Alli's Excellent Adventures!

Hoi An, Vietnam

I had a great day in spite of the fact I was up about 2:30. I had gotten an email from CAA about topping up my insurance. Blue Cross, through the Saskatchewan Retired Teachers gives me 65 days of travel insurance but this trip is an additional 14 days so I need extra coverage. I have used CAA before without an issue but this time they said I had to verify with Blue Cross if another company could top me up. It is so difficult phoning Canada from overseas because most businesses in Canada do not use WhatsApp so I have to make sure I have money in my Skype account. First I tried calling CAA but got an answering machine. Eventually the woman sent me an email saying she was available and then told me I couldn’t use their insurance because I didn’t apply before I left Canada. Luckily she would refund me. Then I called Blue Cross and an hour later- 50 minutes on hold, 10 minutes talking to a human, I had my 2 weeks of insurance. All of this happened before 4 am!

I went for a walk and ended up at The Banh Mi Queen-

for a sandwich. Apparently this restaurant sells over 3000 Banh mi each day! I had a Thap cam which is a meat and vegetable sandwich with pâté. I could definitely taste the delicious pâté-

I walked down to the river and then ended up at the market-

Sculptures made from bamboo roots-

Vibrant fresh herbs-

Descaling fish-

All the parts we throw out-

After, I stopped at my favorite coffee shop for an egg coffee. I had to be at my tailor’s at 11 for another fitting and then ended up at the restaurant beside my homestay where I had a lengthy visit with a couple from Switzerland/Germany while enjoying a beer. At 2, I went to a coffee workshop just for something to do because I know how to make coffee. Well….. it was awesome!

They host 60 people/ day in numerous workshops at $20 each. They use one pound of coffee per litre of water to make espresso which is the base for all 5 recipes. Yes it’s strong but when mixed with condensed milk, frothed cream, fresh milk, coconut cream or egg yolk, it is delicious! I visited with a woman from Finland who is on a 5 month trip with her husband and 3 kids aged 8,4 and 1. I told her she deserved a medal!

Now I have the recipes-

The first coffee we made was with a phin filter (mine is yellow)-

and we each were given one at the end of the workshop. First you put a bit of water in the dish, then set the bowl filled with 2 heaping spoons of coffee grounds on the dish. You fill the bowl half up with boiling water and the prepared coffee drips into the bottom glass-

The second coffee we made was white coffee. We whipped espresso then poured more espresso and condensed milk over ice and topped it with the whipped espresso. You always stir everything together before drinking it-

The third coffee was egg coffee. We whipped the yolk-

with vanilla, rice wine, condensed milk and honey, then layered more condensed milk, coffee and the whipped concoction. We let the mixture sit in boiling water for 5 minutes to cook the egg then stirred it all up and ate/drank it. Wow! It’s like a dessert-

We sprinkled cocoa over a stencil, mine was a maple leaf, but obviously it didn’t work too well!

The fourth coffee was salted coffee. We whisked 1/3 t of salt with whipping cream and fresh milk until it was frothy then put that on top of condensed milk and coffee! So good-

Finally we made coconut coffee by putting whipping cream, coconut cream and condensed milk in a martini shaker, got it nice and cold and poured it over ice. We frothed espresso and added it all together. Excellent-