After a good nite rest, we started our trip on Day 2.
We had our journey down south to Mỹ Tho, a town nearby Mekong river.
To kill off time in the bus, the tour guide taught us some basic Vietnamese characters and words.
It has 29 characters instead of the usual 26
and 6 tones (unlike Chinese Mandarin has only 4 tones)
not easy to learn~~~
Anyway, yours truly didn't pay much attention but instead 'capture' the scenic view on the journey
paddy fields
blue skies and vast land
if you noticed carefully, these land owners built the graveyard in the same land where they stayed. They work, live and have their deceased ancestors 'stay' with them in their ancestral land.
Reached a place somewhere on the way where it has a souvenir shop with cute origami
and paper arts
miniature ship built from paper cardboard
miniature clothes on the hanger made from paper cardboard
all sorts of jars and vases
colorful and nice, but I did not buy any
coz they weren't cheap
the souvenir shop is located in this lotus garden
surrounded by greeneries
and colorful florals
blossoming lotus
there were pomelos for sale too
soon after we adjourned and reached Vĩnh Tràng Temple
not for prayer, but to look-see look-see around
the happy Buddha statue...another iconic statue for tourist to take photo
it was a sunny noon, I took this picture before went nearby for shelter
this place is also surrounded by lotus garden
so pretty!
After then, we had lunch at a restaurant in Bến Tre 
I thought the chopstick wrapper shows the restaurant name, but it isn't....It says
Chúc quý khách ngon miệng
(meaning Bon Appetit!)
anyway....we had this huge round thing almost the size of a bowling ball
and it turns out to be some sweet glutinous yet gooey 'substance' with a thin crust
meant to be a starter
The crust was tasteless and deep fried. It is to be eaten together with the white gooey thingy
then the dishes were served
Deep fried 'flying fish'
Crunchy spring roll
Fresh prawn
Stewed Pork Belly
Some greens (not sure what veggie is this)
Clams
And chicken soup with lotsa ingredients
My bowl of soup
There goes our sumptuous lunch at Bách Tùng Viên restaurant
Apparently this place is quite popular among the tourists and even got endorsed by the celebrity chef Martin Yan.
The food must be quite good. I like the way they present the deep fried fish. I suppose you all had to make it "lie down" before eating it.
ReplyDeleteCantonese has 6 tones too. What is the white gooey stuff? Did you eat it? What does it taste like? Thanks for all the photos - I like the floral and plants photos the best.
ReplyDeletePhong Hong: I'm not sure if it is good or not, but it taste ordinary to me. Yes, need the fish to 'lie down' when eating it.
ReplyDeleteMun: yea, Cantonese is much easier to me coz i heard it everywhere (from tv, radio, vlog, street conversation etc) whereas I seldom hear VN language unless in VN. Yes, I tried it. It taste like sweet 'nian gao'.
I bought those 3D cards from the street vendors near the Pagoda in my recent trip to Hanoi.
ReplyDeleteYes, I also discovered that Vietnam language has tones like our Hanyu Pinyin.
I like your temple photos with the clear blue sky and the lotos photo, so pretty
ReplyDelete*lotus
ReplyDelete