Beth and I flew from Da Nang to Saigon yesterday (quite weird thinking of all of us well-fed happy tourists flying out of a place called Da Nang, at least for those of us who remember the 60's and 70's).
It's of course hot hot hot (more so even than usual in mid-February) but we're still having a great time.
SHOCK announcement - I COOKED something today. Our tour schedule included first a trip to a covered market that seemed to carry every possible foodstuff, utensil, clothing item etc. I bought something very exciting - 2 pairs of Polo socks for 40000 VND (about 2 and 1/4 USD). We checked out the incredible fruits and bought some rambutan, soursop, guava, and jack fruit (already got mangosteen from a street peddler last night). Then we had a cooking lesson - I had imagined I would comfortably supervise while Beth chopped and cooked, but noooooo - I was forced to literally slave over a (very) hot stove and made deep fried egg rolls, caramel pork, and tomato soup! Believe me this event will never take place again. I only passed the 'final' exam given by Chef himself because of extensive coaching (basically giving me the answers) by Chef and the main trainer, and my fellow students as well. A photo will be uploaded of my graduation shortly.
Then we had HUGE fun shopping in a giant department store that has all the expensive cosmetic stuff on the ground floor, so we were a bit worried that our great guide Phuong didn't understand our spending comfort level - but lo and behold there are tons of stalls within the store and I got a wallet and belt before we hit the GROCERY section! A bit like M&S but lots more foreign stuff like Kellogg's corn flakes. We bought some cashews and peanut brittle and know we will be back!
Am paying a whole 1000 Dong per minute so I'll sign off now - hope all our friends in California are staying warm and dry!
