The Occupations of Vietnam: Hoi An

Transport for a boy with cerebral palsy

Hoi An is in the center of Vietnam, where its even hotter than Hanoi. We were there to volunteer at Children's Hope in Action (CHIA), an organization that helps disadvantaged Vietnamese children with health, education, disability and housing. The first floor of their building hosts a day care for children with special needs. The ages ranged from infant to 9 years old. The floor staff includes parents and one physiotherapist. At the time of our visit there was an Australian occupational therapist volunteering full time and a Belgian woman volunteering full time doing art activities with the children.

CHIA - the clinic where we volunteered

During our volunteer shifts at CHIA we played with the children. We tried to work on needed skills, such as coming to midline and core strength. The daycare is not equipped with enough developmental toys. I wished we had known that so we could have each brought something useful from the U.S. to the clinic to share with them.

CHIA's website: http://www.childrenshopeinaction.org/our-programs/disability/

Hoi An Ancient Town

La Rue beer and White Rose Dumplings
(shrimp in translucent rice dough),
a Hoi An specialty I couldn't get enough of.

Hoi An Ancient Town

City of 1,000 lanterns

Pho for breakfast

Scraping paint at a local school for CHIA

The school where we helped with the paint job.

This plumeria fell on me at the pool.

Our resort was stunning - Hoi An Trails Resort. Our room had a living area, and a patio overlooking the gorgeous pool.

Hoi An Trails Resort, from our room

CHIA - sponsored nutrition seminar in a small village

We attended a nutrition seminar in a small village. The seminar was in Vietnamese, but our teacher Uyen, who is from Vietnam, translated some of it. The speaker talked about the benefits of breast milk over formula, then demonstrated how to make beef porridge, porridge, with egg yolk, then shrimp porridge for babies 12-24 months of age. When I asked her if the women have breast pumps for milk, she said most women do not and they pump by hand. As an experienced milk pumper I felt for the women who work with nursing babies.

They explained that the town's main occupation had transitioned recently from farming (with a loose, family-based schedule) to work at a new large amusement park (with schedules that have mothers away from their families for hours on end). Working at the amusement park creates logistical challenges for the mothers.

Cao Lao - local dish of Hoi An - pork, rice cakes, noodles,
and herbs.

The color mustard is everywhere in Vietnam. 

Periwinkle paradise

An Bang Beach, 6pm - locals wait until evening to visit the beach 

Incense cones

Shrine on temple grounds

Cua Dai Beach

Farmers Market Goodies

Calendula 

I’ve been busy in the new year with two new jobs that have me waking up at 5am or earlier 5-6 days a week! Consequently, I’ve been lax in blogging about my adventures lately. One of my jobs is working for a Corralitos farm selling organic flowers and produce at farmers markets. Corralitos is in Santa Cruz county, near Aptos. 

Sunrise at Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, San Francisco

I drive to the farm while it's still dark out, stars twinkling overhead, pick up a truck filled with tulips, calendula, anemones, and sweet william, and drive to the market to sell the flowers. Setting up the stall is hard work. I haul tables, easy-ups, and many buckets of flowers, all filled with water. I go home drained at the end of market days. It's required that I work every Saturday and Sunday, which cramps my style a little.

Tulips at Market

On the flip side, people are generally happy when they’re at the farmers market, especially when they’re buying flowers. Most of the vendors are friendly too, so the atmosphere is positive. We can trade a few of our items for food from other farms. It’s been amazing to come home loaded with greens, fruits, eggs, and other goodies. I’ve started casually roasting beets and hard boiling eggs, just to have them on hand and to use them up before they go bad. I fill my house with flowers that didn’t sell at market over the weekend.

Breakfast made from farmers market goodies: poached eggs on sourdough toast
with braised beet greens, avocado and blood oranges.

In awe of my haul, I made this list last week of foods in my fridge from farmers markets:
     
     kabocha squash
     butternut squash
     radishes
     peppers
     kale
     broccolini
     fennel
     cilantro
     avocado
     blood oranges
     eggs
     greens
     mint
     sage
     apples
     mini potatoes
     coffee 
     beets

Anemones at market

I've been an avid farmers market shopper for years, so it's been great to learn how the markets work from farm to stall and pre-dawn to afternoon. For example, I've learned that markets secretly begin before their posted time. If a market is supposed to start at 9am, vendors will be set up by 8am, when the first shoppers of the day arrive. Certain markets forbid early sales, but most of them allow it. 

Please enjoy the photos below which I took at sunrise at San Francisco's Ferry Building while setting up!

Take-off at Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, San Francisco

Bay Bridge, Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, San Francisco

Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, San Francisco

Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, San Francisco

Huaraches and Boba in Ventura

Ojai
I never intended to arrive in Ventura with a raging hangover. I had been in San Francisco for one evening, which spontaneously turned into a night with friends - dinner, an art show in a garage, drinks at the Rock Bar, and then, ill-advisedly, more drinks. The only sleep I got was in the back seat of the rental car on the six hour drive south. Mercifully, Marcin, our Polish driver (and my friend Mark’s partner) handed me a 7 Eleven breakfast biscuit as soon as I hopped in the car. That biscuit was like a gift from heaven. I know not to party till the break of dawn before a big trip, but sometimes I forget lessons I've already learned. 

We met my sister Natalie in Ojai at The Farmer and the Cook. Natalie is in medical school and she was finishing a rotation in a hospital in Ventura. As it turns out, Natalie was recovering from a night of tequila. What a blessed coincidence! Neither of us had to feel remorseful for squandering our good health and spirits by overindulging the night before. We could lazily allow our companions to shuttle us around and not have a care in the world. 

The Farmer and the Cook is a health food market with a Mexican-inspired breakfast and lunch counter. My matcha green tea smoothie refreshed and revived, while just half of my huarache filled me up and satisfied. Huarache (“sandal” in Spanish) is a Oaxacan specialty, consisting of an oblong (shaped like a sandal) cornmeal patty covered in Mexican goodness, like salsa, meat, avocado, and beans. Desert surf hippies dined outside on the patio with us. I felt a mess, but the tan men with blue eyes, messy long blond hair, and fashionably disheveled clothing cheered me up a bit. Mark, my friend who grew up in Ventura, and brought me south on this trip with his husband Marcin, called them the “commune people.” 

Watermark on Main
Photo by Madeline Horn

Ventura

Although we didn’t run into any more sexy commune people the rest of our trip, we did manage to enjoy ourselves. On Ventura’s palm-lined Main Street thrift stores that cater to low-income families and have been around for decades co-exist with newer upscale boutiques and restaurants.

My first night in town Natalie and I met her medical student roommate Jen and her boyfriend Adam for happy hour at Onyx Bar in the stunning 1920s brick and Spanish tile Watermark on Main restaurant. They had run out of artichoke dip - the dish that had lured us in for happy hour - so they offered us calamari for a discount. Our hangover bellies welcomed the fried squid. 

Before we knew it, Adam’s face was on the flatscreen TV behind the bar, in an ad for Finding Bigfoot, the show he works on. This prompted him to tell us about the time he had to walk through the forest in total darkness, as to not disturb the “squatch,” as they call them, and a stick poked right into his eye. He called Jen for advice on what to do, and like a good medical student, she panicked and googled it. Miraculously the eye healed perfectly. He now wears goggles when walking in the forest in the dark, which he has to do often for the show.  

Natalie's tamale breakfast at the Channel Islands Harbor Farmers Market
Photo by Madeline Horn

Oxnard

I can’t say Oxnard in my head without hearing the Ill Repute Song “Oxnard!” I often “sing” the song to Mark, which is just me yelling “Oxnard!” in his face. The next morning Natalie and I met Mark and Marcin at the Channel Islands Harbor Farmers Market. The harbor felt like vacationland with bright sun, a wide open blue sky, palm trees, and townhouses hugging canals. We made breakfast out of a taco al pastor and a chicken tamale and bought produce for a barbecue later.

Sisters at the Vogue Theater Swap Meet
Photo by Mark Almanza

Vogue Marquee
Photo by Madeline Horn

The rest of Oxnard is a mixture of mid-century architecture and nondescript 1980s and 90s buildings. Mark brought us to the Vogue, a movie theater he used to go to, which now houses a swap meet and a Mexican grocery in the lobby. Vendors in the windowless old theater sell fuzzy Mexican blankets, shoes, clothes, and baby items. An arcade with 1980s video games sits against the side wall. A sloppily painted black and silver beauty parlor is stuck in the corner. 

Boba Tea Machine!
Photo by Madeline Horn

Boba
Photo by Madeline Horn

Next, Mark took us to White Rabbit, a new Filipino fusion restaurant that started as a food truck and got so popular that they opened a brick and mortar restaurant. Their menu features dishes like Carne Fries, any meat on top of fries, covered with swiss cheese. White Rabbit brews each boba tea individually with a shiny chrome tea machine larger than most cafe’s espresso machines. Baristas shake the hot tea in cocktail shakers with ice to cool it down. Natalie and I split an almond tea with aloe and boba. I had never tasted boba or aloe so fresh. 

Links:
Rock Bar, San Francisco: http://www.rockbarsf.com
The Farmer and the Cook, Ojai: http://farmerandcook.com
White Rabbit, Oxnard: www.whiterabbitcafeLA.com

stay tuned as my Ventura adventures continue...

Shake it While You Shop: Santa Cruz Farmers' Markets

Dahlias
Photo by Madeline Horn

Santa Cruz farms produce an embarrassment of riches – on display at local farmers’ markets, happening nearly every day of the week around town. The Live Oak Farmers Market, held at East Cliff Village on Sundays 9am-1pm is a great way to spend your Sunday morning. You can make a day of it by buying picnic supplies at the Live Oak Farmers’ Market and walk one block to Twin Lakes State Beach (no charge to visit). If you are in breakfast mode, you can get your coffee and breakfast, in the form of a pastry, breakfast tacos, breakfast pizza, or crepes. Also, listen to live music and purchase fruits, bread, vegetables, fresh fish, meat and flowers for the week. Recently I caught the Coffee Zombie Collective, who covered Outkast’s Hey Yeah! (shake it like a polaroid picture) and got a crowd of people dancing mid-morning. This scene wouldn’t happen anywhere but Santa Cruz. 

Dragons Tongue Beans
Photo by Madeline Horn

When I make it to the farmers’ market, which I do on most Sundays, it improves my whole week, since I have access to great produce in my kitchen every day. Right now, I look forward most to apples, which are in season and have been off the hook delicious.

Coffee Zombie Collective covered Hey Ya (Shake it) by Outkast and the people danced.
Photo by Madeline Horn  

The busier downtown Santa Cruz Farmers’ Market is twice as big as the Live Oak market and happens every Wednesday. Downtown offers a bigger selection of prepared foods to eat right away and cooking demonstrations, like Penny Ice Creamery teaching the crowd how to make ice cream with fresh herbs. 

A list of Santa Cruz farmers’ markets can be found here: http://www.santacruzfarmersmarket.org

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Excavating Urban Ore in Berkeley

Urban Ore's Mission - "To End the Age of Waste"

Urban Ore is like the SPCA for discarded items. Mannequins, doors, vintage National Geographic magazines, resident kitties, jeans, giant paper mache flying pigs, Urban Ore in Berkeley provides a temporary home and adoptive parents for all of them. The massive warehouse is an adventure waiting to happen. Builders can renovate a house using materials purchased from Urban Ore's Building Materials Exchange, including sinks, cabinets, and toilets. Artists and crafters can find art materials and inspiration, from paint brushes to picture frames. Urban Ore also has unique furniture, kitchen supplies, books, and vinyl records for the casual treasure hunter.

Urban Ore is more than just a salvage yard. The business started in 1980 as a group of people who scavenged at Berkeley's city-owned landfill for reusable materials to sell. The business has been able to thrive in Berkeley partly due to citizen's dedication to recycling. 

The store is filled with treasures, including a collection of playful handmade gigantic creatures who oversee the warehouse from their high perches in the eaves. Standing in the massive warehouse my heart fills with joy at the dedication of Urban Ore to their goal of ending the age of waste through providing a home for all of these discarded gems and a place for seekers to find them.  

website: urbanore.com 
Urban Ore is located at 900 Murray Street, Berkeley
Tel. 501-841-7283
Open Monday-Saturday 8:30am-7pm, Sunday 10am-7pm

                                             
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Shopping and Nibbling at the Treasure Island Flea Market

Vintage doorknobs
Photo by Madeline Horn

                                         
Vintage dresses, Bob Marley brand sandals, gourmet food trucks, handmade soap and Pendleton coats can all be found at the Treasure Island Flea Market on the last weekend of each month. The trip to Treasure Island, which is officially part of the city of San Francisco, provides a refreshing vantage point of both San Francisco and the East Bay. Treasure Island's dramatic location right in the middle of the bay is accessible through an exit off the middle of the 8-mile long San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The flatness of the manmade island gives the sensation of being nestled in the water as you gaze across at the Transamerica building.

Giant dancing woman sculpture on Treasure Island
Photo by Madeline Horn

A variety of vendors sell at Treasure Island, including vintage dealers, clothing designers, artists, and junk hawkers. As flea markets go, Treasure Island is fairly small. You can wind your way through the vendors in about an hour. Clothing and jewelry are in abundance. I would have liked to see more vendors selling jumbles of random old junk, which are my favorite booths for finding hidden treasures and oddities at most flea markets. However, you can buy new socks and stylish hand printed T-shirts, which kind of makes up for it. This market is good for gifts.

Vintage delights
Photo by Madeline Horn

The Chairman Taiwanese bun food truck
Photo by Madeline Horn

Food Trucks: Adjacent to the vendors sits a sizable row of food trucks, from gourmet doughnuts to giant sausages. Winery booths offer wine by the glass and bottle. We ate at the Chairman truck, which was delicious. Andre, my boyfriend and flea market date, and I ordered the exact same thing, coca-cola braised pork bun sandwiches with savoy cabbage and preserved yellow mustard seeds and coconut waters to drink. The bun sandwiches come steamed or baked, and we opted for baked. The juicy sandwiches were prepared with attention to every detail. The buns are fresh and slightly sweet, filled sandwich style with moist flavorful pork and a cabbage cilantro slaw and giant mustard seeds. Yum!

Fashion truck!
Photo by Madeline Horn

Mobile food, mobile fashion, mobile libraries, I love them all! I was tickled to spot my first fashion truck today. My favorite mobile memory is of the California Department of Forestry trucks that would set up at county fairs in my childhood. My dad is a forest fireman, and has been known to don the Smokey the Bear outfit, so we would spend lots of time at the "Smokey" trucks, set up like a home inside, where kids could practice stop, drop, and rolling. Part of the exercise was touching a door that heated up, as a warning that there was fire on the other side. 

View towards San Francisco
Photo by Madeline Horn

Treasure Island History: Treasure Island was built as a Works Progress Administration project in the 1930s for use as San Francisco's first airport, but it never ended up as an airport. Instead, the island hosted the 1939-40 World's Fair, with international pavilions and light shows. Post-World Fair, the island became a naval base, until it was sold to the city of San Francisco and made accessible to the public in 1997. Despite feeling like the abandoned military base that it is, the island now has residents. We love urban decay, so two highlights were a shut down bowling alley and decrepit tennis courts.

An the Go garlic noodles food truck
Photo by Madeline Horn

Andre was hungry for more food after a waffle with whip cream and strawberry appetizer, then a pork sandwich, so he ordered a combo from An the Go of garlic noodles and a lemongrass beef skewer. Both were quite tasty. He pondered ordering some gourmet doughnuts, but thought better of it and purchased some very stylish boots instead. 

New boots
Photo by Madeline Horn

With views, gourmet food at affordable prices and excellent shopping, for tourists and locals alike, Treasure Island Flea Market is a delightful way to spend a Saturday or Sunday. Admission to the Treasure Island Flea Market is $3. Parking is free and the market is accessible by MUNI bus 108 from San Francisco. Visit the website for a list of show dates. The market takes place on the last Saturday and Sunday of each month from 10am-4pm.

                                           
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