The internet has liberated a new kind of beast. In the NST yesterday, it was reported that Ah Longs (loan sharks) used Facebook to humiliate their debtors. Gone are the days of splashing red paint on the doors. It does look like the more access you have to public media, be it Facebook or Twitter or blogging, the more susceptible you are to being victimized. And talking about Facebook, even our Prime Minister has his own Facebook page now. It’s a little unnerving to learn that he likes Ronan Keating’s When You Say Nothing At All. “In my spare time I focus on Sunday family lunches, watching TV with my kids and going on holidays.” I don’t know about you, but this is as bad as finding out that your parents have sex. Anyway, back to Ah Longs and the perils of the internet, it got me thinking of all my misdeeds in the past. About a month back, I was in a car chase with an incorrigibly fractious driver. I had anger management issues then, and decided to snap photographs of the rodent in question (and petulantly indicated to him that I was doing it). Well, he got peeved about being caught on my iPhone, so he reciprocated by snapping my picture instead. A cat and mouse chase ensued and numerous pictures were captured on each other’s cameras. I reckon that photographs of me and my car are floating around the internet by now. I hope he at least had the decency to photoshop my mug to tone down my maniacal expression. (It wouldn’t hurt to make me look slimmer as well.) I have since addressed my anger issues as I’ve realised that the only person I’m hurting when I get upset in traffic is myself. This newfound zen is sometimes forgotten, though. About a week ago, Bald Eagle and I were in Hanoi to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary. We had obtained free tickets on a particular airlines early this year to fly to Hanoi on the 10th and back to KL on 11 November. We were pleased as Punch with our amazing deal. Lesson learnt post 11 November: A deal is only good when it’s real. In simple terms, there is no such thing as a free meal. The airlines cancelled our return flight without informing us, and I was kicking their flimsy door down with my size 7 feet at the Hanoi International Airport. Other lesson learnt: Size 7 feet don’t create much of a dent. It’s as good as nudging your boobies against the door expecting the door to fall off the hinge.
It’s just as well that our only negative experience occurred at the end of our holiday. I’m not good at hiding my feelings. When I travel, my face lights up in wonderment and I am 21 again, young with wide-eyed naivety. The joy of discovering a new place and meeting new people envelopes my whole being and I’m literally radiating in a warm aura. A pity that I lose it the instant that I am back at work.
Our first meal in Hanoi, at a restaurant located just 20 metres away from our hotel, was bun cha that came highly recommended by Paprika and Sze. Bun cha is generally eaten at lunchtime, and popular restaurants or stalls get filled up pretty fast. Not knowing what to expect, we were ushered upstairs where even more tables were available. Before we could even start with our sign language (English is hardly spoken in Hanoi), several types of receptacles were placed before us.
We merely stared at the array of delicious looking food. A mountainous plate of rice vermicelli, clumped together in a sticky mess, a bowl of pork patties that had just been grilled, evidence of hardened charred bits floating in a soup that tasted of rice wine and fish sauce, a large mound of herbs and greens, some tasting very much like our local ulam, a bowl of thinly sliced young papaya in the same soupy liquid as the pork patties, some coarsely chopped chilli and garlic for more punch, and a plate of nem, crispy fried spring rolls bursting with minced pork.
“So,” I looked to my husband, “how does one eat this?”
Seeing our puzzled look, one of the servers came over and proceeded to pile in the ingredients into our bowls, starting with some noodles, followed by some of the tart sweet savoury nuoc cham sauce to flavour the noodles, then the grilled pork, a portion of spring rolls, some sliced papaya, garlic and chilli and finally topped with the greens. The resultant dish, so quickly assembled, resembled a noodle salad. We ate up everything in sight.
I still have memories of that first meal. We ate a lot more after that; in fact, it was two days of non-stop eating from typical street food to the finest french restaurants. We drank copious amounts of Vietnamese coffee flavoured with sweetened condensed milk. But that first meal hit the mark on my gastronomic quest.
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I wonder if one day, there will be an online voting for our favourite Ah Long on Facebook? And whether our Prime Minister will be voting since he has his own Facebook account?
Bun Cha
Hang Manh Street (Old Quarters)
Hanoi
am i no.1 ? am i no.1 ! mwuahaha .. agentcikay strikes again!
am i no.2? am i no.2?
ok, ok. .seriously now.. Ah Longs use Facebook to humiliate their debtors eh.. well i know of some ‘friends’ who use FB to tease other friends.. either knowingly or unknowingly la.. u know ar? u know? tell me.. tell me.. 😛
Fantastic geometric shot.. i luv that.. almost as much as i love vietnamese food! …. take me next time luscious.. take me!
also, if u did nudge ur boobies against any fortress… the gates WOULD fall down.. so i don’t really know wot u r talking about 😛
Bun Cha rocks!!!! I totally remember squatting there for lunch too. Bu I think it’s an acquired taste. My friend was totally turned off by it. Dunno why, but I like.
How do u pronounce Bun Cha? boon-cha? barn-cha?? something totally diff, like french??
You mean even your boobies can’t knock a door of its hinges? ^_^
If I come back during your low season, will you take me to Hanoi?
My eye skipped a line and I read, ‘the PM likes going on sex holidays’…
The thought of voting for our fav Ah Long has certainly brightened up this rainy day for me. And them memories of Hanoi are certainly floating back now… 🙂
Y’know, your posts are like getting a brand new cookbook. I wait eagerly for a new one, then the instant I have 10 minutes to myself, I wait patiently for the pikchers to load before slowly savouring every single witty line and every single gorgeously constructed photo.
Sounds so sarky, hor? 😀
Eh.. I’m sure I had more comments than that!!
Foul, foul!! No freedom of expression!! pfffbbbtthhh…
lol. can I spam along?? ;P
yay. Hanoi too!! Did you went to Halong Bay as well? and what’s your next holiday destination? 🙂
I didn’t know ah long nowadays so canggih!
cumidanciki: Yes, you’re No.1! 😛
cumidanciki: No, you’re No.1! hehe. Thanks, girl…I like that picture too. Lugged back some kayu manis, I did!
cumidanciki: I was referring to the general ones. 😛
alilfatmonkey: How can anyone hate bun cha?? It’s sooooo goooood!!
gfad: boon-cha.
gfad: see answer to ciki above.
gfad: selective reading, I see. tsk tsk!
LFB: Will be sure to let you know when the voting commences. Have you activated your FB again, young man? Yar, I love your pics of Halong Bay, Kenny.
Christine: You could never spam me dear. You’re not like the aunties above. 😛 No, I didn’t go to Halong Bay, not with 2d/1n there, hehe. It was purely a foodie trip.
My queen, you seem to have this innate ability to make anything look like it was prepared by a 3-star Michelin chef. *tummy rumble* 😛
Gotta go look for food now. *sigh* How to lose weight? 🙁 Ha ha.
mighty powerful boobs you have there. Hahaha! I can so relate to the anger that you had for the other driver. I have done much worse in my hey-day, but like you. I have achieved a Zen like status 😛
Bun Cha looks fantabulous!
Wah. Agent Cikay is amazing – cliched both no.1 and no.2 position! Haha…..
(On a separate note)
*ROFL&wipes aways tears*
Sorry Meena…
I’m sure it must have been super frustrating/ infuriating at the time but the image of you and the rodent racing down the road in a vengeful photo snapping slug out is hilariouuuus……. 🙂 🙂
Okay. No more booby talk. Let’s talk cars instead.
The other day when I drove mah big boy, a Land Cruiser gave way to me. For the first friggin’ time of my entire driving life here!! 😀
gosh and i thot my swollen eyes made me seeing things from sex to boobies :p
ooh ooh I will be in Hanoi next mth. Will look out for this. Thanks for the tips on how to eat that dish. However, knowing me who doesn’t take greens, I will probably add everything except those lol. U know la, I’m a meat eater kakakaka
Yikes, so much drama. Good that the both of you still had a good time!
Happy 9th wedding annivesary to you and Bald Eagle! =D
Kenneth: I photograph it as it is. No embellishments. So hey, maybe there’s a michelin star chef in the making out there. 😉
unkaleong: I gave the sanitized version here. Ciki knows the other version. 😉 But yeah, zen is the way to go.
J: Yar, especially when he was driving a 4-wheel drive and me…hahahaha…well…something much smaller!
gfad: Wah, R-E-S-P-E-C-T!
babe_kl: what sex?? 😛 Your eyes are swollen? What happened?
Lisa: Will give you more tips before you leave. Have you booked your hotel yet? Anyway, re bun cha, a lot of them also don’t eat the greens. hehe. Eat meat all the way, babe.
Bangsar babe: Hehe. Yar, drama finds us. Thanks, sweetie!
haha, u r humorous n wicked. i am reading in between your lines there, “When You Say Nothing At All”. sometimes it’s better to shut up & remain silent when you have a lot to tell. ur pics are awesome, btw. n what happened next, did they put u up in a hotel for ur next flight back?
and of course ur parents had sex or u wouldn’t be here. i think the scary question is if they still do.
Ah terri terri terri….some things are best left alone. hahaha. And no, they did not offer to put us up in a hotel, but we shall be writing a letter to them very soon, with bills attached. As for your second comment, EWWWW!! Terri!!!
“Size 7 feet don’t create much of a dent. It’s as good as nudging your boobies against the door expecting the door to fall off the hinge … ”
LOL. you CAN make a dent though, but for one to fall off its hinge, you’ll be needing cups of steel.
So much drama! Glad that you guys still enjoyed the trip 🙂 Happy blogiversary and anniversary to you both 🙂 The photos are mouth-watering!
oh ya! happy 9th anniversary to you and bald eagle 🙂 so sweet!
gfad: Guess what. You left so many comments that some actually went into the spam folder and I only just discovered them! hahahaha. Sorry babe.
J2Kfm: Cups of steel went out of fashion after King Arthur left the court. 🙂
Kiran: Yes, we love our drama and we love our fun. hehe. Thanks, Kiran!
Christine: Thank you! We’re still having fun. 😉
LOL!
Reading the comments are almost as good as reading your post!
Happy Anniversary Meena & Tim 😉
And a one day makan trip to Hanoi, fantastic idea!
If only I can get Unka to do somethin spontaneous like that!
(wistful thinking)
i thought ah longs are supposed to be the discreet type? how come now so revealing liddat ar? just goes to show crime is king these days. sad.
on the other hand, hanoi seems to be a great short getaway, eh? will definitely put it on my list. but maybe i should consider another airline la, hor? hehe.
TNG: Yar, the comments are crazy! hehe. Actually, this wasn’t a spontaneous trip. We bought our tickets in February this year. 🙂 Good luck in convincing your man.
HairyBerry: Just goes to show that you should up your privacy levels on Facebook (especially after borrowing from ah longs!). Yes, you gotta visit Hanoi, Hairy. You’ll love the food there, and you’ll enjoy squatting by the roadside.
I got into the Facebook to catch up with my son!
worldwindows: Yar, I suppose there are advantages to FB, but it’s so public that all my ugly pics go up there, and friends happily tag my name on them. I have to make sure I don’t borrow from Ah Longs either. 🙂
Be there with parents so will be on tour. Everything booked d. So hope can still try bun cha. All meat eaters hey? Roarrrrrr I like it!
i was JUST thinking about bun cha at the weekend. glad you liked it! 🙂
oh you MUST tell me next time you have such deals.
emmm, my all time fav viet food , bun-cha first before the pho….hehe.
My dish, I love it 😀