda or cave would be complete without a ca phe sua da, which we had on our way back to Hanoi. :o)
In closing, I'll share one last pic. In case anyone was wondering exactly how prolific the scooter culture in Vietnam is, I think this pretty much says it all:
Since Craig's post was so thorough, though, there's not much I can add other than to share a few additional pictures I had from the trip.
As Craig mentioned, we spent two days aboard a Syrena Cruise at Ha Long Bay. Between the group of Taiwanese we travelled with, their karaoke-fest late into the night and our lack of air conditioning, it was an interesting trip.
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| View from the Sun Deck |
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| We climbed to the Pagoda atop Titop Island |
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| Beautiful Sunset |
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| After a long, sleepless night, we awoke to a beautiful rain shower at sunrise |
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| ...and then it really started raining. |
We made a short drive to the Thay Pagoda in Chua Thay, about 30km Southwest of Hanoi.
In closing, I'll share one last pic. In case anyone was wondering exactly how prolific the scooter culture in Vietnam is, I think this pretty much says it all:
It's the first and only sign of FedEx I've seen in Vietnam and was taken on our layover in Saigon.
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