Saigon Birds

The Pink Saigon Soaring Bird in all of it's glory. A rare glimpse.

There is not a whole lot of wildlife around Saigon. That is why we were so surprised the other day to see the rare Pink Saigon Soaring Bird fly right past our apartment window. 17 stories high is usually a very high altitude for this species. Ahhhhhhhh, nature.

Highpoints: Malaysia

We returned last night from a spectacular trip to Malaysia.  At first we were a little wary of taking another large trip right on the heels of our Christmas trip.  Did we really need another vacation a mere 15 days after returning from one?  Wasn't that a little gluttonous?  Was there really too much of a good thing?  Well, it took us about .2 days before we settled back into the routine of vacation:  sleeping in, eating too much, drinking copious amounts of coffee, taking naps, swimming in pools, and walking, walking, walking our way through unknown cities.  We decided that another vacation was just what we needed to help us make it through the rest of the 2011-2012 school year! 

The trip went too fast and before we knew it, we were at our last meal, enjoying our end of travel tradition that we have taken from our Camp Orkila days:  HighPoints.  Here are some things we will always cherish from our Malaysia trip:

• The amount of chicken wings consumed on this trip was greater than 1) Adam had since his college frat days and 2) the number of chicken wings on the Ferndale Soper Farm Chickens, themselves.
• Sidewalks were accessible to pedestrians and foot traffic.  Yes, not every major city in SE Asia looks at sidewalks as just another lane of traffic.
• Palm trees are not simply like the ones you are taught to draw as a child.  Rather, a palm tree can come in many shapes, sizes, and may or may not actually bear coconuts.  (**Important note to all our fellow "Survivor" fans -- if you want to know which palm leaves would be best for shelter building, we will let you know).
• Dressing alike, even if the outfits come numerous days apart, is never a good idea.
• Muslim women are hardcore.  Never before had we seen so many women covered head to toe which is pretty amazing in 98 degree heat.
• A smile is the best method to breaking down barriers and to connect with those that you may think have nothing in common with you.  

Even though it was another amazing trip, we were also so glad to come back to our little apartment in Saigon.  When we walked in the door, we had the overwhelming feeling that we had come home.

Other highpoints include:  old buildings and architecture ....

... food that comes to you via truck ....

.... cool religious traditions that we don't know the first thing about ....

... venturing into the largest Mosque in Malaysia ...

... modern fast food chains in old mansions ....

... milk coffees ....

... helpful signs ...

... dollar coffee in a can ...

... and BEING the statue!

Green Space

Today was our last full day in Kuala Lumpur. The city has so much to offer and we very much have enjoyed our time here. One thing that really stood out to us about KL is the abundance of green space that lies within the city center and is accessible to the public. Over the past few days we have taken some serious time to explore parks, running trails, nature reserves, botanical gardens, and a bird aviary (which we would have explored if we had the $18/pp for entrance fee). It is not just the organized green space that is impressive, but every road, underpass, and building entry is filled with foliage and is well manicured with healthy plants. Sometimes it felt as if the city was doing it's very best to keep the surrounding jungle from taking back over.  

Heidi was so excited to see a field of grass. Involuntary frolicking ensued. 

This is a great park right behind the Petronas Towers. Complete with running track, kiddie pool, and mosque...why not?

Small Adam, big Banyan Tree.

Walking through the Lake Gardens Park. It is the "Central Park" of KL.

Visiting the Hibiscus garden. We didn't even know what a Hibiscus looked like prior to this visit.

The Jungle, creeping back in.

Things We Eat

We like food.  Everything about it is enjoyable.  Good thing Malaysia is known for its abundance of cheap, amazing, tantalizing culinary delights.  The Island of Penang has experienced a large intersection of cultures since its founding as a major shipping port in the 1880's.  The Chinese, Indian, and Malay have all established large communities in the city and thanks to this, their cuisine has also become a mainstay of the city.  The restaurants are open air markets where "Hawkers" serve their fare -- one or two dishes they specialize in -- for locals and tourists alike.  You walk up, point to what you would like, sit back at your table and within a few minutes, the chef is rushing out a piping-hot dish of pure culinary delight. Since we enjoy eating, we have spent our last few days cruising the city, partaking in all that Penang culture has to offer our palates.  No really!  We have done such a great job on our eating tour of the island that last night, Adam proclaimed that he had eaten himself crazy, only to rush back to his favorite Hawker to put in one last order!

Clams in a curry sauce.

Indian Roti stuffed with veggie chenni. It was bigger than Adam's head. In other words, it was huge.

Crab Spring Rolls with dipping sauces. (Heidi's favorite)

Char Kway Teow = Rice Noodles, Chinese Sausage, Egg, Bean Sprouts, Prawns, and Cockles in a lovely sauce. So good we had it probably ten times in three days.

Breakfast of Champions! (Pt. 1) Chicken, bean sprouts, and noodles.

Breakfast of Champions (Pt. 2) Rolled rice noodles, sesame seeds, and a sweet and spicy dipping sauce. The translation in Malay of this dish means pig intestines because of the shape and texture.

Prawn Mee. A prawn soup.

Our plate of mixed vegetables aka Adam's first encounter with stir fried lettuce.

Yummmmmmmmmm. Duck Rice.

Melt in your mouth chicken wings. Roti Bati and 5 spice Lobak.

Fried Oyster Omelet. Heidi has come a long way on her culinary adventure. 

Sky Swimming

Yesterday afternoon we decided to spend some quality time by our hotel's swimming pool to read and rest.  Typically hotel swimming pools do not hold much excitement for Adam -- he would much rather be on a beach or by a lake.  However, this pool was something that Adam could buy into.  It was an infinity pool located on the 11th floor of the hotel which looked as if it dropped right off into the KL skyline.  It was a really unique experience to lounge on the roof and swim as if you were part of the skyline.  Or, if you were Heidi, fall dead asleep, totally oblivious to the glory of the pool.

We tried to swim to the Petronas Towers.  Fail!

Happy Year of the Water Dragon, indeed.

Big Caves to Big Buildings

Today is our second day in Kuala Lumpur. After waking up at the leisurely hour of 7:30 and enjoying some stellar hotel breakfast, we headed out to hit up some major tourist attractions. Our theme of the day was BIG. Everything that we wanted to see and experience needed to be on a massive scale.

Our first stop of the day was Batu Caves. These caves are about 8km outside of the city, but they feel like a totally different world. It is a holy site for Hindus and many people travel far and wide for pilgrimage.  The caves definitely fit our theme as they are major. Just to reach the caves we had to ascend 147 steep steps. We also had to battle the heat, old women walking slowly, overweight tourists, and monkeys. Unlike many around us, we did not experience much spirituality as we were dodging monkeys throwing their coconuts at passerby's and stealing sunglasses out of hands. Our moment of insightful bliss inspired by the caves was that in fact, we don't really like monkeys-- they are mean.

Heidi prior to becoming a sweaty mess climbing the stairs.

One of the hundreds of monkeys that have reclaimed Batu Caves.

A monkey took this photo for us. No -- seriously.  They are that good.

Adam and the towers.  Respect!

They are actually really beautiful buildings (and they happen to house the largest mall in KL.  Not too shabby!)

After a cheap and delicious hawker stall lunch in Chinatown, we hopped the subway to our next big destination--The Petronas Towers. With coffees in hand, we joined the throngs of people to cock our heads back and gaze in awe and enormity of these former world's tallest buildings. We never though that we would be so impressed with office buildings, but the Petronas Towers are pretty cool works of architecture. 

Malaysia, Truly Asia!

Last night we took off from Vietnam for a 10 day vacation to Malaysia. After a easy flight and 45 minute taxi ride, we arrived to our hotel in Kuala Lumpur and crashed into bed at 2:00am. Because our trip is not that long we have decided to explore KL and the island of Penang. Over the last couple of years we have heard nothing but great things about Malaysia and can't wait to explore. But what really sealed the deal for us is a killer ad campaign. To wet our palates, the tourism ministry of Malaysia has been inundating and tempting us with their commercials, which are played all the time in Vietnam. We will keep you updated as to if Malaysia is truly Asia.

Market Magic

The other week we posted about in the market, coming across a boiling pot of goodness that we took home and enjoyed for breakfast. On our trip to the market this week we decided that we would once again partake in that boiling pot of goodness since it was so delightful last time. As we shopped for the necessities like eggs, veggies, small travel shampoo packets, our mouths salivated like Pavlov's dog as we talked about our coming breakfast. As we finished up shopping we headed over to our soup lady.

As we approached the stand, it became quickly evident that our soup had not been cooked up that day. We stood there dumbfounded and shocked for a minute, just staring at the spot where the giant pot was supposed to be. As we stood there, arms full of groceries and tears forming in our eyes, our soup lady starting talking to us and gesturing at the food that was in front of her this time. After a wink and a smile that only a older Vietnamese lady can give, we had two freshly assembled containers of Bun Uot for us to enjoy for breakfast. 

As we got back to our apartment we assembled our surprise breakfast of Bun Uot and dove in. Now this is a dish that we have had before and liked, but we quickly agreed that this was some of the best. A good meal to start your day is always important. Even though we come from a culture of toast and egss, it seems that wide rice noodles, pressed pork, herbs, and fish sauce have quickly surpassed all of our past favorites.

Hungry and ready to enjoy.

Bun Uot to go. Check out the bag of fish sauce.

Assembled in all of it's glory!!! Breakfast of champions.

Weekend of Lights and Stars

The Year of the Water Dragon begins in t-minus 7 days.  Vietnamese New Years is the largest celebration in Vietnam and to celebrate, the country has been going crazy putting up lights and decorations.  Yesterday we headed into district one to check out the lights and snap some photographs. 

Imagine our surprise when walking around, we stumbled upon an awards show going on in the heart of downtown.  Yes, the Mai Vang Awards were being held at the HCMC Opera house.  The red carpet was rolled out, the spotlights were blazing, and the television cameras were rolling.  In typical Vietnam fashion, there was no security or blockades or roped off area at the event.  Nope -- rather we managed to walk right up the red carpet, snap away our photos and make it on Vietnamese television.  In fact, we were so up close and personal at the red carpet that one of the star's dresses brushed over Heidi's feet (which Heidi was unprepared for, thought was a rat, and screamed and jumped onto the carpet herself).  Despite not knowing what the ceremony was for, we were mesmerized.  We stayed and watched the antics for nearly 30 minutes before departing for dinner.  Thank goodness we had purchased a Ba Ba Ba to enjoy on our walk for a celebratory beverage was sure in order.

Tet lights out in full effect.

There are probably 8 different roads that all have a different light motif.  They are pretty amazing and bring out the crowds.

Cool lanterns in a tree.

The Opera House primed for the big event (still not sure what the "big event" was for but still pretty cool).

There were large jumbo-trans on either side of the steps broadcasting the event live.  We saw ourselves on them a few times.  Check Youtube to see if you can find us.

Adam so very unsure what is going on.

This lady's dress went over Heidi's feet.  Heidi thinks that she MUST be like the Angelina Jolie of Vietnam.

Friday Rituals

Fridays are filled with rich ritual and tradition in our household.  Some might call this predictable but we call it well-planned enjoyment.  If you visited us on a Friday, this is what you might see:

4:00 am -- Wake up and drag our butts to boot camp.  (Bootcamp = running 1km to a local empty parking lot where Heidi channels her inner Jillian Michaels and for 50 minutes, we sprint, jump, and punch our way into a sweaty mess often to the locals amusement).

5:15 am -- Make it back to our apartment (Where Adam typically Skypes with his mother as he is sweaty and shirtless in the kitchen, chopping fruit for our snacks and food for our breakfast, never staying on the screen for more than a few minutes at a time).

7:00 am -- Work (Wah, wah).

11:30 am -- Lunch (The highlight of the workday - no, SERIOUSLY!  Adam and his coworkers walk the 3 blocks to "Fried Chicken Friday."  For under $2 the crew of 8-10 are served heaping piles of fresh ga ran, salads, and rice complete with chili dipping sauce, all you can drink iced tea, and most importantly, a cold-wet towelette.  At this point, when the owner sees the mass coming on Fridays, he does not take orders but just starts placing chicken on the table.  This chicken is legit.  In fact, the Atlanta representatives claim it might be some of the best fried chicken they have ever had.  Good thing there is no real restaurant or sign advertising this man's cart and aluminum tables because it would probably become too popular and crowded).

4:00 pm -- Work day ends (Cheers ensue.  Adam rushes over on Flowanda to pick Heidi up from the elementary campus and they do "highpoints and hopies" on the bike ride back to the apartment).

5:00 pm -- Happy Hour (We meet all coworkers at a sports bar in District 1 for happy hour.  Friday's deal is 20,000 VND house pours.  For $1, we enjoy a celebratory cocktail or two and adhere to the strict rule that we have at this sacred place -- NO WORK TALK.  Sometimes we are able to catch a game or two, as we did with the Blazers dominating the Lakers last week.  Always we are able to catch the free appetizers they come around serving and always do we pretend that we have never seen the likes of free potatos and calamari before in our lives.  We laugh.  We don't know if the waitresses do).

7:00 pm -- Dinner (Hop in a taxi and head to our eating establishment in HCMC -- Orange Awning -- where when we pull up, the security rushes to the cab to open our door.  We point, they plate, and we dine on delicious cuisine that satisfies our cravings and fills our stomachs.  Often, a "free" item is brought to our table to try and comment on -- sometimes fruit, sometimes fish.  The team at Orange Awning have become our second family).

8:00 pm -- Home (Put on comfortable clothes, curl up on the couch to watch a movie, and guaranteed that Heidi will be asleep and drooling by 8:45 pm at which point Adam wakes her and we both head to bed by 9:00 pm).

Ga Ran is Fried Chicken Delight.  Adam looks forward to this day with anticipation and dread.  Thank goodness it is only 1 day a week.

Phatty's ... where every old, creepy white man in Saigon hangs out.

Some of our coworkers enjoying their dollar drinks.

We heart Fridays and celebratory cocktails.

Adam enjoying his "free tasting" of the week.  Some sort of little fresh-water fish.

Orange Awning Friday Feast.

Heidi's plate of tofu and chicken egg hard boiled in pork drippings.  Delicious.