springvale

we don't go there often but springvale's stock is fast rising with my wife. springvale is like footscray. there is a heavily populated vietnamese community there, and like any other vietnamese community you go to, you find abundant of excellant pho eating house, bakeries and asian groceries around.

if west melbournian craves for vietnamese pho, they will head for footscray. and i reckon eastern folks like us will drive to springvale. for us, it is about a 10km drive away. so when we go, we willl like to do a few things at one go.

my impression of springvale is that it is probably a milder version of footscray. it is more family oriented and less crowded. the only reason i said so is because when we were in footscray last december; i was slightly taken aback because two tattoo-ed, thuggish-looking vietnamese kids started leaning against my car and litting up ciggies seconds after i parked it. i have not even gotten out of my car then. i weren't sure how to react but decided to walk away pretending i didn't take notice of them. i was not sure if i would be gunned down if i voiced my displeasure at their antics.

i cannot recalled the pho shop we went to but it is on the main mall, springvale central. there are many other pho shops there but being newbies in the area, we weren't sure which one to patronize. in the end, we took the easy way out. we headed to the pho shop that is most crowded.

when my better half sipped the last drop of the pho soup base, she promptly declared it is the BEST pho she had in australia. and she had her fair share of phos in australia in the years we visited the country. hence, her declaration carried a lot of weight because she doesn't give praise easily. for instance, in all our years of courtship and marriage, not once she called me `hey, good looking' although i have had compliments elsewhere. i also knew at an instance that this shop will enjoy good business because my wife will make it a point to bring all her singapore friends and relatives to this joint. i promptly walked to the cashier and asked the owner if they have those `get 10 stamps, get 1 free pho' booklet like what starbucks or coffeebean joints offer. alas, they did not. and i think they don't need to judging from the queues we see.

we can also get good croissant and buns at springvale. and for us, no trip is complete unless we stock up our fridge with veggies, poultries and fishes.

i discovered springvale also offer probably the cheapest haircut in all of australia. $12 for a trim by vietnamese hair professionals. this will be on my `to do' list in my next trip to springvale. like the pho, i will also look out for the shop with the longest queue.