Fun instruction video on how to make fresh Vietnamese spring rolls by Mai, with the help of friends at TIEC, Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan
Simple fresh spring rolls (nem cuon/ goi cuon):
1. Preparation:
Boil pork and slice into rectangular pieces
If you don't have fresh rice noodles - Boil white rice noodles, rinse with cold water and drain (a special
technique I sometimes use for noodles that got soaking wet is to put
it in front of a fan or microwave for a few seconds to dry)
Boil shrimps and peel, cut in half if needed
Fry eggs into very thin layers and then cut into small strips
Wash lettuce and cilantro
Chive - wash and cut into lengths of 1 spring roll
Cucumber - wash and cut into lengths of 1 spring roll
2. Wrap using rice paper - dip rice paper into hot water to soften,
put a bit of each in each roll (a little bit of noodle, 1 slice of
pork, 1 shrimp, a bit of lettuce, cilantro, eggs, chive, cucumber).
Roll and fold on 2 sides, try to make it firm, round, fully covered
with no breakages (but not too big or too skinny!)
3. Serve with either fish sauce mix ( a quite complicated recipe
involving water, garlic, vinegar, sugar, fish sauce and
requiring the exact proportion) or peanut sauce mixed with hoisin
sauce.
Fun instruction video on how to make Vietnamese fried spring rolls by Mai, with the help of friends at TIEC, Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan
Fried spring rolls (nem ran/ cha gio):
1. Preparation
Green onions - wash & chop into pieces
Minced pork
Bean sprouts - wash & chop into pieces
Onions - dice into squares
Dried fungus - leave in hot water to soften, wash and then chop into pieces
Dried mushrooms - leave in hot water to soften, wash and then chop into pieces
I sometimes also add fresh mushrooms
Dried vermicelli (clear noodle) - cook in hot water for s few
minutes, rinse with cold water, drain and then use scissor to cut into
small segments
Carrots - wash, peel & chop into pieces
2. Put everything in a big bowl, add 1-3 eggs depending on the amount
of food. Add fish sauce, pepper and salt.
Mix thoroughly
3. Wrap using rice paper - dip rice paper into hot water to soften,
put 2 spoons of mix into each roll. Roll and fold on 2 sides, try to
make it firm, round, fully covered with no breakages (but not too big
or too skinny!)
4. Fry - do not let spring rolls stick to each other. Try to rotate
them frequently. Medium heat to cook the insides. Take out when yellow
and crispy ;)
5. Serve with fish sauce dipping (a quite complicated recipe
involving water, garlic, vinegar, sugar, fish sauce and
requiring the exact proportion)
or eat on its own with lettuce or noodles or rice.
When I was a little girl, I dreamt of being an architect. I used to spend endless hours drawing sketches of houses. I wanted to use architecture as a means to helping the disadvantaged. One of my designs was of an orphanage that houses and teaches children to make a living of their own. Another of my ambition was to build innovative and sustainable houses for low income people using low cost materials.
Later on, my architecture dream did not materialize simply because very few architecture schools in the US offer scholarships. I then turned my efforts in doing nonprofit and charity work such as working with autistic children in the UK, volunteering to help victims of hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, raising money for scholarships for school children in Vietnam, doing conflict resolution in Sri Lanka. Through these experiences, I understand how difficult operating an NGO can be, and how meaningful the job of a social worker is. A social worker has to endure hardships without fame or money to create and impact on the lives of people around them. Somehow, I also realize that this type of work is not suitable for me. I wanted to create changes from top down and hoped to influence policy to solve bigger issues. I toyed with the idea of even doing a PhD in Public Policy.
Things didn’t go as planned. After returning to Vietnam, by accident, my friend and I opened a wedding planning company (http://WedinStyle.net). Never before have I imagined myself doing business. But our long term plan is to turn our business into a social enterprise that employs underprivileged women and develop a fund from the company's profits to serve under-privileged children. We are still a long way from achieving this goal, but at least now, I believe I have a concrete and feasible plan of helping others, after many broken dreams of becoming an architect, a social worker, and a policy maker.
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Let’s talk about volunteering. This Sunday a group of friends and I are going to Fukushima to perform bamboo dance and distribute food to 1000 Japanese living in a shelter because they had to evacuate from their homes near the nuclear plant. I am very excited about this.
My few months in Japan have been fruitful. Not being able to speak Japanese, I was very lucky to get the chance to do many volunteer works with my school such as raising money for earthquake victims, serving food to homeless people, working with autistic children. We even had the chance to experience being disabled and old to see what it’s like. Though I have done many similar volunteering activities like this before in the UK, US, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, being able to do such volunteer work in Japan was a valuable experience to understand the realities Japan life. It was also interesting to compare and contrast on how the same activities performed by organizations in Western countries, Asian countries and then in Japan are so different in approach and mentality.
Japanese people in the Tohoku area are still in need of assistance. I am hoping this summer I might be able to travel there to volunteer with the relief efforts. It would be like traveling back time when I was in Sri Lanka in 2005 after the tsunami.
Disclaimer: My blog is for entertainment purposes only, please do not take it seriously or personally. Thank you!
Through years of observing, listening, reading and watching, I have come to realize that:
There are two types of heartbreak. The first type of heartbreak is the bitterness and feeling of betrayal when someone disappoints, treats you badly or left you. This feeling is painful and terrible but will soon go away after you get over the fact that they are not so great or when you find someone new. The second type of heartbreak is the feeling of missing someone because you truly deeply love them no matter what they did to you or how many times they broke you heart. It is that feeling of loneliness and longing to run to the person every time you want to share your uttermost moments of joy or sadness. This type of heartbreak is hard to overcome, because no matter how many new people who meet, you keep wishing to trade everything for one person, and no matter how others tell you “he/she’s not worth it”, you still have faith in the person you gave your heart to and love them and care for them.
There are two ways for girls to win guys heart. The first is the obvious method of “playing hard to get” and following “the rules”. Guys like challenge, and the less you care, the more they care. However, if you can’t be that kind of girl, the only other way is to be the nice girl who always cares and is always there, and hope for the small possibility that you could be “the exception to the rule”. Guess which type of girl I am?
We mostly hear stories of bad guys breaking girls’ hearts. But actually women can be a cruel breed too. I have so many guy friends who have had their heartbroken by girls. A few even had their wives leave them for someone else. I listened to their stories, I saw them cry, I witnessed them living in despair, and I saw how their eyes brighten up when they recalled the beautiful memories they had and how wonderful they still described the woman they love.
I couldn’t help laughing at myself when I recall an incident a couple of years ago. I had recently changed my phone number, and in a moment of madness, I texted a guy friend a message “All men are liars. I will never love anyone again.” Funny thing is, my friend called me immediately and asked “Is that you? Although it came from an unknown number but the tone sounds familiar so I guessed it was you.” Ha ha ha… Well, it’s true for both men and women. No matter how cruel life can be, how the other sex disappoints you, you only have 2 options: to live your life by yourself forever, or accept them for whom they are. I choose to keep on trying and hoping.
Disclaimer: My blog is for entertainment purposes only, please do not take it seriously or personally. Thank you!
Thông thường thấy mình sống ở nước ngoài nhiều thì bạn bè nói, sao không thử quen Tây đi. Lấy chồng Tây cho sướng. Con trai Tây tôn trọng phụ nữ, chiều vợ, cao ráo đẹp trai. Mình nghe mà buồn cười. Khổ nỗi, gần mười năm sống ở nước ngoài, mình chưa từng được anh Tây nào thích cả. Buồn nhỉ? Vậy có muốn lấy chồng Tây cũng chẳng được.
Tại sao thế nhỉ?
Bởi vì không hiểu sao các anh Tây chỉ thích các cô gái châu Á người nhỏ, mặt hơi xương xẩu một tí, và da ngăm đen thôi. Mình không có ý phân biệt, nhưng sự thật là gái như mình, ở Việt Nam có khi được coi là hơi xinh, ở nước ngoài có lẽ lại thuộc loại xấu.
Không thể nói trước được tương lai, nhưng từ trước đến giờ, mình chứng kiến các cặp vợ Việt chồng Tây. Mặc dù họ rất hạnh phúc, đi đây đi đó, con cái đẹp và thông mình, nhà cửa khang trang, nhưng cứ mỗi lần bạn bè vợ đến chơi là ông chồng Tây lại ngồi co ro một góc thật tội nghiệp. Hoặc nếu không thì mọi người đều phải nói tiếng Anh, câu chuyện bỗng mất vui và rôm rả. Mình thì vốn kém giao tiếp và diễn đạt bản thân. Nói tiếng Việt đã kém, nói tiếng Anh còn kém hơn. May mà còn học được tiếng Anh, chứ kết quả học tiếng Pháp và tiếng Nhật đã thất bại thảm hại.
Mà thật sự mình vẫn thích con trai Việt Nam hơn. Thật ra càng sống ở nước ngoài, tính cách của mình lại càng hướng nội. Lại càng ít nông nổi và cá tính so với hồi bé. Mình cũng yêu Việt Nam, nên luôn muốn tìm một anh chàng có thể vừa yêu mình vừa yêu đất nước con người Việt Nam. Một anh chàng có thể cùng rung cảm khi chứng kiến những con người Việt Nam còn bất hạnh cơ cực, cùng đau khi nhìn thấy đất nước gặp khó khăn. Và một anh chàng cùng niềm vui và đam mê đi khắp mọi miền đất nước cùng mình, leo những ngọn núi cao, lội những con suôi trong vắt, đi bộ qua những bờ cát nắng chói chang…
Thôi thì «Ta về ta tắm ao ta, dù trong dù đục ao nhà vẫn hơn ».
Disclaimer: My blog is for entertainment purposes only, please do not take it seriously or personally. Thank you!
I choose this picture because a couple of months ago, I went to an outdoor concert and saw a couple sitting with their back to each other, leaning on each other, each reading their own book. But somehow it is one of the most peaceful and beautiful image of a couple I’ve ever seen. Just to show that contrary to popular belief, love does not have to mean looking in the same direction.
I actually wrote this some time ago but it just disappeared from my computer mysteriously so I have to re-write it all over again. I don’t remember what I wrote last time so this is a completely new version.
I am sorry for writing about the old boring topic of “love” again. Let’s just consider it a series of blog posts about “love”. Have you ever tried to answer the question “What is love?” I don't know if I am qualified to answer this question. I'm not married; and maybe not mature or experienced enough to understand everything. But I do know that my idea of love has changed throughout the years.
I used to think love is finding the right person to be with. But now I realize that to be ready for love, you have to be the right person first. You have to be a confident, independent and responsible person, love yourself, and mature enough and be the best person you can be to enter a relationship with someone. There is no right person or perfect match. Love is learning to accept the other person for who they are, loving both their good and bad qualities.
I used to think love is finding someone who can make you happy. But now I realize that no one can make you happy. You cannot rely on someone for your happiness because that person will one day disappoint you or succumb to the pressure and expectations. What you can hope for is someone to share your happiness with.
I used to think love means not being able to live without someone, and that your life is incomplete without that person. That’s not true. Of course we CAN live without them, and we still have to find meaning in life without them. But love means choosing to spend your life with someone because you want to.
I used to think love is that person doing whatever it takes to be with you or doing everything for you. But now I know that love is about giving, not receiving. It is about what you can do for the other person and bring to the relationship without any expectations of getting anything back. It is about putting the needs of someone else's first. I have learned to care about someone even when that person does not care.
I used to think that love is that passionate feeling of being head over heals (cannot eat, cannot sleep) and that when two people fall out of love, they simply part ways. But now I realize true love is constant hard work on improving the relationship every day. The passion will one day die, there will be good and bad times. But to make it through, love requires commitment, tolerance, patience, responsibility, and forgiveness.
There is still a lot I need to learn. To learn to love and to work on myself to become a better person. If love is a game with a winner and a loser like they say, then I would rather be the loser than let another person get hurt. Because I have hurt others in the past and have been hurt before, so I know what it is like.
The hardest love of all is the unconditional love where you truly want the person to be happy even if it means not being with you. It takes courage and strength to let go and accept. It is painful. Looking back, I realize how lucky I am because despite my selfishness and childishness and many terrible qualities, I have and I am still loved unconditionally by many. I pray that all those who loved me will soon find someone more deserving who can bring them true happiness that I cannot deliver. Recently some of my friends have found love and I am really happy for them. I also wish that my remaining heartbroken friends would one day find true love again.
Disclaimer: My blog is for entertainment purposes only, please do not take it seriously or personally. Thank you!
Con người nhiều lúc thay đổi cách suy nghĩ đến thật kỳ lạ.
Hồi bé tôi là một cô bé hiếu chiến, tham vọng và theo chủ nghĩa nữ quyền. Tôi từng cãi nhau với bà ngoại là không việc gì phải học nấu ăn làm gì cho khổ để sau này phải đi phục vụ người khác. Tôi từng nhìn những người phụ nữ bỏ sự nghiệp và ước mơ để lập gia đình và nghĩ họ thật dại dột. Tôi từng nghĩ mình có thể hi sinh hạnh phúc để tập trung cho sự nghiệp, để làm được những việc lớn lao như trở thành Hillary Clinton của Việt Nam chẳng hạn. Tôi nghe anh bạn nói việc quan trọng nhất trong đời người phụ nữ là tìm được một người chồng tốt mà cười khẩy. Tôi từng có bạn trai, và chúng tôi cãi nhau và chia tay nhau vì những điều vô cùng buồn cười như chỉ có 2 con thay vì 3 con, chuyển việc sang công ty nhỏ hơn để sống ở thành phố nhỏ buồn chán nơi anh ta ở, hay hi sinh việc đi học tiếp.
Ấy vậy mà…
Sau này tôi mới hiểu. Tình yêu và sự nghiệp chẳng có gì là mâu thuẫn cả. Và đúng thật là phụ nữ rất cần một người chồng tốt, một người đàn ông để ủng hộ mình thì mới có thể có sức mạnh, niềm tin và yên tâm gây dựng những sự nghiệp lớn. Rằng con cái chẳng phải là một điều cản trở mà chính là món quà lớn nhất và là ý nghĩa nhất trong cuộc sống. Rằng những người phụ nữ hi sinh sự nghiệp và ước mơ chẳng có gì đáng tội nghiệp, vì đối với họ gia đình hạnh phúc là quan trọng nhất, và thật sự họ rất may mắn và là niềm ghen tị của bao người. Rằng nấu nướng chẳng phải là hầu hạ ai cả, mà nấu một bữa ăn có người ăn khen ngon thì bao nhiêu công sức bỏ ra cũng thật đáng.
Ở Tokyo tôi có 2 cô bạn. Một cô thì đang mang bầu còn một cô thì có người yêu sắp cưới.
Cô mang bầu suốt ngày ốm nghén mệt mỏi nhưng may mắn được chồng chăm sóc rất chu đáo. Thế là bạn tôi sắp bỏ tôi để gia nhập hội các bà mẹ trẻ và em bé. Hi hi… Hồi xưa tôi nghĩ mình sinh đôi cho thật nhanh. Bây giờ suốt ngày nhìn hình baby của bạn bè trên FB làm tôi thêm tham vọng, nghĩ là mình chậm chân thì có khi phải đuổi kịp các bạn bằng cách sau này sinh liền tù tì 4 đứa mất. Nhà có nhiều trẻ em vui thật. Suốt ngày nghe tiếng khóc, cười, tranh giành cãi nhau. Nếu tôi có trổ tài làm bánh flan hay rau câu thì còn có nơi để tiêu thụ, chứ bây giờ chẳng lẽ làm và chụp hình rồi bỏ đi.
Cô bạn có người yêu sắp cưới thì suốt ngày hì hục đi chợ để về nấu cơm cho người yêu. Tôi đi chợ cùng bạn nhưng chẳng mua gì cả. Vì mua xong về cất đống tủ lạnh, hết hạn lại vứt đi chăng. Nhiều lúc một mình lười chẳng nấu chẳng ăn. Hoặc có khi nấu xong ngồi nhìn chẳng muốn ăn nữa. Cũng muốn bày vẽ ra làm món này món nọ nhưng chẳng có ai để hưởng ứng cả. Đi học về chẳng phải chạy về nấu cho ai, nhiều lúc chẳng biết làm gì thành ra đi lang thang uống café thay cơm. Mỗi lần đi ăn với tôi, bạn tôi lại gọi một món mang về cho người yêu để có quà. Hôm nọ tôi đi qua tiệm bánh Krispy Kreme, định vào mua một hộp mang về, chợt nhớ là không biết mình mua về làm gì, trong khi mình không ăn.
Cuộc sống thật trớ trêu và buồn cười nhỉ?
Disclaimer: My blog is for entertainment purposes only, please do not take it seriously or personally. Thank you!
I have once typed a blog using the iPhone but this will be my first attempt at blogging from an iPad.
I'm sitting at a Starbucks cafe, sipping a cup of cappuccino and daydreaming, looking at the Rainbow bridge. Last night I had a headache and did not sleep well, I think this morning I must have looked terrible with a swollen face. Haha. Somehow these days I don't feel hungry at all, if i'm by myself I would even skip meals. Funny, huh, because if you know me, I eat a lot and was always hungry. I used to wish I could lose just 1-2 kgs and tried so hard to work out but now I don't even have to worry anymore.
I don't know when I'll stop this habit of wandering around by myself or sitting in coffee shops alone. I was thinking of retiring from writing, but there are friends who said they look forward to reading my blog, and a little girl I don't know said that she felt better and life more meaningful after reading my blog. So as long as my blog still has a purpose, I will keep writing.
You know, a person's writing and their outside expression can sometimes be completely different. Many of you must have experienced of loving a writer's work and imagining what that person is like, but then being disappointed when meeting and interacting with that person. Well, we are all human. So that's why I'm really scared when someone knows me from reading my blog before meeting me. We cannot be so beautiful, charming and romantic as our writing. We have our ups and downs, good days and bad days. But I can assure you, deep inside us is the person we expressed in our writing. But it takes just a little bit more time and understanding to see this.
Why do we write? For me, for many reasons. To indirectly talk to friends who I don't usually talk to. To record memories and dreams to later look back. To release stress. To record what I was thinking at a certain time, because one day we'll change so much and forget who we used to be. Sometimes when I'm sad or lonely and have no one to talk to, the only way is to write, hoping that somewhere out there, someone is reading and knows how I feel. I don't delete my posts, even though some posts now are quite embarrassing or depressing or plain desperate. But I just hope one day looking back, I could laugh and say "Young, naive and stupid".
Do people feel happier as they age? I guess so. Because happiness is a state of mind and the way you look at life. Life does not get better as we grow older, but the way we look at things change. We learn to accept what we can't change. We think less and save ourself from self pity. We also appreciate what we have and do not compare ourselves with others as often.
Me? I've changed a bit, and I hope for the better. I've grown a bit more patient. I'm getting better at controling myself. I enjoy the moment and the present more instead of worrying about what's next. I stopped criticizing myself but at the mean time will always try to be a better person. And I started to learn what true love is.
Disclaimer: My blog is for entertainment purposes only, please do not take it seriously or personally. Thank you!
