A feast

Ok people, this is what I am talking about.

Grilled fish in banana leaf. Snapper, with a chili, garlic, lemon grass sauce. I was so drugged up by this stuff that Ira went ahead and bargained with the waiter (who I was willing to run away with) and his boss and bought the plate that it was served on. What a guy.

Spring rolls... rice paper stuffed with fresh herbs of all kinds and crispy and fresh julienne veggies.

Ban Xeo, which unfortunately I have no photo of, is delicately seasoned pork and prawns wrapped in a rice flour pancake *stuffed* beyond belief with fresh herbs and served with a chili garlic lime dipping sauce.

I almost left my husband . Shame on me for even thinking about it . But the Hong Phuc restaurant, I could easily spend the rest of my days there. And yes, Ira bargained for the cheesy plate....they wanted $4 for it....he came back with "What? but it's plastic!"
"Yes, but "special-made" plastic!"

Well I think he got it down to $3, I don't remember much in my food induced stupor.

And you know, there is something about Vietnam, that even if a rat runs under your feet while eating at a restaurant (which happened) you kind of are startled for a second, but then ignore it and go back to feasting. It's just OK.

Handsome guys

Real quick, I have been getting some emails asking about the boys hair. Both had their cuts, Joe in Colorado and Kevie in Vietnam. So here are some shots.....





Not quite sure of the precision cut on Kev....

OK, time for routine

Nice and boring everyday routine, come and get me.

Back from all travel for awhile and it has been great, but I need to slow down and sleep in my own bed for a few months straight.

Cambodia and Vietnam...what great places to go. Don't know how to begin. I highly recommend it, but maybe not with a 1 year old.
It seems the more I travel to, and learn about these different and exotic places, the more I realize how little I know about everything in the world.
Really, there is so much I do not know.

Take for example, Khmer. I have never even heard of the word before--the Cambodian people, let alone Khmer food, Khmer tradition, the incredible history of Khmer civilization! It of course is mind boggling, and I left these countries having learned just little bits of information here and there. (It was a bit difficult to really concentrate on the cultures, as the 1 year old was very consumed in sampling the tasty little bits of 3rd world gutter garbage, thus I was on hyper vigilant alert, as there are no typhoid shots for babies that young.)
I would say the top 3 things that I come away with, from visiting these places are:

1) I really really like and admire Buddhists
2) As an American woman, I truly do live like a queen
3) the food was the best I have ever eaten. It was like a drug. (maybe there were drugs in it?!)

Really. Maybe it's the loads of fresh herbs, I don't know. Tasty beyond belief. And healthy to boot.

to be continued....

By the way, I read the cheese blog, and I am sorry that I went on and on about the dang cheese for so long. It was a bit much. I will try to not obsess again, or at least not blog about it!!!!

Hi from the Kingdom

Hi everybody

Thought it would be kind of cool to type an entry from Cambodia. Don't have much time, as we are leaving this afternoon and I need to buy some cheap souvenirs before heading to the airport.

We are in Siem Reap, where the highlight is the amazing Ankor Wat temples . We have spent most of the 2-3 days here touring these incredible places. The religious temples are around 900 years old. More details on those to come.

The food is amazing. I think it is the sauces. So light and flavorful. Maybe all those fresh herbs they use in everything. Initially I was to eat nothing raw, even the veggies in the spring rolls, but I have succumbed. Heck, we had our typhoid and hep A shots, I am going for it. And glad I did..... I am in heaven with the food. More details on that later too.

There is quite a bit of poverty here, and it is devastating to occasionally see these poor land mine victims. Went to a killing fields monument yesterday where there are displays of human skulls and bones from the tortured victims under POLPOT'S (sp) rule. That shut everybody up for awhile.

It's hot and muggy here, but at the tail end of rainy season, so the clouds save us a bit from the blazing sun. Thought there would be many more mosquitos---there are tons in Japan. We are all taking malaria pills anyway. Thankfully with the 'new' pills there are no side effects thatI have noticed.

People are very friendly and are crazy about the baby. The men love her! SO different from the Japanese men who don't give her a 2nd look.

Gotta run. Today we fly to Saigon for 1 night, then off to Hoi An, central Vietnam, to the beach.

Lots of photos to post soon.

Katrina