The European Bromance Continues
March 7th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
It’s midday on Monday in Rome. Hailey’s in class, and my brother Kevin and I are chatting on BBM again. Check out my view, I’ve been sitting here for an hour, he types. So we each snap photos of what’s in front of us at that moment and swap files.
Me: Kitchen, 6:16 a.m. EST Him: Pantheon, 12:16 p.m. CET
Kevin Sayet *US*: I have about an hour ffree now if you wanna interview me haha
Snap Crackle Pop, Banh Phong Tom
October 2nd, 2010 § 2 Comments
I waited so long to take my bag of instant prawn crackers – banh phong tom in Vietnamese – for a test drive, a souvenir from my trip to Southeast Asia this summer. It must have been a silly attempt to prevent them from running out! Silly of course, because I hadn’t been able to enjoy them which is, well… the point.
I have always loved noshing on these puffed snacks at Vietnamese and Indonesian restaurants stateside when they have them. They’re nom nom. In Miami, Bali Cafe downtown has a few kinds, even one made in-house! (Ask for kroepoek there.) « Read the rest of this entry »
Northern Vietnam Food Culture Snapshot: Nam Dinh Street Market and Making Pho Bo
July 10th, 2010 § 5 Comments
Cousin Jonathan with his mother-in-law and wife Hoa, at the family bicycle shop in Nam Dinh (10 July 2010.)
Now that the whirlwind Indian wedding week is over, I’ve traveled through the luxury lined terminals of Suvarnabhumi Bangkok Airport to arrive Hanoi, to visit my cousin Jonathan and his wife Hoa and do a little exploring of this city on my own before heading back to the states on Friday. I’ll be moving into a hotel this afternoon for the duration of my stay, but how perfect it was to stay with Jonathan these couple of days. He and Hoa (pronounced wah, flower in Vietnamese) have given me the ultimate in crash courses on culture, language, and most importantly, food! I think I’m getting a handle on the Vietnamese way of life, and I have them to thank. I’m learning some Vietnamese, but it’s a bitch! First of all, letters and their combinations sound different. Nh sounds like ing, so banh mi actually sounds like ba-ang mi. Then you have accents, plus when you address different genders and ages there are different words you use! I have a few staple phrases down…
Yesterday, my first full day here (having arrived at night on Friday,) we took day trip to Nam Dinh, the second town about 2 hours south of the city that the French developed into provincial outpost. It’s where Jonathan’s in laws live, and we were going to visit its street food market and learn how to make pho bo (beef pho) from Hoa and her mom. « Read the rest of this entry »
