While Sangsom is not an electronic product, it is widely used around Thailand. It is famous among rural Thai people as the whiskey is really cheap. I have no idea how much it cost as I never bought a bottle myself. I’ve consumed it in pass occasions when I was offered by some Thai folks a shot or two without any mixers. Few months ago when I was at a trendy club in Bangkok club, I noticed some trendy Thai guys and girls ordering Sangsom whiskey with Red Bull. As you know, Red Bull is an energy drink originated from Thailand and later sold to an Austrian company. Don’t quote me on that but you are welcome to Wikipedia it as I am lazy to do it now myself.

So tonight, I just felt like drinking Sangsom mixed with Red Bull. Since there’s one quarter bottle sitting around doing nothing in my friend’s house, I decided to buy a bottle of Red Bull from Family Mart. He was pretty skeptical about how it would taste as Sangsom is well known to be potent and even nasty to some foreigners in Thailand. I bought the Red Bull but my friend does not have any fancy shot glass. I was so determine to finish up the quarter bottle of the famous Thai whiskey, having no shot glass will not stop me from my mission. An idea struck me as I was buying the Red Bull. I asked my friend to buy a bottle of Brand’s Chicken Essence and emptied it. That would be my shot glass!

I made this post because I felt really smart for using the tiny bottle of Brand’s Chicken Essence as my shot glass. But to be honest, I think I am just super buzzed after finishing the quarter bottle of Sangsom with Red Bull. It does taste pretty good I would say and if you do come to Thailand, you should give it a try.

A Chinese gazebo in the middle of a tiny lake

Rows of shops made of mud selling Chinese tea leaves and other Yunnan stuff

Mud made houses up close

Feels like in China

The modern generation of these Yunnan people now are Thai citizen and can speak Thai and Chinese fluently. The Thai Government has turned this village into a tourist attraction. There are a few restaurants in the village selling authentic Yunnanese food and lots of tiny shops made of mud selling Chinese tea. A few shops are selling traditional Yunnan dress and if you do not wish to have those dresses in your wardrobe collection, you can have your pictures taken in them for 100 baht.

Wheeeee….the human powered Ferris wheel

I also saw some kids riding donkeys around the village. Another thing that look pretty cool to me is the human powered Ferris wheel. I do not see any safety belt but then again back in the days, maybe most Yunnan kids knows kung fu and safety belt wasn’t an issue. I walked around for a bit and tried speaking Thai to all the Yunnan people there. Everybody is really fluent and I find it really cool.

The restaurant that reminded me of old Kung Fu movies where they drink rice wine from bowls.

Stew pork leg Yunnan style

Stir fried fresh mushrooms from the mountains

Some sort of mountain vegetables stir fried with garlic

After 30 minutes of walking around the village, I decided to go do what I enjoy most, EAT! Chose a restaurant an ordered some Yunnanese food. We ordered a stew pork leg dish, the meat was very soft and tender and the sauce goes really well with the “mantou”. Another dish was a stir fried fresh mushroom which was pretty tasty too. Lastly we ordered a vegetable dish which they claimed grows in the mountain. I actually don’t really care but I just like the sound of it. Eating wild vegetables that’s organic and all that. Hot Chinese  tea was the choice of our beverage. The total cost was 490 bht. The food tasted pretty good and listening to Chinese New Year songs while eating stir fried mushroom in Thailand is pretty weird but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

Good friends of mine will know that whenever I am living or traveling abroad, visiting famous monuments and buildings are not really my kinda thing. I just prefer to live like the locals and basically do normal stuff daily. My schedule is never hectic and I do not go in and out of a tour bus visiting places after places. Instead I will wake up whenever my eyes opened and just go to some coffee shops or cafes that are popular among the locals.

I would normally order my food and drinks, and just chill in the coffee shop for an hour or two. Most of the time I am alone and I just enjoy observing people. Sometimes some locals who can communicate in English will talk to me and I’ve always enjoyed that. But most of the time I would be approached by locals who can’t speak in English who will still make an effort to talk to me. I enjoyed that too even though most of the time we do not understand each other. It involves a lot of head nodding ( pretending that we understood ) and short sentences in our own language, food being pointed and the famous thumbs up sign with the word “GOOD” being expressed in many different ways. I’ve done that more than a thousand times and it still never gets old for me.

Deep fried chicken, would be nice if juicier.

I am currently back in Chiangmai after an absence of almost 6-7 years. I am staying in a small hotel near the old city. The caretaker of the hotel is one really nice guy and he loves that everybody addresses him as Mr. Man ( pronounce as in He-Man ). I would blog more details about him and his hotel soon. He has brought me out on his truck and motorbike a few times to go eat food that is preferred by the people of Chiangmai. One night, he brought me to a place to eat at 9pm around the night bazaar area. He then told me that few meters down the road where we were having our meal, is a very popular food stall call the “Midnight Fried Chicken”. The stall is also popular for it’s special chili paste that is call “Namprik Num”. It is a special chili paste made of young green chili from the Chiangmai region. It opens only at 11.30pm daily and you have to stand in line to be seated.

Yesterday night at 11.35pm, I felt a little bit hungry and the image of crispy fried chicken was circulating on my mind. Add in the reputation of the stall “Midnight Fried Chicken” told gloriously by Mr Man, I really set my heart on to give it a try. The problem was that I do not know where exactly is the place and Mr Man was already sleeping. But when I set my heart on tasting the food that I am craving for, nothing will deter me from achieving that.

Deep fried pork intestine and special Chiangmai sausage with herbs

The weather in Chiangmai now is really cold and yesterday night was 20 C. I decided to look for the place on a bicycle that Mr Man provided for my daily usage. It would be fun cycling around Chiangmai town on a cool night. Equipped with my broken Thai, I was very determine to find the “Midnight Fried Chicken” stall at all cost.

Let me spare out the details of my screw ups in recognizing the roads and buildings and get straight to the point. It took me 1 hour and the half to locate the place, and asking about 7 random people about the location of the food stall. Two out of the seven Thai people never heard of the place and this was pretty encouraging. Finally I found the place and it was exactly like what Mr Man described. The tables were all full and I had to stand in line to either take out or to dine in. After 10 minutes of waiting, I finally got a table.

Pictures I took when the shop is getting ready for business and there’s more seats inside.

Look at the crowd!

This is where I ordered my food by pointing.

Special Chiangmai chili paste Namprik Num

Sticky rice, boiled egg with Nam Prik Num, love the taste of it.

To order, the customers need to write down what they want. Since I cannot write in Thai, I told one of the workers if I could just go to the counter and point what I wanted. She nodded her head and I went and ordered my food via pointing my fingers, mixed with my broken Thai language. Ordered one big fried chicken leg, some deep fried pork intestines, boiled egg ( according to Mr Man, boiled egg and Nam Prik Num goes really good together ), a plate of boiled vegetables with Nam Prik Num and lastly a plate of sticky rice.

I ate it quickly as they were still many customers waiting to get their seats. It cost me 107 BHT for my meal and I think the price is rather reasonable. If you were to ask me “is the 1 hour 10 minutes bicycle ride worth it and will I ever come back again?” The answer is YES! Besides the ride back to my hotel took me only 15 minutes.

The rental villas situated in Seminyak are the most popular among the local community in Bali. Seminyak is a beach town with multicultural community and thus provides accommodations suitable for almost everyone. You should remember that rentals in Bali are often booked in advance, and if you don’t find any appropriate villa for the first time, don’t be disheartened. Moreover, you should also keep in mind that sometimes certain villas provide common swimming pools and courtyards, so if you are looking for some private moments these type of villas may not be suitable for you. At BaliVillaRent we only offer villa accommodations that have their own private swimming pool.

If you don’t want to rent an entire villa, there are a large number of hotels in Bali with different rates. The cheap accommodations provided by these hotels range from about $35 for standard double room without any luxuries. The medium-range accommodations provided by these hotels charge around $75 to $100 and do provide some security and comfort. However, if you want to feel the comforts of your home while still staying in a hotel, you have to pay at least $150. While deciding to stay in any such hotel, whether low ends or five stars, you should keep in mind that these hotels and private villas don’t always provide comprehensive deals and charge extra for various luxurious services like spa treatments, food and beverages and personal tours arranged. Bali is also well-known for its delicious local and western food dishes. Especially in the popular area of Seminyak Eat Street, visitors can dine at the finest restaurants the island has to offer.

If you are not familiar with Bali and find it difficult to get a rental accommodation, you can take the services of a travel agent who will provide you all the information and help you get accommodation suitable to you. These travel agents are local people and have all the information, including the availability and services provided in the particular villas. However, they do charge for their services.

As an alternative to a travel agent, you can gather various information regarding holiday accommodations from travel blogs and magazines regarding particular destination. The first hand experiences of the tourists can help you decide the quality of services offered by these villas and hotels. However, you should be careful and distinguish the fake testimonials as many resorts also indulge in sales promotion by hiring people to give them a good rating.
Above all, you should choose a Bali villa that is suitable to your budget and provides almost all the facilities and services that you desire for your vacation. You can compromise on a few other things, but it is very important that when you or your family returns after getting exhausted from a day of sightseeing, your villa rental should provide a good relaxing of your body and mind.

This article post was contributed by Leoni.

For those new to this type of food, “kaiten” means “to rotate” and plates are served with sushi and sashimi on different style and colored plates to determine the price.

You don’t have to eat only what’s on display. Customers can also make special orders if they cannot find the sushi they want. A sushi that plate that you order is also placed on the conveyor belt if it’s a small amount and it’s marked with your seat number so other customers know that it is a special order and not up for grabs. However for large orders, an attendant may bring it directly to your table. Unlimited hot matcha green tea is usually available directly at your seat and the average meal time takes about 15 to 30 minutes even with a group of friends.

The price of each sushi dish is determined according to the colors, patterns, or shapes of the plates and usually ranges from 100 yen to 500 yen. The cost of each plate is shown on posters in the restaurant. The bill of the customer is calculated by counting the number and type of plates of the consumed sushi.

Here’s a brief history on moving sushi. Kaiten sushi, also known as conveyor belt sushi, was invented by sushi restaurant owner Yoshiaki Shiraishi. He was having a hard time managing his restaurant by himself and having difficulties staffing his small sushi restaurant he had to think of something to keep his business going. After watching beer bottles on a conveyor belt in an Asahi brewery, he got the idea of a kaiten sushi.

When you visit Japan, this type of restaurant should be at the top of your list! It’s a great place for lunch.

This article was contributed by JapanitUP.com where you’ll find news, tips, and info about Japan. Visiting doesn’t have to be expensive, and many great deals are to be found on tasty street food and traditions worth experiencing while you’re there!

This is the first seafood I patronized. It is located at Pham Ngu Lao area in District 1 and is near to a pub named 17 Saloon that features Filipino band. It is close to midnight and there were still many customers. I simply love the outdoor setting with those low tables and chairs. It some how felt more relax and chill.

I’ve so far been to 2 road side restaurant serving seafood. It is definitely a MUST DO when you come visit Ho Chi Minh. A party of 5-6 person would be the most ideal. The more people in your group, the more you get to order different types of food that are offered in the menu. Drinking the local beer like “333” ( known as in Ba Ba Ba in Vietnamese ) or Saigon beer while enjoying your dishes are highly recommended. When is time to pay, you will be surprise that it will be around USD7-8 per person for a meal fit for the kings!

I have no idea what the shell looks like in it’s original form but I am guessing it must be a big ass shell. The shell is most likely boiled and then the meat is cut to small pieces. Dried chili with oil are being sauteed with salt and probably some other type of seasoning, then poured  top of the boiled shell. Texture is rubbery like calamari and is not tough at all. Super tasty with those fried chili oil.

Some sort of shell that looks like bamboo. Pretty common seafood fare in South East Asia and normally stir fried with chili and minced garlic.

Super big giant cockles with peanuts. I have no idea how it was being prepared but it tasted really good.

Tasty scallops served with peanuts and thinly chopped chives.

Giant snails cooked with lemon grass. I’ve always love to eat food that is being cook and serve to you at the same time. Big flames from the stove heating up the plate of giant snails and getting the flavor from the lemon grass.

Clam soup with lemon grass in hot pot

Grill fish Vietnamese style. The dipping for most seafood in Vietnam is mixture of salt, pepper and lime. But for my own personal preference, dipping it with sambal belacan or Namprik Kapi would suit me better.

Fried chicken wings in fish sauce. A good dish to order to include some meaty texture in a seafood dinner. Those onion are super tasty and so is the deep fried chicken. Crispy on the outside, moist and juicy in the inside. Winning!

Stir fry pork intestine in some sweet and sour sauce.

Plain boiled vegetables that is super healthy if you just eat it by itself, but nobody is going to do that when you can dip into a special kind of dipping sauce which I think is uniquely Vietnamese.

Special dipping sauce that contains bits of crunchy fried pork lard, dried shrimp, fish sauce and some other stuff that I couldn’t figure out with my taste bud. Dipping those boil vegetables into this sauce will surely fire up your appetite for more food whacking obscenity.

Morning glory or kangkung got to be one of the most popular vegetable in South East Asia. Simple stir fry with garlic and no presence of chili and belacan, still tasted super good.

Vietnamese mango salad with dried/salted fish. Pretty close to Thai version of mango salad.

Vietnamese coconut salad. I have no idea which part of the coconut they using, but I know is definitely not from the coconut itself. I am suspecting it is from the branch or young coconut bark.

Lastly, a salted fish fried rice with crab meat to complete the whole seafood orgy outing.

The pictures of this post were taken from my 2 eating session. If you happen to come visit Ho Chi Minh, these are the 2 restaurant that I highly recommend you to go.

Phuc Oc ( Restaurant Name ) – 136, Nguyen Thai Hoc, Pham Ngu Lao

and

Vy Da ( Restaurant Name ), in the corner of Ly Tu Trong and Nguyen Trung Truc Street. You can never missed it as you will see many people dining in the open air.

I would suggest you download the pictures of the food in this post, that makes it easier for you to order your food if you do not speak or read Vietnamese.

]]> http://spicegasm.com/2012/03/seafood-orgy-in-the-streets-of-ho-chi-minh/feed/ 4 http://spicegasm.com/2012/03/i-finally-know-what-com-really-means/ http://spicegasm.com/2012/03/i-finally-know-what-com-really-means/#comments Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:08:33 +0000 Alex http://spicegasm.com/?p=1206 Everywhere I walk, the word COM is everywhere in Saigon. I see it on the food stalls and restaurants. Just outside of my hotel, there’s a non air conditioned restaurant bearing a big signboard with the word “COM” on it.  I am smart enough to know that it’s not Internet related though. I decided to eat lunch there as my “FOODAR” told me that this restaurant will be all right. I was eager to find out the meaning of COM once and for all too. For those of you who are wondering what FOODAR means, is just a word I made up. It stands for “Good Food Radar”. Is not an I-Phone aps but is something I developed over the years hunting down the best eating joint.

The Com Tam restaurant located near my hotel

I sat down, the friendly waitress came and gave me the menu. The menu has pictures and it’s in Vietnamese and English language. Sweet! I browsed the menu for a bit and I see the word “COM TAM” a lot. You have the choice of COM TAM with chicken, beef or pork BBQ. I noticed on the menu it has the translation for the word “COM TAM”. It is being described as Broken Rice. Sounds interesting! So I ordered Com Tam with chicken BBQ Vietnamese style.

A few customers enjoying their Com Tam. I love how Vietnam has all this low stools and tables. Just seem more relaxing and not so formal like normal size dining chairs and tables.

This is where your meat is being grilled.

While waiting for my food to arrive, I went to get some pictures of the restaurant and glancing quickly at other customers orders. I love to see what they eat. After I am satisfied with my pictures taking, I went back to my seat and ordered a soup dish, saw someone having having the some what yummy looking soup. From my quick glance, I am guessing the soup would be beef tendon with tomatoes and pickled cabbage soup. Am really excited to see how the rice is being prepared. How often you get to eat broken rice? I then start to guess how the rice will look like, the texture and so on. I was pretty convinced that my rice would come in the form of paste or rice cakes.

Just look at the lovely grilled chicken. After the meal, I read on wikipedia that the rice are broken during the process of cleaning. These broken rice are then separated from the good ones and sold at a lower price. Initially Com Tam is food meant for poor people but some how it became favorite food of many people in Vietnam.

When my Com Tam finally arrived, the rice look like normal rice to me. Nothing broken or beaten about it. Only when I start taking picture of my plate of Com Tam with chicken BBQ, I realized that every single grain of my rice is broken. This seems pretty odd as long grain rice fetch higher price as it always taste better. Along with my Com Tam, there’s a small bowl of dipping sauce that doesn’t look like the normal soya sauce or fish sauce that I am accustomed to. The color of the sauce looked like lemon juice but when I tasted it, it is no where near the taste of lemon juice. I just added finely chopped fresh chili into the sauce.

Tasty beef tendon with tomatoes and picked cabbage soup. Perfect pairing as Com Tam does not have much gravy.

I liked the taste of the chicken BBQ, which has a sweet taste to it. It goes really well with the sauce that I just added chili into it. Everybody will like this food at the first try. It is for sure comfort food for the Vietnamese I am guessing. The steamed broken rice was all right too. To my surprise, it didn’t lack the same texture as the expensive long grain rice like Basmathi or Jasmine. The soup came in a small bowl and tasted really good too. It has a little bit of beef tendon, the portion of the pickled cabbage was just right.

I always take pictures of menu so I can remember the name of the food I’ve eaten. Not really meant to post it in my blog but I guess this particular picture is clear enough for you to check out the prices.

Feeling satisfied after the meal, I asked the waitress what Com means? She told me Com means rice and Tam means broken. I am happy with the information as suddenly all the images of food stalls and restaurant bearing the word Com rushed to my mind. I know now that those stalls are definitely serving dishes that is rice based. I can now avoid looking like an idiot going to the Com food stall and confidently ordering “One Pho Please!”

Early morning traffic in Ho Chi Minh City, near Ben Thanh market

I have to admit it wasn’t that dangerous at all. I would guess it is easier if you do sports, dancing and play certain musical instruments all the time. It just requires timing and coordination. So on my second attempt; I purposely waited for heavier traffic passing my way before I crossed the road. I timed myself, imagined that I am doing ballroom dancing ( not that I’ve done ballroom dancing before but watching Dancing With The Stars now seems to be quite rewarding ) and I made sure to look at the motorbike riders. This is to make sure that they are looking at you too. At times you are required to stop and the motorbikes will swerve past you. Is like playing the video game Frogger and you are the frog this time around, in real life.

Traffic is building up but I am waiting for heavier traffic before I cross the road

This flow of traffic is perfect for beginners. TIPS : Take a deep breath, clench your butt and walk at a timely speed. Important : NEVER RUN

So if you are going to Ho Chi Minh for your holidays, this is one activity that I highly recommend you to do. Is FREE and has the elements of courage building, extreme sports and even a little bit of spiritual. I feel like Superman, Moses or even Jesus Christ when I crossed the street of Ho Chi Minh. Below are some really cool videos that I found from YouTube. See the videos and you will understand what I mean.

Before coming to Vietnam, one of my goals was to have breakfast on the road side just like most Saigonese do every morning. I want to drink Vietnamese coffee and eat whatever they are serving, as long as it’s on the road side. And it has to be a road side stall with exceptionally low stools and tables. This image has been stuck in my mind for many years after watching some travel documentaries on TV. I find it really cool and it’s almost like an art, to be able to sit on those low stools on the road side, watching all the heavy morning traffic passing you by while enjoying your Vietnamese coffee. I hope I can blend in like those old Vietnamese folk and contain my excitement. You need to have that cool look that is almost like you don’t @#$% care what is going around you. Is not the Fonzy cool or the hip Japanese actor Joe Odagiri cool. It has to be “Vietnamese old man drinking coffee on the road side cool”

Restaurant serving the famous Vietnamese beef noodles, Pho. Not ready for Pho yet as I’ve eaten it countless of times in Vietnamese restaurant all over the world.

So I woke up at 6.0o am and my first step is to look for the coolest looking road side stall that serves coffee. I walked to the main road and the open air market right outside the alley of hotel was already doing business at full swing. I walked along Pham Ngu Lao Street and headed towards the direction of Ben Thanh market. Since I am staying in the backpackers’ area, I can see a lot of decent looking restaurant serving Pho and Western breakfast. I walked past all that as I am very determined to have my first breakfast in Vietnam the “cool” way.

Look how cool those guys are. I continued searching for another stall as I was afraid I couldn’t blend in.

This was the stall I really wanted to try but was afraid that I might not be able to order the right kind of noodles I wanted. But before I proceed to look for a better joint, I stole a shot while the customers’ back was facing my camera, NOT COOL Alex!

During the first 1o minutes of my walk, I saw a lot of road side stalls serving coffee but it just doesn’t seem right. I am in the area where there’s too many tourist walking around, hotels and tour agencies. I want to look for a stall that is away from all that and it is operating right outside of an old building. I kept walking and I saw some really nice ones but it was too crowded. I was worried also that I might not be able to order the stuff that I wanted. But I think the main reason is I was feeling a little bit nervous. I am like the new student going to my new school and the cool kids might not accept me as one of the cool guys. I just took some pictures and continue to walk more to find nicer coffee stalls and to build courage as well.

Finally settled for this stall. That’s the one and only table she has and is available at that time.

After one hour of walking and I am getting really hungry. I saw a lady selling Banh Mi and there’s only one table, and it is available. No cool old dudes drinking coffee there and I just decided to eat here instead. So I am sad to say that my mission of blending with the cool Saigonese folks today is a total disaster. I just told myself that I will be here for quite a while and lets just settle for this at the moment. I sat down and ordered my Banh Mi ( 15,000 VND ) and ice coffee. She told me she doesn’t sell coffee but she can order from the shop opposite of her stall. I did feel a little bit defeated when she said she does not sell coffee but I still insisted on having one from the shop opposite of her stall. She just shouted to the lady across the road in Vietnamese and minutes later my coffee arrived. Paid 9000 VND for my coffee and I bite into my Banh Mi. After the first bite, it did make me feel better. As I was chomping down my Banh Mi, I vowed to myself that I will drink coffee among the cool old men of Ho Chi Minh city before I leave Vietnam.

The vendor is seen busy preparing the Banh Mi that I ordered.

My Vietnamese Ice Coffee on it’s way from the opposite side of the road – efficient delivery!

Delicious tasting Banh Mi, French loaf with meat, pickled carrots and thick slice of cucumber that is cut vertically. Some chili sauce and maybe mayonaise ( not sure ) or some special sauce. The combination of crunchiness ( cucumber and pickled carrot ), fluffiness ( french loaf ) and meatiness ( meat ) is to perfection when you take a big bite out of the Banh Mi. Don’t need to eat Subway when you can have this Banh Mi for 0.70 USD.

As you have suspected, I got lost again and have to resort to the motorbike taxi dude to bring me to Ben Thanh. I was 30 minutes late and my Vietnamese friend ( her name is Tien ) was graceful and did not feel a bit irritated. Tien brought another of her fellow classmate as well. We shook hands, did the customary short introduction and she then proceed to ask me what I would like to eat. I told her some street food would be cool but she suggested that the street food in Ben Thanh market is kinda pricey. Not surprise there as it is a tourist area. So she suggested a Hue restaurant instead. I like the sound of it as I have no idea what “Hue” is and this gives me a chance to learn more about Vietnamese cuisine.

My tasty rice noodles with fried spring rolls with crab stuffing

It is just walking distance from Ben Thanh market to the Hue Restaurant. The restaurant is air conditioned and looks pretty trendy. So, street food gotta take the back seat for today and I like the idea of eating dinner at a fancy Vietnamese restaurant for the first time. We decided to sit upstairs and the seating is more traditional where we sat on the floor. There’s a low table and is not a problem for me at all as I can sit comfortably while folding my legs. We went through the menu and I let Tien pick a dish for me. I asked them to order whatever they like and dinner is on me, since I’m late and she is a student.

This how my noodles looks like when it was mixed with chili oil and the sauce. My mouth watered while uploading this picture.

They told me that they have already eaten and I insisted that order some kind of food that is not that heavy. Those transparent spring rolls with lots of vegetables stuffed in it looks pretty light, I said. She gave in and ordered the spring rolls and a bowl of noodles for me. While waiting for the food, she explained to me about Hue cuisine. According to her, Hue cuisine is the locals favorite. I am guessing is how Isaan food in Thailand is the favorite of Thai people and Hue food is to Vietnamese folks.

When the food finally arrived, the food looks pretty. Hue cuisine is famous for this, as the chefs are required to make the food tasty and visually appealing. Looks like Tien order a rice noodles dish for me with some fried spring rolls with crab meat in it. It has a bowl of sauce where I am supposed to drench it on my noodles. It is not a soupy dish and it tasted kinda like some sort of special salad to me. I asked her how can I make the noodles spicy and she suggested that I put some chili oil. I mixed the noodles with chili oil and the sauce and took my first bite. I like it and when I took a bite on those tiny fried spring rolls, YUMMY!

The waiter sitting there waiting to serve us when he is required

I am guessing that the spring rolls are coated with a little bit of sugar that’s caramelized together with some sesame seed. The stuffing of the crab meat is very tasty too. Since I am very hungry, I finished my noodles pretty fast. My first meal in a fancy Vietnamese restaurant and Tien did a good job by ordering that particular noodle for me. Oh and I was offered the last piece of the transparent looking spring roll and it is good too. I like how the wrapping is thin and not thick like the ones I had before in Vietnamese restaurant that is not in Vietnam. I thanked Tien for bringing me to this restaurant.

Took the entrance of the restaurant when we were leaving

Chilling in the park opposite of Ben Thanh market with the locals

My food guide for the night, Tien and her friend.

I paid the bill which I can’t remember the exact price but I do know it was not expensive at all. Maybe not more than 10 USD, pretty cheap for a fancy looking restaurant. After dinner, Tien suggested that we go to a park opposite of Ben Thanh market to chill and chit chat. According to her this is a favorite past time among low and middle income Vietnamese. I love the idea of doing the same thing as the locals of the countries that I’ve visited and going to visit. We sat down and chit chat about everything and anything that comes to mind. Sometimes we paused to observed the people in the park. There are young couples on a date, families with their kids playing soccer, some sporty couples playing badminton and also group of Vietnamese just hanging out and chit chat. I can’t help but to feel really satisfied and happy deep inside. I just sat there amongst the locals and absorbing the atmosphere of Ho Chi Minh at night time.