This is the infamous Pad Thai. Definitely a staple dish of our travels. So good.
As I sit on the floor of my current "home" in North Park, San Diego my heart throbs and my mouth begins to water looking at these photos. Boy do I miss the food in Asia!! And I miss my Mann!! Mary is all the way across the country from me and I don't like it, but I'm happy she's getting cozy with her Kate. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she'll be able to pay me a visit while I'm home for a few weeks in New Hampshire at the end of the summer. She would love the farm!!
I feel like I'm still on the road since coming back to the U.S. I've been living at my wonderful sister Meaghan's place in North Park. She has an extra bedroom that she's generously allowed me to call home for now. It's weird not living back in my little Ocean Beach, but it's great to see another neighborhood of San Diego. There are a ton of awesome restaurants here that I can't wait to explore.
Next week I fly to Colorado to spend some time with Dakota, can't wait to see that little monkey! Ohh and I'll also be seeing String Cheese Incident perform at Red Rocks, which I'm sooo excited about (my 1st Red Rocks experience). Then Dakota and I fly to Diego in time for Alyssa to give birth to baby Avery. Then we fly back to Colorado August 6th and kick it until August 25th when we fly to New Hampshire for a visit. See what I mean about still being on the road?? Fortunately I've been able to pick up shifts at the Blue Parrot (my job previous to our Southeast Asia trip) and make a little money, which is awesome.
So let me get to the food section of this post. Below you will find photos of our favorite flavors of Asia:
Started out most mornings with a cup of coffee. Ohh and that white stuff at the bottom, yup that's sweetened condensed milk, delish!! Sooo bad, but yet so good!!
Most mornings breakfast was a bowl of noodle soup-- that's how the Vietnamese do. This photo is of veggie noodle soup on the island of Don Det in the region called Four Thousand Islands in Lao.
Here is a killer combo bite (strawberry, avocado and fresh baguette) you wouldn't think to pair up, but with the creative food genius of Mary there's nothing too weird for this girl. This photo was taken in the beautiful mountain town of Delat, Vietnam where they are known for growing berries and avocados are on every corner.
Speaking of a killer bite, this is where the drool fully drops from my mouth and onto my tank top. Here we have banh mi. I was obsessed with these in Vietnam. It's a baguette, with eggs, a little veggies, herbs, hot sauce and soy sauce. You can buy one on almost every street corner.
Banh Xeo-this is a savory Vietnamese specialty made of rice flour, water, turmeric, coconut milk stuffed with veggies and bean sprout then pan fried.
A great go-to meal was a plate of beautiful stir-fry veggies...the veggies cut with the zig-zag tool just taste better, got to find me one of those in the states.
Here Mary and I sip on freshly squeezed sugar-cane juice on a hot day in the park in Hue, Vietnam.
YEA YEA YEA we found banh bao an chay (an chay means vegetarian)!!!! We had been looking for this all over Vietnam. Banh bao is a dumpling that traditionally has pork or chicken, onions, eggs and veggies inside. We were dying of heat at this restaurant!! There were cities throughout Vietnam that had government order power outages daily to conserve energy and there was one while we dined at this place, I'll never forget how happy we were that we found banh bao an chay despite the sweat that clung from every pore of our bodies.
If you ever see pumpkin curry on a menu TRY IT...you won't be disappointed. Damn Good.
Here we have lettuce balls filled with noodles and veggies, yum! Eaten in Luang Prabang, Lao at the night market.
Another tasty treat we scored at the above mentioned night market, these were made with coconut.
<<<< COFFEE BREAK >>>>
This coffee is called Ca phe Trung. A meringue of whipped sweetened condensed milk and egg is whipped together and then poured over the coffee. It's a dessert-like brew that gives coffee a whole new twist--found at Cafe Pho Co in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The best pho of your life!!! Pho Real!
There was this street in Hanoi, Vietnam where the only thing that was sold up and down the whole street were these awesome fruit drinks. It's a glass with every fruit you can think of then filled with coconut milk and of course topped with...take a guess...sweetened condensed milk. You can sit on these tiny stools in the street and people watch while enjoying this taste bud tantalizer.
Since Vietnam was colonized by the French there are bakeries everywhere...and when in Rome...I mean when in Nam...so we did and we did it lots and lots...thank god for stretchy clothing =)
Ohh garlic nan, where have you been all my life??
Here is a delicious combo platter at an Indian Restaurant named Curry Walla. A great way to try a little bit of everything. I am now a huge fan of Indian food.
Another favorite of mine is MANGO STICKY RICE. Simply sweet sticky rice, with fresh ripe mango topped with coconut milk. Pretty much melts in your mouth.
Man do I miss coconuts!! Coconuts are everywhere in southeast Asia!! There is nothing more refreshing on a sweltering hot day than sipping on a fresh coconut, then scooping out the white meat inside with a spoon. In this photo we bought our own coconut and hacked into it with random tools at our bungalow in Koh Phangan.
People ask me how it's been being back home. I say I miss the food most of all. We rarely ever spent more than $1 on a meal and it's all made super fresh right there in front of you. My travels were amazing and inspirational on many levels. I met some fantastic people and saw some breath-taking sights and shared the whole experience with one of the most beautiful beings I've ever known Miss Mary Mann.
And now I leave you with a poem:
A Suspended Blue Ocean
The sky
Is a suspended blue ocean.
The stars are the fish
That swim.
The planets are the white whales
I sometimes hitch a ride on,
And the sun and all light
Have forever fused themselves
Into my heart and upon
My skin.
There is only one rule
On this Wild Playground,
For every sign Hafiz has ever seen
Reads the same.
They all say,
"Have fun, my dear; my dear, have fun,
In the Beloved's Divine
Game,
O, in the Beloved's
Wonderful
Game."
-Hafiz
