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.)