Tuesday, 6 Dec 06: Day 3
After breakfast, we waited in the hotel foyer for the people from Sinhcafe to pick us up. They eventually turned up at 8.15 a.m. We picked up one Japanese lady from a posh hotel along the riverside and four Cantonese-speaking Malaysian Chinese men from Liberty 2, before joining the rest of the group at Sinhcafe. In that time, the men had already managed to annoy us with their inane and crass remarks. However, as the last ones to arrive, we didn't have a choice of seats and had to resign ourselves to being seated in front of them. Fortunately, they took turns to nap and hence kept the comments to a minimum.
It took us two hours to drive to My Tho, capital of Ben Treh province, where we were transferred to a tourist boat for a "cruise" on the Mekong river.
the boat we were about to board
our tour guide
Our first stop was a rice paper factory where we saw rice paper being made.
milling rice
rice water onto hot griddle
rolling it out
voila, rice paper
making rice paper crispies (with sesame seeds!)
We would also be served lunch, as part of the tour package. While we waited, we were shown around the obligatory tourist trap.
just what every household needs
for those in need of a little pick-me-up
Lunch was a homecooked meal which was not surprising considering how much or rather how little we'd paid for the tour.
stirfried pork and spring rolls
just like mum's cooking
There were however Ben Treh province specialities being offered, for a small payment.
deep fried elephant fish (US$6/SGD $10.20) and a giant rice crispie made from sticky rice (US$2/SGD $3.40)
We opted for some dessert instead - chinese-style doughnuts (think hum chin pengs) filled with salty/sweet mung bean paste, one with caramel glace, the other dusted with sugar. These were incredibly yummy, and at 2000 dong (SGD $0.20) each, we could afford several but were constrained by our full stomachs.
Before we left, some people took a nap at the siesta facility provided:
sleeping it off
From there we boarded the boat and proceeded to a bee farm. On the way there, we had to transfer to much smaller boats so that we could go upstream.
through the mangrove
This was one of the highlights of the tour, as touted by the tour operators. It wasn't a big deal for us, having lived in the tropics all our lives, but the other tourists, from South Korea, Japan, Europe and Australia, were clearly thrilled.
aieee, bees...
Other than viewing the honeycombs, we were treated to some light refreshments and local entertainment.
honey on the left and moonshine on the right
We were too chicken and opted for the honey with lime and green tea instead.
watermelon, chiku, dragonfruit, pineapple, papaya
The fruit was lovely, sweet and flavourful.
we had company
And then the party began...
entertainment Ben Treh style
Before we left, I couldn't resist taking this picture:
haha wishful thinking
The tour guide had another surprise for us. The boats taking us out to the pier would be hand-rowed, so that we could appreciate the sounds of nature.
setting off for home
our boat
We were the last to leave. We were barely five minutes into the ride when we felt rain drops. The next thing we knew, the heavens opened. We whipped out our umbrellas (which we had with us, being kiasu Singaporeans) but to no avail. By the time we climbed over to our original tour boat, we were completely soaked, the only boatload to be caught in the rain.
The tour guide then put it to the vote: should we head back to My Tho or continue with the tour, since the last stop, a coconut candy factory, would require braving the rain. The group opted to continue, but those of us who preferred not to get wet (or wetter) could choose to stay on the boat.
With all the blinds down, it was hot and somewhat stuffy. I decided to stand at the back where the open doorway let in the cool air. This Australian man stood in awe at the sight of the torrential rain. "We get storms back home, but this much rain?!" he said.
We lent our raingear to the eager beavers who were determined to see the coconut candy factory, mostly the Koreans and Japanese. I suppose it was more pressing for them, having flown some seven hours from home whereas for us, HCM City was less than two hours away. We could always come back if we needed to.
In any case, getting off the boat and back onto our tour bus got everyone wet. The two hour long bus ride back to HCM City was fortunately not as uncomfortable as we had thought it would be, given that we were still in our wet clothes. Still, we were happy to be dropped off at the Grand Hotel, where warm baths and dry clothes waited for us.
Back in our room, we discovered a little surprise:
with compliments from the hotel
The hotel staff must have noticed our purchases from the market and our fondness for local fruit.
At first we thought that mango-lookalike fruit was indeed that - mango - but it turned out to be a milk fruit, a first for us in Vietnam. (I could hear my Aunt Iris' voice going "Must try the milk fruit and the butter fruit and the ...") It tasted like milky breadfruit, not at all unpleasant, although the sappy taste could be an acquired taste for some.
Tired out from the day's outing, we decided to venture no further than our doorstep. Restaurant 19, sister restaurant to Restaurant 21, was located directly opposite the hotel, along the side street, and just below our balcony. Both restaurants were really airconditioned zhi cha stalls. We had:
stirfried bean sprouts with tauhu
lemongrass pork
coconut ice cream
The soup was representative of the worst in Chinese-style cooking. It was pseudo-sharksfin soup, all starchy. But the fish was super fresh, albeit a little overcooked because the dish came over a flame. All in all, it was good cooking zhi cha style.
We took a short walk, to walk off the meal, but ended up with two spectacular pastries from Broadard's.
pineapple roll and chocolate choux
It took us two hours to drive to My Tho, capital of Ben Treh province, where we were transferred to a tourist boat for a "cruise" on the Mekong river.
the boat we were about to board
our tour guide
Our first stop was a rice paper factory where we saw rice paper being made.
milling rice
rice water onto hot griddle
rolling it out
voila, rice paper
making rice paper crispies (with sesame seeds!)
We would also be served lunch, as part of the tour package. While we waited, we were shown around the obligatory tourist trap.
just what every household needs
for those in need of a little pick-me-up
Lunch was a homecooked meal which was not surprising considering how much or rather how little we'd paid for the tour.
stirfried pork and spring rolls
just like mum's cooking
There were however Ben Treh province specialities being offered, for a small payment.
deep fried elephant fish (US$6/SGD $10.20) and a giant rice crispie made from sticky rice (US$2/SGD $3.40)
We opted for some dessert instead - chinese-style doughnuts (think hum chin pengs) filled with salty/sweet mung bean paste, one with caramel glace, the other dusted with sugar. These were incredibly yummy, and at 2000 dong (SGD $0.20) each, we could afford several but were constrained by our full stomachs.
Before we left, some people took a nap at the siesta facility provided:
sleeping it off
From there we boarded the boat and proceeded to a bee farm. On the way there, we had to transfer to much smaller boats so that we could go upstream.
through the mangrove
This was one of the highlights of the tour, as touted by the tour operators. It wasn't a big deal for us, having lived in the tropics all our lives, but the other tourists, from South Korea, Japan, Europe and Australia, were clearly thrilled.
aieee, bees...
Other than viewing the honeycombs, we were treated to some light refreshments and local entertainment.
honey on the left and moonshine on the right
We were too chicken and opted for the honey with lime and green tea instead.
watermelon, chiku, dragonfruit, pineapple, papaya
The fruit was lovely, sweet and flavourful.
we had company
And then the party began...
entertainment Ben Treh style
Before we left, I couldn't resist taking this picture:
haha wishful thinking
The tour guide had another surprise for us. The boats taking us out to the pier would be hand-rowed, so that we could appreciate the sounds of nature.
setting off for home
our boat
We were the last to leave. We were barely five minutes into the ride when we felt rain drops. The next thing we knew, the heavens opened. We whipped out our umbrellas (which we had with us, being kiasu Singaporeans) but to no avail. By the time we climbed over to our original tour boat, we were completely soaked, the only boatload to be caught in the rain.
The tour guide then put it to the vote: should we head back to My Tho or continue with the tour, since the last stop, a coconut candy factory, would require braving the rain. The group opted to continue, but those of us who preferred not to get wet (or wetter) could choose to stay on the boat.
With all the blinds down, it was hot and somewhat stuffy. I decided to stand at the back where the open doorway let in the cool air. This Australian man stood in awe at the sight of the torrential rain. "We get storms back home, but this much rain?!" he said.
We lent our raingear to the eager beavers who were determined to see the coconut candy factory, mostly the Koreans and Japanese. I suppose it was more pressing for them, having flown some seven hours from home whereas for us, HCM City was less than two hours away. We could always come back if we needed to.
In any case, getting off the boat and back onto our tour bus got everyone wet. The two hour long bus ride back to HCM City was fortunately not as uncomfortable as we had thought it would be, given that we were still in our wet clothes. Still, we were happy to be dropped off at the Grand Hotel, where warm baths and dry clothes waited for us.
Back in our room, we discovered a little surprise:
with compliments from the hotel
The hotel staff must have noticed our purchases from the market and our fondness for local fruit.
At first we thought that mango-lookalike fruit was indeed that - mango - but it turned out to be a milk fruit, a first for us in Vietnam. (I could hear my Aunt Iris' voice going "Must try the milk fruit and the butter fruit and the ...") It tasted like milky breadfruit, not at all unpleasant, although the sappy taste could be an acquired taste for some.
Tired out from the day's outing, we decided to venture no further than our doorstep. Restaurant 19, sister restaurant to Restaurant 21, was located directly opposite the hotel, along the side street, and just below our balcony. Both restaurants were really airconditioned zhi cha stalls. We had:
- Mushroom crab shrimp soup(12000 dong)
- Steamed red snapper with ginger (90000 dong)
- Lemongrass pork (35000 dong)
- Stirfried bean sprouts with tauhu (18000 dong)
- Coconut ice cream (18000 dong)
Total: 211000 dong (SGD $22.60) inclusive of drinks
steamed red snapper with ginger
stirfried bean sprouts with tauhu
lemongrass pork
coconut ice cream
The soup was representative of the worst in Chinese-style cooking. It was pseudo-sharksfin soup, all starchy. But the fish was super fresh, albeit a little overcooked because the dish came over a flame. All in all, it was good cooking zhi cha style.
We took a short walk, to walk off the meal, but ended up with two spectacular pastries from Broadard's.
pineapple roll and chocolate choux
posted by blobbes at 11:50 AM
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