Consistent Weather

Here's our 10 day forecast:

(click on the image for a clearer picture)

Colin's Sugar Cane Juice

Colin and Mommy love it.  Trevor and Papa, not so much.

It's always sold from a little stainless steel stand like this. You can see fresh cane on the right side of the machinery.  She's running one stick of cane through, over and over, folding it each time to get more juice out. The cane juice runs out the side, right in front of where Colin's standing.  The last time through, she sticks a half a green citrus fruit in between the layers (maybe calimansi?) and runs it through one more time.  Served in a plastic cup in a plastic bag with lots of ice.

Notice Colin's new shoes!  He's very excited about them.  It's about time to learn to tie shoes, so we had to get some with laces.  Now he wants to wear only red clothes.

Also, notice the woman next to Colin and be reminded that it's about 98 degrees in this scene.  She is dressed for riding her motorbike, covered so she doesn't darken her skin in the sun:  long pants, long sleeved jacket, skin-colored socks with a toe to accommodate the flip flops, and face mask (not so much for smog as to keep her face light, so we've heard from Mike's Vietnamese TA.)

Another detail: just to the right of Colin is a metal ramp up into the hardware shop.  This is for the owners' motorbikes that will no doubt be rolled right up in there after the shop closes for the evening.  No matter what the shop, motorbikes get parked inside at night.  Owners likely live there, too.  I walked into a tiny liquor store a few weeks ago and a mother and toddler were taking their midday naps right there inside the shop/home.

Even while we start to be able to decipher a bit of what we see, this culture is still such a mystery to us.

Cham Charm and Jackson Charm

Last night, for my 40th birthday, my best friend took me out to a restaurant we see every day as we pass by on the school bus, Cham Charm.  It's a beautiful white building, surrounded by palms, torches, and fairy lights and sometimes Bentleys and Rolls Royces, their drivers polishing the fenders while they wait.  In the 7th to 15th centuries, from central Vietnam to the Mekong Delta and a bit west into Cambodia was called the Champa Kingdom, and the people were the Cham people, hence the name and "ancient" decor.  They greeted us at the top of the steps with glasses of champagne. 

(Get it?  Champa-Champa gne)

 Our dinner was an amazing buffet of Indian, Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese and some western food.  On my plate, I've got a shot glass of Vietnamese salad, some crab, sushi, peking duck, Vietnamese fish with chillies and lemongrass in the boat, and scallops.

 A display of spices and special salts on the left, like French pink and purple salts, and some other salts from Australia and American Pacific Islands. I got to try some with my roast lamb.

 Mike and I both loved the river rocks filling the bathroom sinks and the amazingly textured tiles on walls and floor.  Pattern and texture were everywhere.

 

Ms. Thuy, the boys' wonderful nanny, gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers for my birthday.

 In the morning, we opened family presents.  The boys went together to get me an essential oil burner and a beautiful blue bowl.

The boys each made me a card and the insides were the best part.  Trevor's is on the left with a proclamation by George Washington, and Colin's is on the right.

I was thankful for chats with family and friends calling from the US in the morning, then we all went into District 1 for brunch at a favorite restaurant, The Refinery.  When we walked in, about a dozen friends were waiting. . . surprise!  How wonderful!  I feel very celebrated.

Tropical Drinks

I'm not trying to compete with any of the fantastic food blogs out there like i made that! or orangette so I'm just going to write about my newly created drink and not add any photos, though this drink is beautiful, so you should make it yourself to see.

It's called The My Thai Martini, named after where we live.

First you take several stalks of lemongrass, chop them in rounds and throw them in a saucepan, cover them with water and an equal amount of sugar before they start going brown. Bring that to a simmer slowly, then turn off the heat and breathe the delicious steam deeply while the syrup cools down. Or, if you're like me, take little sips of the hot liquid from a teaspoon. Strain into a jar and keep it in the fridge.

Then you buy some ripe, deep purple passion fruits. Cut them in half and scoop out half a passion fruit for each martini into a shaker. Add 1/2 ounce lemongrass syrup per drink to the seedy pulp. (I think my shaker holds 3 martinis, max.) Add 1 1/2 oz. vodka per drink and lots of ice and shake vigorously to get all the pulp and juice off the seeds.

Be patient while you pour the cold, golden My Thai Martini into your martini glasses. It takes a long time to strain through the seeds. At the end, I take the top off the shaker, hold it over a glass and stir the seeds around to get the last of the liquid. Then I fish out a few melty ice cubes and put them in my drink because I like it to stay cold. Garnish with a few fresh, pulpy passion fruit seeds or a fresh green sprig of mint.

Then clean up all the drips very thoroughly so the tiny ants don't find them.

I actually made the lemongrass syrup for a drink called the Chatham Cocktail that Mike and I always order from The Refinery which has gin and ginger liqueur, but I can't find the ginger liqueur--still looking. Maybe I have to make it. I feel like there must be more we can do with that syrup. It's so delicious. (It's no good in coffee--I tried.)

Mui Nei

We boarded a train immediately after work last Friday and settled into our seats. We paid less than $10 for our family for the 5 hour trip. The seats were rather vertical and the air con was...not there, but we had a good trip with the windows open and a bag of chips. It was, as with most train rides in the world, a great way to see the area.

On the train.

From the train window: A pick-up game of volleyball.

We arrived at the Pandanus Resort in Mui Ne very late and checked into our room and went to sleep. We awoke to paradise. It felt very decadent to be doing this on a weekend, but the gift voucher (is it just a "voucher" if you pay for it?) expired soon and we needed to use it up. Oh well.

Flowers, Flowers, Flowers

The grounds of the resort were beautiful.

Not only the coolest pool I've seen but the warmest...even Lauren said the temp was perfect!

Even the ocean water was warm enough for Lauren.

Colin is never happier than when at the beach

Our second, and last day Lauren took us to a place she'd read about in Lonely Planet as one of 10 things you had to see in Vietnam: The Fairy Spring. The taxi dropped us off in front of an alley at the side of the road under a sign that said "Fairy Stream". Close enough. We walked between dilapidated buildings, past huge earthenware jars of fermenting fish sauce...

 ...to this scene:

When Colin saw this and was told to remove his shoes and wade in, he proclaimed "I hate this. I am not doing this. It is the worst field trip ever!" and burst into tears. We ignored his protests and dragged him in. I pretended to not be worried about parasites and thought that somehow my flip flops would protect me. The water was not, as it looks, muddy. It turns out the sand dunes up river are this amazing rust color. We were all rewarded for our bravery:

Trevor and I walking the river. Lauren taking the photo from on top of one of the dunes.

It was an incredible trip and well timed. It marks our last trip of our first year here and life is about to get crazy at work before we head home for the summer. This was a wonderful chance to relax together as a family and see another amazing place in this remarkable country. This place is easily accessible and we want to return.  Let us know if you'd like to join us sometime.

Some Joy from our Lives

Random shots from the past few weeks.

Cougar Gold Cheese from Mary

Time to enjoy Ho Chi Minh

Trevor's singing.

Golden sunset light after a rain.

Easter, Saigon-Style

Easter snuck up on us this year. Unlike back home, there is really very little to remind you that it is coming. No chocolate bunnies for sale in the grocery stores, no churches with banners adverstising their Easter services, no special Easter sales at Macy's. We were saved by some good neighbors who gave us an egg dying kit they'd kept from a previous year. So we dyed some duck eggs the night before.

We were wondering if the Easter Bunny would arrive, what with the heat and lack of hype in our city but, we awoke to baskets of candy and a breakfast of Fun Dip was enjoyed by all.

Then it was off to an egg hunt party with some friends. Eggs were hidden and quickly found for fear the 90+ degree heat or ants might spoil our fun!

Then it was back to the house for some fun in the pool and some great live music around the pool table.

As the day wound down we hung out with good friends and eventually called a taxi just as a herd of water buffalo were passing by.

We are enjoying the rewards that a little flexibility and creative thinking can produce and are again blessed by the good people who are enriching our time here.