Thursday, October 28, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Sixteen Candles
Since landing in Vietnam, the John Hughes classic, Sixteen Candles, has been on the brain. The country currency is VND, or Vietnamese dong. More than once we've exclaimed, "Dong, where is my automobile? Automobile?"
That said, a Vietnam vacation is quite cost effective! You can get a great meal (the best we've had on this trip) for about $5USD for two. You can get an even better meal for $5 more. For the past three nights, we've been in Hoi An, a coastal fishing village on the central coast of Vietnam near the town of Hue and Cua Dai Beach. We love it here. Not only has the weather been mild and sunny, but the town is quaint and the shopping is unlike anything we've ever seen. The only downside is that people target foreigners with calls of "look in my shop, buy something." The marketing is that blatant and in your face.
We had a great experience with the Phuoc An Cloth Shop on Le Loi Street where Jake had a suit made and I had a dress made. I had taken note of the dress in a "Who Wore it Better?" column in Us Weekly when Kristen Stewart was pitted against Taylor Swift. I don't remember who won, but I remember loving the J. Mendel design and researching the retail price online for a potential rehearsal dinner ensemble. Not so much...
I showed the photo to the tailor online and within 24 hours, they made an exact replica of the dress in the color I had chosen. It literally looks the exact same for 1/15 of the price. Pre-wedding brides take note! (Ahem, KS...) This shop would be perfect for bridesmaids dresses, and in fact, they do that sort of business overseas apparently all the time. Jake's suit was a perfect fit after only 3 fittings with super fine quality silk. Amazing...I asked Jake why this isn't widely available in the U.S. but he reminded me (being the lawyer that he is) that there may be legal issues with it...understood. Now we're just hoping that the 4-month sea shipping actually reaches Iowa!
Even more impressive than the shopping in Hoi An is the food. Surprise, surprise. Jake agrees that this is the best we've had on the trip so far. The freshness of the seafood, meats and vegetables is unreal. It comes from the sea and the farm morning of. Today, we took a cooking class to try and replicate some of the local specialties - Hoi An Spring Rolls, Pork Clay Pot, Summer Salad with Papaya and Shrimp - all so tasty! Hopefully we can re-create the meal we've had for our Chicago guests.
There is a woman that goes by the name Mrs. Vy and she owns 4 restaurants here. While we weren't able to meet her (however we initially tried to book her cooking class which was full), we did eat our way through 3 out of her 4 establishments. Our favorite? Morning Glory restaurant at 106 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street (thank you again PJL and Lonely Planet). We sampled another Hoi An specialty called Cao Lao, noodles in a beef broth with sliced pork, fresh herbs and the Vietnamese version of croutons. Jake's favorite was the Caramel Fish Clay Pot, made with mackerel. It is a sumptuous dish infused with a pork and shallot, very similar to the Nobu staple Black Miso Cod. But who was first, Mrs. Vy or Nobu? It was also here that we learned of the 3 friends of Hoi An - shrimp, pork and spring onion. Together they make a tasty combination.
In addition to replicating the dishes we learned during our cooking school (thanks again to Ngoc who showed us the way), we will try and find a good Pho cooking class in Chicago. I admitted I make pretty weak stocks to which Ngoc replied to treat food like I would my husband, with tender love and care. Makes sense! That, and a little more elbow grease to begin a stock the night before you wish to serve it, should be a good start!
We're now about to board a 12-hour+ overnight bus to the southern beaches. They call it a sleeper bus which means the chairs recline but the jury is out on whether or not this is a truly comfortable way to travel. I know none of you are envying us at the moment...
That said, a Vietnam vacation is quite cost effective! You can get a great meal (the best we've had on this trip) for about $5USD for two. You can get an even better meal for $5 more. For the past three nights, we've been in Hoi An, a coastal fishing village on the central coast of Vietnam near the town of Hue and Cua Dai Beach. We love it here. Not only has the weather been mild and sunny, but the town is quaint and the shopping is unlike anything we've ever seen. The only downside is that people target foreigners with calls of "look in my shop, buy something." The marketing is that blatant and in your face.
We had a great experience with the Phuoc An Cloth Shop on Le Loi Street where Jake had a suit made and I had a dress made. I had taken note of the dress in a "Who Wore it Better?" column in Us Weekly when Kristen Stewart was pitted against Taylor Swift. I don't remember who won, but I remember loving the J. Mendel design and researching the retail price online for a potential rehearsal dinner ensemble. Not so much...
I showed the photo to the tailor online and within 24 hours, they made an exact replica of the dress in the color I had chosen. It literally looks the exact same for 1/15 of the price. Pre-wedding brides take note! (Ahem, KS...) This shop would be perfect for bridesmaids dresses, and in fact, they do that sort of business overseas apparently all the time. Jake's suit was a perfect fit after only 3 fittings with super fine quality silk. Amazing...I asked Jake why this isn't widely available in the U.S. but he reminded me (being the lawyer that he is) that there may be legal issues with it...understood. Now we're just hoping that the 4-month sea shipping actually reaches Iowa!
Even more impressive than the shopping in Hoi An is the food. Surprise, surprise. Jake agrees that this is the best we've had on the trip so far. The freshness of the seafood, meats and vegetables is unreal. It comes from the sea and the farm morning of. Today, we took a cooking class to try and replicate some of the local specialties - Hoi An Spring Rolls, Pork Clay Pot, Summer Salad with Papaya and Shrimp - all so tasty! Hopefully we can re-create the meal we've had for our Chicago guests.
There is a woman that goes by the name Mrs. Vy and she owns 4 restaurants here. While we weren't able to meet her (however we initially tried to book her cooking class which was full), we did eat our way through 3 out of her 4 establishments. Our favorite? Morning Glory restaurant at 106 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street (thank you again PJL and Lonely Planet). We sampled another Hoi An specialty called Cao Lao, noodles in a beef broth with sliced pork, fresh herbs and the Vietnamese version of croutons. Jake's favorite was the Caramel Fish Clay Pot, made with mackerel. It is a sumptuous dish infused with a pork and shallot, very similar to the Nobu staple Black Miso Cod. But who was first, Mrs. Vy or Nobu? It was also here that we learned of the 3 friends of Hoi An - shrimp, pork and spring onion. Together they make a tasty combination.
In addition to replicating the dishes we learned during our cooking school (thanks again to Ngoc who showed us the way), we will try and find a good Pho cooking class in Chicago. I admitted I make pretty weak stocks to which Ngoc replied to treat food like I would my husband, with tender love and care. Makes sense! That, and a little more elbow grease to begin a stock the night before you wish to serve it, should be a good start!
We're now about to board a 12-hour+ overnight bus to the southern beaches. They call it a sleeper bus which means the chairs recline but the jury is out on whether or not this is a truly comfortable way to travel. I know none of you are envying us at the moment...
Sunday, October 24, 2010
From Hanoi to Hoi An
Jake had a traumatizing experience on the way from Hanoi to Hoi An. It was traumatizing enough as we set out on an overnight train at 11:00 p.m. and were told at the last minute of an early morning bus transfer to another train. "Hmm," we thought..."too late."
Luck was on our side as we boarded the train and seemed to have no random roommates in our four-person sleeper car. The cabin had zero frills, what I imagine a prison cell to be like. Immediately we were happy with our last minute decision (thank you Susannah for the advice and letting us borrow them) to bring our own sleeping bags. This would be the second time we decided to use them.
I'll let Jake disclose his experience as he has promised to write the next blog. Let's just say it was something he's never encountered before. At 5 a.m. we were awoken to a frantic Vietnamese train conductor to disembark. (This reminded me of the time my sister and I got caught at midnight by a Swiss train conductor on the Eurail line because our passes had expired and we hoped to get to our destination before they noticed. The Swiss are too organized.) Bleary-eyed, Jake and I wandered off the train after getting our bags situated, sleeping bags in the compressor bags, etc.
As we left the train, we noticed only two buses which did not fit the amount of people on the train. This was unlucky for all of the unknowing westerners who got left behind. At least we were all in it together. With no instruction, we decided to just wait it out...for 45 minutes until the next bus came. The sun was up by then and everyone clamored to get a seat on the bus, and we miraculously got seats together. The bus transfer was longer than advertised (potentially 2 hours but both Jake and I were doing that fall-asleep-in-class-head-bob thing for the duration of the ride). The train was held for the third bus, so we were off again in no time (and still with no roommates).
After 8 more hours on the second train (again, longer than advertised), we reached Danang and could not be happier to see our hotel car driver when we disembarked. The train ride towards the end was a beautiful one from Hue to Danang. We snaked around the coast to see the South China Sea and lush jungle while marveling at the engineering of the train itself, built to hug the coastline. It always ends up being worth it!
Now that we're in Hoi An, we've hit another great stride (two words - clothing and food). We'll tell you about that a little later. To answer Lori's question, the lashes are waning!! I woke up with two on my pillow this morning. I think I'm down to a paltry 55 or so, and I'm wondering if I have normal lashes left. Wouldn't that be a hoot...!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
The Honeymoon's Over...
With a thousand potential titles in the running for this blog post, we ended up with the above. Strictly speaking, this is not the title because Jake and I actually feel the honeymoon is over. Rather, the "easy" piece of this travel adventure has officially ended. We no longer have the comfort of our cousin in Manila and his family, their unwavering "scholarship" evenings, their washer/dryer, their driver, etc. We're officially on our own until we are again in the safe haven of our friends in Doha, Qatar.
That said, we've landed in Hanoi, Vietnam. With this in mind, we could have easily called this blog "Pho Heaven." We decided against that though since this would officially be our third of three posts that all contain the word "heaven." But so it goes...
Hanoi is a feast for the senses. It's literally not possible to walk on the streets. It's much better and more safe to be in vehicular motion, particularly on a moped. Moped drivers are everywhere and they tend to have the right-of-way whether on the street or the sidewalk. Walking on the sidewalks is also not an option as everything else is actually done on the sidewalk. You can eat on the sidewalk, sodder on the sidewalk, get a haircut on the sidewalk, sell wares on the sidewalk, park on the sidewalk...you get the point.
After landing in Hanoi, we checked into our two-star hotel in the Old Quarter and went out in search of pho. Unfortunately for us, Jake and I were armed only with our mututally inadequate senses of direction and a map that, as it turns out, we were reading upside down. The positive for us was that we had done our reasearch for this leg of the journey thanks to Lonely Planet and a recent all-about-Vietnamese-food article (http://www.travelandleisure.com/trips/food-lovers-vietnam-getaway) we read by Peter Jon Lindberg in Travel + Leisure. If anyone would know about the topic, he certainly would!
By the time we landed upon Lindberg's recommendation #1, a restaurant called Pho Gia Truyen, it was already closed. So instead, we opted for an even more local option - authentic street food pho. We sat in the world's tiniest plastic chairs (on the sidewalk) and asked for whatever was being cooked (on the sidewalk). No other conversation took place except our request for "two" of whatever was being served from a boiling stock pot (on the sidewalk). Thankfully, we were served two heaping bowls of steaming pho ga (chicken noodle soup, on the sidewalk). The meal gave one of our favorite restaurants in NYC, Pho Viet Huong, some bona fide competition. The price was even better - about $3.00 for two giant bowls. (Yes, Rich, they did give us the good soup spoons too.)
After a decent night's sleep to the soft sounds of Cape Fear in the background with Vietnamese subtitles, we were off on our first official day in Hanoi...much better by daylight while reading the map correctly. We continued to sip and eat our way through the city on Peter Jon Lindberg's recommendations - coffee at Cafe Nang (so tasty with condensed milk) and lunch at Quan An Ngon. Apparently known to locals simply as Ngon (delicious), this restaurant truly lived up to its reputation. Not only was it touted by T+L, but Lonely Planet also gives it props. A bit western in that it has normal sized chairs and a mix of patronage, it is also the largest establishment we've seen here. Our double soup order of Pho Bo (beef soup) and Fish Cake Noodle soup, along with rice vermicelli stirfry with pork and shrimp, was spot on. We finished up with sticky sweet corn soup and more Vietnamese coffee. Ngon!
Dinner tonight was another T+L-recommended restaurant, Cha Ca Thanh Long. They serve one thing - Cha Ca, which is a DIY fish dish with stir-fried spring onion and fresh dill garnished with cilantro, hot peppers (if you wish) and soy-like sauce over the ubiquitous rice vermicelli noodles. In a word - scrumptious - and a Jake favorite.
We peppered today with shopping (beautiful silks, art, metal works and other crafts), and a two-hour guided bike ride to see as much as we could on our only full day here. Tomorrow, we head to Halong Bay for an overnight trip and then southward to Hoi An and some of the beach towns before finishing up our Vietnam stay in Ho Chi Minh City (a.k.a. Saigon).
Lasting impressions for today? We imagine it to be difficult for our taller friends and family members to navigate Hanoi - everything is super-sized in the opposite direction...much more mini-me than McDonald's. Also, PR apparently works! Thank goodness for "objective" editorials (a la T+L) otherwise we may not have found the culinary gems that we did in Hanoi, and no doubt the ones we will continue to discover in Vietnam. Kudos for my profession. :) And, for any PR agency personnel whose hotels, restaurants, etc. are mentioned in these blog posts, I'll have you know the UMV for "Fear of Flying" is up there - all of 7 people. Put that in your report and smoke it...!
That said, we've landed in Hanoi, Vietnam. With this in mind, we could have easily called this blog "Pho Heaven." We decided against that though since this would officially be our third of three posts that all contain the word "heaven." But so it goes...
Hanoi is a feast for the senses. It's literally not possible to walk on the streets. It's much better and more safe to be in vehicular motion, particularly on a moped. Moped drivers are everywhere and they tend to have the right-of-way whether on the street or the sidewalk. Walking on the sidewalks is also not an option as everything else is actually done on the sidewalk. You can eat on the sidewalk, sodder on the sidewalk, get a haircut on the sidewalk, sell wares on the sidewalk, park on the sidewalk...you get the point.
After landing in Hanoi, we checked into our two-star hotel in the Old Quarter and went out in search of pho. Unfortunately for us, Jake and I were armed only with our mututally inadequate senses of direction and a map that, as it turns out, we were reading upside down. The positive for us was that we had done our reasearch for this leg of the journey thanks to Lonely Planet and a recent all-about-Vietnamese-food article (http://www.travelandleisure.com/trips/food-lovers-vietnam-getaway) we read by Peter Jon Lindberg in Travel + Leisure. If anyone would know about the topic, he certainly would!
By the time we landed upon Lindberg's recommendation #1, a restaurant called Pho Gia Truyen, it was already closed. So instead, we opted for an even more local option - authentic street food pho. We sat in the world's tiniest plastic chairs (on the sidewalk) and asked for whatever was being cooked (on the sidewalk). No other conversation took place except our request for "two" of whatever was being served from a boiling stock pot (on the sidewalk). Thankfully, we were served two heaping bowls of steaming pho ga (chicken noodle soup, on the sidewalk). The meal gave one of our favorite restaurants in NYC, Pho Viet Huong, some bona fide competition. The price was even better - about $3.00 for two giant bowls. (Yes, Rich, they did give us the good soup spoons too.)
After a decent night's sleep to the soft sounds of Cape Fear in the background with Vietnamese subtitles, we were off on our first official day in Hanoi...much better by daylight while reading the map correctly. We continued to sip and eat our way through the city on Peter Jon Lindberg's recommendations - coffee at Cafe Nang (so tasty with condensed milk) and lunch at Quan An Ngon. Apparently known to locals simply as Ngon (delicious), this restaurant truly lived up to its reputation. Not only was it touted by T+L, but Lonely Planet also gives it props. A bit western in that it has normal sized chairs and a mix of patronage, it is also the largest establishment we've seen here. Our double soup order of Pho Bo (beef soup) and Fish Cake Noodle soup, along with rice vermicelli stirfry with pork and shrimp, was spot on. We finished up with sticky sweet corn soup and more Vietnamese coffee. Ngon!
Dinner tonight was another T+L-recommended restaurant, Cha Ca Thanh Long. They serve one thing - Cha Ca, which is a DIY fish dish with stir-fried spring onion and fresh dill garnished with cilantro, hot peppers (if you wish) and soy-like sauce over the ubiquitous rice vermicelli noodles. In a word - scrumptious - and a Jake favorite.
We peppered today with shopping (beautiful silks, art, metal works and other crafts), and a two-hour guided bike ride to see as much as we could on our only full day here. Tomorrow, we head to Halong Bay for an overnight trip and then southward to Hoi An and some of the beach towns before finishing up our Vietnam stay in Ho Chi Minh City (a.k.a. Saigon).
Lasting impressions for today? We imagine it to be difficult for our taller friends and family members to navigate Hanoi - everything is super-sized in the opposite direction...much more mini-me than McDonald's. Also, PR apparently works! Thank goodness for "objective" editorials (a la T+L) otherwise we may not have found the culinary gems that we did in Hanoi, and no doubt the ones we will continue to discover in Vietnam. Kudos for my profession. :) And, for any PR agency personnel whose hotels, restaurants, etc. are mentioned in these blog posts, I'll have you know the UMV for "Fear of Flying" is up there - all of 7 people. Put that in your report and smoke it...!
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Boracay, Philippines
Jake and I have landed in Boracay, the big tourist-y sister to all of the Philippine islands. I had been here once in January 2006 with my Dad and sister, and business has clearly been booming since then. We're here for two nights to finish out the honeymoon before leaving the comfort of my cousin and his family in Manila. One more "finale" of a night with family back in the big city and then we're off on the official adventure to Southeast Asia.
Today's highlight has been lunch. (Shoot, a food post already. Definitely unavoidable.) My cousin told us about a place called Mang Inasal, a fast food joint specializing in all things chicken. My brother would absolutely love this place, not only for the food but also for the more than fair prices. I dare say it would give Chik-fil-A a run for his money. Upon ordering a combo meal (white meat for me, dark meat for Jake - go figure!), they instantly serve up a clear, garlic- and ginger-spiced chicken broth. I commented to Jake that I love the Philippines for many reasons, chief among them being the prevalence of hot soup at every meal. Who says you can't eat soup in the summer? The Filipinos eat it in high heat and humidity.
After finishing the soup, they bring out the main course of spit-roasted, marinated chicken and steamed rice. For the rice, they offer a customizable sauce bar directly on each table made up of soy sauce, hot pepper oil, vinegar, calamasi fruit (cherry-sized green lemons) and small red chile peppers. It's soy heaven and a great addition to any meal! The restaurant also touts "unlimited rice," which would be especially fantastic for my Dad. I enjoyed two scoops of rice to Jake's one. We washed down the meal with a watermelon and pineapple fruit shakes from a neighboring stand.
So the trend of eating continues on this honeymoon, not that I would have thought anything different. This morning on the transfer bus ride from Kalibo to Caticlan, I lost a small clump of false lashes. I'm likely down to 119 or so. It actually made us wonder what type of glue was used to make them so durable...? Actually, it's a little bit scary but I'm still saying I'll miss them.
Hopefully soon we'll figure out how to post pictures and videos to make this thing readable. Until then...
Today's highlight has been lunch. (Shoot, a food post already. Definitely unavoidable.) My cousin told us about a place called Mang Inasal, a fast food joint specializing in all things chicken. My brother would absolutely love this place, not only for the food but also for the more than fair prices. I dare say it would give Chik-fil-A a run for his money. Upon ordering a combo meal (white meat for me, dark meat for Jake - go figure!), they instantly serve up a clear, garlic- and ginger-spiced chicken broth. I commented to Jake that I love the Philippines for many reasons, chief among them being the prevalence of hot soup at every meal. Who says you can't eat soup in the summer? The Filipinos eat it in high heat and humidity.
After finishing the soup, they bring out the main course of spit-roasted, marinated chicken and steamed rice. For the rice, they offer a customizable sauce bar directly on each table made up of soy sauce, hot pepper oil, vinegar, calamasi fruit (cherry-sized green lemons) and small red chile peppers. It's soy heaven and a great addition to any meal! The restaurant also touts "unlimited rice," which would be especially fantastic for my Dad. I enjoyed two scoops of rice to Jake's one. We washed down the meal with a watermelon and pineapple fruit shakes from a neighboring stand.
So the trend of eating continues on this honeymoon, not that I would have thought anything different. This morning on the transfer bus ride from Kalibo to Caticlan, I lost a small clump of false lashes. I'm likely down to 119 or so. It actually made us wonder what type of glue was used to make them so durable...? Actually, it's a little bit scary but I'm still saying I'll miss them.
Hopefully soon we'll figure out how to post pictures and videos to make this thing readable. Until then...
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Why Fear of Flying?
Greetings from the Philippines! Jake and I are enjoying a great honeymoon at El Nido Resorts in Palawan - a slice of eco-heaven on earth. After a whirlwind of a month, we're happy to just settle in, sleep, relax on the beach and explore the surrounding islands.
A lot has changed for us since mid-September. In addition to resigning from our jobs in NYC and most importanly getting MARRIED!, we've also halfway moved to Chicago and started a bit of an adventure overseas beginning with this honeymoon.
My personal enjoyment of this trip can be measured on many levels, but I'll only mention two. The first and more cosmetic has to do with the number of fake eyelashes I lose daily. I had 160 lashes glued to my lids for the wedding on 10/2/10. When I finished up at BlingLash on 14th Street between 6th and 7th (highly recommended!), I felt a bit like a "woman of the night." Happily, I settled in to them and now don't want to give them up. Unfortunately, I'm now losing them by the day. So for Post #1, let's say I have about 125 lashes left.
Another measure of the success of this trip is about the title of this blog, "Fear of Flying." Fortunately for me and my husband, neither of us have true anxiety over flying. It's actually quite enjoyable especially on Emirates Airlines on which we flew from JFK to Dubai and on to Manila. They fed us every 2.2 seconds it seemed and had personal TVs equipped with more than 150 movies. Not bad!
So why call the blog "Fear of Flying?" It has to do with the personal choices we've made to get where we are today. As my husband so aptly put it in his wedding speech, we are currently homeless, jobless and newlywed, a far cry from where we were one month ago! Many would say we were successful Manhattanites living well in the Big City. But, we decided that family and friends and each other are the most important thing right now - much more important than the daily grind. Beginning our marriage in this way is a bit of a gamble (actually the biggest of our lives), but we're willing to risk it for happiness. So, we're letting everything go (i.e. wordly possessions, NY-based friends all of which we love and will sorely miss, our Tribeca apartment, creature comforts and security) to roll the dice on something extraordinary. With any luck, we'll be "flying" in no time...
A lot has changed for us since mid-September. In addition to resigning from our jobs in NYC and most importanly getting MARRIED!, we've also halfway moved to Chicago and started a bit of an adventure overseas beginning with this honeymoon.
My personal enjoyment of this trip can be measured on many levels, but I'll only mention two. The first and more cosmetic has to do with the number of fake eyelashes I lose daily. I had 160 lashes glued to my lids for the wedding on 10/2/10. When I finished up at BlingLash on 14th Street between 6th and 7th (highly recommended!), I felt a bit like a "woman of the night." Happily, I settled in to them and now don't want to give them up. Unfortunately, I'm now losing them by the day. So for Post #1, let's say I have about 125 lashes left.
Another measure of the success of this trip is about the title of this blog, "Fear of Flying." Fortunately for me and my husband, neither of us have true anxiety over flying. It's actually quite enjoyable especially on Emirates Airlines on which we flew from JFK to Dubai and on to Manila. They fed us every 2.2 seconds it seemed and had personal TVs equipped with more than 150 movies. Not bad!
So why call the blog "Fear of Flying?" It has to do with the personal choices we've made to get where we are today. As my husband so aptly put it in his wedding speech, we are currently homeless, jobless and newlywed, a far cry from where we were one month ago! Many would say we were successful Manhattanites living well in the Big City. But, we decided that family and friends and each other are the most important thing right now - much more important than the daily grind. Beginning our marriage in this way is a bit of a gamble (actually the biggest of our lives), but we're willing to risk it for happiness. So, we're letting everything go (i.e. wordly possessions, NY-based friends all of which we love and will sorely miss, our Tribeca apartment, creature comforts and security) to roll the dice on something extraordinary. With any luck, we'll be "flying" in no time...
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