Baking, ball and more baking

Here are just a few pictures from the last few weeks. I did some baking a few weekends ago for Mel's 40th birthday party. The scones were good but the flapjacks were even better. Thanks for the Cath Kidston, Kate!

On the first weekend in March, Rachel and I went to the Welsh ball which was ace! The Hong Kong Welsh Male Voice choir were there, we had lamb, welsh cakes and there were even daffodils (fake ones, but still!). Will definitely be going again next year.

This weekend I decided to do some experimental baking. Here were the ingredients I had to work with. There was no measuring involved, just some sprinkling, pouring and mixing. My aim was for some sort of coconut and strawberry muffin.

Unmeasured ingredients...

Looks ok so far...

Muffin cases courtesy of Mummy Harwood!

Not bad looking?! Ok, I confess! These were
the second batch I made tonight. Slightly
better looking than yesterday's!

Reasonably healthy with very little butter, 0%
fat coconut yoghurt and only a little bit of
sugar.

And strawberries in the middle! Yum!

I was very impressed with them! Especially the second batch. Recipe to follow when I've actually perfected it (needs more strawberries!) and measured the ingredients! 

I also cooked Pad Thai this evening. I bought the ingredients from the food market near June's house. P'da took me and then told me how to make it, she also gave me all the little extra ingredients I needed. Rachel was my unsuspecting taster.

Pretty authentic looking! 

It tasted pretty good too. A little bit of perfecting needed I think, but it's almost there. However, this was the mess left afterwards!

Like father, like daughter?!

Vietnam Adventure Part II - Hoi An

So, we boarded the plane in Ho Chi Minh. It was possibly older than me and looked rather rickety. Rachael and I were VERY happy the flight was only 40 minutes, both breathed a sign of relief when we touched down and tried not to think about the return flight we had to make in 3 days!

When we arrived at the airport we got a taxi to Hoi An which took about 40 minutes too. When we arrived we dumped our bags again and went for a wander around the village. Hoi An is a little fishing village famous for its tailor made clothes. 

Fishing boats on the river.

Flowers being sold on the street.

Hundreds of bicycles in Hoi An for rent. 

Fresh food market near the river.

All of the shops and restaurants are these pretty little
houses with French/Vietnamese fronts.

Some are more impressive than others!

Fishing boat on the river.

Looking down the river from the bridge.

So many pretty lanterns on sale. 

More boats.

Sound bowls and gongs outside one shop.

We didn't really do much while we were in Hoi An aside from eat delicious food, wander around the streets, browse in art galleries and shops and then relax by the pool or at the hotel. It was lovely. 

Art gallery where I bought my painting.

Hoi An Chicken Salad - out of this world!

Vietnamese Dong

Pretty pretty pretty.

Knickknacks, stuff and things.

Japanese covered bridge.

Who knows...they were in a shop...?

Drug related goods?!

Lanterns everywhere.

Bikes everywhere else!

One bar we went to had markers on the walls where the
floods had come up to in the last 10 years. This was the
most recent. 

Hoi An was definitely a place I want to revisit. It was so calm, peaceful and pretty. With all the fabrics, lanterns, delicious food, art work and knickknacks how could I not have liked it? 

We took a late flight back to Ho Chi Minh on Friday night and stayed in a rather posh hotel before getting our flight back to Bangkok on Saturday afternoon. It was a wonderful holiday with just the right amount of relaxing and sightseeing. Thank you Vietnam! See you again soon!

Vietnam Adventure Part I - Ho Chi Minh City

I'm sorry for the delay. I absolutely suck. I know. Anyway, here is a run down of my holiday to Vietnam along with some of my favourite photos. 

Rachael and I set off early on Saturday morning to Suvarnabhumi airport. Booking flights there at the earliest possible time seemed to make sense when I was doing it. More time in Vietnam right? However, after a long term a taxi at 5am on a Saturday morning did not feel good! While at the airport having a cuppa who should we meet but Pippa and Paul who were on their way to Myanmar for the week. They stopped to have a cuppa with us then jetted off themselves...have you blog posted yet Pip?!

One good think about an early flight meant that we had a great view coming into Vietnam. I even had a window seat (pretty amazing I didn't have a panic attack!). 

The Mekong Delta

First glimpse of Ho Chi Minh City.

Once we landed we drew out some Vietnamese Dong to go with our USA Dollars and got a taxi to our hotel. Our hotel was called Lan Lan 1 and was really near the Ben Thanh Market (or Ben10 market as we continually called it). 

Hotel room 1 - not bad!

After dumping our stuff, we headed out for a look around. As we were so close to Ben10 market, we popped in and found our first Pho Bo (said Fu(r) Bu(r) but continually called Po Bo). This is one of the dishes you have to try when in Vietnam so we thought we should. How good can a bowl of clear beef soup with noodles be? Well...I didn't expect it to be this good! Amazing! We had lots of other Po Bo while we were away but nothing beat this first one in the market.

Pho Bo

After we had refueled we went for a wander around and found our hotel was in a great location for...well, everything!

Reunification Palace

People's Committee Building

Notre Dame Cathedral

Ben Thanh Market

Range of animal parts on sale at Ben10

Market map

Obviously this wander left Rachael and I exhausted and in need of some sustenance and rest. So on our way back to the hotel for a nap, we found a pretty little French cafe so we stopped there for some tea and cakes!

 

Macaroons in Ho Chi Minh!

Going...

Gone!

The next day we took a walking tour around the city, led by Miss Rachael Walker, orienteer extraordinaire. Here are the things we saw...

The other side of Ben10 market after crossing the deadly
roundabout.

The Fine Arts Museum

The windows were some of the prettiest things there.

Painted glass on the front doors.

The chandelier in the entrance hall.

All the floors were tiled with beautiful patterns. 

There was also a little art gallery shop where there were hundreds of original paintings and sculptures.  

Pig!

Pretty artwork.

Stacks and stacks...

...and stacks of canvases for sale.

Monument by the river.

Ho Chi Minh (Uncle Ho) statue outside the People's
Committee building.

And then we stumbled across this little gem! Au Parc restaurant. It was tucked away near the Notre Dame Cathedral and didn't look too exciting from the outside but inside...

Bright yellow and very Mediterranean!

Chicken kebab wrap with salad. Oh so good!

New York Cheesecake - mmm!

Almost managed it!

On the final day we went to the War Remnants Museum. Lots of people had told us about it but we thought we should go and see for ourselves. It was pretty harrowing and not pleasant but definitely worth going when you're in the city. 

After having visited lots of different places for Pho Bo and going to some lovely Vietnamese restaurants in the evenings we were drawn back to Au Parc as their lunches were so good! 

Tomato and feta dip with pomelo and orange juice.

Apple crumble with ice cream and caramel
and chocolate cheesecake. 

So on Tuesday we said goodbye to Ho Chi Minh city and it's lovely French patisseries, phenomenal Pho Bo, gorgeous French men, terrifying traffic and warm weather to get another early flight to Danang airport, 40 minutes away from Hoi An.