fish market and more

Good morning!  As usual, I am out of bed early, and having checked morning messages and social media and such. I am turning to the blog before joining our hosts for breakfast.  More of Vietnam to come, but I wanted to mix in the current vacation.  So… yesterday!

Our goal yesterday was to visit a fish market south of here to find something for lunch.  After breakfast (and some time giving the dogs some love),

we set out south with J-J.  He drove us past the market and to a village called Samaesan so that we could have a little walk around.

The village isn’t a noteworthy one for tourism.  No shops filled with souvenirs lining the streets.  It’s simply a fishing village with a very light smattering of tourism (scuba excursions, a few holiday rentals).  J-J wanted us to see local life, so we strolled down from the temple where we parked, along a main road, wandered out on a pier, and headed over to another temple complex.  We stopped to take photos and grabbed some water at the end but otherwise just strolled and mildly peppered J-J with questions.

The market came next.  One on each side of the road.  J-J had a preference, but we went through both.  Squid is the big catch around here, but we saw plenty of crabs (too much work to cook and eat, so we didn’t buy any) and shrimp as well.  And then there were all the shellfish:  clams and cockles and scalloped and various sea snails in swirled or spiked shells.  I love seeing all of the market produce.  Scallops caught our eye first, lovely pink shells.  Vanda likes squid, so we bought three of those.  J-J prefers fish, so we also came home with a whole snapper.  A successful shop.

Lunch was all of that seafood plus some shrimp.  

Most of it went on the grill, but Vanda broiled the scallops.  The squid was chopped into pieces after being cooked, and we dipped them into a green sauce so replete with raw garlic that I am tasting it 18 hours later.  The fish and the scallops were my favourites, though.  We had a cheese board and a blueberry cake and two bottle of wine, and you had better believe that I needed a nap after all that.  Our hosts are so generous and wonderful, but Conrad and I will looking forward to the next part of the vacation when we can control our eating much more.

Post-nap, we headed all together to a couple of stores in Pattaya,  J-J and Vanda thought we might find postcards there, but no luck.  We did, however, buy some durian, and I will get to enjoy that stinky fruit this morning.  

Dinner was a huge steak grilled at home, and bedtime was early again.

Conrad and I shall pack this morning and say goodbye to this lovely home and our friends.  On to Chiang Mai!

a new country

6:17 AM here.  Where is here?  Sattahip, the home of Conrad’s friend J-J and his wife, Vanda.  Where is Sattahip?  Southeast of Bangkok.  

Yes, a new country for us:  Thailand!

Getting to the airport in Ho Chi Minh City on an early Sunday morning was a breeze.  Getting through the lines took almost three times as long.  Still we had some time in the lovely Le Saigonnais Lounge watching the airport below.  

Our flight was uneventful, and I dozed so long that they served and then cleared away my water without me drinking it!

J-J picked us up at the airport in Bangkok, and we were on the road to the beautiful home (a villa, really) that he and his wife share.  

A very late and filling lunch for us, a little unpacking and dozing, then a drive along the beach to catch the last of daylight before heading to the market.  

What fun that was.  Having two guides who know the language and the food meant we could ask anything, and Vanda insisted on buying us all kinds of things to try.  I love sampling new fruits!

We brought the purchases home and turned around to head to dinner right away.  I don’t know how we fit more food in, but there was soft shell crab, a shrimp dish with noodles, water spinach sautéed with garlic, and a whole snapper steamed with tom yum soup.  I especially loved the snapper, but everything was good.  

I can’t believe we came home and, after a refreshing shower, ate some of the fruit!

Today is a little up in the air.  Maybe a boat cruise, maybe a temple.  We shall see when folks are up and moving!

a seven-course meal

Marie, my darling sister, was in Vietnam with her brother Dave earlier this year, and she had a recommendation or two to share.  One of those was for a Hanoi restaurant, Maison 1929.  

Have the pomelo salad, she said.  And so we did.

It was a relatively easy walk to the restaurant.  I say that to mean that one block from the hotel we turned left and headed in a straight line.  The sidewalks were cluttered with scooters, the city was livelier than earlier in the day, and we had to walk in the street at points.  Just like everyone else, no big deal.

6:00 seems to be an early dinner time here, and maybe we can blame that choice of time on jet lag.  We’re actually doing not badly on sleep even if it is just before 6AM as I start writing this.  But no, we opted for an early meal, and as such, for a goodly part of the time at dinner we were the only ones on their small balcony overlooking a five-way intersection.

The restaurant had à la carte options, but we opted for the discovery menu, seven courses.  We each had wine - cocktail choices were very limited - and I thank Conrad for having the red wine first so that I knew to ask for the white wine instead.  

That was a small point against the meal, one of the only ones.  Otherwise, it was terrific.  Yes, we were warm sitting outside, but there was a fan keeping the air moving, and we settled in to watch the traffic below and enjoy our company before having a week or so with a larger group.

But on to the food, right?  In order of courses:

Fried clams.  Squeeze lime on the clams, mix, scoop on to the crackers.  Tasty, light, a good way to start.

Pomelo with fresh and dried shrimp.  Marie was right, this was a star on the menu.  Loved it!  My second favourite course.

Spring rolls, a trio that included crab, pork and mushroom, and beef.  All of them were good, but I liked the pork and mushroom best.

Squid stuffed with sausage and served with a turmeric sauce.  My favourite.  That sauce was so good!  Tender squid, too.

Sautéed duck.  Another one I loved.  I enjoy duck but all too often I find it cooked as a breast, sliced, and so chewy and kind of cold.  This was very tender.

Pork ribs.  Tasty and tender.  I took the meat of the bones and use the lettuce and herbs as a wrap.

Oh, we also had rice to go on the side for the three entrees.

Banana cake with coconut ice cream.  Nice, not too sweet, a little mundane after the previous courses, but fine.

Filling but not too filling, the meal was a good one.  We walked back, wound down, and got into bed before ten.  Now I want some breakfast and maybe some postcard writing!