Pho Ga

Posted on July 15, 2012 by setiawanphoto

After spending some time out in the cold trying to take photos of the sunrise at Ha Long Bay, I went back to my cabin to get ready for the day. By then Kristi was already up as well, and we went to the dining room afterwards to meet others for breakfast.

The breakfast for the day was a traditional Vietnamese dish, pho ga (chicken noodle soup). For many of the passengers, it was unusual to have noodle soup for breakfast, but in Vietnam they pretty much serve pho all day long, and some would have it for breakfast. Coming from Indonesia, Kristi and I were also used to having noodle dishes for breakfast. I guess it must be a Southeast Asian or Chinese thing.

Since we arrived in Vietnam few days before, we’ve been constantly moving that we had not had the chance to try out pho, the Vietnamese dish that is well-known and available everywhere. So here was our first pho in Vietnam during this trip. The serving was pretty small in comparison to the portion they serve in the US, but it was just about the right amount; it was filling without making me feel bloated. And after being out in the cold for the morning, having the warm soup dish was definitely perfect for the occasion.

You can see on the photo below my bowl of pho. It was not that big but quite packed with chicken meat, noodles, and some greens.

Sleeping Dragon

Posted on July 14, 2012 by setiawanphoto

One of the things I usually do before traveling as a photographer is to do some research on the location where I could get the ‘money shot’ for the place I’m visiting. In other words, I try to find out where other photographers before me took the photographs that capture the sense of place the best. Once I know the location and the recommended condition (e.g., time of the day) when to take the photos, I try to plan my itinerary to be able to hit that place and time just like the other photographers had done. Now you may think I would end up with a ‘copycat’ of what others had done, but typically even when you’re at the same place and time as other photographers, what you see through your eyes may be different and provide your own personal touch to the photos. Just like any other planning activities, however, you need to also consider that it may not work out as you planned since there are external factors beyond your control that may affect your activity, such as weather conditions, other travelers, logistics, etc. Sometimes you just have to improvise and make the best of situation.

When I was planning for the Southeast Asia trip, there were two such ‘money shots’ I was planning to take. The first one was the first sunrise of the year at Angkor Wat in Cambodia. The second was a panoramic photo of Ha Long Bay at either sunrise or sunset time. I was able to capture the sunrise at Angkor Wat, but the Ha Long Bay one turned out to be different than what I expected. During our visit to Ha Long Bay, it was very cloudy most of the time. I don’t think we saw the sun rising or setting during the three days we were there.

I woke up pretty early on the morning of our second day at Ha Long Bay, hoping to catch the sunrise. Our boat was anchored at one of the lagoons in Ha Long Bay. It was pretty quiet and peaceful out there; I heard a little bit sound of the small waves in the waters surrounding our boat, and the wind blowing a little bit. It was quite cold out there — it must’ve been around high 30s or low 40s. As I waited for the sunrise to come, a couple other passengers also came out to do the same. One of them was Dave, Mrs. Hoa’s son, who seemed to be quite a serious photographer considering his backpack full of photography gears. The other person was one of the Malaysian/Australian, Stephanie, who had a DSLR and seemed to be into photography as well, though may not be as serious as Dave.

We ended up waiting for an opportunity to shoot sunrise at Ha Long Bay that never came. It remained very cloudy, and slowly light came out and we knew we wouldn’t get the sunrise shot we were hoping that morning. A little dissapointing, but I did manage to take some shots of the rock formations around our boat. One of the shots was the photo below, where I noticed a rock formation that resembled a sleeping dragon (you may have to use your imagination to see it). There was no dramatic sunrise photo as I was hoping for, but I think this particular photo still gives you the sense of place about Ha Long Bay — cloudy, cold, calm waters, and rock formation shaped by nature to resemble things that can be seen using one’s imagination.

Mantis Prawn

Posted on July 13, 2012 by setiawanphoto

After a long day that started very early in the morning at the train station in Hanoi and ended with kayaking in Ha Long Bay, Kristi and I were quite wiped out. We had a couple of hours of free, rest time that we took advantage of by taking a short nap in our nice cabin on the junk boat.

After the nice nap and freshening up, we joined other passengers in the dining room for dinner. After opening the trip with a feast for the lunch, I thought they had set high expectations for the meal that would be difficult to top. I was wrong. The dinner was actually equally if not more impressive than the lunch. The menu for dinner was as follows: kohlrabi salad with herbs to start, folled by deep-fried roll with herms, fried mantis prawn with salt and lemongrass, steamed crab with rose wine, sauted prawn with garlic butter, deep-fried chicken with read wine, grilled mackerel fish on hot pan, Ha Long fish cake with herbs, fried vegetables with garlic, steamed rice, and again fresh tropical fruit to close. Another impressive spread for a meal.

The highlight of the meal was the mantis prawn. When I was planning for this trip, I watched an episode of Bizarre Foods show on Travel Channel where Andrew Zimmern went to Ha Long Bay and tried some interesting dishes local to the area. The best one he had was the mantis prawn, which he described as a cross between two decadent seafoods, lobster and crab meat. I was wondering if we would have an opportunity to try it, and here it was, added to the menu in the last minute. It was prepared in a simple recipe, sauteed with salt and lemongrass. They looked quite strange as they resemble praying mantis — pretty scary looking. But the dish smelled so good, and Smiley and other Dragon Pearl’s crew encouraged us to try this as it’s the delicacy of the region. They helped us to peel the prawn; we had to be a little careful as there were sharp edges on the shell and the prawn’s legs. Andrew Zimmern was right about how delicious the mantis prawn meat is — it was among the best dishes I had in this trip (quite a distinction given that we had many excellent meals during this trip in Southeast Asia).

That was a great way to end the first day of our cruise in Ha Long Bay. Some of the passengers watched as our boat’s captain went out in the dark and tried to catch some squid. It was pretty neat, but after seeing one caught, the novelty kind of wore off and the exhaustion set in. Most of the passengers retreated to their respective cabins to end the day with a good night sleep.

You can see on the photo below me holding a mantis prawn in my hand before deshelling and eating it. Notice the size of it and its mantis-like look.

Kayaking

Posted on July 12, 2012 by setiawanphoto

After an excellent lunch to open our cruise in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam, our tour guide Smiley announced the next activity that we could participate in, kayaking in the nearby inlet. It was a bit chilly outside, but the water looked pretty calm and many of the passengers were pretty excited to hear about what we would be doing.

Kristi and I knew that this would be one of the activities during the cruise, and we were looking forward to it. However, neither of us had really done kayaking before. Several others in the group mentioned the same concern to Smiley. He told us not to worry; he could give us a little crash course, and we were not going too far from the boat especially for this first run. We also had personal floating device for each person that the crew helped inspected before we jumped off to our kayak. Mrs. Hoa, the lady who came with her children and in-laws, mentioned that she wanted to experience kayaking, but she wasn’t sure she’s up to it from fitness perspective. Smiley graciously offered to ride with her and do the paddling. In the end, all but one of the passengers ended up going on the trip.

Kristi and I went on the same kayak. We paddled around near the boat to get the bearings, and then as the group was ready to go, we followed everyone. Fortunately the water was pretty calm, so we didn’t have to work too hard agains the waves to follow Smiley’s kayak up front. He took us on a trip around an island, passing a beach with a small ancient graveyard where some of the local fishermen had their ancestors buried.

The trip took about an hour or so, long enough as a first excursion for some of us who were new to this. Kristi and I stayed mostly at the back of the group for most of the trip, trying to keep up with everyone as we learned to control our kayak. By the end of it I think we had a good handle of it.

The photo below was taken by Kristi who rode at the front of the kayak while we were cruising during the trip. I took some photos as well with my point-and-shoot (I didn’t dare taking my DSLR lest it get wet or fall into the water), but it was difficult to get good shots when sitting in the back. I also had to keep paddling so we could keep up with others.

Fresh Seafood

Posted on July 11, 2012 by setiawanphoto

After getting a chance to enjoy the view of the surroundings at the start of our cruise in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam, we heard the bell for lunch. It’s definitely a welcomed sound, as it’s been a long day for most of us after spending the morning on a drive from Hanoi to Ha Long City, and then followed with boarding the junk boat. Kristi and I went to the dining room, and in a few minutes all of the other passengers made it there as well.

Smiley our tour guide welcomed us again, and informed us that the meals that we would have during the cruise are as important experience as the sightseeing and other activities we would do. He said the crew would like to ensure that we enjoy the food and drinks they serve, so any request or feedback we had were welcomed. The food was included as part of our cruise package, but the drinks were not. So they would keep tab of what we ordered, and at the end of the trip we would settle the bill with them.

For the first meal of our trip, Smiley said we would have several dishes featuring seafood freshly gathered from Ha Long Bay itself. The food was served family style at each table. The menu for this first meal was as follows: red bean and lotus seed soup as as starter, followed by green vegetable salad with carrot juice, Ha Long clam with fragrance smooth fruit, deep fried prawn with garlic and butter, Vong Vieng oyster cake with garlic sauce, steamed fish with soy sauce, fried vegetable with garlic, steamed rice, and closed with fresh tropical fruits. Quite a meal to make a first impression. Most of the dishes were very familiar to me and Kristi, as they were probably closer to traditional Chinese preparation than what we knew as Vietnamese food. But it makes sense since where we were in northern Vietnam was very close to the southern Chinese border, and historically there were a lot of Chinese influence in the Vietnamese culture.

The photo below was the deep-fried prawn with garlic and butter dish. It’s a pretty simple preparation; the highlight was the prawn that clearly was very fresh. I also like this preparation better than the deep-fried shrimp we find in the US; it’s more tasty, and didn’t feel greasy at all.