Singapore Food Classics - Nasi Goreng Ayam
The Nasi Goreng is a classic among classic in Singapore, Malaysia, and pretty much all of South East Asia. Also called Chicken Fried Rice in non-malay influenced settings, it is a very simple, economical and delicious dish.
Although, it is meant as a full meal in one plate, might not be great meal for a low-carb diet, as you are mostly talking about starch here. However, it is the typical kind of comfort food that you will crave after a few days backpacking in the region and experimenting new tastes and textures that will be disturbing your palate, if not upsetting your stomach...
Rice is sauteed in a wok with more or less chunks of chicken, strips of omelette, bits of carrots, peas, peppers. Sometimes, especially in the most popular version of the dish, a heavy helping of chili will guarantee the tasting will be adrenaline-packed...
Although, it is meant as a full meal in one plate, might not be great meal for a low-carb diet, as you are mostly talking about starch here. However, it is the typical kind of comfort food that you will crave after a few days backpacking in the region and experimenting new tastes and textures that will be disturbing your palate, if not upsetting your stomach...
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| No-thrill chicken fried rice... |
Rice is sauteed in a wok with more or less chunks of chicken, strips of omelette, bits of carrots, peas, peppers. Sometimes, especially in the most popular version of the dish, a heavy helping of chili will guarantee the tasting will be adrenaline-packed...
Singapore Food Classics - Roti Prata
Definitely one of Singapore's beloved comfort food.
This pillar dish of most, if not all, indian stalls across the city-state, the roti is a fried flour-based pancake that is cooked over a flat grill. Watching a cook preparing a Pratha is an interesting sights, as it requires speed and skill, a-la-pizzaiolo flipping, twisting, and tapping on the grill (see video below)
Its layered and soft texture that is very pleasurable on the palate, it becomes divine when dipped in the accompanying vegetable or meat based curry.
Prata can be enhanced with different toppings such as cheese, onion, banana, red bean, chocolate, mushroom or egg... It might not be the healthiest dish around, but it is one that surely will fill you properly and leave a smile on your face...
Singapore Food Classics - Yong Tau Fu
Basically, the customer chooses a minimum of 5 ingredients from a large selection of:
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| Selection of Yong Tau Fu ingredients |
- tofu variation: egg tofu, steamed tofu, pan fried, ...
- dumplings
- fried chicken wrapped in seaweed, hard-boiled eggs
- fish balls and slices, surimi
- mushrooms and other jelly-like algaes
- other vegetables: tomatoes, broccoli, ...
You put your selection in a bowl and hand it to the cook, who will cook these ingredients by simply dipping them in a hot fragrant broth for a few minutes.
Then, you have a chocie of prepartation:
- simply enjoy the ingredients in the clear broth / soup
- add a luscious spicy curry/laksa gravy
- add noodles/rice for a more filling meal
- ask for the dry version for a spaghetti-like dish...
You can then splash some additional sweet sauce, chili, sprinkle some sesame seeds, pepper, spring onion, fried onions bits, and whatever topping made available to you, etc...
The more ingredients you use, the more expensive it will get, but generally speaking a Yong Tau Fu should not cost more than S$ 5. For lunch time, I warmly advise to choose the dry version! First, you might not want to have your face over a steam bath, while it's already 30+ degrees outside and sweaty in your office clothes...Second, slurping noodles is a real pleasure but you and your shirt might not like the splash of an oily gravy...
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| Dry Tau Fu with noddles, yellow peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, sausage, tofu, sweet sauce, spring onions... |
Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra, de Nietzsche
J'ai mis un an a lire ce livre. Non pas qu'il ait été ennuyeux ou dépourvu d'intérêt. Plutôt tout le contraire. J'ai découvert plus qu'un philosophe, un poète, capable de transporter le lecteur dans des aventures spirituelles pendant près de 400 pages.
Passés les premiers chapitres, a la multiple lecture desquels, on tente tant bien que mal de s'habituer a la narration de Zarathoustra, on entre dans un monde incroyable, dans lequel un philosophe ermite, recherchant la solitude a tout pris, revient sur ses rencontres avec l'Homme et la Nature et s'attache, avec une impitoyable intransigeance, de démontrer pourquoi, en quoi, et par quoi, l'homme se doit d’être dépassé.
Dans le post ci-dessous, j'ai recopie pour vous mes extraits préférés, et pour pénétrer encore plus dans le monde de l'auteur, je vous suggère de lire ces extraits avec en fond sonore l’opéra Ring der Niebelungen de Richard Wagner, dont Nietzsche était fasciné.
Texte d'une richesse quasi-inépuisable, les idées qu'il contient sont puissantes, dérangeantes et parfois se révèlent au lecteur avec une évidence rare, mais parfois aussi se contredisent violemment.
Ce livre a été pour moi une véritable expérience, littéraire et philosophique que je recommande a quiconque osera rejoindre Zarathoustra sur les plus hautes cimes.
Voici quelques extraits parmi mes préférés:
Passés les premiers chapitres, a la multiple lecture desquels, on tente tant bien que mal de s'habituer a la narration de Zarathoustra, on entre dans un monde incroyable, dans lequel un philosophe ermite, recherchant la solitude a tout pris, revient sur ses rencontres avec l'Homme et la Nature et s'attache, avec une impitoyable intransigeance, de démontrer pourquoi, en quoi, et par quoi, l'homme se doit d’être dépassé.
Dans le post ci-dessous, j'ai recopie pour vous mes extraits préférés, et pour pénétrer encore plus dans le monde de l'auteur, je vous suggère de lire ces extraits avec en fond sonore l’opéra Ring der Niebelungen de Richard Wagner, dont Nietzsche était fasciné.
Texte d'une richesse quasi-inépuisable, les idées qu'il contient sont puissantes, dérangeantes et parfois se révèlent au lecteur avec une évidence rare, mais parfois aussi se contredisent violemment.
Ce livre a été pour moi une véritable expérience, littéraire et philosophique que je recommande a quiconque osera rejoindre Zarathoustra sur les plus hautes cimes.
Voici quelques extraits parmi mes préférés:
Du blême criminel
"De maintes façons vos gens de bien me donnent la nausée, et non, en vérité, par ce qu'ils ont de méchant. Je voudrais bien qu'ils eussent un délire par lequel ils périraient, comme ce blême criminel.
En vérité, je voudrais que leur délire eut pour nom vérité, ou fidélité, ou justice; mais ils ont leur vertu pour vivre mieux et dans un pitoyable agrément.
Je suis un parapet au bord du fleuve: me saisisse qui peut me saisir! Mais je ne suis votre béquille."
Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra.
L'enfant au miroir
"La-dessus revint Zarathoustra sur les montagnes et dans la solitude de sa caverne, et il se tint a l’écart des hommes, attendant comme un semeur qui a semé son grain. Mais pour ceux qu'il aimait son âme s'emplit d'impatience et de désir, car il avait encore beaucoup a leur donner. Le plus pesant est, en effet de clore par amour la main ouverte et, prodigue, de pudeur garder."
De la domination de soi
"Tout ce qui est, d'abord vous le voulez rendre pensable, car vous doutez, avec juste méfiance, que pensable ce soit déjà. Mais tout ce qui est doit aussi s'adapter et se plier! Ainsi le veut votre vouloir. Se doit aplatir tout ce qui est, et a l'esprit se soumettre, comme son miroir et son reflet. Et c'est la votre entière volonté, vous les plus sages, une volonté de puissance; et même quand vous parlez de bien et de mal, et d'estimations de valeurs! Ce monde devant lequel vous vous pouvez agenouiller, encore le voulez créer: c'est la votre espérance ultime et votre ultime ivresse."(...)
"Tout ce qui vit est un obéissant. Et c'est la deuxième chose: reçoit commandement qui ne se peut a lui-même obéir. Telle est du vivant la manière."
Du pays de la culture
"Mais pays ne trouvai nulle part: errant je suis en toute ville et, devant toutes portes, une séparation. Me sont étrangers et dérision ces contemporains vers qui mon cœur naguère me poussait: et je suis exile des patries et des terres maternelles. Ainsi je n'aime plus que le pays de mes enfants, l’inexploré, au plus lointain des mers; a ma voile c'est celui-la que je commande de chercher et de chercher. Par mes enfants me veux racheter d’être l'enfant de mes pères, et par tout avenir veux racheter - ce présent!"
Des érudits
"Car c'est la vérité que de la maison des érudits me suis enfui et que derrière moi j'ai fait claquer la porte. Mon âme trop longtemps a leur table s’était assise avidement; point je ne leur ressemble; au savoir ne suis dresse comme au casse-noix! J'aime la liberté et l'air qui souffle sur une Terre fraiche; sur des peaux de bœufs mieux encore que sur leurs honneurs et respectabilités. Je suis trop ardent et de mes propres pensées trop consume; souvent j'en ai le souffle presque coupe. Lors il me faut gagner l'air libre et fuir tous ces poussiéreux cabinets."
Le retour au pays
"A vivre parmi les hommes, on désapprend les hommes; chez tous les hommes il est bien trop de premiers plans;- la que feront des yeux qui voient au loin, qui au loin cherchent?"
(...)
"En fossoyant deviennent malades les fossoyeurs. Sous de vieux décombres dorment de vilains remugles. On ne doit fouiller la vase. Sur des montagnes on doit vivre. Avec de béates narines, je respire la liberté de la montagne! Libre est enfin mon nez de l'odeur de tout ce qui est humain! Comme de vins mousseux par l'air vif chatouillée, elle éternue, mon âme, - elle éternue, et de jubilation s’écrie: A ta santé!
Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra."
De l'esprit de pesanteur
"Mon langage - est du peuple; trop cru je parle, et a cœur trop ouvert, pour les lapins angoras. Et plus étrange encore sonne ma parole pour tous poissons d'encrier et tous renards de plume."
D'anciennes et de nouvelles tables
"Point ne voleras! Point ne tueras!" - saintes jadis furent proclamées de telles paroles; devant elles on ployait genoux et nuques, et l'on quittait ses chaussures. Mais je vous demande: ou vit-on jamais de meilleurs voleurs et tueurs au monde que ne le furent telles saintes paroles? En toute vie elle-même ne sont - vol et tuerie? Et lorsque saintes l'on proclama de telles paroles, ne fut ainsi la vérité elle-même - frappée a mort? Ou bien fut-ce un prêche de mort que de proclamer saint tout ce qui de la vie était contradiction et refus? - O mes frères, brisez, me brisez donc ces vieilles tables!"(...)
"O mes frères, non derrière vous doit regarder votre noblesse, mais au-delà de vous! de tous les pays de vos pères et de vos aïeux devez être chassés! C'est le pays de vos enfants que vous devez aimer: soit cet amour votre nouvelle noblesse, - l’inexploré en l’océan le plus lointain! C'est ce pays que j'ordonne a votre voile de chercher et de chercher! D’être enfants de vos pères, par vos enfants vous vous devez racheter: tout passe devez ainsi racheter! Cette table nouvelle, je la dresse au-dessus de vous!"
De l'homme supérieur
"Que vous ayez désespéré, en cela il est beaucoup a honorer. (...) Ce qui est de féminine sorte, ce qui est ne de servile race, singulièrement le populacier salmigondis voila ce qui se veut a présent le maitre de toute humaine destinée, - o nausée, nausée, nausée! (...) O vous, les hommes supérieurs, me surmontez les petites vertus, les petites prudences, les considérations de grain de sable, les grouillements de fourmilière, le pitoyable agrément, "l'heur des plus nombreux"!- Et plutôt désespérez que de vous dévouer a eux."
Homemade Deluxe Coleslaw
Coleslaw might be that generic side dish that you find in any basic western restaurant, but it does not mean it's not worth making at home, especially if you pour in quality ingredients, a moderate amount of mayonnaise and a dash of homey love.
Having decided that cabbage will become one of my staple food for its many benefical health properties, and being a rabbit that always has carrots at home (I eat them raw as snacks...), I decided to make my first coleslaw and it really turned out delicious.
A fruity, sun-infused yet a bit fatty deluxe coleslaw is best enjoyed with this 311 take on The Cure's - Love song
Any suggestion to make this coleslaw even tastier?
Please share in the comments below!
Love gastronomy? Check our other Food articles
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| Delicious Homemade Coleslaw |
A fruity, sun-infused yet a bit fatty deluxe coleslaw is best enjoyed with this 311 take on The Cure's - Love song
Ingredients
- 350 g cabbage (without core)
- 3 medium carrots, peeled
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3-4 tbsp mayonnaise
- freshly ground pepper and sea salt
- seasoning mix
- grated parmesan & cheddar
- fresh coriander leaves (cilantro)
- dried raisins
- walnuts
Method
- Grate the carrots and shred the cabbage.
- Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl.
- Mix with a spoon, season with sea salt and ground pepper.
- Decorate with flat leaf parsley.
Preparation time: 10 min
Any suggestion to make this coleslaw even tastier?
Please share in the comments below!
Love gastronomy? Check our other Food articles
Indonesia - Lombok
Lombok is an indonesian island, east of Java island, directly East to a famous neighbour called Bali.
It is less developped, more conservative, and slightly harder to reach because it has no international flights. I travelled there with my girlfriend in April 2011, and even without having time to visit half to the sights, it was already a really good destination.
Our plane landed in Bali and we had planned to take another short flight to Lombok, but these were booked out. So we decided to ask for the speedboat connections, but these were also all booked out that same day...
We were only left with one option: the slow boat passenger ferry, that connects Bali to Lombok in about 5 hours...
On the boat, we were the only tourists with a couple of australian surfer dudes, and well, it was not so comfortable and noisy.
Looking at it positively, the 5 hours gave us enough time to read a lot, including our tour guide and therefore we could plan better for the days ahead. Whenever I'm on a boat I already feel on holiday and relaxed anyway.
We had booked in advance a stay at Sunset House, not far from Lombok's main town Senggigi and about one hour away from the airport. It was really a pleasant place to stay, with very comfortable rooms (although a bit dark), a small pool, and a pleasant beach front location which offers nice sunrise and sunset views.
Because of the long ferry trip, we arrived quite late that day and could not do much except relaxing at the hotel and guess what, this was nice enough!
On the first day, we rented a scooter to explore nearby tourist sites and get a feeling about the place. We saw some nice villages and temples, with little to no tourists around but us.
On the next day, we had booked 3 dives with a local dive operator. They took us to the nearby Gili islands for what were my first leisure dives after I passed my PADI open water certification (in Singapore and Tioman islands with Deep Blue Scuba)
The visibility was really great (more than 20 meters), and the sights very valuable to me as a very amateur diver. We visited the following dive sites: Shark Point (Gili Trawangan), Coral Fan Garden (Gili T), Meno reef (Gili Meno), and saw many living sea creatures: white tip shark, calamari, turtles, eel, parrot fish, lion fish, trigger fish, huge gorgonian fan corals, nudibranches, stone fish, moray eels and a sunken floating restaurant...
The current was quite strong at times, especially when we dove to the bounty wreck.
I jumped with surprise when I saw the huge, dark shape of the wreck that emerged from the blue. I will always remember this feeling (as a new diver I was already amazed by the sights of coral, so I had probably kind of forgotten that we were going to see a wreck...)
The Gili islands are small and beautiful islands on the north west of Lombok, that were once a small backpacker heaven. Now, it is much more developped since speedboats from Bali drop many tourists, but has still managed to retain a laidback vibe on its white beaches.
On the 3rd day, we decided to visit the southern coast of Lombok, near Kuta, which was meant to be beautiful. So we rented a scooter again, and got ready early because travelling time seemed to be slower than what we thought when I first hit those roads.
Indeed, going from Senggigi to Kuta and back in one day was quite a drive...
We went through beautiful landscapes, especially in the southern half of the island, when we were driving through the land of certain traditional cultures.
It seemed so far that we asked locals many times on the way if we were still in the good direction. By the time we reached Kuta, the main village in the south, it was already the afternoon, and we were already anxious about the journey back to the hotel, but we could not give up.
In Kuta itself, there is a beach, but we found it rather uninteresting, since ramshackle shops selling tourist souvenirs and more are facing the main street, and so you get their messy "back office" on the beach side.
So we asked where to head to and went in one direction, hoping to find a nice spot.
We ended up in a small fishing village that was blessed with this view.
We spent a few minutes sitting and talking with a ripped local guy, who said he is sometimes taking surfers not far away where good waves are.
After a while though, the conversation got stuck, and we decided to leave.
We had not yet found what we were after, anyway.
After 10 minutes, we reached a beautiful beach where we sipped a deliciously refreshing fresh coconut, and bought jewellery from kids.
But there was still room for one extra little push on this coast. So back on the scooter for another 15 minutes of road into nice small little paths.
And at the end waited one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.
The perfectly thin white sand and the clear turquoise colour of the water were connected by a deep blue sky. I was nothing short than short of breath.
The hours spent on the scooter had never been existed.
Suddenly, I felt an enormous lot of gratitude to be looking at this place.
We enjoyed this magic for about an hour before we had to hit the road back again.
It was also our last day in Lombok, and I decided i will be back for more.
Trekking the Rinjani volcano before coming down and resting one's painful legs in these pristine waters sounds like a plan.
It is less developped, more conservative, and slightly harder to reach because it has no international flights. I travelled there with my girlfriend in April 2011, and even without having time to visit half to the sights, it was already a really good destination.
Our plane landed in Bali and we had planned to take another short flight to Lombok, but these were booked out. So we decided to ask for the speedboat connections, but these were also all booked out that same day...
We were only left with one option: the slow boat passenger ferry, that connects Bali to Lombok in about 5 hours...
On the boat, we were the only tourists with a couple of australian surfer dudes, and well, it was not so comfortable and noisy.
Looking at it positively, the 5 hours gave us enough time to read a lot, including our tour guide and therefore we could plan better for the days ahead. Whenever I'm on a boat I already feel on holiday and relaxed anyway.
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| Arrival at Lombok |
Because of the long ferry trip, we arrived quite late that day and could not do much except relaxing at the hotel and guess what, this was nice enough!
On the first day, we rented a scooter to explore nearby tourist sites and get a feeling about the place. We saw some nice villages and temples, with little to no tourists around but us.
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| Family having lunch near a temple |
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| Lombok ladies singing karaoke after their meal at the restaurant |
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| For a refreshing bath... |
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| Pura Suranadi |
On the next day, we had booked 3 dives with a local dive operator. They took us to the nearby Gili islands for what were my first leisure dives after I passed my PADI open water certification (in Singapore and Tioman islands with Deep Blue Scuba)
 |
| A Nudibranch |
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| Yellow Seahorse |
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| Soft coral waving in the current |
The visibility was really great (more than 20 meters), and the sights very valuable to me as a very amateur diver. We visited the following dive sites: Shark Point (Gili Trawangan), Coral Fan Garden (Gili T), Meno reef (Gili Meno), and saw many living sea creatures: white tip shark, calamari, turtles, eel, parrot fish, lion fish, trigger fish, huge gorgonian fan corals, nudibranches, stone fish, moray eels and a sunken floating restaurant...
The current was quite strong at times, especially when we dove to the bounty wreck.
I jumped with surprise when I saw the huge, dark shape of the wreck that emerged from the blue. I will always remember this feeling (as a new diver I was already amazed by the sights of coral, so I had probably kind of forgotten that we were going to see a wreck...)
 |
| Bountry wreck |
The Gili islands are small and beautiful islands on the north west of Lombok, that were once a small backpacker heaven. Now, it is much more developped since speedboats from Bali drop many tourists, but has still managed to retain a laidback vibe on its white beaches.
On the 3rd day, we decided to visit the southern coast of Lombok, near Kuta, which was meant to be beautiful. So we rented a scooter again, and got ready early because travelling time seemed to be slower than what we thought when I first hit those roads.
Indeed, going from Senggigi to Kuta and back in one day was quite a drive...
We went through beautiful landscapes, especially in the southern half of the island, when we were driving through the land of certain traditional cultures.
It seemed so far that we asked locals many times on the way if we were still in the good direction. By the time we reached Kuta, the main village in the south, it was already the afternoon, and we were already anxious about the journey back to the hotel, but we could not give up.
In Kuta itself, there is a beach, but we found it rather uninteresting, since ramshackle shops selling tourist souvenirs and more are facing the main street, and so you get their messy "back office" on the beach side.
So we asked where to head to and went in one direction, hoping to find a nice spot.
We ended up in a small fishing village that was blessed with this view.
We spent a few minutes sitting and talking with a ripped local guy, who said he is sometimes taking surfers not far away where good waves are.
After a while though, the conversation got stuck, and we decided to leave.
We had not yet found what we were after, anyway.
After 10 minutes, we reached a beautiful beach where we sipped a deliciously refreshing fresh coconut, and bought jewellery from kids.
But there was still room for one extra little push on this coast. So back on the scooter for another 15 minutes of road into nice small little paths.
And at the end waited one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.
The perfectly thin white sand and the clear turquoise colour of the water were connected by a deep blue sky. I was nothing short than short of breath.
The hours spent on the scooter had never been existed.
Suddenly, I felt an enormous lot of gratitude to be looking at this place.
We enjoyed this magic for about an hour before we had to hit the road back again.
It was also our last day in Lombok, and I decided i will be back for more.
Trekking the Rinjani volcano before coming down and resting one's painful legs in these pristine waters sounds like a plan.
Vietnam - Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), the Mekong delta & Phu Quoc Island
Vietnam.
An almost mythical country for me, given that I had my first foreign food experience with my half-vietnamese sister-in-law. We used to go to her parents' house once per year around Christmas with my brother and parents, and we would sample the delicious home-made viet delicacies such as HarGau, Nems and Fresh Spring Rolls cooked by the mother.
Then I also met a few girls from vietnamese origin in France and almost systematically fell under their charm, but that's another story.
It's only natural than when I knew I was going to move to Singapore back in summer 2010, one of the first destination I thought about was Vietnam. I made it my first trip and traveled to the south of the country from the 9th to the 20th December 2010.
Pretty soon after I landed in busy HCMC (previously named Saigon), I was scammed by a fake taxi driver at the airport, who asked me double the regular amount to go to the city center and then of course, had no small change for my (small yet already too big) bank note... Oh well, no big deal, but I should think of always having small notes in the future...
First, I went to the War Remnants Museum, where the tone is set to a very patriotic one, the viets having had the immense pride to kick the american out of their country. The english-language caption are very one-sided as a consequence, depicting horrible american war crimes with an accute sense of details.
After a short night, an early morning flight, a taxi scam, and a visit in the super hot noon time, this visit did not make me feel so well. I would discourage people to visit this place just after a meal... Some pictures, depictions of torture methods and the overall features and atmosphere of the museum are not for the faint-hearted.
Moving on, I met with Anh-Tuan, a french guy from vietnamese origin, a "viet-Q", that is a friend of of a friend who accepted to be my host for a few days and show me around a bit.
Anh-Tuan has a big bike and to see the city from there, almost as a local was a great experience... Absolutely shocked by the number of motorbikes, and the "different", informal road rules in place.
See the video below for an impression of Biking in Saigon...
We went for a delicious buffet-style lunch at a nice colonial house. Different stalls had prepared many different dishes, which is great when you like to sample new foods.
After lunch, Anh Tuan went back to work and I went on solo walk in the streets of Saigon, the french colonial era post office, the Chi Minh Square, and explore the central market.
Cao Dai is a syncretic religious sect that aims to preach its fidels to take the best principles and guidelines out of the leading monotheistic religions (asian ones mostly: confucianism, taoism, buddhism), but also from christianism... The religion also venerates as spiritual guides Joanne d'Arc, Victor Hugo, Lenine and Shakespeare: peculiar mix to say the least.
It was quite a strange experience, to be with a bus full of tourist and enter this colourful, kitchy temple... The sounds of the mass was quite bizarre but I expected that from this sect...
After about 90 minutes on site, back to the tour bus to head for the Cu-Chi tunnels.
During the vietnam war, vietnamese had sometimes no over choices than living underground since the napalm bombing was so intense...
They dug more than 200 kilometers of galleries in the area of Cu-Chi, a real underground "town", but don't imagine spacious underground rooms, it was mostly tiny claustrophobic corridors leading from one place to another. The tunnels were made small enough for the bigger American soldiers to not go through them...
They could even harvest manioc/tapioca that grows inwards and would hang inside the tunnels... You could try to walk underground in tunnels of different lengths to get a feeling of how miserable that was.
A fairly instructive and scary exhibition of ingenious, cruel jungle traps designed by vietnamese to kill american soldiers is also there.
The Mekong delta is an interesting area composed of small villages scattered across the fertile plains irrigated by the thousands of arms of the river. I thought people were very hospitable although it was very hard to communicate at times, with notable exceptions.
There is not much to do on Phu Quoc anyway, except visiting the pearl farm, and visiting the remotest beaches in the north of the island.
So all I did was to wake up to the blue skies, eat breakfast, go to the beach, lay down, bake myself up, read, swim, have lunch, have a nap, write, swim again, shower, dine, drink beers and cocktails on the beach. And REPEAT. :)
So no more text. Just the visuals. You get the idea.
But all good things come to an end, and it's time to go back to Singapore...
An almost mythical country for me, given that I had my first foreign food experience with my half-vietnamese sister-in-law. We used to go to her parents' house once per year around Christmas with my brother and parents, and we would sample the delicious home-made viet delicacies such as HarGau, Nems and Fresh Spring Rolls cooked by the mother.
Then I also met a few girls from vietnamese origin in France and almost systematically fell under their charm, but that's another story.
It's only natural than when I knew I was going to move to Singapore back in summer 2010, one of the first destination I thought about was Vietnam. I made it my first trip and traveled to the south of the country from the 9th to the 20th December 2010.
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
Pretty soon after I landed in busy HCMC (previously named Saigon), I was scammed by a fake taxi driver at the airport, who asked me double the regular amount to go to the city center and then of course, had no small change for my (small yet already too big) bank note... Oh well, no big deal, but I should think of always having small notes in the future...
First, I went to the War Remnants Museum, where the tone is set to a very patriotic one, the viets having had the immense pride to kick the american out of their country. The english-language caption are very one-sided as a consequence, depicting horrible american war crimes with an accute sense of details.
 | ||
| Old war planes outside the war museum |
 |
| A gloomy prisoner cell |
  |
| Even a french guillotine... |
After a short night, an early morning flight, a taxi scam, and a visit in the super hot noon time, this visit did not make me feel so well. I would discourage people to visit this place just after a meal... Some pictures, depictions of torture methods and the overall features and atmosphere of the museum are not for the faint-hearted.
Moving on, I met with Anh-Tuan, a french guy from vietnamese origin, a "viet-Q", that is a friend of of a friend who accepted to be my host for a few days and show me around a bit.
Anh-Tuan has a big bike and to see the city from there, almost as a local was a great experience... Absolutely shocked by the number of motorbikes, and the "different", informal road rules in place.
See the video below for an impression of Biking in Saigon...
We went for a delicious buffet-style lunch at a nice colonial house. Different stalls had prepared many different dishes, which is great when you like to sample new foods.
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| Probably the best, freshest spring roll I had ever tasted... |
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| The beautiful, stuck in old times, post office... |
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| Notre Dame de Saigon |
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| Ho Chi Minh statue on Chi Min square |
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| Street gaming |
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| A stall at the central market (worth a visit) |
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| The Zoo was quite creepy, I almost felt bad to have paid for it... |
Cao Dai temple and Cu-chi tunnels
Next day, I went on a day-tour to neighboring tourist sites Cu-Chi tunnels and Cao Dai temple, both about a one-hour drive from HCMC and one hour drive from each other.Cao Dai is a syncretic religious sect that aims to preach its fidels to take the best principles and guidelines out of the leading monotheistic religions (asian ones mostly: confucianism, taoism, buddhism), but also from christianism... The religion also venerates as spiritual guides Joanne d'Arc, Victor Hugo, Lenine and Shakespeare: peculiar mix to say the least.
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| Cao Doa Temple seen from the massive square in front of it |
After about 90 minutes on site, back to the tour bus to head for the Cu-Chi tunnels.
During the vietnam war, vietnamese had sometimes no over choices than living underground since the napalm bombing was so intense...
They dug more than 200 kilometers of galleries in the area of Cu-Chi, a real underground "town", but don't imagine spacious underground rooms, it was mostly tiny claustrophobic corridors leading from one place to another. The tunnels were made small enough for the bigger American soldiers to not go through them...
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| I still managed to get into this hole... |
They could even harvest manioc/tapioca that grows inwards and would hang inside the tunnels... You could try to walk underground in tunnels of different lengths to get a feeling of how miserable that was.
A fairly instructive and scary exhibition of ingenious, cruel jungle traps designed by vietnamese to kill american soldiers is also there.
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| How to lose your legs in one second |
Mekong delta
After these days in & out of Ho Chi Minh City, it was really time to move on to a more remote destination, so I took a bus from Ho Chi Minh to Can Tho, the biggest city and economic capital near the Mekong delta. From there, I headed to Ben Tre. The bus rides were quite long and bumpy but the scenery on the road was often worth it.The Mekong delta is an interesting area composed of small villages scattered across the fertile plains irrigated by the thousands of arms of the river. I thought people were very hospitable although it was very hard to communicate at times, with notable exceptions.
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| Papaya |
Phu Quoc Island
For the last week of my trip, I had decided to do nothing but enjoy the tropical weather and well, Phu Quoc was perfect for that. Not yet destroyed by mass tourism but enough to get to know some friendly people, white beaches, good food, and a warm sea.There is not much to do on Phu Quoc anyway, except visiting the pearl farm, and visiting the remotest beaches in the north of the island.
So all I did was to wake up to the blue skies, eat breakfast, go to the beach, lay down, bake myself up, read, swim, have lunch, have a nap, write, swim again, shower, dine, drink beers and cocktails on the beach. And REPEAT. :)
So no more text. Just the visuals. You get the idea.
But all good things come to an end, and it's time to go back to Singapore...
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