If you’ve ever eaten a meal out with me, you’ll probably know that I’m one of those people who likes to take pictures of my food. When people make fun of me I either a) blame my brother for getting me started or b) say it’s because I’m Asian (true statement?). In any case, since eating is one of the best parts of cultural exploration, I figured I would do something of a weekly roundup to share some of the highlights.

Although probably not as exciting tastewise, the top photo is an omelet I made to celebrate stocking my fridge. It does have Asian herbs on it (cilantro, lemon grass) so that makes it cultural right? The toast was also a small victory (and attempt #2) in figuring out the settings of our toaster. The rest of the photos are a bit more reflective of the region…

A free lunch at the airport made my 8-hour layover in Hanoi much better!

Passionfruit juice at the Hanoi airport – yum!

Curry from the restaurant next door to the office

Display at the smoothie stand

Take-away consists of a plastic bag

Passionfruit mango drink with veggie spring rolls. Delicious!

Glass noodle salad with pork, and a mango/passionfruit smoothie (my favorite!)

A gourd, you say? Why no – it’s an avocado from the tree next to our office!

Pad thai – some street food on recommendation

Finally, a bit of cultural trivia I learned today: After Sinsamout (my Lao co-worker) sneezed, he explained that the Lao saying about sneezing is that it means somebody’s complaining about him somewhere. He gave me a ride to buy some fruit today – so it definitely wasn’t me!