I want to go to Vietnam for the food.

holly — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 03:13:05 +0000

Yeah, I know, I’m thinking with my stomach again. But blogging about food has so many fewer calories than actually eating it, so it’s worth it. Plus, this keeps me on my Jillian Michaels meal plan (that I’m following loosely, with emphasis on the “loose”, but that’s another blog altogether). So anyway, back to the topic at hand: I have a craving for Vietnamese Pho, and I’m tired of settling for the yummy westernized stuff they serve in Vancouver. I want real Vietnamese food, and the only way I can get it is to actually go to Vietnam. There it’s just called food. Alas, I am still in saving mode after the last trip, and am already paying off the next (California in September – stay tuned!), so my Pho craving will have to wait until next year, at least. Big pout. In the meantime, lets all take a moment and fantasize about that cuisine you love and can’t wait to try the authentic version of, or that plate of steaming awesomeness you once had and wish you were back there again.

One of my clients told me, which is probably why this is on my mind in the first place, that he was once in Texas and had a steak so good he actually cried. I, of course, told him he was a lunatic. Kidding. I just thought it. He had a point though, global cuisine can transform a vacation into an experience. The local delights are as much of a cultural experience as a dance performance or a museum, but they can be much easier to find and, depending on your tastes, either way cheaper or waaaaayyy more expensive.

Some of the best food in much of southeast Asia can be found at street carts for next to nothing, but it’ll keep you coming back for more. When I was in Bangkok there was this cart on the corner near my hotel that was little more than a single burner run by jumper cables hooked to a car battery, and there was this real and very dead rooster head hanging from the side, but every morning the line up was practically around the block for a container of their stir fry. I never tried it, the combination of the line length, the rooster head, and my weenie Canadian palette made me chicken out, but I still think about it, and vow that if I’m ever back there I’m totally eating from the rooster guy’s cart. If the locals like it, it has to be good.

What’s the deal with Korean Kimchi, anyway? It’s just fermented cabbage buried in a vat underground for like six months, but every time I’ve been out for Korean food, they use it on everything. I have not acquired the taste for it. To me it’s like sour… something nasty… but I can’t help but wonder if the stuff you’ll get on your plate of braised short ribs in Seoul would be so much better. Does the shipping process make it nastier? Is it less pungent straight from the ground?

Mmmmm… chicken tikka masala…. another of my faves. Admittedly, the BF does cook one hell of a home version, but it blows my mind thinking of the layers of rich flavour that can only come from a spice mix hand-ground daily by the women of the village. Yum. Just wait until I find myself in India one day and all the spices are ground by your standard coffee grinder, but in the interim I will happily allow my mind to wander to the romantic fantasy I have created. Besides, I’d go to Vietnam before India, the flight is shorter

So tell me, what foods would you love to try fresh from the source?

If you won the lottery…

holly — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:55:31 +0000

So, tomorrow’s Lotto Max draw is worth CAD$50 million. With a carrot like that dangling in front of me, I can’t help but start daydreaming. If I had that money, what would I do with it? I’ve been asked this question tons of times over the years, and my standard answer is “I don’t know, but I’ll send you a postcard when I get there.” I’d be on a plane so fast my clothes wouldn’t even have had time to crease in my suitcase. But that poses the bigger question, if you had unlimited funds, where would you go?

For me, someone who plans her own vacations on a daily basis (I’m not sure this is healthy anymore…) it’s a tough decision. Of course, I eventually want to go everywhere, but you have to start somewhere, so you might as well start off with the important places on your to-see list (the ones underlined and bolded with the little stars scribbled beside their names).

Tokyo. Definately Tokyo. If you’ve read my other blogs you know that I love me some Asia, and nothing looks more incredible than Tokyo. The colours, the people, the food. I want to get lost at the Shibua Scramble crossing. Plus, they have a Disneyland. With that checked off, I would only need to go to Florida and I’d have seen them all. And since I was already in Asia, might as well hop on down to Vietnam and Cambodia, two places that not only look cool, but that I’ve heard nothing but incredible reviews about from clients. Everyone says without fail that the people are just so unbelievably friendly. And Angkor Wat’s there.

And for something completely different, I’d go to Rio. Climb Sugarloaf mountain, visit with Christ the Redeemer, learn to samba and wear feathers on my head. Then down to Iguassu falls to see one of the most incredible waterfalls. Another skip and I’d be in Buenos Aires, tango-ing away and eating at the restaurant where a bar code tells you exactly what cow your steak came from (that’s right, specific cow, not just farm) so you know it’s perfect.

And Venice. Gondola-ing along the canals and wearing amazing masks as I watch Murano glass being blown.

And finally, topping my must-see list is Cairo. I love Egyptian history and archaeology, hell my cat’s even named Cairo. I want to stare in awe at the Pyramids, the Sphinx, the Karnak temple, the crazy cab drivers.

So basically, I still can’t decide where I would go first if I win that jackpot tomorrow night, but you can bet it’s going to be fantastic!

Where would you go?

Another Pin » Vietnam

I want to go to Vietnam for the food.

If you won the lottery…