The Vietnam Museum of Ethonology in Hanoi is a great place to have a glance at the traditional culture of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups. The museum is located outside of the main city area… took a bit of travelling time but it’s worth a visit.
Sharing some photos below, taken inside the museum building…
Went to the National Rice Museum (Muzium Padi Nasional) in Kedah, Malaysia, in March 2008. The museum is near the city of Alor Setar, and is famous for its huge 360-degree ceiling painting on one of the interior domes.
The painting is a nice piece of art work, featuring the bird-eye-view of the surrounding environment around the museum, as well as the growing cycle of the rice crops from ploughing to harvesting and celebrations etc…
Had lunch at this De An Eatery (德安小吃) during my Taiwan trip in May 2008 at the small town of Fonglin in Hualian County, en route to Taichung City. The food was quite nice, and I loved their pork knuckles…
One of the most iconic Hanoi features… bicycle fully loaded with variety of fish-traps. Images of these fully-loaded bikes have graced the cover of various Vietnam travel guide books and magazines for decades.
The photo above was taken at the Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi. You know you won’t have a good chance to see this in real life when you can find this in a museum lol.
Would be cool if I could just catch this once in real action… will have to wait until I visit Vietnam again, perhaps years later. Chances are getting even slimmer in future though, as the feat will gradually fade away altogether.
Manggong Cake (盲公饼 - literally blind-man biscuit) is a speciality of Foshan city in Guangdong province, China. It’s a traditional biscuit (despite officially named as cake) made of ground nuts and sesame seeds, first created in 1800 by a blind fortune teller… hence the name.
The Manggong Cake is a popular souvenir for foreigners who visit Foshan or Guangdong… and the most well known brand is Heji (pic above). Not the tastiest biscuit I’ve had to be frank, but we got to appreciate a traditional recipe that has existed for over two centuries.
Pig innards congee (猪杂粥) is a common delicacy in Canton-based Chinese community, i.e. Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macau, and some parts of Malaysia and Singapore etc.
The pig innards congee in Hong Kong is a bit different from those we have in Malaysia. The pork innards (liver, kidney, intestine, lungs, stomach etc.) in Hong Kong are normally cooked fresh with the congee, whereas in Malaysia the innards are pre-cooked and seasoned before adding into the congee.
Both style has its pros and cons… but the essence of the congee is with the rice porridge itself. The smoothness and thickness of the congee is often more dictating than the pork innards. The one I had in the photo for example was a bit too watery.
Chinese and some other Asians are quite accustomed to this dish, but westerners might take this as one of those bizarre food adventure.
Vietnamese have quite a unique way to prepare their coffee. One of the most popular coffees is the ice-milk coffee (cà phê sữa đá) which is also popularly called the ‘drip coffee’ by travellers because of how it was brewed… like this and this.
Didn’t manage to drip the coffee myself when I was in Hanoi in July 2008; the cafe I visited served the well-prepared drink instead (photo above).
My sister who tried some coffee in Hanoi prior to my visit told me that the Vietnamese coffee was stronger than common espresso… can’t agree on that, at least not with the one I had. A decent glass of coffee though… smooth, thick and rich.
Phở (pronounced like ‘fuh?’) is a traditional rice noodle soup and one of the most iconic Vietnamese foods. Pho is normally served as a bowl of flat-rice-noodles in beef broth, with some beef slices or other options like tripe or chicken etc.
There are a few variations of pho depending on the regions in Vietnam. The pho in Hanoi is called phở Hà Nội or phở bắc (northern pho), which is normally served with green onions; whereas the middle and southern regions are using some other herbs with the pho instead.
A new found friend brought me to one of the locals’ favourite to try the pho when I was in Hanoi in July 2008. The place is Pho Thin, located at 13 Lo Duc St.
The restaurant was packed on the Saturday morning. The customers were sitting shoulder to shoulder while some others lining up for their seats. It’s not difficult to understand the crowdiness after tasting the pho, because it was really good.
The rice noodles were smooth and chewy, and the broth was rich in flavour despite looking mild and clear… and their chillies were nice too. Simplicity to its best, worth recommended.
