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After J and I got back from eating banh xeo and bun bo hue earlier in the day, we headed back to rest. We were still jetlagged and again I found myself falling asleep to another great English Premier League match. I love that Asia has games going on all day long on TV. We woke up and it was now 10 pm and we still had not eaten. Rather than take the scooter out into the wild streets of Saigon, we decided to do it like foraging tribesman and walk around. And I has had stated earlier on my breakfast hunt , you don't need to go far to find food in Saigon. All you really have to do is stand and do a 360, and you'll realize that it is actually the food that finds you . Pho was cooking on the left. Banh mi was being prepared on the right. But straight ahead, we were attracted to a small stand lit by the greenish, fluorescent lights that seem to be so prominent in Asia. Like moths in flight, we headed towards the light source. The lady behind the stall spotted us approaching...

For any beer enthusiasts out there, this is a good week. Russian River Brewing Company announced the release of this limited, American/Triple IPA masterpiece known as "Pliny the Younger". Not the elder version, for there are more hops and only brewed once a year. Word is that you can find it at some of my favorite beer bars: Verdugo Bar, Glassell Park Blue Palms, Hollywood Father's Office, Culver City Library Alehouse, SaMo and also, at the newly opened, Surly Goat in West Hollywood, also a child of Verdugo Bar's Ryan Sweeney. Stop in for this beer, guaranteed to be a tapped keg in a few days. Here's a review on Beer Advocate . I personally find this beer to be a 36-24-36 kind of beer.

I'm going on my 5th year with this blog and in retrospect, I can't believe how writing about food has changed my life in numerous ways. The most important being the way I viewed other cultures, valued family and friendships and even finding love. I first started writing about places I grew up on and eventually made some dramatic turns. For me, knowing about music, food and art are great cultural values. So I made a point to approach everything with an open-mind and try anything and everything – like Bourdain, who I highly respect. When J and I met, we were eating a lot of street food and affordable ethnic food. Naturally, the more you enjoy food, the more likely you will move from low end to high end meals. We didn't really have our "nice" dinner experience together until we ate at A.O.C. We must have looked like beasts with hooves and fangs at the restaurant, but it was definitely different and out of our zone. From there, we just went on an haute cuisin...

In approximately two weeks, emotions are going to run high as well as the register count. It's Valentine's Day and I'm here to play Cupid again. After you've dropped $150 on a nice Valentine's prix fixe menu, you need a nice soothing way to end the evening. Thanks to the 17 people that downloaded the Cheesy & Sleazy Volume I album last year, it's now back by (un)popular demand. Regardless, I'm going to put these mixes up anyway because it annoys people like my wife . And while we're dining at somewhere fancy this year, a little of this ear candy wouldn't hurt. If you're able to seal any sort of deal, I'll know I've done my job and continue to provide you with more slimy music. *tears* (1) Ambrosia - Biggest Part of Me (2) Atlantic Starr - Masterpiece (3) Benny Mardones - Into the Night (4) Berlin - Take My Breath Away (5) Bill Withers - Just the Two of Us (6) Bobby Brown - Rock W'cha (7) Bryan Adams - Everything I Do (8) D...

A few hours earlier, Jeni and I were able to sample one of Bourdain's first pit stops in his No Reservations: Vietnam episode – a Vietnamese crepe-like snack called banh xeo that was both fun to eat and somewhat tasty. We got there the hard way and saw first hand how hectic Saigon street traffic was from the perspective of a cyclo transport. No thanks, we were done with that tourist trap. At our guest house, we were able to rent a scooter for only $7 the whole day, which was killer cheap. Jeni didn't like the idea of it, nor would the mother-in-law, but hey, you only live once. We pulled out our little food itinerary and talked about our next destination. There was just too much to eat but since we were on the Bourdain tip, we might as well have paid a visit to the lunch lady he also visited on the episode. This stall was a bit out off the radar but it only meant more good times on the scooter. Thanks to Cathy's many nice postings on her blog, Gastronomy, we were a...

FYI. The "46A" in the restaurant name refers to the address. Pho restaurants like Pho 54, Pho 79 and Pho 87, contrary to belief, do not indicate the years in which the families emigrated from Vietnam – they are the addresses of their business back in Vietnam. But Pho 69, that could be an entirely different story. Rewind to the previous day, before the monstrous breakfast I had. When Jeni and I arrived in Saigon, we had already printed out a list of things/places we wanted to eat. Even though there was Vietnam's review site, cleverly named Yup! we were good to go. Three pages of paragraphs detailing exact locations of restaurants or stalls. With the help of our friend MN, we pretty much had a scavenger hunt map in our hands. No photos, but only descriptions that would take us through tight alleys and hair-raising traffic to places we would never have dreamt of finding. Another bit of inspiration is always Anthony Bourdain. In Season 5, Episode 10, he travels...