Pork Chop Noodle. Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.

My first taste of Vietnam was realized at a small noodle house in the busy district 1in Ho Chi Minh. After a long day of travel, tracking down a big bowl of pho was high on my list of priorities. We noticed a small noodle house frequented exclusively by locals and decided to give it a try. I asked the server for pho ga (chicken noodle soup) and he replied with a laugh and vigorous shake of his head. Okay... perhaps pho bo (beef noodle soup)? A louder laugh and more shaking of his head. It was then that I realized the restaurant's title is 'Pork Chop Noodle'. Oops. So basically everything has pork. I knew my vegetarian habits would be difficult in Vietnam but I was not prepared to eat pork, which has been absent from diet since the age of 11. The only item on the menu that worked for me was shrimp noodle soup so I put in my order for that. I was equally cofused by the drink list and when centella juice was suggested I agreed. I was delighted by the centella juice, which is similar to wheat grass served chilled and lightly sweetened. I was less delighted that the shrimp noodle soup was garnished with pork balls. I also suspect the broth was pork based but chose not to acknowledge that fact. On a side note, if you are reading this Lukas, don't think that I will come home as an avid consumer of pork. Bacon is still on my black list!

I suppose I should back track since I have completely glossed over my time in Koh Phangan in Thailand. I realize there has been a singnificant absence since my last blog. I was far busy being a beach bum to sit down and write. I also did not have access to wi-fi in order to edit and post photos. I will tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed the quiet beach bungalow where we stayed at Ocean Emerald. I also enjoyed the amazing food at Liberty Bungalows, which was right next door. The beaches are beautiful and we met many friendly people, both local and foreign.

I did check out the infamous half moon party, but was completely overwhelmed by the drunken and drugged foreigners. One man sporting a bloody nose and deep gash across his forhead approached and offered my friend Floyd some BBQ chicken on a stick. After declining the man told us 'not to fuck with him'. We took the chicken and he smiled while calling us 'cunts' as he stumbled back into the mass of people dancing. We offered the chicken to a stray dog and left the party shortly after. I am not sorry to be missing the even bigger full moon party taking place on New Years.

After not using my Acer netbook for nearly a week I was surprised and dissapointed to find that it had crashed somehow. It is a brand new machine and has been handled with care. So until I can get it fixed or replaced I am unable to post any pics. On the plus side I do have almost all of my files backed up elsewhere.

Oh gotta go. Cafe is kicking me out for closing time. To be continued...