It was a first for me. I had been curious about Vietnamese food for
years but never got around to trying it. Today my son and I went to
Hamilton for something and were driving along looking for the place and
passed an area where there were a number of Vietnamese stores and
restaurants. After we got what we had gone there for we went back and
had a late lunch/early supper. I can't begin pronounce the dish I had
but it was rice vermicelli with a spring roll and grilled chicken. It
was pretty tasty.

On 2015-01-22, Dave Smith > wrote:

> It was a first for me. I had been curious about Vietnamese food for
> years but never got around to trying it. Today my son and I went to
> Hamilton for something and were driving along looking for the place
> and passed an area where there were a number of Vietnamese stores
> and restaurants. After we got what we had gone there for we went
> back and had a late lunch/early supper. I can't begin pronounce the
> dish I had but it was rice vermicelli with a spring roll and grilled
> chicken. It was pretty tasty.

While Viet food can be quite good and very tasty, some of it can also
be pretty boring. Not sure what it is, but the take-out I usta
frequent hadda lotta desert items for sale. While there were many
different looking food-stuffs, they were all contained the same thing,
some kinda rice gummy-bear concoction w/ day-glo green and pink
colors. Rows and rows of 'em. Weird stuff.

The thing I liked about this one place were the awesome bánh mì's.
They also had a display counter w/ hot dishes in bain-marie's. I
ordered a batch of little birds, baked whole. Very good. Another
thing I loved was the fresh soy milk. I will not buy that stuff in a
carton on the sprmkt shelf, but fresh, chilled, soy milk is quite
tasty. Very close to real milk. The pennywort drink was pretty good,
too, despite containing pennywort seeds almost as big as those tapioca
beads one gets in bubble drinks.

I will be trying to bake bánh mì baguettes, this weekend.

nb

On 1/22/2015 1:21 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
> It was a first for me. I had been curious about Vietnamese food for
> years but never got around to trying it. Today my son and I went to
> Hamilton for something and were driving along looking for the place and
> passed an area where there were a number of Vietnamese stores and
> restaurants. After we got what we had gone there for we went back and
> had a late lunch/early supper. I can't begin pronounce the dish I had
> but it was rice vermicelli with a spring roll and grilled chicken. It
> was pretty tasty.

We are regulars to a Vietnamese place down the street. The guy always
knows what we're gonna order. The wife gets lemon grass chicken. My son
gets garlic chicken. I show my face there and the owner says "Chicken
Wing!" I guess that's what he knows me as. What can I say, it's great
chicken wings.

My son took me to a VT restaurant that he favors. It's kind of a
hole-in-the-wall, although that's the way most VT joints are. There was
a hen and a line of baby chicks strolling around in the kitchen. Damn,
you can't get more authentic than that!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8szUeopBjyw

One of the stops on my tour is in Vietnam. We want to go to the water
puppet show, so we may miss dinner on the ship.

Neither of us can tolerate hot-spicy foods. What are some things in Ho
Chi Minh City that you all would recommend we order?

No chicken--the travel nurse said not to order chicken because of bird flu.

--
From somewhere very deep in the heart of Texas

On 24/01/2015 4:03 AM, notbob wrote:
> On 2015-01-22, Dave Smith > wrote:
>
>> It was a first for me. I had been curious about Vietnamese food for
>> years but never got around to trying it. Today my son and I went to
>> Hamilton for something and were driving along looking for the place
>> and passed an area where there were a number of Vietnamese stores
>> and restaurants. After we got what we had gone there for we went
>> back and had a late lunch/early supper. I can't begin pronounce the
>> dish I had but it was rice vermicelli with a spring roll and grilled
>> chicken. It was pretty tasty.
>
> While Viet food can be quite good and very tasty, some of it can also
> be pretty boring. Not sure what it is, but the take-out I usta
> frequent hadda lotta desert items for sale. While there were many
> different looking food-stuffs, they were all contained the same thing,
> some kinda rice gummy-bear concoction w/ day-glo green and pink
> colors. Rows and rows of 'em. Weird stuff.

Yes, used to get the same thing in Melbourne at our local Vietnamese
food shop. Pretty bland stuff. You will find the Asian idea of a cake is
different to yours as well. It will be either a horribly sweet jelly
like thing or small cakes as you describe that are definitely flavour
free zones.
>
> The thing I liked about this one place were the awesome bánh mì's.
> They also had a display counter w/ hot dishes in bain-marie's. I
> ordered a batch of little birds, baked whole. Very good. Another
> thing I loved was the fresh soy milk. I will not buy that stuff in a
> carton on the sprmkt shelf, but fresh, chilled, soy milk is quite
> tasty. Very close to real milk. The pennywort drink was pretty good,
> too, despite containing pennywort seeds almost as big as those tapioca
> beads one gets in bubble drinks.
>
> I will be trying to bake bánh mì baguettes, this weekend.
>
> nb
>


--

Xeno.

On Thursday, January 22, 2015 at 6:21:02 PM UTC-5, Dave Smith wrote:
> It was a first for me. I had been curious about Vietnamese food for
> years but never got around to trying it. Today my son and I went to
> Hamilton for something and were driving along looking for the place and
> passed an area where there were a number of Vietnamese stores and
> restaurants. After we got what we had gone there for we went back and
> had a late lunch/early supper. I can't begin pronounce the dish I had
> but it was rice vermicelli with a spring roll and grilled chicken. It
> was pretty tasty.

If you're ever in Philly, try the following: the baby clams in crispy rice bowl at Le Viet - the Vietnamese Crepe at Pho Ta (both at 11th & Washington). Ba La Bakery at 6th & Washington makes the best Banh Mi in the city.

On 24/01/2015 7:47 AM, Sqwertz wrote:
> On Fri, 23 Jan 2015 13:36:36 -0600, Janet Wilder wrote:
>
>> Neither of us can tolerate hot-spicy foods. What are some things in Ho
>> Chi Minh City that you all would recommend we order?
>>
>> No chicken--the travel nurse said not to order chicken because of bird flu.
>
> Your nurse is paranoid and over-reactive. You stand a much better
> chance of getting salmonella or listeria here in the U.S. than you do
> getting bird flu in SE Asia. Your best bet in Vietnam right now is
> contracting measles more than anything else.
>
> -sw
>
True. It seems the only people who contract bird flu are those who work
full time with live chickens. The paranoia spreads far more readily than
the bird flu does.

--

Xeno.

On 1/23/2015 5:16 PM, Xeno wrote:
> On 24/01/2015 4:03 AM, notbob wrote:
>> On 2015-01-22, Dave Smith > wrote:
>>
>>> It was a first for me. I had been curious about Vietnamese food for
>>> years but never got around to trying it. Today my son and I went to
>>> Hamilton for something and were driving along looking for the place
>>> and passed an area where there were a number of Vietnamese stores
>>> and restaurants. After we got what we had gone there for we went
>>> back and had a late lunch/early supper. I can't begin pronounce the
>>> dish I had but it was rice vermicelli with a spring roll and grilled
>>> chicken. It was pretty tasty.
>>
>> While Viet food can be quite good and very tasty, some of it can also
>> be pretty boring. Not sure what it is, but the take-out I usta
>> frequent hadda lotta desert items for sale. While there were many
>> different looking food-stuffs, they were all contained the same thing,
>> some kinda rice gummy-bear concoction w/ day-glo green and pink
>> colors. Rows and rows of 'em. Weird stuff.
>
> Yes, used to get the same thing in Melbourne at our local Vietnamese
> food shop. Pretty bland stuff. You will find the Asian idea of a cake is
> different to yours as well. It will be either a horribly sweet jelly
> like thing or small cakes as you describe that are definitely flavour
> free zones.
>>
>> The thing I liked about this one place were the awesome bánh mì's.
>> They also had a display counter w/ hot dishes in bain-marie's. I
>> ordered a batch of little birds, baked whole. Very good. Another
>> thing I loved was the fresh soy milk. I will not buy that stuff in a
>> carton on the sprmkt shelf, but fresh, chilled, soy milk is quite
>> tasty. Very close to real milk. The pennywort drink was pretty good,
>> too, despite containing pennywort seeds almost as big as those tapioca
>> beads one gets in bubble drinks.
>>
>> I will be trying to bake bánh mì baguettes, this weekend.

I still find Pho Ga (chicken soup with noodles) to make a very good
lunch. For the record, my favorite place is Pho Nam, on Shady Grove Road
in Gaithersburg, MD.

--
Jim Silverton (Potomac, MD)

Extraneous "not." in Reply To.

On Friday, January 23, 2015 at 11:36:39 AM UTC-8, Janet Wilder wrote:
> One of the stops on my tour is in Vietnam. We want to go to the water
> puppet show, so we may miss dinner on the ship.
>
> Neither of us can tolerate hot-spicy foods. What are some things in Ho
> Chi Minh City that you all would recommend we order?
>
> No chicken--the travel nurse said not to order chicken because of bird flu.

In my experience, most dishes are not hot-spicy. Avoid Bun Bo Hue, a noodle
soup. But then it features sliced pigs feet and squares of congealed pig's
blood, as well as dried shrimp.

There are plenty of beef and vegetarian dishes. Seafood features shrimp,
crab, and catfish, however.

On 1/23/2015 2:47 PM, Sqwertz wrote:
> On Fri, 23 Jan 2015 13:36:36 -0600, Janet Wilder wrote:
>
>> Neither of us can tolerate hot-spicy foods. What are some things in Ho
>> Chi Minh City that you all would recommend we order?
>>
>> No chicken--the travel nurse said not to order chicken because of bird flu.
>
> Your nurse is paranoid and over-reactive. You stand a much better
> chance of getting salmonella or listeria here in the U.S. than you do
> getting bird flu in SE Asia. Your best bet in Vietnam right now is
> contracting measles more than anything else.
>
> -sw
>
Had them as a child. I'm immune.

--
From somewhere very deep in the heart of Texas

On 1/23/2015 4:49 PM, wrote:
> On Friday, January 23, 2015 at 11:36:39 AM UTC-8, Janet Wilder wrote:
>> One of the stops on my tour is in Vietnam. We want to go to the water
>> puppet show, so we may miss dinner on the ship.
>>
>> Neither of us can tolerate hot-spicy foods. What are some things in Ho
>> Chi Minh City that you all would recommend we order?
>>
>> No chicken--the travel nurse said not to order chicken because of bird flu.
>
> In my experience, most dishes are not hot-spicy. Avoid Bun Bo Hue, a noodle
> soup. But then it features sliced pigs feet and squares of congealed pig's
> blood, as well as dried shrimp.
>
> There are plenty of beef and vegetarian dishes. Seafood features shrimp,
> crab, and catfish, however.
>
Thanks. Do you know any names of dishes. I'd like to be able to order.

--
From somewhere very deep in the heart of Texas

On 1/23/2015 4:25 PM, Xeno wrote:
> On 24/01/2015 7:47 AM, Sqwertz wrote:
>> On Fri, 23 Jan 2015 13:36:36 -0600, Janet Wilder wrote:
>>
>>> Neither of us can tolerate hot-spicy foods. What are some things in Ho
>>> Chi Minh City that you all would recommend we order?
>>>
>>> No chicken--the travel nurse said not to order chicken because of
>>> bird flu.
>>
>> Your nurse is paranoid and over-reactive. You stand a much better
>> chance of getting salmonella or listeria here in the U.S. than you do
>> getting bird flu in SE Asia. Your best bet in Vietnam right now is
>> contracting measles more than anything else.
>>
>> -sw
>>
> True. It seems the only people who contract bird flu are those who work
> full time with live chickens. The paranoia spreads far more readily than
> the bird flu does.
>
It was my friend's travel nurse who is with Kaiser. It is in Kaiser's
literature on traveling to those countries.

I've had more than my share of health issues and I live with (currently
in remission) lung cancer, so please understand if I'm a bit over cautious.

--
From somewhere very deep in the heart of Texas

On 24/01/2015 10:32 AM, Janet Wilder wrote:
> On 1/23/2015 4:25 PM, Xeno wrote:
>> On 24/01/2015 7:47 AM, Sqwertz wrote:
>>> On Fri, 23 Jan 2015 13:36:36 -0600, Janet Wilder wrote:
>>>
>>>> Neither of us can tolerate hot-spicy foods. What are some things in Ho
>>>> Chi Minh City that you all would recommend we order?
>>>>
>>>> No chicken--the travel nurse said not to order chicken because of
>>>> bird flu.
>>>
>>> Your nurse is paranoid and over-reactive. You stand a much better
>>> chance of getting salmonella or listeria here in the U.S. than you do
>>> getting bird flu in SE Asia. Your best bet in Vietnam right now is
>>> contracting measles more than anything else.
>>>
>>> -sw
>>>
>> True. It seems the only people who contract bird flu are those who work
>> full time with live chickens. The paranoia spreads far more readily than
>> the bird flu does.
>>
> It was my friend's travel nurse who is with Kaiser. It is in Kaiser's
> literature on traveling to those countries.
>
> I've had more than my share of health issues and I live with (currently
> in remission) lung cancer, so please understand if I'm a bit over cautious.
>
I understand health issues quite well. My point is that all too often
people focus on the item they are least likely to become infected by and
forget the more subtle ones. As an example, on my last trip to Thailand
in 2001, I visited the family farm in Ayuttaya. I took a look inside the
water tanks, something you should always do. I had been drinking from
the local rainwater tanks on previous trips but this time the tanks had
mosquitoes in them, Not a good sign. The people were getting old I guess
and didn't maintain the tanks as well as they should have been. Anyway,
on seeing the mosquitoes, I determined then and there that I would only
drink bottled water for the duration. I was brought undone by my brother
in law who topped up my water bottle from the tank... it didn't affect
them as they were immune. I partook of but a sip before I realized that
the water tasted strange. That tiny sip was enough. Within 2 hours the
fever had begun and I was pretty much stuffed for the next two weeks of
my time in Thailand. Unfortunately that episode left me with some rather
long term consequences. On my return to work I lasted about 2 or 3 weeks
before it became acutely apparent that I wasn't recovered. I spent 6
months on sick leave, another 18 months on provisional retirement, then
permanent retirement since. I have only just begun to make reasonable
progress back to good health in the past 2 or 3 years but I am still not
back to where I was nor am I likely to be again.

All for the sake of a sip of water.

For the record, everyone else drank that water, including my wife, but
they had no issues - immunity developed over their lifetimes being the
key.

--

Xeno.

On 1/23/2015 6:07 PM, Xeno wrote:
> On 24/01/2015 10:32 AM, Janet Wilder wrote:
>> On 1/23/2015 4:25 PM, Xeno wrote:
>>> On 24/01/2015 7:47 AM, Sqwertz wrote:
>>>> On Fri, 23 Jan 2015 13:36:36 -0600, Janet Wilder wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Neither of us can tolerate hot-spicy foods. What are some things
>>>>> in Ho
>>>>> Chi Minh City that you all would recommend we order?
>>>>>
>>>>> No chicken--the travel nurse said not to order chicken because of
>>>>> bird flu.
>>>>
>>>> Your nurse is paranoid and over-reactive. You stand a much better
>>>> chance of getting salmonella or listeria here in the U.S. than you do
>>>> getting bird flu in SE Asia. Your best bet in Vietnam right now is
>>>> contracting measles more than anything else.
>>>>
>>>> -sw
>>>>
>>> True. It seems the only people who contract bird flu are those who work
>>> full time with live chickens. The paranoia spreads far more readily than
>>> the bird flu does.
>>>
>> It was my friend's travel nurse who is with Kaiser. It is in Kaiser's
>> literature on traveling to those countries.
>>
>> I've had more than my share of health issues and I live with (currently
>> in remission) lung cancer, so please understand if I'm a bit over
>> cautious.
>>
> I understand health issues quite well. My point is that all too often
> people focus on the item they are least likely to become infected by and
> forget the more subtle ones. As an example, on my last trip to Thailand
> in 2001, I visited the family farm in Ayuttaya. I took a look inside the
> water tanks, something you should always do. I had been drinking from
> the local rainwater tanks on previous trips but this time the tanks had
> mosquitoes in them, Not a good sign. The people were getting old I guess
> and didn't maintain the tanks as well as they should have been. Anyway,
> on seeing the mosquitoes, I determined then and there that I would only
> drink bottled water for the duration. I was brought undone by my brother
> in law who topped up my water bottle from the tank... it didn't affect
> them as they were immune. I partook of but a sip before I realized that
> the water tasted strange. That tiny sip was enough. Within 2 hours the
> fever had begun and I was pretty much stuffed for the next two weeks of
> my time in Thailand. Unfortunately that episode left me with some rather
> long term consequences. On my return to work I lasted about 2 or 3 weeks
> before it became acutely apparent that I wasn't recovered. I spent 6
> months on sick leave, another 18 months on provisional retirement, then
> permanent retirement since. I have only just begun to make reasonable
> progress back to good health in the past 2 or 3 years but I am still not
> back to where I was nor am I likely to be again.
>
> All for the sake of a sip of water.
>
> For the record, everyone else drank that water, including my wife, but
> they had no issues - immunity developed over their lifetimes being the key.
>

Thanks for the story. I am now well warned.

I will only drink bottled water when we are ashore. I guess we should
be wary of raw vegetables as well as they are washed in the water.

I have to start taking my malaria preventative pills next Friday. One a
week for two weeks before leaving. One a week while gone and one a week
for 4 weeks after coming home. I am bringing 98% Deet spray as well as
spraying certain items of clothing with a special insect repellant spray.

--
From somewhere very deep in the heart of Texas

On 24/01/2015 12:04 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:
> On 1/23/2015 6:07 PM, Xeno wrote:
>> On 24/01/2015 10:32 AM, Janet Wilder wrote:

<snip>
>>
>
> Thanks for the story. I am now well warned.
>
> I will only drink bottled water when we are ashore. I guess we should
> be wary of raw vegetables as well as they are washed in the water.
>
> I have to start taking my malaria preventative pills next Friday. One a
> week for two weeks before leaving. One a week while gone and one a week
> for 4 weeks after coming home. I am bringing 98% Deet spray as well as
> spraying certain items of clothing with a special insect repellant spray.
>
One more thing I might warn you of. The insect sprays you use at home
may not work abroad. I found that with a common spray in use here -
aeroguard. It works for me here but, in Thailand, it seemed to attract
the mossies! I was forced to use the local varieties. They worked..

--

Xeno.

On 1/23/2015 2:07 PM, Xeno wrote:
> On 24/01/2015 10:32 AM, Janet Wilder wrote:
>> On 1/23/2015 4:25 PM, Xeno wrote:
>>> On 24/01/2015 7:47 AM, Sqwertz wrote:
>>>> On Fri, 23 Jan 2015 13:36:36 -0600, Janet Wilder wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Neither of us can tolerate hot-spicy foods. What are some things
>>>>> in Ho
>>>>> Chi Minh City that you all would recommend we order?
>>>>>
>>>>> No chicken--the travel nurse said not to order chicken because of
>>>>> bird flu.
>>>>
>>>> Your nurse is paranoid and over-reactive. You stand a much better
>>>> chance of getting salmonella or listeria here in the U.S. than you do
>>>> getting bird flu in SE Asia. Your best bet in Vietnam right now is
>>>> contracting measles more than anything else.
>>>>
>>>> -sw
>>>>
>>> True. It seems the only people who contract bird flu are those who work
>>> full time with live chickens. The paranoia spreads far more readily than
>>> the bird flu does.
>>>
>> It was my friend's travel nurse who is with Kaiser. It is in Kaiser's
>> literature on traveling to those countries.
>>
>> I've had more than my share of health issues and I live with (currently
>> in remission) lung cancer, so please understand if I'm a bit over
>> cautious.
>>
> I understand health issues quite well. My point is that all too often
> people focus on the item they are least likely to become infected by and
> forget the more subtle ones. As an example, on my last trip to Thailand
> in 2001, I visited the family farm in Ayuttaya. I took a look inside the
> water tanks, something you should always do. I had been drinking from
> the local rainwater tanks on previous trips but this time the tanks had
> mosquitoes in them, Not a good sign. The people were getting old I guess
> and didn't maintain the tanks as well as they should have been. Anyway,
> on seeing the mosquitoes, I determined then and there that I would only
> drink bottled water for the duration. I was brought undone by my brother
> in law who topped up my water bottle from the tank... it didn't affect
> them as they were immune. I partook of but a sip before I realized that
> the water tasted strange. That tiny sip was enough. Within 2 hours the
> fever had begun and I was pretty much stuffed for the next two weeks of
> my time in Thailand. Unfortunately that episode left me with some rather
> long term consequences. On my return to work I lasted about 2 or 3 weeks
> before it became acutely apparent that I wasn't recovered. I spent 6
> months on sick leave, another 18 months on provisional retirement, then
> permanent retirement since. I have only just begun to make reasonable
> progress back to good health in the past 2 or 3 years but I am still not
> back to where I was nor am I likely to be again.
>
> All for the sake of a sip of water.
>
> For the record, everyone else drank that water, including my wife, but
> they had no issues - immunity developed over their lifetimes being the key.
>

Sorry to hear this - that's one shitty deal. What did you get infected
with?

On 24/01/2015 1:25 PM, dsi2 wrote:
> On 1/23/2015 2:07 PM, Xeno wrote:
>> On 24/01/2015 10:32 AM, Janet Wilder wrote:
>>> On 1/23/2015 4:25 PM, Xeno wrote:
>>>> On 24/01/2015 7:47 AM, Sqwertz wrote:
>>>>> On Fri, 23 Jan 2015 13:36:36 -0600, Janet Wilder wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Neither of us can tolerate hot-spicy foods. What are some things
>>>>>> in Ho
>>>>>> Chi Minh City that you all would recommend we order?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> No chicken--the travel nurse said not to order chicken because of
>>>>>> bird flu.
>>>>>
>>>>> Your nurse is paranoid and over-reactive. You stand a much better
>>>>> chance of getting salmonella or listeria here in the U.S. than you do
>>>>> getting bird flu in SE Asia. Your best bet in Vietnam right now is
>>>>> contracting measles more than anything else.
>>>>>
>>>>> -sw
>>>>>
>>>> True. It seems the only people who contract bird flu are those who work
>>>> full time with live chickens. The paranoia spreads far more readily
>>>> than
>>>> the bird flu does.
>>>>
>>> It was my friend's travel nurse who is with Kaiser. It is in Kaiser's
>>> literature on traveling to those countries.
>>>
>>> I've had more than my share of health issues and I live with (currently
>>> in remission) lung cancer, so please understand if I'm a bit over
>>> cautious.
>>>
>> I understand health issues quite well. My point is that all too often
>> people focus on the item they are least likely to become infected by and
>> forget the more subtle ones. As an example, on my last trip to Thailand
>> in 2001, I visited the family farm in Ayuttaya. I took a look inside the
>> water tanks, something you should always do. I had been drinking from
>> the local rainwater tanks on previous trips but this time the tanks had
>> mosquitoes in them, Not a good sign. The people were getting old I guess
>> and didn't maintain the tanks as well as they should have been. Anyway,
>> on seeing the mosquitoes, I determined then and there that I would only
>> drink bottled water for the duration. I was brought undone by my brother
>> in law who topped up my water bottle from the tank... it didn't affect
>> them as they were immune. I partook of but a sip before I realized that
>> the water tasted strange. That tiny sip was enough. Within 2 hours the
>> fever had begun and I was pretty much stuffed for the next two weeks of
>> my time in Thailand. Unfortunately that episode left me with some rather
>> long term consequences. On my return to work I lasted about 2 or 3 weeks
>> before it became acutely apparent that I wasn't recovered. I spent 6
>> months on sick leave, another 18 months on provisional retirement, then
>> permanent retirement since. I have only just begun to make reasonable
>> progress back to good health in the past 2 or 3 years but I am still not
>> back to where I was nor am I likely to be again.
>>
>> All for the sake of a sip of water.
>>
>> For the record, everyone else drank that water, including my wife, but
>> they had no issues - immunity developed over their lifetimes being the
>> key.
>>
>
> Sorry to hear this - that's one shitty deal. What did you get infected
> with?

The doctors at the hospital I ended up in had no idea. By the time I got
there, the nasty had wreaked its havoc and moved on leaving me quite
debilitated. All they told me was that, given the symptoms, it was most
likely a virus. I suspect it might have been a form of Dengue though
they hang around for quite some time in an active state. A friend of
mine got infected with that when he was working offshore in Indonesia.
He ended up in Jakarta, then Singapore and they eventually medivacced
him to Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital in Melbourne. He was off
work for up to a year from memory. He has lived permanently in Thailand
now for the past 30 odd years so I hope he has built up an immunity in
that time....

The obvious answer is to avoid contact with water that has not been
extensively purified. I remember when I was in my sister in laws house
in Bangkok, I remember having a shower and the water was leaving a
burning sensation on my lips as it flowed across them. Later on I was
discussing this with my brothers in law and one, who worked for the
Bangkok Water Authority, told me that I didn't want to know what was
needed to be put into the water to purify it.. ;-) Even they didn't
drink that water!

--

Xeno.

On 24/01/2015 1:29 PM, Sqwertz wrote:
> On 23 Jan 2015 17:03:44 GMT, notbob wrote:
>
>> While Viet food can be quite good and very tasty, some of it can also
>> be pretty boring. Not sure what it is, but the take-out I usta
>> frequent hadda lotta desert items for sale.
>
> Maybe their desserts are boring (I'm not a dessert guy in any
> cuisine), but the real food is anything but boring or bland.
> Vietnamese is consistently some of the tastiest food on the planet due
> to the great use of the "Hot, pungent, sour, salty sweet" theory of
> food design.

That's how Thai food is described. I have never heard Vietnamese food
described quite like that. Vietnamese food tends to be boring by
comparison with Thai food. My wife and her niece went to Vietnam a
couple of years ago and found the food there tasteless according to
their palates. Vietnamese food in your area may be spiced up a little
compared to the average Vietnamese fare. Melbourne has a huge Vietnamese
community, Springvale being just one of them, and we would be down there
on average once every two weeks. That usually included a meal in a
Vietnamese restaurant. Once a couple of Thai restaurants appeared on the
scene there, the Viet restaurants were no longer visited - except for
the Pho restuarant mentioned in another post. That one, I might add, is
in Bayswater and is visited on occasions where shopping is not the focus.
>
> Come to think of it, I think I'll have some mam tom hue for dessert
> tonight (more pickled stuff!)
>
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/sqwert...5150/lightbox/
>
> -sw
>
We have a number of Vietnamese friends in Melbourne and we find their
food to be bland. That said, you can spice up their dishes much the same
as the Thai variety as, after all, the basics are pretty much the same.

--

Xeno.

On Sat, 24 Jan 2015 09:25:35 +1100, Xeno >
wrote:

> On 24/01/2015 7:47 AM, Sqwertz wrote:
> > On Fri, 23 Jan 2015 13:36:36 -0600, Janet Wilder wrote:
> >
> >> Neither of us can tolerate hot-spicy foods. What are some things in Ho
> >> Chi Minh City that you all would recommend we order?
> >>
> >> No chicken--the travel nurse said not to order chicken because of bird flu.
> >
> > Your nurse is paranoid and over-reactive. You stand a much better
> > chance of getting salmonella or listeria here in the U.S. than you do
> > getting bird flu in SE Asia. Your best bet in Vietnam right now is
> > contracting measles more than anything else.
> >
> > -sw
> >
> True. It seems the only people who contract bird flu are those who work
> full time with live chickens. The paranoia spreads far more readily than
> the bird flu does.

Thanks to Rupert M.

--
A kitchen without a cook is just a room

On Fri, 23 Jan 2015 17:32:34 -0600, Janet Wilder >
wrote:

> It was my friend's travel nurse who is with Kaiser. It is in Kaiser's
> literature on traveling to those countries.

I guess they figure it costs less to give an unnecessary vaccination
than it is to treat you after you get your one in a million chance of
contracting a particular illness.

--
A kitchen without a cook is just a room

On 1/23/2015 7:17 PM, Xeno wrote:
> On 24/01/2015 12:04 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:
>> On 1/23/2015 6:07 PM, Xeno wrote:
>>> On 24/01/2015 10:32 AM, Janet Wilder wrote:
>
> <snip>
>>>
>>
>> Thanks for the story. I am now well warned.
>>
>> I will only drink bottled water when we are ashore. I guess we should
>> be wary of raw vegetables as well as they are washed in the water.
>>
>> I have to start taking my malaria preventative pills next Friday. One a
>> week for two weeks before leaving. One a week while gone and one a week
>> for 4 weeks after coming home. I am bringing 98% Deet spray as well as
>> spraying certain items of clothing with a special insect repellant spray.
>>
> One more thing I might warn you of. The insect sprays you use at home
> may not work abroad. I found that with a common spray in use here -
> aeroguard. It works for me here but, in Thailand, it seemed to attract
> the mossies! I was forced to use the local varieties. They worked..
>
I'll keep that in mind, though everything I've read says that the
highest percentage of DEET should work.

--
From somewhere very deep in the heart of Texas

On 1/23/2015 10:00 PM, sf wrote:
> On Fri, 23 Jan 2015 17:32:34 -0600, Janet Wilder >
> wrote:
>
>> It was my friend's travel nurse who is with Kaiser. It is in Kaiser's
>> literature on traveling to those countries.
>
> I guess they figure it costs less to give an unnecessary vaccination
> than it is to treat you after you get your one in a million chance of
> contracting a particular illness.
>

There was no vaccination involved, just a warning.

My insurance company's nurse didn't say anything about bird flu but did
suggest I get a tetanus shot along with the Typhoid vaccine, Hep A and
usual flu and pneumonia vaccines.

--
From somewhere very deep in the heart of Texas

On 24/01/2015 2:22 PM, Sqwertz wrote:
> On Sat, 24 Jan 2015 13:53:36 +1100, Xeno wrote:
>
>> On 24/01/2015 1:29 PM, Sqwertz wrote:
>>
>>> Vietnamese is consistently some of the tastiest food on the planet due
>>> to the great use of the "Hot, pungent, sour, salty sweet" theory of
>>> food design.
>>
>> That's how Thai food is described.
>
> That applies to Southeast Asia in general. Not just Thailand and
> Vietnam. But take Vietnam's main condiment, for example - nuoc cham.
> I think there's even a couple-few books about the theme - they're not
> about Thailand, but SE Asia as a whole.
>
>> I have never heard Vietnamese food
>> described quite like that. Vietnamese food tends to be boring by
>> comparison with Thai food.
>
> You're not eating at the right places, then. Thailand puts more
> emphasis on heavy foods (more coconut milk) and heat, while Vietnamese
> is considered lighter fare.
>
>> My wife and her niece went to Vietnam a
>> couple of years ago and found the food there tasteless according to
>> their palates.
>
> I'm not really interested in your wife's secondhand experiences. I

No, they were their firsthand experiences and, being Thai, I expect they
are reasonably expert on the topic of Thai food. The niece, in
particular, is an expert on Thai food as she owns and runs a restaurant
in Ayuttaya, the old Thai capital.

> grew up (and out!) with Vietnamese people in some of the top
> Vietnamese neighborhoods in the U.S. and rarely did I find anything
> bland.

It wouldn't be bland to your palate but it would be to other Asians.
Chinese food tends to be more so...

> If it was bland it was by design. Every cuisine has foods
> like that, but only England has universally bland food <ducking> (but
> it's all relative - they're used to it!).
>
> I don't know what's served in Australia or how it's modified for the
> Australian tastes. But I know what I've experienced has not been
> dumbed down or up.
>
> -sw
>
It's interesting. 30 years and more ago in Australia, and in particular
Melbourne and Sydney, Vietnamese food was popular. This was because, due
to the refugee situation, the Vietnamese community grew to be the
largest single Asian community there. As Thai food became more popular,
the Vietnamese restaurants, The Malaysian restaurants and the Chinese
restaurants all morphed into Thai restaurants. Some even had signs
alerting one to their duality; Vietnamese and Thai Restaurant or
Malaysian and Thai Restaurant. The sad thing was that all they produced
was a sad representation of Thai food. That's why, out of the literally
hundreds of Thai restaurants in Melbourne, there are very few that Thais
themselves will frequent. Why do you think that is?

--

Xeno.

On Friday, January 23, 2015 at 4:44:02 PM UTC-10, Xeno wrote:
> On 24/01/2015 1:25 PM, dsi2 wrote:
> > On 1/23/2015 2:07 PM, Xeno wrote:
> >> On 24/01/2015 10:32 AM, Janet Wilder wrote:
> >>> On 1/23/2015 4:25 PM, Xeno wrote:
> >>>> On 24/01/2015 7:47 AM, Sqwertz wrote:
> >>>>> On Fri, 23 Jan 2015 13:36:36 -0600, Janet Wilder wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> Neither of us can tolerate hot-spicy foods. What are some things
> >>>>>> in Ho
> >>>>>> Chi Minh City that you all would recommend we order?
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> No chicken--the travel nurse said not to order chicken because of
> >>>>>> bird flu.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Your nurse is paranoid and over-reactive. You stand a much better
> >>>>> chance of getting salmonella or listeria here in the U.S. than you do
> >>>>> getting bird flu in SE Asia. Your best bet in Vietnam right now is
> >>>>> contracting measles more than anything else.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> -sw
> >>>>>
> >>>> True. It seems the only people who contract bird flu are those who work
> >>>> full time with live chickens. The paranoia spreads far more readily
> >>>> than
> >>>> the bird flu does.
> >>>>
> >>> It was my friend's travel nurse who is with Kaiser. It is in Kaiser's
> >>> literature on traveling to those countries.
> >>>
> >>> I've had more than my share of health issues and I live with (currently
> >>> in remission) lung cancer, so please understand if I'm a bit over
> >>> cautious.
> >>>
> >> I understand health issues quite well. My point is that all too often
> >> people focus on the item they are least likely to become infected by and
> >> forget the more subtle ones. As an example, on my last trip to Thailand
> >> in 2001, I visited the family farm in Ayuttaya. I took a look inside the
> >> water tanks, something you should always do. I had been drinking from
> >> the local rainwater tanks on previous trips but this time the tanks had
> >> mosquitoes in them, Not a good sign. The people were getting old I guess
> >> and didn't maintain the tanks as well as they should have been. Anyway,
> >> on seeing the mosquitoes, I determined then and there that I would only
> >> drink bottled water for the duration. I was brought undone by my brother
> >> in law who topped up my water bottle from the tank... it didn't affect
> >> them as they were immune. I partook of but a sip before I realized that
> >> the water tasted strange. That tiny sip was enough. Within 2 hours the
> >> fever had begun and I was pretty much stuffed for the next two weeks of
> >> my time in Thailand. Unfortunately that episode left me with some rather
> >> long term consequences. On my return to work I lasted about 2 or 3 weeks
> >> before it became acutely apparent that I wasn't recovered. I spent 6
> >> months on sick leave, another 18 months on provisional retirement, then
> >> permanent retirement since. I have only just begun to make reasonable
> >> progress back to good health in the past 2 or 3 years but I am still not
> >> back to where I was nor am I likely to be again.
> >>
> >> All for the sake of a sip of water.
> >>
> >> For the record, everyone else drank that water, including my wife, but
> >> they had no issues - immunity developed over their lifetimes being the
> >> key.
> >>
> >
> > Sorry to hear this - that's one shitty deal. What did you get infected
> > with?
>
> The doctors at the hospital I ended up in had no idea. By the time I got
> there, the nasty had wreaked its havoc and moved on leaving me quite
> debilitated. All they told me was that, given the symptoms, it was most
> likely a virus. I suspect it might have been a form of Dengue though
> they hang around for quite some time in an active state. A friend of
> mine got infected with that when he was working offshore in Indonesia.
> He ended up in Jakarta, then Singapore and they eventually medivacced
> him to Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital in Melbourne. He was off
> work for up to a year from memory. He has lived permanently in Thailand
> now for the past 30 odd years so I hope he has built up an immunity in
> that time....

We had a dengue fever outbreak on this rock a few years ago. That was kind of scary. I have not heard of this disease being passed by water though.

>
> The obvious answer is to avoid contact with water that has not been
> extensively purified. I remember when I was in my sister in laws house
> in Bangkok, I remember having a shower and the water was leaving a
> burning sensation on my lips as it flowed across them. Later on I was
> discussing this with my brothers in law and one, who worked for the
> Bangkok Water Authority, told me that I didn't want to know what was
> needed to be put into the water to purify it.. ;-) Even they didn't
> drink that water!

Well okay, you got me sold!

>
> --
>
> Xeno.

Sqwertz wrote:
>
> I grew up (and out!) with Vietnamese people in some of the top
> Vietnamese neighborhoods in the U.S.

While I don't doubt your experience with V food, including your own
dishes, you have to admit that was a somewhat comical boast. I got a
chuckle out of it. Where are the top 10 Vietnamese neighborhoods in
the U.S. ?

On 24/01/2015 4:56 PM, Sqwertz wrote:
> On Sat, 24 Jan 2015 15:21:33 +1100, Xeno wrote:
>
>> On 24/01/2015 2:22 PM, Sqwertz wrote:
>>> On Sat, 24 Jan 2015 13:53:36 +1100, Xeno wrote:
>>>>
>>>> My wife and her niece went to Vietnam a
>>>> couple of years ago and found the food there tasteless according to
>>>> their palates.
>>>
>>> I'm not really interested in your wife's secondhand experiences. I
>>
>> No, they were their firsthand experiences and, being Thai, I expect they
>> are reasonably expert on the topic of Thai food.
>
> But you said they went to Vietnam...

Where else would you go to get real Vietnamese cuisine?
We have friends in Vietnam though they are not Vietnamese. One is Thai,
the other Sri Lankan. They are the persons with whom my wife and her
niece visited. During their stay in Vietnam, they dined at all manner of
food venues from high class restaurants to street vendors.

> I would not expect a Thai person
> to find Vietnamese food more appealing than Thai food and would except
> negative comments.

But you said Vietnamese food is as spicy as Thai... If so, there
shouldn't be a problem, right?
>
> This is getting even less interesting. Vietnamese food is not bland.

Eat Thai food done properly for long enough and you will soon have
palate adaptation and you will agree with me. The operative phrase here
is "done properly". My wife and all her friends can tell in an instant
if the food in a restaurant is not cooked by a Thai well versed in Thai
cooking. What they also do, if they are trying a new restaurant out, is
bring a selection of their own condiments along, including chilli sauce,
as they find restaurant fare generally not to their liking. If they know
the restaurant or have advice from friends, they know they don't need to
bring extras along.
A good example is a Thai restaurant we went to once here where we now
live. The restaurant was very popular here and did extremely good
business. My wife said the food wasn't right. Our friends said the owner
was Thai. We met the owner later that evening and it turns out he wasn't
Thai at all, he was Burmese. The two countries are adjacent neighbours
but the cuisines are different and that influenced the owner's view of
what Thai food was like. My wife will not go there again.
The Thai restaurant just up the road was a different matter entirely.
The owner is a real Thai and the restaurant does Thai food done right.
We have been there several times...
>
>> It's interesting. 30 years and more ago in Australia, and in particular
>> Melbourne and Sydney, Vietnamese food was popular. This was because, due
>> to the refugee situation, the Vietnamese community grew to be the
>> largest single Asian community there. As Thai food became more popular,
>> the Vietnamese restaurants, The Malaysian restaurants and the Chinese
>> restaurants all morphed into Thai restaurants. Some even had signs
>> alerting one to their duality; Vietnamese and Thai Restaurant or
>> Malaysian and Thai Restaurant. The sad thing was that all they produced
>> was a sad representation of Thai food. That's why, out of the literally
>> hundreds of Thai restaurants in Melbourne, there are very few that Thais
>> themselves will frequent. Why do you think that is?
>
> I can't comment on what they serve in Australia.

Nor I the US.. but my wife can comment on Thai and Vietnamese food both
here and in those cuisines respective countries. I can only go by what
she says with respect to Vietnam since I haven't been there. I have
sampled the cuisines of Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and
Burma whilst I was in those countries.

> The Vietnamese
> restaurants I frequented were packed with Vietnamese people and didn't
> speak much if any Engrish.

In Melbourne you get that if you go to Springvale, Footscray or North
Richmond. These three are Vietnamese enclaves. I am most familiar with
Springvale because we used to go there regularly and North Richmond
because I worked at Richmond Technical College just a short distance
down the road.

> After 9:00pm the restaurants would get
> packed with large groups of Vietnamese people smoking cigarettes
> (illegal in restaurants) all yelling in their obnoxious-sounding
> language that annoyed the hell out of me. But I still patronized all

It is an odd language and it takes some getting used to. But then, so is
Thai. Both languages are, for want of a better term, discordant. i have
become used to Thai by now obviously but I still haven't become used to
Vietnamese even though I have a number of Vietnamese friends.

> those places. I was known as 'white guy mam nem' in one restaurant,
> which was a term of admiration of sorts - because a lot of Vietnamese
> people won't even go nea mam nem while I ordered it by the pint (it's
> a very powerful fishy condiment).
>
> -sw
>
We buy those "fishy" condiments by the carton. Much cheaper if you buy
them in that manner at an Asian Wholesale Food supplier.

--

Xeno.

On 24/01/2015 5:24 PM, dsi1 wrote:
> On Friday, January 23, 2015 at 4:44:02 PM UTC-10, Xeno wrote:


<snip>

>>> Sorry to hear this - that's one shitty deal. What did you get infected
>>> with?
>>
>> The doctors at the hospital I ended up in had no idea. By the time I got
>> there, the nasty had wreaked its havoc and moved on leaving me quite
>> debilitated. All they told me was that, given the symptoms, it was most
>> likely a virus. I suspect it might have been a form of Dengue though
>> they hang around for quite some time in an active state. A friend of
>> mine got infected with that when he was working offshore in Indonesia.
>> He ended up in Jakarta, then Singapore and they eventually medivacced
>> him to Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital in Melbourne. He was off
>> work for up to a year from memory. He has lived permanently in Thailand
>> now for the past 30 odd years so I hope he has built up an immunity in
>> that time....
>
> We had a dengue fever outbreak on this rock a few years ago. That was
> kind of scary. I have not heard of this disease being passed by water
> though.
>
>
I as under the impression it was transmitted by mosquitoes. That's why,
when I saw the mosquitoes in the water tanks, I determined to avoid
drinking that water and stick with bottled water. The best laid plans....

Anyway, as I said, the doctors at the Bangkok hospital I attended
couldn't find a trace of what the cause was. It may not have been the
Dengue virus but I'm damned sure it was one of his cousins!


>
>> The obvious answer is to avoid contact with water that has not been
>> extensively purified. I remember when I was in my sister in laws house
>> in Bangkok, I remember having a shower and the water was leaving a
>> burning sensation on my lips as it flowed across them. Later on I was
>> discussing this with my brothers in law and one, who worked for the
>> Bangkok Water Authority, told me that I didn't want to know what was
>> needed to be put into the water to purify it.. ;-) Even they didn't
>> drink that water!
>
> Well okay, you got me sold!
>
Wise man! ;-)

PS Not even for cleaning your teeth... ;-)


--

Xeno.

Janet Wilder wrote:
>
> On 1/23/2015 7:17 PM, Xeno wrote:
> > On 24/01/2015 12:04 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:
> >> On 1/23/2015 6:07 PM, Xeno wrote:
> >>> On 24/01/2015 10:32 AM, Janet Wilder wrote:
> >
> > <snip>
> >>>
> >>
> >> Thanks for the story. I am now well warned.
> >>
> >> I will only drink bottled water when we are ashore. I guess we should
> >> be wary of raw vegetables as well as they are washed in the water.
> >>
> >> I have to start taking my malaria preventative pills next Friday. One a
> >> week for two weeks before leaving. One a week while gone and one a week
> >> for 4 weeks after coming home. I am bringing 98% Deet spray as well as
> >> spraying certain items of clothing with a special insect repellant spray.
> >>
> > One more thing I might warn you of. The insect sprays you use at home
> > may not work abroad. I found that with a common spray in use here -
> > aeroguard. It works for me here but, in Thailand, it seemed to attract
> > the mossies! I was forced to use the local varieties. They worked..
> >
> I'll keep that in mind, though everything I've read says that the
> highest percentage of DEET should work.

I've always wondered about applying insect repellent to your skin on a
frequent basis. It *does* soak into your skin. Perhaps you should look
into that. It can't be good for you and your immune system is already
working full time without that.

And then the water issues and the raw or undercooked food issues...
Those people that live over there are used to it and somewhat immune
to it. USAins are too sterile and fragile without all the shots and
precautions.

I had a chance to go there 40-some years ago, all expenses paid. I
declined the offer. And you're paying your own money to go there?

As for me, I'm content to google Vietnam or watch a documentary. And
I'll let Andrew Zimmern tell me about the local food. And sw can
tell me about the cuisine from the top Vietnamese neighborhoods in the
U.S.

On 24/01/2015 10:22 PM, Gary wrote:
> Janet Wilder wrote:
>>
>> On 1/23/2015 7:17 PM, Xeno wrote:
>>> On 24/01/2015 12:04 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:
>>>> On 1/23/2015 6:07 PM, Xeno wrote:
>>>>> On 24/01/2015 10:32 AM, Janet Wilder wrote:
>>>
>>> <snip>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for the story. I am now well warned.
>>>>
>>>> I will only drink bottled water when we are ashore. I guess we should
>>>> be wary of raw vegetables as well as they are washed in the water.
>>>>
>>>> I have to start taking my malaria preventative pills next Friday. One a
>>>> week for two weeks before leaving. One a week while gone and one a week
>>>> for 4 weeks after coming home. I am bringing 98% Deet spray as well as
>>>> spraying certain items of clothing with a special insect repellant spray.
>>>>
>>> One more thing I might warn you of. The insect sprays you use at home
>>> may not work abroad. I found that with a common spray in use here -
>>> aeroguard. It works for me here but, in Thailand, it seemed to attract
>>> the mossies! I was forced to use the local varieties. They worked..
>>>
>> I'll keep that in mind, though everything I've read says that the
>> highest percentage of DEET should work.
>
> I've always wondered about applying insect repellent to your skin on a
> frequent basis. It *does* soak into your skin. Perhaps you should look
> into that. It can't be good for you and your immune system is already
> working full time without that.

If you worry about your local brew, the Asian variants will scare the
hell out of you! They are strong, stink like hell too, but they work.

An interesting little story... I was in the village in Thailand chatting
with my wife's elderly aunt on her front verandah. She was probably mid
80s at that time. She was small and wiry, thin arms and legs, but still
able to take care of herself. She told my wife that she just loved it
when I was around. I thought this was a very nice thing to say. Then she
continued... It turned out that, when I was around, the mosquitoes
would leave her alone. They were attracted to my sweet foreign blood.
She held out her tiny arm and compared it to mine. They came to her, she
said, because most of the villagers drank "Lao Kao" the local moonshine
whiskey and had alcohol in their blood. The mosquitoes didn't like the
alcohol in the others so they were left with just her and a few of
children in the village. The village was populated with only old people
and some children as all working age people lived and worked in the
factories in Bangkok and surrounding districts.
Here I was thinking that she liked my company because I was a charming
foreigner!....

To get back to the topic at hand, the clue to fighting the mosquitoes
then appears to be the drinking of alcohol and maintaining a
concentration of it in your bloodstream. No doubt some of you will find
that a very easy, not to mention pleasant, alternative to mosquito sprays.
>
> And then the water issues and the raw or undercooked food issues...
> Those people that live over there are used to it and somewhat immune
> to it. USAins are too sterile and fragile without all the shots and
> precautions.

Not only those from the US....
>
> I had a chance to go there 40-some years ago, all expenses paid. I
> declined the offer. And you're paying your own money to go there?

I was in Thailand in 2001 scoping out a secondment option at the time I
became ill. There was a job going with an automotive consortium to set
up a training system in Chon Buri, a huge industrial complex near
Bangkok. Needless to say, I never got there.

>
> As for me, I'm content to google Vietnam or watch a documentary. And
> I'll let Andrew Zimmern tell me about the local food. And sw can
> tell me about the cuisine from the top Vietnamese neighborhoods in the
> U.S.
>
Watch Luke Nguyen on his cooking shows. Do you get them where you are.
Luke, though Vietnamese, has the typical laid back Aussie style about
him. Both my wife and I watch his shows. Definitely good value!

--

Xeno.

Xeno wrote:
>
> Watch Luke Nguyen on his cooking shows. Do you get them where you are.
> Luke, though Vietnamese, has the typical laid back Aussie style about
> him. Both my wife and I watch his shows. Definitely good value!

Never heard of him so probably not on tv here. But I will google him.
Thanks there, x-o head. :-)

"dsi1" > wrote in message
...
> On 1/22/2015 1:21 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
>> It was a first for me. I had been curious about Vietnamese food for
>> years but never got around to trying it. Today my son and I went to
>> Hamilton for something and were driving along looking for the place and
>> passed an area where there were a number of Vietnamese stores and
>> restaurants. After we got what we had gone there for we went back and
>> had a late lunch/early supper. I can't begin pronounce the dish I had
>> but it was rice vermicelli with a spring roll and grilled chicken. It
>> was pretty tasty.
>
> We are regulars to a Vietnamese place down the street. The guy always
> knows what we're gonna order. The wife gets lemon grass chicken. My son
> gets garlic chicken. I show my face there and the owner says "Chicken
> Wing!" I guess that's what he knows me as. What can I say, it's great
> chicken wings.
>
> My son took me to a VT restaurant that he favors. It's kind of a
> hole-in-the-wall, although that's the way most VT joints are. There was a
> hen and a line of baby chicks strolling around in the kitchen. Damn, you
> can't get more authentic than that!
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8szUeopBjyw

My dad used to be known as "Arose Con Pollo" by the owner of a Mexican
restaurant because that was his favorite dish there. He tried it at other
places but never liked it except for there. I was sad to see that place go.
Loved the food! But the building owner failed to renew his lease and
instead put in an appliance store.

On the last day of business, Ramón told us to come in and have whatever we
wanted to eat, on the house. And he wasn't kidding! He seemed sad that
Angela and I were the only ones from my family who showed up. He said that
he had to get rid of all of the food anyway so he was just going to offer it
for free to anyone who came in on that day.

Turns out that he is a relative of one of the restaurants where we now eat.
He is running a restaurant in another part of the state that is not an area
we'd ever be likely to go. But he came back once to visit and had gone into
what was then called the DMV. My dad had taken me in there for some reason.
And we heard a shout across the parking lot, "Hey! Arroz Con Pollo!" It
was Ramón!

"Sqwertz" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 23 Jan 2015 13:36:36 -0600, Janet Wilder wrote:
>
>> Neither of us can tolerate hot-spicy foods. What are some things in Ho
>> Chi Minh City that you all would recommend we order?
>>
>> No chicken--the travel nurse said not to order chicken because of bird
>> flu.
>
> Your nurse is paranoid and over-reactive. You stand a much better
> chance of getting salmonella or listeria here in the U.S. than you do
> getting bird flu in SE Asia. Your best bet in Vietnam right now is
> contracting measles more than anything else.

Heck, you can get those here! Now they are saying that adults need to get a
booster shot.

"Gary" > wrote in message ...
> Janet Wilder wrote:
>>
>> On 1/23/2015 7:17 PM, Xeno wrote:
>> > On 24/01/2015 12:04 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:
>> >> On 1/23/2015 6:07 PM, Xeno wrote:
>> >>> On 24/01/2015 10:32 AM, Janet Wilder wrote:
>> >
>> > <snip>
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >> Thanks for the story. I am now well warned.
>> >>
>> >> I will only drink bottled water when we are ashore. I guess we should
>> >> be wary of raw vegetables as well as they are washed in the water.
>> >>
>> >> I have to start taking my malaria preventative pills next Friday. One
>> >> a
>> >> week for two weeks before leaving. One a week while gone and one a
>> >> week
>> >> for 4 weeks after coming home. I am bringing 98% Deet spray as well
>> >> as
>> >> spraying certain items of clothing with a special insect repellant
>> >> spray.
>> >>
>> > One more thing I might warn you of. The insect sprays you use at home
>> > may not work abroad. I found that with a common spray in use here -
>> > aeroguard. It works for me here but, in Thailand, it seemed to attract
>> > the mossies! I was forced to use the local varieties. They worked..
>> >
>> I'll keep that in mind, though everything I've read says that the
>> highest percentage of DEET should work.
>
> I've always wondered about applying insect repellent to your skin on a
> frequent basis. It *does* soak into your skin. Perhaps you should look
> into that. It can't be good for you and your immune system is already
> working full time without that.
>
> And then the water issues and the raw or undercooked food issues...
> Those people that live over there are used to it and somewhat immune
> to it. USAins are too sterile and fragile without all the shots and
> precautions.
>
> I had a chance to go there 40-some years ago, all expenses paid. I
> declined the offer. And you're paying your own money to go there?
>
> As for me, I'm content to google Vietnam or watch a documentary. And
> I'll let Andrew Zimmern tell me about the local food. And sw can
> tell me about the cuisine from the top Vietnamese neighborhoods in the
> U.S.

I don't use insect repellent or sun screen. I just make sure I have screens
everywhere and stay indoors.

"Xeno" > wrote in message
...
> On 24/01/2015 1:25 PM, dsi2 wrote:
>> On 1/23/2015 2:07 PM, Xeno wrote:
>>> On 24/01/2015 10:32 AM, Janet Wilder wrote:
>>>> On 1/23/2015 4:25 PM, Xeno wrote:
>>>>> On 24/01/2015 7:47 AM, Sqwertz wrote:
>>>>>> On Fri, 23 Jan 2015 13:36:36 -0600, Janet Wilder wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Neither of us can tolerate hot-spicy foods. What are some things
>>>>>>> in Ho
>>>>>>> Chi Minh City that you all would recommend we order?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> No chicken--the travel nurse said not to order chicken because of
>>>>>>> bird flu.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Your nurse is paranoid and over-reactive. You stand a much better
>>>>>> chance of getting salmonella or listeria here in the U.S. than you do
>>>>>> getting bird flu in SE Asia. Your best bet in Vietnam right now is
>>>>>> contracting measles more than anything else.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -sw
>>>>>>
>>>>> True. It seems the only people who contract bird flu are those who
>>>>> work
>>>>> full time with live chickens. The paranoia spreads far more readily
>>>>> than
>>>>> the bird flu does.
>>>>>
>>>> It was my friend's travel nurse who is with Kaiser. It is in Kaiser's
>>>> literature on traveling to those countries.
>>>>
>>>> I've had more than my share of health issues and I live with (currently
>>>> in remission) lung cancer, so please understand if I'm a bit over
>>>> cautious.
>>>>
>>> I understand health issues quite well. My point is that all too often
>>> people focus on the item they are least likely to become infected by and
>>> forget the more subtle ones. As an example, on my last trip to Thailand
>>> in 2001, I visited the family farm in Ayuttaya. I took a look inside the
>>> water tanks, something you should always do. I had been drinking from
>>> the local rainwater tanks on previous trips but this time the tanks had
>>> mosquitoes in them, Not a good sign. The people were getting old I guess
>>> and didn't maintain the tanks as well as they should have been. Anyway,
>>> on seeing the mosquitoes, I determined then and there that I would only
>>> drink bottled water for the duration. I was brought undone by my brother
>>> in law who topped up my water bottle from the tank... it didn't affect
>>> them as they were immune. I partook of but a sip before I realized that
>>> the water tasted strange. That tiny sip was enough. Within 2 hours the
>>> fever had begun and I was pretty much stuffed for the next two weeks of
>>> my time in Thailand. Unfortunately that episode left me with some rather
>>> long term consequences. On my return to work I lasted about 2 or 3 weeks
>>> before it became acutely apparent that I wasn't recovered. I spent 6
>>> months on sick leave, another 18 months on provisional retirement, then
>>> permanent retirement since. I have only just begun to make reasonable
>>> progress back to good health in the past 2 or 3 years but I am still not
>>> back to where I was nor am I likely to be again.
>>>
>>> All for the sake of a sip of water.
>>>
>>> For the record, everyone else drank that water, including my wife, but
>>> they had no issues - immunity developed over their lifetimes being the
>>> key.
>>>
>>
>> Sorry to hear this - that's one shitty deal. What did you get infected
>> with?
>
> The doctors at the hospital I ended up in had no idea. By the time I got
> there, the nasty had wreaked its havoc and moved on leaving me quite
> debilitated. All they told me was that, given the symptoms, it was most
> likely a virus. I suspect it might have been a form of Dengue though they
> hang around for quite some time in an active state. A friend of mine got
> infected with that when he was working offshore in Indonesia. He ended up
> in Jakarta, then Singapore and they eventually medivacced him to Fairfield
> Infectious Diseases Hospital in Melbourne. He was off work for up to a
> year from memory. He has lived permanently in Thailand now for the past 30
> odd years so I hope he has built up an immunity in that time....
>
> The obvious answer is to avoid contact with water that has not been
> extensively purified. I remember when I was in my sister in laws house in
> Bangkok, I remember having a shower and the water was leaving a burning
> sensation on my lips as it flowed across them. Later on I was discussing
> this with my brothers in law and one, who worked for the Bangkok Water
> Authority, told me that I didn't want to know what was needed to be put
> into the water to purify it.. ;-) Even they didn't drink that water!

I still worry about what damage may have occurred to me when we lived on
Cape Cod. My husband was away at school so my MIL and nephew helped me to
move in. She drank coffee so we bought a pot and had made and drank a few
pots of it plus had been drinking tap water when we got the call. It was my
husband, telling us that the water was not potable.

I bought bottled water after that and used it for cooking and drinking but
we were showering and brushing teeth and washing clothes in it. At times
they would put something on the base TV channel telling us not to wash with
it and they would bring us gallons of water. Other times when there was no
such warning, the water would run red. My hair took on a reddish cast when
we lived there and no amount of hair dye would correct that.

I know that there was a pollution plume that originated on the base. There
used to be websites that tracked it and the people who lived outside of the
base were furious about it because it was leaking into their soil and water.
Scientists (at least that is how they were dressed) once sneaked back to the
house behind me and set up a meter to monitor the soil. I looked at it but
couldn't figure out exactly what it was for. I do know from looking online
that there was jet fuel and chlordane in the water. So a filter wouldn't
have helped with that.

AFAIK, I was healthy when we moved to Cape Cod. My only health issues that
I knew of were seasonal allergies, a bad knee and high BP. But as soon as
we moved away, a cavalcade of health issues began to crop up for me. And my
MIL's health rapidly declined not long after we took her back home from
helping me move in.

I guess I will never know for sure but I can't help but wonder if the
tainted water might have had something to do with this. I am no longer in
contact with anyone from that area save for one woman that I used to work
with. I really don't know her well at all. She was hired in to replace me
so we only worked together for a couple of weeks. Her husband worked there
as well and I knew him a bit better. For some reason she still sends me
Christmas cards each year but there is never any accompanying letter. She
used to send pics of her kids but now that I think about it, I don't even
think I got a card from her this past year. They moved to Holley NY when
her husband got out of the Coast Guard.

On 1/23/2015 11:13 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:

> My insurance company's nurse didn't say anything about bird flu but did
> suggest I get a tetanus shot along with the Typhoid vaccine, Hep A and
> usual flu and pneumonia vaccines.
>
Many years ago, I had a series of three typhoid shots. Within a half
hour of the first one, my arm blew up like a balloon, and my blood
pressure dropped. The second one, a week later, wasn't quite that bad.
The third one was tolerable.
It was a combination of typhoid, paratyphoid, and typhus vaccines, IIRC.
I hope they've improved since then.

"S Viemeister" > wrote in message
...
> On 1/23/2015 11:13 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:
>
>> My insurance company's nurse didn't say anything about bird flu but did
>> suggest I get a tetanus shot along with the Typhoid vaccine, Hep A and
>> usual flu and pneumonia vaccines.
>>
> Many years ago, I had a series of three typhoid shots. Within a half hour
> of the first one, my arm blew up like a balloon, and my blood pressure
> dropped. The second one, a week later, wasn't quite that bad. The third
> one was tolerable.
> It was a combination of typhoid, paratyphoid, and typhus vaccines, IIRC.
> I hope they've improved since then.

It is too be hoped so. The shots were hellish then.


--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

On 1/24/2015 10:38 AM, Ophelia wrote:
> "S Viemeister" > wrote
>> On 1/23/2015 11:13 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:
>>> My insurance company's nurse didn't say anything about bird flu but did
>>> suggest I get a tetanus shot along with the Typhoid vaccine, Hep A and
>>> usual flu and pneumonia vaccines.
>>>
>> Many years ago, I had a series of three typhoid shots. Within a half
>> hour of the first one, my arm blew up like a balloon, and my blood
>> pressure dropped. The second one, a week later, wasn't quite that bad.
>> The third one was tolerable.
>> It was a combination of typhoid, paratyphoid, and typhus vaccines, IIRC.
>> I hope they've improved since then.
>
> It is too be hoped so. The shots were hellish then.
>
Indeed they were. What made it worse for me - I had asked my GP if there
were any likely side effects - he assured me there wouldn't be.

On 1/24/2015 12:07 AM, Sqwertz wrote:
> On Fri, 23 Jan 2015 22:13:20 -0600, Janet Wilder wrote:
>
>> There was no vaccination involved, just a warning.
>>
>> My insurance company's nurse didn't say anything about bird flu but did
>> suggest I get a tetanus shot along with the Typhoid vaccine, Hep A and
>> usual flu and pneumonia vaccines.
>
> Yet they didn't ask you about measles, which is the current epidemic?
>
> -sw
>
They absolutely did ask about measles. I had measles as a child so I am
immune.

--
From somewhere very deep in the heart of Texas

On 1/24/2015 8:11 AM, S Viemeister wrote:
> On 1/23/2015 11:13 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:
>
>> My insurance company's nurse didn't say anything about bird flu but did
>> suggest I get a tetanus shot along with the Typhoid vaccine, Hep A and
>> usual flu and pneumonia vaccines.
>>
> Many years ago, I had a series of three typhoid shots. Within a half
> hour of the first one, my arm blew up like a balloon, and my blood
> pressure dropped. The second one, a week later, wasn't quite that bad.
> The third one was tolerable.
> It was a combination of typhoid, paratyphoid, and typhus vaccines, IIRC.
> I hope they've improved since then.

They must have because I got one shot and no reaction.

--
From somewhere very deep in the heart of Texas

"S Viemeister" > wrote in message
...
> On 1/24/2015 10:38 AM, Ophelia wrote:
>> "S Viemeister" > wrote
>>> On 1/23/2015 11:13 PM, Janet Wilder wrote:
>>>> My insurance company's nurse didn't say anything about bird flu but did
>>>> suggest I get a tetanus shot along with the Typhoid vaccine, Hep A and
>>>> usual flu and pneumonia vaccines.
>>>>
>>> Many years ago, I had a series of three typhoid shots. Within a half
>>> hour of the first one, my arm blew up like a balloon, and my blood
>>> pressure dropped. The second one, a week later, wasn't quite that bad.
>>> The third one was tolerable.
>>> It was a combination of typhoid, paratyphoid, and typhus vaccines, IIRC.
>>> I hope they've improved since then.
>>
>> It is too be hoped so. The shots were hellish then.
>>
> Indeed they were. What made it worse for me - I had asked my GP if there
> were any likely side effects - he assured me there wouldn't be.

(


>
>

--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/