Things That Make You Go Awwww

Most mornings I eat breakfast at Kung's Cafe, a beautiful garden oasis straddling two sides of the end of an alley. I enjoy the stroll down this alley as there are many things to observe: women preparing their food stalls for the day or hanging out their laundry, waste water being thrown into the drainage channel, loogies being hocked, children kicking cans and riding tricycles or crying as their parents drive away to work, people using their motorcycle mirrors for personal grooming. You know, everyday life activities. Numerous animals also inhabit this alley, mostly dogs. One dog in particular frequently catches my attention. I usually try to walk a wide girth around dogs in Laos because one never knows how they will react. This dog appears to be quite gentle however, despite sometimes giving off an a unsettled look. He often stops and looks at me with these eyes that beg me to stop and play with him. Since I'm headed to eat breakfast with my clean hands, I don't stop to pet, but it is the only animal in Laos that regularly tempts me to break my don't touch policy. I especially like the days I find him curled up in a basket somewhere. This is often on the outdoor table, but can also just be on the ground in the middle of the alley.



As I headed to breakfast on Saturday, I didn't see my favorite friend, but in his place were four dogs, perched adorably on top the table. They were just so cute, and since I didn't have to eat at that table, I couldn't resist taking a photo. Awwwww.

The Wonders of SiMuang Supermarket

When I made the decision to move to Laos, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect in terms of lifestyle and comforts. I had traveled quite a bit and had a general idea of hospitals in the developing world and some experience navigating cultural barriers, but I had never tried to live for more than 3 months in a place as an expat. Would I be able to get toiletries, contact lens solution, English books, DVDs, periodic infusions of Western dishes, and comfort foods? So, when I visited Vientiane 4 months before moving here, I was quite relieved when my predecessor introduced me to Si Muang Supermarket just across the street from my future house. Not only could I buy western staple foods, but I could even get such things as Jif Peanut Butter and Ritz Crackers if I was willing to pay the premium prices. Amazing. I knew at this point that I was going to be just fine in Vientiane. Over the last two years, this market has been my go to place for shopping for everything other than fresh produce. I think one of the reasons the weight has been slower to come off than I had hoped is the fresh-baked bread that appears on the shelves every evening. You can get beautiful loaves of sourdough bread straight out of the oven at 5PM. Awesome!

With such a diverse expatriate community in Vientiane, it is fun to roam the shelves to see what is stocked to cater to every taste. You have the Vegemite and the Marmite for the Aussies and the Kiwis, the Nutella for the Germans, a collection of stinky cheeses for the French, as well as an assortment of foods for the South Asians and East Asians. It is a cornucopia of comfort items from all over the world. Recently, however, some items have appeared that cause us to question the target customer. For example, who really is looking for this?

I, for one have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of a coffee-scented deodorant. Haven’t you?

I have previously commented about Lays’ marketing to the SE Asian population with various seafood flavors, but now Pringles has joined the fun.

My question, though, is who are these are targeted to?

Do SE Asians really dig blueberries and hazelnuts on their bits of overly processed potatoes? Odd.

A Bonus Experience

When I set out on my bicycle this morning, I was looking forward to an adventure, but what happened is not quite what I had in mind. With my official Health Frontiers visa expiring on Monday, I needed to take a trip across the border to get a tourist visa. I had been thinking about visiting the sculpture garden near Nong Khai for some time, so I decided I would ride across the bridge, visit the garden, and ride back with my new visa. Well, I guess that is actually what I did, I just hadn’t factored in the bicycle crash in the middle.

After a sticky rice and mango pancake at Kung’s, I packed my gear and headed off. I enjoyed a nice, relaxed ride to the bridge, passed through Lao immigration and was most of the way across the bridge. Shortly before the Thai checkpoint, a set of train tracks crosses from the left side of the road to run down the middle of the bridge. The angle they enter is kind of unusual and is not far from parallel with the road for awhile. I’ve been nervous about crossing these rails when I’ve crossed on my mountain bike in the past but the thick tires have been OK. Today, I didn’t cut across perpendicular enough and my thin road bike tire got stuck in the groove and it was all over. I found myself sprawled on the road across the train track. Thankfully there were neither cars nor trains approaching. I didn’t lose consciousness, but I was dizzy and quite woozy for a few seconds. This wooziness wasn’t helped when I sighted the blood spots on my limbs. I slowly picked up myself, my bike and the accessories which had freed themselves in the crash. I sat down on the guard rail and surveyed the situation. Despite my fears, I realized my shoes had unclipped on their own. While not fun, I was thankful that things hadn’t been worse.

After struggling to get my chain back on, I rode to the Thai immigration check point. When I walked up with my sweat-soaked clothes, bloodied arm and grease-stained hands, I think the immigration folks wondered if they should let me in. I found a sink to wash the grease off my hands and clean up my wounds enough that they stamped my passport. It was while standing in the line at immigration that I discovered the cracks in the helmet along the right side, kind of where my head hurt a bit. Thank goodness I was wearing my helmet! The helmet sacrificed its life for mine.

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After entering Thailand, I was left with a choice: I could turn around and go back home to Laos or I could take advantage of this last trip to Nong Khai before I go back to the US and go to the sculpture garden like I’d planned. Taking my wounded and probably slightly-concussed self home would have been the sensible thing to do, but I didn’t want to ruin a perfectly good Saturday! So I slowly rode through Nong Khai to the sculpture garden. This was when I looked down and realized my handlebars were not perpendicular to my front wheel. Hmm, that’s not so good.

So was it worth it to continue on? Totally! The sculpture garden was fascinating. This was the work of a Lao citizen who had designed the sculptures in Buddha Park in Laos prior to fleeing to Thailand at the time of the revolution in 1975. He then continued to construct his odd sculptures with an unusual mixture of Buddhist and Hindu imagery. Thankfully, I have made major progress on my snake phobia or the multiple-story naga crown statue with the dangling tongues would have prevented me from sleeping for days. Walking through this very large sculpture garden in Nong Khai made me again wonder what the mind of this man was like. Was it all just religious influences or were there some hallucinogenic substances or mental illness helping things along? After ambling through the odd array of imagery, I ventured into the main building. Again, there were mixtures of Buddhist and Hindu images, but even more fascinating was finding the corpse of the creator enclosed in a glass bubble surrounded by tinsel and strings of flashing lights. Kind of creepy.

With my new visa in hand, I rode home at a relaxed pace and felt pretty good. It wasn’t until I got home, took a shower and started to talk to my friends that I realized that I felt like I’d been hit by a train. Ironic. Amy and Chris brought me takeaway noodles, ice and ice cream and helped me clean and dress my road rash. It’s good to have friends and although I would have been OK on my own, I was very happy they came.

So, you see, I did just what I had planned for today. The bike accident was just a bonus experience. And I get to buy a new helmet!

More Sight-Seeing in Vientiane

As the countdown to my departure from Laos continues, I’ve decided I’d better start doing those things I said I would do ‘later.’ There’s not much ‘later’ left, so in the last few weeks, I’ve been spending some time playing tourist in Vientiane.

On Saturday, I went to the COPE visitors’ center. I’d been there a couple times for events and know a fair bit about the organization, but I’d never actually looked at all the displays. The COPE visitors’ center is located on the grounds of the National Rehabilitation Center (NRC) and COPE (Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise http://www.copelaos.org ) assists in many of the NRCs efforts, including providing financial support for orthotics and other services for patients unable to pay. You may remember me mentioning COPE before, because they were one of the beneficiaries of the fundraising efforts for the Team Dai cycling challenge.

Even after living in Laos for two years and reading about the secret war and the legacies of this war, the displays are still confronting. They are well assembled and informative and the use of the personal stories of the victims makes it very powerful. Regardless of your stand on the cluster bomb ban, the work of this organization is impressive. I encourage anyone visiting Vientiane to stop by the visitors’ center and support this amazing group

After seeing Colin Cotterill’s art adorning the COPE visitors’ center, I headed to JOMA to enjoy a taco salad and the last pages of the latest Dr. Siri mystery, Love Songs From a Shallow Grave. With the whodunit solved, I then headed to the Lao National Museum. I’ve passed it numerous times in the last two years, but had never taken the time to stop. It was quite a fascinating experience. There were some interesting displays about the ancient Kingdoms, but after visiting Wat Phu in Champasack, I felt I’d already covered that information. Much more fascinating were the upstairs displays about Laos from the colonial era to modern times. If one had any doubt about how the government feels about French colonialism and the Americans, this museum would make it perfectly clear. In photo after photo, brave Lao men fight off these forces, eventually sending them away in defeat. I was impressed by the quality of the available English translations, but unfortunately there were few translations for many of the best bits, especially in the anti-American imperialism section. I can’t say the museum presented a different view of this period than American museums, because I’ve never been to an American museum that even talks about this period of history. However, should I someday visit such a museum on the other side of the globe, I’m sure there would be a different slant to the story. I think every American should travel and get a taste how the rest of the world views our nation. It is an eye-opening experience.

Lao cultural center as viewed from the Lao National Museum

I did it!

Transition area before the start.

Among the changes in my life over the last 2.5 years, has been a renewed interest in physical activity and a 50 pound weight loss. As a resident and fellow working too many hours and not sleeping enough, regular exercise was not a priority in my life. Slowly the weight piled on and my fitness levels decreased until I found myself shopping in the plus size section and feeling a sense of accomplishment if I exercised once a week. Oh, how things have changed!

Last weekend I completed my first Olympic-distance triathlon in Port Dickson, Malaysia. After swimming 1.5 km in the Straits of Malacca, I biked 40 km through rolling hills and then ran 10 km. Not only did I survive, but I had fun!

First up was the swim. Being my first open -water swim I was a little anxious about it and did have some difficulty sighting and staying on target while also negotiating around other swimmers. Due to a misunderstanding of Malaysian-English, I thought there were four waves of people starting before mine. Actually, there were only three and by the time I realized this, I was at the very back of the wave. Being a pretty decent swimmer, it would have been better for me to start further toward the front so I didn’t have to pass so many folks, but that is part of the learning process. The swimming conditions were excellent because although it was ocean water, the straits are pretty calm and it was more like swimming in a calm lake with buoyancy. I was kind of sad when I reached the end of the swim because I was really enjoying the open-water experience.

Next came the bike which I also quite enjoyed. It was nice to be able to ride at a brisk pace and not have to worry about motorcycles appearing from nowhere or weave around tuk-tuks. The course had some rolling hills which made for a nice ride. It was work to get up, but if you pedaled hard down the hills, you could get quite a way up the next one. I need to learn how to hydrate without losing so much speed and I was nervous to go out too hard because I knew there was still a 10 km run to follow but I averaged right around 30 km/h for the 40 km.

And then there was the run. I’ve never claimed to be a runner and until recently, 5km was the furthest I’d ever run. I find it less painful now than I did three months ago, but I’m still unsure about the whole running thing and was quite apprehensive about this portion. As I started off down the path out of the transition area, I heard a slosh-sloshing in my shoes. Since I didn’t yet have cycling shoes, I had worn my socks and running shoes on the bike portion. Unfortunately, the water from my clothes for the swim ran down my leg as I was biking and soaked my shoes and socks. Not having alternative footwear, I set off for a 10km run with wet shoes and socks. Not so great and not a feat I plan to repeat (I've since purchased cycling shoes). The race organizers had said the water stations would be set up every 1.2 km. So, when I saw the fourth station approaching, I figured I had traversed 4.8 km and the turn around was near. They must have put them closer together than that, because after that 4th station, there was still another km or so to the turnaround and it was a mentally difficult portion. Revived at the half-way point, I made it another 1-2 km before I really started to feel the pain in my feet as the blistes developed. It was hard to get through the next couple km but I was determined. I was so relieved to reach the top of a hill and see the finish line less than 2 km away and picked up speed for those last couple kilometers.

Despite 3 hours of continuous strenuous exercise, fatigued muscles and multiple blisters the size of quarters on both feet, I felt amazingly alive crossing the finish line. Not only did I finish, but I was in the top half of women in my age-group and of women overall. Not bad for a newbie. What a sense of accomplishment! I may not be a skinny-mini, but I am cardiovascularly fit and getting stronger all the time. It feels great!

Next up, another Olympic-distance triathlon in Hoi An, Vietnam in September.

Playing Tourist in Vientiane

With two years down and just a few weeks remaining, I decided it was time to visit two of the major tourist attractions in Vientiane. Wat Sisaket and Haw Pha Kaew are located less than a kilometer from my house and I pass them several times a week, but I had never actually gone inside--until today, that is.



Wat Sisaket was built in 1818 by Chao Anou and was the only major temple spared when the Siamese forces destroyed many parts of the city. Apparently over 2000 Buddha images are in the niches with 300 of the larger statues in the square cloister around the main hall. The temple is badly in need of the renovations which are underway, but unfortunately for me, the construction work detracts from the temples overall impression. I can imagine, however, than in its day when the murals were fresh and the grounds clean, it was quite awe-inspiring.






Across the street is Haw Pha Kaew. This former royal temple was reportedly built originally in 1565 by King Setthathirath to house the Emerald Buddha after Vientiane was made the capital of the Lan Xang Kingdom. The Emerald Buddha was ‘reclaimed’ by the Siamese in 1779 and installed it in Wat Phra Kaew of Bangkok. The current building was rebuilt between 1936 and 1942 after the original temple was razed in 1828. As wats go, the inside of the temple is quite unimpressive with plain white walls and ceiliings, although apparently if I knew more about Buddhist imagery I would be impressed by the rare Buddha poses. (As an irreverent side note, I was struck by prominent nipples on the statues and couldn’t help but wonder if he was cold). Others have said the external structure is equally unimpressive, but I have often found myself admiring the beauty of this temple, particularly when the flood lights illuminate the night sky. The garden is particularly nice and I enjoyed roaming around as the dark clouds rolled in and brought in cooler air. It made for a nice Sunday afternoon stroll.

Ways I Know I’m Not Asian: #1 I Don’t Avoid the Sun at All Costs

Why is it we tend to desire those things which we don’t have. If we have straight hair, we want curly hair; if we have curly hair, we want straight hair. If we live in the mountains, we want to go to the ocean; if we live on the ocean, we long for the mountains.

And, people who have pale skin covet dark skin and people who have brown skin, want white skin. While my weight means I’m not the picture of beauty here, my creamy white skin is envied by many Lao people. I’ve always said that I was born in the wrong century. If I’d been alive in the Renaissance, I could have been the pale, plump beauty reclining naked on the couch. Instead, I was born in America in the 20th century where pale and plump are not considered signs of beauty or wealth. But since pale and well-nourished people have adequate food to eat and enough means to be able to avoid slaving in the sun, I can see how they are desired traits in many cultures.

I guess it shouldn’t surprise me, then, that skin-whitening creams are all the rage here (and in many other parts of the world) and umbrellas are used more on sunny days than rainy ones. I gaze in amazement at the women wearing gloves and long-sleeved coats turned backwards while riding their motorbikes in 100+ degree temperatures. Sometimes, my view is impaired by the sweat running into my eye as I do this. When I first arrived in Vientiane, I wondered why motorbike riding induced backward jacket-wearing. Now, I have learned that it is to avoid sun-exposure to the neck and collar area. And it is not only the women who are obsessed with pallor. I have spotted many men sporting their ‘winter’ gloves on the motorbike as the sun’s rays beat down on the handlebars. Sometimes I wonder about Vitamin D levels.

How is it, then, that I have managed to make myself so ‘ugly’? People who know me, know I am far from a sun-worshiper and I generally apply sunscreen liberally and hang in the shade whenever possible. But, the rays in Laos are intense and I find myself getting darker with even brief periods out and about. Consequently, with all the biking, swimming and running I’ve done of late, my body is like a patchwork quilt of skin tones. My arms, which get the most sun exposure, seem to belong to a different body when placed on my abdomen, which never sees the sun. Yes, I put sunscreen on my face daily and sometimes remember to put a lotion with sunscreen on my arms, but I am still the most golden brown I’ve been since my swimming days. Too bad, it’s not a desirable thing here. But I’m just not ready to sacrifice comfort and convenience for freckle-free skin. (I don’t really tan, my freckles just get closer together.)

While the Lao women chide me for allowing my skin to get so ‘black’ there are some bright sides. After 5 years on the frozen Minnesota tundra, I have quit taking my Vitamin D supplement. And, I often have the pool to myself at lunchtime while the Lao people are hiding from the sun.