profoundfluxpudding

When I start talking about something I want to do, I can’t rest until I’ve done it. I so hate when people are ATNA (all talk no action) that I will do anything to avoid this. Often, this means that I do things too quickly and don’t plan thoroughly. But sometimes it works out.

I’ve been talking about buying a blender for a week or so now. I’ve started dreaming up smoothie concoctions – banana, mango, and soymilk or passionfruit, banana, and yogurt. Maybe I can use cucumbers for something. Or avocado. Does mangosteen work for smoothies?

I haven’t been this into smoothies since middle school when they came out as a hot new fad. But I’ve been searching for a breakfast routine here quite unsuccessfully. I went through a phase of eating pho, of making oatmeal in a rice cooker, and of eating yogurt with homemade granola. But I’m so fickle lately. Now the idea of smoothies has captivated my every cell.

Finally, on my way home today, I stopped at an electronics store on electronics street. I instantly fell in love with a retro green blender. It costs 650,000VND, the lady at the store told me.

Shoot, I only had 550,000 VND in my wallet. I showed her my empty wallet. I knew this meant that I would just have to come back another day and buy my blender. But I was CRUSHED.

She showed me a different blender that cost 550,000VND. It was white and boring – nothing like the cute green blender that reminded me of the Kitchenaid products I’ve always coveted. “I don’t like this one,” I said.

“Hold on one minute,” she told me. She went to confer with someone else. Then the miraculous happened – she told me I could have the green blender for 550,000VND.

It wasn’t even that I had set out to bargain. Had I had the extra 100,000VND (all of US$5) in my wallet, I would have paid the amount she told me and thought nothing of it. But my inadvertent bargaining strategy had worked – probably because I was totally sincere and they felt sorry for the girl who was about to spend all her money so that she could make breakfast smoothies.

Anyways, it felt good to be on the right side of a rip-off. Maybe now that my 1 year anniversary in Vietnam is coming up, I am finally starting to get it.

And now I will dream of smoothies.

Rice is really important. The majority of people in our world have diets consisting mainly of rice. 2004 was the International Year of Rice  (IYR). There is a trendy New York City restaurant called Rice that acknowledges the importance of rice around the world.

Rice is so variable and it is perfect for a gluten-free diet. I am in the right part of the world to love rice  because Vietnam is the world’s second largest exporter of rice (Thailand is the first).  I eat rice in more ways than Forrest Gump eats shrimp. I can name so many different forms and variations of rice: jasmine rice, glutinous rice, pho noodles, bun noodles, rice paper, rice pudding, brown rice, red rice, rice and beans, and on and on. However, it was only yesterday that I discovered a new type of rice: GABA rice drink.

I found this drink at Lemon Farm, an organic and macrobiotic grocery and cafe in Bangkok. The drink is made from GABA brown rice and five types of beans. There were real kidney beans in this drink! (This might have grossed me out before I decided to love che).

Brown rice that germinates for a longer time than usual has GABA, an amino acid produced from the brain that helps block the neurons that produce anxiety and stress. So GABA naturally reduces stress and anxiety and has other health benefits. (I’ve done some Internet research)

I’m a strong believer in better health through amazing foods (and of course, the reverse: packaged foods, added hormones, and corn syrup are killers). I think this GABA rice drink is a superfood and it will become big trend real soon (mark my words!). I’ve been drinking Kombucha for years and now it just finally made it as a “trend” on the New York Times Thursday Styles. NYT can be slow to pick up on trends! (well, to their credit, there was an article about Kombucha in 1994, but it was not about the fad.)

It will only be a matter of time before Hollywood health gurus and yogis start walking around cities with their GABA rice milk drinks. In a few years, The New York Times will write about this new trend.  Instead of gabbing about GABA, I should probably find a GABA brown rice drink to invest in….

Did you know that rice could be so trendy?

glasses, vest, and scarf

Originally uploaded by profoundfluxpudding

Earlier this week, I came across Advanced Style, a blog that is based off of the famous Sartorialist. While The Sartorialist mainly pictures young, beautiful people, Advanced Style captures the style of older women and men.

As much as I bemoan the lack of shopping in Hanoi, there is no denying that there is some great style, especially among the elders. I particularly love the scarves and vests. Earlier this year, I even bought one of these handmade vests.

I love that old people are everywhere in Hanoi. I did not have to search long and hard for these shots. I just stopped for a minute on my way to work and approached some women to ask if I could photograph them. They all laughed at the idea, but were flattered when I showed them the picture and said that they were beautiful.

In the US, young people and old people live in separate worlds, but here I interact with sweet old ladies on a daily basis. One time, when I was being timid while crossing the street, an old woman grabbed my hand to help me across. Elders are important in this society and their clothing choices seem to have a distinguished irreverence.

I hope I can go about my daily life with such grace when I am old! I plan to be a hat lady and I want to have an outrageous collection of hats that I wear on every occasion…I just really hope I am not a crazy cat lady!

Click here to see more snapshots of Distinguished Style in Hanoi

New pho is almost as oxymoronic as old news. There are pho shops sprinkled all over Hanoi and to the untrained eye, they are pretty much identical. Some offer chicken or beef and other just one or the other. Most offer pho xao and ap chao as well. All should have a container for chopsticks, napkins, and spoons that sits a top a metal or plastic table. There is always a spicy red condiment jar, a clear garlicky condiment jar, limes, and slice of hot pepper.

Still, I was curious when I saw a sign for a grand opening of a pho shop near my office and had to check it out. It said it was pho Nam Dinh, the province that pho originated in. According to an article about pho in the Voice of Vietnam, villagers from Nam Dinh came to Hanoi to sell pho because there was more of a demand in the city. As the owner of Pho Lanh on Nui Truc says, “Although the dish originated in our village it was unable to fully develop there because the people had very low incomes; there wasn’t a high demand for this type of food, which was relatively expensive. Consequently, many of us have had to set up businesses outside of our homeland.”

While even the founder of Hanoi Cooking Centre Tracey Lister believes that pho originated in Nam Dinh, ambiguity remains over the origin of this quintessential Vietnamese dish. Some say its a combination of Chinese and French influences – the rice noodles coming from China and the beef coming from France. Others refuse to attribute any influence to these invading forces and claim that pho is purely Vietnamese.

Some of the original Nam Dinh pho shops remain popular in Hanoi and I am now on a mission to seek these out and see if I can tell a difference. I am not sure if the pho Nam Dinh that just opened at 12 Van Phuc is real or a copycat (welcome to Vietnam, the country of copycats). Also,  I like to order ap chao because it had more greens, tomato, and garlic, but ap chao is not as traditional. In fact, as I was eating a bowl of it last week, some awkward Vietnamese guy decided to join me and chat. He told me that if I liked ap chao, it meant I had very modern tastes (Hanoians seem to like their food boring and same same). At first I was entertained by his presence, but then he tried to get me to go to a cafe or bia hoi with him and asked for my number. I was not interested so I quickly slurped my noodles and ran off down the street.

In addition to the new pho place on my street, a Pho 24 just opened near my house. According to the “Pho” Nam Dinh article, this chain is a threat to the traditional pho shops. I think it is a sign of development and a country in flux (for better and worse). I like to eat pho on the street and dislike the fact that little shops are being threatened by mammoth chains with special deals and combo meals. The pho 24 even has WIFI. The idea of advertising for WIFI at a pho shop is a perfect example of how Hanoi is changing and trying to balance age-old tastes with new-age technology.

I try to keep my pho real. I don’t want faux Louis Vuitton and I don’t want faux pho.

Update: It seems that I am not the only one that can write endlessly about pho. Food writer Mimi Sheraton also found the simultaneously simple and complex soup to be noteworthy. Read her article in the Smithsonian Magazine (March 2010 issue).

*This is really in-depth and probably not that interesting unless you really love me or you are planning a trip to Burma.

DAY 5:

• Spent the morning enjoying the relaxing town around Inlay Lake. We bicycled 45 minutes on a rural path to a hot springs. The road seemed to go to no where, so we climbed a deserted pagoda for a better view. Sure enough, the hot springs were just around the corner! There were only a few other people there. Each pool got hotter and I felt my circulation and digestive system improving with each wince of heat. We another typical multi-course meal at Smiling Moon. I was most excited by the avocado with rice crackers and fried bananas. We relished every moment of the day and finally showed up at the hotel at 4 pm to begin another long drive to Mandalay.
• The roads were not good. In some parts, they were just dirt. We shook and rattled for many hours. We stopped to get dinner along the road and continued driving into the night. We finally arrived at the ET hotel in Mandalay at 2 am.  From my 2 am viewpoint, Mandalay seemed big, dirty, and unspectacular.

DAY 6:

• We spent the day around Mandalay. It is the places nearby that drive tourists to this sprawling and dusty city. We wanted to be in the monastery at Amarapura by 10:30 AM so that we could see the thousands of monks line up and eat breakfast. This turned out to be kind of uncomfortable because there were many tourists who wanted to watch monks eat.  We felt guilty taking photos and quickly left to go to the longest teak bridge in the world.
• The bridge was also a touristy attraction, but the little cafe that we found to drink a strawberry drink at was authentic and delicious (The outhouse I peed in afterwards was also authentic, but not delicious).
• Next, we went to Sagaing Hill, a hillside that is full of monasteries and pagodas. It is the place were monks go when they are stressed out. One monk quietly showed us around. He kept wanting to take photos of me in particular places with my camera. What I really wanted was a photo of him taking a photo because his maroon robe matched my camera perfectly.
• Stopped by a few more pagodas, got picked up by another monk who sat down with us for tea, and then headed back to the city.
• That night, we walked through a night market on our way to see The Mustache Brothers – the comedy/dancing troupe that is infamous for criticizing the government.  The main guy talked about how the government was rich and the people were poor, about how the government is always watching, and about one of the brothers that was sentenced to jail. And then there was a lot of silly dancing.
• We tried to grab a late dinner, but the city was dead by 10 pm. We finally found some Indian briyani on the street, but the little children begging by my side made me completely lose my appetite.

DAY 7:

• We rented bikes for the day – a clutch decision.
• Started the day with a climb up Mandalay Hill to a pagoda. I really enjoyed the morning stair workout. Besides this hill, the city is completely flat.
• There just was not that much to do in Mandalay and it was hot so we decided to go to the pool. The local Olympic-sized pool looked great for swimming laps, but not that inviting for reading besides it. We sauntered in with an affected air to the Mandalay Hill Resort and enjoyed a lovely afternoon of dipping in the pool and reading. It was a nice break for us, but seriously, I cannot believe that people would come to Myanmar to stay at 5-star resorts and hang out by the pool the whole time. What’s the point? If that is what you want, sit by the beach in Thailand!
• After a five-star shower, went to TooToo, a home style restaurant. While it is listed as a MUST go in Lonely Planet, there are no signs of it selling out to tourists. Completely authentic mush!!
• Savored our last hours playing connect four in a bar and then at 8 pm, began the overnight drive back to Yangon. This drive was really scary because I knew the driver must be getting tired. The night was a complete haze of roadside tea and peeing off the side of the road.

DAY 8:

• Finally arrived back in Yangon around 10 AM. I was dizzy and exhausted.  I really wanted to run the Hash House Harriers at 3 pm so I set out to energize myself: a lemongrass drink, a lime drink, and a coffee drink.
• Still felt woozy, but really wanted to run. Good thing because the Hash turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the trip. We met a bunch of expats and were able to get a feeling for the expat life. Turns out, they were surprisingly normal! The run was about an hour – through thatched-roof huts and dry fields. At one point, the monks and villagers were pointing us which way to go!
• By the time the run and following festivities ended, I was exhausted and satisfied. Tomorrow we would leave early and spend the day shopping at the weekend market, getting Thai massages, seeing old friends, and eating pad thai in Bangkok

People seem to want more information on this trip. Vietnam Airlines is opening up a direct flight from Hanoi – Yangon soon so I think more and more people from Hanoi plan to go to Myanmar.  While everything is still fresh in my mind, I might as well craft a little travel guide based on my trip. My friend Dave sent us a lot of information from his trip that was really helpful. There really is a dearth of information flowing in and out of Myanmar so this is my attempt to help others who want to go!

DAY 1:

• We arrived to Yangon and were met by the friendly staff from The Motherland Inn (2). This backpacker hostel is Lonely Planet’s “our pick.” It was not glamorous, but the people were really nice and there was a good breakfast. One of the staff members, Zaw Zaw, helped us plan our whole trip. He convinced us to go by car with a driver so that we could see more of the country and save time commuting around airports. I HATE car trips so was wary, but ultimately decided it was the best decision. Based on what we wanted, Zaw Zaw said we should go to Bago (spend the night in Taugwoo), Kalaw, Lake Inlay, Mandalay, Amarapura and Sagaing, and then back to Yangon
• We spent the rest of the day exploring Yangon – went to the market, ate a questionable cold rice noodle      salad (the woman mixed it with her bare hands), walked along the Strand and stopped in at one of the   fancy hotels near the British Embassy, and saw the very impressive Shwedagon Pagoda during sunset.

DAY 2 (Valentine’s Day):

• Ate a dosa for breakfast on the street (for some reason the idea of eggs at hostels makes me squirm). The dosa was delicious and we enjoyed it with Myanmar tea – like Indian tea, but not spicy and with condensed milk…hmm…. We got in our car, our home away from home for the next few days, and headed to Bago.  Our driver did not speak any English, so Aung was there to be our semi-guide. He was nice and easy-going, but did not speak enough English to really tell us much about the sites.
• Bago is like a miniature Bagan – we went to so many pagodas that it became an endurance event. After not being able to walk around and have our shoeless feet burn anymore, we decided to get our palms read. According to some guy at a pagoda in Bago, I have a brave mind and a lot of leadership capabilities (well he said some other things too, but I only chose to remember what I liked). We ate some mushy curry and headed to Taugwoo. On the way we saw a little fair and asked the driver to stop. It was such a “genuine” and not touristy experience. I bought some sticky rice in bamboo and we rode possibly the sketchiest fair ride ever.
• I think we stayed at a nice place in Taugwoo but we never saw it in the daylight because we arrived after       dark and left before dawn.

DAY 3:

• Started with one of the longest and most uncomfortable car rides of my life. We finally arrived to the quaint town of Kalaw and had lunch at Everest Nepali restaurant. We did not have time for the standard hike from Kalaw to Lake Inlay, so we did a five hour trek. It felt so great to stretch my legs.
• Our guide was a really interesting and well-educated man in his 50s. He told us  about his life and a lot about his thoughts on the government and the people. He thinks that tourists are important because they help inform Burmese people about the world outside. He asked as a lot of questions about American politics that we tried to answer as honestly as we could. He said that most people do not know about other types of government, all they know is fear. He tried to compare the Burmese people to an Aesop’s fable called “We got the leader we deserve.” His point was that the people are smiling Buddhists who do not plan for the future. Our trekking guide seemed to double as a medicine man for the towns that we visited. Ha handed out medication to an old woman and a young girl. Tourists give him money to buy medicine so we chipped in as well.
• We bought some really cool paintings from Law Ka Nat art gallery and went to Sam’s Family Restaurant for dinner.

DAY 4:

• After buying some warm blankets at the market, we are off again. I was not happy to get back in the car, but the ride to Lake Inlay was only three hours. We arrived to our hotel and immediately rented bicycles.
• Biking on retro bikes around the paths outside of town made me feel like I was in another era, in another world. I immediately thought how good of a place this would be for a fashion catalogue photo shoot.  We stopped for lunch at Green Chili, a really beautiful restaurant that looks way more expensive than it actually is.
• For the afternoon, we did our tour of the lake. I did not realize that the lake was so inaccessible – you have to get on guided motorboats to get there. The boat ride was great, but the whole tour seemed a little weird. A big draw is a monastery where bored monks have taught cats to jump…did I mention I am NOT a cat person? We went to a cigarette-making workshop and a weaving workshop. We opted out of seeing the women with long necks. These women wear metal braces that elongate their necks. It was first done so that young girls would not be attractive to men, but now more and more girls get this treatment because tourists like to take photos. Lonely Planet advised us not to stop for photos. It is times like these that you realize what profound impacts tourism can have on society. I will forever be a more conscience tourist.
• We went to a winery restaurant called The Viewpoint for dinner. Shan food is better than most Myanmar food – lots of soups, salad, and avocado! Apparently Shan kings would be served 300 plates at each meal. Five was way too much for me… Still, it was another gorgeous restaurant. Not exactly what I was expecting from Myanmar, but there is definitely some upscale tourism here (with money oftentimes going straight into the the hands of the government)