Rau Ma Drink

Tonight, after a long day at work, I went with Philipp to a local Vietnamese restaurant to try some new food. We started with a cold drink called “Rau Ma” which doesn’t look very appetizing but is very good. Rau Ma is made of ground Pennywort with ice and sugar (lots of sugar).

Bot Chien

This great drink goes really well with “Bot Chien”. Originally a Chinese dish, Bot Chien is made of rice flour cubes with fried eggs and vegetables. This may not have been the best choice for dietary reasons but it was oh so yummy!

photo credit: rooymans2000

I couldn’t make up my mind whether I wanted to spend a weekend in Singapore or Hong Kong. I posted a question on my Facebook profile and almost everyone said I should go to Hong Kong. One friend, however, brought up the very good point of the weather being much nicer in Singapore (you don’t need to say “cold” twice to an Israeli girl to scare her off) and when you lump that with how much cheaper it would be – a decision was made – I am going to Singapore!

I feel that another good reason to go to Singapore is to learn for myself what this place is all about. If I hear one more person (who has never traveled there) tell me: “oh, Singapore, yes, you know you can’t spit on the sidewalk there and a few years ago some guy went to jail for chewing gum”, I will scream. How can that be the only thing we know about a country?? Here’s a slightly more interesting fact, the symbol of Singapore is the “Merlion”, half-fish and half-lion beast.

The food is said to be spectacular and I am very much looking forward to it.

Anyway, I booked my ticket and am going next weekend!

More Than Just A Diagnosis

Philipp, a co-worker at MSS, had a motorcycle accident yesterday. This is quite common in Vietnam and is not really a big deal. This time, however, Philipp got pretty scratched up and decided to go to a hospital. Considering he wasn’t wearing a helmet during the time of accident, he was very lucky to only have a few scratches here and there. This morning he showed up in the office (after driving his motorcycle to work of course) bruised yet cheerful and we were talking about his accident. He showed me the doctor’s note he received at the hospital and it was just so funny I had to take a photo. Take a look at the last item under treatment!

My Friend Trang at Dinner

I met my friend, Trang, for dinner at one of the Banh Trang restaurants in the city. At a Banh Trang restaurant you order meat or fish and get a huge basket full of herbs (some are quite exotic), cucumber slices, bean sprouts, dry rice flour crepes, pickled carrots/shallots and fish sauce of course. The fun part is assembling your meal: you take a little of each ingredient using chopsticks, place it on the rice paper and transform it into a nice roll. Some do it a little more gracefully than others (mine kinda looked like a Vietnamese Burrito) but either way, it is super yummy.

Tien Dat Resort

I am in heaven, also known as Mui Ne beach. I arrived in Phan Thiet very late Wednesday night after a 4.5 hr bus ride from HCMC. Phan Thiet is located north east of HCMC, by the South China sea. It is a very popular beach retreat with Vietnamese and expats alike.

As soon as the bus pulled into Mui Ne, I noticed large fields of dragonfruit trees everywhere. The trees look like a psychedelic cactus and when it’s lit at night, it’s even more magical.

I wake up every morning in my beautiful sea view room at Tien Dat resort to the sound of the waves. My daily routine includes, tanning by the pool, tanning at the beach, lunching with friends at “Sailing Club”, exploring Mui Ne by foot and reading on my porch. It’s definitely exhausting.

All the resorts are located on one stretch lined with coconut trees and excellent seafood BBQ restaurants. In between the resorts, you can sometimes spot a couple of cows or a duck.

This is all so relaxing, I have completely lost sense of time. I think I am going to make this a Christmas tradition.

Merry Christmas!

Eating Latkes in Vietnam

All kinds of unexpected things have been happening to me today. This morning, I got locked inside my apartment, my roommate forgot I live there too and put a lock on the door which can only be opened from outside. Normally, there are two nice ladies parked on fold up chairs in the hallway watching people go by the whole day. Luck would have it that this morning, they were nowhere to be found. After waiting a while for them to come back, I devised a whole operation that included a mirror (angled at the hallway), keys and my face shoved in between the bars. Once they came back, I used the 5 words I speak in Vietnamese and was quickly released. A real Hanukkah miracle!

I rushed to work and realized that today is the day a TV crew was coming to MSS to film a short report about Americans celebrating Tet in HCMC. The crew followed Aryeh around for a while until they realized they need some strong supporting actors and I was chosen! I knew I’d be discovered one day! So, scenes of me walking around with Aryeh and Bao in Zen Plaza are being edited as I type soon to be on a Vietnamese TV channel.

After work, I went over to Saigon Center where Chabad was throwing a Hanukkah party for the Jewish community in the city and Israeli backpackers passing through. It was my first time eating Latkes with dragonfruit, not a traditional Jewish combination by any means, it was great.

We love animals and it’s always fun to read about new and exciting things in the animal world, especially when they happen in Vietnam and the rest of Southeast Asia!

Two articles recently appeared on CNN.com and both feature some cool creatures that were recently discovered.

Laotian Rat, thought to be extinct

You can read about rare monkeys found in Vietnam or you can find out about all of the newly discovered species found in the region of the Mekong!

A Day in Cholon

My friend, Thi Bay, came up from Cantho (Mekong Delta) to spend the weekend in Ho Chi Minh City. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to see of the tourist attractions of HCMC. Thi Bay’s friend, Elizabeth, joined us for the day and the three of us went around exploring the city.

After breakfast, we decided to drive out to Cholon (district 5) and visit the must sees of that area. Cholon is the bustling Chinese part of HCMC, it also happens to be the place where Kevin was born!

We started at the Quan Am Pagoda which features great carvings and statues made even more beautiful by the constant thick cloud of incense. After admiring the magic of the Pagoda, we made our way through crazy traffic to the big Cholon market. The market has everything one could ever want, well, almost everything. It is no problem getting dry fish, medicinal mushrooms or a “North Face” backpack, but when it comes to simple body lotion, that’s a different story. It turns out that in Vietnam, body lotions are mixed with some suspicious sounding skin whitening chemicals.

We gave up on the lotion search and sat down for a yummy Che!

This Morning's Cafe Sua Da

The company I work for, MSS, is throwing a lavish Christmas party this year at a cool venue in the city. The invitation I got said “Please choose the hottest and most charming costume”. Unfortunately for me, all of the qualifying outfits stayed at home in NY. With one day to go, I realized that other than office and beach clothes I brought, I have nothing to wear.

Just like any other sensible woman, I went shopping.

Shopping for a dress in Vietnam is really not a fun activity for me since:
A. I hate shopping. Whatever the occasion/season/location, can’t stand it.
B. This is no ego boost (to put it mildly), everything is very small, tight and short.

After a couple of stores I was ready to join the local “Weight Watchers” and vowed to lay off the cafe sua da (super sweet ice coffee). I walked by a maternity clothing store and even those dresses looked too small to me. Normally, this is when I would give up and reminisce about the good old days when my Grandma used to make my clothes for me. Not really an option this time.

Determined to win this battle and find a dress, I continued on. After what seemed like 50 stores, I found a very nice shop with a very patient and friendly saleswoman. I tried on a few dresses and they all fit! I chose a dress and left the store smiling.

I can now enjoy another sugary drink in peace.

I live in a small neighborhood called Ton That Tuyet in District 4, just across the Saigon River. This neighborhood is 100% Vietnamese, well, minus 2 people: Aryeh and me. This definitely makes for a more authentic experience than staying in the tourist area and I am loving it.

The other night, I decided to get dinner in my hood and started walking around checking out the street food options. My little stroll caused quite a commotion, with every third person stopping to say “hi”, kids smiling and some folks waving or simply pointing. I felt like the queen of England, only better dressed.

I sat down to eat at one of the street stalls and ordered “Bun Bo Hue”, Hue specialty dish and a personal favorite of mine. Within seconds, I had a whole group surrounding me: 1 self-appointed instructor showing me how to eat my dish (clearly he had no idea what a foodie I am), 1 volunteer asking if I liked my food and a about 5 others simply staring as I do my best to not eat the beef chunks.

Dinner was $0.80, the experience – Priceless.

(Pictures coming soon)

View of Saigon River from my Apartment

This city is exactly as I remembered it – fun, energetic and HOT. After settling into my apartment this morning, I hopped on a Xe Om (motorbike taxi) and went to District 1, to start the day at my favorite place – Cafe Centro. After a quick breakfast, I hopped on another Xe Om and went to MSS office located at Zen Plaza. I got to meet the great team I’ll be working with and do some actual work. I love my new office, especially the excellent Sushi bar on the 5th floor…

It turns out that Santa, like me, can’t really stand the winter and has decided to spend Christmas in Vietnam this year. The whole city is overly decorated with elaborate holiday themed installations and lights. In a country where only 5% of the population is Christian, this makes very little sense but is oh so fun to look at.

Spending nearly 23 hours on planes yesterday left me no choice but to get a full body massage today. It was heavenly. To end the day, I met up with Aryeh and Jesse at a great Vietnamese restaurant housed in a beautiful French villa.

Not bad for a first day!