Meeting Kyo York - a handsome American teacher singing Vietnamese

Kyo York has gradually become more famous after appearing in Vietnamese showbiz many times, including on programs such as Tro choi am nhac (Don’t forget the lyrics), Thay loi muon noi (Let the music do the talking) and Guong mat than quen (Familiar faces), which is broadcast at 9:15 pm every Saturday on VTV3. 

“The organization board chose to invite me to Guong mat than quen because an American man speaking and singing Vietnamese attracts viewers. However, for me, it is an opportunity to satisfy my love for music as well as to raise money for charity”, Kyo shared. He first arrived in Vietnam as an English teacher four years ago. After learning Vietnamese for three years, he began to perform as an amateur singer, in addition to teaching English.

“Currently, I am spending more time singing, but I won’t stop teaching, since through this work I can help Vietnamese youths and be relaxed outside the complicated showbiz world”, he said. Asked about his disadvantages in Vietnam, Kyo said there are many. Asking for licenses from the authorities, for example, is something he has to do, and takes a lot of time. Fortunately, Kyo is always helped by his friendly colleagues and the local culture agency.

Kyo is a rare expat who speaks, sings, and lives like a Vietnamese. This Lunar New Year, he played the part of a Kitchen God, one of the Vietnamese domestic Gods that protects the hearth and family, in a special show celebrating New Year’s Eve. According to Kyo, this was a chance for him to understand more about Vietnamese culture.

Also this year, just like many Vietnamese, he visited Ba Chua Xu pagoda (the Lady of the Realm pagoda) in Vinh Te village at the foot of Sam Mountain, near the Cambodian border. “I was very happy that local people in this small village could recognize me because I know distinguishing Americans is a big problem with most Asians”, Kyo said. “There’s nothing difficult, there’s only the fear of the lack of will. I love this sentence of your country. Everyone may know it, but only some may believe strongly in it. It is one of the reasons behind all of my success”, he added. Kyo loves this country, but one problem is that he cannot sympathize with Vietnamese who litter.

Meeting Kyo York - a handsome American teacher singing Vietnamese

Hue Festival highlights - an international art feast

The 2014 Hue Festival, which opens tonight, Apr 12, and runs until Apr 20, promises to give flocking tourists a host of compelling art, cultural and fashion performances from Vietnam and 36 other countries.

From yesterday, the sparkling Hue streets have been packed with domestic tourists and foreigners, as well as groups of artists and artisans from across Vietnam and other countries. The 2014 Hue Festival, the 8th so far, attracts some 595 artists from 43 international art troupes from the five continents, along with 811 local artists.

The feast offers some 100 performances, which are strongly indicative of the countries’ and regions’ distinctive culture. The opening, which will take place at Ngo Mon Square 8pm tonight, will be aired live on VTV1 and VTV4.

Electro music feast

One of the new features at this year’s Hue Festival is the international electro music fest, set to run at the An Dinh Palace stage from tomorrow.

The fest will feature four celebrated electro music bands, the UK’s “Micachu”, France’s “Joakim Bouaziz”, German’s “Mijk van Dijk”, and Vietnam’s “Tri Minh”. The captivating performances by several world-leading DJs from Vietnam and several European countries are also expected to hold audiences spellbound.

The feast will also boast performances by Australia’s “Deep Blue”, Denmark’s Stoffer and Maskinen, Israel’s “Tararam” and Congo’s “Gasandji”, as well as shows which fuse Oriental and Western music like “Phuong Dong quyen ru” (The enchanting Orient) and “Vu cam” (Dances and musical instruments). The feast will close with a rock live show on Apr 19 evening.

Exchange of rich cultural hues

The 2014 Hue Festival, which has been chosen as “The East Asian – Latin American Cultural Exchange Forum” by Vietnam’s Ministries of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Foreign Affairs, will also highlight performances considered “cultural ambassadors” by many foreign troupes.

They include performances by Uruguay’s “Umbral Duo de Guitarras”, who seamlessly blends folk and chamber music; Argentinean artist Osvaldo Montes, who will showcase popular pieces along with excerpts from classic movies, and Brazil’s “Sururu Na Roda” band with their signature samba and choro.

Mongolia’s “Arga Bileg” band will fuse folk music typical of the prairie culture with Western jazz, while Mali singer/composer Musbaba is expected to bewitch the audiences with his combination with a Vietnamese “dan tranh” (Vietnamese 16-chord zither) artist.

The fashion spotlight

“Dem Phuong Dong” (Oriental night) has been one of the past Hue Festivals’ most-enjoyed shows.

This year’s show, to take place on Apr 13, 15, 16 and 18, will feature performances of traditional costumes from Japan, Korea, China, India, Mongolia, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Unlike in previous years when Japan sent only “yukata” (a kind of summertime, simpler “kimono”), this time the country sends over several gorgeous “kimono”, each of which costs up to some ten US dollars and takes no less than 90 minutes to don. Tourists will also have chances to don the simpler “kimonos” with the assistance of Japanese specialists.

This is the first time Malaysia and Myanmar have joined the Hue Festival.

Malaysia will showcase their 15 “baju kurum” (Malaysian women’s traditional attire), while Myanmar models will also don their traditional “thummy” at the “Oriental night” show. Other fashion highlights include Mongolia’s “deel”, China’s rare collection of time-honored costumes and Korea’s colorful “hanbok” on their iconic “oganza” cloth. Thailand has surprised the festival organizers by giving re-creations of weaving and sewing 15 new traditional costumes on a special kind of silk, which is exclusive to Thai queens.

Three renowned Vietnamese designers, Minh Hanh, Cong Khanh and Hai Long – The Huy will also showcase their stunning, elaborated “ao dai” (traditional Vietnamese long gown).

“This year’s festival has made a great stride by attracting a high number of foreign troupes, compared to the low number joining the first Hue Festival in 2000. The participating countries have seen great opportunities in showcasing their art values and cultural identities at the festival,” said Nguyen Van Thanh, vice head of the festival’s organizing board.

The 2014 Hue Festival’s main highlights: - Opening at Ngo Mon at 8pm, Apr 12 - “Ao dai” fest also at Ngo Mon at 8.30pm on Apr 14 and 17 - “Dem Hoang cung” (Royal night) at the Hue Royal Citadel at 7.30pm on Apr 15 and 19 - “Ngay hoi am sac Huong Binh” (Huong Binh music fest), which honors “ca Hue” (Hue folk singing), at Nghinh Luong Dinh at 8pm on Apr 16 - Fire installations by France’s “Carabosse” troupe on Truong Tien Bridge at 7.30pm on Apr 18 and 20 - Art street fest titled “East Asian – Latin American heritage and cultural hues” on Hue streets on Apr 13, 15, 17 and 19 - Belgium’s Merchtem stilt-walking performances and Poland’s “OSP Nadarzyn” orchestra performances on Hue’s downtown streets at 4pm from Apr 13 to 19 - Dozens of other shows and exchanges will also take place at Quoc hoc stage, Tu Tuong Park and 3-2 Park as well as other areas throughout Hue city and Thua Thien – Hue province.

Hue Festival highlights - an international art feast

Budget spending in Vietnam - easy and tight

Vietnam is one of the most popular budget travel destinations in the world.  Although one can have a very lavish vacation in Vietnam, it is still quite easy to travel on a tight budget.  The easiest way to travel frugally is to know how and where to find the bargains!

Food and Drink

Relatively speaking, food in Vietnam is cheap, especially if you avoid expensive restaurants which are generally targeted towards tourists.  One of the cheapest meals you can find is banh mi (a Vietnamese sandwich).  They are filling, non-fussy, and tasty!  Another budget food option is to visit a Com Binh Dan – a type of street food establishment with a wide array of dishes.  For less than 50000 VND, you can have a hearty and authentic lunch.  Less than $2 will also get you a hot bowl of pho, a cold glass of Vietnamese iced coffee or fresh cut fruit at the market!  The great thing about eating on a budget in Vietnam is that you don’t sacrifice taste and quality.  If you’re looking for cheap international eats, the backpackers’ area of Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi is the place to go.  Many small establishments and restaurants cater to the tourist crowd and provide no-fuss basic international meals at a very low price.

A streetside food joint, a Com Binh Danh is a popular lunch place for locals. Look for a place that is packed with people, indicating that the food turn over might be high!

When purchasing bottles of water, try to buy them at small stores or stands.  Bottles of water at hotels or restaurants can be very expensive.  Another cheap option to hydrate yourself at a restaurant is to order tra da, or iced tea.  It’s very refreshing on hot days and usually safe.  A glass of tea will cost much less than bottled water.  Although alcohol is very expensive in Vietnam, beer and vodka is quite cheap!  Beer costs less than what it would cost in the US or Australia – $0.50USD can buy you a big bottle of beer!  Even some imported beers are inexpensive.  As a contrast, wine is incredibly expensive as Vietnam is not known for producing wine.  Most wines are imported into the country primarily for tourist consumption so the markup is very high.

Transportation

It is common knowledge that planes will be more costly than buses and trains but if time is of short supply and if there are many destinations on your travel schedule, planes may be the best option for you.  Vietnam Airlines is the national airline company and although they have seat sales sometimes, they are not a budget airline.  That being said, Vietnam Airlines offers huge discounts if you book tickets during the last five days of every month (you don’t have to travel on the last five days, just book them when the discount is offered).  Alternatively, Air Asia flies to many destinations in Vietnam and is a pocket-friendly airline.  During busy season to a popular destination, we have found that there is little difference in price between the two airlines.  In these cases, and if demand for seats is high, booking early can sometimes be beneficial as prices may increase closer to the flight date.

For those with more time to travel by ground transportation, open tour buses are an excellent way to get from one destination to another.  Open tour buses are those that operate independent of an organized tour.  They are, by far, the cheapest way to travel longer distances in Vietnam.  For instance, you can take a bus from Ho Chi Minh City to Mui Ne (a 4-7 hour drive) for $6USD.  Or, for around $50-60, you can stop at multiple destinations along your journey and stay as long as you want (as long as you give 24 hours notification before boarding the next bus).  There are many different companies that operate long distance buses – the tickets can be booked at a travel agency or at the actual company’s office.  In the backpackers’ areas, the offices are lined up one after the other.  The buses are assigned seating so it may be a good idea to get tickets early in order to get a seat that you want.  Trains are also a popular mode of transportation for long voyages.  On one train, Vietnam Rail operates the majority of the cars but many other private companies operate tourist cars on the same train.  The private companies are targeted towards tourists but Vietnam Rail cars are generally $7-10 cheaper than the tourist cars.  To save money, you can travel on night buses or trains and save a night’s accomodation!

While in the city, the choices for transportation are the city bus, xe om (motorbike taxis) and taxi.  City bus is generally the cheapest but certain places in the city can be less accessible.  Taxi fares in the city are relatively high and it can add up quickly!  A practical and economical alternative to the city bus and taxi is the xe om, which translates literally to ‘hug taxi’.   A xe om is easily identified – you will see many people waiting on their bikes on street corners looking to give a lift to a tourist.  They can be quite cheap assuming you will negotiate a price down.  Of course the price depends on where you want to go, but if you are going from one place to another in District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City, a xe om should cost you no more than 20,000 VND.  As a comparison, a short taxi ride within District 1 may be roughly 30,000 VND.  If you want to venture into some of the other districts that are farther away, hiring a xe om is not only more economical but also a great way to experience the city!

Xe om drivers are found everywhere and are generally eager to give you a ride, if they aren’t taking an afternoon nap…

Lodging

Budget lodging options are plentiful in Vietnam!  In the cities, many of the tall and narrow homes have been converted to guest houses or small hotels.  Although there is quite a range in price from city to city, it’s very easy to find a room for $10-30 a night.  Most will also have some sort of included breakfast – eggs, pancakes, bread, butter, tea, coffee, juice and more!  Finding a hotel with an included meal may save a lot of money in the grand scheme of things.

Many of the tall narrow houses in Vietnam have been converted into hostels or budget hotels.

Homestays have become an increasingly popular form of lodging, especially in the smaller towns in Vietnam.  Not only are they budget-friendly, it’s a great way to understand a little bit about daily life in Vietnam.  Most homestays are booked through travel agencies, except for tourist villages like Sapa where you can walk up to the many homestays advertised.  In Vietnam, one requires a license to host travelers in their home.  Homestays turn out to be an excellent bargain!  Meals are also often included and although they are not fancy, they are usually more than sufficient.  We recommend buying water and any other drinks that you might need beforehand at a store or street vendor rather than at the homestay – the markup for bottled water is very high.

Another type of lodging option that may be of interest to you is ‘couchsurfing’.  This phenomenon has been a part of Vietnam travel for a long time and is becoming increasingly popular among backpackers in the country.  If you are not familiar with that term, couchsurfing is a means for people with homes (and couches) to connect with travelers who need a place to crash.  The biggest appeal of couchsurfing – it’s free!  If you are traveling on a really tight budget, we recommend that you check this service out (www.couchsurfing.org).

Activities and Shopping

Activities and attractions are usually the biggest expenses during your stay in Vietnam.  Places like the Cu Chi tunnels or various monuments can charge an entrance fee and if these are places you’d like to visit, there isn’t much you can do about it.  If you are fond of tours or attractions while traveling, we recommend factoring this into your budget.  It can be an excellent way to understand the culture and you can trim your expenses in other ways.

When shopping for souvenirs or goods, avoid tourist markets like Ben Thanh Market.  It’s very tempting to shop in such places because of the convenience.  But simply go outside and visit the street vendors.  The prices are much lower and they are more open to bargaining.  If you are able to, visit Cho Lon market in District 5.  This is a wholesale market and you will be surprised at the price difference in goods between District 5 and District 1!

 

Budget spending in Vietnam - easy and tight

Travel by bus in Hanoi

Scam free, cheap but a bit difficult to comprehend at first, buses in Hanoi are relatively fast and comfortable. Pick up a map with printed bus lines at the Trang Tien street (the book street by the Opera house) or download a map via the link below and spend a few minutes to identify the over 60 bus lines, find your bus stop, wait for the bus, pay VND5,000 or 7,000 and off you go!

 

Hanoi Bus Map

Get around

You should note the following points:

GET AROUND

• Selecting travel time to avoid overcrowding and long wait. The appropriate time is from 5-6am, 8-11am and 1-5pm.


• Do not carry a lot of valuable belongings with you. In case you do, put them inside your bag and hold in the front. If the bus is too crowded, choose taxi or other means of transport for safety.


• Make sure to inform the conductor where you want to get off. As most conductors cannot speak English, you should write down the exact address or name of street you want to get off or ask some young people on the bus to help.


• If you get on the wrong bus, show the bus conductor the address you want to go on the map and ask him to show you where to get off and catch the right bus. You may ask a youngster to help you to translate as well. Most young Vietnamese can speak English quite well.

Buses from the airport

Public buses to the city centre from Noi Bai airport take about 1.5 hours.

BUS FROM THE AIRPORT

• Bus #07 crosses the Thang Long bridge and goes to Cau Giay bus stop on the western part of Hanoi


• Bus #17 crosses the Chuong Duong bridge and goes close to the Old quarter, to Long Bien (just a few blocks from Hoan Kiem Lake – the destination of most tourists).


• To catch buses 7 or 17, exit on the arrivals level and keep walking right past the taxis and minibuses, past the coaches and to the buses which are at the end of the car park. However, baggage is not permitted aboard the buses, so you may need to pay for the baggage as well.

We hope the above information is useful for your trip in Hanoi and wish you a fabulous time!

- See more at: http://hanoikids.org/travel-by-buses-in-hanoi/#sthash.INkpladI.dpuf

Travel by bus in Hanoi

Hanoi"s street drink-beer and coffee

1. Hanoi Street coffee

While young people prefer the noisy and busy atmosphere of modern and luxury or pavement cafes, old ones love cafes which have been around for a long time, located in old streets or inside deep alleys. Office workers like cafes with romantic and quiet styles like those in Phố Cổ (Old Quarter).

Though you won’t find a Starbucks in Hanoi, there is no shortage of a variety in Hà Nội’s cafes. Besides the standard four coffee drinks — hot black coffee, iced-black coffee, hot coffee with milk and iced coffee with milk — available in any cafe, there is hot coffee with a raw egg beaten into it, with or without milk, which tastes a bit like flavored meringue. With sugar, it is practically a meal.

Taking over a legacy from bygone years with the involvement of an irresistible French factor, the Vietnamese have embraced café culture in a great way. There are so many famous coffee shops in Hà Nội, like Năng Café (No. 6 Hàng Bạc Street), Nhân (No. 39D1 Hàng Hành ), Quất (Quán Thánh), Quỳnh (Bát Đàn) and Lâm (Nos. 60 and 91 Nguyễn Hữu Huân) and so on.

For many people, a cup of coffee is simply a crutch for the sleep-deprived but Vietnamese coffee, on the other hand, can teach you the feeling of linger. Hanoi’s coffee culture calls on coffee addicts from every corner of the globe!

 

2. Biahơi – Bottoms up!

In Hanoi, you can find the simplest corner bar on Earth with tiny plastic stools on the sidewalk, small tables on the ground, laden with glasses of beer. Come to Vietnam to try Vietnamese beer and see how men drink beer with favorite refrain such as “yo yo yo”, “drain your glass of every drop”…

Bia hoi (draught beer) is one of things you should not be missed when you come to Hanoi. There are plenty of local as well as imported beer brands in Hanoi such as 333, Carlsberg, Hanoi, Tiger, Saigon, LaRue, San Miguel and Heineken. However, bia hoi is the most popular beverage throughout the country and the cheapest beer in the world (5,000 VND for a glass only). Of course, it is an unpasteurized beer with low alcohol content (approx. 3%) that is sold in mugs in simple street restaurants.

Vietnamese tend to drink beer in large quantities. It is not uncommon to see a group of four or five men with 24 empty bottles on their table at lunchtime. Humorously speaking, as well as their drinking capacity increase, their business prospects seem to be bright. Despite all the changes in Vietnam’s beer industry, the most popular drinking establishment remains the traditional bia hoi. These ubiquitous establishments are always on the sidewalk where customers sometimes will raise their voices over the din of motorbike traffic or the clouds of diesel belch over the plastic tables from a passing bus. The customers have no need for the sleek furniture and fancy entertainment that they might find in a brew pub. Nobody minds if the tables are dirty and the sidewalk is littered with paper napkins. This is simply the place where everyone comes to unwind – from truck drivers returning from a stressful shift to college professors who use bia hoi as a sort of street-side salon.

 

Now, wandering on a certain street in Ha Noi, you can accidentally hear the sentence “Bottoms up!” and question yourself “what is the only thing that will make these men forget their wives and their homes?” The answer is “beer only”!

Hanoi"s street drink-beer and coffee

The appeal of Conical Hat - Just wear it backwards!

 

Nothing portrays iconic Vietnamese fashion more than the long flowy dress and the conical hat, otherwise known as the Ao Dai and the Non La.  To many, it may just seem like a hat people wear in this part of the world, but the non la is more than just a functional headpiece – it’s a symbol of Vietnamese history, art and culture.  But how much do you really know about the conical hat?  In fact, many tourists see the hat worn everyday and even buy it as a souvenir, but as we said before, it’s more than just a hat!  Let us tell you a bit about what the conical hat truly represents and enrich your cultural knowledge of Vietnam.

The Trong Dong Ngoc Lu drum with intricate carvings depicting characters wearing the conical hat.

A Brief History

The exact origin of the non la is hard to pinpoint but legends and stories dating back thousands of years talk about the conical hat.  The hat is depicted as a drawing on two famous ancient relics, the Trong Dong Ngoc Lu (a drum with an intricate pattern carved onto it) and the Thap Dong Dao Thinh (a decorated bronze jar from the Dong Son people).  Both these relics are between 2500 to 3000 years old, indicating that the non la is at least that old, if not older.  What is for certain is that the hat has been an essential part of Vietnamese culture.  Farmers to labourers to ordinary men and women have been using it for utilitarian purposes and will continue to use it for many years to come.

 

What’s it for?

Vietnam is a sub-tropical country so it gets quite hot – upwards of 40 C in the summer!  The hat provides good protection from the sun and heat.  During the rainy season, the hat is a good shield for the rain.  Farmers often wear it when they are in the sun for extended periods of time.  But nowadays, it’s also a fashionable accessory and a great souvenir!

People aren’t the only ones that wear the ‘non la’ in their everyday lives.

How’s it Made

You may find the design very simple, but the construction is far from it.  Remarkably, all the conical hats in the world are hand made!  There is no machine dextrous enough to create this work of art.  The hat is made from two materials – bamboo and the leaves of palm trees.  The frame is made from 16 concentric rings (after much research, 16 has been found to be the magic number!) joined by perpendicular bars of bamboo.  The leaves are then sun-dried, ironed very strategically, and then precisely sewn and woven into the frame.  The needlework required to make the non la is also very intricate and takes years of experience, not to mention extreme patience and dextrous hands.  There are entire villages in the northern part of Vietnam where every person in the village is dedicated to the manufacturing of conical hats!

Workers in the Chuong village creating the hats by hand.

Regional Variations

As if the construction of the hat wasn’t complicated enough, hat makers have found ways to make it even more intricate.  Specific regions have their own way of making the hat unique.  For instance, the people from the Lai Chau region make their hats flatter than the regular non la.  In our opinion, the most beautiful variation of the non la comes from the Hue region.  Hue is the ancient capital of Vietnam and is an incredibly romantic and artistic city.  It is the birthplace of many famous Vietnamese poets.  So it’s only fitting that there are verses of poetry inserted between the layers of leaves as a sunken design so the words are only visible in sunlight!

Beautiful ‘non bai tho’ with poetry and images imbedded within the leaf layers, visible only in sunlight.

The conical hats in the Lai Chau region are a variation on the regular ‘non la’ shape.

 

Some things you should definitely know…

• The non la is a serious fashion statement on the runways.  Designs like Ralph Lauren and Louis Vuitton have used the conical hat in their shows! 
  

  

  
  

  Many fashion designers have used the hat in Asian-inspired shows on the runway, and supermodel Kate Moss wore it in a magazine shoot!



• The fashion trend has now trickled down to mainstream stores!  American Apparel sells the hats (paddy hats, as they call it) for only $15.99.  
  

  

  
  

  Far away from Vietnam, ordinary people have taken up the trend!



• If you’re wondering how one would store such a unique shaped hat, you can purchase this beautiful case for it, which just happens to be 10 times the cost of the hat that goes in it! 
  

  

  
  

  A beautiful leather hand crafted box to store your palm leaf hat!



• Celebrities just love it!  Even Lady Gaga has invented a very unique interpretation of the conical hat.  
  
  
  

  The one and only Lady Gaga recently wore the ‘non la’ during a public appearance, but of course she put her own spin on it.

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

  xotours blog

  
  

The appeal of Conical Hat - Just wear it backwards!

Renown New York Chef made review of Vietnamese ""Foodie""

Here is an excerpt from the food diary of Mario Tolentino, a New York Chef and season winner of The Food Network’s show “Chopped”.  Mr. Tolentino, a street food fanatic, decided to take part in our “Foodie” tour on August 6th, 2011.  He was kind enough to send his review of “The Lunch Lady” and our very own “Foodie” tour to me, and to say that we are flattered and ecstatic about his remarks would be an understatment!  Thanks Mario!

Here is what he wrote:

Nighttime foodie tour

I want touch on 2 eating experiences

1- lunch lady day 2

I started my day at the War Remnants Museum, it was a big eye opener to not only see the Vietnamese view of the war but also just to learn about this epic failure of a war, the parallels of our current Afghan war are undeniable. As they both were wars against terror, meaning only terrible things happen. I left the museum shook, sad and disturbed so there was only one remedy, LUNCH LADY!!

I arrived right at 11am, when she begins serving and there were around 10 people waiting for her “secret ingredient” soup. She greeted me with a huge inviting smile I almost felt like she remembered me from the day before. I take my seat and it was like she was sending me an amuse for having to wait and the fresh shrimp spring rolls hit the table with it’s sweet spicy peanut sauce. The roll itself has vermicelli rice noodle, a herb called morning glory, garlic chives, cilantro, lettuce and steamed shrimp. The peanut sauce is not like the kind you get in the states with your satay. It is heavy with the tamarind paste and has pickled carrot & daikon, crushed peanuts and crushed chilies. Great start!! Since I arrived last of the early guests I observed what the soup contained a Thick “macaroni” like rice noodles with a pink hue in a light but flavorful pork broth, blood cake, sliced ham, steamed sausage, pink plump shrimp, quail egg and various herbs. The ecoutremants are lettuce leaf, and this very light, airy and crisp fried breadstick, intended to be used to sop up the broth, lime and fermented spicy shrimp paste.  Absolutely ethereal! The pork and shrimp combination is very common in SEA and the rich porky broth only enhances this combo. The blood cake is much more mild then I anticipated and the irony slightly bitter taste actually serves an important purpose to cut the intense flavor. I throw in the “croutons” and they soak up the liquid like a sponge while still retaining it’s texture and integrity. Slurping up the thick noodles also give the soup a fun aspect. At my feet are exotic chickens and rooster, I look up and take notice to something, what’s that I hear?!? NOTHING! Only the quiet slurping of soup and noodles. Fully satisified I pay my tab and zoom off. Already thinking about my biggest treat of my stay, a night time foodie tour.

The company is called XO tours and is rated number 1 in every genre for things to do in Sai Gon, My guide Nga, pronounced Nee-yah promptly arrives at my hotel to pick me up. It has been raining for the past 3 hours and I considered canceling but decided to man up and brave it in the rain. It was cool to be on the back of a moto and not have to worry about navigating. I jump on with a plastic poncho and off we go into the smoky soaked Saigon  streets.

Our first stop is laterally 2 blocks from my hotel!?!! I was like, what the hell!?! Great another SEA scam, they’re not going to take us anywhere good! But they served us a bowl of soup, it was good, but nothing compared to my earlier experience with the lunch lady. As I’m slurping away the other guests on the tour arrive, I can’t remember their names but it was a British couple and their two Vietnamese scooter hostesses and the owner of the company Tung. They sit down we introduce ourselves and I can’t believe my ears, Tung has an American accent! He grew up in Texas it was actually comforting as traveling alone I really haven’t met or spoken with many ppl from the states.

Side note – travelers I have met and chatted with German, British (largest group), Thai, Canadian, Dutch.

My hostess Nga, confessed that Tung was very nervous for me to go on the trip, I asked why? She said, oh he looked you up and say you very famous chef. I laughed!! I said no I’m not famous, just a chef. Actually, when I first booked my reservation Tung was adamant about clarifying that this wasn’t fancy food and we would be dining on street food. I replied to him yeah I know that’s what I’m looking for! I always forget about the auto signature at the bottom of my emails.

Ok back to the food tour, it was fun to be on the back of the moto, I was able to take videos. Our second stop is in Chinatown, it was raining so we weren’t able to get the full experience of the night market but it was cool to ride thru, Nga told me how everything is on sale at this night market and only on sale at night. It was about a 30-40min ride from stop 1-2. Tung, then told us that are next stop was going to be a popular hotpot spot that is only frequented by locals.

And all 3 of us are excited. As I’m riding along, Nga is very informative, bright, funny and witty! She tells me about all the things we are riding by. We also talked about other foods and she mentions that one of her favorite things is bulot! (Baby chicken embryo) **edit: it’s actually duck embryo**.  I asked her if I would have the opportunity to try it. I think the girl thought I was kidding but I didn’t let up and after riding for 30-40min she pulls over to a small cart on the side of the road and gets 2 chicken eggs and 2 quail eggs! We ride another 5 min or so and we arrive at the spot. We are noticeably the only westerners in the place, as the moment we duck under the tent all eyes turned too us. Especially the British couple the lady was tall, blond hair, blue eyed and stuck out like a sore thumb. But they quickly put our table together and bring us beers, set up the little habachi grill and load the table with their specialty goat. Yup goat, not lamb, not mutton, straight up goat! But before I can dive into the specialty of the house I must eat the quail egg and bulot while it’s still hot. Quail egg is no problem because it is so small, so on to the next.  Nga gives me a demo, first you take a spoon and crack the wider end of the egg and peel away just a bit of the shell and drink the liquid inside. Ok…… so I go for it and it was absolutely delicious!! It tastes like chicken consommé light in texture and heavy on chickeny flavor. Well this is a great start!! My beer arrives right on time! Moments before it is time to tackle the rest. Nga sets me up with a mixture of salt, pepper, crushed chilies and lime juice also thai basil and a commonly used  amazingly complex herb named morning glory (it has a minty, cilantro, lemony, bitter taste) I begin to peel away the hot shell and can see the chick clearly now take a spoonful of the mixture and take a bite……not bad, got a good amount of yolk, familiar taste, and a livery type tast, also familiar. But I still have a large amount to go, take a bite of basil, morning glory and a swig of beer to prepare for the next bite. There is no real way to take a bite, I douse it in salt mixture and pop the whole thing in my mouth!! WOW!! Flavor this time is more livery and the texture is of rubber!! And since I took such a large bite I had to stop take a breath, stuff basil in my mouth… man up and chew, and chew, and chew half way thru I’m like what have I gotten myself into!! I take another spoonful of salt mix and a few more herbs and finally get the rest of it down! This was the only time I can remember in my life that I ate something that gave me that level of adrenaline! I conquered it the table applauded and I’m ready for my goat! The flavor o the goat is odd not at all like lamb, but unmistakably red meat. It actually had almost a bacony type quality and of course the char was my favorite part.  Tung explained to us that this is the breast of the goat.  They also brought us shrimp in a delicious chili marinade. We set off to our next destination.

Our ride continues off into areas unknown to most foreigners. Another 30min until we reach our next destination. Tung explains that this place has his favorite dessert, we would be sampling 2 types. 1 – coconut gel served in the shell. 2- a creme caramel with ice and Vietnamese coffee. The coconut dessert had two layers, the top was white thick fatty and rich, while the bottom was very dense and jelly in texture but clear and light in flavor. I love coconut so this dessert is right up my alley. I love flan! An this creme caramel was no exception what made it unique was the crushed ice and strong coffee. I must also note the the silky, creamy texture, was perfection and a obvious expert created this dish, I loved them both but preferred the flan.

Tung informs us too save room we still have our seafood stop!! We enter the next district and it is back to the densely packed streets. We arrive at a our place and we are all excited for what is to come. Oh yeah, after hearing Nga speak so highly of her favorite dish I have requested the grilled chicken feet, common in these parts. The first dish is chili crab, small fresh water blue crab claws, wok fried with a lot of chilies and garlic!! Perfect!! Then we get a steaming pile of small razor clams in gravy with the sauted stalk of the morning glory! Unbelievable taste, as this surf clam has the intensity of the sea, mixed with the richness of the gravy, and complex herbaceous quality of the morning glory. Another home run!! Then my favorite dish of the evening, small scallops grilled in the shell, with butter scallions and crushed peanuts!! This dish had it all buttery scallop, bright oniony flavor, great texture with the peanuts, simple but so incredible!!  I turn to look at the grill an seeing the cook fanning and stoking the coals and meticulously rotating the chicken feet to grilled perfection. I’m not kidding, these feet blow chicken wings out of the water!!! I’m going to make this when I get home to eat, it’s the best part of the chicken, it’s basically grilled chicken skin, gelatinous fatty minute amounts of meat and just an intense chicken flavor. I could taste the marinade which I deduced was the same chili marinade the other place used on the shrimp so it must be standard.

This tour has been one of the highlights of my entire trip! They really bring you to tucked away hidden gems you would never know to go and definitely wouldn’t be able to reach on your own. The guides, mine in particular, are charismatic, funny, informative, personable and safe easy drivers! Tung has hit a home run!! Put it all together and it is no surprise that it has been so well received. It really doesn’t matter if your a newbie trying to push your boundaries, a hardcore foodie, or even a highly trained chef, this tour can and should be enjoyed by all!!

Mario Tolentino

Can Cook Cuisines

Renown New York Chef made review of Vietnamese ""Foodie""