Are vertical farms the future of urban food?

Vertical farming to finally taking off...maybe they will give me a job...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/29/vertical-farms-urban-food

This is very exciting!

Phnom Penh

Limited by time and keen to pack in as much as possible our time in Cambodia was a combination of night time bus rides and whistle-stop sightseeing. We arrived in Phnom Penh from Ho Chi Minh and found a guesthouse to the north of the city right next to a small lake. We only spent one day here and so only had time for a few top spots to see including the rather shocking killing fields and prison from the Khmer Rouge genocide during the 70's. It was incredible to imagine that this occurred only 40 years ago. It was estimated that about 1.5 million people were killed during the regime which also drove the city people to work in the countryside. In addition to this, parents were separated from their children who were 'brainwashed' and given an education in torture and executions before being given leadership positions within the party. We later learnt that one of the mottoes of the KR was

"To keep you is no benefit. To destroy you is no loss."

After a little break at the market for some food and contemplative thinking we moved, on a more positive note to the Royal Palace (built in 1866). The palace complex mainly features the Silver Pagoda, the Throne Hall and the Khemarin Palace. We also found some of the tree 'sculptures' rather entertaining in particular the teapot! After our rather busy day of tuk tuk sightseeing we returned to our guesthouse for some relaxed hammocking and yummy veggie curry dinner before embarking on our nightime bus which would take us to Siem Reap.

A day in Ho Chi Minh City

After all the typhoon related delays we only had time for a day in Vietnam's former capital city of Saigon. This gave us just enough time to have a walk around and see a few of the sights and get a feel for the place. Compared to Hanoi, for me, HCM was a lot more built up and westernised and lacking the character and charm that i loved in Hanoi (but i guess i am biased) and a day is not really enough time to form a valid opinion. However, there was lots of interesting architecture including the Cathedral and old Post Office building which still had lots of its original features. We also went into the Reunification Palace, the residence and work place of the president of the South at the time of the Vietnam War. It was interesting to see the rooms with lots of their original memorabilia such as telecommunication devices, uniforms and also the pen that was used to sign the France-Vietnam agreement, declaring the Republic of Vietnam a free state. With our afternoon bus departure looming, we returned to our hostel - which was currently being fumigated for pest control, nice - to collect our luggage and headed to the bus stop for our journey across the border into Cambodia. Goodbye Vietnam!

Hanoi, its been a pleasure!

My last few weeks in Hanoi seemed to just fly by and before I knew it i was starting to pack up and arrange some leaving drinks. It was hard to say goodbye to the people who had made my time in Vietnam so enjoyable and shared so many good times with. We met up in Tadioto, one of our favourite little haunts very close to the Van Ho residence, for (what i thought would be) one last horrah. And so Friday was my last day at the VGBC, finishing up a few bits and pieces i had been working on.


Mathilde and I had planned to take the night train to Ho Chi Minh City or 'Saigon' (in the south of Vietnam) city with a stop off in Hue (central Vietnam) to break up the journey'. However, the threat of a potential typhoon approaching central Vietnam and working its way up to Hanoi made up postpone our trip, especially after the multiple national warnings put out to discourage people from taking non-essential travel.

Annoyed at the time that we would now miss seeing Hue and go straight to HCM, my (second) final night in Hanoi definitely made up for it. The night featured everything that Hanoi has to offer in terms of nigh time activity. The night started with drinks and Karaoke at our local place, moved on to Top Pub in the old quarter for 2-4-1 cocktails and dancing to commercial classics, continued via motorbikes to 'Phuc Tan' a club by the Red river which bangs out electro/dancy music till the early hours and also has a nice outside area overlooking the river. The stars were soon fading and we all enjoyed (well nearly all) the rising sun. At about 5am ish it was time to leave and head over to Tong Duy Tan aka 'food street' for a noodle breakfast. Feeling it was well past bedtime we hailed a taxi to take us back to our beloved Van Ho, where inevitably the locals were all bright eyed and busy tailed going about their morning chores and activities. All in all a great final night slash morning!

Hoi An

After a very busy week in Hanoi, myself, Caity and Mathilde were very excited to be spending a long weekend away in the charming town of Hoi An. A little setback involving immigration meant Mathilde had to join a bit late but all was rectified by a few 'helpful' friends in the industry and on Saturday we were all together. Caity and i spent the first day getting some much needed rest and relaxation. This involved some very affordable massages, facials and mani-pedi's.

We then spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach having rented bicyles and braved the hot sun to cycle there. We found a quieter spot away from the Vietnamese tourists who were all grouped together. Feeling suitably relaxed and a bit too sandy we headed back for town to meet Mathilde, stopping on the way to sample some coconut doughnut type treats. We caught up with the Mathilde at the hotel and then ventured back towards the main bit of the old town for some dinner by the river.

We spent the majority of Sunday at the tailors getting clothes made. This was a great experience! You can get pretty much anything made or clothes copied. You just choose the material, they take all your measurements and you either pick from one of the many catalogues or show them what you want. Everything is whisked off to the nearby seamstresses and after a few fittings to check sizes, you have you very own made to measure new clothes, a fashionista's dream!!The family of sisters were very friendly and gave us dinner and plenty of water during the hours we spent in their shop.

The rest of our time was spent visiting some of the oldest houses in Hoi An which are made up of a combination of Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese architecture. It was interesting to look around and see how well the houses resemble the original designs. Before our evening flight we had a final meal of Cau Lao - a pork noodle speciality of Hoi An - and then packed up our things and said goodbye to the lovely town.

Day in a life

Despite my best efforts to get an early night before the grand day out Dao had planned for me in Hanoi, my day pretty much began where my night finished, at 5am. Realising that I definitely needed to shower and change (after post dancing induced by the success of Holland against Brazil in the World Cup), I sent Dao a message saying I would be a little late to our meeting point at the Opera House. It is amazing how many people are awake at this time on a Saturday morning. Our first stop was at close-by Hồ Hoàn Kiếm or "Lake of the returned sword". This is the hotspot for Hanoian's who partake in early morning exercises. As we cycled by we watched as a whole generation of ages carried out their daily routines ranging from people jogging to women doing aerobics to very old men and women throwing their arms around and haphazardly swinging their hips. Needless to say, I found this very entertaining. After our own gentle cycle morning exercise we found a near-by street stall to stop and get breakfast. This consisted of a nice bowl of steaming Phở (pronounced 'fir') which is the Vietnamese staple noodle soup served with either chicken or beef, a regular breakfast choice, frequently eaten while sat on a very low and small stool (not built for a western bum), so basically on the street. Our next stop was the Army museum to see some of the relics of weapons and warfare, including a 'graveyard' of fighter planes. After a refreshing coconut juice we then went on an extended cycle ride all around the West Lake. Feeling tired and a little week we ventured back towards the old quarter to grab some lunch. At another street stall we had some Bún chả, which is a combination of grilled pork, vermicelli noodles served with a soup and vietnamese greens. Before setting off for the afternoon, we went to a nice cafe to meet up with Ha and to get some chilling smoothies. In the afternoon we swapped our bicycles for motorbikes and headed out of town to the Museum of Ethnology. It was really interesting to read about all the different ethnic groups and history. There was also a really pretty garden within the grounds of the museum which we spent some time enjoying before heading back home. We finished our day by grabbing some kem (icecream) and che (sweet drink) at one of Ha's favourite places.

Ba Vi - hiking to heaven

Last weekend I embarked on a motorbike roadtrip with my friends Ha, Đạo and Minh to Ba Vi National Park, which is about 50km west of Hanoi in the Ha Tay province. The park is spread over an immense mountain range with its peak at 1,296m. Along the way we had a little break in the town of Son Tay. We strolled around the ancient citadel to stretch our legs and had some coffee to revive us for the final leg of the journey. The Citadel - surrounded by a 20m wide moat - was erected in 1822 and has a series of gates around the perimeter, some of which are now engulfed by winding and intertwined tree branches. Ha told me that this is a popular place for newly-weds to come and take their wedding photos!


Keen to get back on the road we returned to our parked bikes and were soon all speeding away on the long straight road with clear views to our destination in the distance. Our motorbikes laden with BBQ supplies found it a little taxing to make it up the steep and winding path but after stopping a couple of times to take in the stunning views we made it to the summit.


From here we took a little downhill hike to find an idyllic location for our picnic, old church ruins which were set back off the main path and completely isolated. To our surprise we did encounter a small film crew who were doing some filming for tourism in Vietnam. They took some shots of us setting up our fire but soon left us in peace with only the forest around us. Ha and Đạo had prepared a massive feast for us of meats, fish, fruits and veggies, yum! We whiled away the hours eating, drinking, exchanging stories, exploring the ruins and trying to spot birds and other creatures which we could hear in the canopy above. Feeling rather full and sleepy we decided it would be a good idea to have a little nap before clearing up and hiking back up to our bikes.


The journey back uphill was rather more taxing than we had anticipated and resulted in multiple stops and lying down on the path. It was really surreal because we kept going through patches of really thick mist, it was almost as if we were inside a cloud. Just as we were all feeling we couldn't walk one more step we reached a point where the sun was shining through the trees and the mist giving the impression of a total enlightenment. It was like we had hiked to heaven and we all got very excited! After spending a little time lying down to fully appreciate our new found utopia we picked ourselves up and finally made it to the top.


We made one final stop off for some fresh sữa chua bò (yoghurt - translates as 'sour cows milk') a popular treat in this province and also tasted some milk candies, before slowly making our way home.