Apparently the biggest Chinatown in Asia is located in Ho Chi Minh city and, ugh I have so many attachments to China and going here was a must. I can't even begin to start on how much I loved my time there. I was in Changchun, located in Jilin province and...my heart is set on going back for another run around...but back into focus~ Chinatown's are my steeze. Even in Boston, forget Harvard square, the tourist spots...gimme Chinatown.
Ani and I decided to venture out to this China town and...got a tad lost. We went walking for a while, jumped on a bus and got off WAY before the actual Chinatown. Totally my fault, I started seeing Chinese writing everywhere, got overly excited and confidently announced that we were at the desired location...fail.
We did get to butcher our way through getting direction though. >.<#
some odd fruit! (photo taken by VeganBeats)
Two bus rides in, and the smell of trash lingering in the air...ahh this is more like it. Hustle and bustle, yelling people, rotten produce lining the streets and dusty items being pawned, this was China town. We got off and after some wandering (and being the only foreigners NOT in a tour group) we stumbled upon Cho Bing Tay, a market center. Stock full of people, we entered the humid "temple" and found loads of gadgets, candies~ I'll let the photos do the talking...
Cho Binh Tay (photo taken by VeganBeats)
condiment stand, dyed spices, dried fishes...(photo taken by VeganBeats)
all types of rices, the green is younger rice, flakes to grains (photo taken by VeganBeats)
Vegan meats were everywhere! I managed to get a massive bag of dried "meats", vegan shrimp, and vegan baby squid (whaaaa) for 110,000 dong, about $5.00!
dried mushrooms, beans, veggies (photo taken by VeganBeats)
Squeezing through crowds of people, and bumping into all sorts of displays and bags, we were tired and coffee was in order. One WONDERFUL thing about Vietnam is the small stands you can find everywhere. Older men and women run these things and they serve all sorts of drinks. We found this hidden stand in an alley and plopped down asking for some ice coffees and....it hit the spot.
yum!! (photo taken by VeganBeats)
The women was kind enough to give us some tea too! Ani and I just sat, sipping coffee and tea people watching. There was so much going on around us and we were just floating amongst it...
After resting our legs and rejuvenating our dehydrated sweaty selves we decided to truck it back, but to walk around the produce market.
*My favorite part about markets are the produce spots ^^*!~
baby sweet limes, passion fruit, and MASSIVE mangoes! (photo taken by VeganBeats)
The market is dirty, it smells, it reeks of rotting fish and moldy fruit, but there's something so attractive about that for me. Changchun was a dirty town, but for me, it was and is honest. American produce places are cleaned, mopped, sprayed clean...that's not real, it's a cover. I like seeing and being in the stress, the yelling, competitive marketing...wallstreet for fresh goods.
It was so striking too, piles of garbage and then a glorious stand of tropical fruits and sweet aromas. Ahhh Asia^^*!~
Spent the day in Boston yesterday, actually took some me time. I was originally going so I could meet up with a fellow student so we could study for our final, but she bailed. I was already on the train and, well before plans for Korea I did set a goal for myself to kick it through the Beantown streets at least one more time.
As soon as I got off at South Station I felt safe, comfortable...free almost. There was no criticism following me, endlessly ringing in my ears, nothing...amongst a community of noises, yet I was in the bubble of serenity.
Having not been to Harvard Square in so long I took the subway there, I miss subways. The constant disarray, overwhelming confusion that is just accepted, and communally understood. I was soaking in the surroundings, passing each stop and witnessing the awkward altercation, conversations, and gazes. Everyone is people watching...Harvard square is...a college section. It was raining, as it has been here for the past three (approaching four) days, so lost in my huge rain coat and with an over-sized umbrella, my only plan was to explore. I stumbled into Dado and got a steaming cup of dark oolong and ginseng tea...instant pleasure.
I haven't gone to a tea house in forever, there isn't much around my spot. )O: Cruising through streets I found a used book store, and Veggie Planet, I have one of their reusable bags and am so glad I know where they're located now. I didn't get anything, but it smelt so comforting. Basil and tomatoes sauce wafted through the air, an open and approachable kitchen was easily accessible...and even though there wasn't much direction, it was just understood what the "rules" were. Everything seemed reasonabley priced too, the menu looked alluring enough, but wasn't too hungry and I had plans on hitting up my FAVORITE Boston area...China Town.
Durian hunting, that was my mission, and I my plan. along with Bijiu. I haven't had Durian or Bijou since my trip to China and I was seriously missing China. And I want to celebrate, I'm finishing up my FINAL class for my undergrad tomorrow and hell, I want some cheap rice wine!
I can't quite explain it, or accurately describe how I feel whenever I enter China town. Something feels so right, I mesh right in, I feel confident walking those streets and through the stores. As uncomfortable as I feel in my home when Koreans come over, in China town amongst the Koreans and Chinese, I feel so much more accepted, my lungs expand freely. Right down to the smells of China town I feel at ease. Also it brings me back, these memories flow straight into my head from when I was younger and used to buy grapes juice or cabbage with my mother here, when I would converse in horribly broken Korean with store owners, and the time I was in Changchun. The smells of dumplings filling street corners, along with the crackling of roasting geese and cooking pigs (as much as it pains me, it does remind me.) Even the trash riddled corners, where the cardboard is stacked upon high sandy covered plastic and wooden chopsticks makes me feel at home...so comfortably at ease. The combination of community, people, smells, produce, all of it...it's a taste of Asia that is not at all like Asia but a kiss of it.
I think I went into every store, when I saw produce, I ventured in. Plump pumpkins, wasabi peas (the American brands..pish posh), the dried mushrooms, Ah I love it. I walked into this tiny tiny store and found the usual dried ginseng, fish, sweet potatoes, ramens of all flavors, but there were barely any Korean products, the ones I am so used to seeing, smelling, and tasting. The produce section was so tiny that I feared my Durian mission would be a fail...a man saw my confusion and I showed him a cell phone picture and he guided me straight the the horrid smelling spikey fruit!! YESS!! but...$1.99/lb, these guys are huge...should I drop $20 on this...
I decided to venture on wards, good thing I did too. I stumbled into a bigger store, full of SO much more produce. And I spoiled myself. I made quite a bounty. Got water spinach, Chinese broccoli, and sesame leaves for $1.69/lb, king oyster mushrooms for $3, enoki mushrooms for $1, dried "black fungus" (the same pillowy seaweed like ones I had in Changchun), two bags of white seaweed (I am not sure what they are called but they're so yummy), and yes...durian for $1.50/lb...I spoiled myself hardcore, and well, spending only $32.50 I left a happy vegan gal!
And luckily next door was a Chinese liquor store, I found my cheap bijiu. The last time I had this I was with Spy and I got more than sick. Bijou is this clear rice liquor from China that seriously is like gin, tequila, and vodka mixed all together to form this gut wrenching, lung clasping, blood stopping liquid consumption reaction. And it does not do well in mixers, so shot it or nothing. I saw so many people swigging these babies back with not even a cringe...an dI couldn't take more than two without feeling like I was going to die. On one of his days off Spy and I bought a bottle (only for 10 kuai=US $1.65) and tried desperately to make it tolerable...peach and kiwi nectar, fail fail fail. I took maybe one shot and while walking to some nearby gathering, I had to turn back...
anyways long story short...I'ma have to be very gentle with this round.
The day in Boston was a great day...I finally enjoyed some me time...and when that exam is turned in and I can stretch out and breath without any assignments eagerly requesting my attention...I'll enjoy a little bijiu, and a section of durian. I'll be to giddy to smell the rotten stench that misrepresents this glorious fruit.
