Of Rice and Ramen

Our culinary exploits in Vietnam have turned out to be worthy of a blog all unto themselves. From fine dining creations in our hotel room, to Vietnamese pancakes, to street food, to the joy of Bobby Brewers…the GW’s stretched our dollars to stay in budget and had a great time doing it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here Stephanie is preparing our rice for our dinner…yes in the bathroom. See video below…hillarious. Next is the classic college favorite…that I actually haven’t had since college…RAMEN! It’s just as cheap in Vietnam as it is in the States, so we had lots this month.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Street food! I tried hot soya milk which I loved, had lots of pho (noodle soup), had some sort of rice porridge cooked by a lady in an alley, and tried various types of unidentifiable meats and veggies with rice…or noodles just to mix things up. They like to display all of their raw ingredients in the display case facing the street…as though seeing a raw duck (head and all) would entice you to choose their stand over another.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we also have take out or take away food…always including a handy pair of chop sticks and chili sauce. Then there is the drink in a bag to go – a staple in the Asian cultures.   I’ve figured out it’s because the bag can be hung on a handy hook on their motorbikes, whereas a cup would never survive the journey those bikes make on a daily basis. I even once found sweet tea…and Dr. Pepper!! Those were happy days indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was one of my favorite Vietnamese meals…it was called a pancake, but it’s really more of a crepe, filled with all kinds of stuff. They ordered it with shrimp, mushrooms, flowers (not flour…but flowers), pork, and…of course, squid. Topped off with a myriad of choices for greenery to top it all off with. I stealthily navigated around those parts that I wasn’t feeling adventurous enough to try, but what I did have was fantastic! Turns out I like eating flowers…who knew? The last picture was of our team oasis…Bobby Brewers. This coffee shop/cafe has excellent food…not too pricey, and the top floor is a movie theater where they show the latest American movies for free! In fact, I have already seen the new X-Men movie there…which unless I’m mistaken has yet to hit theaters at home. But…just to curb your jealousy, I should also mention that the movie wasn’t exactly in its final ready for production form. There were still cables that could be seen during the stunts and lots of parts that were still just cartooned in for final computer animation. It was entertaining for sure though!