Last night we went out again on the vintage Vespas, and experienced the city in an entirely different way. Saigon became a city of lights and motion, with people out walking, sitting in cafes, or just talking in groups along the sidewalks. It was a happy and relaxed way of being out in the city, even with the motorbikes zipping and zinging everywhere around us.
We began at a Vietnamese coffeehouse, where we tried the thick dark local coffee served with a little bit of condensed milk. Some of our group tried the local beer (verdict: tastes like Budweiser).
From the coffee house we went to a street kitchen in the fish market. As we sat on little stools around small tables on the sidewalk, the cook brought us plates of differnt seafood, prepared the local way. Our guide showed us how to eat each dish (using the clam shell to scoop the broth, slipping the mussel right into your mouth from the shell, etc)
Then put came the frog. A very large live frog was brought out to our table and introduced. The guide asked if anyone wanted to volunteer to kiss the frog. I'm happy to say that Sophie should expect a prince to be showing up sometime soon! Of course, we have to hope it's a different prince because our new frog friend rapidly became our next course. When the plates of fried frog legs were set down in front of us, there was an understandable pause. But Megan and Eva dived in and the rest followed, with varying degrees of enthusiasm. And yes, frog leg tastes just like chicken, even in terms of consistency and appearance. And it was pretty good fried in oyster sauce with local spices.
After the fish market, we zipped on our bikes to a local pancake street kitchen. We tuned down an alleyway, then took an even smaller alley, and landed at a small corner building almost completely open to the street. Inside, women were tending ancient looking blackened pans filled with various savory pancakes. Anthony Bourdain filmed there--and you can see the pancake ladies in action if you watch his recent Viet Nam episode. We had the chance to experience it in person, and it was delicious!
Unlike in the US, pancakes here are meant to be shared. We learned to break off pieces of the pancake and filling, and wrap them in large lettuce leaves and various green fresh herbs. In essence, we made our own spring rolls with pancake filling.
They also grilled beef in garlic and ginger, and we rolled pieces with pickled vegetables and green banana and starfruit slices into dried rice paper that we moistened by splashing with a wet lettuce leaf. Yum!
After dinner we zipped on our bikes to a small coffeehouse, hidden down an alley, through a concrete backyard, past a barking guard dog, into an unmarked door, down a windowless hallway lit by a single bulb, up some narrow twisty stairs, and into the most charming little coffeehouse you could imagine. It was like something out of beatnik times, with handmade decorations, pillows, comfy old furniture, tablecloths over boxes as tables, and candlelight. Most of us had some ice cream while we listened to several singers doing mostly 1960s ballads (Yesterday, Sunrise Sunset, etc.) the singers were accompanied by acoustic guitar or piano and violin. It was so charming and unexpected and really wonderful!
We ended the night at a typical Saigon night club, mixed with Westerners and Vietnamese young people. It had a very western vibe, with the cover band doing mostly recent American pop music (Billionare by Bruno Mars, Everybody by the Backstreet Boys, etc). At one point they did Abba's Dancing Queen and pulled Kelsey up to dance in front of the crowd. It was fabulous!
Then back to the hotel to say goodbye to our Vespa drivers and get to bed.
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