Foot and Fire

This is the five-color vegetables we ordered. We got a beautiful line up of stir-fried sweet peas, napa cabbage, young corn, cauliflower and carrots. We had this in Mandalay, but as in anywhere in Myanmar, vegetables are a side dish or a complimentary dish aside from the soup and mango chutney and fermented fish/prawns. *** This is one tasty fish which is first wrapped with chopped leaves which preserved the fish fat (see bottom layer) and spices before the banana leaves. This must be steamed and the fish meat (see the second layer) is very tasty while the skin is delicately smooth. I want to replicate this cooking. We had this in a Shan Restaurant in Mandalay near our hotel. *** Fish hot clay pot. Chunks of fried fish with vegetables and spices and visibly garnished with onion rings and pineapple slices. This is one nice rice partner. It is served in a small wok with a burner underneath. We had this in Bagan. *** Speaking of snacks, I like this deep-fried potato chips at 500 to 1000 k...

This is the Sule Pagoda. It is in the heart of Yangon. This is an important religious as well as political site for the Myanmarese. Wikipedia says of this pagoda: This is a Burmese stupa located in the heart of downtown Yangon, occupying the centre of the city and an important space in contemporary Burmese politics, ideology and geography. According to legend, it was built before the Shwedagon Pagoda during the time of the Buddha, making it more than 2,500 years old. Burmese legend states that the site for the Shwedagon Pagoda was asked to be revealed from an old nat who resided at the place where the Sule Pagoda now stands. The Sule Pagoda has been the focal point of both Yangon and Burmese politics. It has served as a rallying point in both the 1988 uprisings and 2007 Saffron Revolution. The pagoda is listed on the Yangon City Heritage List. *** The entrance to Sule pagoda. According to Burmese legend the site where the Sule pagoda now stands was once th...