Indian food for spice lovers

I've got to know Indian food since I went to Singapore to live and study. Yet I didn't taste it until I graduated from uni. That was for 3 years long and I used to wonder why Westerners love eating Indian food so much. I remembered walking into Bizad canteen and saw a long queue of European and American students in front of Indian food stall. It was crazy and funny, I must say.

I officially tasted Indian food when I was working in hotel and got to know May, a Burmese ex-colleague. She's Muslim, speaks English, Burmese and Tamil. She loves Indian movies and TV drama series. And of course, she loves Indian food. I stayed with her for 6 months until I changed my job. It was an interesting cultural experience. There was also Lata, another Malaysian Indian ex-colleague. With their love for Indian food, they has dragged me in and out Indian restaurants and food stalls. And according to them, Blue Diamond near Mustafa is the best Indian restaurant in Singapore. I must say I agree with them whole-heartedly. Also, I prefer Northern cuisine to Southern. You've gotta try it before you understand what I'm talking about.

How about in Saigon? Where is the good place to have Indian food?

I've been back here for a year, minus time I flied back to Singapore for biz trips and shopping. Yet I've just explored Indian food since last month. That was after I get bored with Japanese, Thai, Western and Korean food. Never Vietnamese food, mind you.

The first restaurant I dined in was Tandoor, at Vo Van Tan St. Reason being it's near my house. But I wasn't impressed much. Even though it served Northern cuisine, the taste was mild at best. The only good thing was Nan, unleavened flour bread.

The second dining place I had was Saigon Indian Restaurant at Mac Thi Buoi St. Wow, this was a different class from Tandoor. Very authentic food, both North and South. Why could I be so sure? Because its food tastes nearly like what I had at Blue Diamond in Singapore. The first time I was there, I ordered Ajwanin Fish curry (sour and spicy, a must-try), Chicken Biryani (another must-try) and Cheese nan. Spicy enough for me without burning my throat. One downside was the nan, not so good as the one at Tandoor.

Tired of words? Some pictures for you...

Inside the restaurant

Plain Biryani, not so good as Chicken Biryani

Some vegetable dish, forgot the name, quite delicious!!! Originated from the South of India

Alright, this was one hella spicy dish, Chicken Vindaloo. The waitress told me that it was very sour (vinegar) and spicy (herbs). When I tasted it, I was like "oh gosh, my throat is burning", in a very good way, of course. Have lotsa water ready when taking this dish, okie?

Indulgence of the Month

It's an indulgence to find out your purse was on sale (30% discount) and you'd just gotten your salary. Here is my brand-new purse/wallet, taken by none other than my BFF...

Guess Olympia Trifold in black

Now I feel like regretting writing down that wish list. The list seems to help me to focus on buying what I was neglecting or ignoring before. Some of them require heavy investments. And I just go and turn those wishes into realities. Who else is better in grating my wishes than myself?

Anyway, back to the main topic, I fell in love with this purse quite a long time ago. I like Guess alright. The brand's got style, I must admit. But it's too bling for me, especially its bag and wallet collections. Half of its collections are too showy and heavy (litterally). Except this Olympia collection. More of my style. Since you've seen the purse, you might get what I meant. How about a look at the bag which is now on sale on its website?

Pretty, right? It's now selling at USD48. Compared with the usual price at USD80, it's a real steal. Anyone coming back from the States, please let me know and help me to grant my 10th wish. [Edit: A guess spree was open, yet the bag was OOS. Shocked and disappointed]

I'm wandering again. The trifold was selling at S$59.9 when I last saw it in Singapore. In Vietnam, the price tage was at 599k VND. A tad expensive for a wallet, I think. So when it was on sale at 30% discount, I didn't hesitate paying for it anymore. Either Guess or Mango. And Mango accessories this season are quite disappointing, being that they are leaning toward 80s trend, except sunglasses. It came with a box which I now use to put name cards inside. Quite convenient, hohohoh!!!

L'Amour

May I introduce to you my new BFF, Nokia 7373 from the L'Amour Collection?

It's been 2 and a half months my ex BFF left me at Changi Airport. I was mourning for her loss and purnished myself by forcing me to use back my very old Nokia 2650. Not a pleasant experience, I assure you. When I use the word "old", it really means old. Poor him! Had to work over time with me! Even his keypad was separated from his body!

Actually, before I decided on N7373, I was thinking about Nokia N70, N72 and 7373. In the end, 7373 has won and I found myself in accompany of her, even though I had to pay for her at retail price. So how is she? So far so good.

2 megapixel camera. Pink color for the cover, sweet and elegant. 128 MB memory card. Since I've bought a cable to connect with my lappie, I can download games or whatever I like to the phone, or vice versa, I can upload my pictures I take to my lappie immediately.

What else could I ask for in a cell phone? Love it!!!

Indulgence of the Day

It's an indulgence when you have a 2-litre tub of ice cream sitting in your fridge, waiting for you to have a go at it whenever you'd like.

This is top of my list of comfort food.

X Cream Green Tea Ice Cream - a damn big tub and chock full of goodness in it!!! You can see smoke is coming out from the tub! Of course, it's like a block of ice for all we know!

There it is! A tub full of ice cream in front of me! It's green in color. My new hp doesn't have a flash so I couldn't capture the color well. But who cares? Just look at it, I feel my mouth watering.

Have a scoop of this and you will know what heaven is like, especially in a hot day.

Best chocolate cake in Saigon...

... in my opinion as a disclaimer.

I love food. I love dessert, especially ice cream and cake. I had discovered the best ice cream in Saigon in my list and it's still X cream (screw Bud's and Fanny, not up to my standard! at least for green tea flavour). But cake is really a challenge.

I have my fair share of dining in restaurants and hotels. Caravelle, Sheraton, Equatorial, Windsor, Sofitel, Rex, just to name a few. I tried their buffet just so that I could try their cakes. Love the caramel spoon at Equatorial (exclusively at the Club Lounge, I think!). There are 4 types of cake I always want to taste, i.e. chocolate, cheese, blackforest and chocolate fudge. Yet I'm still in the quest to look for the latter 3.

I also have a fair share of spending my time at coffee houses. But cakes there are disappointed at the very least, even Highland, Terrace. And don't even talk about Kinh Do, Broadard or Duc Phat. They are just selling normal birthday cakes and I no longer eat those. (a bit fussy in this department, heheh!)

That's why it explained my surprise when I tasted chocolate cake at Soho Cafe & lounge bar. Chocolate cake over there is heaven materialized in a piece of cake. The chocolate is not too sweet, a bit bitter, melt immediately in your mouth. The sponge is not sweet either, perfectly combined with the chocolate, to give you the best taste ever. This piece of cake can be compared to the one I had as my b-day cake last year. Yummy!

I've tried Soho's Chocolate cake and Green Tea cake. The latter is just average standard. Yet still, there are other types of cake for me to choose next time I come back here. But the price is a bit steep. 25k for a piece. Worth trying? Absolutely yes!!!

All you need to know when shopping online at VS

Saigon ... rainy days... perfect weather to stay at home, be cocooned in thick blanket and sleep away...

But here I am, surfing around Internet just to shop. What can I say? It's raining almost everyday, and it's so inconvenient to go out shopping or doing anything. And I need to satisfy my thirst of buying something. Anyway, online shopping is just a click and some typing away.

Of all the stores, VS is my favourite webbie. Why? Because it offers everything a girl likes, i.e. undies, clothing and beauty. Furthermore, I've been trying and using its products, either undies (panty), clothing (a top) or beauty (plenty of these). And I love them. It's not because I love US goods (I have lots of clothes made in Vietnam, ya know?). It's because of their high quality, unique scents, colors and designs. Especially, they're cheap, even in Vietnamese standard nowadays, hohoho.

The 4th VS batch has been sent to my spree organizer and it was the first time I ordered panties (The one I have now was hand carried from the States). Previously, I just ordered Garden Collection sets or VS make up. And it was pretty easy to order these. The tip here is What You See Is What You Get. There's hardly a case when you find things you like go out of stock. And what you see on picture is really what you'll get once the order reaches you.

However, ordering panties is entirely a different matter. First of all, there are so many types of panties for you to choose. Bikini, hipster, cheeky hispter, boy brief. Even though I'm a girl, I feel so confused that I need to see them on models and gauge what I want. Guys, I really pity you if you need to buy these for your girlfriends or wives, hehehhe. Not only types, VS offers lots lots of colors to choose. They all look so cute and irresistable. Hey, but don't let these colors fool you. They aren't available for all the types of panties. To save yourself from disappointment of your color going OOS or unavailable, here is my tip for you. You need to choose which type of panty you'd like. Then you'll see a list of available colors which you can go back to the color chart and take a look. Now you can choose your type, favourite color, size and quantity. Remember to add to your shopping cart to check if the merchandise is available. If it's indicated IN-STOCK, tadaa, you can pay for it to be shipped to you.

One more thing, you always need to know how a store charge for shipping. Is it better to ship internationally/directly or through a concierge website? Can you save much when bundling up with others' orders? Do your homework before buying sth online! It's your money after all!

The Rebel [Dong Mau Anh Hung]

"Vietnam, 1920s. The long standing French colonization over the country has inflamed anti-French sentiments. At the height of the conflict, rebel forces emerge in many forms to discrupt the foreign occupiers. In response, the French employed elite units of Vietnamese agents to track and destroy these rebels" - www.therebelmovie.com

I'd heard about The Rebel quite a long time, about a month before it's been out to the box office. But I wasn't very keen on catching the movie. Something about the content and my experience with Vietnamese films had played a part in it. That was until this Tuesday, Tracy had asked me to go and watch it. And I decided to go. Well, I was bored (Internet was down the past 3 days) and the tickets were cheap (buy 1 get 1 free on every Tuesday at Galaxy. I'm a cheapskate, heheh).

My comment? Above average standard for an action movie. Ok plotline. Great cinematography. Very funny dialogues. Sexy hero and villain (yes, I'm talking about Sy - Dustin Tri Nguyen's character). Too weak a chemistry between Cuong and Thuy for it to blossom into love. But I'm not complaining as the movie is really a jump from other morality-teaching Vietnamese products I'd encountered so far.

Of all the characters, I love Sy/Dustin the most. Again, he's my tortured hero and everyone's villain. Dustin's acting was very good and his kung fu skill was superb which always stole the scene whenever he appeared. And one more thing which made him my favourite character... he always wore suit. I love men in suits, y'all know? Yummy...

Ooh!!! I'm shopping and I'm at home!!!

Yes! I'm talking about online shopping! After a year, now this shopping hobby is re-surfacing!

It's so damn easy. Just browse the websites, i.e. VS, OPI, Drugstore, etc. Then click to order. Next is typing my CC number. Click again. There I go! Wait for purchases being shipped back to my address. Well, that's nothing new and it's not happening! As a shopaholic, I want discount and want to save shipping cost which I have to order a big amount of goods in order to get. Hmm, what should I do?

I join spree! And together with me, Tracy joins as well. Since yesterday, we have ordered from OPI and VS, spent nearly $100. And we felt so happy. Because we think we will have to buy OPI sooner or later and if we buy at the shop in Vietnam, we have to pay double the price we get to pay online. For VS stuff, I have to say, we could buy its products just for no reason. I'm a VS girl through and through.

Spent $100 but we've got some discount which would only apply if we ordered $150 - 250. That's the beauty of this spree thingy. Also, because we share with other people, the shipping cost is lower which helps us to feel less guilty! But the spreeing speed is so fast! It's open in the morning and the next thing I know, it's close at night as people all queue up for order and payment! Spree for VS is usually capped at 250USD and no matter how many sprees are open, they are closed as quickly. Scary and exciting at the same time! I'd missed 4 batches before I managed to place mine this afternoon!

Now it's waiting time!!!

My shoes are killing me!!! Literally!!!

More precisely, my dance shoes!!!

I've just got back to my latin dance class today, after one and a half months taking a break which was taken after one month taking lessons! I know what you are thinking, heheh! I'm lazy! Tet and that biz trip back to Singapore didn't help at all!

Anyway, today I wore my pair of dance shoes which had been bought about more than 4 years ago . That was when I first started learning international-leveled ballroom dance. At that time, my passion with the art was very strong and fresh so I didn't hesitate forking out $150 for a pair of shoes. And the shoes have a name, too. It's Lorraine. My gosh! Thinking back then, I was so... (speechless!!!) But it's quite a blessing for me now for I'm taking dance lessons again. No need to go around and find a good pair of shoes without emptying my purse. I had left it in Singapore when I was back to Vietnam last year and I got it back the last biz trip. However, I needed to buy heels protectors for my shoes as the classroom has only brick/stone floor, not your average wooden floor in those fabulous dance studios. Those were the days... And in case you are wondering what the hell I'm talking about, here are the pictures for the heels protectors

Yeah! I came back to the dance studio where I had bought my shoes. First I didn't know there were 2 types of heels - flare and slim. Second, I didn't bring my shoes along (I went there after work, you see!) So I just based on those shoes displayed at the studios and got the flare heels protectors. Went back and tried on my shoes. Hah, wrong shape! Came back and changed to the slim type. Phewwww!

Back to the main topic. With the newly-retrieved shoes, I was happily back to the dance class. This month's step is Samba. It's a very lively and rhythmical dance with a lot of knee-bending and hip-swaying movements. Very good exercise for me at the moment! I've gotta admit! Wow, with a correct pair of dance shoes, my practice was much easier and the class felt more exciting! But it came with a price! My feet felt like they were on fire and when I took off my shoes, a little bit of my skin went with them. A bit gory but that was exactly what happened. I felt like an idiot as I had been through this before and I totally forgot. Sigh... I have no one to blame, except myself. I don't know if I can put the shoes on tomorrow but I'm bringing a pair of socks with me to protect those wounds.

Mung 2 Tet - Duong hoa Nguyen Hue Edition

Where would Saigonese go during Tet holidays? Nguyen Hue Boulevard? Yes, you guessed right. This year, Tet festival at Nguyen Hue lasts from 28th of the 12th month till the 3rd of the 1st month, lunar year. And it's really a joyous experience (and very hot... physically!)

As I'm too lazy to comment all the pics, I'll just post them randomly this time...

Boats of Tet fruits...

Calligraphy is honoured with a space of its own...

Art from clays and god-know-what-material...

Rows of colorful latterns...

Some snapshots from the countryside in the centre of Saigon...

Saigoneses try foot bridge...

What about a ricefield in the middle of the city?

And a large grain basket...

Now, back to admiring blossoming flowers...

One of the centerpoints of the festival... weathercock...

Lastly, some white sands in the middle of the delta...

26 Thang Chap - Tet Flowers Market

It's my family tradition to go to Flowers Market during Tet. We have kept this habit since the market was held at Nguyen Hue Boulevard and it has been 20 years. Wow, time really flies fast. It seems just last year I wore my favorite dress and walked around with a branch of apricot blossoms.

Therefore, last night's market visit held me a great expectation with all the memories from past years. Of course, with the economy booming throughout the years, people are more willing spending on flowers. And I wasn't disappointed, there were many types of flowers and trees which were both local and imported. It really made the Tet spirit here more pronounced.

Firstly, we had seas of daisies...

Then we've got rows of red flowers (sorry, I don't know their names)

One of the favourite flowers during this occasion... orchids in many variety...

"Dia Lan" have wowed their audience with their beauty...

A new year wish from the gardener...

Somewhere, sunflowers were standing tall and waving at everyone

A new comer from China, "Great Wall" flowers... so they called them...

Somehow they managed to bring in a small forest...

"Mai Chieu Thuy" scented the market with their sweet smell...

From far away Northern Vietnam, peach blossoms also had their shares of audience

You have known and eaten dragon fruits. But do you know how they look like on a tree?

What about aloe wood (tram huong)? Top-quality incense sticks were made from this. And this tree (could I call it tree?) was quoted USD 5k. Hmmm.... Not that appealing to me...

And lastly, no Spring or Tet market was truly perfect without apricot flowers...