Monday, March 18, 2013

Flexitarianism

Posted in Travel,Vietnam,World Tour

I’ve been a strict vegetarian for over 12 years, and I’m kind of a pain in the ass.  I’m the girl that wants you to place her veggie burger on a different part of the grill than where the hamburgers were cooked, asks you to roast the vegetables separate from the meat, and will refuse food that has been made with chicken/beef/pork/fish stock.  I know – I’m a bit high maintenance.  At least I am in the US.

Since we’ve been traveling, I’ve had to relax my standards a bit.  Okay, maybe “had to” is a bit strong – I could stay as strict as I’d like but that wouldn’t allow me to taste new local foods.  Since half the fun of traveling is eating, I’ve decided to relax about the whole thing.  In El Salvador I pretended the yummy pupusas were not cooked in pork fat.  In Nicaragua, I ignored suspicions about “flavor enhancers” in my black beans and rice.  And in Vietnam, I’m choosing to forget what is in the broth of that delicious pho pictured above.  (As a side note – our favorite restaurant in Denver makes an excellent vegetarian broth version of pho, but it has not been easy to find in Vietnam itself.)

While I haven’t eaten any meat outright, I’ve become more flexitarian about what I will and won’t consume.  The most basic reason that I’m a vegetarian (among several) is because I don’t like the taste or texture of meat.  So my current rule of thumb is that if my seemingly vegetarian food tastes like meat and I don’t like it, I don’t eat it.  If it seems vegetarian enough and I’m enjoying it, I’ll look the other way if I see a piece of chicken floating by.  (I do avoid fish as much as possible, though, because I find it to be the most offensive.)  I have no idea how many times I’ve eaten foods cooked in animal fats or stocks, and I don’t really want to know.  So far, nothing has made me sick, and that’s good enough for me.

Traveling without being able to sample the local cuisine would be a major bummer, so choosing to be a little more flexible has made eating easier and more enjoyable.  It’s a lot more fun to eat street food and try new dishes when you aren’t overanalyzing the ingredients.  I’m not sure if I’ll stick to flexitarian rules when we get back to the US or go back to my strict vegetarian ways, but for now it really doesn’t matter.  I’m off to get some more delicious, delicious pho.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)

Posted in Travel,Vietnam,World Tour

With narrow alleyways packed full of hotels and restaurants, swarms of motorbikes in the streets, and sidewalks full of tiny plastic chair cafes and street food vendors, Saigon is a full-on assault of the senses in every way.  We loved every minute of it.John dubbed the city “street food heaven” because of the endless stalls and carts selling delicious smelling food.  I’m not usually as into street food as John is (since it’s usually roasted meat), but in Vietnam there are vegetarian-ish options everywhere.  The Vietnamese sandwich I had for breakfast on our first day in Saigon may have been the best thing ever, and I’m certain that pho eaten on a plastic stool in an alleyway has more personality than any you’d get in a regular restaurant.After riding around on a motorbike in rural Bali, I was amazed by the sheer masses of motorbikes on the city streets.  Similar to Bali, it’s not uncommon to see full families of four people or more riding around on one motorbike.  Unlike Bali, the helmets here look flimsy and small, like a baseball cap with a thin plastic shell covering it.

People here are very conscious of having their photos taken.  Rather than being upset, however, they like to wave and smile at the camera.  While I kinda dig it in the photo below, I took to shooting from the hip around town to avoid this phenomenon.I really had a thing for photographing the motorbikes – they’re just everywhere!

Of course if you’re not into riding a motor bike, you can always catch a different sort of ride…

This woman is the equivalent of an alleyway barista.  She’s making coffee on a tiny coal stove on the ground, which she pours through the filters (you can see them hanging on the wall) before serving hot or over ice with sweetened condensed milk.  We watched her pouring the thick, high octane coffee and remembered the many reminders we’ve gotten about Vietnamese coffee.  Not surprisingly, it’s easy to get over caffeinated on this stuff.  I’ve been trying to sample it sparingly.A patron enjoying the streetside coffee.  So much more interesting than your standard Starbucks, and even easier to find in Vietnam.In addition to wandering the streets in Saigon, we also visited the War Remnants Museum, dedicated to the Vietnam War, or what they call the US War of Aggression.  While I had read that this museum had a lot of anti-US propaganda, I actually found it to be pretty accurate to what I know of how the US behaved during the war.  There are several photos on display that show some of the horrible things done to Vietnamese people, but I’ve honestly seen many worse photographs from the war elsewhere.  (You can listen to this NPR podcast if you want to hear about some of the atrocities toward civilians.)  What I hadn’t realized was how long-lasting the effects of agent orange were in this country.  Pretty horrific.  It wasn’t a feel-good museum by any standards, but definitely one worth visiting.A variation on the streetside cafe.  At places like this I’ve spotted groups of guys playing cards, drinking strong coffee or tea, checking email on their phones, and socializing.  These cafes are a huge part of Vietnamese culture.At night, the plastic chairs overflow into the streets brimming with young backpackers drinking $0.25 beer.  Every corner boasts street carts and alleyway restaurants where you can fill up on a variety of cheap meals.It’s an endless stream of restaurants and food carts, with bumping tunes blaring through the street from the many bars and tourist restaurants.  Saigon at night is one big party.

After two quick days, we boarded an overnight train from Saigon on our way to our next stop.  More from amazing Vietnam in a few days.

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louise - October 24, 2013 - 3:59 pm

Hi,

I am travelling to Nha Trang and HCMC in December and would love someone to digitally photograph my 3 children ( 5, 4 and 2 years old) experiencing Vietnam with traditional Vietnamese backgrounds ie street photography. I have been researching to find photographers who may be able to assist us with this? If not, could you recommend anyone else who could?

Look forward to hearing from you.
Louise

The Blog of John Patrick Larson » Lively Nightlife in the Streets of Saigon - July 14, 2013 - 9:19 pm

[...] Go check out Tracy’s blog for visuals of the Saigon street life. [...]

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Chinatown & Little India

Posted in Singapore,Travel,World Tour

Singapore is huge.  We could have spent our time there visiting any number of attractions, restaurants, theme parks, and cultural sights.  We had to limit our schedule to just a few things, and even then we were pretty tired from running around the city over the course of two days.  It may not seem like we did much, but trust me, it felt like it.

Most of what we did involved eating, wandering around shopping malls to avoid the heat, socializing, enjoying views of the city, more eating…none of which is particularly photogenic (unless you enjoyed my iphone photo spread.)  But I did manage to get a few nice photos from the thrumming neighborhoods of Chinatown and Little India.  The red lanterns in Chinatown are leftover decor from Chinese New Year in January.

While there seems to be a Chinatown in every major city in the world, I’ve never run across a Little India before.  Probably they exist all over the place and I’ve just never noticed.  Singapore’s Little India is quite well known, and rather large.  The streets in this neighborhood are full of people shopping for Indian groceries and clothing, and eating at the many food stalls and restaurants.  We indulged in a meal here ourselves, and we certainly didn’t regret it.  The daal and chapatis were fantastic.  (There we go eating again…)
There is so much shopping in Little India, from produce and fresh flowers to books, clothes and electronics.  Just outside the many fabric and clothing stores you can find tailors set up on the sidewalk, working away on their sewing machines in the searing afternoon heat.
Our weekend in Singapore wrapped up pretty quickly, as weekends tend to do.  Before we knew it, we were heading back to the airport to catch a flight to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.  While we probably could have find a myriad of ways to while away a few more days in this rich metropolis, I think we had just the perfect amount of time in the big city.

I’d like to extend another thanks to Yee-Pin and Cheng for hosting us at their place in Singapore.  I taught them their first yoga class while we were staying with them, but that hour of time hardly matched how accommodating and kind they were to us all weekend long.  Couchsurfing truly is an amazing tool for meeting phenomenal people around the world.  With two successful interactions under our belt, I’m looking forward to the next opportunity we have to surf.

We’re now in Vietnam, eating our way through the street food carts of Ho Chi Minh City.  Photos soon.

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Wednesday, March 13, 2013

National Orchid Garden

Posted in Singapore,Travel,World Tour

My college roommate had a thing for orchids.  I remember watching her care for a plant in our apartment, misting the flowers with a spray bottle and watering the roots with slow melting ice cubes.  The effort it took to keep that little plant, with its one or two small blooms, alive and thriving was impressive.  That said, I can only imagine the care and work that goes into maintaining the National Orchid Garden in Singapore.  There are easily thousands of beautiful orchids of various colors and sizes on display in this garden.  The park is beautifully maintained, with waterfalls and archways throughout, and several little spots perfectly created for taking photos.A wedding florist would have a field day dreaming up centerpieces and bouquets to make with all the beautiful colors and patterns.  In the bustle of the big city, this garden was a fantastic place to spend a few hours.  The remainder of the Botanic Gardens looked beautiful as well, but it was far too large for us to explore in the small amount of time we had.  It was nice to see the park full of locals on a Saturday morning, picnicking with families, practicing tai chi and yoga, and playing with their kids in the grass.

And of course, here’s us, smiling with some orchids at one of the strategically placed photo op spots.

Apologies for the glut of flower photos – they’re just so pretty!  I promise the photos from the rest of Southeast Asia will not be so floral-centric :)

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The Blog of John Patrick Larson » Everywhere You Look, Skyscrapers - July 7, 2013 - 10:23 pm

[...] so cheap, and generally tiny kitchen space home).  Then we parted ways for the day, bound for the botanical gardens and then a lunch meeting with a [...]

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

iPhone Photos from Singapore

Posted in Singapore,Travel,World Tour

Plentiful free drinking fountains, a huge orchid garden, immigration desks with no lines that offer free candy, and clean and efficient public transit all before we even left the airport.  Oh Singapore, you had me at plentiful free drinking fountains.  After two months living in rural Bali, a few days in the big city was just what we needed.

In a country where citizens are glued to their iphones and ipads, it seemed only appropriate to document our trip with my own idevice.  I have real photos coming soon, but here are a few low-quality snaps from our weekend in Singapore, from top left to bottom right:

1)  A view of the endless skyscrapers that comprise this city-state of 5 million people.  2)  Kaya toast with runny eggs and sweet coffee, a standard Singapore breakfast.  We were a little impatient and didn’t let our eggs soft boil quite long enough, so our eggs were a bit runnier than average.  3)  Rows of escalators in one of the many shopping malls.  You can buy almost anything in Singapore, just not the one thing I was hoping for – a replacement Kindle.  Some weird copyright or government restriction makes them impossible to buy around here.  4)  A display of cream puffs in one of the many food courts.  Nearly every cuisine in the world is represented somehow in Singapore, and probably done with more zest and creativity than you’d imagine (such as thirty different takes on the basic cream puff.) They were delicious. 5)  The clean, super efficient, and ever polite MRT transit system.  6)  Chicken Rice, another Singapore classic dish.  7)  John playing Dance Dance Revolution in one of the arcades.  After watching an expert player get a perfect score on an 8 foot game, using both dance pads, poor John looked like a beginner.  If you’ve ever seen John play this game, you know the local guy was incredible.  8)  Dim Sum breakfast with Yee-Pin and Cheng, our Couchsurfing hosts.  These guys were phenomenal, and really made our experience amazing.  9)  View of the Singapore Flyer and skyline at night, from the top of the Swissotel Stamford Place.  Even though it was Saturday night and we were dressed like total bums, they let us enjoy the incredible view with a glass of wine at the fancy bar at the top.

More high-quality images coming soon!

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The Blog of John Patrick Larson » Everywhere You Look, Skyscrapers - July 7, 2013 - 10:01 pm

[...] Incidentally, it should come as no surprise that my mini spiritual journey in the arcade was not captured by Tracy’s masterful photographic skills and equipment.  But you can see a grainy image of it taken by her iPhone, along with a few other fun shots of Singapore, here. [...]

Chinatown & Little India » Tracy Carolyn Photography - March 14, 2013 - 8:03 am

[...] views of the city, more eating…none of which is particularly photogenic (unless you enjoyed my iphone photo spread.)  But I did manage to get a few nice photos from the thrumming neighborhoods of Chinatown and [...]