Asia Tidbits

Right now I'm sitting in a cafe with Anna.  We're at a place near our house where I'd like to become a regular.  Today I've ordered "avocado with ice cream."  Sound good?  Anna is sticking closer to the familiar with pineapple juice with honey.

Most places serve a complimentary iced green tea as well.  Sometimes it's delightful, and sometimes pretty bitter.  This one is of the delightful variety, maybe with a hint of coconut? Next time I'm out with a Vietnamese speaker, I'm going to see if I can find out where to buy it. We feel pretty good about drinking the tea that's offered because we know the water boiled in order to make the tea, but it's best not to think about whether the glasses were washed thoroughly or not.... I was enjoying a lunch of chicken and rice at a small shop recently, and the proprietress gestured to the cooler where I could refill my tea if I wanted to.  I opened the lid and couldn't see how the tea was supposed to be dipped out, and the nearby options weren't encouraging.  I opted not to have a refill of the cold stuff and instead poured some hot tea out of a thermos on the table.  I think I made the right choice, because later I saw another customer help himself to the cold tea by simply dipping his own glass into the bucket. Oh well. I'll still go back for the chicken and rice, though, because it was good eating and was followed by the most nourishing-tasting broth I've ever had. By the way, avocado with ice cream is a hit. I'll be back for another one of these!

The proprietress preparing a baggy of broth for a to-go order.

I took the whole family back to my chicken and rice spot, and EVERYONE was happy with the food!

We took a few amusing pictures the first time we went to the large Korean department store here. It's turned out to be our favorite comprehensive shopping place, and we just may send you some of these tasty snacks for Christmas.

Daniel is always pointing out the nonsensical nature of advertisements. He wants to know why a picture of a smiling family is supposed to make someone buy plastic bags, for example. I think he had a good point with this one, though. If this is an advertisement for an eyeglasses company, why is no one wearing glasses?

After about two hours of grueling shopping in the home goods department, we all needed some cheering up with ice cream at Lotteria, a fast food place on the ground floor.  I think I was more cheered by the wall-sized display of random American burger sentiments: 

Every day we see something new, do something a little better than the first time we tried it, and discover a new place to get something we've been looking for.  The joys outweigh the hardships, and we are glad to be here.  It's going to be a life-changing year!

Love,

Janet