Happy New Year!

I took a two weeks' vacation back to Spore during CNY and left my blog v much deserted during this time. There was just too many things to do in Spore: shopping, catching up with my family (whom I m really close to) and relatives, visiting friends and tidying up my new flat in Redhill. Of course, I was spoilt for choice when it came to the variety of new year goodies available at my parents' place. Knowing that I loved pineapple tarts, they bought some really yummy ones for me. But the ones that I liked most were those baked by my uncle (my dad's friend) who doted on us since young. He has not baked the tarts for several years because he's looking after his grandchildren so I was really happy when he took up the baking pins again. Of course, the rate of the diminishing tarts was at tangent speed, due to the combined efforts of me and my brother. Yum!

I came back to Hanoi with my husband last Sunday. We were quite surprised by the weather because instead of the chilling cold, it was quite warm at 26 degrees. This was really far from winter. But in the last two days, the weather turned cool again. It's v much like spring now, much to my dismay. Reason being spring in Hanoi is wet and breezy. You get spurts of short rain followed by strong winds and the cycle continues. So it has an overall gloomy feel and makes going out a little inconvenient.

This is the picture that I took from my study room this morning. The tree was swaying about from the strong winds but I guess it is not that clear here. :) But there is not as much sunshine as one would expect in the morning of spring. Amazingly, winter was kind of brighter and cheerier. Will be checking out an art gallery tomorrow with a friend as we are interested in taking lacquer painting classes. It's quite a famous art in Hanoi where you do painting on pieces of bamboo. Maybe I can detect the artistic streak in me when doing the painting. Heh.. well who knows rite?

Golfing in the Lake

I started taking golf lessons at Hanoi Club last year though my record as a student has been errmm.. not that good. (I stopped learning for 5 months before resuming recently). Hanoi Club's driving range is quite popular amongst the expatriates and locals because it is right next to the West Lake (or "Tay Ho" in Vietnamese). So each time I hit the ball, it goes right straight into the water. The amazing thing is these balls (called "floaters") are designed to float in water. In the evenings, you can sometimes catch the sight of small boats rowing out into the lake to "fish" out the balls.

In winter, learning golf is quite enjoyable because the weather is fantastic and with each shot, you enjoy the pretty sight right ahead of you. (I can't say the same for summer though because the blazing sun just kills me..) Near the driving range is Hanoi Lakeview Apartment, which was one of our earlier top choices for serviced apartments. Can you imagine waking up every morning with the lake right in front of you? WOW! Unfortunately, the rental was too high and the apartment comes partially furnished (which means we have to get our own furniture and that, I find really troublesome).

There's also the sight of large boats floating in the West Lake. These are actually restaurants catering to tourists. There's a famous dish in Tay Ho called "Banh Tom" (or prawn biscuits) which is sold at all boat restaurants. We tried it once and it was very much like the prawn pancakes sold at Indian Rojak stalls in Singapore. But the sauce dipping is quite different in Hanoi, consisting of a sweet vinegar and garlic mix. Another activity that one can try in West Lake is boating. There are little "swan-like" boats for rent at 20,000 VND (or SGD 2) for one hour. I tried it once with my brother and it was really fun pedalling around, except that we were both really tired at the end of the ride. Believe me, this is cardio exercise.

The Mask Raiders

I bought a mask near Hang Dao Street the other day (cost 5,000 VND or SGD 0.50) and it's really cute, with a picture of a cat sewn on it. I used to have this fear about masks because it reminded me of SARS. But here in Hanoi, it is so common to wear masks that it is like a mini fashion statement. The roads in Hanoi tend to be a little dusty so it helps to cover ur face when u r walking or riding on a motorbike. For ladies, the mask also doubles up as a "sunblock" that protects their fair complexion. I used my mask yesterday while walking to the gym (it's a 10 mins' walk) and felt a bit silly. I mean, it seems as though a little bit of dirt will kill me?? But I guess a layer of protection on top of my sunblock will be useful. I will try to wear it again today.. and be natural about it like everyone else. :)

Vietnamese Papaya Salad

I am a salad fanatic and my Hanoi domestic helper, H, is a GREAT salad maker! The salad dressings that she makes are really yummy and leaves me relishing for more! Having enjoyed so much of her salads, I decided to draw up a recipe in my blog so that I will be able to recall how to make them when I return to Singapore.

Vietnamese salads use lots of vinegar, sugar, lime and garlic. These are the key items. For the health conscious, sugar can be replaced with honey and both, trust me, are equally good. There is a lot of emphasis on using natural herbs and spices to bring out the unique flavours of each vegetable, rather than mask the taste through ready-made salad dressings. Without further ado, here is the recipe for Vietnamese Papaya Salad!

Ingredients:
- 500g of green papaya, sliced thinly
- 100g of carrot, sliced thinly
- 100g of pork
- Groundnuts (2 tablespoons, chopped)
- Coriander leaves (a handful would suffice)
- Mint leaves (same as above)
- Garlic (10 cloves)
- White vinegar
- Fish sauce
- Sugar (or honey)
- Salt
- Cinnamon powder

1. Marinate the pork with 2 teaspoon of fish sauce and garlic (4 cloves, finely chopped). Add 1 teaspoon of sugar, followed by 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder. Mix the mixture thoroughly. Leave the meat to marinate for 15 mins.
   
   
2. Fry the pork in 3 teaspoons of oil till golden brown. Set it aside to cool and cut into thin strips. Put this aside.
   


3. Add some salt to the sliced papaya and carrot mixture and toss thoroughly. Leave the mixture for 10 mins to allow it to soften.
4. Drain the water from the mixture once it has softened. Put the mixture aside.
   


5. Cut the coriander and mint leaves into small pieces and mix with the papaya mixture above. Add the thin strips of meat and chopped groundnuts. Mix well.
   


6. To make the salad dressing, put the garlic (6 cloves, finely chopped) and chilli (3 small chilli padis, chopped with seeds removed) into a small bowl. Note: The chilli is optional but adds a delicious spicy tinge to the salad. Squeeze in a lime. Add 5 dessertspoons of vinegar and 3 dessertspoons of sugar (or honey). Stir the mixture thoroughly.
   
   
7. Pour the salad dressing over the papaya and meat mixture prepared in Step 5. Toss the salad well and a delicious, homemade papaya salad is ready to serve!