Praying

I have been praying hard lately.

My dad has been diagnosed with cancer recently and it came as a shock to my family. It's always something that you don't expect to happen to your loved ones and yet, it did. When I first learnt about the news, I tried to take it calmly but failed. How could I? It's my dad, someone who is so close to my heart. And all the guilt started flooding me. I was too careless, by not sending him for further check-ups when he complained about perpetual pain in his back. I was too ignorant, for always thinking that his ailments are minor. I was too negligent, having lost the sensitivity that I once had when it came to detecting whether my parents were unwell, after residing in Hanoi for close to 2 years.

This is a wake-up call for me. To warn me that life is short and I should never take things for granted. To allow me to see the strength in my family members as we came together to encourage our dad to face his illness bravely. And to allow me to once again appreciate the understanding displayed by M who readily agreed when I requested to stay with my family during this time, despite dreading the boring x10 life in Hanoi when I am not around.

My dad is now undergoing treatment currently and I pray that his condition will come under control. I resolve to treasure each and every member in my family and spend as much time with them as possible.

Now all I need is time. Please let my prayers be heard.

Cooking Lesson at Hilton Hotel

The Hanoi International Women's Club (HIWC) organises a cooking session at Hilton Hotel for interested learners on a monthly basis. This is really popular amongst the ladies here because we get to learn from an experienced chef, Chef Theo, who often shares useful cooking tips with us. Typically, he will give a step-by-step demonstration on how to prepare 3 dishes in 2 hours. At the end of the demo, we will get to sample the food at generous portions. :)

Last Tuesday, we were shown how to make soups (tomato and asparagus) and dark chocolate brownie. The tomato soup was really very very good, esp since I am a tomato lover. The asparagus soup was a little creamy for me but tasty nonetheless. The dark chocolate brownie was HEAVENLY. The richness of the dark chocolate blended very well with the ground almonds. I was very tempted to finish the entire portion but had to resist. It wasn't the high calorie count that I was wary about, but rather the "jia lard" feeling that I dislike everytime I eat something very filling.

I wanted to take some pictures from the cooking session but didn't bring along my camera. Kat was very kind to share her photos with me. Here's some snippets, compliments from dear Kat. :)

The tedious process of making the asparagus soup...

The sinful brownie and delicious tomato soup (my fav of the day!)

Moca Cafe - A Casual Dining Experience

As part of our weekly food rendevouz, M and I wanted to go to Totoya Japanese Restaurant for lunch last Saturday. However, we found out that most Japanese restaurants in town were closed over the long holiday (30 Apr and 1 May are PH in Hanoi) so we ended up at Moca Cafe instead.

Moca!

Along the happening street of Nha Tho

I have been to the cafe once previously but it was only for a drink with my friends. So lunch was new to me though I heard that the food was not bad. The ambience of the place is casual and nice, great for catching up with friends. Books and souveniors were also sold at a corner of the cafe so you could browse through them before your food was served.

The cafe was really crowded when we arrived. We managed to find a table near the entrance and settled down quickly before placing our orders. I decided on a Moca Special Sandwich (with grilled chicken and ham) while M decided to try a pasta dish.

My Moca Special Sandwich

M's pasta (I forgot the name though)

I was a little disappointed by my sandwich because the chicken was cold when served but I think it was meant to be that way. The sandwich also came with a huge serving of french fries which I didn't like. M's pasta turned out quite yummy.

It was a quick lunch for both of us as we were not hungry that day. The bill was about VND 168,000 so it was fairly reasonable. We had fun looking at the books though. It was rare to find English books in restaurants in Hanoi. :p

Moca Cafe
14-16 Nha Tho, Hoan Kiem District
Hanoi

Bread Attempt 3

Yesterday, I realised that I had brought a packet of wholemeal flour from Singapore and nearly forgotten about it. Since I was in the mood to do some baking, I decided to try making wholemeal bread for myself.

The bread turned out to be better than the previous attempts (probably because I love wholemeal) but the crust was a little hard. I guess I didn't allow the bread enough time to proof as well so the texture was a bit dense.

I wonder when I can ever make those light fluffy bread that I love so much. Sigh.

Hoa Sua Training Restaurant

I have heard about this restaurant for a long time and always wanted to try it. The restaurant was set up as a training school for disadvantaged youths in Hanoi to learn a "life skill" i.e. cooking. Both While I heard that the quality of the food varies (depends on the young chef who's being trained that day), the prices are reasonable and it's all for a good cause. M has been there several times so I decided to ask S, Kat and K instead. Both Vietnamese and Western food were served there.

The ambience of the restaurant was very nice. We sat at the terrace and were served by a group of enthusiatic waitresses and waiters, eager to put into practice what they had learnt. We ordered a Vietnamese set lunch, at the recommendation of Kat and a drink. While the young students were very polite, their attention was a little overwhelming. And some of them had difficulty understanding what we were saying. But knowing that they were trainees, I felt that we owed it to them to be a little patient. After all, we could see that they were trying really hard to give us a good lunch experience.

The lunch set was quite nice, served with a variety of small Vietnamese dishes with soup and rice.

We also ordered a dessert each to try. K and S had a chocolate puff with ice cream.


Kat had a mango mousse which was a little hard. The texture of the mousse was like cheese!



I had a sticky rice ice cream. Initially I thought it was a new ice cream flavour but it turned out to be two small scoops of ice cream on a cup of sticky rice. :) The rice was a little hard but the ice cream was good, especially in a hot day.


The total bill came up to around VND 400,000 for 4 persons which translates to around SGD 38. Quite a good price, I would say. And I am definitely in favour of supporting these young students. Will visit the place again before I leave Hanoi.

Hoa Sua Training Restaurant
28 Ha Hoi
Hai Ba Trung, Hanoi
Website: http://www.hoasuaschool.com/