All of a sudden my dance card is filling up! Yay!
After a while we had the bánh cuốn, which had been made by Hoa's father and which were delicious. We had a general discussion about whether or not Vietnamese men commonly cooked and Hoa said we could see her father cooking ... we went through to the cooking kitchen at the back of the house. Hoa's mother and father were making the rice flour pancakes, which are called bánh cuon (I think) ... the pronunciation is different. I mean, they have a commercial enterprise in their kitchen and they make 30 kg of bánh cuon every day to sell at the Cho Thủ Đức. They worked remarkably well together and made dozens of the pancakes while we were in the kitchen chatting to them. Miss Hoa said she didn't know how to make them. She makes a great latte, though!
After a little walk around the neighbourhood (where there were two Catholic churches (the entrance to one is pictured above) and two Buddhist temples within two blocks) Thuy and I said our thank yous and departed. What a lovely afternoon. Thuy and I looked at some of the Christmas displays in D1 on our way home. So many children dressed in their finery getting their pics taken at the various displays. She insisted on driving me home, although I know how to do it. Very protective!
Today I went with Miss Thanh, from my office to see some sights in District 5 and 6. I am so fortunate to have these opportunities. I didn't get to see any baby Santas, but I did see a lot of Santa merchandise. 
We saw a few pagodas, including an absolutely stunning one called Chua Hue Nghiem, which was so different in appearance and style from pagodas I have visited while here. Thanh said it was a Vietnamese-style pagoda, as opposed to a Chinese-style one. Toi khong biet ... I dunno. It is quite serene and very little decoration is evident. The statues in the main pagoda are all made of wood and there is quite a bit of land around it. In fact there seems to be a building boom, with a new stupa and several other buildings under construction. It was really interesting because we saw a lot of lay women who were dressed all in grey come for a ceremony. There was a lot of chanting and then walking in the main chapel as well. I saw many young laywomen; Thanh says they come to the pagoda very regularly and then they also have several days a month when they are more active. 
At another pagoda, one where businessmen often go, we saw a man unpack several boxes of statues of Quan Am and several other Buddhist saints/luminaries/bigwigs. I thought someone was making a donation, but Thanh told me that people bring their statues to have their eyes opened. We stayed a while and when the owner of the statues had said his prayers, a man (He wasn't wearing robes, but he might have been a monk.) said some prayers and chanted and blessed the statues. It looked like he was painting the figurines, but I think it was with water. Thanh said he was praying for them to have open eyes, open ears, an open heart, open hands, and so on. Thanh got into a conversation with the gentleman who was the owner of the figurines, and he is a very prominent businessman. He said he always brings his statues to open their eyes or to pray for success when he starts a new project or opens a new store or company.
We ended our journey with lunch at Hung Vuong Plaza. Omigoodness, it is getting very crowded. Thanh was great company and I appreciated her company, her translating, explaining, and her very comfortable motorbike. She is a very good driver! You can see more pics on flickr in a day or two if you like.
It seems so strange to teach up to and including the 24th ... so I am really not in a Christmas frame of mind at all. However, all the best to you who are in chillier climes and who are looking forward to a Christmas celebration and/or break. Best wishes for a truly meaningful Christmas filled with many blessings ... gastronomical, material, physical, emotional, and spiritual!
First of all, (well, not first of all, since it will be in the future, but first in my list of social engagements) I am having Christmas lunch with some of the ladies from RMIT at the Caravelle Hotel in D1. It is a lovely 5-star hotel right across from the Opera House. It is a bit pricey, but it is all you can consume of whatever you'd like, and so we are hoping to have a very nice time. Three or four of my colleagues are moving in to the hotel for the Christmas weekend, but I will just join them for lunch. Maybe take my suit and join them in lounging by the pool in the afternoon. I may go to Thuy's parents garden for the weekend. Thuy has two unexpected months off and is raring to travel ... too bad our schedules don't coincide. But I would love to see her hometown, so I hope it works out. I may go to Dalat for New Year's ... not sure about accommodation yet, though. Apparently there is a massive flower festival beginning New Year's Day and so I am not sure if there is room at the inn. I took these pics today.
Saturday after my Vietnamese lesson, I went to the home of Miss Hoa. She is one of the young servers who works at Bobby Brewer's, the Starbuck's sort of place on the 5th floor of RMIT. She and Mis Be and Miss Thi are just the sweetest young people. At any rate, I was taken aback when she said that her parents were going to make bánh cuốn which are like crepes made from a thin, wide rice flour pancake filled with ground pork, minced wood ear mushrooms and served with the dipping sauce called nước chấm ... and would I like to come. But I remember Michelle's voice telling me to take every opportunity that passed my way ... so I said that would be lovely. She was a bit confused by my reply (language is an issue) but I gave her my phone number and she said she would call me. Thank goodness I had my Vietnamese lesson at 9 a.m. because when Hoa called me at 8:45, we had a hard time understanding each other. She invited me for breakfast, but I told her I had my lesson and it would take two hours. So, unfortunately, she thought I was asking to come at 2. But Thuy called her and got it all sorted out. It turns out Hoa lives very far from Phu My Hung, in a district called Thủ Đức, which is in the northwestern part of HCMC, while Phu My Hung is Saigon South. Thuy insisted on driving me on her motorbike and it took over an hour to get there. Wow. Thuy then stayed for lunch, which was just as well, because language really is an issue!
Hoa's house, which is on a pretty quiet narrow street, is a long and narrow place. When we went in, her mother was off at church, praying. There were several little children asleep on the living room floor ... her aunt runs a little kindergarten/day care for neighbourhood working families. We watched them for a while and then they got up and were fed. I was struck by the fact that Hoa's aunt and her cousins fed all the children, even the 5 or 6-year-olds!
They were having rice vermicelli and chicken, which, granted, could have been messy, but Thuy said that Vietnamese parents preferred to feed their children rather than let them feed themselves. I hate to admit it, but some of the children started to cry when they saw me ...very scary western face ... so sad! This little guy was quite the performer and didn't seem to have issues with me (#^_^#)
Hoa's house, which is on a pretty quiet narrow street, is a long and narrow place. When we went in, her mother was off at church, praying. There were several little children asleep on the living room floor ... her aunt runs a little kindergarten/day care for neighbourhood working families. We watched them for a while and then they got up and were fed. I was struck by the fact that Hoa's aunt and her cousins fed all the children, even the 5 or 6-year-olds!They were having rice vermicelli and chicken, which, granted, could have been messy, but Thuy said that Vietnamese parents preferred to feed their children rather than let them feed themselves. I hate to admit it, but some of the children started to cry when they saw me ...very scary western face ... so sad! This little guy was quite the performer and didn't seem to have issues with me (#^_^#)After a while we had the bánh cuốn, which had been made by Hoa's father and which were delicious. We had a general discussion about whether or not Vietnamese men commonly cooked and Hoa said we could see her father cooking ... we went through to the cooking kitchen at the back of the house. Hoa's mother and father were making the rice flour pancakes, which are called bánh cuon (I think) ... the pronunciation is different. I mean, they have a commercial enterprise in their kitchen and they make 30 kg of bánh cuon every day to sell at the Cho Thủ Đức. They worked remarkably well together and made dozens of the pancakes while we were in the kitchen chatting to them. Miss Hoa said she didn't know how to make them. She makes a great latte, though!After a little walk around the neighbourhood (where there were two Catholic churches (the entrance to one is pictured above) and two Buddhist temples within two blocks) Thuy and I said our thank yous and departed. What a lovely afternoon. Thuy and I looked at some of the Christmas displays in D1 on our way home. So many children dressed in their finery getting their pics taken at the various displays. She insisted on driving me home, although I know how to do it. Very protective!Today I went with Miss Thanh, from my office to see some sights in District 5 and 6. I am so fortunate to have these opportunities. I didn't get to see any baby Santas, but I did see a lot of Santa merchandise. We saw a few pagodas, including an absolutely stunning one called Chua Hue Nghiem, which was so different in appearance and style from pagodas I have visited while here. Thanh said it was a Vietnamese-style pagoda, as opposed to a Chinese-style one. Toi khong biet ... I dunno. It is quite serene and very little decoration is evident. The statues in the main pagoda are all made of wood and there is quite a bit of land around it. In fact there seems to be a building boom, with a new stupa and several other buildings under construction. It was really interesting because we saw a lot of lay women who were dressed all in grey come for a ceremony. There was a lot of chanting and then walking in the main chapel as well. I saw many young laywomen; Thanh says they come to the pagoda very regularly and then they also have several days a month when they are more active. At another pagoda, one where businessmen often go, we saw a man unpack several boxes of statues of Quan Am and several other Buddhist saints/luminaries/bigwigs. I thought someone was making a donation, but Thanh told me that people bring their statues to have their eyes opened. We stayed a while and when the owner of the statues had said his prayers, a man (He wasn't wearing robes, but he might have been a monk.) said some prayers and chanted and blessed the statues. It looked like he was painting the figurines, but I think it was with water. Thanh said he was praying for them to have open eyes, open ears, an open heart, open hands, and so on. Thanh got into a conversation with the gentleman who was the owner of the figurines, and he is a very prominent businessman. He said he always brings his statues to open their eyes or to pray for success when he starts a new project or opens a new store or company.We ended our journey with lunch at Hung Vuong Plaza. Omigoodness, it is getting very crowded. Thanh was great company and I appreciated her company, her translating, explaining, and her very comfortable motorbike. She is a very good driver! You can see more pics on flickr in a day or two if you like.It seems so strange to teach up to and including the 24th ... so I am really not in a Christmas frame of mind at all. However, all the best to you who are in chillier climes and who are looking forward to a Christmas celebration and/or break. Best wishes for a truly meaningful Christmas filled with many blessings ... gastronomical, material, physical, emotional, and spiritual!
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