Laos

i found this on youtube. is this for real?

black on asian violence

in december, about 30 asian students were attacked at a philidelphia school in what some call a racially-motivated attack. see below for the story:

http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/news-and-opinion/cover-story/Asian-Students-Under-Assault.html

http://www.eutimes.net/2009/12/asian-americans-file-civil-rights-complaint-against-philly-school-for-black-violence/

http://www.bet.com/News/National_StudentsReacttoBlack-AsianViolenceinPhilly.htm

the bachelor finds cambodia

so let me catch yall up to speed real quick on this one: the bachelor's new season just started (and although i don't watch it, luckily i have friends that do; because i would've missed this one!) well, apparently a cambodian woman was selected as one of the girls for this particular bachelor to choose from.

so to set up this clip below, i'll explain a little more: what i've heard is that when she exited the limo to meet the bachelor for the first time (and he is an airplane pilot by profession apparently,) she said something to him in khmer (cambodian). after the bachelor told her, "that sounds beautiful," he asked her its meaning, to which she responded, "i will tell you later - in private!" (the tension builds!)

so view the clip below - this is their private meeting...



ok, now onto the real discussion - the youtube comments on the clip. my favorites are from alexee below. apparently she couldn't just comment once. she commented once, waited an hour, commented again, waited another hour, and again and then again! see below in italics.

She brought shame to Khmer culture. Khmer women are talking like that on a national TV, especially to a guy who just met. Secondly she has made Khmer women look bad. It looks like the guy did not want to hold her hands until she asked him to. You have brought to Khmer women, to Asian women.
alexee2007 (15 hours ago)

She brought shame to our culture. You don't say this to a guy who just met. You can tease when you have dated for a while. You make us Khmer girls look bad. Thanks for disgracing Khmer people you moron.
alexee2007 (18 hours ago)

Wow, we are famous now for selling our soul. What's a disgrace that she has brought to Khmer people. What has she done to to our culture. It makes us khmer women look cheap and desperate.
alexee2007 (19 hours ago)

She brought shame to our culture. We are poor and now it shows we are poor in term of morality. You have not done anything good for the khmer people, but at least try not shame us. You went on the show on the national TV and would say something like. It makes you look so easy and trashy. You have brought shame to our culture. (19 hours ago)

really? shame to cambodian culture??? what?

so this is my question: how does one woman on a trash reality tv show bring shame to a whole country or people? can we really base our judgements about cambodia on this one woman? what about all the white american women on that same show? do they bring shame to white people everywhere? (or just shame to themselves and whatever man or woman that may still call them daughter?) if there is anyone is america that obtains a negative opinion of cambodian women or culture based on channy (who, by the way, got voted off of the first episode,) then that person is ignorant and doesn't even get a seat at the proverbial table for this discussion. so don't sweat it. white women on reality tv have been making trashy comments for years, and white america seems to be ticking on in its self-assured, arrogant and ignorant way.

by the way, can anyone tell me what channy is really saying? is she really saying landing strip? wow.

stuck

so i am in hawaii where its green and bright, the sun to shine by day and all the stars at night...

but sometimes you can get yourself in trouble when you get into a car with a person that don't know you can't drive on sand...

here is that person:

and here is the aloha spirit in action; the guy in the truck to the left stepped in to help us out - (of course, before he kindly offered to pull us out, he asked us for some money. but i believe in giving people credit for acts of kindness regardless of what they did in the lead up to it.) but stuck or not, being on a beach in hawaii is better than the best winter day in seattle...

white people eating weird

so - a seattle pi blogger visited my favorite Lao grocery store in seattle (vientiane) and decided to try some of the homemade dishes in the little plastic tubs that they sell there in their cooler. i've bought them myself - especially when i am cooking some food for friends, and i don't have the time to do everything myself. (ask the farrar family; i brought them laap one time, and they "loved" it.)

well, this guy had just finished reading ant egg soup for the soul, or whatever its called. i reviewed it a while back... but even after his Lao food experience, he said he still struggles to define Lao food. he says the laap is too bitter, and assumes it americanized. (it's not.) but i really don't see what the problem is myself. if it's hot and spicy (and clearly not mexican) and it tastes really good: it's Lao food.

check out his article here.
http://blog.seattlepi.com/eatingweird/archives/163988.asp

its a pretty humorous read, as this guy tries a little too hard to be funny (he plays off stereotypes about the dangers of visiting a southend grocery store. he also tends towards redundancy in his attempt to describe the cashier; he keeps going on and on - about his hair, his looks, what he's doing with cds, blah blah blah, and even includes a vaguely offensive reference to the cashier resembling an asian mafia guy in a john woo film. funny thing: i know this particular cashier, and he's nothing like the description in the article. also, he compares the jeo to martial arts... yikes! did you really have to use that analogy, dear white blogger? seems like Lao food isn't the only thing you have trouble describing. apparently, if someone is asian and doesn't fit the stereotype of violin solos and high math scores, then they are difficult to describe?)

and look at this picture, what is he doing with that rice and bamboo? some white people really need a tour guide to get them through a meal that aint pizza. Lao food really isn't weird folks... but put in front of the wrong person, it can be.



p.s. i will soon post another recipe from aeuey penn's book... and i promise i don't hate white people. three of my best friends are white.

sea games

if u aint been paying attention, the 25th sea games (in Laos this year) are in full swing.



check out the website:
http://www.laoseagames2009.com/v1/index.aspx

peopleoflowes.com

in homage to peopleofwalmart.com, that amazingly fascinating and intellectual website devoted to displaying the wonder of americana as found in the aisles of walmart, i am considering starting my own website called: the people of lowes home improvement store.

and here is my first person of lowes:

representing. that's all i can say about him. and he almost caught me taking this picture. i don't know how they sneak taking those pictures over at walmart by the way, its kinda stressful. but to those of you that want to be on my new website, just show up to lowes representing Laos in some form or fashion, and you're in.

(and also, if you haven't seen people of walmart, you really should. click on link above.)