October 10, 2025
We woke up to pouring rain after loud thunderstorms overnight. We worried the weather might impact our farm visit but the skies cleared up soon after we finished breakfast. We hailed an electric cart to take us across town to our 9am cooking class where we’d first head to the farm to meet the farmer and do a bit of harvesting. Our ride was a vintage US jeep that had been slightly updated from the 70s. The doors didn’t open and there were pools of stagnant water inside which made it a breeding ground for mosquitos. Len got eaten alive during the ride and his bites were already inflamed and bleeding by the time the 10 minute ride was over.
At the farm, we met the restaurant owner’s (Mrs.Phi) farmer friend and learned more about how he manages his farm. As it had downpoured overnight, some of the chores like watering felt all for show but the kids still enjoyed getting their hands dirty. At one point when we were hoeing one of the plots, we found a huge snail. After letting the kids marvel at the snail, the farmer quietly stomped and killed him.
After some field work and herb, scallion and lettuce harvesting, we walked a bit to go meet the farmer’s water buffalo, Buttons. What we thought would just be a meet and greet soon turned into a water buffalo ride session. After the kids went for a ride, they farmer offered a ride to Kyle and I and we figured why not, when would we ever ride a water buffalo again? We sat on an old shirt that slipped around while the animal radiated heat and each had a terribly uncomfortable ride.
Back at the restaurant, our cooking class began. We made fried spring rolls, mango salad and Vietnamese chicken noodle soup (Pho Ga). The beginning of the class was a lot of chopping and ingredient prep and it was tough to keep the kids’ attention. For much of the class, they favored fighting each other with the two rubber chickens they found at the front of the restaurant. There was a bit of forced participation and we got through the class without any major incidents.
Ollie was a fan of the mango salad but not the shrimp or pork on top. Len was coaxed to eat a spring roll with the promise of a bonus Uno point and after he begrudgingly ate one, he gobbled up a second. Kyle and I loved the soup and especially the broth– I’ll definitely be adding fresh lemongrass and turmeric to the first pot of soup I make back home.
From the restaurant, we walked on to the tailor to check on the status of our clothes. Unfortunately some of the linen was still soaking (apparently to prevent shrinkage!) so we’ll have to stop back tomorrow, hopefully on motorbikes if the weather holds out.
Back at the hotel, we had some free time then headed to the pool. Len first showed off his ability to swim the entire length without touching the sides. Then, while I was at the gym, he practiced his backflips and excitedly showed me his new skill.
In the pool Lenny goes, “Dad I didn’t like it when you laughed at me when I almost got hurt the other day.” He was talking about how last night, when playing Uno in the lobby, he ran back to the table and jumped into his chair and slid right off onto the ground. Once we saw that he was fine, we laughed pretty hard. He is definitely a deep thinker and stewer for sure.
For dinner we had barely edible room service and then watched the Disney movie, Elio, which Kyle and I found to be on par with the quality of our dinner.
