We Go Peanut Sugar

We Go Peanut Sugar documents the adventures and misadventures of two silly/fun-loving/engagedmarried 30-somethings. We started the blog to feature our Grand Birthplace Tour to Japan and Vietnam. The trip took place late October to late November 2011 but there are still more pictures to blog (sorry, trip withdrawal procrastination kicked in).

About Us:
Though not Japanese, Brandon, a writer/editor, was born in Okinawa. He hadn’t been back to Japan since then, so he was excited to return to his people and homeland (his words).

Misou is a Vietnamese immigrant who also spent 7 years in the Philippines before moving to California. She loves taking pictures and uses way too many parentheses when writing! 

We both now reside in the Washington, DC metro area, and we plan to travel the world (by winning the lottery, or by any other means) and eat our way through every cuisine there is.

Our Vietnam Posts

Sài Gòn: Shinjuku on Motorbikes
Taste of Vietnam: What we did and ate during our first week
Sài Gòn Traffic: “Lanes, What Lanes?”
Cao Đài and Củ Chi: Sights you don’t see everyday
Mekong Delta: “My mother tells me sometimes that never again in my life will I ever see rivers as beautiful as these”
How Vietnamese People Get Married: Wedding Tea Time
A Grand Affair
Return to the Past: Vũng Tàu and Long Hải
Nha Trang Day 1: Friends, Food, and Fun!
Nha Trang Day 2: Hòn Tằm Resort!
Hội An, by Matt & Sylvie
By Way of Ocean Cloud Pass: Hải Vân
City of Lost Kings: Huế
Hạ Long, Descending Dragon Bay
Midnight train to Sa Pa
Sa Pa day 2: Among the Hmong

Our Japan Posts

Day Zero: Getting There
Day 1 – Tokyo Drift: Plunging into Japanese culture in Ueno
Day 2 – Misou’s birthday: Asakusa and Shibuya
Day 3 – Tokyo of the Movies: Ginza, Roppongi Hills and Shinjuku!
Day 4 – Almost Kyoto
Day 4.5 & 5 – Sulfurous Volcano Baths, Black Eggs, and Japanese Pirates, Oh My!
Day 6 – さよなら東京: Sayonara Tokyo!
Pictures-only: Signage of Japan
Pictures-only: Seen in & scenes of Japan
Pictures-only: Made in Japan
Our Final Thoughts on Tokyo… – plus some tips on traveling in Japan

Why “We Go Peanut Sugar”

Brandon and I were trying to come up with a name for our travel blog, in which we want to document our trip to Japan and Vietnam (and many other exotic and non-exotic locales, too, we hope). We first came up with Wanderlust, There and Back Again, and plenty of other well-used travel-related phrases. Brandon then suggested We Go or something similar when I suddenly had an epiphany! “What about We Go Peanut Sugar?” I shrieked. He looked at me and was like, WTH? Let me explain. For those who don’t know me, I’m Vietnamese. (To those who do, hi!) When the first wave of Vietnamese people immigrated to America, hilarious stories of cultural and language differences ensued. Many of these are because when one doesn’t speak a new language well, one tends to translate words directly from one’s mother’s tongue. A classic example in Vietnamese-English direct translation is, We go peanut sugar, used by a lot of [northern] Vietnamese people when they needed directions. In Vietnamese, the word lạc means lost, or peanuts, and đường means road, or sugar. So put together, you have “We go peanut sugar” for “We are lost.” The phrase is a funny use of my first language, and it applies well since I expect that we will “go peanut sugar” a lot in our travels.  Lo and behold, our blog We Go Peanut Sugar was born. We hope you enjoy our words and pictures (I am a photo fiend).

Links

Our Blog
Brandon’s Writing Website
Misou’s Photography Website

Unless otherwise noted, all photos are taken by us and cannot be used without our permission.

Copyright Brandon Hopkins & Misou Hopkins. All rights reserved.