Vietnamese Hospitality

I had always thought pho noodles were something that only restaurants can make. Little do I know, that it is a common dish made by Vietnamese households, all the time, without much difficulty. Friend's family invited us all over for some noodle lunch. At first I didn't know what to expect. Having images of instant pho noodles in my mind, I kept on telling myself to smile no matter what comes up to my face. And when I got to the house, not only was I pleasantly surprised with how nicely decorated the house is, I was also excited with the omnipresent smell of beef broth. Aside from the raw basil, scallions, bean spouts, oyster sauce, and Sriacha that were offered in restaurants, those beef/chicken broth were even better. Steaming broth with fresh scallion, onions, and softly boiled rice noodles -- deliciousness.







We were offered ice cream for dessert. But I didn't feel like having ice cream during the day. So instead, we had a bottle of Moscato that we got from Costco. I am never a heavy drinker, and only appreciate Moscatos that contained less than 10% of alcohol content. It was a nice bottle of Moscato d'Asti with 5% alcohol content. Sparkly and fruity, just the way I like it.

Ocean City in October

I was in Ocean City earlier this month, and was surprised to see so little people mingling around the beach when the temperature drops 10 degrees. It seemed like a ghost town -- extremely different from what it was like a month ago. Noted it was a quite gloomy day, the ocean water was rough, waves were larger. No one was walking on the boardwalk, and some stores were even closed. I wonder if the cafes, bars, clothing stores ever make money in the winter, and how they can pay for their rental fee whole year long.





Without human traffic, I can run on the boardwalk without any stopping. It was nice running while looking at the ocean -- calming and therapeutic.







And before I notice, I have hit the 2.14 mile mark that stretches out down to the theme park. With some smells of steak fries and seafood happy hour on the way as temptations, I was able to complete an out door run of 2.14 miles without stopping. Pat myself on the back.

They say cruise ships are for old people

The July 4th weekend is usually a hot time for people to find excuses to go out and "explore" or "relax". My parents, for example, took the chance to go on a cruise ship to Alaska. Leading on some photos that I will be displaying, I think cruise ships are not THAT much fun for youngsters compare to people with a few more years of experience onto their life. Mostly because there isn't anywhere else to satisfy the curiosity of young hearts beside the actual cruise ship itself and the occasional stop onto nameless little towns. A vacation that I imagine that could be a blast would be somewhere with mountains and water, where miscellaneous mountain routes are to be found and rare ocean species are to be discovered; plates to be identified and seafood to be tasted.

My parents' vacation, on the other hand, does not necessarily correlate to what I was originally imagining -- they had a very nice bedroom inside that seemingly large cruise ship, fancy meals that actually looks tasty, and a very low-stress schedule with no deadlines. 

Fancy lighting in bedroom, which is much nicer than what I expected for an economical price.

Appetizer before main meal during dinner, I gotta say, this plate display certain level of aesthetics. 

I am not sure about your parents, but my parents love the idea of eating fatty snacks and reading whichever book of interest at the time. Apparently it is a sign of luxury during the older French Rococo times, and they love to preserve tradition.

Alaska ice. It's blue.

Occasional stop by of local towns. I am loving the clouds, although the tonality of clouds looks quite blue.

Have a happy 4th of July.