The Vietnamese Diet

The culinary delights of Vietnam leave a little to be desired for me. I am trying but having a difficult time adjusting to the food here. Certainly no gourmet dishes for me. Although eating on a budget might be part of the problem, My food experiences so far have been less than desirable.

I think that I mentioned the 'snack' that we got on the bus on the way here to the beach....some sort of eggs and pork wrapped in a sweet dough? Ekkkkk! And my lunch in Saigon, when I really wanted rice and instead was served some sort of noodle soup (with eggs). I dont know what the deal is but I am afraid of the eggs. I think it goes back to my days at SF General and working with the
Philipinos there. There was one nurse, Armando who brought in this egg (a Phillipino delicacy) that had a fully formed chick inside....and he ATE it!!! So I am terrified of eating any eggs here for fear that I will chomp down and get a lovely wing or beak....

So yesterday morning at breakfast I ordered the banana pancakes. Sounds yummy, right? Not! The pancake was quite doughy and very greasy and although the banana's were good, there just wasn't anything to it. Kim got eggs and bean(s) and the eggs were all soupy and the bean (s) were covered in a bright red sauce that Kim stated tasted very tomato'y. Lunch yesterday consisted of some sort of grilled sandwich which was literally, cheese (not like our cheese) and tomato between two pieces of white bread and grilled in some sort of sandwich maker. Although it was tasty, it certainly wasn't on my list of foods to crave.

Last night's dinner was the exception. We had bbq fish (some wierd looking thing with bright blue on its skin) and rice and veggies! It was fabulous although I kept thinking that I wished Daddy were here so that he could have shown the locals how to fillet it!! Had to pick around all of the bones and it was a bit of work to be careful not to swallow any! Speaking of Daddy....you would be in heaven here. I was watching the fishermen yesterday and thought of you. I can just imagine you out there fishing all day in one of the round 'boats' and loving life! I will hope to post some pictures of the boats tomorrow. We are headed to the fishing village today, on bikes!

So back to the Vietnamese diet....

I think that I stand a very good chance of losing some weight during this trip. With the lack of food options and the extra excercise ie at Madam Cuc hotel we ended up on the 5th floor...which is more like the 8th floor...wish I had counted the steps.

Yesterday was a busy day....coffee and check in online, then off for a walk...a long walk on the beach. The water is smooth and calming, the sound of the waves makes you want to lie back with a fruity tropical drink and lounge away the afternoon. After our walk we took a quick dip in the South China Sea, which was as warm as bathwater. Before dinner Kim gave me my first lesson in yoga beside the pool. I loved it. Although there are several 'poses' that I cant even begin to do relative to a lack of flexibility...I can see that yoga would be a great work-out for the mind as well as the body. Kim copied the program to my sd card so that I can practice on my own. Yeah...thanks Kim!

We are changing hotels today. The original hotel is doing construction and they have woken us at 0700 for the last two days. Packing and moving this morning then off to the fishing village sometime today....

Life is good.....