She loved the canned chili that I used to make chili dogs, so I thought we should take our relationship to the next level- homemade chili. Not just any homemade chili, but one made from the “best chili recipe ever”- as declared by Google.

I found the recipe two weeks ago so we planned on cooking it one of these weekends. I decided that that weekend would be during her birthday. She wanted me to meet two of her best friends and thought that that day would be best. During the week, I’m often busy and too tired to entertain company.

Since it was her birthday, I wanted to get everything right. I woke up early that Saturday (10 AM) and got ready to meet her for lunch and go shopping for ingredients. She was already busy with friends and had to meet me later. That left me with the shopping.

First grocery store: Western Canned Goods Store, 1. Beef broth. None. Tomato paste. None. Diced tomatoes? None.

Go to second store.

Second grocery store: Trang Tien Plaza. Bread. Check. Buns. Check. Potatoes. Check. Roma tomatoes. Check. (Is that how you spell “potatoes”? Potatos. Yep, it’s right. There’s a red line on this version.) Onions. Check. Garlic. That’s at home. Check. Dark beer. Too expensive. Pass. Proceed to checkout.

Head home. Drop things off.

Third grocery store: Big C. Ground beef. Awww, this is going to be expensive. Check. Beef sirloin. My vocabulary isn’t that good, but this looks like it. Check. Hotdogs. One of these brands I don’t like. Three of one brand. Two… of the brand.. I think I don’t like… Check. Tomato paste… Nope. Diced tomatoes… Nope. Spices… Too expensive. I think I have some at home. I’m pretty sure we do. Pass. Beef broth… Beef broth… Nope. Dark beer. Will be too heavy if I buy a lot of stuff. Pass.

Go home to drop things off. Waiting for bus. Waiting for bus. Waiting for bus. Finally! Transfer to second bus. Waiting for bus. Waiting for bus. Waiting for bus. Get on a different bus that might go in the same direction. Damnit! It’s turning! …Wait, I know this street. Get off and wait for third bus. Short wait. Get on; head home.

Unexpected stop.

Fourth grocery store: Western Canned Goods Store, 2. Diced tomatoes. Too expensive. Pass. Tomato paste. Too expensive… I think. Pass. Beef broth… Nope.

Fifth grocery store: Citimart. Diced tomatoes. Expensive… but running out of time. Buy. Tomato paste. Expensive… but… Buy. Dark beer. Yikes!… Buy. Beef broth… Beef broth… Dangit! They don’t have it! Coca Cola. Buy. Fanta. Buy. Bargain with xe om to get a ride home.

Xe Om: 15,000 VND.

Me: 10,000..? Okay.

She’s already at the house- washing her hair. Not making that up. I start cutting onions, garlic, and tomatoes. The cooking is finally starting and I find almost all of the spices needed in the cupboard. However, no beef broth. I think that was a crucial ingredient… One thing I failed to do was compensate for it. I still added the 1/2 cup of brown sugar… Dang… The chili had a sweet taste to it, and I don’t mean cool. We managed to add in salt and other spices to counterbalance the sweetness. In the end it turned out “binh thoung”.

The guests arrive and the meal starts off quite. This is not how a chili dinner is supposed to sound. They were all very new to the experience, minus my girlfriend and roommate. I thought someone was going to hurl because it’s not exactly what Vietnamese people usually eat. They don’t like to mix their foods, and with chili… well, it is what it is. And if you think about it, to the untrained eye, it looks like something else. In the end, my girlfriend’s two best friends praised my dish washing and were able to finish their servings of chili with a polite smile. My Chinese friend gave it a try and said it was too different for him. My Vietnamese friend who eats a lot of Western food loved it. The roommate loved it. My best friend says, “It’s good. Not really spicy, though. It tastes a little bit like Thai food.” Hmm… not what I was going for.

In the end, I think the recipe is still good. If I had the right ingredients and side dishes- especially if I had Frito chips- it would’ve been a blast. I’ll have to try making it again, but only when I have all the ingredients. It did teach me one thing though, chili is too much of an ethnic American food to be served as an introductory meal to people that have had little exposure to American food. Next time, I’ll have to go with turkey, pizza, or burgers.

I’ve managed to hold off a fever and am back to eating regular foods… well, as regular as they can get in Hanoi compared to my “regulars” in the States. I must say, though, that I miss the Western food. You can get some of it here, but not so much as you could in Shanghai or Beijing, or even Nanjing. ‘Loved the Thai offering in Chiang Mai. Mostly, I’ve eaten noodles here.

Some of the others haven’t been as lucky in recovering. Stomach viruses, fevers, exhaustion. I think a lot of it is due to exhaustion and dehydration. If you go anywhere this hot summer, carry a water bottle.

We managed to go to Ha Long Bay this weekend. It was about a 3 hour drive in a car, then an hour+ wait at the port, then 2 hours on the boat to Cat Ba island with a couple of stops along the way. Pics to be posted later.

On Thursday evening, we decided to get some dinner from a food stall that sold noodles- very, very tasty. It reminded us of Vietnamese pho. I can’t wait to sink into my first bowl of pho when we arrive in Hanoi.

After a nice bowl of noodle soup, we headed across the street to Cozi for some drinks. They have a very good special of 3 Leo beers for 100 Baht. This special seems to run every day. We had a great time getting to know each other. The three of us are going to be in Viet Nam for our posts. Some for a year, others for two years.

Olivia wanted to brainstorm ideas for possible jobs she could do to earn money on the side while volunteering. Of course, this was going to be in addition to her food stall that she wants to start. I only agreed to give her more ideas if I could work at her food stall when I visited Hue. Here was our list of potential jobs:

1. English Tutor
2. Bartender
3. Hotel Receptionist
4. Radio DJ
5. Voice-Over Work
6. Open a Wine Bar
7. Weekend Tour Guide
8. Vietnamese Soap Opera Star Playing the Mute Girl (I would play the Viet Kieu with long hair)
9. Movie Star
10. Cover Band Singer (and Guitarist, when we learn how to play the guitar)
11. Model (we think Candice has the jump on us with this one)

As you can see, we know how to brainstorm. Maybe it was the Leo talking. Either way, those are pretty darn good ideas if you ask me.

You: “Do you think these are…?”

Me: “Yes, they are.”

After looking into our future moonlighting jobs, we talked about life in general- family, music, relationships, food, and a big part of our lives now: VIA.

The past near two weeks in Chiang Mai has been really great. Everyone here is simply amazing. It seems that we’ve found our flock to fly with. Everyone seems to be here for themselves, but to give all of themselves in this endeavor. I think a lot of times we grow accustomed to the status quo within us and over time we don’t even recognize it. You know what? I should have blogged this the night I came home from the bar because it was really good and I now can’t remember everything we talked about. I just remember the feeling. It made me feel really good about everything- myself, my friends, VIA, and this next part in my life. You’re just going to have to trust me on this one.

rice
with
pork
Korean
style
twenty
Baht
so
so
good