Tsukiji Fish Market and Tokyo Sights

Hey All! I recently got back from an awesome few days in Tokyo. This was my first time in Japan and I fully enjoyed it. I can't wait to go back! Of course one of the main highlights was the amazing food I ate there, especially the sushi. But posts on that will be coming later. I first wanted to share with you all some general things we did in Tokyo and highlight the Tsukiji fish market. This is the largest fish market in the world with an infamous tuna auction that commences before sunrise. The local chefs all get first picks at the best tuna selection of the day. Unfortunately we didn't make it to the tuna auction because they limit the number of spectators and you have to line up starting at 3 AM. Instead, we went to visit the market around 7 AM and still got to see a lot of fresh seafood being sold. The stalls are interspersed with restaurants, some more famous than others. Some of these spots even have lines around the corner this early in the morning. We settled on one called Ohedo, without too long of a wait and each ordered a kaisendon bowl. It is not your typical Western breakfast but it includes your choice of seafood (we ordered two different kinds of tuna, and uni/sea urchin) on top of rice, served with miso soup, green tea and pickled radish. The quality of the tuna in Japan is so unbelievable that I was happily eating it for breakfast!

Overall, I highly recommend visiting Tokyo. We strolled through the gardens of the Imperial Palace, ate some local Japanese oysters, visited the Sensoji Temple, enjoyed some amazing sake, and ate way too much. We dined at three amazing restaurants, all of which we had to make reservations through our hotel concierge. They only accept local reservations, for whatever reason, which can make things a bit difficult. It was fun to see the expressions on people's faces when two young white girls walked into very local restaurants! Keep an eye out for these posts in the coming days. Enjoy!

Our first meal in Tokyo - Shabu Shabu

Sensoji Temple

A lot of people inside the temple

Kaisendon breakfast bowl with uni, tuna, miso soup and green tea

Variety of fresh seafood

Octopus in Bundles

Fresh Tuna

Knives being sold at the Fish market

Gardens of the Imperial Palace, still dry from the winter temperatures

Fresh Japanese Oysters

Beautiful Sake Crystalware

Vietnam - Here & There

To finish off my Vietnam posts, I thought I would share some pictures just on life in Vietnam and some of the sights. Enjoy the pictures and as always, if you have any questions let me know!

View from The Grand Hotel Rooftop Bar

Our group in the main city square

Seafood being sold on the streets

Statue of Ho Chi Minh

Life in Saigon

In front of the Reunification/Independence Palace

We took a weekend trip to the beach town of Mui Ne, about a four hour car ride from Ho Chi Minh City. This might have been one of the highlights of our entire time in Vietnam. We stayed at a beautiful resort, called Anantara. We visited the local fishing village, and ate a fresh seafood dinner as we watched the sun set over the water with all the fishing boats. Mui Ne is surrounded by several sand dunes, which we also visited. It was cool to see the different color sand (we visited both white and red) and take some fun pictures. I felt like I was in a desert in the Middle East for those few hours.

Enjoying the fresh seafood at the fishing village and watching the sunset

Fresh seafood at Mui Ne

Our beautiful resort - Anantara

At the White Sand Dunes in Mui Ne

The last thing I did in Vietnam was take a cruise of Ha Long Bay (about four hours away from Hanoi, in the northern part of the country). I did the cruise with a company called Indochina Junk, which I can't recommend enough. They provided us with endless fresh food, took us kayaking every day and took us on a tour of a local floating village. Here are some of the photos from the two night cruise. Supposedly, the Vietnamese government is putting a stop to overnight cruises on the bay in the next few years so if you are interested in exploring this UNESCO World Heritage site, it is worth doing sooner rather than later.

Ben Thanh Market and more food

I first wanted to take a moment to talk about the Ben Thanh Market in Saigon. It is incredibly popular for purchasing a variety of consumer goods. You have to show up with your best bartering skills. They sell everything you can think of, including scarves, knock-off Nike sneakers, houseware and food. It is a great place for gifts for both yourself and your loved ones back at home. It can be overwhelming since the place has hundreds of different stalls in rows, and the sales people can get aggressive. You should start bartering at less than half of what they offer you. I ended up buying sneakers, scarves and even some Vietnamese coffee to take home. 

Speaking of Vietnamese coffee...it is a must try. The beans are much different than ones we are used to. They are stronger, darker, almost bitter because of the way they are roasted. It is almost always served iced, with sweetened condensed milk. And it is amazing. It definitely gives you a different type of caffeine high but the taste is what made me want to buy it and bring it back to the US. Hopefully I can make it using the same technique you do and remember all the days we sat on a sidewalk café here on the streets and enjoyed cà phê đá! 

I also highly recommend going to Ben Thanh Street Food Market for dinner. It is about a block and a half from the main market and has little stalls with a million and one delicious food options. It is like upscale street food and is a good and inexpensive way to try a variety of Asian food.

I wanted to point out some of the other wonderful Vietnamese dishes I had while living here. Here I am focusing on their noodle soups which they are definitely known for.

Bun Cha Ha Noi

Grilled pork with rice noodles and vegetables. Absolutely amazing broth

One of many Pho Bo bowls I ate (Beef Rice Noodle Soup)

This one is from a chain called Pho 24. Really great with fresh herbs on the side

Next, one of my favorite new dishes, Bahn Xeo - these are known as savory Vietnamese crepes and I absolutely loved them. The outer part is made with rice flour, eggs and turmeric, so it tastes somewhat like a crispy omelette. It is traditionally stuffed with shrimp, pork, and a healthy serving of bean sprouts. But I saw variations on these with choices of other seafood and vegetables. It is eaten by cutting up the crepe into strips, wrapping it in lettuce leaves, and dipping it into an accompanying sweet sauce. By the end of my time in Vietnam I was having one several times a week. It is healthy, naturally gluten free, and incredibly tasty.

With the accompanying lettuce, herbs and sauce.

Banh Xeo 46A - recommended by Anthony Bourdain

Cambodia

Hey again! I just got back from a weekend trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia, home of the Angkor Temples. I think this should be on everyone's bucket list because it was one of my favorite trips to date. The people, the architecture, the history, and the food were all superb. There are hundreds of temples to see in the massive complex, but we decided to visit the three main ones - Angkor Wat, Bayon/Angkor Thom (with all the faces) and Ta Prom (where Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie was filmed). I wanted to share with you all some tips and tricks we gathered along the way and through our research. The "thing to do" there is watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat. Although there has been a lot of buzz recently on how crowded it can get, we did decide to watch the sunrise and we were not disappointed. Here are my recommendations:

- Get your ticket the night before, between 5 and 5:30 PM to avoid the lines in the morning
- Reserve a tuk tuk (main mode of transportation there) through your hotel, and have them pick you up by 4:45 AM, the gates to the temple open at 5
- The hotels can prepare you breakfast in a box, or you can come back to the hotel after sunrise for breakfast
- Wear pants (longer shorts are also acceptable) and a shirt that covers your shoulders
- Wear closed-toed shoes and bring a flashlight or use your phone light since the ground is uneven and it is dark
- Best place to stand is on the left side of the temple, slightly off center
- If you make it there by 5:15, you should be able to get a spot in the first or second row
- Bring a professional camera if you have one, you won't be disappointed
- Visit a travel clinic before you go and bring anti-malaria pills, as well as lots of good bug spray

Note: we went on a Saturday, which was relatively speaking, not that busy for the sunrise. But the third floor of the Angkor Wat temple is closed on this day so we unfortunately missed out on that. Besides that, just walk around and explore. It is really amazing that humans were able to build these massive temples without all the technology we have today.

Panorama of the sunrise, absolutely stunning

Seeing all the colors change with time

The sun finally up

Entrance to Ta Prom 

I didn't know much about Cambodian food before this trip but I absolutely loved it. The flavors were similar to Thai food and every bite was extremely tasty. I couldn't get enough. Here are some of their local dishes I tried. I also recommend going down to "Pub Street" (definitely Western influenced) for dinner, drinks, and walking the streets. There are small markets, crazy loud music, little food stalls, and mopeds with mobile bars lining the streets. We definitely enjoyed our weekend in Cambodia and I hope you all get to visit soon!

Fish Curry with eggplant

Pleah Sach Koo (raw beef salad) - probably my favorite thing I ate in Cambodia! It is Carpaccio-like beef flavored with a fish extract called Tuk Prahoc and peanuts. It is served with bean sprouts, basil, peppers, lemongrass and a chili-lime dressing.

Fish Amok Trey- one of Cambodia's national dishes. It is steamed fish with shallots, lemongrass, garlic, keffir lime, coconut milk, eggs, peanuts, served in a banana leaf. Very tasty.

Chicken with Cashews, A+ for presentation, with brown rice in the wooden container

Nha Hang Ngon and Crab Eating

Before a day of sight seeing in Saigon, our group had lunch at a restaurant called Nha Hang Ngon, walking distance from the Reunification Palace. The restaurant is all outdoors, set up in a garden. The entire circumference of the restaurant is small food stations, each specializing in their specific foods. The menu is extremely extensive and separated into sections by Asian country. Vietnamese food was the most extensive, but Korean, Japanese, Chinese, etc. were all featured. It was a fun way for us to try different foods and see them being prepared in the different sections. Something I have noticed about Vietnamese restaurants is the food comes out right as it is made. Which usually means that everybody is getting their food at varying times throughout the meal. This is nice in some ways since you can be assured the food is fresh and warm, and not sitting under a heat lamp. But it does feel weird to start eating when not all members of the group have gotten their food. It wasn't uncommon for someone to finish their entire dish before the rest of the group had received their food. 

Japanese/Sushi Station

Rau Xao Hai San (Stir Fried Vegetables and Seafood)

A dish from a non-Vietnamese section

Pho (Beef Rice Noodle Soup)

Bun Moc (Vermicelli in Soup with Sautéed Pork Balls and Pork Sausage)

Pretty Garden Sitting Area

2nd floor Garden overlook

Traditional Vietnamese Dishes from this particular kitchen

Crab is quite popular here in Vietnam, called Cua in Vietnamese. One evening, we decided it was time to try some local crab at a restaurant a few blocks from our apartment, called Cua 1 Cuang. It is an open air restaurant with seating that extends into the sidewalk, which is not uncommon here. This place in particular caught my eye since on the sidewalk sits shelves of live local crab and other seafood. When ordering crab, you can choose how you want it prepared, then go up to the crab "shelf" and choose which ones you want cooked, and they were still alive and moving. You can rest assured that is as fresh as seafood comes! We got our crab grilled. It was a little bit of work to pick apart the shell to get to all the meat but it was definitely worth it.

Grilled, with a side of chili-salt

Raw Crabs we got to pick from

A side of fried spring rolls - traditional Vietnamese style