history and food

As mentioned in today's NYTimes:
On Dec. 30, 1972, the United States halted its heavy bombing of North Vietnam.
It's always good when such destructive activities end. It took another couple years to get the U.S. out of Vietnam and that day, 30 April, is celebrated each year as a day of autonomy.
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Last night on OPB there was an episode of Globe Trekker, a new one it seems, that focuses on food in Vietnam. While it was inaccurate in a number of ways (phở is not pronounced phah, it's closer to phuh with a question sound thrown on). She mispronounced most cities, i.e. Ha Noi is a nice ha (as in haha) and not the hard ha (as in hat) that she gave it. Funny how little things like that'll drive me nuts.

Anyway, beside her mispronouncing the Vietnamese names and foods worse than I do, it was pretty okay. I wish they would have focused on the more everyday things that people eat (jackfruit, dragonfruit, bun bo Hue, banh mi trung, etc) and less on the things that are rarities (snake heart and water buffalo blood/heart soup). It was fun to see places we'd been, like the train stations in Hue, Ha Noi and Lao Cai. Ha Long Bay must have been cleared for the cameras, or she went on a lousy day, because it was packed to the gills when we went.

More info on the show here; check your local listings for air time.
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Today is finally our Christmas. My aunt Diana came up from Sacto, while my sister Stephanie and her two kids left Los Angeles to join us for a Christmas celebration. It'll be nice to be together again. Last time was just before we left the country. And here we are again. That means I get to show off my photos again. Yea!