Traditional Cooking

So I arose bright and early on a relatively rainy Saturday to meet up with some of the Singapore International staff for a cooking class. It was really great to hang with some teachers outside of school, since we are all usually pretty well-behaved in class. Some of the ladies had incredibly interesting lives (ranging from speaking fluent Arabic to having a husband who is an underwater doctor...) and were so much fun to cook with. There were some hysterical cucumber jokes from the principal of a kindergarten, and I was really happy to have had the opportunity to see the less professional side of my coworkers.
We had a lovely introduction to Vietnamese cooking, then were told to get into separate cyclos for a trip to the market. I was very dismayed at this request, since I have been avoiding a cyclo ride since I first set foot in Vietnam over 2 years ago. Opting out of the ride wasn't exactly an option, so I boarded a cyclo after much hesitation. There were 9 of us, each in our own cyclo, causing traffic and looking like a huge pack of tourists. I was feeling rather embarrassed, since being on a cyclo is the most efficient way to brand yourself as a naive tourist. After communicating to my very old cyclo driver (I felt I should be peddling him around) that I studied Architecture in the USA, he gave me a little Architecture tour in Vietnamese; I understood maybe 10% of it (mostly just the words "French", "building", and "very beautiful")but it was a nice effort on his part nonetheless.
After the mortifying cyclo trip, we got back to the restaurant and were given a chef's jacket along with a ridiculous hat. Many absurd pictures were taken at this point, and I will do my best to get my hands on a few to chronicle just how hysterical we all looked. I successfully learned how to make banana flower salad and a very famous Vietnamese sauce that is used with mostly everything (ranging from salad to spring rolls). After the salad, we made some tofu vegetable spring rolls fried with breadcrumbs (which is actually the Southern version of a spring roll) that were so incredibly delicious. After botching 2 spring rolls I finally managed to get the hang of rolling, and ended up with a nice amount of some perfect looking rolls. I brought home some leftovers to show off to my Vietnamese friends that I actually COULD roll them. After being splattered with burning hot oil, we moved on to a tofu vegetable medley, followed by sauteed shrimp with cashew nuts. These dishes proved a bit harder, but once I had the opportunity to try them all, found I had done a pretty good job. The cooking class gave us some wonderful recipe sheets and I absolutely plan on trying some of the dishes in my own kitchen. I will surely write a post regarding any successful cooking, so keep an eye out for that.
I spent my Easter with Son, who was very excited to try my deviled eggs. Although they lacked paprika, they still turned out very nice, and since he ate a good amount of them, I rightfully assumed he enjoyed them. I got a little nostalgic eating my deviled eggs, thinking of my family, and reflecting on how far away I am. It's strange how something as small as a piece of food can bring forth so many memories. I didn't get any candy, so I'm thinking I will go to the store and buy myself some today just because, well, I love candy. It was one of my student's birthdays this morning and he brought in some chocolates, so I technically got my chocolate fix already. Jellybeans would be nice, but I am 99% sure they don't have them here. I guess jelly bunny rabbits are the best I can do.
My students are returning to class any minute, so I should wrap this up... bye!