Burmese Birthday Brunch

Today is my birthday!

I'm 33 years old today and have just realized that I've spent an entire third of my life living in Thailand. I came here when I was 22 years old, right out of college. Even though COVID really threw the years out of wack, I still can't believe I've been here this long.

On my birthday morning, my wife woke me up, ordered me a Thai tea-coffee blend, and told me to get ready because she was going to take me to a special restaurant.

I had no idea what was in store, but Pinky booked a taxi, and we were soon arriving at Inly Restaurant, a very authentic and traditional Burmese food restaurant located not too far from where we live.

Check it out on my other blog, The World of Street Food: Authentic Burmese Food in Bangkok at Inle Traditional Food & Shan Noodle (theworldofstreetfood.com)

Pinky and I traveled to Burma back in 2015. To this day we both consider it to be the most exciting adventure trip we have ever taken together.

Follow our adventures here:

Part I: Yangon and the Golden Rock

Part II: It's a Long Way to Mandalay

Part III: Cruising into Bagan

Unfortunately, things are not going well in Burma these days. There's an ongoing civil war and the US Department of State has issued a Level 4 "Do Not Travel" warning for the entire country.

I've been really feeling nostalgic for our adventure in Burma. It was such an exciting time in a very little traveled country, but it's just not safe to go back at this time.

I was really excited when we pulled up in front of Inle Restaurant (named after Burma's second-largest lake and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country). I couldn't believe that Pinky had been able to find a Burmese restaurant in Bangkok!

We sat down at a table, and the staff promptly brought us some hot tea.

Unlike other Southeast Asian cuisines, such as Thai or Vietnamese food, Burmese food is almost unknown outside of the little-visited Southeast Asian republic. 

The Republic of the Union of Myanmar, commonly known as "Burma", sits between Thailand and India. A former British colony, the country devolved into despotism and chaos as soon as the colonial government withdrew.

There was a brief glimmer of hope when Aung San Suu Kyi, the democratically elected leader of the country, was briefly allowed to gain power (that's when I was able to visit), but a military coup took place and the new government arrested her and regained control of the country. For the past several years, the nation has been in some turmoil. There have since been genocides, bombings, and other political instability that makes it impossible to return (at least for the time being).

It is one of the world's most secretive and closed off countries and, until just a few years back, was one of two countries in the world where Coca-Cola was not available to buy (the other being North Korea).

I'd really love to go back some day...

As we sat, the servers brought us some appetizers to tide us over. First was a plate of fried dough, (called youtiao in China and patongo in Thai), known as e kya kway in Burmese. These mildly sweet bites of fried dough can be eaten on their own or can be dipped in soups and broths.

We also got a small bowl of pickled mustard green relish, which had a strong fresh and sour flavor.

Our food arrived quickly!

First up was a bowl of Shan noodles. Shan State is the largest state in Myanmar and is located in the northeast of the country. Shan noodles are a popular staple dish from this region and is eaten throughout the country.

Shan noodles, known as "sticky noodles", are made from sticky rice noodles and cooked in a thick and creamy broth flavored with fried garlic, fresh cilantro, and other aromatics.

Burmese cooking goes heavy on the garlic, which I love!

The noodles were served with slices of pork, and after eating all of the noodles and meat, I used the fried dough to soak up the rest of the rich and flavorful soup.

We also ordered the fish cakes.

Burmese fish cakes are made from golden rice cakes mixed with savory herbs and fish and topped with fish and fried garlic.

That's actually how Pinky discovered this restaurant! She was searching on a food delivery app for "cake" to surprise me in the morning for my birthday and stumbled across these fish cakes. Noticing that it was from a Burmese restaurant, she decided to take me here for an early lunch, and ordered the cake from another shop instead.

These buttery and perfectly savory fish cakes were so delicious that I wish we had ordered another portion of them!

As a side dish we ordered "Inle tempura". This dish, like the name of the restaurant itself, is named after Inle Lake, the second-largest lake in Myanmar and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country.

Inle tempura was made up of a combination of vegetables - morning glory, potato, and more - lightly battered and deep fried until crispy. It was served with a mildly sour and spicy dipping sauce for extra flavor.

Perhaps the best-known Burmese dish outside of the country is lahpet thoke, or fermented tea salad. This is the only dish that I am aware of that uses tea leaves as an ingredient. The leaves are fermented or pickled and mixed with lots of other delicious ingredients like chili, whole peanuts, crispy garlic, toasted sesame seeds, cilantro, ginger and more.

Myanmar might be the only place in the world that actually eats tea leaves as a food ingredient rather than purely as a drink.

The incredible combination of flavors and textures creates a strongly flavored and very complex dish that is savory, slightly sour, and slightly spicy. I really love this tea salad, and if you have the opportunity to try it, I highly recommend it.

It was a really great birthday meal, and a wonderful surprise.

I am looking forward to when we can return to Myanmar to have another grand adventure!

Vexillology: New State Flags

We interrupt Michael's regularly scheduled blog posts to bring this special vexillology announcement! You might have seen the news in the past few weeks that the State of Minnesota has adopted a new flag, and of course I'd like to talk about it.

While we're here, let's go ahead and have a look at three of the newest US state flags.

Minnesota

The State of Minnesota recently announced their brand-new state flag!

On May 11 this year (2024), this beautiful new flag will take the place of the old "shield on blue field", which is an unfortunately common state flag design.

The new flag features a white North Star on a dark blue canton in the rough shape of the State of Minnesota with a light blue field representing the waters of the state (which is known as the land of 10,000 lakes, but which in actuality has well over 11,000!).

Minnesota's new flag

It is a far better flag than the boring old "shield on a bedsheet" design of the previous flag. Too many US state flags just use their state shield on a blue background. It's tired and boring. In my opinion, each state needs a unique flag to serve as its own emblem.

Minnesota's old flag

I'll be happy when Minnesota officially adopts its brand-new flag.

Utah

In 2020 Utah adopted a temporary "beehive flag" for its centennial.

A recent proclamation has amended the flag to include the grand mountains of Utah in its dark blue field. The state then adopted this new ensign as the state's official flag.

Utah's new flag

The old flag was another boring old shield on a field of blue. I'm glad it had a change.

Utah's old flag

Utah's centennial flag was a massive improvement, and this new flag of the "Beehive State" served as a strong inspiration of the state's new flag.

The Blog of Michael Desrosiers: Vexillology: New and Old US State Flags

Utah's centennial flag

Mississippi

Finally - and probably my favorite change - the flag of Mississippi.

The state eschewed the old Confederate flag in favor of a flag that really represented the state.

Mississippi's new flag

It's time to move past those old Confederate colors and embrace something new.

The new flag features the magnolia, a strong symbol of southern culture. The colors are new, while embracing traditionn. 

Mississippi's old flag

Illinois, Michigan, and Maine also have ongoing new flag legislations, so let's wait and see what happens there! If there's a new state flag, I'll be here to share an update about it.

Savannakhet

I ended up staying four nights in Savannakhet, Laos.

I was actually surprised at how little there was to do. I mean, border towns aren't exactly known for being full of amazing things to see, but I mean, for the second-largest town in the whole country, Savannakhet felt empty and lifeless. There was nearly no traffic and most shops seemed closed down and abandoned. 

It almost seemed as if the chaotic Thai Consulate was the most happening place in town... which it might well have been.

I actually really like Laos. I've always been fond of this small, sleepy, southeast Asian country. The full name of the country is the People's Democratic Republic of Laos, and it's one of five remaining Communist countries in the world, although the joke goes that "PDR" actually stands for "Please Don't Rush". 

A few years back, my now wife and I spent a full month in Laos, exploring the tiny backpacker town of Vang Vieng and the sleepy holy city of Luang Prabang.

It's the most chilled out and relaxed place I've ever been, and the people are some of the warmest and friendliest I've ever met. 

Random people - shopkeepers, schoolkids riding their bikes, old men strolling down the quiet roads - would wave at me and shout "hello, how are you?".

While I was here, I mostly spent time in my rented bungalow.

Each morning, I went out to explore the quiet streets. There was actually a good deal of nice street art depicting scenes from Laotian life.

Even though there wasn't much to do in Savannakhet, I found myself starting to like the town. It was quiet, peaceful, relaxed, and boring in the best sort of way.

While my mission at the consulate was ultimately unsuccessful, I can definitely see myself coming back here. I have become fond of this quiet town, and in the short time that I spent in Savannakhet, I really started to learn my way around.

Nevertheless, I still expect that I'll be heading back to Phnom Penh later this year, as it's the Thai embassy that I'm most familiar with when it comes to applying for a new visa.

I had some good food while I was in Laos!

If you've been following my blog for some time, you will probably know that one of my favorite side projects is The World of Street Food, a blog that I keep all about the amazing food that I eat around the world. This blog has helped me to explore the countries that I visit and has given me the encouragement to step out and try new restaurants abroad.

While I was in Laos, I tried a few great new local restaurants in Savannakhet. One local restaurant was located near my guesthouse. I used my limited Thai to order a plate of kee mao moo, or "drunken noodles with pork".

Thai and Laotian are mutually intelligible languages (to a certain yet practical degree), and especially being near the border, I was able to successfully order a plate of these delicious, spicy, and aromatic noodles.

Another morning, I headed down to the riverside to visit Lao Dern.

This upscale restaurant was one of the top reviewed restaurants on Trip Advisor, and one of the only restaurants I could find reviews for online.

I entered the peaceful, quiet restaurant and ordered an iced Lao coffee.

I also ordered a bowl of chicken pho.

Laos is culturally and geographically situated right between Thailand and Vietnam, and the food reflects that. Coffee, baguettes, and delicious chicken soup are as much a part of Laotian culture as Vietnamese (due to their shared French Indochinese heritage).

Another morning, I also had a wonderful plate of garlic pork with rice at a small local restaurant. The menu was not written out in English, but I used my Thai to read it.

Thai and Lao are similar languages which share a common Pali-Sanskrit ancestry. As such, the alphabets are quite similar (Lao is "squigglier", but I can still make out the letters).

For example, the word "American" written in

- Thai is: คนอเมริกัน

- and in Lao is: ຄົນອາເມຣິກັນ.

I can read Thai quite well (I can actually read it even better than I can speak it, a very uncommon attribute amongst foreign learners), and I'm always proud of myself when I'm able to successfully order a meal from someone who cannot speak English.

On my final full day before leaving Laos to go back to Thailand, I returned once again to Lin's Cafe to have a breakfast of a baguette with butter and jam and an iced Lao coffee.

This French-inspired breakfast was really delicious. Though simple, it was a very nice way to start my day.

After breakfast, I took a walk along the riverfront.

I passed a magnificent shrine dedicated to the Naga, the snakelike water spirit from Theravada Buddhism.

I also came across a monument dedicated to Ho Chi Minh, the late leader of Vietnam.

Laos, like Vietnam, is a Communist country. During the Vietnam War (technically the "Second Indochinese War"), Laos tried to stay out of the fighting. Due to their alliance with North Vietnam, however, Laos was the target of the "Secret War". Because they were officially neutral, the rules of the Geneva Convention did not apply, and Laos and became the most heavily bombed country in the history of the world.

The Blog of Michael Desrosiers: COPE Center

Despite this, the Laotian people whom I've met have been nothing but kind, happy, and excited to hear that I am American. Like in Vietnam, there seems to be much stronger feelings towards the French than towards the Americans.

In both countries, I've never felt anything other than completely and warmly welcome.

My time in Savannakhet was coming to an end.

On Monday morning, I took the Thai-Lao International Bus back across the bridge to Mukdahan. We left Savannakhet bus station punctually and drive ten minutes to the border.

The process was similar to before, but in reverse. It was one of the quickest and smoothest border crossings I've ever made.

Foreigners are allowed to enter Thailand twice per calendar year visa free via land borders. This time, because I was not able to arrange the visa as I had hoped, I came back to Thailand as a tourist with a 30-day visa exemption stamp.

The Savannakhet border was super quick, easy, and friendly. It was far easier than the experiences I've had in the past.

I spent another comfortable night at the Hop Inn in Mukdahan, and took the next morning's bus back to Bangkok.

Things Go Wrong

I was queued up at the Royal Thai Consulate in Savannakhet Laos. I had arrived early, but the line was already far longer than any I had seen before at the embassies in either Phnom Penh or Hanoi.

I had heard that Savannakhet was the best place to get a new Thai visa, but I was unsure. The lines were long already, and they were made worse when several "visa run" vans arrived across the Thai border.

These companies, which help cheap tourists and backpackers extend their visas, had driven across the border first thing in the morning. They were really rude! The clientele was made up mostly of eastern Europeans who were pushing, smoking, yelling, shouting, and who all decided to cut in line right in front of the staff. I guess the visa run companies have some sort of deal worked out, but after a huge number of people pushed me to the back of the queue, I finally got fed up and decided to leave.

I gave up and walked across the street to Target. I'm not sure if it's the same Target as in the US (although I very seriously doubt it), but I bought a bottle of water and a pair of sunglasses, then booked a tuk-tuk back to Lin's cafe.

I was stressed, annoyed, and tired.

One of the benefits, though, of having an American passport is that I can actually enter Thailand visa-free for 30 days. I guess that's what I'll do. I understand that it's pretty privileged of me to give up just because the line was long, but I was so sick of these tourists shoving me and blowing smoke in my face!

Back at Lin's, I ordered an iced Lao coffee and called my mom to chat about our upcoming Sri Lankan adventure.

It was now breakfast time, so I walked across the wide plaza to Xokxay restaurant, which had gotten really good reviews in Lonely Planet.

The restaurant had a simple menu, but I was able to speak enough Thai (the language is intelligible with Laotian) to order breakfast.

I ordered a plate of moo daeng, or red pork with rice. The sweet, barbecued pork was served with a bowl of savory broth, half of a boiled egg, and a mountain of white rice.

I decided to walk back to my guesthouse. Along the way, I enjoyed the scenery. 

Savannakhet isn't a very exciting town. It's a sleepy, quiet sort of place. There's very little to do here. It's boring, but in the best sort of way.

It's nice to be bored sometimes.

I walked back, enjoying the quiet pace of life and waving at the local shopkeepers and students who shouted "hello" to me as I walked past.

As I walked through the empty streets, I listened to a podcast and enjoyed the old colonial architecture and street art.