eating vietnam

Anders and I just returned from two weeks in Viet Nam where we basically did nothing but eat from the time we landed in the north until we flew out of the south. We worked our way through the country seeking out every back alley street cart we had heard or read about. This country really is as delicious and filling as you've heard. It's probably the best fed we have ever been on vacation. 

My beautiful SLR camera broke pretty early in the trip. I need to check it out and see what picture I can salvage from it. In the meantime, here are a bunch of cell phone picture I took of our eating escapades. I promise we did do more than actually eat, but since the food was a main reason we chose to come to Vietnam, I decided that the food deserved it's own post. Regular shots to come soon!

Our first meal in Vietnam was Bun Cha, which is basically hamburger/sausage and noodles in a broth.

Close up of Anders' Bun Cha fully doctored up to his liking.

 A banana seller on the streets of Hanoi

 We drank a lot of Cafe Sua Da, which is coffee with condensed milk. This was our favorite coffee shop called Cong Caphe. It had cushions for lounging and windows for watching the craziness of the city.

 I can't remember the Vietnamese name for this dish, but it was sticky rice and pork belly and apparently the restaurant has a house Cho (dog). No restaurant in Vietnam would ever meet the USA's health code.

 The only way to eat street food in Vietnam is on a tiny plastic stool. They are as uncomfortable as they look.

We got a tip off about the best Pho in Hanoi at a place called Pho Thin. We were the only non-locals in the whole restaurant. It was Anders' favorite Pho we ate.

 We ate a lot of Banh Mi on this trip. Delicious baguette sandwiches filled with all sorts of goodness. Mine had beef and egg while Anders had pate.

Grilled pork spring rolls in Hoi An

 Anthony Bourdain led us to this seafood joint called Thi Nhan. We ordered the tamarind crab (and a whole lot else). Despite being the only customers in the restaurant, it was one of the best meals we ate the whole trip.

During a layover in Sai Gon, we left the airport and headed to Com Nieu Sai Gon, another Anthony Bourdain recommended spot. They make this dish where they bake rice in a clay pot. When it's done they break the clay pot open in the restaurant and throw the hot rice to another worker. So fun!

Our favorite beach side bar on Phu Quoc island called Rory's. The food is catered to Westerners and just okay, but the vibe and drinks are where it's at.

All this eating had to be washed down with drinks!

 More Pho. This time in Sai Gon, where the broth is a bit sweeter than up north.

 We tracked down Miss Lan in the Ben Thanh market. She is the only vendor who makes Banh Cuon, a rice paper "ravioli" of sorts stuffed with pork and mushrooms.

Bahn Cuon up close.

We also got a tip off about a street seller making a bahn mi with bbq sauce and grilled sausages, which is very non-traditional. We found her down a dark alley with an impressive line of customers. It was spicy but amazing!

 Anders with his "meatball sub" in the dark alley.

 Back with non-eating shots soon!

100 happy days

A few of my co-workers and I decided to play a game where we take 1 picture every day of something that makes us happy. We then post our pictures to Yammer (our work's social networking site). For the record, we didn't come up with this game. It's something that is going around the internet, but we decided to play along too. I am always looking for reasons to take pictures and stopping to appreciate things that make me happy each day can't hurt either. So far I'm only on day 20, but I haven't missed a picture yet. Here are a few of my happy pictures.

Eating local and sustainable/running is so much more fun with my colorful shoes 

A rainbow in our backyard/lazy Saturday afternoons 

Splurging on $10 dahlias for my garden/olive oil from our adopted olive tree in Italy 

Working really close to the fish market for lunch time visits/my nerdy dog

#tag

My new favorite hashtag on Instagram is #wethepeephole. So funny. If you are on instagram, check it out. And, of course, I had to play along.

furry 5k

Anders, Maggie and I ran in the Furry 5k yesterday to support the local animal shelters. It was nuts! So many dogs, but we all had a great time. Maggie beat me in the race, but she has four legs and I only have two, so I feel like she had an unfair advantage. Here are a few instagrams from the day. My favorite is Maggie yawning. She was so excited to be there. Er...

macro

For my birthday this year, I bought myself a fun little toy. It's a macro lens for my cell phone camera that sticks to your phone with a magnet. It's the coolest little thing although it definitely takes some practice to get it right. I didn't realize that it requires you finding teeny tiny things to photograph (much smaller that I was even expecting), and it also requires a very very steady hand, which is sometimes hard and frustrating. However, I do love that it makes me look closely at the world. I'm not a very observant person, so it definitely forces me to look at things closely...like the hairs sticking out of moss or the inside of a flower. Here are a few of my favorite I've taken so far.

Happy Memorial Day to everyone! I sure do love three day weekends. We are hanging around the house today; relaxing, doing yard work, planting flowers and grilling. 

a duck walks into a bus stop...

And the award for the most random thing in my week goes to this duck at the bus stop. It should be noted that the bus stop is nowhere near a source of water and is surrounded by nothing but concrete parking lots and a mall. Life is odd and fun.

ny, part two

A few instagrams from our time in NY!

Skyscrapers/Riding the subway 

 Coffee/Gramercy Tavern

 Donut Plant/Momofuku cake aftermath

 Love/Momofuku Milk Bar

Warhol at the MoMA/Play Dead exhibit at the MoMA 

Behind the scenes at the Today show/Wolfgang Laib's Pollen from Hazelnut