Asia Steps

View of Japan Airlines Planes from Cafe Avion

We’re sitting at the beautiful “Avion Café & Bar” at Narita Airport in Tokyo. We arrived early this morning and have over 4 hours before our next flight leaves for New York. We walked around for a bit and looked at all the goodies and yummy confections, we even passed a “Yahoo Cafe” where people can use the Internet for free. The “Avion” has huge windows overlooking the tarmac area where large airplanes are parked waiting to take off.

We ate a light breakfast on board at 3 a.m. (!) and were hungry again by 9a.m. We got gyoza dumpling and shrimp tempura udon to share, both were great! It’s so exciting to have Japanese food in Japan!

We were in the mood for some pho in the morning and drove into town searching for a place serving that wonderful morning dish. It seems pho is not as popular here as it is in HCMC and we ended up having baguette with egg. We drove once again to Vietnam Airlines and this time we got lucky-we were able to get tickets for a flight back to HCMC for the following day! Although we could have easily stayed on the island for another 2 weeks, we were relieved that we won’t need to spend a whole day journeying back by boat and bus.

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With Tim & Magalie

The Coffee is so good in Saigon; I find it hard to not have at least two a day. Before starting the day’s adventure, Kevin drove us to a cafe he knows by the Notre Dame cathedral, called “Au Parc”. We had great coffee and were quickly on our way to meet friends in District 2. In order to get to District 2, we drove over the Saigon Bridge along with about a thousand other motorbikes. Our friends, Tim and Magalie, have recently moved from France to Vietnam with their two daughters-Niko-Linh and Suzanne. They live in a big house in a beautiful residential neighborhood. Very close to their home, Magalie recently opened a children’s clothing store, named “Little Anh-Em” where she sells unique clothes she designs for kids.

After a visit to a local French school where Niko-Linh dances and we had a great lunch at “Mekong”, we said goodbye and drove back for another meeting at “Highlands Café”. Kevin was starting to feel sick so we headed back to the hotel for some R&R but not before getting the local remedy for every sickness- pho bo (beef noodle soup)!

We continued touring Angkor temples, this time driving further out to see Banteay Srei – “Citadel of Women” and Kbal Spean – “River of Thousand Lingas”. While climbing up to see the waterfall (more like a puddle during this season), we ran into a few friendly Cambodian students who were happy to chat for a bit and give us recommendations. After getting back to the city, we went to a wonderful French Cambodian restaurant and enjoyed the closest thing we’ve had so far to a fancy dinner.

Life in Vietnam starts very early and people are out and about having breakfast by 6am. Sometimes it looks as if they never went to sleep but just took a quick nap between evening/late night eating and the morning pho. On Wed morning we went to Hanoi market which is just a few blocks from our hotel in the old quarter. The market is a wonderful celebration of colors, smells and smiley people. You can find every kind of shrimp, crab, squid and spices alongside a roasted dog (tail and teeth attached…) and frogs. We decided to skip the roasted dog and sat down at the Banh Cuon table. After fitting our larger-than-local butts on the little plastic stools we ordered 2 dishes of Banh Cuon - a rice flour crepe filled with pork and mushroom pate topped with crispy fried shallots. As soon as we finished our dishes and had a chance to chat with the locals, we got a third plate but still, somehow that breakfast wasn’t enough for us and we both had the same thought-Banh Mi! It was time for the Vietnamese sandwich (baguette with pork, cilantro, carrot, fish sauce and pate). Yum!

Hoan Kiem Lake at 6:45 this morning

After 4hrs of sleep, we got up all excited and energized this morning and went for an early morning walk around Hoan Kiem Lake to see all the early risers work out. People gather at the lake very early in the morning for Tai Chi, stretching, dancing or just meditating. It is a very special way to start the morning.

We had our first Pho and walked around the old city and market area. We are now enjoying Cafe Su Da (Vietnamese ice coffee) in a cool cafe called Puku which has wireless internet. Everybody is wearing long sleeve shirts, some even wear sweater but it’s hot! I’m walking around in my flip flops. Ok, time for another quick meal!

What? That’s it, we’re here already? Are you sure this plane isn’t continuing all the way to Hanoi? Do I really need to exit the plane now? Let’s just say, that’s how difficult it was to leave the luxurious world of Business Class on a 13.5 hour flight from New York to Tokyo. That was simply the most amazing flight I’ve ever taken!
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If I told you I’m busy eating pizza, salads from Cosi and Starbucks coffee so that I can get my fill before I go 5 weeks without those NY staples…I’d be lying. I’m already eating Vietnamese food and I haven’t even left town yet. This latest feast on Friday night was at one of our favorite Vietnamese restaurants in Chinatown, Pho Viet Huong, as part of a weekly meeting by the New York Vietnamese Language and Culture Meetup.
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Photo: Tamar, Thu, Phuc, Thao, Bao

Every traveler knows that the real reason to see the world is FOOD. Trying new things while guessing the ingredients is half the fun right there. Eating in South East Asia is a real joy, even if it comes at a high price (Imodium, ring a bell?) Many places I remember by dishes: there’s Dalat’s Asparagus crab meat soup, Hanoi’s Pho, Hue’s Bun Bo, Hoi An’s ‘white rose’, Koh Lanta’s crab in beer….. Continue Reading »