Roadside Vendors III (20060329)

Roadside vendors, Route 9 to Savannakhet, Laos. Seth Rosenblatt (c) 2006.

Roadside vendors, Route 9 to Savannakhet, Laos. Seth Rosenblatt (c) 2006.

One major item that I left off the list of ingestibles from a few days ago that can be purchased from vendors on the side of the road was baguettes. They come in plain, cheesed and pated varieties, and I’m pretty sure they come from the French/Vietnamese tradition of sandwiches. See? Something good did come out of colonialism.

Snarks and cynicism aside, being able to chow down on a fresh or barely-stale bread roll was a welcome alternative to burnt beetle on a stick.

August 31, 2007 · Filed Under Laos

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Equality on the Road (20060329)

Roadside vendors, Route 9 to Savannakhet, Laos. Seth Rosenblatt (c) 2006.

Roadside vendors, Route 9 to Savannakhet, Laos. Seth Rosenblatt (c) 2006.

It was hard not to notice that most roadside vendors in Laos were women. In fact, women led incredibly visible lives, whether they were in the fields, running a store or restaurant of some kind or selling food to passing buses and sawngthaew. Read more

August 30, 2007 · Filed Under Laos

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Road Food (20060329)

Roadside vendors, Route 9 to Savannakhet, Laos. Seth Rosenblatt (c) 2006.

Roadside vendors, Route 9 to Savannakhet, Laos. Seth Rosenblatt (c) 2006.

In Laos, it’s fairly hard to avoid a road food vendor. They’re about as polite about it as you could hope for, which means you’ll get asked three or six times if you want a bottle of water or a blackened frog on a stick, but once the vendor has cottoned on to the fact that you ain’t buyin’ grubs ‘cuz you don’t eat grubs, everyone winds up happier. Read more

August 29, 2007 · Filed Under Laos

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The Insides of the Bus (20051101)

Looking out the front windshield of a public bus, Bangkok, Thailand. Seth Rosenblatt (c) 2005.

Looking out the front windshield of a public bus, Bangkok, Thailand. Seth Rosenblatt (c) 2005.

The water taxis of Bangkok, which functioned more like buses than anything else, were one of the best and cheapest ways to cope with the heat and humidity and bustle of the city. So it’s a great way to get around one-eighth of the city, or to traverse it from north to south, but beyond that the water taxi is a bit limited.

Enter the bus.

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August 27, 2007 · Filed Under Thailand

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A Recipe for Laap (20051021)

Food stall on Rattanakosin, Bangkok, Thailand. Seth Rosenblatt (c) 2005.

Food stall on Rattanakosin, Bangkok, Thailand. Seth Rosenblatt (c) 2005.

Laap is a Thai/Lao dish that involves meat, mint and chili, and the FMA and I became obsessed with it on our trip. We came to the conclusion, using only the purest forms of subjective reasoning, that the Lao variation tasted better than the Thai. The mint was stronger, the chilis were spicier, and it cost us less.

When we came back to the States, we found a recipe online, took a look at what was available at our local Chinese supermarket – how can you not love May Wah on Clement in San Francisco? – and tweaked the ingredients to suit our palette.

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August 25, 2007 · Filed Under Thailand

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Bangkok’s “Twin” Tower (20051020)

Wat Traimit and the unfinished sibling of the Royal Charoen Krung Twin Towers, Bangkok, Thailand. Seth Rosenblatt (c) 2005.

Wat Traimit and the unfinished sibling of the Royal Charoen Krung Twin Towers, Bangkok, Thailand. Seth Rosenblatt (c) 2005.

Trying to find a tangible sign of an economic downturn can be tricky, but the abandoned skyscrapers of Bangkok make it easy by singing out their failures. Towers are meant to be coated in gleaming glass and stand proud against the sky, declaring their successful expression of human ingenuity. The wind whistles through the unfinished structure, and the skeletal architectural stew leaves but one question: What the hell were they thinking?

August 24, 2007 · Filed Under Thailand

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Not the Bride (20070814)

My FInancial and Menu Adviser wearing a dress she made for my cousin's wedding, Yorba Linda, CA. Seth Rosenblatt (c) 2007.

My Financial and Menu Adviser wearing a dress she made for my cousin’s wedding, Yorba Linda, CA. Seth Rosenblatt (c) 2007.

As Tom Waits said, “I don’t mind going to weddings or anything… I mean, I show up.” But to her credit, the FMA does a very good job of looking good when she shows up, no? Of course, you’d never see me wearing that dress.

August 19, 2007 · Filed Under United States

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