Posts Tagged ‘Food’

Earlier this week, I was fortunate to get an email with those three little words that make my heart leap with joy and anticipation: “Food Festival Invitation.” Woo hoo! I quickly skimmed over the list of local restaurants scheduled to participate in the cooking competition, but the words “free public sampling of dishes” were all [...]

As a travel planner, I have really slacked off this year. Usually I start thinking about potential trips way ahead of time, track down the cheapest flights, read scads of hotel reviews, act on tips from friends, and otherwise ensure a most awesome adventure for Tony and me. Since moving to Vientiane, I have felt [...]

After beachcombing, I returned to the hotel to brush my teeth and swipe on another layer of deodorant before heading out to dinner. Mid-brushing, I heard some serious drumming outside the hotel. I danced around the room a bit and then went down to the lobby to meet Helene and Je. While I waited, another [...]

As we strolled around Bangkok yesterday afternoon, we decided to eat only street food for the rest of the day. Of course, when I say “we” decided to do this, I mean “I” decided that WE would do this. Tony was a good sport, though, and cheated only marginally. Technically, this Lebanese shwarma stand was [...]

The Southeast Asian Games have taken over Vientiane, but it seems you have to be someone or know someone to get tickets. Last week, I begged my Lao language teacher (who is a third-grade teaching assistant at VIS) to let me tag along with her to the Laos-Singapore soccer match. The next morning, she stopped [...]

At my bridal shower 17 years ago (!), Tony’s mom gave me a book of recipes for some of his favorite dishes. I nearly collapsed with laughter, barely able to blurt out, “Oh, you don’t really expect me to cook for this man?!” Actually, I did try to cook for him in those early days, [...]

When I got home from school today, I found Tony lounging on the sofa and our dinner waiting on the table. Daeng had prepared a concoction of stir-fried veggies, cashews and pork with steamed rice. Tony begged me to box it up for tomorrow’s lunch and go out to dinner instead. Vientiane has a shocking [...]

It is American Thanksgiving … in Laos … which is to say it’s just like every other day. I’ve tried in vain to find a restaurant in Vientiane with a special holiday menu shouting out words like “turkey” and “cranberry” and “stuffing.” At school today – oh, did I mention we had to work on [...]

When the lunch bell rings at school, Tony and I usually eat leftovers from the previous night’s dinner or we purchase meals from our canteen, which is operated by a local restaurant owner. Recently, the VIS receptionist, Paramy, started providing lunches prepared by her husband and delivered to school – at a third of the [...]

We are so thrilled to have two of our favorite people visiting this week – Tony and Rand! They were in Hong Kong for business, so they popped over to Laos to hang out for a few days. Yesterday, Rand mentioned his desire for traditional Lao coffee, something I had also been eager to try. [...]