mmm-yoso!!!

San Francisco (Before Covid) - The Croissant Files and Angler

I was cleaning out photos that I didn't think I needed or wanted anymore and came across two sets from our trip to San Francisco right before the "official" start of the pandemic. It was January of 2020....I had thought about just deleting this.....but after pondering after a couple of minutes, I thought I'd just do a quick post, especially since I'd done posts on other places during that same visit. So here goes with a minimum of "chatter" from me.

We awoke to a nice sunrise.......and on this day, I thought we'd do a bit of walking and grab some croissants at places along the way. So we headed down Sutter Street to the first location I new was open on this day; Le Marais Bakery......which brought a smile to our faces since Le Marais is a frequent stop on our trips to Paris.

We grabbed some coffee and a Croissant aux Buerre to start things off.

 The croissant was a bit dry and the amount of butter to salt was quite low. Though it was nicely flaky/crusty...so decent texture, but nothing I'd return for.

Le Marais Bakery
1138 Sutter St.
San Francisco, CA 94109

From here we headed up Sutter Street passing some beautiful looking houses...yes, that architectural walking tour in Pacific Grove has developed a mild fascination with all these historical houses. Like the "Payne House", which is now a hotel.

On left here is the JACL Headquarters.....

And then walked thru a very quiet Japantown to our next destination.

To the bustling Jane the Bakery.

This would be the best of the three Croissants we had during this walk.

Jane The Bakery
1881 Geary Blvd.
San Francisco, CA 94115

From here we headed down Geary, taking a right on Divasidero.....

Then a quick left on California to a place that had been recommended to me named B Patisserie.

This place was quite popular.....

Though I don't think it's for their plan croissants which lacked butter, was dry, and just not to our taste.

b. patisserie
2821 California St.
San Francisco, CA 94115

The great thing is; these three places are still open....so you can check them out and make your own decision.....

From here we headed down Divasadero and took a left onto Hayes Street; taking some time to watch the pooches having fun at Alamo Square Park.

We had fun watching the dogs......and I think next time I might pay more attention to the architecture in the area.

We headed back west on Hayes Street to the area known as the Hayes Valley, which seemed quite hipster to us....and took a break at a park named Patrica's Green, which is home to Tara Mechani.

There was also this structure which grabbed our attention.

From here we headed west and then took a left on Market Street, where we encountered the San Francisco I recall from visiting in the 90's. 

After taking a short break (nap), we headed out for dinner. I'd made reservations at Angler.

Which is kind of known for the seafood and such; but the Missus was interested in the vegetable dishes. It seemed like a great place (this was before the Michelin star) for a nice, light dinner. And, to be perfectly honest, in spite of the spotty service, it was the best meal of the trip.

We went with mostly vegetables; except for the Antelope Tartare.

Which I loved.....great balance of savory-gamy flavors and acidity.

The grilled cauliflower was meh.....

The Missus loved the potatoes....the cloying cheese sauce, not so much.

The texture of the potato was amazing.....which is how She "convinced" me to make Hasselback Potatoes, which was not nearly as wonderful in cut and texture as these.

The Parker House Rolls were very nice; especially with the seaweed butter.

We loved radicchio, so was really excited about the radichio with XO sauce.....

The actual radicchio was fantastic; lightly bitter, savory, prepared well. But the "XO" sauce....well, it brought nothing to the dish. Really........the Missus still prefers what I make at home.

The last dish to arrive was the Hen of the Woods Mushroom, which was delicous!

I've heard about the $500-$600 meals here.....I guess folks were having lobster and crab; our was not even close to that......and so we'll probably eat here again.

Angler
132 The Embarcadero
San Francisco, CA 94105

And I especially feel like I earned this meal.

And here are some signs for you......

COMC: Bangkok

For some reason, I had never finished my posts on Thailand...sheesh. I suddenly realized this tonight as the Missus mentioned something about our stay.

So here's a super-late COMC (Clearing Out the Memory Card) post of mostly photos of the city that always smells like something;s cooking....really, it does. On our way back from Chiang Mai, we stayed in the Silom area of Bangkok, in what was the business district. Silom Road seems to be in constant traffic jam mode. Here if you pull yourself away from all of the food stalls, which by the way are right outside all these major business buildings, you can see the infrastructure of the Skytrain. It's sort of like having main street paved with food vendors...one long food court if you will.

The juxtaposition of skyscrapers to the tons of food carts and stands made this quite an amazing sight.

We entered one of the malls, only to come across a large snack and food stand right by the escalators......

Check out this counter....that's piles of pork sung, one of my least favorite foods......

But this was different. The pork looked like they were candied and as the woman offered me a sample in her gloved hand I couldn't resist! But she stopped me before I put it in my mouth......and handed me a ball of sticky rice! God forbid I forget the sticky rice! It tasted like pork candy...pork candy....need I say more? Pork candy......

Back on the street we passed a couple of duck restaurants......

Roast Duck and Rice for 40 Baht ($1.25/US), are you kidding me??? So follow along kiddies, candied pork sung, nam prik, and roast duck and rice so far.....

Then we hit the motherlode , this little stand right in front of a huge bank was this stand.

It was a mother and son team making what looked like Khai Jeaw Mu Sap - Pork and Egg omelete.....

And at only 20 Baht (65 cents US), are you kidding me? So if you're keeping score....candied pork sung, nam prik, roast duck and rice, corn on the cob(from I dunno where, I was hypnotized by me egg), and Khai Jeaw Mu Sap.

As we headed back around.......

The Missus couldn't help but pick up more sweets......

 

Now our hands were full, ....candied pork sung, nam prik, roast duck and rice, corn on the cob, Khai Jeaw Mu Sap, and various sweets......

But that wasn't the end of it. As we headed back to the hotel, we noticed that the kanom krok stand in the alley was now making sausages.....so guess what?

Why not, right?

That pork sung tasted mighty fine and ended up being my dessert.....

The nam prik makhua was not bad.....

The corn on the cob was meh....

The sausages were pretty good.....

As was the roast duck on rice.....

Can't tell you about the sweets, but for me, the winna' was the Khai Jeaw Mu Sap.....the photo doesn't do it justice.....man was it good.

In fact, this is what inspired me to ask Koby, who was then still at Sab E Lee 2 to make this for me.

Good thing we only stayed one evening...a week here and I would make Paula Deen look like Twiggy!

We still talk about the abundance and availability of food everywhere, at all hours in Bangkok. Like I've said before, "they say in America, the streets are paved in gold. In Bangkok, the streets are paved in food!"

Thailand: One Night in Bangkok Part 2, and the Naga Festival in Nong Khai

After wandering around Banglamphu for a while, we returned to our room, caught a short nap, woke, showered, and went downstairsto check-out. Lamphu House gladly stowed our backpacks, and we decided to do some sightseeing. Road traffic in Bangkok has earned some notoriety, and rightfully so, the city seems to caught in the grip of an eternal traffic jam. Luckily, there are several excellent mass transit options in the city. One of which is by boat. We were within easy walking distance of Phra Athit, and it was just a short boat ride to our destination Tha Chang.

    

The experience was an interesting one. The most amazing thing to me was how the young lady kept track of who had gotten on the ferry at each stop.

 

She would march up and down the boat, shaking her fare container, automatically stopping at every new customer.

Two stops later we had arrived at our destination. And wouldn't you know it, we stepped off the dock...into a rather large and busy "food court". And the fragrances made us realize it was time for breakfast.

 

 

From this shop.....

 

I ordered the Roast Duck Red Curry (35 Baht - about $1):

 

The curry was mildly spicy, and as seasoned well. The duck was pretty tender, and the flavor was on the "wild" side, which kinda freaked the Missus out. The Missus loves gamey flavors in most meats, but is of the opinion that all duck must taste of 5 spice. Needless to say, I enjoyed it much more than She did.

The Missus ordered Her "breakfast" from this booth:

 

It was a very tasty plate of deep fried fish with basil (40 baht):

 

The crosscut slices of fish had been, as the Missus put it, "fried to death, in a good way" and had the texture of a salty-peppery-savory jerky.

As a little bonus, the Missus had been curious about another dish. When She inquired about it, She was told it was "minced bird", and was given a little sample.

 

It was quite spicy, and on the chewy side, but very good nonetheless. All in all, a very nice breakfast.

 

We arrived at the gates of Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace a bit early. And saw this procession of soldiers walking across the street.

   

The Missus, always the curious one, actually followed the soldiers across the street. As they sat down to breakfast......She started with the questions, as only the Missus can. Stuff like, "what are you here for, is there a parade?" I finally pulled Her away when, poking at their guns, She asked, "is this real?" It's amazing what She can get away with....had I gone down the same road, I'd probably be singing my own version of "One Night in Bangkok".

While we sat and waited for the venue to open, a very well dressed gentleman walked up to us, and informed us that the Grand Palace was closed for a Holiday, but never fear, he'd arrange to have us taken on a "special" tuk-tuk tour of some little known Wats. We almost felt honored to have been selected for the classic "Grand Palace is closed" scam! Of course the Grand Palace wasn't closed, and we saw students in school uniforms, so it obviously wasn't a holiday!

After paying the almost $10 entrance fee, we made our way into Wat Phra Kaew. I really loved the outline of the Stupa and various Temples against the Bangkok sky. 

 

 

  After walking along the grounds of the Wat for a while it struck me......Wat Phra Kaew was Bangkok in microcosm. Things seemed to be really packed in, a bit cramped, and crowded, but colorful and vibrant...full of life. The famed Emerald Buddha is quite tiny, and sits on a stand that is quite high, and so somewhat hard to see.

The Grand Palace itself seemed a bit anti-climatic.

 

 

 

We left, skirting the Palace walls, and made our way to Wat Pho(Temple of the Reclining Buddha). After paying the 50 Baht admission, we entered the main building. Prepared to be underwhelmed, I turned to the Missus and said, "ok, where's the reclining Buddha?" To which the Missus replied, "just turn around stupid....." I turned, and my jaw hit the floor....

It was a pretty impressive sight........150 feet long, and 50 feet high.

 

 

The grounds of Wat Pho is less cluttered, and much more relaxing than Wat Phra Kaew. It is also the oldest Wat in Bangkok.

 

 

After wandering the grounds of Wat Pho for a while, we noticed it was getting a bit late, and we went on our way.

On our way back to Tha Chang, the Missus and I detected a scent that rose above the usual cooking smells of Bangkok. Curious, we ventured down an alleyway.

 

And our noses led us to this:

 

A quantity of seafood in various levels of fermentation, and barrels of dried shrimp, fish, and squid.

 

Quite an impressive array......

A few minutes later we were on our back to the Guest House to pick up our gear.

 

And headed back off to the Airport. As fate would have it, we found out our flight had been delayed, "for maybe 2 hours...." OK, so what to do at Suvarnabhumi Airport? We found that seating is rather scarce, and the Airport crowded, and the best option to find someplace to sit was at one of the fast-foodish restaurants. And there was one that I found a bit intriguing.

 

It is called 'R Burger', and is a Roppongi based Japanese-style "burger joint". If you are used to American burgers......the term burger is used in a rather loose context here. "Chicken burger garnished with Shiso and Ume dressing" anyone? How about a salad "stick".....basically a Japanese riff on a Vietnamese spring roll. The burgers were pork, chicken, maguro....and announcing the newest addition to the R Burger line-up...the novel concept of a beef burger! (Looks like they are made from one-eyed cows, huh?)

   

And most importantly.....you just can't go without that special added ingredient....collagen ?!!!??!

It seems that the buns at R Burger are processed with Marine Collagen....I guess they inject their buns...to smooth out our "buns". In fact, you see the words "collagen", "healthy" and "smooth" strategically placed throughout the restaurant. Personally, I find that "Hot Dog", "Fried Potato Wedges", "collagen",  and "healthy" a bit confusing. What was even more confusing was the "Avocado Salad Dog".....which has no "Dog" and was basically a bun (don't forget the collagen), served with "hydroponic vegetable".....to put it in overly blunt American terms...this was avocado, tomato, and lettuce, in a bun. All slathered with that most healthy of toppings; wasabi mayo.....hey, if the collagen doesn't smooth you out, the mayo surely will, right?

I purchased an R Dog "combo" which came with potato wedges and a drink. I chose a Green Tea drink.....which in a direct contradiction to everything else on the menu was exactly that, cold green tea.....nothing else.

 

The potato wedges were fried nicely, and if you're used to American portions, you'll be in for a shock...there were 7 wedges, served in a rather large paper sack.

Soon enough my 'R Dog' arrived.

 

It was a pretty large dog, long and thin, with a natural casing, but very little flavor....add to that the fact that I still can't get behind the idea of ketchup on a Hot Dog...though the Missus likes Her dog that way. What I really enjoyed was the bun....it was light, the crust was crisp, the bread a bit sweeter, but not too sweet....must be that collagen magic at work! And since we all know that collagen is the "glue which holds our body together" I had the added satisfaction of knowing that none of my limbs, or other body parts for that matter, would suddenly decided to take leave...my mind on the other hand, well, that's another story.

Finally, after what seemed forever.......our flight left for Udon Thani. One quick note on AirAsia, the flights are cheap, but as with any budget carrier, they will try to squeeze every Baht they possibly can from you...from charging for water (10 Baht), to charging for checking luggage. Luckily, the Missus and I were traveling light.....only carry on for us. The original plan was to arrive in Udon Thani at arround 4pm; catch a Tuk Tuk to the Bus Depot, and catch the bus to Nong Khai, which resides on the Thailand - Laos border. This way we'd make it into Nong Khai before dark. Unfortunately, our flight was delayed, and night falls like a dark, black curtain in this part of the world. We arrived to darkness, and the Missus was feeling a tad uncomfortable.....after a brief discussion I made an executive decision; we'd catch the shuttle from the airport to Nong Khai, and take our chances. Most of the folks getting on the shuttle were headed straight for the Friendship Bridge...the Lao border. We decided to get a good night's sleep.....in need of a destination, I muttered the only Guest House I knew of in Nong Khai....they very popular Mut Mee. We arrived to a driveway in almost pitch black darkness....but the really nice driver pointed down the pitch-black driveway, and smilingly said, "Mut Mee...down there". And, yes it was. We could hear the muttering of voices as well approached the end of the drive way....we made a turn, and arrived at a little desk fronting a kitchen area. A fellow with a British accent (Harps) greeted us with, "you are pretty late....." And went one about the scarcity of rooms.....call it good timing if you will, but we arrived during the Bun Fai Phaya Naga, the Naga Fireball Festival. During the full moon of the 11th month, a mysterious event occurs in Nong Khai....mysterious fireballs arise out of the Mekong River...legend has it that mythical serpents create the fireballs. So, would we be able to get a room? Harps looked at us and apologetically said: "I'm sorry.....but it has been very busy....thousands of people. Even one of the Princesses visited! So the only thing we have is Julian and Pao's suite...and it is rather expensive...660 Baht a night." Are you kidding me? Less than 20 bucks a night...sold! Harps guided us over to the "suite"....and we freshened up.....(more on Mut Mee in a future post). Harps had also mentioned the festival, telling us it was about a 20 minute walk along the Mekong...and we could hear music playing. And soon enough we saw this from our front window:

      

Which only served the purpose of making us hurry even more.....plus we were pretty darn hungry. The banks of the Mekong in this area is paved, and well served with a walkway....which made things quite easy for us. Most of the restaurants alongside the Mekong were closed, the bars were of course open! And many of the businesses were releasing lanterns into the air:

 

This one had the unlucky fate of landing on the balcony of an abandoned building...starting a small fire.....it was handled with much good natured giggling......

 

As we approached the festival it slowly got more and more crowded.....and the every present fragrance of food was as intense as the music was loud. As we found throughout Thailand and Laos, everyone is up for a good time!

Along with the entertainment on a stage at one end of the festival:

 

Was this affair on another stage.....

 

Some kind of couples pageant....don't ask me to explain, I haven't a clue. I can say, that there was a speaking portion....but it looked like all the good looking young pairs from the area were involved....

 

Regardless, the Missus found this to be "really cute and charming" and stayed to watch for a while.

But eventually hunger trumped any desire to see who won the contest, and we walked pass all the food booths. As would be expected for a city along the banks of the Mekong; seafood was in abundant display.

 

 

Alongside the usual "meat on a stick", sweets, there were several Oyster Omelete booths.

 

And what Festival would be complete without a insect booth?

 

In the end, the Missus and I settled for some pretty basic stuff.

 

I went with some Pad Thai from this Father and Son team.

 

  Kind of greasy, and lacking in tamarind tanginess, but serviceable.

The Missus went with a Papaya Salad from the smiling young man to the right. Quite pungent, with a bunch of fermented fish paste, it met the expectations of fair food. Nothing outstanding, but it quelled our hunger.

 

For dessert, I had some fried duck:

 

Tough, but with decent flavor......

The Missus went for a frozen popsicle like treat.

 

We hadn't seen any fireballs rising out of the Mekong....but had a fun time anyway. We walked back to our room, grabbed a beer and some water from the fridge at reception (Mut Mee works on a "honor system"....you grab stuff from the fridge, write down what you took in a book up front, and pay for it a check-out....I love it)., sat on the porch overlooking the Mekong, and along with counting the geckos on the ceiling, we counted our blessings as well.......hard to believe we'd only been in Thailand for a bit over 48 hours.

I know this has been a long post......but I thought you might enjoy it! Thanks for hanging in there!

Thailand: One Night in Bangkok - Part 1

I've been waiting to use that line for almost 25 years! Not that I'm a fan of the song......

If you want to keep track of our various modes of transportation for this trip, you can start with a train. We decided to take Amtrak to Union Station, and skip the gas prices (still way over $3/gallon at the time) and stress. For $29 each we made it to Union Station, and caught the FlyAway Bus to LAX for $4 a piece. It was easy, no traffic, no increased blood pressure, no road rage. And being your typical Asian, we provisioned ourselves well(you never know when hunger may strike!!!)......we had a package of several bentos....just enough to keep our strength up for a arduous trip ahead.

We again flew EVA, and spent a bit extra for Elite Class, the leg room, and the mere tantalizing possibility of sleep on a 14 hour flight is justification enough. And so we start with a weird photo of airline food:

 

What made this interesting was that the chicken actually had peppers in it! Never thought I'd see the day that hot peppers would be used in standard airline food. It did have some zip! What do I do with the standard issue roll?

EVA does a good job of keeping you fed, but for some, it's just not enough....

 

It's always amusing to see an animated representation of your trip........

 

Having ample time to discuss our plans for the next few days on the 14 hour flight to Taiwan, and the 3 1/2 hour leg to Bangkok, we decided that our best move would be to fly to Udon Thani. So we bought tickets on Air Asia at their booth in Suvarnabhumi Airport. Air Asia has some really low fares, the flight to Udon Thani cost only $30 a piece......taxes, however were about equal to the cost of the airfare, thus doubling the price!

Taxi note for Bangkok. You'll get mobbed by various "Limo Drivers" at baggage claim...bypass them and go to the taxi stand (50 Baht fee) streetside. Oh, and it doesn't end when you get into the taxi either. Insist that the driver use the meter. We were quoted a "real cheap" price of 800 Baht, "meter no good, going to cost you 900 Baht", which is totally bogus. The price via meter 280 Baht, going via the "highway all the way" (i.e. toll booths), another 70 Baht, plus, you'll get to your destination faster because the driver can't wait to get rid of you. Airport fee 50 Baht.

Not being familiar with Bangkok, I decided to stay in the Banglamphu area. It is pretty close to the sites we wanted to check out, and we'd only be staying overnight. The Guest House selected? One called Lamphu House. It is located off of Soi Rambutri, down an alleyway, and is relatively quiet, if a bit run down and no frills.

   

Of course, for 680 Baht (a tad over $20) it would do. The sheets were clean, the A/C worked well, and we had our own bathroom, even if the water was more cold than hot.

Add to that the fact we were totally bushed, and I had no qualms about staying here. Plus, the staff was very nice, they let us store our bags the next day after check-out, while we went to visit a few sights around Bangkok. Pretty easy going folks.

 

One thing is for certain....you'll never go hungry in Bangkok...never. The entire city smells of food!

 

All shapes and sizes....

 

One thing we noticed in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, was the amount of what I can only loosely call "sushi". This stuff was everywhere.

 

And also, a preoccupation with anything that resembled a sausage.

 

We were starting to get overwhelmed by the crowds and the pollution, so we ducked down a side alley in the Banglamphu Market area, and found a little food stall doing great business.

 

 

You basically ordered one of the 2 curry like noodle soups, and helped yourself to herbs and veggies. The Missus loved the pickled greens, and I found the bittermelon to be quite good. This was a nice little snack, and we felt refreshed enough to head back out onto the street.

 

 

And ran smack dab into the "TFC" stand.....that would be Thai Fried Chicken. It smelled heavenly! I have never been known to possess an iron will in the face of fried chicken, and this was no exception. Except, in this case, my compromise existed of only having this:

 

In an show of uncustomary restraint, I "only" got a bag of fried chicken skin. (10 Baht) Fried to crisp perfection, mildy spicy, with a hint of sweetness, these were wonderful. For some strange reason, I felt stuffed after finishing off the chicken skin.

And just for the heck of it, we took a stroll down that special area, the backpacker hell called Khao Son.

 

Noisy, crowded, with cheap Guest Houses lining the road, it was sensory overload......man did I ever need a shower.....

After that shower, and a short nap, we hit the streets again, just to get our bearings. And even though we weren't very hungry, we decided to stop by Roti-Mataba, a very well known Roti/Curry stop that gets mentioned by Lonely Planet, and other publications.

 

The first floor of Roti Mataba is stifling hot, and grease has splattered everywhere. But there's an upper level, that is powerfully air conditioned....I swear there was frost on the windows. We tried a few of the curries:

 

 

One beef, one chicken. I recall the Missus enjoying this much more than I. We both thought the Roti was much too sweet.

 

And on the way back to our room, the Missus spied something She could not resist.

 

 

Few things beat  fried egg goodness..................the chicken with basil and chilies was quite good (salty and spicy) as well. Even though She was still full, the Missus somehow found room for this. (35 Baht - $1) It was a nice way to end the evening.

We crashed, only to arise wide awake at 4am. What to do? The Missus and I decided to reprise what we did at 430 am in Hanoi, and we headed out to see what we could find.

And wouldn't you know it, on one of the side streets there was some activity. Stands selling rice porridge.

   

And vendors making their way down the street, setting up for the morning trade.

 

Various stands were selling fruits and vegetables.

 

 

 

And than the Missus saw it....

 

The Kanom Krok vendor. Lovely, molten, tongue scorching discs of coconut goodness.

 

10 Baht for ten of these Kanom Krok, nice and crisp on the outside, with a searing pudding like center. The Missus considered these the third best She had on this trip.

 

The lady making these confections was very nice. She demonstrated how to make them, and let the Missus turn over the Kanom Krok. It's always a good time for a snack in Bangkok.

As we returned to our room, sans several layers of derma from our tongues, I noticed that the bars on Soi Rambutri were still open! I guess there's no last call in Banglamphu?

 

I also noticed a young man, a tall young man......when we arrived he was passed out on the sidewalk in front of the 7-11. In the afternoon he shuffled past us, blood shot eyes, smelling of the "cash crop". During our evening stroll, I spied him staggering down the avenue, playing bumper cars with the Pad Thai carts and taxis parked along the street. Here he was, 5am in the morning, having beers with a group of girls at one of the tables in the bar, the cycle starting all over again. What is this strange hold that Bangkok has on a person? I guess those lyrics from that familiar song never rang so true.

"One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble
Not much between despair and ecstasy
One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble
Can't be too careful with your company
I can feel the Devil walking next to me"

One Night in Bangkok (1984 - Murray Head)

We're Back........

Yep, we're back.....the Missus and I have just returned...tired, and yet exhilarated at the same time. So excuse me while I noodle around with our photos for a while. The wonderful noodles to the right was from a stand in Luang Prabang, where we stopped and ate breakfast every morning....along with a wonderful cup of Lao Coffee....after the first morning, we would just have a seat, and the Owner who smile at us, and ask "same-same"? And we'd nod yes....so we ended up calling the place (no English sign) "Same-Same". We did so much, ate so much, that I really am not sure how I'm going to do this yet.

But let me just give you a recap anyway.

We started in Bangkok, just an overnight stay...we had an idea, and just went with the flow. Of course, there's an unending supply of street food in Bangkok.

 

You really can't go wrong.

 

   

We also managed to catch some of the sights.

 

That afternoon it was off to the border town of Nong Khai. And much to our surprise, we arrived during the Naga Fireball Festival. 

  

No mysterious orbs rising out of the Mekong, but lots of street food. We managed to snag a room in a Guest House overlooking the Mekong River.

  

We also had some interesting meals in Nong Khai. Have you ever had anything like this from a Hospital Food Court?

 

Or maybe Kanom Krok in a bus station?

 

One thing for sure....I'd never had this before.

 

It was delicious. As was the Kai Yaang (Roasted Chicken), and sticky rice we had.

 

In spite of all the interesting food and venues...the strangest thing we did in Nong Khai was visit Sala Keo Ku, a somewhat bizarre-nightmarish park of sculptures by mystic Boun Leua Surirat. Sculptures, some towering up to 80 feet tall, are a mixture of various Hindu and Buddhist deities that seem to come from some HR Giger-ish dreamworld.

   

We also took the "yellow bus" to Tha Bo, a market town.....I'll say this for sure....the "Yellow Bus" sure has a bunch of character! Tha Bo was also interesting since the population is 70-80% Vietnamese.

The next morning we crossed the Friendship Bridge into Laos, and a cab into the capital city of  Vientiane. In contrast to crazed Bangkok, Vientiane is a sleepy city of 230,000.

 

We also met some of the nicest, kindest, and most gracious folks we've ever encountered. Depending on who you talk to, experienced travelers to Laos will tell you that Laos is what Thailand was like 20-30 years ago(or maybe more...depending who you're asking).

Our most memorable meal in Vientiane was from one of the many stalls lining the Mekong River.

 

There are few things better than having a cold Beer Lao, some freshly grilled seafood, all wrapped up in a sunset on the banks of the Mekong River.

There's more to the story of this dinner, but I'll save that for later. For now you'll just have to admire our salt crusted, lemongrass stuffed fish, that was swimming around a few minutes before.

 

We had planned on staying overnight, but stayed 2 nights in Vientiane. To save time we ended up flying to Luang Prabang.

Beautiful, scenic, Luang Prabang was by far our most favorite stop on this trip....or perhaps on any trip. If you think Vientiane is laid back, and do Luang Prabang right, your blood pressure is sure to drop several notches......There were times when I thought Luang Prabang was an island floating over the Mekong River....

 

 

We intended on 2 nights, and stayed 5....if I didn't need to work...I'd still be there.

 

 

Early every morning, the streets of Luang Prabang becomes a river of flowing orange as the Monks come to collect their Alms.

 

There's something about this time honored tradition that attracted the Missus and I, enough so, that we watched the procession every morning.

 

Silence....except for the padding of bare feet on the asphalt. The Missus and I felt honored to be able to give alms....

We stayed in a Hotel next to one of the Wats, and away from the main tourist drag, where this procession turns from a respectful, time honored tradition, into a depressing paparazzi moment.

 

What about the food you may ask? The Missus and I were able to sample many of the Luang Prabang specialties, such as Khai Pene, a dried, then fried river moss from the Mekong:

 

Like very good Nori, flavored with tomato, shallots, and garlic, and always served with Jaew Bong, a garlicky, mildly spicy, sweet, and savory "dip", studded with buffalo skin, considered a classic Luang Prabang dish.

 

Heaven on Earth with a cold Beer Lao.....

I had pretty much dismissed the Fresh Market right off the tourist track in Luang Prabang, as being too touristy...until we visited. Man was I wrong. Along with the usual suspects:

 

Were some quite unusual items......

 

And I was to find out that the "forest" and "mountain" people come here to sell their wares. And also noticed that the customers were almost all local early in the morning.

 

Fascinated with the cuisine(and staying in one place for more than a few days for the first time), I took a cooking class from Joy Ngueamboupha, Co-Owner of Tamarind Restaurant in Luang Prabang. Please read Joy's interesting short bio, here. The class and market tour were fantastic, and it did much to fill in the blanks regarding Lao food. There was no gas or electric stoves, we cooked over charcoal...I was surprised that my stuff actually turned out ok(pretty good actually).

  

We also had the chance to taste some items that are considered pretty exotic by US standards. Boy have I been missing out all these years......forget about french fries, where can I get my hands on more of this?

 

At the time I scheduled the cooking class, I also attempted to make reservations for the "Adventurous Lao Gourmet" dinner. The nice Young Lady hesitated and asked that I wait until after the cooking course to schedule. After the course was over, I walked back to the restaurant, and tried to schedule the dinner again. The young lady called Joy on his cell....and he gave us the green light......

The degustation menu was an amazing eye-opening experience.....

 

 

With items we've never experienced before, like Sa Thao, another classic Luang Prabang dish made with river algae.

 

And other items which really challenged the Missus and I. You'll just have to stay tuned......

We were sad to leave Luang Prabang behind, but Chiang Mai was calling to us. We enjoyed historic Chiang Mai, and the Sunday Market is not to be missed (though we'll pass on the Night Bazaar):

   

And along with street food, we enjoyed a few sit down dinners as well.

 

 

Time got away from us in the end, and we managed only one last night in Bangkok before returning home.....but the Missus still got in some "parting shots", in the city that smells of food.

 

I'm still wrestling with how, and what to post.....

 

With tons of photos of various Wats (Temples) in every city....

 

 

I wish I had a cold Beer Lao to help me figure things out right about now.....since I don't, any suggestions anyone?

Meanwhile, hang in there....I'll be right back!!