Observations and Revelations

Some noteworthy observations and revelations that I feel compelled to share...

1.  I didn’t know what pho was until I ate pho in Vietnam. 

First, fresh herbs in pho are a MUST.  I’m talking mint, cilantro, Chinese cilantro, watercress, basil, lemon basil, Thai basil, Vietnamese basil, Indonesian basil, Japanese basil, and Canadian basil.  #theherbier #thebetter #whatscanadianbasil  In Vietnam, they give you a MOUNTAINOUS PILE of herbs to add to pho.  The pile of herbs is almost twice the size of the bowl of pho!  These Everest-like piles put the sad little plates of herbs we get in the US to shame.  #canisupersizethese?  Second, lime slices are hardly ever served alongside pho and good pho shouldn’t need any lime!  Third, siracha is a poor, poor way to spice up pho.  In Vietnam, little pots of homemade chili sauce are on every table.  These little pots pack some serious heat!  I added a scant quarter teaspoon to my pho at one place in Hue and I couldn’t taste anything for 15 minutes.  It will be hard going back to eating pho in CA again.  #samesamenot

2.  Sets are totally chic. 

Not sure if “set” is the proper word, but that's what I'm calling them.  If a pair of pajamas and a pantsuit had a baby, it would be a set.  These are extremely comfy-looking, light, usually floral-patterned tops and matching bottoms.  Pajama-like in nature, but worn in public during daylight hours.  Many women, especially older women, love to wear sets.  Sets will be the new rompers.  #Coachella2016 #prediction        

3.  Scooters are used to transport any number of items, including, but not limited to the following:

• A refrigerator
• Panes of glass
• A chihuahua (standing on the seat behind the driver)
• Hoola hoops

• Up to 3 family members

4.  Honking by people on scooters and in cars and trucks is done to signal that you are:

• Changing lanes
• Passing someone
• Entering the intersection
• Turning left
• Turning right
• Not turning at all
• In view of other scooters
• In view of other cars
• In view of other trucks
• In view of pedestrians
• Breathing

5.  Vietnamese coffee is delicious and it’s all because of the condensed milk.    

6.  Bahn xeo, pictured below, is not made with eggs. 

#whaaaaaaaat?!?!?!  Does this item not look like it is made with eggs??  Does this not look like an OMELET??  I did not realize this until Day 14 of our trip during our Vietnamese cooking class, by which time I had eaten bahn xeo at least 4 times IN VIETNAM.  I do recall thinking each time, “This doesn’t taste eggy, what’s up with that?”  Ummmm…that’s because it’s made with RICE, Renee.  Rice milk, to be exact, which is finely ground rice powder mixed with water.  Mixed in a contraption like this:

The color is all due to turmeric powder, which, to be fair, I was not able to taste either.  #sothere

Next stop--Hue!

Sapa: Sisters

After the cruise in Bai Tu Long Bay, we headed back to Hanoi to catch the overnight train to Sapa, a bumpy, screechy, clattering 8-hour ride, 7 and three-quarters of which I spent alternately thinking, "Are we about to DERAIL?!” and “Is someone trying to OPEN THE DOOR?!”  Needless to say, it was a sleepless night.  But it didn’t matter since I made substantial progress on a couple screenplays during that time.  #productivityitsagoodthing

Another reason why I was feeling jittery was because of a run-in with a miscreant at the Hanoi train station right before we were about to board our train.  The creep, pictured below in a sketch artist drawing by Christine, tried to help us with our bags.  He asked for a tip, so we gave him one.  Apparently, it wasn’t to his liking and, in a fit of peevishness and melodrama, TORE UP THE MONEY.  Then he kicked one of our bags.  #cray #whodoesthat #moneydoesn’tgrowontrees I’m allergic to lunatics so I EpiPenned him and got on the train.

Now, Sapa!  Some (benevolent dictator of fun) facts about Sapa:  Sapa is located in the mountainous northwestern part of Vietnam, very close to China.  Sapa’s population of approximately 36,000 people is made up of Vietnamese and also several ethnic minority groups such as Hmong, Dao (Yao), Giáy, Pho Lu, and Tay.  Sapa is known for its beautiful rice terraces.  In 2014, Sapa ranked #9 in the Top 10 Rice Terrace Destinations of the World by SpotCoolStuff.  Consider:   

The photo above is one that I grabbed from a Google image search.  On the day that we went, this is what we saw:

A note about the ethnic minorities in Sapa:  The different ethnic minorities in Sapa are identified by the colorful clothing worn by the women in each group.  Most of the ethnic minorities in the town of Sapa appeared to be Hmong (pronounced “mong”), specifically Black Hmong.  There are also Red Hmong, Blue Hmong, Green Hmong, White Hmong, and Flower Hmong, among others.  Hmong sound familiar?  You may or may not remember that Thao from Gran Torino (directed by and starring Academy Award Winner™ Clint Eastwood) is Hmong.  Thao is Lao Hmong, as opposed to Vietnamese Hmong.

We were in Sapa for only two days but we left feeling humbled and with a great admiration for the Hmong women that live there (more below).   

One of the most popular activities to do in Sapa is trekking through the sloping rice terraces and visiting the villages scattered throughout the hills.  It’s best to do this with a guide, of course.  We decided to use SapaSisters, the only female and Hmong-owned trekking operator in Sapa.  Sapa Sisters guides are all Hmong women who grew up in the mountains and know the trails like they are their own backyard because they are their backyard.  We later learned that Sapa Sisters pays their guides fair salaries and also offers benefits (of sorts).  #healthcare #butnofreesoda #andnobagelfridays

Our guide was Chai.  Chai was extremely friendly and did not seem to mind answering the endless questions I had about being Hmong and living in Sapa.  Her English is excellent, all a result of her interactions with tourists in her job as a guide. 

Chai with her niece, La.

We signed up for a 6-hour trek through edges of rice fields, over the Muong Hoa River, through bamboo forests and villages.  Fifteen minutes into our trek, the skies opened up and it POURED for the next 5 hours.  #sothisiswhatrainfeelslike  We went on with our trek despite the rain.  #totallyworthit

Below are some pictures taken during our trek:      

Part of the trek included a home-cooked lunch at a local house, so we ended up at Chai’s, where she lives with 13 of her family members, most of whom we also met that day.  Like Chai, they were all extremely friendly and gracious.  Chai and her family live in a 5-room house built by her husband’s grandfather.  The house has a dirt floor and walls made of corrugated steel.  There are no windows, the only natural light that came in was through the open front door.  Food is cooked over a fire in the fireplace.  The entire second floor, a loft, is devoted to the storage of rice and dried corn.  Chai and her family have electricity, as was evidenced by the small television in one of the rooms that was playing Korean soap operas for an audience consisting of Chai’s son and young nieces and nephews.  #nevertooyoungforKdramas     

Chai got married when she was 21, well past the average marrying age of most Hmong girls, which is about 13 or 14 years old.  Chai’s husband stays home and watches their two children, 19 months and 4 months, while Chai works as a guide during the day, a job she’s been doing for the last 6 years.  Chai guides treks daily, even on the days that she gave birth to her children!  I got the sense that Chai and her mother-in-law are the only family members in the household that have jobs outside of farming.  Chai’s mother-in-law sells handicrafts made by her and her family to tourists in Sapa, a job that Chai also did before she became a guide.    

Chai is definitely the breadwinner in her household.  Chai told us that since she spends a lot of time out of the house, her son, 19 months, doesn’t recognize Chai as his mother, instead calling his aunt (Chai’s husband’s sister), “Mommy.”  I got the sense that this hurt Chai but that she accepted it because it was more important that Chai be able to do her job as a guide for Sapa Sisters and earn a good wage to help support her family.  You and I may think of this as an enormous sacrifice on Chai’s part, but I am not sure if she sees it that way.  For her, having an opportunity to support her family by working for Sapa Sisters and not doing so would be a foolish and selfish act.      

When we arrived at Chai’s house, Chai’s husband was in the midst of preparing lunch for the house—Chai’s young nieces and nephews, as well as a couple of her husband’s brothers and sisters.    When Christine and I arrived with Chai, he began preparing a brand new meal, which we enjoyed with Chai, her husband, her mother-in-law, one of Chai’s sisters-in law, and another woman who may have been an aunt.  The food was delicious and not very different from things you are probably already familiar with:  potatoes with pork, green bell peppers with pork, tofu with tomatoes, morning glory (a green leafy vegetable), bamboo shoots, and, of course, Sapa rice from their own rice terraces, grown and harvested by Chai and her family. 

We learned from Chai that the rice grown in Sapa by the Hmong and other ethnic minorities is never sold at the market.  The rice is grown purely for the families’ own consumption.  The same is true for corn, which is grown to feed their livestock.      

From what we saw, most of the Hmong people living in the villages surrounding Sapa live lives very similar to Chai’s and her family’s.  Their lives are very different from mine and yours, to say the least.  I could not imagine myself living the way that Chai and her family live, and I am sure that they could not imagine living my life either.  Sometimes I forget that wealth and comfort are relative.  To me, an outsider from the West, Chai and her family seem not to have much, but to them, they have all they need and want.  Above all, they have happiness, family, purpose and Korean soap operas, all indicators of true wealth and comfort.  #lucky

Below are some more pictures from that day:

The next day, Christine and I wandered around Sapa proper, which is filled with mostly hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops.  One store that stood out was Hemp & Embroidery, owned by Lan and her husband.  Hemp & Embroidery is one of the handful of businesses in Sapa that are Hmong-owned.  They sell original, handmade Hmong textiles, including bags and backpacks of all shapes and sizes, blankets, wall hangings, and clothes.  From what I saw, business is thriving.  Everything is made by Lan, a seamstress, and designed by her husband.  Everything in the shop is stunning.  #totallyanthroguys  Lan, 21, had been a guide like Chai before she and her husband opened their store.  Lan is also a mother to a 3-month old, whom she toted around on her back while helping customers.  Lan’s English is almost immaculate and she, like Chai, learned the language strictly from her interactions with tourists.  Lan and Chai both have a primary school education, but they have achieved so much at such a young age, it makes me look at my life through a different lens.  Both seem wise beyond their years, definitely wiser than I was at their ages and probably even wiser than I am now.  #impressed #humbled #myheros

Next post--observations and revelations!

Halong Bay: The Dinner

57: Spelunking in China
65: Paragliding in Switzerland
89: Underground cave rafting in New Zealand
94: Ziplining in Costa Rica
103: Truffle-hunting in Croatia
112: Skydiving in the wilds of Davis, California
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1,773: Cave dining in Vietnam

Cave dining in Vietnam was not high on my bucket list but IT SURE AS HADES SHOULD HAVE BEEN!  If it’s not on your list, bump #7!  If it’s on your list, move it up at least 550 spots.  #doyoureallyneedtoswimwithsharks

The highlight of our time in Bai Tu Long Bay was hands down the cave dinner.  It is exactly what it sounds like.  Words can’t really do it justice, so I will let the photos do most of the talking.

But first, a brief lesson:  As discussed in my previous post, the karsts in Halong Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay are made of limestone.  Over millions of years, carbonic acid and other organic acids in rainwater and ocean water dissolve away the limestone, leaving cavities which grow over time.  Many beautiful structures – including stalagmites and stalactites – form inside caves as carbonic acid, carrying limestone, drips through cave roofs and onto their floors.  Structures inside a cave may require millions of years to develop.  #dontquotemeonanyofthis #illdenyit

For our dinner, the crew of the Dragon’s Pearl transformed a massive cave into a beautiful dining room using…tealights?!  #everythinglooksbetterbycandlelight  #youcanbuy100tealightsfor$2@IKEA  #IKEAlove

5,329: Appreciating various animals carved out of produce 

Next stop—Sapa!

Halong Bay: The Movie

Hello again, my lovelies!  Greetings from Halong Bay (even though I am writing this on the train from Sapa to Hanoi on my way to Hue—in other words, between my 4^th and 5^th blog posts)!

Disclaimer: We actually went to Bai Tu Long Bay, which is just to the north of Halong Bay.  More on that below.

First, some (benevolent dictator of fun) facts about Halong Bay/Bai Tu Long Bay:  Halong Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay are both located off the northern coast of Vietnam, both are offshoots of the Gulf of Tonkin.  In the map below, only Halong Bay has been identified.  Bai Tu Long Bay is just to the east and a tad north of Halong Bay.

If you were awake in history class, the Gulf of Tonkin may sound familiar to you because events that happened there in 1964 paved the way for the US’s involvement in the Vietnam War.  If you weren’t awake in history class, the Gulf of Tonkin may still sound familiar to you because of its world-renowned yacht club.

     

Both Halong Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay are known for their sweeping seascapes of towering, craggy limestone rocks, called karsts, which can be big or small and number in the thousands. 

  

“Ha Long” means “dragon descending” and “Bai Tu Long” means “little dragon descending.”  (Isn’t that also the name of an Ang Lee movie? #rimshot)  According to legend, the bays formed when a dragon plunged into the sea, whipping its tail from side to side in a frenzy that carved the region into the archipelago that it is today.  (Archipelago: noun, a group of islands located in close proximity to one another.)  According to science, the karsts of Halong Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay formed 230 to 280 million years ago, as rainwater and the ocean’s rising and falling tides eroded the landscape.      

Halong Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay are home to numerous fisherman, who live in fishing villages in floating houses.  We visited one such village, Vung Vieng (population: 178), where the fisherman fish for snapper, grouper, and shrimp.  After catching the fish, the fisherman keep them alive, letting them grow larger for several months before selling them at the market.  #businesssavvy #yourehired

According to our research, it seemed that an overnight trip would allow us enough time to get away from all the other boats and really enjoy the views.  We had also read that a smaller boat was better since it could go to places that the larger cruise ships could not.  This lead us to Indochina Junk, a cruise operator, and the Dragon's Pearl, our junk.  (Junk: noun, an ancient Chinese sailing ship still in use today.)  Here are some pictures of our junk and of our captain, who likes to sail barefoot:

Indochina Junk only does tours of Bai Tu Long Bay and it is also the only operator allowed to cruise through Bai Tu Long Bay.  This is probably because they pay a lot of money to the government in return for permission to operate there.  #moneytalks However, it seems that they are also doing a lot to help the bay and its inhabitants.  #walkthewalk For example, Indochina Junk founded For A Green Halong Bay in 2007, a project that provides jobs to residents, as well as promotes environmental issues in Halong Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay. #youscratchmyback #illscratchyours #winwin

Whereas Halong Bay is crowded with boats and tourists, Bai Tu Long Bay is virtually empty of tourists!  Other than the fishing boats, the only other boats we saw were the other Indochina Junk boats, and we never saw more than two at a time.  I know this sounds cheesy (#cheeselover) but I really felt like we were in a fantasy world of blue skies, jade green waters and craggy towering rocks.  I’m talking movie-quality stuff here.  #castaway2  #returntothebluelagoonagain #thebeach…towel

I really think we lucked out by choosing Indochina Junk.  #unsolicitedplug 

Consider:

Now imagine all of the pictures above with an ugly cruise ship in the foreground.  #ew  Thanks, Indochina Junk. 

To add to the fantastical nature of the seascape, we met several interesting people—and by “interesting,” I actually mean “inspiration for a romantic comedy.”  Since the Dragon’s Pearl only has 11 cabins, there were 19 guests.  And since we were all together for 3 days, we got to know some people.

Potential Oscar Winner Screenplay 1: Steve and Alison

Steve and Alison are from London.  They have been married for 38 years and have one son, James, who is 22 and works for PricewaterhouseCoopers (#nerdalert).  Steve is a tall Englishman, slightly bumbling, who works in IT.  Alison is a short, Malaysian-born Chinese woman, slightly shrewish but was probably sassy in her youth.  (Working title:  Pretty Woman 2.)  Steve and Alison met when Alison, a nurse, was taking care of Steve’s grandfather, who was in the hospital.  (Working title: Tender Loving Care.)  Steve witnessed Alison chew out a youth, over a foot taller than her, for blaring his stereo in the ward while patients were sleeping and he (Steve) was smitten.  (Working title: Tender Loving Sass.)  He later overheard her talking to the other nurses about moving flats that weekend and offered his services.  (Working title: Moving You is Loving You.)  They were engaged three months later and married two months after that.  (Working title:  Loving You is Throwing Out Our Calendars OR Three Months is A Drop in the Eternity Bucket.) 

There are a lot more things I could tell you about Steve and Alison.  They were definitely characters and probably the most interesting people on the boat.  Perhaps in a sequel another blog post.

Potential Oscar Winner Screenplay 2: Debbie and Loris

Debbie and Loris are from Belgium, though they are originally from Italy.  They are sister and brother.  (Working title: National Lampoon’s Vietnamese Vacation.)  Debbie is a designer of…unfortunately, I didn’t catch this part, let’s just say espresso machines, and Loris works for Volvo.  (Working title: 9 to 5 2-1/2.)  Debbie recently quit her espresso machine design job, Loris collects vintage cars and abhors Starbucks.  (Working title:  Trust Fund Jetsetters.)  ALL LIES.  (Working title: True Lies Redux.)  Christine and I are pretty convinced that Loris and Debbie (if those are even their real names) are a prince and princess posing as commoners trying to find a wife and husband, respectively.  (Working title: Coming to Vietnam.)  There was another gentleman on board that was definitely their bodyguard.  Ok, maybe he was a valet/tour guide/crew-member-that-took-a-special-interest-in-them.  I think the bodyguard had a crush on Debbie.  (Working title: The Other Bodyguard.)  Also, I think Christine had a crush on Loris (read: plot twist).  (Working title: Win A Date With Loris Hamilton.)