What is Vietnam like? The food ...

Been very busy spring cleaning my house for a couple of weeks.

Look at my dirty hand ... lolz

From my previous entry, I am sure you'll have a rough idea of what Vietnam is. Chaotic ... yes ... but charming in its own way all the same.

One of the things that is a must for tourists to experience are to try out all the local food. I didn't of cause manage to try out all the local food.

As Vietnam's meat base food is mostly made of beef, I do have to be careful when ordering food. I am a Buddhist :) Not that I never tried it before (accidentally), but I don't like the taste and smell of beef.

Vietnam people also consume lots of vegetables/herbs. Every dish is accompanied with some vegetables/herbs ... be it a compliment, a dish or decorations. I enjoyed some .. but I dislike some as well.

Example of vegetables/herbs I dislike ... I know it is good for health! ... but there are so many other vegetables/herbs for me to choose ...why this vegetables then eh?

My first meal in Vietnam was ... well ... erm ... KFC (hehehehe). I know I know. As me and my friends were not sure of where and what to eat at that time, we decided to just have our dinner at KFC. Sounds like comfort food don't you think ...

I ordered a dinner plate with spicy chicken. Everything looks the same but the chicken was not spicy enough. And, the chilli sauce there was a little sweet for my taste. I was actually craving for something spicy!!!

Food that is acceptable to me but somehow will not be missed

Vietnam is well know for their soup base noodles. The most popular being a noodle soup called Pho (pronounced as phe). With some little research done earlier, me and my friends headed to a fast food restaurant called Pho 24.

Pho 24

Pho Chicken Noodle ... the herbs! ... argh .... I couldn't get it into my mouth ... I just couldn't

As I couldn't consume beef, I ordered Pho Chicken Noodle. The noodle was okay ... kinda like the wan tan noodle soup (kuay tiao th'ng) in Malaysia. Maybe I wasn't used to the new taste. But the herbs ... I regretted putting it in ... I ate non of the herbs at the end.

On one of my tour around Vietnam, I was taken into a restaurant to have lunch. Looking through the menu, I saw something worth trying. It was called - Chicken Chop with Fries. How wrong was I.

Chicken chop with fries

It was not only chicken chop with fries. It was chopped chicken served with fries. The chicken was old and unchewable. My gum ached after finishing the 3rd and last piece of the chicken. The fries was okay though.

What will salt + pepper equal to?

Well ... it is something we can dip our food into.

Salt and pepper

I tried dipping my fries into the strange combination. Weird ... yes ... tasted okay though.

Everyone sure do love salad rolls. Vietnam is popular for their salad roll. During the course of the 8 days, my friends ordered salad roll as we wanted to try it out. I tried several times actually. And, frankly speaking, I don't like it one bit.

Salad roll ... don't be fooled by the prawns!

The rice paper used to wrap the fillings was rather hard. That's fine. The thing that I could not stand was the herbs used inside. I lost my appetite so very quickly after a few bite.

You may asked why I tried it several times after that. Well, haha ... I thought there would be a salad roll free of that herb. Missed the bull's eye totally. The herb was awful.

Food/Beverage that is so yummy I am already missing it dearly

Okay, enough about the herbs ~.~ Lets look into something which I miss so very much. Vietnam is largely influenced by French's culture since ... (Not sure myself). The result is something called Vietnamese baguette (Bánh Mi Thit).

Vietnamese baguette

The baguette ... seriously ... is so different from the one we have in Malaysia. In Malaysia, what we get is dry, hard or aroma-less baguette. Vietnamese baguette is crispy, soft in the inside and the aroma is amazing. It is really that good. I can eat it every morning!

Vietnamese sandwich baguette. The picture above was the best one I had. I was too excited and couldn't wait to taste it.

The sandwich baguette was filled with the normal 'sandwich kinda' ingredients like cucumbers, tomatoes and carrots. The chosen 'extra' filling was of my choice of maybe ham, meat, sausage, egg, tuna and etc. I tasted tuna, ham and ham and egg so far. It was so delicious till the point it may as well be my best breakfast ever. Oh! They added fish sauce inside too.

Where can I get Vietnamese baguette here in Malaysia? Any idea ...

While I didn't enjoy the salad roll as mentioned above, I did enjoy Vietnamese spring roll. The best spring roll I tasted so far in Vietnam was the one in Pho 24.

Spring roll

The spring roll was seriously so damn delicious. I forgot what was inside the spring roll. Something like mung beans, yam, sprouts and meat (usually pork). The accompanied sauce enhance the taste of the spring roll too. While I tried many spring roll in other restaurants, non was as delicious as the one in Pho 24.

I am still craving for that spring roll above!

Last but not least, coffee. Vietnam is also well known for their coffee. And I can tell you this, the coffee in Vietnam can beat Starbucks or Coffee Bean into pieces. I seriously mean it. Starbucks/Coffee Bean /Old Town/Kopitiam ... hmm ... while the coffee there is good ... the price of the coffee is a kill.

Vietnamese coffee

Vietnamese coffee is a little different. It is so much cheaper. It is much more simpler. The aroma is so strong, nice and omph! You also get to enjoy the dripping of the coffee (as shown above with the coffee filler). It is so much fun as a matter of fact.

I think that is all for now. This entry is getting a little too long :)

Off making coffee ... weeee (I bought coffee filler and grounded coffee in Vietnam).

Oh! ... Damn ... no baguette to go together with the coffee ...

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What is Vietnam like? The surrounding ...

First and foremost, I must say that I am glad to be a Malaysian after visiting Vietnam. Its not like everyday I would have said that for your information. If you are a Malaysian, you'll know what I mean.

Before this trip, my perception of Vietnam was rather hazy. But yet, I can imagine Vietnam to be something like Thailand.

When I reached Vietnam, my perception was confirmed. Vietnam did look a lot like Thailand in some ways. But, Vietnam was unique in its own ways too.

The first thing I found out was the amount of motorbikes on the road. I was like wow! ... were there that many motorbikes in Vietnam.

Look at the number of motorbikes ...

In Malaysia, traffic jam = caused by cars. In Vietnam, traffic jam = caused by motorbikes. The number of motorbikes were way too many till the point car drivers had to be super alert in maneuvering their car. Another skills I haven't got the chance to learn eh. Not planning to anyway ...

Roads were full with motorbikes too

I was told by someone that crossing a road in Vietnam is crazy. I can assure you that now. Crossing a road in Vietnam is not only crazy ... it is insane. Somehow, I manage to master the 'Vietnam road-crossing' skill :)

This picture was taken while I was crossing the road ... look at the distance between me and the motorbikes and cars ... it's insane

I am a skillful road-crosser now. But, I'll just leave that behind at Vietnam. If I were to perform the skill right here in Malaysia, I could be killed ... like seriously.

In Malaysia, a person will certainly get angry when he/she is honked ... right! Well, not here in Vietnam. Honking on the road is like a necessity. The rules are so weak in Vietnam that you'll see cars and motorbikes from every direction ... even when the traffic light is red!

So, the usage of honk is obviously to warn/inform people that you are right on your way. Honk! Honk! Mind you, get out of the way !!! ;) I told my friend that there may be a possibility one of Vietnam's driving lesson's priority was to learn how and when to honk the horn. There is certainly a need for that.

Vietnam's electricity wiring are a little strange for a reason unknown even to the locals. Wires ... more wires ... mindless wires. There are so many wires between each pole that you'll be wondering how the hell the electrician will be able to differentiate which wire is to which.

Crazy electricity wiring ...

I think that is all for now. While Vietnam's surrounding is a little chaotic, Vietnam sure do have its own charm as well.

Will be posting more stories on Vietnam soon. Food and place of interest is right on the way ...

Cam on va chao (Thanks and goodbye)

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• What is Vietnam like? The food ...(0)
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