I'm Back. It's a little bit easier to type now that the bandage around my thumb has come off. But the side that got sliced is the side farther away from the fingers, which makes it hard to hit the space bar comfortably as the injury site would be in direct contact with my keyboard. Still, I shall persist. Good thing this is going to be a foto dump!
"A trip to Vung Tau would be incomplete without trying bánh khọt, the city’s most famous street food. These bite-sized savory pancakes, made from rice flour batter, are fried in small cast-iron molds until crispy. Topped with fresh shrimp, scallions, and a drizzle of scallion oil, bánh khọt are served with an array of fresh greens and dipped in a sweet and tangy fish sauce. The combination of crispy, chewy, and fresh flavors makes this dish an irresistible snack."
The internet was right. It was an unexpected breakfast. We weren't planning on stopping at this shop but it had a steady stream of locals moving thru the place so we decided to give it a go.
Here's a video!
BIKSS saw a fruit seller's cart outside the shop so he went over to pick up some cabbage longans. What are cabbage longans you may ask? Here it is -
A cabbage longan (known in Vietnamese as nhãn bắp cải) is a rare and specialty varietal of the longan fruit originally cultivated in the Ba Ria–Vung Tau region of Vietnam.
• Appearance: When peeled, the translucent pale-yellow flesh wraps tightly in distinct layers that resemble the folded leaves of a miniature cabbage.
• Texture & Juiciness: It is less juicy than standard longan varieties, offering a much denser, crisp, and crunchy texture.
• Flavor & Seed: It features a balanced, rich sweetness with a small pit (seed) hidden inside the thick meat.
• Market Status: Originally considered an exclusive and expensive luxury fruit (selling for up to VND 150,000 per kg - approx $5.80 USD), prices have dropped significantly as production and supply have increased.
I'm not a stranger to regular longans, so this wasn't as exotic as it might be to some people. But the flavour was distinctly greener than the kind I'm used to. The skin is also thinner, and overall less cloying and more refreshing on the palate.
And all this because we were on the way to get some salted egg yolk pork floss sponge cake from this recommended shop. And yes, it tasted better than the ones we got the day before. Plus they were in a nice box so I managed to carry them all the way home to share with friends.
Next we were off to the Vung Tau lighthouse. Honestly, there wasn't much to see of the lighthouse proper. The view and the winds tho, now that was something. Even tho there were some other people picknicking and walking about, there was a certain quiet stillness about the place. It wasn't because people were talking in hushed tones or anything, quite the opposite. It just felt very serene. We sat on a bench for a good 15 mins just enjoying the breeze under a canopy of green.
Now apparently eating homemade yoghurt alongside a soft-boiled egg is a thing. We didn't try the combination, but we did share a tub of yoghurt. And I was reminded of the yoghurts they served in our hotel when we visited Hue last year. They do really good yoghurt, these Vietnamese. Light, refreshing, and not blood curdling sour even when unsweetened. For some reason this yoghurt + egg combo is only to be found at the stalls / cafes along the road leading up to the lighthouse, hence, "Lighthouse Yoghurt".
For the latter half of our visit at the lighthouse we had some constant companions. They were mostly well behaved, but I suspect they were tailing us cos we had a couple of boxes of them sponge cakes in our bag.
Alright. time for some history.
During 14th and 15th centuries, the cape that would become Vũng Tàu was a swamp which European trading ships visited regularly. The ships' activities inspired the name Vũng Tàu, which means "anchorage". The Portuguese referred to this place as Oporto Cinco Chagas or simply Cinco Chagas in their maps. Apres de Mannevillette (1707–1780), one of the greatest French chart-publishers, mentioned Saint Jacques in his book La Neptune Oriental. This term was later adopted by Europeans and the French.
The French Indochinese government later named it Cap Saint-Jacques (Cáp Xanh-Giắc, in Vietnamese). The cliff of Vũng Tàu is now called Mũi Nghinh Phong (literally meaning "Cape of breeze welcome" or "Cape of greeting wind").
(from Wikipedia)
The view. It was worth it.
Heaven's Gate. Wasn't much, but still a lovely picture. The deal with this archway is if you stand on one side you'll see the natural rock formations of the cape, but if you look inland you'll see an imposing mountain backdrop. I'd rather look out at the water thank you very much.
So. Cape of Greeting Wind. And was it windy. So, funny story. Ok, well, not funny 'ha ha' but more like 'heh, he knows me well and I love that we do reckless things together'. So we took a ride-hailing car to the cape, cos we forgot to hop across to see it when we came down from the Christ statue climb. As we got there the proprietors of the refreshment stands lining the road were all packing up quite speedily because it was threatening to storm. I mean, the winds were howling, tree branches were whipping this way and that, and all the strays were trotting inland looking for cover. And we could feel the drops beginning to hit us.
Should we go? It's just over there.... I said. It's going to pour, he said. But it's not pouring yet, I countered. And he looked at me and I knew he knew. He knew that since I'd missed seeing it the first day, and because we'd come here specially for this today, he KNEW that I would be sorely disappointed if we didn't traipse up and out onto the top of the cliff. We can find shelter and wait it out a bit, he said. I looked around me and said, either we go NOW and hope for the best, or we abandon the plan, hop into a car and head back to the hotel. Cos there's no way this is going to be a passing shower.
Well then, he grabbed my hand and off we half ran! I was delighted. Absolutely exhilarated with excitement. And there really is NO other way to describe the way I felt at that very moment. We walked as quickly as we could, but some bits of the ground had become mucky so we were being extra careful, despite trying to make haste.
And we made it. Rain and all.
It DID pour, so we called a car and hightailed it back to the hotel. Where it promptly stopped raining not 10 minutes after we stepped into the room. Pfft. We decided to explore the swimming pool and rooftop bar. Where we had tea and cake later as we attempted to catch the sunset.
The problem was that it was so cloudy the whole time we were there, there was zero sun to be seen setting. I'm just glad it didn't rain the WHOLE time we were in Vung Tau. And at least I got to see a sunRISE, if no sunsets were to be had.
After NOT seeing the sun set, we walked over to a thermal steam cooking restaurant where everything is steamed under a dome, then as the drippings fall below, it's caught by a huge pot of porridge to be seasoned by said drippings and eaten at the end of your meal. See that pot of rice? It sits below the metal plate that the dishes sit on to steam. And the plates? Well, they've got holes in them too, to let the yummy juices fall through to the bottom. Did we eat the porridge? Nope. We didn't have enough 'richly seasoned' meats and such for there to be enough drippings to flavour a whole pot of rice. Plus, we mostly had veggies that were lighter on the belly, and those are notoriously bland. You do get to mix up your own bowl of dipping sauce from a bunch of condiments on a side table.
The sauce 'buffet' table looks something like this - (image taken off the net from Shopee Malaysia)
Anyway the next day we were off to the airport for our flight home. After we checked in and as we were headed to get some food I spotted this very low-tech bag size and weight checker - that weighing scale is hilarious!
We had a very decent lunch at a restaurant that was familiar to us. And I enjoyed the noodles so much I came back and recreated that bún thịt nướng the following weekend. (aka, grilled pork with lemongrass and rice noodles.)
Only, I have fussy friends so I separated all the veggies and toppings and let everyone assemble their own bowls. It was a fun time, and everyone enjoyed the dish.
And then our flight was delayed. So we went to the gate, picked up our goodwill vouchers, and proceeded to have MORE refreshments at one of the restaurants. We also bought some pastries to take home from their takeaway counter because neither of us could stomach any more food by then. It was pretty good pastries too!
The End!
(Apologies for typos or any other grammatical errors. It's late and I can't be arsed to check. And speaking of arse, guess who got some spanky fun time last Friday! Whoop!... and OUCH!)
