{"id":4600,"date":"2020-04-19T04:51:18","date_gmt":"2020-04-18T20:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/keiyt.com\/?p=4600"},"modified":"2020-04-21T01:41:28","modified_gmt":"2020-04-20T17:41:28","slug":"backpacked-southeast-asia-in-2015-food-in-cambodia-and-vietnam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keiyt.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/19\/backpacked-southeast-asia-in-2015-food-in-cambodia-and-vietnam\/","title":{"rendered":"Backpacked Southeast Asia in 2015: Food in Cambodia and Vietnam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

5 years long overdue post.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a budget tourist, food and sightseeing were the only things I could afford. So let me share with you some food photos I took during this trip and how much it cost me then. Again, this was in 2015! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Favorites: <\/strong>Grilled pork and broken rice in Vietnam<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chicken noodle soup<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My first meal in Cambodia was from a small eatery inside the archaeological park. I had a chicken noodle soup to pump up my growling stomach (because my last meal was at the airport the night before). To pair my meal, I had hot chocolate for my drink (because why not, I may want to sabotage my trip with a different type of stomachache). Breakfast in the park costs $5.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My sister told me that Cambodian food is bland. This noodle soup was not an exception. I had to add salt and pepper to the dish. Ending, I (and even the girls in the table next to mine) sneezed a few times. Wooh! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Indian meal paired with lassi <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One night I went for an Indian meal ($7.50), another night I came along with my roommates in some shady-but-still-lively<\/em> part of the city and had fried yellow noodle and avocado shake ($2.75\/meal). Indian was definitely a splurge but I didn’t learn any lesson and still had Indian food ($9.50) the day before I left Siem Reap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the way to the farthest area I went to for dinner in Siem Reap<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I couldn’t recall if I ate local dishes in Phnom Penh because my notes listed Burger King x 2 and KFC x2 (meals range from $4 – $5). After a tour, I ate in a sit-down restaurant but I forgot what I ate for $4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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KFC!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One night I went to myBurgerlab for a Couchsurfing event which I ended up not attending because they were setting up late and I didn’t know how I’d go home. That was a $6~ set back including tuk-tuk back and forth my hostel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chicken burger<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The bus travel from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City was about six hours. We were provided with two pastries and a bottle of water. We ate lunch at some point because I have a photo of noodles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Curry noodles, anyone?<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Vietnam<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I met with Francis, a Couchsurfing friend and a local in Saigon, who introduced me to two Filipinas (which I was very thankful for.. finally Tagalog after a week!). We walked a few blocks from Ph\u1ea1m Ng\u0169 L\u00e3o and found a very small eatery selling broken rice and grilled pork for VND 28,000. IT QUICKLY BECAME MY FAVORITE<\/strong>. It was quite a steal considering my average meal in Cambodia was at $4. Francis was so dedicated to making sure I experience being a local so we hang out at a corner, seated on small chairs and drank iced coffee for less than a dollar or Php 38.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Broken rice and grilled pork<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The next day, I went to the Mekong River tour with my new Filipinas friends, Ate Jenny and her friend (sorry I forgot her name). I can’t remember how much I paid for it but probably half a million VND which included a nice lunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of the dishes during Mekong River tour lunch<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Dinner with a frog dish<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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HCMC Pinoy crowd!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By dinner time, Francis brought us Filipinos to a sidewalk restaurant where I got to try frog and other local dishes at VND 70,000 share. I forgot the name of the other guy but he is also Pinoy and traveling solo. We went to a bar a few steps away from my hostel where a Filipino band was playing and had drinks hehe. The subtle nightlife was a VND 310,000 set back haha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Filipino band performing in a bar<\/em> along Ph\u1ea1m Ng\u0169 L\u00e3o<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I have a line of McDonald’s on my record at VND75,000 but I can’t remember what I ate. On my way to meet another Couchsurfing friend at War Remnant Museum, Quyen, I bought a milk tea and fishballs for VND60,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Street food<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Building where Saigon Oi Cafe is located, shot on a different night<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Quyen drove me around HCMC on her motorbike which I didn’t expect at all! We settled to chill at Saigon Oi Cafe<\/a> for a couple of hours before we met with his friend to eat their favorite beef pho in town. As a thank you to both, I treated them this meal. VND 100,000 for three full bowls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Beef pho<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Then we drove far and long highways to see the night lights of HCMC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To cap off, Quyen and I had smoothie. VND 40,000<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Straw and plastic spoon. Just in case you’re weird. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The next day, I had lines of food and water record amounting to VND 128,000. That included a noodle meal paired with an iced coffee (my choice of pairs haha) when I had dinner with my hostel roommates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While waiting for my delayed flight, I had chicken and biscuit meal from Popeye’s for VND 57,000 and a takeout box of Dunkin Donuts for VND 140,000. I don’t know but the way they pack their doughnuts was hilarious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Munchkins and large donuts together<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I reached my hostel in Hanoi at nearly midnight. So I just bought some grilled street food worth VND 50,000. I won’t ever find out what it was made of but it was delicious. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The next day, I splurged a bit for brunch. Maybe I felt funny about it because I typed “hahaha” after tracking VND 176,000 for pho and shrimp spring roll. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Shrimp spring roll<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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So look, the bean sprouts wanted to be the main star on this photo.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I walked around the city, bought souvenirs for myself and my sister and went back to my hostel neighborhood where I spotted a Baskin Robbins! Since it was too hot and there was nothing else to do, it was just necessary to eat some matcha ice cream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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3 mini scoops for VND 70,000<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I remember going to a restaurant just a few steps away from my hostel for dinner. What you need to know is, I based all my food choices on Tripadvisor and its near me option. I couldn’t remember what I had but based on my record, it was worth VND 80,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next day, now I couldn’t remember eating anything but I spent VND 85,000 tagged as “hostel food”. I also spent VND 30,000 during the first stopover on my way to Luang Prabang. That is THE OREO<\/em>. I will write about THE OREO in my next stories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s been fun writing this at this hour. How I wish I could do this again. Teeeeheee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

5 years long overdue post. As a budget tourist, food and sightseeing were the only things I could afford. So let me share with you some food photos I took during this trip and how much it cost me then. Again, this was in 2015! Favorites: Grilled pork and broken rice in Vietnam My firstRead more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[856,862,849,853,857,135,865,859,858,854,352,364,855,417,550,850,861,852,851,678,866,867,813,864,863],"class_list":["post-4600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-angkor-wat","tag-baskin-robbins","tag-beef-pho","tag-broken-rice","tag-burger-king","tag-cambodia","tag-cambodian-riels","tag-dunkin-donuts","tag-frog-legs","tag-grilled-pork","tag-hanoi","tag-ho-chi-minh-city","tag-indian-food","tag-kfc","tag-phnom-penh","tag-pho","tag-popeyes-2","tag-saigon-oi-cafe","tag-shrimp-spring-roll","tag-siem-reap","tag-us-dollars","tag-usd","tag-vietnam","tag-vietnamese-dong","tag-vnd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/keiyt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/keiyt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/keiyt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keiyt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keiyt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4600"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/keiyt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4641,"href":"https:\/\/keiyt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4600\/revisions\/4641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/keiyt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keiyt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keiyt.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}