Chef Khai's Tour Blog

Day 13- April 29, 2009

2009-05-23T12:58:00.000-07:00

Final Day: Farewell Saigon and Vietnam Our final day was an open day until we had to meet at 7:30 at the farewell dinner. I decided to come along with Miss Lynne who organized a trip to visit a school for disabled children, The Nguon Song School, 10 miles from Saigon Center. The school is a branch of the main orphanage, Nguon Song Orphanage.Disable children andpoor

Day 12- April 28, 2009

2009-05-23T11:01:00.001-07:00

Day 12: SaigonI started my day off at the New World Hotel's buffet breakfast, there was a huge selection of Vietnamese food. I had a small bowl of beef noodle soup as usual. There was lots of food to chose from but I stuck with the steamed broccoli, green beans and dumplings. The kiwi and water melon juices were fresh and delicious too! Our bus left the hotel around 8am and took us to the Cu Chi

Day 11- April 27, 2009

2009-05-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

Day 11: SaigonOur airplane landed at Saigon Airport around 9 am. It took us only 20 minutes to get out of the airport and on our bus. We got stuck in a heavy traffic jam though, which amazed everyone. Hundreds of scooters and dozens of cars moved slowly in front and around our bus. A truck full of young soldiers was next to my window for at least 15 minutes.I tried to take their pictures but

Day 10- April 26, 2009

2009-05-18T14:29:00.000-07:00

Day 10: DalatI was woken up today by the morning light that shined through my balcony doors. I took a moment to enjoy the city view from my second floor room. The sun had risen behind the pine trees and was trying to break through the thin fog. The city probably woke up long before I did. It was fun to watch the tiny scooters, cars and pedestrians move around from the distance.I quickly

Day 9- April 25, 2009

2009-05-05T20:36:00.000-07:00

Day 9: Nhatrang - DalatI woke up and went to the hotels breakfast buffet at 6:30 am. No one was there except Miss Denyce. We sat together in the balcony area which overlooked the beach. I had more food than I needed on my plate; there were just so many tasty looking things that I didn’t want to miss out on. I had a small beef noodle soup, a plate of dumplings, sushi and steamed green beans. Then

Day 8- April 24, 2009

2009-05-05T20:27:00.000-07:00

Hoang******************Day 8: Nha Trang I started my day at the breakfast buffet. I had a full plate of the local fruits like papaya, dragon fruit, passion fruit and water melon. I also couldn’t resist the steamed dumplings, salted eggs and bowls of beef noodle soup. After finishing my second pot of green tea, I joined my group for a tour at the Yersin Museum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Day 7- April 23, 2009

2009-04-30T17:29:00.000-07:00

Day 7: Nha Trang - Private IslandI got up at 5 am to meet with Chef Khai’s family to prepare for a big day at their private island. We had to deliver all the food, cookware, ice, drinks and flowers to the island by small boat. Along for the ride were 3 nail technicians and 3 masseurs. We set up a long table, bar area, resting area with hammocks and massage area. The ladies continued to prepare

Day 6- April 22, 2009

2009-04-30T17:10:00.000-07:00

Day 6: NhatrangWe left the Hoi An Beach Resort at 7 am for the airport. The flight from Da Nang to Nha Trang was 40 minutes long and very smooth. The bus took us to a small local noodle-soup restaurant for lunch. We had choices of lemongrass beef noodle soup, pho or seafood noodle soup. I chose the last one, which is local specialty.It was delicious. I also ordered a side of steamed pork

Day 5- April 21, 2009

2009-04-29T16:29:00.000-07:00

Day 5: Hoi AnThe breakfast buffet at Hoi An Beach Resort was so wonderful. I very much enjoyed all the fresh local fruits and traditional food. We left at 8:30 for My Son Temple, a temple complex of ancient Champa people. The place reminded me of Angkorwat in a much smaller scale.We then went to have lunch at a floating restaurant on the local river. The 6-course lunch was fantastic.Then we

Day 4- April 20, 2009

2009-04-29T15:26:00.000-07:00

Day 4: Halong Bay and Hoi AnI woke up after 6 hours of deep sleep. The beauty of Halong Bay on an early morning is so calm and peaceful. I just watched the sunrise speechlessly. A group of 12 people met up at the top viewing deck for Tai Chi lesson.The instructor is a 22-year old man who was helpful and charming. He served us hot green tea and lotus seed candy. Everyone seemed to be excited,

Day 3- April 19, 2009

2009-04-24T17:57:00.000-07:00

Day 3: Halong BayWe left Hanoi at 8:30am after having a 5-star buffet breakfast at the Melia Hanoi Hotel. It’s a 4-hour ride to Halong City. The freeway has only 2 lanes for both directions that are separated by a yellow line in the middle. It’s kind of scary to see fast traffic of both lanes seemingly running into each other. But of course, magically everyone did their best and managed to

Day 2- April 17, 2009

2009-04-24T17:23:00.000-07:00

Day 2: HanoiAfter a long night sleep, everyone had their complimentary breakfast at the Melia Hotel, which served Vietnamese tropical fruit,noodle soup, eggs and a Western style breakfast. The weather was still cloudy and humid with just a few droplets of rain. After breakfast everyone met up for the tour at the Hoa Lo Prison, the Infamous Hanoi Hilton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoa_Lo).

Day 1- April 16, 2009

2009-04-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

Day 1: HanoiWithout any delays and after 13.5 hours of flying from SFO to Hong Kong and another 3-hour flight from Hong Kong, everyone landed safely at Noi Bai Airport at 9:45 am. We got checked out quickly at customs and then we were taken on a bus to Hanoi. During the 25-minute bus drive we passed by The Red River and also through the countryside that had rice, flower and orchard fields. As

April 2009 Launches New Vietnamese Culinary Adventure

2009-03-29T21:45:00.000-07:00

Once again, Chef Khai will host 40 culinary travelers to tour and taste in Vietnam. Check back right after April 15th tax day (yikes) for photos and reports from Hanoi in the North, to Chef's native Nha Trang in the lush South of Vietnam. Chef postponed his 2008 travels to raise money in the battle against the human trafficking of children between the Vietnamese and Cambodian borders. With his

Day 14 - April 30

2007-09-11T14:07:00.000-07:00

Hochiminh City - CambodiaAfter breakfast, we had a tour day of the Anglor Wat temple ruins. With the tour group on their way home, I was with my wife Mimi, my dear friend Chef Lawrence Chu and his wife Ruth. We stayed at the French-influenced Hotel de La Paix, where we feasted on such items as pineapple ravioli, soup of catfish amour, pommello salad, grapefruit with orchid and spaghetti noodle.

Day 13 - April 29

2007-09-09T13:59:00.000-07:00

Hochiminh City (formerly Saigon)Last DayThe last day of the formal tour was a leisure day in Ho Chi Minh City. We played golf and sampled street food. The farewell dinner was held at the fabulous Com Neu-Saigon. Here we feasted on exquisitely prepared seafood, beef, pork and quail, prepared in Traditional Clay Pot.

Day 12 - April 28

2007-08-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

Hochiminh - Cai Be - Hochiminh CityWe took a car to Cai be Town. From there we took a boat cruise on Mekong river. We visited the Cai be floating market. This is the age - old agriculture implements of wet rice civilization of the Mekong Delta. We visited local houses, and a brick forging and husking factory. We enjoyed tropical fruits and some local products, such as sticky rice wrapped in

Day 11 - April 27

2007-07-31T13:45:00.000-07:00

Nha Trang - HochiminhAfter breakfast, we took a flight from the Cam Ranh airport to Ho Chi Minh City. Later that day, we took a tour to the Vinh Ngheim Pagoda, the History Museum, Unification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral, and the Post Office. We then took a boat to Binh Quoi village where we enjoyed a traditional Vietnamese show and dinner.

Day 10 - April 26

2007-06-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

Nha Trang & Chef's Hometown of Dam Bay IslandDay 10 brought us to my hometown of Dam Bay Island. After breakfast in Nha Trang (at hotel), we took a boat trip to visit Dam Bay Island. A taxi boat took us to Dam Bay by private charter. It was a one-hour trip, the group really enjoyed it. Taken by pedicab around the island, we visited the lobster farm on the island and saw how beautiful it is.My

Day 9 - April 25

2007-06-02T22:01:00.000-07:00

Hue - Hoi An - Nha TrangHoi An is Asian - lots of Japanese settled there hundreds of years ago. It is also a UNESCO Heritage site. We had lunch in Hoi An Pho restaurant, it is very upscale.After breakfast we departed for Da Nang by road, through Hai Van pass, Lang Co Village. We visited in Da Nang before departing for an evening flight to Nha Trang. We had an incredible dinner on the beach of Nha

Day 8 - April 24

2007-06-02T21:52:00.000-07:00

HueAfter breakfast we took a cruise on the Perfume River to visit the Thein Mu Pagoda - the symbols of Hue and to contemplate Minh Mang Mausoleum. We then visited the Dong Ba market.We had a fabulous "Emperor Dinner" for royals at the Royal Restaurant. Everyone was fitted in elegant royal silk with headwear. It was a lavish affair.We stayed the night at the Saigon Morin Hue Hotel in Hue.

Day 7 - April 23

2007-05-28T11:53:00.000-07:00

Hanoi - HueWe took a noon flight to Hue. Hue is recognized by UNESCO as "World Heritage Site". From 1802 - 1945 under the Emperor's of Nguyen Dynasty, Hue was Vietnam's political capital. We visited the Splendid Royal Capital - Imperial Palace which is surrounded by high walls and deep moats. While cruising on the Perfume River we enjoyed traditional Hue music and artistic food platters created

Day 6 - April 22

2007-05-24T19:16:00.000-07:00

Halong - HanoiWe ate a European style buffet breakfast aboard the boat in the Emeraude restaurant in Halong Bay. On our return to Hanoi we visited Ngoc Son temple and the Hoan Kiem Lake Museum of Fine Art. We had lunch atCha Ca la Vong, it is a 100 year old restaurant that serves only 1 item, grilled fish (seats only 50).We took a pedicab tour around Ancient Town and enjoyed a theatrical genre

Day 5 - April 21

2007-05-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

Hanoi - HalongOn arrival in Hanoi, we ate breakfast in the hotel. After breakfast we departed to Ha Long. Ha Long means "where the dragon descent into the sea." When we arrived in Ha Long, we boarded the Emeraude Classic Cruise (chef shots) where we ate lunch. Ha Long Bay is recognized as "A World Natural Heritage Site" by UNESCO. The beautiful Ha Long bay covers an area of 1,500 km with over

Day 4 - April 20

2007-05-22T20:43:00.000-07:00

Sapa - HanoiAfter breakfast of fish and sticky rice at the Sapa Market , one of the H'Mong ladies was selling huge bundles of mushrooms. We then visited the Cat Village of the H'mong. After lunch, we visited Taphin village. The H'Mong are one of the minority peoples of Vietnam. They are known as the Red Giao and the Black Giao and often wear large hats in red or black. We visited the Sapa temple

Day 3 - April 19

2007-05-08T00:06:00.002-07:00

SapaDue to a derailed train traveling in the other direction we did not arrive at the Lao Cai Railway station in morning as planned. We had honey-lemongrass pork with purple cabbage and rice on the train for lunch. It was good, because we were hungry. We arrived in SaPa in the evening andchecked into the Victoria Hotel. All my guests were very impressed with the hotels. We ate French food at the

Day 2 - April 18

2007-05-08T00:06:00.001-07:00

Hanoi - Train to SapaWe ate breakfast at the Gouman Hotel. We then visited Ho Chi Minh City Mausoleum and One Pillar Pagoda, West Lake, Tran Qouc Pagoda, and Literature Temple. We had lunch at QUAN NGON. The tour was impressed by the cuisine and the extensive selection of Tapas dishes (photos coming). In the afternoon, we visited BAT TRANG VILLAGE. The village is well known for their beautiful

Day 1 - April 17

2007-05-08T00:04:00.000-07:00

HanoiWe arrived in Hanoi and took a tour of the city. We went out to a beautiful restaurant, PHO VUON on Ngo Thoi Nhiem street, for a quick lunch before we headed back out on our tour of the city. We all enjoyed Pho (beef soup). After the tour we went back to Hotel, where we checked in and relaxed. At night, we ate dinner at WILD RICE. The restaurant was beautiful and the food was very good. The