It's alive...or it used to be!

Spring cleaning again. This post used to be a page and is dedicated to strange fruits, odd plants, interesting food and anything that is or was, once alive!

A butterfly that wouldn't leave us alone. Monkey Waterfall Vietnam.

Langsat, tastes like citrus and grape and splits into segments. Malaysia. (not my photo, I couldn't find mine, but I ate plenty of them)

One Elephant Fish on a platter. I felt a bit sorry for it, nobody wanted to buy it for lunch. Mekong Delta Vietnam.

Frogs at a Hanoi market. They were alive a few seconds before this, and skinless.

Crispy Pancakes or Khanom bueng, a Thai dessert.

Unusually scalloped bark. Shanghai China

Sorting tiny crabs from the even tinier crabs. Hanoi Vietnam

Part of the spread at the temple.  Hanoi Vietnam.

Large grapes, funny leaf. Hanoi Vietnam

Keeping the prawns fresh. Hanoi Vietnam

Pomelo...yum, like giant Grapefruit but not very sour. Hanoi Vietnam

The jackfruit in Vietnam (Artocarpus heterophyllus or A. heterophylla) is a species of tree in the mulberry family (Moraceae), which is native to parts of Southern and Southeast Asia. It is the national fruit of Bangladesh. It is well suited to tropical lowlands. Its fruit is the largest tree borne fruit in the world, seldom less than about 25 cm (10 in) in diameter. Thank you Wikipedia.

Mangrove roots. Brunei Borneo

Giant moth. Brunei Borneo

Laksa. Brunei Borneo

Donut lady. Mekong Delta Vietnam

Nem Nuong (Nem nướng) is grilled meatballs, usually made of seasoned pork mince, on a skewer of lemon grass stalk. Slide it off into a rice paper wrapper, top with salad greens, herbs and rice noodles and roll up. Then dip into peanut sauce and eat. Hue Vietnam.

Some sort of flossy edible at the market, probably some type of sprout? Hoi An Vietnam.

Vietnamese coffee in the making. Really strong, really sweet and really addictive.

Part of the lovely gift given to me by Dung's Mum. Sapodila plum (Vietnameme: "quả hồng xiêm" or "quả sapoche") Plum = quả. Hoi An Vietnam.

Part of the feast Huong cooked for us. Some type of Vietnamese shellfish. Que Nhon Vietnam.

They don't look that nice, but taste great. They are Hong Deo...dried persimmons. Da Lat Vietnam.

Cooked Duck embryos..yes, that's right, chicks cooked in their shell. Saigon Vietnam.

The makings of Nasi Lamak in Christina's kitchen. Kuching Borneo.

Lichen and moss. Kuching Borneo.

Fresh ingredients at the Top Spot restaurant. Kuching Borneo.

Ready to go into the steam boat. Kuching Borneo.

The steamboat.

Offerings to Buddha...note the chicken! Nha Trang Vietnam.

Same same but different! Thailand.

Tom Yum Khung soup on the boil. Chiang Mai Thailand.

Please let me sleep. Still not sure if they were drugged or not.Chiang Mai Thailand.

Awww...how cute and definitely not drugged. Kanchanaburi Thailand.

A young goanna in our front yard. Australia.

'Outside' a shop, at the bottom of a pillar...a fish tank with a lone goldfish in residence. Bangkok Thailand.

Huge prawns on the go. Bangkok Thailand.

One of my daily bouquets...thanks Stray! Thailand.

Lunch. Golden Triangle Thailand.

Pho Chien Phong. Yum! Deep fried squares of rice noodle topped with slivers of beef and water spinach. Hanoi Vietnam

Bot Chien. Fried squares of carrot cake (not the type we know) mixed with an egg and served on a bed of shredded ??? salad. Saigon Vietnam

Wellington New Zealand

Dunedin New Zealand.

Swiss said...

i laughed so much when i saw those persimmons. you were right, unsightly. but you cant keep a good persimmon down.

i never knew what they were called but i also had the Langsat and had forgotten about them until now.

great pictures!! and the coffee has flared up my addiction... i might have to go brew a cup. i brought whole bags of khmer and vietnamese coffee back to the US with me, and some bags also for my mom which i am bringing back to her next week. i cant wait. she's the kingpin of coffee drinking and will go crazy for this.

i loved reading this!

m

August 15, 2010 3:32 AM

Snap said...

I know what you mean about the coffee! I bought one those coffee makers home with me and am lucky enough to have a friend in Vung Tau (VN) who sends me supplies.

Day 14 Nha Trang

Not much going on today, we both had a hair cut and took a rickshaw ride to the big market. I had in mind the large, modern Maximart Shopping Centre, but the driver took us to the local market instead...all good! I bought myself a Vietnamese hat so I would blend in...NOT.

I have noticed a couple of hotels, cleverly named Nice Hotel and Good Hotel. If I were to open one here I would call it Clean Cheap Hotel, because when travellers arrive and ask the taxi driver to take them to a hotel, that's usually what they ask for.

No photos today, I am having problems with the cameras. The existing photos are there, but I can't take photos, some sort of 'write protected' thing. Have just Googled the error and may have a solution.

We are off to Dalat in the mountains tomorrow morning by bus. It cost about AU$8 and is 3.5 hours long going on the new road. The first travel agent tried to put us off that idea, because she wanted to push an expensive tour, and told us it took 5 hours with no toilet onboard or stops along the way.

Stray (who is having a massage right now) has had trouble sleeping, so bought a natural remedy yesterday and slept pretty good last night...snored his head off. I'm looking forward to catching up with our friends in Dalat and Vung Tau and to FINALLY do some shopping in the last few days of our trip.

We only took carry on luggage and still packed too much, but it has made moving around the country much easier. You really only need 3 or 4 days worth of clothes because the laundry services are so cheap here.

Well, that's it from me for now.

Day 13 Nha Trang

I had a solid nights sleep for a change, as our room is back from the street, for the first time this trip and has no street noise. It was drizzling rain this morning, but cleared up enough for us to go over to Vinpearl Island by cable car.

The cable car is over 3.3 km long and takes 12 minutes to reach the island. It costs about $18, which is expensive for here, but once you are over there, the rides and entries are free. Also on offer are ocean sport activities (parasailing, jet skis etc.) which are not for free.
The aquarium is quite well done and if we had kids, it would be a great place to spend the day. The grounds and gardens are extremely well kept and full of sculptures, fountains and a very large water park.

I'm obviously on a computer...in the hotel...updating this blog and Stray's off having a massage. No plans for tomorrow so far, but we will probably head for Dalat on Wednesday.

Day 12 Quy Nhon to Nha Trang

I had soooo much trouble editing this post, I decided to upload them as pictures...sorry, you might have to use your magnifying tool.