Vietnamese Papaya Salad – Made from Love (And Green Papayas)
The Vietnamese call this generation the “Instant Noodle Generation”, speaking to the tendency of people today wanting everything now and fast. This applies to everything from economics (Been eyeing that 64” TV? Go on and take it home! We’ll bill you later!) to family relations, ie. youths consumed with the...
Dollar Days – Shopping in Saigon on the Cheap
Times are hard everywhere. I had proof the other day when the woman ahead of me in line at the grocery store paid for her groceries all in change. I am not joking. She had a bagful of VND 500 and 200 coins. With 20,000 Vietnamese dong to the USD...
Photo of the Week – Vietnamese Family Meals
I don’t have an Italian grandma. But if they’re anything like older Vietnamese women, I don’t think I’m missing out much. I recently went to a family get-together and enjoyed an awesome meal of Vietnamese food. There was chicken ragout, egg rolls, rice flour pancakes stuffed with ground pork and...
A Trip to the Supermarket (Now With Photos!)
One of the best things about my apartment is that it’s above a supermarket called the Co-op Mart. Of course, the Vietnamese pronounce it as one syllable, “Cub” Mart. I absolutely love living above a handy supermarket. Here are the reasons why. 1. Bad Lyrics T-shirts One of the...
Saigon Cooking Class – Food As Art
I’m a bit of a food snob. There, I said it. Sure, I can get down and dirty with street food with the best of them, but secretly, I love it when food is not only delicious but beautiful to look at. So after seeing the chic Saigon Cooking Class...
Iconic Saigon – The Caravelle Hotel
International media. Cocktails. The Opera House. Diplomats. Throw in a bomb scare against the backdrop of a war with an inexorably ominous ending for good measure. If it’s drama you wanted, the Caravelle Hotel in the 1960s was the place to be, home to various embassies and the Saigon bureaus...
Vietnamese Food On The Cheap — A Photo Essay
It’s the age old question that man has been asking since the dawn of time: What is the meaning of life? Where can I find a great meal for under a buck? While I’ve been fortunate enough to have eaten by my way through over 60 countries, traveling mostly on...
Photo of the Week — Good Things Come in Small (Banana Leaf) Packages
There’s something about unwrapping a package that reduces even the most “adult” of us into a giddy child. Maybe it’s the memories of better, more innocent times. Or just pure, unadulterated joy that seems so hard to come by in later life. Whatever the case, I loves me some presents....
Pho — It’s What’s For Dinner
“So, what do you feel like eating tonight?” “I dunno. How about some fur?” “Ummmm. You want to eat… fur?” “Yeah, you know. Vietnamese noodle soup!” You know you’ve had this conversation before. No matter where you live, chances are, there’s a pho restaurant near you, complete with a stainless...
Photo of the Week — Durian, the King of Fruits
Nature has a way of warning us when things might be bad for us. Bright colors = Poison. Loud rattling = Stay away. Bitter taste = Toxic plants. See? It’s not that hard. So you’d think that basically the most hideous, unwelcome-looking fruit known to man with its hard, pointy...