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- Funky Town by Phone Phoummithone
I had to work late yesterday, and didn’t think I’d make it to my co-worker’s son birthday party. Then the birthday boy stopped by and personally invited me, twice he reminded me “…don’t forget, it starts at 6:30 tonight.”
It rained on the way there, the place was starting to get busy with kids running around, and her family gathered near the entrance and I saw a man walking over to the Mechanical Bull, I asked my co-worker if he were her cousin, she said, “Who, him? He’s my brother!” She said that I could blog about him, see how long he’d last on this “Mechanical Bull”…only a few second.
After he found out what I was going to do with the photos, he looked at me and said, “You’re crazy!” I told him, “Hey, I’m not the one on the Mechanical Bull and being airborne.” He showed me his injury, bruises and scratches, thanks for the good laugh, closeup image, and to think that I’m the crazy one 
.
The birthday boy saying grace before meals.
Cake time, Happy Birthday little man.
- KhonNgarmMukPuane by Cells
A stranger is only a friend you’ve not yet met, but Seeharhed is no stranger to us here. He loves to rant, check out his blog at seeharhed.wordpress.com to see what he is ranting about.
- Bouangeun-Kou Lap Paksan (Paksan Rose)
I received a phone call from my cousin yesterday morning, it was a pleasant surprise, all the way from Paksan, Laos. I mailed my Aunt some pictures and my cousin called to tell me that her mom received the package. This was the second time that I sent her pictures, the postage costs around $30 and it takes about 2-3 weeks to get there. This time I sent her a photo album so it’s a bit more heavier than the last time, but I think it’s well worth it since my dad can write the description of the photos. She asked me when will I visit again? I wish I could, but it doesn’t look like anytime soon, I do miss Laos already.
When I visited them last year, I was hoping to see their rice paddy. I read about the flood in Vientiane back in August of last year, but didn’t know if it also flooded Paksan or not. As you can see the two colors river where Nam Xan and Mekong River meet, my Aunt‘s rice paddy is right next to Nam Xan, the clear water side.
My Aunt leases part of her farm to her neighbor, this section was leased out, and their rice paddy survived the flood.
Sadly my Aunt’s rice paddy was flooded, no rice plant in sight.
- Kuam Hu Seuk Bork by Aluna
This was taken at noontime on Friday and I was lucky enough to catch her while she was still out there harvesting her rice crops. I do have to say that the hot summer sun does wonders for the rice paddy.
I didn’t expect them to harvest their rice crops this early, but some are ready.
But some are no where near harvesting, these rice pods just came in, the smell of the new rice pods are in the air.
I was talking to my cousin last weekend and she said that the smell came from Kao Kom or purple rice plants, the new rice pods of Kao Kom, or even the leaves have a strong aroma. I heard from my oldest sister that the purple sticky rice are very hard and some are not eatable, but the owner of this paddy said that hers are very soft and chewy, just like a normal sticky rice, and she will give some for me to try.
My oldest sister said that she uses the store bought purple rice as a dye or coloring, which the owner of this paddy also agreed, and uses it to soak the white sticky rice, and as a result you get purple sticky rice. Not the authentic purple rice at all and don’t be surprised if many restaurants use this technique, or the purple sticky rice desserts that you bought from the Asian Market or the festive events at Wat (temple) are actually white sticky rice. This is like the Thai saying of ‘yorm mail kai’ (dying cat for sale), but this is often referring to giving an extreme makeover to a young lady in order to marry her off.
As for this purple rice, to get the best result, you first boil a couple handfuls of purple sticky rice until the water turns purple, let it sit to cool, then use this purple water to soak the white sticky rice, and for a deeper purple color, you can also soak more purple sticky rice with this by placing it in a thin cloth bag, and as a result, you get a soft chewy purple sticky rice.
My favorite Thai dessert, Purple Sticky Rice with Mango, photo borrowed from mhaithaca at Flickr.
Our family attended the annual July 4th celebration at Wat Lao Buddhavong in Catlett Virginia this past weekend, this year turnout on Saturday was not bad but Sunday was very few and far in between since it drizzled some. I think it was a disappointment for many that went to see their favorite singers and they weren’t there, several Thai ladies that sat behind me asked if Mike Piromporn was performing, and I knew earlier from a Thai performer, Gorvidt that he was the only one from Thailand. I think they were very disappointed and left shortly after that, it’s ashamed that the Wat (Temple) didn’t post any poster of the event like the previous years. I didn’t get to stay and watch the whole concert, the music was too loud and I had a migraine headache so I left after I saw Gorvidt.
This is Voradeth Ditthavong, a famous Lao musician.
One of his songs Mayurie that he sang at the concert.
Jonny Olsen was playing his Khaen demonstration.
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