Foot and Fire

              In 2010, my friends and I went to Saigon and it was followed by a trip to Hanoi in 2012. One of the most memorable thing I did on my first day in Saigon is the trip to a grocery store where I spent more than 500,000 dong for food items including rice noodles and rice papers, and another more than 500,000 dong inside the mall for souvenirs which includes a pretty tea set. We were a bit feeling bad because we all spent at least a million dong. Of course, the numbers are just numbers because a dollar then is 20,000 dong.          When we left for home, I was teased by everyone when instead of throwing a pack of rice noodles, I unpacked it and placed the lump of noodles in every pocket of my bags. It was crazy.           In Hanoi, we brought home coffee and condensed milk because the vietnamese iced coffee is worth bagging and carrying back home. Well, what else can y...

 After the Tinagong Dagat trek, 2009 This is how I looked after traversing the Bacolod to Talisay route using the trail via Tinagong Dagat.  No hiking experience, fresh from 8-5 desk job, no gears (not even a raincoat), I ended up like a Vietnamese finding refuge anywhere in the Mekong River paddies. If you can picture that, you know what I meant. Meanwhile, the expert hikers have raincoats, as pictured below. In short, my first travel tip is: Be prepared to look ridiculous!

I used the Pho Ga to make soup base for noodle soup. "Pho" means soup, "Ga" means Chicken.  The Kanokwan is a Pad Thai Paste, I already used it up. It is not good. It has no peanut in it and it is very much loaded with sugar. The Tom Yum soup base (another Thai specialty) is still lying in the cabinet for some days of kitchen experiment.  Thank you to my Saigon-based friend Anna Wang for the generous gift. We enrolled together in a cooking class in Ho Chi Minh City and we passed the cooking test together!

We freely roamed the park in the middle of SaPa Valley and had a great time with the tripod and our poses. We love the relaxing atmosphere of SaPa, despite the fact that Vietnamese walk fast as in brisk walking for us. We also love the maintenance of the plants in the park...  ****  A Catholic Church in Sapa is near the market where the tribal people are selling their goods from bags to dresses to peaches. *** We passed by a stall roasting Lechon de leche... *** By the lake of the Sapa Park. *** Sorry, I have no flashy flash. I just got this hazy photo. But this is for your bird's eyeview of Sapa at night only. *** The intricately designed plant at the park. *** By the garden in the park. Nice flowers. Pretty ladies. *** Click, click before she breezes through me, lol. At the lake. In the morning, one can ride in their duck boat for sure. ***

Here are our photos of our half day cooking class at the Saigon Culinary Art Center. And yes, the chef looks like Pacquaio, just a little handsomer. We passed with certificates of recognition. In some photos, we were with a small lady. She is the interpreter who speaks English well but still with the accent and speed of the Vietnamese. We just have to listen intently to her as we had a skill test afterwards... So cute photo op corner... I am guarded by Ms. Intepreter and Mr. Chef. We are cooking up a fish sour soup using starfruit. Claypot lotus salad lotus salad on top of chicharon he's steaming rice instead of boiling My saigon-based friend, Ann with the Chef.  

We had our first bowl of beef soup called   Pho Bo   in a shop fronting a highway. We were busy eating, counting our millions, and taking photos of motorcycles rushing in the highway like swarm of black ants. The highway of HCMC is vibrant and dangerous. One can see women wearing the traditional dress and miniskirts driving the motorcycle while the bus is following. On the highway, there are a few bicycles competing with the motorcycles. On our first day, I was like on the brink of traffic accident for three times. First, we were afraid to cross the street because of the rushing motorcycles. Second thing, motorcycles pass through the sidewalk meant to be the footwalk so that pedestrians cannot just dilly dally in nooks and corners of the street. On our second day, we know what to do: run in crossing the highway and just walk straight with no hesitation as the motorcycle driver will just be the one to find his way. On the first day, I was forced by no choice to take a ri...

We were enchanted by the aptly named stream, The Fairy Stream. Mui Ne, Pan Thiet is a worth visit from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). As one website describes it,Phan Thiet is the largest town in Binh Thuan province, 200 km east of Saigon. With the clear sky, the blue sea and abundant sand, Phan Thiet is a beautiful landscape. Though today tourism plays a very important role in the local economy, Phan Thiet is traditionally known for its fish sauce. As a fact, most travelers come to Phan Thiet for heading to Mui Ne Beach, 11km away. Mui Ne is along a 22 km stretch of white sands from Phan Thiet to a fishing village at the tip of the Mui Ne peninsula and 220km away from Ho Chi Minh City. It is a popular destination worldwide thanks to lovely scenery of swaying palm trees, clean and blue sea as well as the amazing enormous Sand Hill. .   More Here We headed to a magical place of red and white sand dunes which colors the stream beside it and flanked on the other side by the lu...

Motorcycle-infested city is Ho Chi Minh and the riders respect no footwalk...  Saigon is the old name of Vietnam's capital city now called Ho Chi Minh, a name of the country's national hero who was instrumental to their independence from France. Thus, there is no wonder that most structures in HCMC is European-inspired just like their post office and the  cathedral. Their palace called The Reunification Hall where they once hold governmental functions is so modern that it will not surprise you. There are tourist police who can help one navigate the streets of HCMC which is motorcycle-infested and their parks as well as streets are clean. Here are my random photos of HCMC. The Reunification Hall The children following their teacher dressed  in their national costume called ao dai. Photo souvenir with the tank... Resting in a clean park. The Notre Dame Cathedral "A French-built Catholic cathedral located in the city centre  (Do...