Hanoi in Photos

This weekend we took a quick trip to Hanoi, Vietnam. The city is filled with an amazing, palpable, energy. Or could that be the buzz of motorbikes speeding by? The smell of street food that lingers on every corner, the constant beep of honking horns, the women carrying baskets selling fruit ...it all adds up to make this crazy, chaotic and congested city such a unique and vibrant one. Everyone always seemed to be smiling here -  big toothy smiles -  and we were no exception!

Here's a tour of the city through some pics I snapped. Enjoy!

Believe it or not, this isn't even a busy street. Traffic goes in all directions - it's lawless and chaotic and makes crossing the street an adventure. 

Street stalls serve food on sidewalks, in alleys, in apartments. Pull up a small stool and dig in.

 Bún Cá is a noodle soup with fried and steamed fish. Breakfast of champions, eaten right on the sidewalk.

One of my favorite photos from the trip. Street vendors sell everything from books and dvd's to breads and fruit.

Another street food: Banh cuon is a steamed rice pancake stuffed with minced pork and mushrooms. Everything was made fresh right in front of us.  Left and below the woman makes fresh pancakes while the woman to her left stuffs and wraps them. 

Gorgeous produce at a local street market. 

Cleaning clams in a makeshift kitchen space in an alley under some stairs. 

 

This woman is cleaning, killing and prepping frogs for sale. That green mesh bag is full of live frogs!

This seems like a good place for a nap....

As does this...why not?

Pleasure cruisin'

Most women are covered from head to toe. They hate to get any sun. Notice how the jacket even covers her fingers! And by the way, it's sweltering in Hanoi in the summer!

This smoked meat was being mixed with a ton of garlic and some spice for coloring. It then went into the below soup.

Bun Cha, one of Hanoi's signature dishes, is a soup with white rice noodles,  barbecue pork, pork meatballs and the above meat!

Children here are always running around - and at all hours. We saw kids out well past midnight just playing.

Hard day's work.

Pat and I stumbled upon these teens having a dance competition. I guess that's what kids do these days!

From Hanoi, with love   xxP + G

Read More Hanoi Tips Here!

When Life Gives You Lemons….

Tangy and sweet, I love these lemon bars for their amazing blend of flavors. The crust is the perfect bite of a sugary, buttery base, while the inside oozes with the taste of pure lemon perfection. 

Leave it to Ina to always have the best recipe! I paired these lemon bars with Alton Brown’s brownies and served them side-by-side on a platter. They are the perfect summer dessert and your guests will be nothing short of impressed.

Recipe adapted from The Food Network

What You’ll Need:

Crust:
1/2 pound unsalted butter at room temp
1/2 C granulated sugar
2 C flour
1/8 tsp salt


Filling:
6 eggs at room temp
3 C granulated sugar
2 Tbs lemon zest
1 C fresh lemon juice
1 C flour
Confectioner's sugar for dusting

What To Do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 Celsius). Make the crust: In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light. Combine the flour and salt and slowly add to the butter until just mixed. Gather the dough onto a floured surface and make into a ball. With your hands (flour them first!) flatten the dough and press into a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Leave the oven on. Let crust cool.

Make the filling: whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 35-45 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.

Cut into triangles or squares and dust with confectioners' sugar.

Hanoi – Here We Come!

One of the many amazing things about living in HK is the access to Southeast Asia. HK is absolutely the gateway to a million wonderful adventures.

So while I’m excited to finally be settling into our new lives here – it’s time to pack the bags and start exploring!

Next weekend we’ll head to Hanoi, Vietnam for a quick trip. The under-2-hour-flight means that we’re able to go from Friday to Sunday for a weekend getaway.

So what should we do while we’re there? Who has been and what do you recommend?  As always, looking for any great cultural must-sees and let’s not forget about the ever important…food!

Leave me a comment or drop me a line with your suggestions! xx

Chi Lin Nunnery + Nan Lian Gardens

Nan Lian Gardens with apartment buildings all around.  Check out that amazing orange!

One of my favorite things about Hong Kong is that, while you’re in the middle of a giant city, you can always find an escape. In these oases it’s easy to forget that you’re in the epicenter of a bustling metropolis. And then you look up and all around you are cement buildings and skyscrapers and malls. But for just a moment, you could have been a million miles away.

Chi Lin Nunnery

Amazing architecture and greenery

Recently I took an afternoon trip to the Chi Lin Nunnery and Nan Lian Garden in Kowloon. The Nunnery and Garden boast beautiful grounds, maintained to a T. The Nunnery was founded in 1934 and rebuilt in the 90's in traditional Tang Dynasty (618AD to 907AD) architectural style. That means that they are built without any iron nails and there are special interlocking systems cut into the wood to hold the buildings together! Pretty amazing. The Nunnery buildings are the only buildings in Hong Kong built using Tang Dynasty techniques.  Inside are massive gold statues of Buddhas and goddesses. They are awe-inspiring.

The Garden, built in 2006, was built in the classical style of the Tang Dynasty.  The position of each structure, rock, plant and tree in the garden was perfectly crafted to accommodate the rules of the Tang style.  It’s a gorgeous area to stroll through or to relax in the shade and escape big city living.

Beautiful gardens and ponds

Hard at work maintaining the feng shui of the tree!

Visitors at The Nunnery

Chocolatey Goodness Brownies!

This weekend we had some friends over for a good old-fashioned BBQ. After all, it was Memorial Day in the states and nothing says summer kick off like grilling! So while we don’t celebrate Memorial Day here in Hong Kong, it was nice to have a little taste of home.

We kept it simple with a green salad, grilled zucchini and burgers with all the fixins.

For dessert, I was craving a simple chocolatey treat and so I attempted my first Hong Kong baking and made Alton Brown’s brownies. 

The prep was ridiculously easy, calling for only a handful of ingredients that I already had in my cabinet. This is a great recipe to have on hand for a last minute dessert emergency (as if you don’t have those often!).

The brownies turned out to have a nice, crisp top to them but were all chew and goo on the inside. They boast deep and sweet chocolate notes without being too rich. One-bite brownie? No way. Be prepared to go back for seconds.

Recipe adapted from The Food Network

What You’ll Need:

4 large eggs

1 C Sugar

1 C brow sugar

8 Oz butter, melted + square of butter for greasing pan

1 ¼ C cocoa powder, unsweetened

2 tsp vanilla extract

½ C flour + extra for dusting the pan

2 pinches kosher salt

What To Do:

Grease an 8x8 pan with butter and dust with flour. Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

Using an electric whisk, beat the eggs on medium until light and fluffy. Add both sugars and mix. Add butter, cocoa, vanilla, flour and salt. Mix all ingredients until batter is well combined.

Pour batter into greased pan. Bake at 300 for 45-55 minutes. To test, insert a toothpick in the center – when it comes out clean, your brownies are done.  Let brownies cool. Cut and serve.  Enjoy!

Say What??

Today I graduated from Beginner 1 Cantonese!

After two weeks of daily classes I can finally say That dog is small and expensive! No really, I do know how to say that. Although I can't tell you why I would ever need to say that!

I can also say Please, come in! Have some tea! Of course, that too, I will use all the time when I invite strangers in for tea.

Also in my repertoire: My name is Gillian. I am American. I am a student. I would like a cup of ice coffee, please. Excuse me. I am sorry. That is too expensive! Is that a Japanese car? Does your boss wear nice clothes? Do you like German food? Is your book thick or thin? Yesterday I ate 6 apples. The rickshaw is slow. There are no rickshaws in Hong Kong but there is a tram. Thank you!


Of course, Cantonese is quite hard! (Oh, I can say that, too). It takes me a while to understand what the teacher is asking me and even longer to spit out a sentence. And, even then, it's a great moment if I get it right!  But, after only 2 weeks, I can pick up words that I hear on the street and use greetings when talking to my neighbors. Those small things go a long way.

And, of course, if we're ever in the market to buy a big, lazy cow, I'll know how to ask for that too!

Inch by inch, row by row...

When Pat and I found an apartment with a rooftop, I decided that I was going to test out my green thumb.  In my head was a vision of a glorious rooftop garden. So urban! So green!

Because I really know nothing about gardening, I enlisted one of my Foon Ying moms to take me to the flower market in Kowloon. The flower market is about 8 blocks lined with flower shops filled with plants, trees, fresh flowers, exotic flowers, and countless orchids of all colors, shapes and sizes.

After a few hours on the first trip we settled on an orange tree for the roof. If all works out, Pat and I should have sweet oranges ready to eat by September! Right now they look like limes on the tree. (I must point out that the woman who sold me the plant didn't speak a word of English. I wouldn't be surprised if come September we learned that we were growing grapefruits or lemons!)

I went back for a second trip and bought basil, peppermint, tomato, rosemary and a pepper plant. I also bought three planters and filled them with cheery flowers!

Once everything was set up on the roof it was time to start tending to my plants. I’ve really become obsessed and am out there night and day scoping the progress of the “garden.”  I’ve been reading up on blogs and diagnosing my plants as they progress (or, sadly, die) - dead-heading, pruning, monitoring bugs (do I have mealy bugs? – yuck!), spraying home remedies for some ants (which in turn killed my basil!), there may or may not be spider mites on my rosemary and I’m figuring out just the right amount of water to keep the orange tree healthy.

Of course, living in HK we contend with a different climate – lots of heat and constant humidity. My plants are a fun experiment and I am learning as I go, but admittedly I have a lot to learn before my garden looks like Ina Garten’s. Or, perhaps I’m truly just a city girl. And you know what they say…you can take the girl out of New York….

Spicing things up with pots of peppers!

Not a bad day to be a flower! These really add some cheer to our roof.

Got any garden tips or tricks? Send ‘em my way!