Fruit, fried insects, lemongrass tea and other local delights

So I was on the airplane headed to meet my parents in Saigon when I broke off a piece of paper from the vomit bag and began jotting down thoughts and instances that have brought a smile to my face, an AHA! moment or a big question mark in my expression.

Not only have I discovered that green papaya salad is my all time favourite food these days, but that my favourite passtime is finding a fruit stall that will sell me a bag of freshly cut pineapple in the evening so I can stick it in the communal fridge at Walai House and have it nice and cold for breakfast the following day! I swear, if eating fresh pineapple every morning for breakfast is not a luxury, I don´t know what is. Fruit vendors are EVERYWHERE...even in the most remote and deserted streets and alleys where you figure these people mustn't earn much of a living... well still, their senseof commerce is pretty well developped so they must have their niche in the neighbourhood and I seem to have become one of the regulars at this one place behind the YMCA and Buddy Internet near Walai. Ever since I tried Guava here (which incidentally tastes a bit of nutmeg or clove or something like that YUMMY!) that has become my afternoon snack.... but get this, you get a back with sugar and chilli to dip the fruit in. It's actually REALLY GOOD! My chilli tolerance is definitely increasing. I've also tried other very tasty local delicacies such as Maracuya (or Liliquoy - spelling? - as they call it in Hawaii), a fruit that on the outside looks like a massive dinosaur egg, only pink and with fish scale looking things.....but then you open it and it's like a white pear with black sesame seeds (this is all imaginative description)....I don't know what it's called. Sapodilla is REALLY good and the lychees and other fruits in the same family like longan and such are also really good. So my breakfasts are becoming very exotic to say the least!

On occasion, in the evenings, I come across what look like mobile hot dog vendor or night-time ice cream cart...only what's for sale is quite a wonderful (and I mean that literally) array of fried insects! I admit curiosity got the best of me a couple of weeks ago so I requested a sample for tasting (I'm not ready yet to spend Baht on full bags of the stuff). So I tried the really small ones that look like a centipede kind of thing only smaller (they looked pretty safe) and actually, didn't taste of much. A bit grainy and mushy. Then the other night, I ventured for what looked like a thinner and crunchier version and actually, they'd fried it in honey so it tasted a bit like crunchy crisps. I enjoyed it. However, I don't think I'll be trying the beetles or the huge insects where the naked eye can actually see the wings as well as other fine details of the face way too clearly. I still have some money in the bank and it doesn't look like I'll be going hungry anytime soon so for the time being, my taste adventures will only go thus far with fried insects.

I've also discovered that lemongrass needs to be boiled to infuse a nice drink. Then mixing it with a little bit of honey and cooling it in the freezer is my favourite style! We were offered one such glass at the nearby celadon factory while we looked at the arts and crafts on display. I do not think I have ever met people as friendly, cordial and genuinely nice as the Thais. I also recently realised that the reason ginger tea here is so strong and slightly spicy "hot" is because contrary to our tea bag culture, here it is made by literally peeling the entire root and boiling it in water! I was served the mug with the whole root in it the other day! THAT was an "aha!" moment. My latest discovery in Vietnam is cold lotus tea....gotta add that one to my list of faves. The ginger, I've decided to have as a dry snack in the afternoons. They sell it in the markets here thinly sliced and coated in sugar. It's yummy, still strong, and very good for my tummy.

I could go on forever..... my little airplane stream of thought exercise delivered front and bag jots on the piece of paper bag but I think I'll write about them slowly but surely on the next blog. In the meantime, I am preparing my next entry about our trip so far in Vietnam, my skinny dipping last night in the resort swimming pool and the visit to the floating market this morning, but more on the next one cause it's late and I gotta wake up at 5 AM tomorrow to catch a flight up to Hanoi. In the meantime and to whet your apppetite, there's some pics of Vietnam hot off the camera today in my shutterfly page.