Lost In Translation

Tamarind

I had read good things about the Tamarind in the guidebook and on-line and sort of stumbled on it after visiting Mout Phousi. So I thought I would stop for a drink and a snack.

I really enjoyed this unique drink, Iced Jujube (Nam Mek Tam), made from local plum flavored fruit base with creamy coconut milk.

I was also really impressed with the "Five Bites" tasting menu with: Sai Oua, luang Prabang Sausage (which I had last night, but this was much tastier and flavorful), Sinh Savanh, dried buffalo meat that had a sweet taste to it, Som Pak Gat, leafy green vegetable pickle. Jeow Nor mai Som, this was perhaps my favorite-pickled bamboo with ginger and a light kick, Miang parcels, rice, eggplant and lemongrass with noodles in leafy wrapping.

 

Mount Phousi

Mount Phousi is the central defining/orientation point of Luang Prabang-here it looms in the distance.

The view of the Mekong from the top of the mount.

The apex of the mount.

Another view from the top.

Some of the many religious monuments on the mount.

One of the many flights that now fly daily to Luang Prabang.

 

My Friend Shingo

My friend Shingo has been living in Laos for about 5 years now and operates a travel agency, Happy Smile Tour, and a restaurant, Lao Ethnic Cafe And Dining (Son Phao). The restaurant and his new office in Luang Prabang are the biggest changes since I last visited. Above is the duplex he rents (right side), where I am staying until tomorrow.

Shingo selling a customer on dining with authentic Lao music and dance for entertainment at his restaurant.

Shingo says the child musicians are more reliable than the adult musicians, because they never miss gigs in favor of drinking parties.

He also employs young dancers for the dinner shows.

Here are some of the dishes we ordered. Luang Prabang sausages, they have a woody taste compared to their Thai cousin Chaing Mai sausages, and glass noodles with vegetables.

Mayuko, Shingo's girlfriend from Kyoto, one of the dancers, and Shingo.

Me getting my flower.

 

Around Luang Prabang: Day One

A girl makes offerings for sale for the many temples in the city.

This temple, in the two pictures above, was on the main street in front of Mount Phousi near the Luang Prabang National Museum. (See below)

This is the outside street in front of Wat Paphaainisaiyarum, (below) inside the court yard.

The mighty Mekong River from the terrace of a riverside restaurant.

A woman is preparing ming laao, which is a variety of toppings put in a lettuce leaf and eaten.

 

Thai Stir Fry

I had a very brief visit to Bangkok, I flew in after midnight early the 15th and then flew out to Luang Prabang at 1:30 in the afternoon. However, it gave me one chance to get some Thai stir fry (one of my favorite foods-I could eat a variation of it everyday). This is a basil chicken stir fry.

2011: SE Asia-Laos & Cambodia

On Monday I will fly to Bangkok late and the following day I will fly to Luang Prabang, the UNESCO World Heritage site and main religious center, due to the large number of temples, of Laos, to visit my friend Shingo. In 2007 I visited him in the capital Vientiane and he has moved his tour company Happy Smile Tour Laos to Luang Prabang, however my first vist was in 2001 and I visited Vientinae, Van Vang, and Luang Prabang that time. I will be visiting during the Elephant Festival in Pak Lay and will spend a couple of days there with Shingo. I am also planning doing a volunteer seminar for Teachers Helping Teachers and will do a homestay with a teacher in the village. After that experience, I will fly to Siem Reap and make my way to Phnom Penh for the CamTESOL Conference. I hope to take the boat from Siem Reap to Battambang, a place I've never visited before. Most of all I'm looking forward to getting out of the cold, snowy weather in Tokyo and into the 80 degree weather.

The Tillman Story

I think this documentary, The Tillman Story is fascinating for two reasons: 1. Pat Tillman-the fact that this offbeat and talented NFL football player turned down millions of dollars to fight in the Middle East is in itself a fascinating story and 2. the government attempt to make him into a martyr and still not owning up to this elaborate cover up even after it was revealed that he was killed by friendly fire. This shows that intuitions will do anything to do damage control to maintain their image. Beyond the titillating subject matter, I can't say that there's anything about the execution that makes this an exceptional documentary, so it seems somewhat interesting to me that this made so many best of the year film lists. That being said it is required viewing to understand how the government and its intuitions manipulate facts in order to get the citizens to fall in line which may not be news to many people.

Heartbreak Tango

I recently learned that Manuel Puig is one of Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai's favorite authors and his novel Heartbreak Tango was inspiration for Wong's classic Days of Being Wild. The novel concerns the sickly Lothario Juan Carlos Etchepare and those connected to him, family, lovers, and whatnot, in the fictional small town of Colonel Vallejos. It is a realistic tale told in an unconventional manner through the testimony of others in third person narration, stream of consciousness, interviews, letters, police reports, newspaper reports, descriptions of photo albums, and objective eyewitness accounts. Puig also draws inspiration from any aspects of popular culture like films, radio programs, and popular songs-many of which are Tangos-which is appropriate since this story takes place in Argentina. It was an entertaining and effective way to tell the story. I look forward to reading his other novels as well.

Chungking Express Continued: Fallen Angels

Apparently, Fallen Angels was supposed to be a third story in his earlier film Chungking Express but had to be shelved due to length according to Stephen Teo in his book on Wong Kar-wai. The main story concerning an assassin (Leon Lai) and his partner (Michelle Reis) was combined with a story about a mute man (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and his father (Man-Lei Chan) to form a diptych that is an outgrowth and a companion piece to Chungking Express. There many things that link Fallen Angels with Chungking Express: Kaneshiro (he himself was also in that film) becomes a mute after eating a can of pineapples with an expired use-by date; his father works at the Chungking mansion, Kaneshiro ends up working at the Midnight Express wher Charlei Young waits for her new lover in front of the shop in an air hostess uniform. The story takes places in the divided spaces between Kowloon and Hong Kong. It is a story of urban romance where peopel live clsoely together but are adrift mentally. The female agent (Reis) is in love with the hitman (Lai), but not in a conventional way and goes through his garbage and masturbates in his bed when he is away. Teo suggests that Seijun Suzuki's Branded To Kill (1967) could have been the inspiration for this story with a similar relationship between a woman and a hitman. He seems to drift through life and doesn't recognize his ex-lover Blondie (Karen Monk playing a role in similar vein as Carina Lau in Days of Being Wild). She has dyed her hair blond so that she will be remembered, however Lai is determined to forget her so she resorts to biting him to make him remember. He is fated to die a lonely death. In the other main story, He Zhiwu (Kaneshiro) lives in the Chungking Hotel with his father and breaks into shops and works at night forcing customers to buy or take his services. He stumbles upon a woman (Charlie Young) in the middle of a break up with her boyfriend and he falls in love with her, but she is still distraught over her previous lover and doesn't notice the attention. The story ends with a chance meeting between Reis and Kaneshiro and ends on an ambiguous note as they speed off on the motorcycle through the city with the beautiful Flying Picket's version of the Yaz song "Only You." It is one of the many beautiful shots that once again reflect Christopher Doyle's artistry behind the camera.

Japanese Whisky: 12 Year Old Yamazaki

There was a good article on the rise of Japanese Whisky in the Metropolis last week. I've been noticing the mention of Japanese Whiskys in magazines like GQ in the past few years, so I decided to check one out and bough this 12 year old Yamazaki. I'm not a connoisseur, but I liked it. Here's a review I found on the net:

Luca Chichizola, Malt Maniacs 101, February 2007. On c. 2006 bottling. 81/100 (recommendable). Luca found nuts, vanilla, oak and wood varnish on the nose. In the mouth it had a "dry and nutty attack, like a bourbon. Then lots of sweetness and vanilla oakiness... a bit sherried, some almonds, cedar and acetone. Very appetizing. A bit thin and metallic, even slightly acidic. It should appeal to Jack Daniels fans." The finish was "nutty, with dried grapes and an almost perfumy echo... Dry." Overall, he thought it was interesting but a little "cloying and unbalanced" with "excessive cedary and acetone notes."