fusion maia, da nang, vietnam, a picture perfect getaway

fusion maia, da nang, vietnam

fusion maia is asias first luxury hotel with an all inclusive spa. yes, an all inclusive spa. 

when you hear the term "all inclusive", it usually brings up memories of long lines for mediocre food and watered down cocktails.

this is not that.

this is an all inclusive spa, where all the amazing treatments they have are included in the price of your private villa. (more on this later in the post) 

continental breakfast included, all other meals and drinks are additional.

this is luxury resort, where all your cares melt away and all your needs are a friendly, helpful staff member away. 

when you enter this resort, you definitely get the feeling that this is a modern resort. there is no real check in counter. they will escort you to a nice lounge area by the bar and dining area. this huge, open, multipurpose area invites you to sit and relax while they check you in. 

as with all resorts in vietnam, you will need to provide your passports. pretty standard stuff.

view from our seats during check in, looking at the bar. dining area beyond the bar. 

while we were checking in, we were introduced to a fixture during stay. their amazing teas. i love my teas. it started with a love of green tea that was spoiled by a monk picking young green tea leaves, roasting them and sending them stateside for us. ever since then, i have had a love affair with teas.

here, they have some amazing flavored teas. everyday it was something new. flowery, fruity, totally balanced, never too sweet, never too bitter, never too hot... just amazing tea. i asked them about this, but i just cant remember the name of their supplier. 

their amazing tea. check in lounge, at the spa.... get it

at this point, id be happy if theyd let me crash on this super comfy couch. im not fancy. im not frou frou. i could have totally crashed out on these couches... oh but wait, thats right, we got a room here.

well i guess i can go check that out. seeesh. so much work this is. 

all their rooms have private pools. all the rooms are villas. the standard room is a private villa with a private pool. now you know what kind of place youre at.

they do also have two upgrades if youre in the mood to drop some more cash, a spa villa and a beach villa. pimp. and super pimp. check their website for the most up to date info.

in our cozy little private villa, you open the door to your seating area.

you glance over to your sleeping area

i guess i COULD call this home for a few days.

as you would expect, the bed was very nice. i hate bad beds. too bouncy, too firm, sagging.... the bed here at fusion maia... perfect. i havent slept that well in a very long time. the beds here are great.

right in front of both the seating area and the sleeping area? your own private pool! now this is exciting. whens the last time you had a private pool with your room. 

thatll do pig, thatll do

yes, its pretty pimp to have your own private pool, but plan accordingly because you might not be able to take full advantage of it. if you come in the winter season, it might be too cold. the pool is not heated and as it was for our visit, it might be a bit too cold to swim. but of course that didnt stop us from jumping in every so often. i mean, how often will you be in a villa with a private pool!

i can only imagine how AMAZING this would be during the warmer months.

real talk. i dont know how they maintain all these areas. although i am not the most gung ho nature man, i do understand it. ive also had a pool to take care of when i use to live in my sisters mcmansion.

keeping the resort looking good, let alone maintain all these private pools, to be mostly pest free, vermin free... thats a big task and they do it very well. very well.

view of the pool area at night

view of the pool area from the sleeping area

next to the sleeping area is a massive bathroom, with a sunken tub, vanity, shower and wc (look at me being all european)

im thinking of remodeling my own bathroom... this would be a good start. 

the far wall of the bathroom is a floor to ceiling glass wall that looks into your pool. pretty damn cool stuff if you ask me. 

sunken tub

wait, did i mention theres a flat screen that you can move around so you can watch tv in bed or in the bathroom?

view of the shower, wc to the left behind frosted glass

errrr, i know this might sound weird to say about a 5 star resort, but there are no hot water issues. 

we stayed at other 5 star resorts in da nang during this same trip. although they were really great places to stay all around, we DID have hot water issues.

everything about this resort says modern and chic. our room was minimal, with clean lines, yet warm and welcoming. designers better have gotten a raise!

even our front door, frig, closet, drawer area looks like a work of art. 

da nang area is not quite developed as of our visit in december 2011, but the resort has a way of making you feel like youre in a different place altogether. bravo.

so whats there to do beside drink awesome tea and hang out in your dwell magazinesque private villa with private pool?

actually, plenty. 

first, one of the main reason why we chose this place is their unique all inclusive spa. 

ive been to most every high end spa in san francisco. ive also been a member of burke williams for years. though im not frou frou where i need facials and mani pedis, i do like my massages. its a little luxury i allow myself. its time to decompress, it helps detox all the crap in put in my body. its a bit of time for myself. 

here, at the fusion maia resort, their spa is top notch. im not talking about being in another country, on vacation top notch, im talking top notch, top notch. 

only hang up might be that there might be a bit of a language issue. although every staff member we encountered spoke fairly fluent english, some things are lost in translation and accents can get in the way. 

these are very minor issues that you can easily work around.besides, youre the guest in the country... you should learn to work around them.

the spa area, with its separate swimming pool with waterfall, relaxation areas is awesome to just sit and lounge. the actual rooms where your sessions are held, well, they were better appointed them some high end places i have been to in san francisco. 

fusion maia spa menu (12/2011)

closeup of treatments available (12/2011)

we averaged three sessions per day.

tip, pre book your appointments. you dont want to lose out do you?

we usually went something like this. a scrub/treatment followed by a massage after breakfast. another session between lunch and dinner. 

after the second day of this. i was a soft, pliable, relaxed, revived, new person. this is about as close as totally relaxed as you can get. 

yes. this was grand. this made all the effort getting to da nang worth it. this made everything right in the world. you end up just walking around relaxed and smiling all the time. 

everyone we encountered, from the receptionists to the attendants were on point, friendly, and very important to me, they seemed happy to be there. 

you definitely come here for the spa. 

however, thats not the only thing to do here.

the other part of the relaxation equation for us was eating. 

there are a few dining options here and a few twists on the usual continental breakfast. 

fresh pool bar 

they have western and local style foods. all good. and who doesnt like to dine poolside.... 

well if you dont (or if its raining) there is an indoor dining area. and for a place that centers around well being and all that, they make some damn good cocktails. you wont hear me complaining about alcohol. 

the bar you first see when you come into the main dining area, there are some tapas inspired dishes, cocktails, wines.....fun stuff

the main dining area, where the continental breakfast and dinners are served... well, lets just say i enjoy food. i live for food. i cook. i garden. i spend most my free time thinking about food or making food. 

this place, though its not cutting edge (and i wouldnt want it to be cutting edge dining, im on vacation at a resort spa!), it is modern and the food is a well executed modern affair. every meal i had in the main dining area was of a very high caliber. very nicely surprised. of course it may not be like the complete shock and awe treatment from tfl or the subtle refinement of manresa (the two last significant meals we had in the san francisco area before we left for this vacation) but i could not be upset with anything i had here. the dinners were just fine, good to great in fact. something you really dont expect from a resort/hotel restaurant too often. all the dishes were great. executed and presented well. the proteins were good. the infusion of local greens were are great touch. i would be happy to be presented any of these dishes in most every setting. its just good food. 

one thing to note however, is that the meals here are more expensive than other meals we had in da nang area resorts however, the quality and service represented why. it was by far, the highest caliber dining experiences we had in da nang.

*side note. a dinner with drinks will run you a respectable 50-60 USD per person. at other five star resorts in the area, perhaps 30-40 USD. we also had dinner at an expat hang out in town, 10-15 USD per person. some local restaurants, 2-8 USD per person*

the continental breakfast. man, i loved their continental breakfast. nicely done. good spread. unusual finds. fun and different things.ooo a noodle bar. ok let me try the pho. of course you have to eat pho. 

i grew up on pho. its pretty much a staple here in the bay area.

ive tried bad pho. ive had good restaurant pho. ive had great homemade pho. some of our friends own pho restaurants. 

the stuff here was done with a nice refined touch. like taking moms recipe and applying some stuff you learn at culinary. 

the handmade pho noodles were an unexpected treat. ive never seen it before. i make pasta pretty often. ive made rice cakes, all sorts of doughs..... but ive never thought about nor seen handmade pho noodles. it was like a given. you buy the packaged stuff. 

the handmade pho noodles added a texture to the party that might be overlooked by many, but adds a nice subtle note to things. 

awesome. 

i DID make some rice paper while i was here.... i shouldve asked if i could find out where they made those noodles!!! 

*how funny, five star, badass resort... and im inquiring about the noodles in their pho*

and another thing about their breakfast, they have an unusual service for their breakfast. as you would imagine, continental breakfast is included with your room, but whats unusual is that you can have breakfast anywhere, anytime.

if you didnt make the continental breakfast, no problem. they can bring you something off their menu and that will count as your free breakfast of the day. 

thats a nice service, but it doesnt end there.

you want to have breakfast on the beach? ask them. they will set up a table on the beach. 

want breakfast on the pool... no, not by the pool... ON the pool, theres an area where they will set up a table on the pool over looking the beach..... 

yes, you can have breakfast at 10am, on a table, on the pool. 

im sure there are limits to this, but anything within reason seems to be there unspoken motto here. 

i wanted a pack of smokes. they dont put those on any menu because, this is in fact, a well being type place. they got me some cancer sticks when i ask for them.

they DO state though, if you want, you can even have your free breakfast at their restaurant in historic hoi an. if you trekked out there in the morning on their free shuttle, you can grab breakfast there.

one of the larger tables in their main dining area

exploring around the resort, we found a pool table and ps3 located under the main dining area. pretended to know how to shoot pool, then went along our merry way. 

apparently they do yoga on the resort too. different areas... and wait, did they say an offsite yoga session on the marble mountains nearby? 

most any excursions around the area can be booked by the concierge desk. take advantage of the free shuttles into historic hoi an and walk around town, the farmers market. check out 4th century cham temples at my son holy land..... easy as a phone call away

*we didnt book our excursion with fusion maia because we had done so prior, while staying at other resorts in the area, prior to staying at fusion maia*

oh... and there is the small matter of the beach. 

this is also a beach resort, on one of the hidden gem beaches of the world. each of the beach front resorts in this area has their own private beach. i can only imagine what it would be like in the summer months... 

i guess we just have to go back

theres also the pool area, no more than a few foot steps from the beach.

what did i do? what do you think i would do? 

order some vietnamese bahn mi inspired thin crust pizza

post up at a poolside/beach cabana

sip on cocktails.

man, researching for this blog is hard work.

suh suh kalbi, (aka standing up kalbi)

about a decade ago, i was working in seoul. man. i could write a book just on that....

although i wasnt as interested in food as i am now, i still did spend a fair amount of time eating some damn good food.

as you can imagine, when it comes to kalbi, koreans consider it almost a religion.

back then i found two amazing places. they both made some of the best kalbi i have ever tasted in my life, but they were on the complete opposite spectrum as you can get.

buh du namu jeep (bamboo house) is high society kalbi. although its pretty casual, as it is a kalbi house where you cook your food at your table, it is frou frou also, with the price tag to match. you have basically two servers to every customer, bentleys in the parking lot, full bows by all staff...

it was definitely good. no doubt about it.

this is not a post about them.

this is a post about the kalbi joint on the WAY OTHER side of the spectrum.

suh suh kalbi

suh suh kalbi has become to known as a "style" of cooking kalbi in the last decade, where you stand around a converted oil drum (some places actually provide seats!) and eat some damn good kalbi. (suh suh means standing up)

its pretty common in korea to have a bunch of copy cats once something becomes popular. infact, you get entire neighborhoods of restaurants serving the same dish once one place becomes popular, for example, the marinaded raw crab neighborhood in shinsa dong in seoul.

this post is about the "original" suh suh kalbi restaurant in shin chun, seoul.

side note.... actually, taking a step back, this cooking style was pretty common decades ago... in the 50s 60s and into the 70s when korea was coming out of an active war and developing into what it is now. bare bones wasnt a style then, it was a necessity.

back to the suh suh kalbi restaurant that made its mark in modern times.

yes, that is a line out the door.

20 degrees fahrenheit outside.... and thats only half the line, the same amount of people are waiting inside.

we got there around 7pm. we waited an hour. we got a few orders in.

they ran out food.

they only make 400 servings per day. they open around 3pm. when theyre out, theyre out.

why all the fuss?

its damn good kalbi.

yes, it is that good.

the place is bare bones.

concrete floors, smoky as hell... you can see the years of smoke on the walls. 

theres barely a door. 

a few handfuls of converted oil drums into table/grills

their menu isnt as extensive as other kalbi places.

beef kalbi. 500grams. 14000 wons.

thats it. 

and consider yourself lucky if you get a serving. our party of four, that left home at 6pm, drove an hour to arrive at 7pm, waited till 8pm for a table... 

we got 5 orders... and thats it. 

we couldve ate 8 orders.... but they ran out. 

we swore we would NEVER come back..... all that damn driving, all that effort....

well, maybe not... the place is too damn good not to come back.... 

so first tip. come EARLY. like 3, 4 pm 

second tip, ask for a plastic bag to put you jackets, sweaters in. it protects it from all that smoke. 

third tip? eat.

with your orders of kalbi, they will give you sliced garlic, peppers and bowls of marinade.

fourth tip. dip the cooking meats in the marinade, put hella sliced garlic in one bowl of marinade and place the bowl on the grill. 

glorious glorious beef kalbi. im not the most patient person in the world. something has to be worth it to go through all this... and a decade after i first tried this place, on my recent visit during december 2011.. it was glorious. 

suh suh kalbi in all its glory. 

the meat is good quality. the marinade is second to none. the charcoal they use has a lot to do with the taste, as per the restaurant. the "charcoal" is a round, pressed charcoal they produce in korea, that they have used for decades for radiant heating.... wait, is this even legal to use for cooking?

whatever... its good. 

if you are ever in seoul, it is DEFINITELY worth the trip. 

its on the northwest side of seoul, near the shin chun subway stop. 

happy eating. 

OH and did i mention i have the marinade recipe? decade of trial and error by many peoples.... and finally some tips from the owner to my mother... i got it. 

recipe to come in a later post. 

another year another beer, but SUPRISE!

i remember i used to make a huge deal about birthdays. whether it was my own or someone elses, i would make sure theres some celebrating.

i used to think you had to do this.

one of the main reasons was because you never know if you were going to be around for another one.

well, ive been around for about a dozen more birthdays. maybe ill be sticking around for a bit longer.

i started making less and less a big deal about myself for my birthdays and focused on others. i started a short lived (maybe renewed next year) tradition where i would gather up about 100 or so friends and hold a fund raiser centered around food, benefitting our local food bank.

this year, i kinda wanted to keep things quite. i actually just wanted to spend a nice quite weekend with my lovely girlfriend, maybe go out of town. have a nice little dinner...

as you can imagine, i was pretty happy when she told me we were going to have a nice quite little birthday celebration, something during the day then dinner at TFL.

first off, she totally was feeling the vibe i was giving off, i wanted to do something a bit quite. secondly... she got a reservation at TFL!?!?!?! wow.  how the hell did she pull that off and right on my birthday too! this is looking real good!

well, even though i was very curious about the day time activity and how she managed to score a TFL reservation, i didnt snoop around for more information. i trusted her. and i wanted things to happen organically. she said the day time activity will be fun, then a nice dinner. simple. done and done.

the morning of, we wake up and drive to napa. maybe i shouldnt have drank so much at home the night before. im praying the day time activity isnt something active. please god, no mountain biking, horseback riding. the drive up alone, i felt like digusting yellow bile was swilling around in my stomach like a toilet flushing, just waiting to explode. at times, i felt like the inside of a magic eight ball.

we make it to our destination. we drive into what seems like an office park.

wtf?!?!

OH!!!!

OHHHH!!!!!

the meritage resort and spa! dude. score!

ive never been here. im excited... oh wait, whats this? a spa in a cave? ok this is getting very interesting.

we proceed into what is perhaps the coolest spa i have ever been to. yes, its in a cave. we check in. relax. then we are escorted into a room for our couples massage. almost instantly, im off into pampered lala land. man this couldnt get any better. no active crap. stomach is settling in. its been forever since i got pampered.... im thinking. man, this woman is just a little pint size full of amazing.

after a super relaxing couples massage, we decide to relax by the pool, grab a small bite, grab a glass of wine.... im telling you. at this point, there is not a care in the world. got an amazing woman by my side, hella relaxed, nibbling on some shrimp cocktails, having some wine....

everyday should be like this

we relax poolside for a couple hours.
im told there is one more thing we need to do before our dinner at TFL.... WOOHOO DINNER AT TFL!!!

we drive into yountville because she informs me there is something to pick up at ad hoc.... im thinking wtf?!?! pick up something at ad hoc?... are we eating a small bite before dinner at tfl? does she know its going to be like 7 courses of full on food awesomeness in yo mouth?

we walk into ad hoc.... did i mention i love ad hoc? i love the concept. i love the food. i love the atmosphere. i had the pleasure of dining here since they opened up and during the fours years ive been eating here, i have NEVER had anything close to a bad meal. everything has been great to amazing.

i love that ad hoc takes any dish and make it the best they can possibly make it. the thomas keller lineage shows through.

anyways, we check in with the front desk. i see a packed house... its always packed here. its so popular now i had a tough time making reservations the last few times... damn stupid yelpers.

she escorts us outside to the back for some reason... oooh, thinking maybe we are going to addendum. i havent seen the take out window in action, ooo we are picking up some world famous ad hoc fried chicken to go!




nope.

damn you

SURPRISE!!!!!!

there is a giant table set up in their garden.

30 or so of my closest friends old and new. all here. on my birthday. surprise birthday dinner for me. at ad hoc. one of my favorite places in the world.

it was more than i could handle. seriously. im already not great at accepting simple compliments and even though i may seem like the type to be loud and very much the center of attention, when it comes to true attention, i get all flustered and weird. it took me a good 30 minutes or so to let it all absorb in.

my girlfriend planned and organized a surprise dinner for me, in yountville, at ad hoc, special dinning area and all, with a gang load of my closest friends..... i know how hard it is to get a dinner set up in the same city for a handful of people. how the hell do you get hella mofos up into the napa valley, keep it all a surprise and pull this off?

words escaped me most of the night.

 i went around to talked to these amazing people that came up to do all this, all the while an amazing meal being presented by the wonderful staff at ad hoc. chef david came up with a few special things here and there for our dinner and i have to say, yes, it was good. really good. i loved hearing some of the things people were saying about the food. some of the most simplest things were the highlights for people. we forget how good a bean can actually be, not just because it was cooked and prepared perfectly, but because it started from when that bean was growing.

pole bean and potato salad

tomato gazpacho

beef carpaccio with porcini mouse

fried soft shell crab.... OMFG GOOD

world famous ad hoc fried chicken

saffron risotto

grilled short ribs

no dinner is complete without cheese

a couple from the selection

dinner was amazing. obviously. the drinks were equally amazing. paired up wonderfully with the meal. i was so happy to see my friends enjoy a meal with me at one of my absolute favorite places in the world.

two hours or so into dinner, i began to think of some things that almost made me tear up.

i lived a long three decades or so. not particularly a hard life by any means, but a long one nonetheless. and through all the transformations ive had in my life, i always held on to the notion that i am a good person. i always thought of myself as the type that tries to leave every place slightly better then when i arrived. there have been many hardships as of late and no matter how strong you are inside, they do wear you down.

this night, it made me feel as though i had lived a good life. i may not have my name in forbes, i may not be a famous chef, i may not be particularly rich, but as stupid as it may sound, i am rich in life. i have an amazing woman that organized all this for me. i have amazing friends that helped with the organization and took time out of their busy lives to come out and be here for this.

it really made me truly happy. one of those rare moments in life where everything makes sense.

it was getting a bit dark now and it was about time to go home. dinner was amazing. my friends are amazing. my woman? well im sure you know how i feel by now.

oooooh whats this? a seperate dessert from what ad hoc is serving? OOOOOOO LOOK AT THAT! dude, my woman is hella funny. she knows i dont really do cakes, sweets, desserts. my idea of dessert is coffee, sambvca, a late harvest (fill in the blank).....

she got a whole suckling pig for dessert!! score!!!!!

wait what.... thats not a suckling pig.... wait what?!?!!? THAT IS A CAKE?!?!?!

holy crap me!

YES this is a cake! the evening was settling down, then this bad boy pops out. the table was again buzzing with life. my girlfriend had some how found a cake that could impress a group of people that are not easily impressed. everyone had to take a second look. even the staff at ad hoc had to take a second look.

this whole thing is edible. its a red velvet cream cheese cake. those apples are rice crispies.

incredible. absolutely stunning. just look at the stupid doofy grin i have on my face. i couldnt believe it. now course if you want one of your own, well, the girlfriend did her homework finding the right person to do this. obviously she found someone with amazing talent. debbie does cake .debbie does amazing. im still shocked when i see this picture. just look at that!

what a way to end the evening.

its pretty obvious, i had an amazing birthday, a birthday i wont ever forget. its truly one of those events in your life that you will recall on your deathbed.

life should be full of these types of memories.

surrounding myself with good people, doing what i need to do in my life and most importantly finding someone that shares that goal with me, i think i am well on my way to ensuring my life will be full of these types of memories.

chef david cruz, thank you for an amazing meal

special thanks to seb and simone of s + s gastro pub for helping out with everything. even cooking me a seperate special bday dinner the week before to throw me off. you guys are great friends.

special thanks to chef david cruz and all the amazing staff at ad hoc for an amazing meal with patient and attentive care.

thanks to all my amazing friends for making the drive out and celebrating with us- sammy, aycin and averie, chum, will and jocelyn, jason, hendizzle, tom, tiffany and jeff, thai guy mike, dave, cheryl, kristen and aaron, elaine and dave, arnold and christel, aaron and jennifer, kevo... thank you for taking time out to come be part of this.

and to my special little pint size woman of awesomeness. words can not express my gratitude. if i can make you feel half of what i felt that evening, you will never have a bad day. thank you for all that you have done, for who you are and what we will do.

oh wait, did i mention there were party favors?

bacon marmalade anyone?

wait so were NOT going to the french laundry?