Sipping my cup of freshly brewed White Coffee all the way from Ipoh reminds me of the wonderful lifestyle of the Vietnamese. Well, that's not the only trigger. A bragging session ("chui sui") some time ago over a bowl of pho, brought back the memories of the short stint I had in Vietnam.
It was a short assignment in a very rural part of Vietnam. My first impression of this place is..."what happened to the chairs? why are they so short and small?". My camera was dead during that trip, therefore I have no pictures to prove this. However, if you get a chance to visit Vietnam, take note of their side walk cafe's which has numerous short chairs and tables facing the roads.
From my experience, the Vietnamese people are very social and cafe oriented. While I was there, almost every dinner was ended with a short trip to a nearby cafe. These cafes were almost always filled with people. Two drinks which I thoroughly enjoyed during these cafe sessions are the famous Vietnamese Coffee served with the interesting filtering apparatus on top of the cup and the "Sinh To", a mixed fruit milk shake.
The food was also a very interesting experience for me. From the MSG laden beef "pho", nicely grilled "Com Tum", mysteriously stuffed and marinated spring rolls to the seafood. It might not occur to you that 3-4 years ago Vietnamese restaurants are almost unheard of in KL. There was even once when we (so obviously, I'm not alone in this trip) were taken out for dinner by some locals. In a foreign land and with no understanding of the language, we left the ordering to them. A stew pot was served with some dark sauces and a few pieces of oddly shaped meat. We were curious about what kind of meat was being served. With limited English from the locals, they described the shape of the animal. The conversation goes something like this:
Local Guy : hmm... can eat one...don't worry.
Me/Friend : but... what is it? I am not going to eat without knowing.Local Guy : I forget the word. The nose like rat one...
Me/Friend : what?! rat!!!!
Local Guy : no, no, no. Don't worry, not rat. Nose like rat, dark colour fur, but not rat. Wait, wait, ask boss and see got live one to show you or not.
Boss : Oh, sorry..no more... last one in your pot.
Me/Friend : ... ... ...
Local Guy : Don't worry, very nice one. Good for you!
Me/Friend : urm... really? Try describe the animal again please.
Local Guy : Ok ok, I phone home and ask my wife what it is called in English.
(after a short conversation in Vietnamese over the phone...)
Local Guy : Fox! It is a fox.
Me/Friend : Oh... I think I get it now. Same like chinese wild animal dishes, it should be a civet cat ("guo zi lei"). Phew...
The town where I stayed during my visit.
A sample of the mysterious street food of Vietnam.
Humongous prawns at a restaurant by a river. Notice the whole chili and raw vegetables on the table.
They are condiments for whatever that's served.
Rice crackers to go with beer!
The 3 Malaysians with a Vietnamese in an ancient house in Historical City Hoi An.
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2 comments:
Fox? Fox???!!!! You ate fox and you phew???!!!! Anyway, is it good? got difference kah?
bamboo: it's actually quite a normal wildlife dish back home. I would say it's something like chicken but more bones and it's a red meat... very heaty one.
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