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My friend Nai said that “we have rain a lot last night,” so, hopefully, the drought over there will be ending soon, with the monsoon season approaching. I check the Vientiane weather report every day at Weather Underground, and I can’t begin to tell you how many days the temperature has been over 95 degrees F. the last month or two, with no rain. Recently, Nai said that there have been days when there’s not been enough water to take showers (they buy all their drinking water in bulk), and the crops are hurting. The Weather Underground site also reports that March was the hottest or 2nd hottest month on record globally (depending on which agency–NOAA or NASA–reported it). To top it all off, Nai’s mother has been ill for about 3 weeks now, so the recent Songkran Festival (Thai and Lao New Year Celebration) was dampened quite a bit, due to the weather and the sickness. If you’re interested, there’s a very cute animated music video on Youtube about Songkran. Check it out here; I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!
As long as I’m on a Laos kick tonight, here’s an article about the French influence that’s still present in the former colony. Among other things, the author writes about the delicious baguettes, croissants and muffins, to which I’ll attest. It’s quite odd, but somehow satisfying, to see and smell the culinary relics of the French colonial era in this Communist relic.
Thankfully, I have the next week off, our usual mid-semester break. I’ll try to get out and hunt down some interesting photo opportunites–I have a few in mind, including some night shots and photos of the western coastline of Yeosu. Unfortunately, the weather service is predicting rain through next Thursday and we’ve had a bit today. More later.
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As promised, here are some photos from my recent trip to Laos. I guess we can call this the food-themed post. If you ever make it to Vientiane, one pleasurable thing to do is to eat at one of the many outdoor restaurants lining the Mekong and watch the sun slip below the Thailand horizon across the river. It’s quite laid back, though you’re right next to the main road along the Mekong, Fa Ngum Road. Along here you’ll find the Inter (City) Hotel and the Bor Penn Yang rooftop bar, from where I took the first photo below. There’s also a lot of construction going on; apparently, the authorities are building some flood protection devices, as well as creating a new park in this area. The first photo shows some of this construction. This is near quitting time, so a few of the restaurants set up some of their seating on a portion of the construction area that won’t be used again until the next morning. As you can see, you can sit at a table or sit down on floor mats, Lao style.
The menus in these eateries are quite extensive, featuring Lao, Thai and some Western food. Here’s a shot of a variety of fresh food waiting to be used in some mouth-watering delight.
Nai is preparing to wolf down a plate of Mekong clams.
My favorite dish is grilled Mekong river fish. Here are a couple of the restaurant workers (sons of the owner, I think) grilling a variety of fish, prawns, meat, chicken and other goodies. Ahhh, cripes, I wish I were there right now, out of this cold weather, chowing down on grilled fish, stir fried rice and spicy papaya salad.
And, of course, the aforementioned sunset.
I’ll get some more photos up soon, but this week marks the beginning of my 4-week schedule from hell, so I’m not sure when I’ll be able to post again There will definitely be more later.
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- Luang Prabang On to Luang Prabang (LP), a UNESCO World Heritage site, as I’ve posted before. I must say, though, that I was a bit “underwhelmed” by the city. It’s culturally very...
Well, it was pretty quiet last night after the Laos-Malaysia soccer match. Yes, unfortunately, Laos got beat 3-1. Malaysia scored about 15 minutes into the game on a spectacular over-the-head scissors kick. It stayed that way until the second half, when Laos put on charge after charge toward the Malaysia goal. They finally broke through about halfway into the period, tieing the game at 1 apiece. It was bedlam when the goal was scored, with all the Laos fans (and yours truly) screaming and shouting with joy. Hope had been restored that the unexpected might happen–that Laos might play for the gold medal. Alas, Malaysia stormed back with 2 goals to win the game. Not all is lost, though–Laos still plays for the bronze against Singapore this coming Friday, I believe. Viet Nam squares off against Malaysia for the gold.
Below are some photos I’ve taken recently. None of them have been optimized and I won’t be able to do any postprocessing work on them until I return to Korea. But, I suppose they’ll do until then. Enjoy.
Here’s a shot from yesterday with a few of the Viet Nam fans sporting their colors. I took this from a tuk-tuk, so the sharpness isn’t probably all that great.
Here’s another shot taken last night while we watched the soccer match. We usually eat at one of the outdoor restaurants along the Mekong, and this one is our particular favorite. Here, a couple of the guys are busy cooking up some goodies. I love the big fish you can see on the grill. They’re stuffed with some kind of herb and coated with salt, which gives them their white color before they’re browned. Yummmm.
To continue with the food theme, here’s the view of the Hotel Lao’s charming courtyard, where breakfast is served. As you can see, there’s an empty chair at my table. Care to join me?
We’re heading out to Nai’s house today, so I’ll probably be out of contact for a while. But, as always, more later.
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- Morocco 0-0 Libya Morocco has a very good defensive team, allowing only one goal in 3 games in the Cup championship. Unfortunately, usually a good offense helps. In Morocco’s case, they have NO...
Here are some more shots from the field trip a few weekends back. After visiting Hyangiram, we ate lunch at a restaurant in the village below the temple. The main dish was a fish stew, known as may-oon-tahng, which, I was told, means . . . spicy fish stew, oddly enough. 
Of course, as with every Korean meal, the main course comes with lots of side dishes–kimchi, assorted vegetables, pickled garlic and mushrooms, dried fish, rice and other goodies. No one should leave the table still feeling hungry.
Then it was off to Jinnamgwan, the largest single story wooden structure in Korea. Here the students are enjoying the trip before some of them had to give a presentation about the site. The kids were split into groups that had to make a presentation after each stop. Most of them did very well.
On the small island of Odong, we stopped to admire the fountain that erupts a few times an hour, water gushing in time to various musical selections. Not exactly the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas, but still interesting. It’s lit at night, so I’ll have to try getting there some evening for some shots.
Some of the girls are taking a break here. This was our final stop and folks were starting to get a bit tired. We started at 10 in the morning and didn’t get back to the university until around 6:30 p.m.
Finally, here’s the Odong Lighthouse. As you’ll recall from an earlier post, my students and I were trying to emulate its logo. (See the photo in the previous post.) Oh, by the way, our group actually won the funny picture contest with the photo of the four of us together in the parking lot.
I’m posting these photos and some others to the Photo Gallery, so check ‘em out when you can. More later.
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Yesterday, the 11th, was Pepero Day in Korea. It’s akin to Valentine’s Day, which is also celebrated here, with young people and couples exchanging candy, mainly the Lotte Corporation’s Pepero brand. The 11th is Pepero Day because, according to this article, the date 11/11 resembles four sticks of Pepero. However, the name Pepero in Korean, which you can see on the product box below, also resembles 11/11. At any rate, some of my students gave me several boxes of the treat, which makes for good munchies. (Reminder to self: jog an extra half hour next time out.)
I was out walking around a few weekends ago and took the following shot from near the Soho Yacht Marina area, along the sidewalk back toward the main part of town. Yeosu is quite pretty at nighttime, as you can see from the photo. I took a bus there and back. The bus system in town is very extensive and you can travel almost anywhere for 1,000 won (about 85 cents), unless you have to make some transfers. It doesn’t run like clockwork, though, because you might have to wait 30 minutes for a specific bus to come along and then 2 or 3 of them show up within 5 minutes of each other. There are no timed stops, so it’s kind of hit and miss as far as timeliness. More later.
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Ahhhh, it’s that time of the year when we English teachers get a week off: no more classes until the 26th. I’m going to Seoul sometime next week to stock up on stuff that I can’t get in Yeosu, but other than that I’m just gonna hang out here, hopefully take a lot of photos and definitely take in the Yankee post-season games.
I hate to even mention that the Yanks are playing well: I’m afraid I’ll put a jinx on them. I just finished watching the first game against the Angels and they looked great. As I said earlier in the season, they seem like a special team, with a group chemistry not unlike that of the great Yankee teams of the late 90s. I hope they can go all the way to take their 27th World Series title.
Well, motorbike guy has done it again. The 4th or 5th time in a couple of years. Yup, my Laos friend Nai had ANOTHER accident riding his unworthy steed. He’s in the hospital in Vientiane after suffering a back and face injury while wrecking on his way to the market in his village. He told me that it had been raining and the road conditions were bad, which I can believe, having traveled on the slippery, muddy, pothole-laden road that runs through his village. It’s almost inevitable that you’re going to lose your balance in these conditions. He did. He has paid the price again. I phoned him today and he’s recuperating in the hospital in Vientiane. I told him that the next time I return to Laos, I’m going to take the ‘bike and toss it in the Mekong. Sheesh.
The weather in Yeosu is definitely starting to remind me that winter is not that far away, with the nights turning chilly, the wind kicking up and the leaves on the trees putting on their autumn show. We’ve actually had gorgeous weather during the day lately–sharp blue skies and mild temperatures. But the nights, and the trees, have been telling a different tale. It’s definitely fall.
This evening sure feels like a harbinger of my least favorite season, so I’m making a big batch of chili. I cut up some spicy, green, Korean chili peppers earlier to add to my somewhat culturally mixed concoction, but I made the mistake of rubbing my eyelid with my hand. For about 10 minutes I thought the burn was going to go straight through to my eyeball! 
Tip: Wash hands after preparing chili peppers.
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Korea (and Koreans) do some things right, but there are other things that are done that don’t make sense. For example, I just finished watching the televised launch of the country’s first rocket into space. So far, it appears to be successful. Goheung, the launch site, is not all that far from Yeosu, and I was told that you’d actually be able to see the lift-off from some vantage points close to Yeosu. Koreans will be justifiably proud of the launch if it proves successful, and Korean TV stations will be showing the event over and over and over and over for the next several years, or at least until they launch the next one. (They do this with the few sporting events that they’ve had some success at, such as the Olympics, Soccer World Cup, World Baseball Classic and others.)
Now, on the flip side of this hi-tech coin is another event which is happening tomorrow in the dorm rooms. The students don’t start moving in again for the new semester until this coming weekend, so the place is basically empty except for us few English teachers. Therefore, the powers-that-be in the university maintenance department decided tomorrow would be a good time to do some fumigating of the apartments. The email I received from my boss said that they would be coming around between 2 and 4 p.m. to spray against – - – get this – - – the Swine Flu Virus. Sorry, guys, that’s just plain ignorant, as far as I know. There’s no defense against any flu virus that involves spraying. If that were the case, entire cities would have been fumigated by now, right? I imagine that they’re really spraying for mosquitoes.
Anyway, we’ve been told to cover all our dishes or put them away and to stay out of the room. I asked about our bedding and clothes. We’re supposed to put all our clothes in the closet and cover our beds. Hmmmm, cover them with what? Like, I’m supposed to dig up some tarp all of a sudden? Sheesh. I’ll put all the bedding in the closet also, but what about the mattress? Guess I’ll just have to take my chances. Gotta put my onions, potatoes and whatnot into the fridge, maybe store the toaster and coffee maker somewhere safe, put my laptop computer in it’s carry bag, etc. I’ll try to get some photos of this weirdness.
Speaking of photos, I haven’t posted any lately, but below are a few for your perusal. We had a going-away dinner for one of the teachers whose contract finished recently and who decided to return to his homeland, Canada. We went to the Moriri steakhouse in Yeosu to chow down. Now, Yeosu steakhouses aren’t all that bad, but they’re nothing like Montana eateries like Guy’s Lolo Creek Steakhouse in Lolo, just outside of Missoula, or the great Shamrock Bar and Cafe in Wibaux (HUGE, juicy steak, baked potato with butter and sour cream and buttered corn on the cob, with an unbelievable amount of true, down home, Montana cowboy ambiance).
The first photo shows, from left to right, Mr. Seo (pronounced somewhere between “saw” and “suh”), the computer wizard at the Language Center, Jay, one of the office staff, and Raymond, our departing teacher.
Raymond’s Dinner Party
Here, Raymond is digging into a plate of bbq ribs. Raymond’s a great guy and we all wish him the best of luck in Canada, where he intends to continue teaching.
Raymond and Ribs
This is what I ate. I’m not a fan of Korean steaks–I much prefer Montana Brand Steaks!–so I had a sampler platter that included a couple of deep-fried prawns, which are resting atop a fish cutlet that you can’t see, a bbq beef-and-veggie kebab, and, buried under the green veggies and gravy, some kind of flattened beef, like pounded round steak or something. I didn’t eat too much of the beef, but everything else was quite tasty.
Sampler Platter
Enjoy.
Yanks now lead by 7 1/2 games over you know who. More later. :laugh:
P.S. I just heard on CNN News that the South Korean satellite has reached a “less than perfect” orbit. No word on whether that means success or failure. Stay tuned.
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I just saw on CNN that the northern part of the peninsula is getting hit hard by heavy rains, with more expected today and tomorrow, fueling some flooding that is taking place. Here’s a link describing the forecast. We’ve had quite a bit of rain here the last few days, and the Korean Meteorological Administration’s website is calling for us getting a lot more rain tomorrow night through Wednesday morning. While the high temperatures have only reached the mid- to high-70s, the humidity has been in the 90% range, so walking around the hilly terrain leaves me quite soaked, at times.
In a recent survey, the Mercer Company unveiled their list of the world’s most expensive cities. Surprisingly, Seoul wasn’t in the top 50. I’ve always thought that Seoul and, indeed, Yeosu, were very expensive, and I still think so. Some things here are cheap, but it seems like many, many items are way overpriced. Take red beans, one of my favorites, for example. I noticed in Thailand when I was there recently, that a 500 gram bag ( a little over a pound) of kidney beans costs around 80 cents. A similar bag in Yeosu goes for anywhere between $4-5, depending on the exchange rates. Ridiculous! I was going to go to the open air market this last weekend and check the price on loose red beans, but I stayed home because of the rain. I’ll probably plan on going next weekend. A few things are fairly cheap, though. Potatoes are currently going for around 60 cents a pound and tomatoes about 90 cents. After finishing off the Thai Chicken Curry, I was still hungry for something spicy, so I made good use of the beans by cooking up a big pot of chili yesterday. I should have leftovers for a few days.
Talking about prices, Loyal Reader OGM from the Boston area commented that she would be going to a game at Fenway Park later this summer. Question for OGM: about how much do you expect to spend for a day at the ballpark? Let’s say the price of the ticket, any beverages and food you buy, programs, etc. You can give me a ballpark figure! 
Speaking of baseball, I bragged up the Yankees in my last post. That’s the last time I do that. They were just swept in a 3-game series by the Angels and the only thing I can figure is that I jinxed ‘em. So, no more bragging. More later (not bragging).
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After the round of attacks on websites around the ‘Net, including the White House, the Pentagon, and various other sites, the latest report is that personal computers will get hit next. So far, I’m up and running, and haven’t experienced any problems anywhere on the Internet at all. Moral: keep your computers up to date with the latest OS patches, run a good anti-virus and anti-spyware program and use a good firewall. At least, that works for me.
Speaking of viruses, the Red Sox strain has fallen to the latest Yankee immunization, to use a pretty bad metaphor. The Yanks have been relentless, going 33-17 over their last 50 games and have caught the Sox for first place in the AL East. Like I said in an earlier post, I’ve got a good feeling about this team–they’re loose, good in the clutch, have a decent rotation and are showing sparks of greatness in the bullpen. In addition, they seem to have an undefinable “togetherness,” a la the great team of ‘98. There’s still half the season to go and anything can happen, but, right now, everything looks very positive.
I bought some great Thai curry paste while I was in Nong Khai, and I made a big batch of Chicken Curry With Rice today. Yummmmm, tastes great. Wish you were here to enjoy a bowl with me. Wanna join me for some? I’ve made enough to have even more later.
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I’m working on losing some weight, since I ballooned up too much at the end of last year on my trip to Laos–so far I’ve lost about 8 pounds. I’m back to jogging for an hour a day, 5-6 times a week, as well as doing some weight training. Because the weather is still a bit on the chilly side, I’ve been running on a treadmill in the main gym on campus. Quite a bit more boring than running outside, but still effective. I finally walked downtown last weekend and bought some new running shoes, ones guaranteed to help me run farther and faster. The old ones were getting a bit long in the tooth.
New Shoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Old Shoes
Of course, along with physical activity, eating healthy is necessary for losing weight, so I’ve been eating a lot of fruit and veggies. I love oatmeal for breakfast (the whole grain kind, not the instant crap), but it’s so difficult to find in Korea and, if you do find it, it’s quite expensive. However, I’ve found a great substitute–abundant and cheap. Barley! Yeah, it’s great with a little brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins, bananas, apples, whatever.
We have a teachers’ meeting today around lunch time and the powers that be are providing free pizza. Yummmm! But, if I merely look at a slice of pizza, I put on a few pounds. Eating it seems to defy the laws of physics, since a small slice of about 4 or 5 ounces does, in fact, add a couple of inches to my waistline. I’ll have to be careful this afternoon, then. Hopefully, they’ll order squid pizza, which I wouldn’t eat for anything. 
A-Rod and steroid confession. No comment. Let’s PLAY BALL! (Soon)
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