Sydney Rd Food

A couple of weeks ago, I was told of a restaurant which served some of the best Middle Eastern food in Melbourne. Being located on Sydney Rd, Brunswick, that meant it had a lot to live up to, as this is a centre of Middle Eastern restaurants. Actually, the area really does feel like you are in another country, as the signs are mostly written in a mixture of Arabic and English.

This week some friends and I went to sample it. We went into the restaurant, and instantly I felt at home. It was like I was visiting the No Name in Long Xuyen with the furniture looking strikingly similar. However, there were a few give aways that made me realise this was not the case. No beer, no Vietnamese language, and the food was different, noticeably the lack of vegetables.

The service was interesting until Said spoke in Arabic. It wasn’t impolite though, just sort of indifferent. Well anyway after a bit of talk we ordered the recommendation. Little did I know, it was a lamb!

The lamb in question with a bit more salad then I remembered!

There were many different delicacies on the plate. Sausages, spicy chicken, and some lamb (just making things up now so look at the picture). There was some salad, and potato salad, yet why waste time on that. It was so good as you see below the contented faces of stuffed men. I felt like I was going to give birth to the lamb after the meal, like a phoenix meal deal.

Contented men.

On the way home after savouring the meal, I realised that I missing have choices of mains like in Vn and in this restaurant and I think variety is the spice of life.

The Sweet Escape

Over the holiday break I made an escape up north to my hometown of Brisbane. I had felt that I had suffered the cold enough, well my thinking of cold at least, in the last 6 months that I was entitled to some days were moving was energy sapping and a shower required every other minute. To my amazement the opposite happened, I packed the miserable weather into my luggage and brought it with me while someone packed the furnace like weather and took it with them to Melbourne (30 plus temperatures). Such is life. Anyway, even though the weather was miserable, 20 degrees in my hometown was still a lot warmer than 20, maybe even 25, in Melbourne, when you include the humidity. I was happy that I brought the rain with me as most of the people I met enjoyed the fact that it was raining and windy as it was something that had been missing in the last couple of years.

Before Christmas I caught up with one of my closest friends and traded war stories from SEA as he had just returned from a trip to Malaysia. The way he described it made me want to visit there next time I go to SEA. Later we met some other friends and I realised that over the years I had drifted apart as the guys were just talking about their investments. I am happy for them, yet I was really bored listening to them.

For Christmas I met my (just about) in-laws for the first time, brother and his girlfriend, my parents, and their new kittens. I was taken aback by how small they were, thinking back to a picture of Buong sitting peacefully in Eric’s hand (before terrorist training), who is now a couple of kilos. The kittens were a real show stealer and I felt like it was not Christmas but the welcoming of a new family member. For lunch I tried a type of lobster called a Moreton Bay Bug. It kind of reminded me of crab with out the claws. Definitely would be good in a tamarind sauce.

Between Christmas and the New Year I tried to catch up with as many friends I could contact. As I was hinting at before, time apart does change things notably phone numbers. I had all sorts of trouble trying to “find” people and only resulted in catching up with a few. I was impressed that my friends and I got on just like we never separated, even though there were definite changes in their situations like kids and mortgages.

For New Year’s Eve, I went and did the traditional thing of going to South Bank to watch the fireworks. I was surprised to meet an old friend there and halfway through our catch up the countdown started. The fireworks went off with what I though was an amazing dazzling of colour and precision. The fireworks were tuned into music and even with all the speakers around you couldn’t really hear anything except the ooohhhs and aaaahhhhs as people, including myself, were mesmerised by the fireworks. Next time I will make sure that I remember my camera.

The tropical low off the coast decided that wind and rain should also be used in the celebration as a couple of minutes after the fireworks were over it started to rain. The next few days were rather lazy just helping out around the house by keeping the TV on as the people I had managed to contact were back at the grind. I returned to Melbourne without incident and prepared myself get back into the swing of things.

I am realising getting back into the swing of things is harder than I thought.

Bonded!

A while ago while Tyler, Hendrik, and I where still in Long Xuyen we challenged Tyler's Photoshop skills. We asked him to make some photos of people. I got James Bonded. I came across that photo today and thought I might share it with the world. It brings back a lot of good memories, about partying in the ER in LX.

As I stand now, while it was possible to be that popular with the girls in Vietnam, it ain't happening to me here yet!

The last moments in Vietnam

Here they are the photos I promised from the I would have written earlier post. The last night in Vn was a special occasion. I spent it with the person I knew most in Vietnam, Eric. We met up with some friends at O’brien’s and then went on to Sheridan’s (17/13 Le Thanh Ton St District 1). It is the best bar in HCMC I think as you are free from distractions you find in other places. The music is good and the owner, Michael, is a good host. We met Duc and Sabrina that night and we stayed there until after closing time. It was a great time and I am sure all had a great time. The next day I caught up with some friends that I will miss.

I went to Diamond Plaza, a Korean style department store which appears to sell everything. It was a good idea as it would prepare me for the commercialisation I faced when I arrived in Australia (it was weird to be so confronted with so much advertising).

After a long chat with my friend I headed to the airport. And of course I had problems at the airport. First it was too much luggage, so I had to split it and pay extra weight. Went through and waited for the Visa stuff then it was something you can’t take on the plane. Went down to the check-in and took it out of the suitcase. Next, I walked through the metal detector and then another trip to luggage check-in room, this time behind the scenes. Here I had too many DVDs and the customs guy wanted to check them all out before I jumped on the plane. I was pretty surprised as this what you would think they would do when you arrived to keep out socially evil ideas. Well I was polite and explained my purpose for being in Vietnam and he decided to let it go.

By the time I got to the gate it was time to board. On the flight I sat next to this idiot he knew everything about Vietnamese and wanted to show off to everyone. After that short 2 minute conversation and a promise to keep my mouth shut, I waited to feel the forces of the plane elevate into the air. As we got in the air I looked at the mess of lights outside the window and it finally hit me. This was it, I am leaving Vietnam for a while. The emotional toll and no audio (once again on Vietnam air), let me drift into a deep slumber. I awoke and was practically in Melbourne. As I got off the plane I started to realise that I was in a different place, with different customs, a familiar language, and I am not the unusual person any more. I had reverted back to the mean (average).

The last week and a bit

Well since Sunday last week I would have to say that life has been turned upside down. It seems every where I go people know that I am leaving. I can not help to feel a little down as more than two years of my life have passed here in this quiet town. I feel for a quiet town it does have a lot to offer. The people here are what I will miss the most.

Last Sunday I was invited by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) and Agifish to go to some pagodas and an ecotourist restaurant. One pagoda was a place where people hoped to receive a great fortune in life. The other was commemorating a great general. It was a weird feeling discussing the general’s life. He was responsible for expanding much of the south of Vietnam to its present day area. I was at a loss trying to think if we had anything like this in Australia yet I couldn’t, the closest I could imagine was the explorers who went over the mountains and claimed the land for the crown.

The ecotourist restaurant was also a hatchling nursery for tra fish, a type of catfish found in the Mekong river. We also saw a variety of other animals there including my most scariest land reptile, the crocodile. The crocodiles were quite small only about 1.5 m. The food was really good at this place, very traditional Mekong Delta food. It was good for a farewell.

Monday and Tuesday were low key however Wednesday was a big party. I had invited many of my closest friends here to have a big party. We went to Truyen’s once again and I enjoyed the spaghetti, fish, and beer. I stayed quite late as the atmosphere was amazing. I must admit I was mixed as I was sad to leave yet happy to see all my friends there.

The next day one of my colleagues and my students organised a farewell party. Each class prepared a dish. Once again the mixed feeling overwhelmed me. It was good to join them and talk about what they will do next. I felt proud that they can now speak English, as I remember when I first met most of them that they were very shy and didn’t utter a word. Some of the students tasted brandy for the first time and it was interesting to watch their faces screw up as the heat from the brandy went down their throat. I still get that feeling when I drink brandy.

Last night I went with Eric to the no name for a quiet one. I did really want to meet Son, as he had been away on Wednesday. I gave him call and he said he just got back and would join us. At the restaurant was an over eager student who wanted to practice her English. I would say she was cute, except her constant hovering at our table was wearing me down.

After that Eric and I decided to return to the house in hope of watching 24. I felt that in the state I was in I didn’t want to watch tv, so we finished off a 6 pack each. I woke up at 6 this morning in ok kind of state, which surprised me. It was not long for this to change, the workmen arrived at 630 and started to bang the wall, the machine next us started up, noisier than living inside a rocket engine, and the kids starting to play. I thought I would go out to breakfast yet the repairmen came 2 hours ago to fix something. My broken toilet, no they came to fix the working air conditioner. Just glad I don’t have a hangover.

Jeff

Well luckily Eric keeps tabs on everybody’s moves so we know where to go and when. Last week we went to HCMC and met Jeff. I thought that last time I would see Jeff was in LX when I was cursing about no Gatorade. It seems the whole country has run out as I haven’t found any in HCMC either. Jeff is based in Long My with VIA and was on his way to Nha Trang, the long beautiful beach.

I got a message from Jeff to meet at the Eden restaurant. At this restaurant I met one of Jeff’s co-volunteers from Can Tho. Just as we were leaving the waitress came over and started to tell Jeff to cut his beard. I was quite amused to watch this yet I needed to be careful or it may happen to me. Sure enough Jeff betrayed me to the waitress however she said only he should cut his beard. I had a good laugh and decided it was time to go.

We met up a little later and proceeded to view the art show. Afterwards Jeff was starting to feel hungry and was convincing us to look for this really good restaurant. It was worth the search. We ordered our food and I can say I was impressed with what we got.

Next we headed out to Sheridan’s Irish bar. We sat there and drank Amberstout most of the night. I must admit I like this beer more than I like Guinness. We talked about nothing for a really long time, yet it was not boring. At 11 Jeff got a reminder to make our way to Go2 bar.

We jumped into the taxi and met up with his friends from earlier today. We found that Amberstout was cheaper here than at the Irish bar and decided to stay for a few more. It was not long that we had put down quite a few and I was starting to feel bloated. I couldn’t put anything more into me after a pizza, a kebab, a huge chicken sandwich, and a large amount of beer. It was time to go home and crash.

The Artshow

Eric, Jeff, and I finally got to see the art show that I talked about previously. The art show was a lot smaller than I thought it would be, yet it had a roomy feel to it. I found it easy to see Tinh’s work as he had showed me previously on his phone. I was amazed at how different it looks real compared to the pictures. You do miss some detail. I took quite a lot of pics yet I just put the pieces that I really liked here after a picture of the artists. Tinh's piece is the first one. It was a shame he was out of town as he could have explained his inspiration to us over a few drinks. Enjoy!

The Australia Vietnam friendship foundation of An Giang

The Australia Vietnam friendship foundation of An Giang is something my boss dreamed up when I first arrived here. I am not sure what it is yet always provides a good excuse to have a beer or two. Occasionally there is a reason like Australia day or sometimes there is not. This time it was to introduce two new members to our club – Kirsty and Jack.

I had met Doug, an old timer here in LX working with Ausaid, when I first arrived. He was working on a water engineering project and finished last year.

He returned to Australia and just arrived back a few weeks ago to finish the old project and start a new one. I met him once already yet this time he was required on more official duties. He arrived with a consultant from his project. Mai, my bosses wife, had ordered the food for us which was coming out as we were sitting down. It started off fairly slow as the group was a little too big. I found it was hard to hear what was going on the other side of the table.

Just as we finished the food I and everyone else was in for a big shock. Dr Rang had just arrived. He had studied at Melbourne University and just came back from visiting Australia were he attended his daughters engagement party. Yet even though his presence was a shock to me, the next thing left me floored – a bottle of Penfold’s cab sav.

It was the best wine I have tasted in years. Now I will not profess that I know anything about wine yet this was good. After we finished the wine we were about to go when it was suggested that I get a photo with the waitresses. Well in this picture I look a little too excited, maybe even scary, definitely creepy. I will blame the wine and beer combo.

Just as we left Dr Rang asked if I would like to have a few more at another place and as I hadn’t seen him for a long time I thought why not. He invited his friend who had also just returned from Australia. Well after a few, I saw the picture of Larue beer (terrible hangovers in the morning) and the Sydney opera house trying to put them together. I couldn’t and just figured that it was all the beer and wine again.

Tai

Tai is a friend of mine from the faculty of economics at AGU. He was one of the first people I met in the faculty who took me out to show me Long Xuyen. I admire his determination to be the best in all that he does. So last Monday I was surprised that Tai looked sad when he saw me. I asked him what was wrong and he said that this might be the last time he sees me. I was taken aback a little as there was still quite a bit of time left I thought. He told me that he was going to study English tomorrow in HCMC for 6 weeks. He asked if I was free that night to meet him. At the time I was busy and didn’t really think it through so well and said call me later.

Well later came and I called him to say lets go out to a new restaurant, well new for Tai anyway. So we headed to Truyen’s after a few false starts and proceeded to organise a party there. We ordered some food and beer and discussed future plans and dreams, and past stories. Later, Thinh a policeman in Long Xuyen arrived, to join the party. Both Thinh and Tai went to school together and have been friends since the beginning of time. When they get together you can see a real connection between them.

Afterwards Eric arrived, followed by Thinh’s younger brother. From here the discussion started to veer towards how to improve language and we told Tai his language should be good enough. Yet he feels more practice is needed so we kept talking with him. As this was the first of my going away parties I was starting to feel a little nostalgic. Also the restaurant seemed unusually empty for once, although this didn’t stop Eric from making new friends. As the time to go arrived I told Tai and Thinh that they would see me one more time. Thinh at the farewell in Long Xuyen and Tai to the farewell in HCMC if possible.

Unknown Farewell

Thursday last week saw the English department have a farewell party for …? I wasn’t sure who it was for, either Scott or Lillian. I knew it was on, and was invited yet I did not know what time, and consequently missed the important speeches. I think it might have been for both, yet Lillian will come back after the northern summer and Scott doesn’t leave for a while.

When I arrived I saw the presentation of the gifts. Then it was time to eat. I usually don’t look forward to the food at the English faculty’s parties as I feel the food is far from adventurous. Eric and I earlier in the afternoon were trying to guess what the food would be. I was surprised to find that only two were right: a type of salad (Goi) and soup (Lau). This time they had a fish (Pink Tilapia) which was really fantastic. The flavour wasn’t strong and the flesh melted in your mouth. To top it off we had mangos like at home, sweet and orange. Most of the mangos here I feel are too sour and green.

Throughout dinner the guys were playing a game. Whenever we wanted to drink someone would say oooh chilli, and we would drink. We had to hide it as the Rector, Dr Xuan, doesn’t like drinking much. When it was time to go I was ready to escape to the next place.

Hendrik

For the last 9 months Hendrik has been with us here at AGU. He was a postgraduate IT student doing a project with the library. I learnt a lot of things about Germany and German culture. He really was a great guy, not what I would expect from an IT student. I also learnt the correct way to drink those German beers. The big ones. At Oktoberfest last year, which coincided with Hendrik’s birthday, we went Lang Toi and ordered litre beers. Metta, a Danish girl was also there and they wanted to have a proper Oktoberfest drinking comp. After much instruction I followed their lead and found myself with a sore arm. How can these guys lift a litre of beer with one arm. I thought it was crazy. They proceeded to tell us that there were barmaids capable of carrying 8 of these glasses through a tent of drunk Germans doing there slap dances.

Occasionally when the mood was right Hendrik would do a slap dance. Of all the crazy memories I have of Hendrik, one dance he did etched in my mind forever and when I picture Oktoberfest I am sure this is what all the people are doing.

Saturday Hendrik departed for the Middle East then off to Germany. We heard he arrived safely and did some things we wanted to do. On Wednesday last week was his official send off. He had a private dinner with his boss and the head of the university. By about 7.45 I was starting to feel my stomach eat itself as I could no longer wait for the food at the after party. I went to contact Eric yet his yahoo message was perplexing making me feel that I should not contact him.

Eventually Eric was starting to feel the pangs of hunger and contacted me and we quickly made our way to Truyen’s. At the restaurant Lillian and the family were there waiting. Next along was Sabrina. She is from Switzerland and is working for the pesticides department of the department of agriculture and rural development. She is doing her internship for here degree here in Long Xuyen.

Truyen had cooked up too plates of beef. If the beef had of been Australian it would have been divine. All the same the flavour was great if a little chewy. There were some really good deep fried mushrooms as well.

After everybody had arrived, I started to wonder if Hendrik was coming. He contacted us to tell us he was on his way yet this was about 30 minutes ago, and nothing takes 30 minutes to get to in Long Xuyen. I met Jack for the first time that night, he is the long term defacto of Kirsty, the other AVI who is newly arrived. She is working with the English dept. Jack kind of reminded me of my uncle Mick, a good bloke to have a drink with.

When Hendrik and his girlfriend Thu, arrived they were carrying a special present, a bottle of Johnny. We continued to eat and Truyen was well and truly beyond the great unknown expanse of drunkenness and kept ordering food. We kept drinking and then left at the latest possible moment.

Saying goodbye to Sabrina, with Truyen watching.

At the guest house the party continued and we drank the whiskey empty. Hendrik was even brave enough to pick up a guitar and play. I was starting to feel tired myself as I did not sleep well the previous few days and by this time I could tell Hendrik had had a long day and the whiskey was taking its toll. We had a mission to complete, finish the bottle. I struggled through the tiredness and together the three of us finished the bottle and called it a night.

Playing the Guitar

The evidence makes us guilty

The last days of Tyler

Tyler is a volunteer from America working with VIA. He graced our presence about August 2005 and has left to see his family and friends in America yesterday for a short time. In August he will return to Vietnam to work in Hue at an orphanage. I feel that he is the first of our family to go over the next month or so. After a week full of parties (including with his faculty, pictured) he planned a big one up in Ho Chi Minh City to send him off. Saturday was the only day he was available so we made all ourselves available as well.

Upon arrival at the hotel Tyler chose we were greeted by his friend who seemed happy to see him. I was feeling tired and hungry and was just longing to solve these problems. Unfortunately once in the room Discovery channel had different plans, Mythbusters: the pirate special. I was amazed at the damage a canon could do. As Mythbusters tried to disprove common pirate myths I was more and more intrigued by what they would do next. Luckily Hendrik was not so into the Mythbusters and he prodded me to go and find food. We went across the road to Lotteria, a Korean burger chain. When we returned to the room we met Jeff, another VIA volunteer stationed in Long My, deep in the south. He liked the idea of food and proceeded to go and grab some burgers. As I opened my sustenance packages I was shredded by how small the triple beef burger was and after a short debate with myself joined Hendrik yelling at Jeff down the street to bring more food. Once that was all settled we decided just to kickback and wait for the evenings activities.

The restaurant chosen was Mogambos, a kind of American styled menu restaurant with an African theme. As I waited at the table I felt that I was deep in the jungle as Lilian, Tyler, Jeff, Eric and I debated what animals were what. Too bad Wikipedia or Discovery channel were not around now. I ate Cajun chicken for the first time in a long time and it was delicious. The cream coated my mouth in each mouthful while the softness of the chicken was complemented with the capsicums and olives. As I was eating I was wishing that I had not eaten the second burger at lunch, as I was rapidly becoming full. I managed to survive the task and try the Creole rice that was served wit the chicken, yet that was really disappointing as it was dry and hard.

After dinner we were eager to start the night’s entertainment off. We went to Sheridan’s Irish House just around the corner. When we arrived it was quiet because of the FA cup and also it was Ho Chi Minh’s birthday, and National Assembly elections Sunday. Michael, the owner later informed us that it was the feast day of Ivo of Kermartin (the patron Saint of Lawyers). Because of this he was in a singing and partying mood, and I felt his presence made the bar full. He offered a token of loyal attendance by giving us each a shot of feliz with a sparkler.

I was electrified by the atmosphere in the bar and didn’t notice that closing time was upon us until Michael asked us to finish our drinks because it was past closing time. We returned to the hotel and some of us decided to finish ourselves off while others went to sleep. All in all I felt it was a fantastic success.

Tinh

Tuesday morning I got a message to meet up with him and Tinh at 5 for drinks. Well time flew through the afternoon as it was the first day in a while that I was actually really busy. On the way to TB I ran into Tri, although he says he was chasing me for quite a while he caught me as I decided to let a big truck go in front of me. We arrived and got a table and waited for Eric and Tinh. I still always feel nervous when I go out in LX as wherever you walk everyone stares at you, and feel self conscious, do have something between my teeth, is my fly undone, etc. It weighs on you a bit yet soon enough you forget as enjoy the company you are with.

Well is wasn’t long when the others arrived and we started to enjoy the food and beer. Tinh was telling us about an exhibition he just did in Hanoi, and the upcoming one in Saigon. I am eager to check it out. He is such a great artist, that you see his work come to life in front of your eyes. He drew me a landscape picture which is in Brisbane at the moment yet I remembered being floored by how good it was. I was experiencing being at the floating market in LX. His new exhibition is contemporary art.

Awhile later Nam arrived and we continued to discuss things from the art world, movies, and life. We decided on a venue change, and thought Truyen’s would be a good place. It has a nice atmosphere and as you know the owner is really friendly. We got ourselves a corner table and ordered some food. Eric was looking for Truyen who had disappeared and we guessed he went to buy some special ingredients for a special dish. I was intrigued by this dish and impatiently waited for its arrival. Spaghetti a la Truyen. It was so delicious, the best spaghetti in LX. I would go there every night if that was a regular dish.

Not long after the spaghetti arrived the guitar came out and the singing followed. I was having so much fun trying to remember the words and eating I nearly didn’t notice that every time I went to the bathroom someone always wanted to drink a glass of beer with me. By the end I was afraid to leave the table when the first visitor came to cheers us. He worked at AGU and was quite done. He kept mumbling across English and Vietnamese and I am sure everybody was just as confused as I was. Well the party continued until we realised that it was time for home or we would be locked out the campus.

On the way back we bought a case of beer and let Tinh and Tyler to catch up. Not sure what was going through Tyler’s mind at this time however he appeared to be having lots of fun. We also had two new visitors to the room, Kirsti an Australian volunteer and Vinh. We met Vinh before, although I had forgotten about it. As we all talked, joked, and drank the night away new friendships were forged and old ones strengthened. All in all a great deal of fun for me.

Tyler's farewell week

Saturday night was an unofficial farewell to Tyler. Tyler is a volunteer from America who has been teaching English with the English department of AGU for the last two years. He will return to Vietnam in three months to take up another position in Hue.

As we started to head out is started to rain, and I felt as if Long Xuyen was crying for Tyler’s departure. When we arrived at the restaurant it was quite busy. I guess everybody got trapped at the restaurant and didn’t want to leave. We found a table and settled down as more people arrived for the party. As of yet I was surprised to find that there were no Vietnamese teachers at our party.

Tyler was the master of the table which means he allocates the drinking order for the table and orders the food. He decided on some food and drink and we started the party without the Vietnamese teachers. I was a little cool from the rain and it was nice to have the banana rice wine to warm me up from the inside out. Combined with goat curry and a crowded restaurant it was not long until I started to feel toasty.

The first Vietnamese teacher to arrive was Tyler’s Vietnamese teacher. He told me before that he used to live in or near Richmond in Melbourne, and I was impressed with his English. Next was Lam from International Relations and he has a reputation for enjoying the rice wine. The last to come were Hanh and Ngo. I think they were scared of the rain.

We enjoyed the goat soup and each others chatting about the past, present and the future. Soon the future talk turned to what we would do next, and someone suggested karaoke. I felt timid about such a proposal as I don’t want to inflict audio pain on too many people.

We decided on the place and proceeded to move there. We got ourselves a room and started to sing songs and have a great time. I was shocked to find out some of the words in the English songs were not correct and the selection of English songs was small. We had a new karaoke system which was not English song friendly. We overcame this problem by being stubborn and I watched as everybody sang their hearts out and had an immense amount of fun.

After karaoke we returned home to enjoy more beer and play video baseball and cowboy games until the wee hours of the morning.