Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

A skeleton biker. So appropriate for Ha Noi!

(He is made out of balloons)

Last night we handed out candy in the ex-pat neighborhood. It was pretty entertaining. Based on the amount of candy we passed out, we estimate that we saw about 200+ kids. It was pretty fun to see all the kids dressed up, they were pretty excited. The house next door to the one we were volunteering at had a "haunted house" entrance, which was pretty awesome. 

Our internet was down last night, but I wanted to wish all my friends in the states a Happy Halloween tonight! 

Have fun and be safe!

A little slice of home:)

Today was a beautiful day in Ha Noi. After the storm on Sunday, we actually saw bits and pieces of blue sky. It has been completely lovely. My thoughts and prayers go out to my friends on the East Coast as they brave Hurrican Sandy, I hope they are all doing well and the storm has passed.

The view from our balcony this morning :)

I was riding the high last night from the holiday party, it took me awhile to go to sleep. This morning was pretty low key, catching up on work and getting ready for the rest of the year's events and new arrivals to post. I love my job so So SO much..... I will share more on that at a later date.

Today we received our quarterly commissary order. One per quarter, we are able to order from the Bangkok Commissary(think large supermarket with American goods, accessible to Mission Staff). We barely made the cut to place our order but we got it in. What we were told to do was; over-order! because things get sold out by the time your order gets in, so it's truly a surprise when you unload your boxes. I, of course, took a picture of one of the boxes. 

I would like to preface this photo with a statement; 

I love Vietnamese food and would be perfectly happy eating Vietnamese food all day every day. HOWEVER, I see it like living your life without chocolate/swedish fish/twizzlers--or whatever your vice is--Yes, one can live without it, but it enhances the quality of life just a smidge, in moderation:

I am an American and I love Macaroni and Cheese. No shame here.

After work today I decided to try my first yoga class in Ha Noi. I went to the locally recommended "expat" studio; Zenith Yoga. The teacher was a lovely Australian woman, and everyone else in the class was either Vietnamese or had an Aussie accent. There was even a sign in the WC that said "Kangaroo Crossing: Next 15km." I am not sure if it was the accent, her bright personality, the class sequence or the studio space that was the most relaxing. It was a really good class--exactly what I needed after two weeks off my mat. It wasn't until after the class was over that I heard the motorbikes and taxis honking outside. 

I love that no matter where I am, as soon as I step on my yoga mat, I feel like I am home. The studio was a real Oasis in the midst of Ha Noi and I will definitely be going back! 

When I got home, I Skyped with my mama for the first time. It was SOOOO good to hear her voice. It was pretty exciting to get a call waiting sign and hear from one of my BFFs as well. 

It was a great day. I thought I would feel homesick after connecting with family and friends, going to yoga and putting American food on our shelves, but truly, it just helps Ha Noi feel more like home :)

Halloween and Housekeeping

When we knew we would be in Vietnam for Halloween, we grabbed some Waldo costumes last minute at Target(they were the ONLY adult costumes there) and were on our way. Little did we know; we were moving to a land of tailors, where almost everyone had their costumes made in a week or less.

We went to the Adult Halloween party on Saturday night, the drinks were flowing, the costumes memorable and the company fantastic!

Where in the world are Waldo and Wilma?

Hulk, Twisted Twister and a Stripper from the Midwest--er--a Cop

Gangnam Style!

Kim Jong Il and Gangnam Style

Hulk and Waldo

Gangnam and a SLUTTY Cereal Killer

Wilma and her BFF from Language class, the Sock Monkey

Sex Therapist Dr. Ophelia Cummings and her nurse

BEST bit of the party! Gangnam Style rendition with a guest appearance by Justin Bieber--this was CHOREOGRAPHED--amazing!

The fun didn't stop!

Waldo and our good friend Tetris

Cruella Deville, a dalmatian and many other Macarena Maniacs!

We had fun, but called it an early night and headed home early because my first BIG event: the Mission Halloween party. We were so excited, and my two colleagues and I rolled in early and got to work. After three hours, my supervisor called me and told me about Son-Tinh's impending wrath. We decided to postpone it until Monday night and went home. I am SO glad that we did--it was a MESSY, rainy, windy evening where we opted to hibernate and watch the West Wing.

This morning we headed to work in what looked like another wretched storm--However--we decided to go with the party and had it tonight. 

It. Was. SO. Fun.

Why this sign was in the "Halloween" decorations box, I have no idea! I thought it was funny though

The Haunted House: 

One of my proudest accomplishments of the night, 

My AMAZING husband managed it all night--he is the BEST!

More Haunted House; we had 3 monsters in there that are not pictured. Lots of screaming and a few tears, but there were also several smiles. A few kids tried to sneak back in for a second time.

Creepy...

The party in full force: We had around 300 people show up. 

I did not know that many cute kids existed! 

SO FUN!

We got home at around 8:30pm to our first home-cooked meal by our housekeeper. I was incredibly energized and still feel like I am bouncing off the walls. I really wish that she had told us what the dishes were called, they were simply amazing.

Clockwise; tofu/cilantro/tomato goodness, coriander/cumin rice, potato/spinach/onion/garlic/ginger deliciousness. Yes, deliciousness is a word.

In Vietnamese tradition: fresh fruit for dessert! Mango and Pineapple. YUMMMMM. 

This is a tradition I can get used to!

It was a great 48 hours. I love Halloween! I love our Housekeeper! I love my life!

I feel a lot like Jessica today:

Jessica's Daily Affirmations AKA The BEST VIDEO OF ALL TIME!

Pomelo Market AKA Plant Street AKA C@*% Street

This Saturday my dear neighbor offered to take me and another neighbor to "Plant Street." Plant Street is also known as Pomelo Market, which, if one mispronounces the tone(same word, different emPHASis of certain syLABle), it can be understood as "Male Part***" Street.

***"Male Part" is what my 70 year old Vietnamese teacher called it***

(This is why my neighbor told the taxi where to go)

Luckily, we arrived at Pomelo Market and not Male Part street. Therefore, the decided to grab lunch before shopping for plants. No one in the group of 5 knew where to eat, so we asked a few local vendors who recommended that we "eat in the market." So helpful---Oh wait, not at all. So we ventured off and found a group of food vendors that looked decent and semi-busy. Per the advice of my friend J(yes, most of my friends are named J here), I decided to order some kind of crab soup. However, what I got was this:

Ground crab, fish sausage(the rectangle stuff), rice noodles and the blandest of the bland broth. My friend J said to me "I am sorry your lunch was so lame." You win some, you lose some.

After lunch, we headed to the plants:

An alley in Pomelo Market

However, we were jonesing for a snack, and the ladies selling them on the street were very persuasive.

Street snack wrapped in banana leaves: I had no idea what this was going to be.

What we thought was tree sap is actually cooked rice flour and sugar--although another friend was convinced it was tree sap. It was very chewy and semi-sweet, I would eat it again.

In the middle; lotus root/nut. It tasted a bit like macadamia nut. It was pretty good!

After our snack, we REALLY headed out:

the carnivorous Pitcher Plant

beautiful flowers that no one would bargain with us for

Lots of blooms!

Lowes Garden Center; eat your heart out

Beautiful bonsais!

After some bartering and some delivery negotiation, I purchased these six plants:

I need to buy some pots for a few of them, but I am very happy. I went home and rested up for the Adult Halloween Party. We went out and had a great time, I will post more pictures tomorrow. Today's Kid's Halloween Party postponed due to the wrath of Tropical Storm Son-Tinh. It has been rescheduled until tomorrow; I will post Halloween pictures then!

Your bedroom awaits.....

We have slowly been putting our house together after our storage shipment arrived and I am happy to report that our guest bedroom is READY! Now the question is....who will be the first guest?

We hope to see you soon, whoever you are!

Fun-filled friday

What a day. 

It was one of those days where you have so much fun and do so many things that when you get home, you are too tired to do anything else. 

Yes, that is an excuse for not blogging yesterday, but I am going with it. 

This weekend is the big Mission Halloween party. Scoff as you might, but this is a BIG deal. Our office team, a few volunteers and a few guys from the Facilities maintenance crew spent all morning and afternoon setting up the haunted house alone. It's gonna be good, really good. <Fingers crossed> *sidenote* I cross my fingers in the privacy of my home because that is considered a lewd gesture in Vietnam. 

In the middle of the day, we took a break to attend an "Americans in Ha Noi" ladies luncheon. 

It was exactly what you are imagining. I think this was the first time that I truly felt like a diplomat's wife. I made the acquaintance of several lovely ladies who live in Ha Noi, some are in the diplomatic community and some outside. One thing everyone had in common: they were all incredibly nice. 

We had a six course lunch at Au Lac House. I felt super fancy, and underdressed:

Seafood spring rolls

Banana flower salad

Grilled eggplant with peanuts

Stir fried rice with pork and vegetables

Grilled beef in a black pepper sauce

Baked salmon with julienned vegetables

We also had a fruit plate for dessert and it was so delicious, everything is so fresh. We rushed back and decorated the Haunted house and made a game plan for Sunday. Tropical storm Son Tinh was scheduled to make a wrench in our party, but this morning, it has all changed to hit on Monday instead. Thank You Universe!

After work, me and my super team of volunteers headed to Happy hour at the Marine house. I felt like I was at a very clean frat house, with more respectful gentelmen. The Marines are a great group of guys who work really hard to serve our Mission, I respect them a lot, and they are a lot of fun. 

We cut the happy hour short to have dinner with my "Language Class Family." The two men that I took language class in DC have been living here just a few weeks longer than me, but we are all so busy that this was the first time we could come together. 

We feasted like kings--once again, this is a theme I am finding--and shared several laughs and glasses of wine. It was sooo good to see them both, and to spend time with J's family. His two boys are quite entertaining, and his wife is lovely.

"Morning glory" aka Vietnamese water spinach and sesame seeds

Blurry tofu salad, spicy and delicious!

Believe it or not, this is not sushi. It was some kind of sea bass concoction rolled in seaweed. It was warm and delicious!

 Shrimp curry soup--the star of the show!

Dessert was another incredible fruit plate, which I opted not to photo. I cannot believe we crammed all that in, and also that the Hubs and the other J had the energy to go out afterwards. 

I sure like waking up to find random pictures on my camera.....

I'd share them, but I might disappear if I did....

Off to plant street today! Have a great day out there everyone!

Christmas in October!

Today was a good day. We were reunited with our HHE(Household Effects) shipment which has been in storage for the last year! It felt a bit like Christmas, except the boxes were much heavier, dirtier and harder to open.

Our bosses were incredibly understanding and gave us the day off from work to unpack, and I am so glad they did!

When we packed out of Denver a year ago, it was erratic and a bit unorganized. Unlike my smarter friends, we did not inventory everything when we shipped it. (We have since learned our lesson and inventoried everything in DC this time--those items we will not see until December, and it will REALLY be Christmas then!) Since we had no real idea as to WHAT was in storage(except for the choice items we were missing), I was a bit surprised when 20+ boxes showed up and it looked like....well, not much.

24 boxes of our life in Denver! Before......

However, when we finally unpacked, it seemed quite insane that everything fit into 24 boxes!

After! Hubs was tempted to jump into the pile, but we decided against it.

VICTORY PICK UP!

We called it a Victory Pick/Up and apparently, so did our movers. We were pleasantly surprised that not a thing was scratched, dented or broken. However, throughout the course of the day we managed to break: one shot glass, one red wine glass and a pair of the Hubs' favorite flip flops. 

Around lunchtime we decided to get out of the house and treat ourselves to an Indian restaurant that was recommended to us as "The Best in town"; Namaste I, of course, love the name.

We walked in and I felt pretty underdressed. 

However, in the Old Quarter, it is full of tourists so almost anything goes. 

Everything there was adorable:

Adorable table setting

Adorable sauce presentation

Adorable cup of soup. 

This was lentil soup, it was much prettier than it tasted.

Palaak Paneer, Naan, and the Pre-set Lunch Menu presentation

I ordered Palaak Paneer, and the hubs had the lunch pre-set menu; chicken curry, chick peas, and other goodness. We also ordered the cheese naan and the garlic naan. We definitely overstuffed ourselves after a long morning unpacking, but the food was so good we could not resist!

We headed home and I am really proud of us for how much we got done today. We cleaned and dried every piece of kitchenware we own and did a few loads of laundry. Believe it or not, it was exactly as exciting as it sounds: not much, but it feels great to have a stocked kitchen again. 

After a huge lunch, we opted for a light dinner, so I made Caprese salad:

YUM!

It was pretty delicious and absolutely perfect after a long day of unpacking, cleaning and organizing. 

I am sure we will both sleep very well tonight.