La , te da #13 la ti da

Tony and his wife Thuy were to visit today to try the Mexican version of avocado preparation, which is guacamole, but, in order to avoid having to host in the apartment, Arin suggested bringing the guac and chips down to their home on the 13th floor of our apartment complex about 10 minutes before they were set to arrive.  Barbara had spent all day making and baking chips which was not easy since the homes in Vietnam do not contain ovens.  The chips really were not good but the guac was.  So, they set off to Tony's apartment, only to return a few minutes later.  Tony had clearly been asleep and Thuy was at the gym.  Apparently they had all but forgotten about the Mexican food. So, the guac was simply dropped off. Later we spotted Tony in the lift.  He wanted to return the guac containers.  When asked how they liked the dish, he informed Barbara that once his wife added sugar to the guacamole, it was fine.  I know it sounds terrible, but although an American would never try it at home, the Vietnamese are accustomed to sugared avocados. The most common use of an avocado is in a SINH TO which means it is mixed with condensed sweet milk blended with ice, and served as a smoothie. We already knew about the sugar because the avocado smoothie is a favorite of our friend Pat. She has been touting avocado smoothies since we met her.  Barbara has not been interested in trying one yet but I am sure she will one day order it mistakenly because she likes to use the local language when ordering. If you are visiting Vietnam and want to try it, the Vietnamese name is SINH TO ZOAI. Other common smoothies are strawberry and mango. They are super high calorie with the sweetened condensed milk, but also super delicious!

Aside from adding sugar to avocados, another Vietnamese tradition is that when you visit someone's home, you bring a gift, most often fruit. Likewise when you leave, you are given a food item to take home.  Today, when Barbara and Arin dropped off the guac, Tony had to quickly find a food item to offer. A case of Japanese water bottles was sitting inside the front door, so of course, Barbara and Arin came home with one of them, #13. These water bottles happened to be French, so water bottle #13 is given the name: Madam La Ti Da.