Hmong Hip-hop

There is a great video report in the NYtimes on this young hmong/american man living in minnesota. he raps about the laotian hmongs and their struggles over the last forty years and amazingly collaborates with his grandmother. 

definitely a creative cat, and his rhymes are tight  - why - because he raps about what he knows...

big up, from yourboyinhanoi

the new ride

belarus + engineering + two wheels = minsk

two strokes of air pollutin two wheeling fury. this vehicle demands respect on the road! plus it has a nifty and useful carry bin in the back and as many of you know i am fond of the station wagon, so this is my replacement until i find a sidecar...

bad blogger!!!

i am a bad blogger and have surely disappointed all three of my loyal readership. sorry.  i have spent that last two weeks entertaining maya's parents AND was unceremoniously disconnected from the world wide webs until just a few minutes ago. thankfully 2 guys from FTP telecom came 15 hours early to their scheduled appointment.

grilled buffalo wrapped in in wild betel leaf

my local bia, no doubt has great food, at a recent trip for educational purposes i was introduced to trau nuong lalot, which is grilled buffalo meat wrapped in the lalot leaf. the meat was incredibly tender and juicy and the leaf adds a nice balance of texture and flavor.  unlike the beef variety that is dipped in anchovy sauce, this was in the typical salt, lime juice, and chile sauce.

karaoke lovin poetry

i saw this as a description for "leisure" at the babe national park, referrring to karaoke: 

Two karaoke rooms are available with the latest in spasmafabophonic digital gadgetry and twinkly kitsch to sing your heart out.

i want lots of spasmafabophonic gadetry to revel in

kickflips and shit

i peeped these kids the other day at lenin park practicing their skateboard skillz. some of them are nice...

skater style here is tight, a mixture of japanese geisha, us skater style, and hipster.

yo, how can i come visit you in vietnam?

so you wanna come to vietnam? 

first you have to take at least three weeks off. there is a lot to see and chances are you haven't been to a developing country so give yourself some time.  

get a visa, preferably a multiple entry visa in case you want to go to cambodia, laos, thailand, singapore or whatever. 

start looking for tickets about 5 weeks ahead of time. if you are big ballin, check out singapore or thai airways, if you are on a budget but need some extra space like me, check out eva air evergreen class. you get more legroom than most carriers at a very reasonable price. if you are broke try china air.

vietnam buffet

i will spare you writing the name of buffet in vietnamese as i dont know how to type the accents on my computer, but as you can see the shit is tight. the service is real fast, just get in line and pick your food.  but dont step up to the line if you are sleepy and shit or you will get dissed, soup nazi style.  on board for me, some rice with roasted peanuts, morning glory, and some pork and beef. all for 40000 dong, about $2.50. delicius factor = high.

mangosteen dreams

i was just reading in the new york times today about how much dean & deluca charges for a mangosteen:

It is available at more stores and the price is down, though perhaps only connoisseurs will eagerly part with $6 a fruit at Dean & DeLuca stores and Agata & Valentina, or $4 at Kings supermarkets in New Jersey.

man thats fuckin ridiculous, granted they grow mangosteens here, but i guess i would have thought the whole "slow food" movement would make people (in ny, sf, etc) think twice about buying produce that has been shipped 10, 000 miles. 

anyway, the article reminded me that mangosteen season has just begun so we went around the corner and picked up a kilo and half for 100,000 dong ( about $6.25).

the good news for people in boston though, i have a sneaking suspicion, ihsan gurdal from formaggio kitchen, will be importing mangosteens direct from a grower in thailand soon, keeping prices low and delicious factor high.  the only thing is, dont be surprised to find a worm now and then living in your fruit.

muxtape

check it out, pretty simple cool web mixtape creator http://muxtape.com

hanoi snackin

i never thought i would snack on dried squid (never imagined living in 'nam either) but its a great salty sweet snack.  the place we get it from in the old quarter makes their own dipping sauce, a blend of chiles, lots of garlic, and vinegar. they also slice up green mango and serve it with a nice little salt mixture. an added bonus is that they deliver.

most often people will drink it with some bia hanoi, but being the fine living man that i am  - i like to pair it with a new world "big red" wine.

applestore, hanoi

hmmm, i dont think vietnam is quite in apple's sights yet, but props to the hanoi boys who  did a good job copying the  signage...

motoring

recently a good vietnamese fiend of ours purchased a antique mobylette for around $1300! it has all the original parts and even hauled my fat ass around, drunk on my b day.  anyway they are becoming a pretty hot commodity here as many viet are into "mod" type vehicles.

modern installation art? doubt it

i saw this the other day just sitting in the middle of the street.

first up, bun cha lady

okay so i admit i definitely enjoy eating on the street more than i do inmost restaurants in hanoi for two reason:

1: most sit down vietnam(ese) restaurants have way too much neon lighting and terrible service

2: it's an either overpriced western style restaurant or poor interpretation of one, more on that later

is that four reasons? eating on the street gets me everything i want, great service, inexpensive but delicious food, and cheap beer, booze, green tea...

anyway, this post is decicated to bun cha lady, the story is that she has been on this corner for like 30 plus years, bangin out the bun cha. i've had bun cha at a few places after being initiated to it last summer and her pork is definitely the best, the sticks she marinites and roasts the pork on have years and years of whatever goodness she treats them with and has minimal fat (another rarity) most of the time. plus she adds just the right amount of chiles to give her fish sauce a noticeable yet subtle spicy tang. only bad thing is bun cha is only for lunch.