Five Minutes of Fame

Although the beginner's course in yoga came to an end last week, there is an open class on the weekends. This morning we went along to practise what we had learned.

From http://www.sivananda.eu/

Given that the class was not expressly for novices, it was a brisk run through breathing exercises, relaxation, and the postures (asana). We added the 'crow' (kakasana) to our repertoire, which wasn't as tricky as it looked, but need to work up gradually to the headstand (sirshasana).

The workout gave us a fierce appetite that only phở could sate, so it was off to Quán Phở Chay Như on Trương Quyền in what seems to have become our post-yoga noodle ritual. Soon we were sat over a steaming bowl of broth, bánh phở, rolled tofu skin (tàu hủ ky khô), veggies, mushrooms and crammed with herbs. Cambodia will have to work pretty hard to better this cuisine.

Continuing our day of indulgence, we crossed the road to favourite coffee establishment Gao for a chilled glass of iced milky caffeine. From our comfortable nook, we saw the following sign and yielded to its calorific appeal.

Inside, the friendly waitress conveyed to us delicious slices of baked cheesecake - one flavoured with coconut, the other matcha green tea. It was a deliciously decadent treat.

I have been missing the innovative and tasty innovations in today's craft beer scene in the UK, US and beyond. Sadly, craft beer in this sense has not reached much of SE Asia. Perhaps one can sip a Punk IPA in Singapore, but this country does not feature on our trip, so it will be a long time before I again get a hop fix. I managed to persuade K that, given this obvious privation, we should avail ourselves of the establishments serving decent beer while in relative civilisation.

Hoa Viên Bräuhaus (amusingly referred to as "The Hoavener") is, despite its name, of Czech origin and appears to be affiliated in some way to the Czech embassy. Serving its own brew as well as Pilsener Urquell, this is the first of two bars in HCMC and feels like a cosy pub in Prague (contrast the enormous German barn of the Lion bar and restaurant).

Given a choice of their light (pilsener) and dark on tap, K and I both went dark. This was a much more bitter Czech-style 'tmavý' in comparison to the slightly sweet Lion dunkel. It had good chocolate malts and a reasonably high bitterness. My hop-starved taste buds enjoyed it, but not so much that I wanted to pay out for the expensive fried Czech food. Instead, we dropped into the Hanoi Bia Hoi just opposite for some rice and a glass of their (comparatively watery) draught lager.

Last weekend we got talking to our host's friend - a TV producer, who works on a number of reality shows and documentaries. K mentioned that she disliked most reality shows, as they seem to pander to people's sense of cruelty and schadenfreude. That is, with the exception of So You Think You Can Dance, in which the judges encourage genuine talent and don't mock or sneer at the contestants. I have to take K's word on this, as I have never seen the show.

The format runs in the US, the UK (albeit now ended) and, we were told, in Vietnam. A live show was to be recorded in HCMC on Saturday and tickets could be arranged for us. K leapt at the chance and so this evening we went to the studio to see the live recording.

Prior to the show, our new friend took us out to dinner at a restaurant serving traditional food from south-central Vietnam. Outside there was a lady preparing bánh căn for the diners inside. These small rice and egg 'cakes' are similar to bánh khọt, but are baked in small clay pots rather than fried.

We had a dish of bánh căn, which were served with julienned mango, cucumber, lettuce, and three kinds of sauce: a brown fish sauce, a red chilli sauce and a peanut sauce. As with bánh xèo/khọt, the idea is to wrap the cakes in the leaves and dip them. However, we ate a deconstructed version in deference to our friend, who did the same.

With the egg cakes, we also ate a fried noodle dish with tasty, chewy bún gạo noodles, and a salad. Afterwards, we refreshed our palates with a simple agar jelly with ginger sauce and shredded candied ginger.

At the SYTYCD recording studio, we attempted to get our seats upgraded using the contacts of our new friend. We were eventually seated in the front block, but no sooner had we sat down, we were asked whether we would mind moving to the front row, positioned directly behind the judging panel and in the eye-line of the cameras. As far as I could tell, besides the American choreographers, we were the only western faces in the audience.

Fortunately, only my right shoulder had its five minutes of fame, but K appeared right of frame on one of the judge's shoulders, her expression lagging behind his opinions on the dance and reacting moments after the audience laughed, cheered or gasped. It must have been a confusing experience for the viewers at home.

The 18 dancers were of varying standards, but I was greatly impressed by a contemporary piece performed by Hồng Sâm and Thế Bảo - the latter moving gracefully for a man with a bigger build than the typical Vietnamese. Notable mention must also go to the hip-hop dance to a dub-step rendition of Michael Jackson's Thriller, which had me in fits of laughter.