Vietnam: Part IV

By the second day we pretty much figured how everything went. To cross the road, please cross. "Har?" Well, you heard me, if you stand there overwhelmed by the sheer number of vehicles, they jolly well ARE going to overwhelm you! So just cross, I'll say, even though you may feel your life expectancy decrease by half. The bikes will avoid you automatically, even though they signal their displeasures by letting loose a series of honks.

Plodding on, Vietnam will slowly reveal herself in bits n pieces. Pushcarts selling food dot the streets, ladies hanging fruits on baskets off a pole trudging on in the sweltering heat, and of course the bothersome taxi drivers and tricycle riders calling at you for every opportunity to earn your buck. People there are generally nice, except that they don't say "Excuse me" when they need to pass, they just shove you aside with their hands. They even do this to kids, don't ask me why.

Fruits are abundant there. Fruits I'd die to eat everyday. Top of my list: Durian, and followed by Lychee, Mangosteen and Dragonfruits which are pretty much easily available everywhere. Not to mention cheap; I had durians by the roadside at 10,000 dongs per kilo which if converted equals to SGD1 per kilo. Oh man, that was memorable and the durian was damn good also.

Here are some other stuff we had to complete the food court series.



Another kind of beef rolls but wrapped with mustard leaves. Mustard leaves are a very subjective taste and apparently, we didn't like it very much.



If mango salad isn't your style, I'd say go for Bamboo shoot salad. Served warm with two pieces of rice crackers, this porky taste-infused dish made a wonder when you plomp it on top of the rice crackers. A crunch and then a warm, steady release of pork juice all absorbed in the bamboo shoots with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds adding the finishing touch.



The same outlet sells this dessert; black glutinous rice with mung bean paste and coconut cream. Oh my goodness, it was heavenly. As I guess anything with that combination would be.



Surprisingly, we had western lunches twice which were good! It wasn't like we would order this in Singapore, but I had no idea what drove us to order them there. The beef skewer nicely grilled with a substantial smokey flavour and the rice was really nicely added with a good dash of spices and butter; like very good fried rice.



Alrighty, I'll hit the streets in my next post.