Now, I know there is this type of lifestyle, where you don't eat and just feed on air and water. I also went through an era like that and realized that it's simply not the way to go. You need to eat well to live well. Eat whatever you want, but always find a balance.
Not only because of my illness have I found balance, but I have also learned a new way of eating whilst in Viet Nam. The amount of food is incredible, but it's the type of food. Fruit, vegetable, beef, chicken, noodles and of course, the magic food and word of Asians - rice. British reporter, Richard West, was stationed in Indo-China during the Viet Nam war. In his book Victory in Vietnam, he wrote: "Rice is not only their staple diet but almost part of their civilization, a food with ritual and magical importance."
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Takze ja vim, ze jeden styl zivota kde nejis a jenom dychas a pijes vodu. Taky jsem si to vyzkousela a zjistila jsem, ze to neni nic pro me. Musis jist dobre, aby si zil dobre. Jez co chces, ale vzdycky si najdi rovnovahu.
Nejen kvuli me nemoci jsem nasla rovnovahu, ale naucila jsem se jist jinym zpusobem ve Vietnamu. Mnozstvi jidla je neuveritelny, ale je to druh jidel. Ovoce, zelenina, hovezi, kureci, nudle a samozrejme magice jidlo a slovo Asiatu - ryze. Britsky zurnalista, Richard West, byl umisten v Indo-Cine behem Vietnamske valky. V jeho knizce Vitezstvi ve Vietnamu on nejen popisoval situaci, ale taky napsal o ryzi: "Ryze je nejen jejich hlavni jidlo, ale je to soucasti jejich civilizace, jidlo s ceremonialni a magickou dulezitosti"
Here we had from what would a "normal" restaurant in European terms. We had our guide order foods from the menu, since it wasn't in English. After a couple of times visiting this place, we figured out what some of the words meant. (bo = beef; ga= chicken; thit lon = pork; mi = noodles)
This place is located near the enclosed market in Da Nang. We came here almost everyday we were in Da Nang for their delicious pho bo (beef noodle soup), Tiger beer. In the evenings they would have chicken with spicy rice. Everything was awesome!
Spicy chilis ~ Palive cili papricky
The spicy rice which was to later come with chicken ~ Paliva ryze, ktera byla servirovana s kurecim masem.
Fruit was in abundance! Women and men alike would push their carts filled with freshly cut pineapple, jackfruit, papaya, bananas (large and small). It was like a fruit drive-thru.
Bylo obrovske mnozstvi ovoce! Zeny a muzi tlacili sve karka plno cerstve nakrajenych ananasu, chlebovniku (lat.:
Artocarpus heterophyllus), papaya, banany (velke i male). Bylo to jak ovocny McDrive.
One thing which is impossible in Vietnam, is ice cold beer. The vietnamese drink warm beer poured over a block of ice.
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Jedna vec, ktera je nemozna ve Vietnamu, je vychlazeny pivo. Vetnamci pijou pivo tak, ze ji prelevaji pres kus ledu.
We once ate seafood at a restaurant which was situated right on the beach in Da Nang. It was also an important spot because the restaurant was situated exactly on the border between North and South Vietnam. During the Vietnam war (1955-1975), the Americans had their largest air force base in Indochina, including the final U.S. ground combat operations in Vietnam in 1975.
Jednou jsme jedli v restauraci, ktera byla hned na plazi v Da Nangu. Bylo to take vyznamne misto, protoze restaurace byla situovana na presne rozdelovaci care mezi Severnim a Jiznim Vietnamem. Behem Vietnamske valky (1955-1975) Americane tu meli svoji nejvetsi zakladnu v Indocine a byla tu posledni prizemsky Americky boj v 1975.
Czech sausages in Vietnam? Weird. ~ Ceske klobasy ve Vietnamu? Divne.
What the lady on the right is selling is a type of glutinous (sticky) rice wrapped in banana (?) leaves.
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To co pani vpravo prodava je typ lepkave ryze, zabalena v bananovem (?) liste.
Here was where I ate in Hoi An. Literally a food on the go. A bus leaving from the hotel in Da Nang, would take us to Hoi An in the morning. I decided I would not eat at the hotel, but rather try something new instead. As hungry as I was, I decided to refuse the first nice restaurant I saw and instead pursued my search for the perfect location. I finally found this lady, sitting on a corner, selling a lovely large bowl of rice/egg noodles on lemon grass leaves, topped with a sauce of shrimp, quail egg and some meat. I have no idea what it was, but after adding all the wonderful spicy chili, I started to dig in. I did not care for the lemon grass, which I didn't eat, but couldn't help myself but devour the whole bowl.
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Tady jsem jedla v Hoi Anu. Vylozene jidlo sebou. Autobus, ktery odjizdel z naseho hotelu v Da nnagu, nas vzalo rano do Hoi Anu. Rozhodla jsem se, ze nebudu jist v hotelu, ale radsi si zkusim neco noveho. I prestoze jsem mela obrovsky hlad, tak jsem oddolala hezkym a cistym restauracim, abych nasla dokonaly misto k sezeni. Konecne jsem nasla tuto pani, ktera sedela na rohu a prodavala velkou misku ryzovych/vajecnych nudli na citronele, politou omackou krevet, krepelcich vajec a nejake maso. Vubec nevim co to bylo, ale po tom co jsem si nandala vsechny ty uzasne palive cili papricky, tak jsem se do toho pustila. Moc me nesla citronela, ale ostatni jsem zhltnout celou misku.
After I had my delicious meal by the lady on the corner, I decided I wanted to try something sweet. I already saw this lady walking the streets of Hoi An and slowly crossing the bridge to the other side of the bank. I saw a group of young Vietnamese already sitting on her little stools, enjoying what I thought was going to be some rice pudding. Which it was but it was warm and put over ice, topped with grass jelly and sugar cane syrup. Although she gave me a 5,000 dong discount (it came out to be 10,000 dongs = 50 cents), I could not finish it. It was just too different for me..
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Jakmile jsem dojedla svoji vybornou misku plno nudli, chtela jsem zkusit neco sladkeho. Videla jsem pani, ktera se prochazela ulicema Hoi An a pomalu prechazela most na druhou stranu brehy. Videla jsem skupinu mladych vietnamcu, ktere uz sedeli na jeji male podnozky a pochutnavali si na co ja si myslela, ze je ryzovy puding. Coz bylo, ale bylo to teplu a davala to na medu, s travni zelatinou a syrup z cukrove trtiny. I kdyz mi dala 5,000 dong slevu (5 kc, tudiz to stalo 10, 000 dongu = 10 kc) nemohla jsem to dojist. Bylo to prilis jiny pro me..
I usually like to get these airy rice dumplings somewhere in the streets of Chinatown in San Francisco. But I have never bought one which would have some filling in it. I was taken back by surprise when I bit into the area, which (I think) had mushrooms and some other vegetable with an egg. I couldn't figure out if I liked it or thought it was gross. So I guess it was ok. It cost about 15 cents, which made it fun anyway.
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Vetsinou rada kupuju tyto vzdusne ryzove knedliky v Chinatown v San Francisku. Ale nikdy jsem nekupovala jednu s naplni. Takze mi bylo velke prekvapeni, kdyz jsem se do ni kousla a nasla jsem (co ja si myslim) houby a jine zeleniny s vajickem. Porad nevim jestli mi to chutnalo nebo jestli to bylo moc. Takze to bylo asi ok. Stalo to v prepoctu na nase 5 kc, coz uz bylo zabava si to koupit.
This was probably my favorite drink. It is (again) a mobile cart, which has a machine with two cylinders, through which they put the stalks of sugar cane in and out comes the juice. They then pour it over ice and voila! I thought it was an excellent and refreshing drink and when possible, I would put some fresh lime juice to give it a zest.
I also had this drink in Cambodia. I think the ice isn't so clean there and it came with a surprise later after. If you know what I mean...
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Tohle bylo asi moje oblibene piti. Je to (znovu) prodany z mobilni karky, ktera ma stroj s dvouma cylindrama, skrz kterych davaji stonky cukrove trtiny a vychazi ven stava. Potom prelejou stavu pres led a voila! Myslela jsem si, ze je to vyborna a svezujici napoj a kdyz mozno, tak jsem si pridala stavu z cerstvych limetek pro extra riz.
Taky jsem mela toto piti v Kambodzi. Myslim si, ze led tam neni tak ciste a prislo i s opozdenym prekvapenim. Pokud vite co myslim...
Vietnamese coffee is strong and excellent. They drink it with sweetened, condensed milk, usually over ice and is called ca phe sua da (ka fey sooh da).
Vietnamske kafe je silny a vyborny. Pijou ji se sladkym, kondenzovanym mlekem, vetsinou prelity pres led. Jmenuje se ve vietnamstine ca phe sua da (ka fey sooh da).
