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Frangipanis. I love it when my Frangis come into flower. For me it is the start of a long hot summer and a time to enjoy the sweet heavenly scent of its beautiful flowers.

Hibiscus. One of many beautiful hibiscus plants

Mini Canna. Oh so pretty.

Paw Paw / Papaya. Our pawpaw tree in flower. Not sure if it will fruit as I believe you need a male and female (unless it is a bisexual tree). I have other pawpaw trees not yet in flower.

Mangoe tree. Mangoes hanging from our tree. So sweet and delicious.

Kaffir Lime leaf which is used a lot in our thai dishes to give that special lime flavour.

Curry Leaf tree. Delicious in our Burmese curries. Just love that authentic flavour

We do love our chillies. The more you pick, the more they produce.

We have many statues scattered throughout our garden. They really give you that touch of Bali.

Mr J statue by our door. He got his name from our son Josh as this is how he used to sit when he was young. Just love the rice field hat on. Such a character he is.

Chimes. Love em or hate em. Me? I love them and find them very relaxing. Hubby hates it and finds it very annoying.

The sound of water at our front door. Just a shame the water feature has wire mesh over it to stop the hungry kookaburras from feasting on our fish.

Our water wheel in the front garden. We have six water features. Just can’t get enough of the peaceful relaxing flowing water, however it has made some visitors have a sudden urge to run to the loo.

Sadly, you did not. You instead found a terrible mix of a military thriller and a martial arts historical drama.

There’s nothing to recommend Ayothaya, except possibly its under two hour runtime, but the script’s the worst part of it. Every moment, every line, is either foreshadowed or just generally predictable. Director Watin really likes to speed up and slow down the film for emphasis, just in case you miss the utterly obvious events transpiring onscreen. If there were anything good about Ayothaya, Watin’s approach might suggest disgust for the viewer. But no… his filmmaking appears to be entirely earnest in its awfulness.

Lead Seigi Ozeki apparently got the job based on his bangs–he lets them do most of his acting. They don’t do a good job.

Watin’s not just bad at directing actors or its martial arts fight scenes (which are awful too), he’s generally incompetent at composition too. Chuchart Nantitanyathada’s weak photography doesn’t help either. All of Ayothaya is glossy, with hard bright lights. The film’s ostensibly going for realism; not as far as the lighting apparently. Watin’s trying to make it all look so cool and it’s impossible when the actors can’t even react naturally.

Ayothaya isn’t quite Ed Wood… but only because of CG and a budget.

CREDITS

Directed by Nopporn Watin; written by Watin, Thanatat Kongthong, Thanawat Thirayaowapapong and Viroj Sukchu; director of photography, Chuchart Nantitanyathada; edited by Sunshine Manooratana; music by Paphatsin Ketawongwat and Padej Boonlon; production designer, Anan Wantippa; produced by Salinee Phakdeephol; released by Mahagaap.

Starring Seigi Ozeki (Yamada Nagamasa), Kanokkorn Jaicheun (Jumpaa), Sorapong Chatree (Phra Khruu), Winai Kraibutr (King Naresuan), Thanawut Ketsaro (Khaam) and Buakhao Paw Pramuk (Ai-Seua).

Related posts:

• Bangkok Revenge (2011, Jean-Marc Minéo)

~Later Days

Zawgyi , 12 April 1907 – 26 September 1990), born in Pyapon, Irrawaddy Division, real name U Thein Han (ဦးသိန်းဟန်), was a distinguished and leading Burmese poet, author, literary historian, critic, scholar and academic.

He was one of the leaders of the Hkit san (Testing the Times) movement in Burmese literature searching for a new style and content before the Second World War,  along with Theippan Maung Wa, Nwe Soe and Min Thu Wun. His first hkit san poetry,Padauk pan (Padauk flower), was published in Hantha Kyemon pamphlet.

His most memorable work was a play titled Maha hsan gyinthu, an adaptation of Molière‘s Le bourgeois gentilhomme, published in 1934.  His most famous poem was Beida lan (The Hyacinth’s Way) that traces a journey through life’s ups and downs, published in 1963.
Zawgyi was the eldest in a family of nine and educated at the Myoma National High School in Rangoon. He won the Thitsawardi Prize (5 gold sovereigns) from the Thitsawardi newspaper for the poem “Sittathukha Linga”, translated from the English poet Henry Wotton‘s “The Character of a Happy Life“. He went on to the University of Rangoon, passed the intermediate level with credits in Burmese and won the “Tha Doe Aung” prize.

After graduating with a B.A. in 1929, majoring in Burmese literature, English literature, Oriental and Far East History, Zawgyi became a tutor in the Burmese Department at the university. In 1931, Zawgyi returned to the Myoma School to teach until 1934. After achieving the M.A degree from the Rangoon University in 1936, he became a tutor in Burmese at the Mandalay Intermediate College until 1938 when he went to England to study at the University of London and then at the University of Dublin for the Diploma in Library Science.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saya_Zawgyi

Another bright and refreshing salad from Burmese Kitchen. The fish cakes were a great, flavorful addition.

Cute chihuahua chilling in the back seat of a convertible car, Castro Street.

Large chunks of tender beef in a rich, delicious sauce – how can you go wrong? This was very tasty and there was plenty to share.

Frog on bicycle wind/yard decoration, Cole Valley.

The view from Sather Tower, that is, the Campanile. You can just barely make out the Golden Gate from here, though it’s more gray than international orange.

East Coast, you’re going to be so disappointed in me, but no, I did not get much done this weekend and just baaaarely got homework handled before class.

However, I did get to hang out with a friend from out of town and show him around some favorite haunts and try out some new ones. It was an excellent excuse to gossip horribly and eat too much great food, as the best kind of visits always are.

We started with dosas and uthappams at Udupi Palace, on Martin Luther King Blvd. and University Ave.

This is the paper dosa, and as advertised, it really was two feet, and the look on Roommate S’s face was hilarious when they brought it out. It is a lentil and rice crepe that is usually stuffed with potatoes and chutney, but this was just one giant crepe skin that you broke off and dipped in various sauces.

I got the uthappam, which is almost like a savory pancake? It was delicious. And also, the coconut chutney it came with has absolutely become an obsession of mine, which is bizarre because you know how much I dislike coconut. Well, it must’ve sparked something or flipped a switch because, emboldened by its creamy, savory goodness, I also ordered a coconut latte and had coconut milk rice at various other times in the weekend.

Afterwards, you’ll be glad to know Friend J and I absconded to Philz Coffee on Shattuck and power-studied for 4 hrs. Seriously. It was an amazing study session, mostly because while I was slogging through an invigorating monograph on tax policies, Friend J somehow managed to go through three books on three different topics. Consider me schooled and humbled, East Coast.

Of course, our study session had to end on a positive note, so I introduced him to Gregoire’s magic potato puffs.

Heeeeeellll to the yes.

Remember these beauties? The piping hot, creamy mashed potatoes breaded and fried with a delicate hand. Hot damn, best way to reward yourself for four hours of excruciating econ reading.

We ate at the counter, and watched the chefs slap on dinner. And then we  reluctantly left before we could do a snatch and grab, right off the grill.

On Monday, we met up with another friend, who took us up to the Campanile bell tower. Next time you come, I will take you there, if only so you can see the giant carillon bells that play at noon! The view was lovely, but I was definitely ready to get out of the cold and get some warm food.

Our dinner took us into Oakland to an East Bay branch of a Bay Area legend, the renown Burma Superstar. As we were at the door right as they opened for dinner service, we were among the first to be seated and to order, which was a stroke of luck. By the time we were leaving, the place was full-up, with at least four parties waiting outside.

We ordered family style, so as to maximize our tasting experience! Our choices seemed simple enough, but by the end of the meal, I was completely stuffed. They are famous for their two salads, which was featured on various Foot Network shows, and of course we had to try both.

First was the tea-leaf salad, which was both a tasty, and wonderfully textured salad, with a lot of crunch, if you like that sort of thing (which I am utterly weak for).

Dried corn? Sunflower seeds? Peanuts? Garlic chips? Topped with tea-leaves? Good lord, this thing was made for me.

After explaining the ingredients, the server whipped it up for us with the ease of someone who does this at least every ten minutes.

It looks so deceptively simple, doesn’t it?

The second salad was the Rainbow Salad, whose bragging point was that it included 22 different ingredients, including four different noodles.

There were wonton chips. Rice. Tofu. Potatos. More garlic chips.

Suffice to say, I think I could gladly eat this for the rest of my life.

We also had a lamb curry and garlic noodles:

Solid food; the coconut rice was fragrant with just the right amount of sweetness and saltiness. The noodles could have easily tasted too sweet or sour, but as everything else we had, the flavor combos were wielded pretty carefully.

Of course, I could be biased, because with good company, even junk food tastes fantastic. But I do think this place will stand up to a second tasting, which I’m just going to have to do… soon…

Final verdict is, I need to take you here sometime. You will love it.

So that was my weekend! Even in crunch time, it’s sometimes worth it to just indulge a little bit, just to remind you that there’s more to life than sitting in a corner of the living room, surrounded by unread papers and staring at a blinking cursor in a blank Word doc.

Still reveling in the after effects of a good meal,

West Coast

This was delicious, although not very spicy. I like heat so I’m always a little disappointed when they promise spice and it ends up mild anyway. The fish, however, was tender and very flavorful!

Colorful San Francisco homes, Noe Valley.

Blackwood, Burmese 1-1/2″ x 1-1/2″ x 12″ Feature

See Full Customer Reviews for Blackwood, Burmese 1-1/2″ x 1-1/2″ x 12″

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I love this tamarind leaf salad! It’s got a variety of flavors and textures and is really fun to eat. San Francisco has a few Burmese restaurants and I really need to venture out and try more of them. Who wants to join?

Chang beer. They don’t have Burmese beer, but Thai beer is close enough, hehe.

Leather Pride flag, Castro and Market.

My collection of half written on pretty journals

So prepare your bodies for a disjointed narrative about my life in the past month.There will be pics.There will be quotes, and of course there will always be my ever present brilliance.

Food

My keto diet went really well for the first two weeks or so but then I realize it’s not very logical to not eat carbs all the time so I took about a week to figure out a diet plan for myself that’s still high in protein but has a moderate amount of carbohydrates and implemented it as a permanent lifestyle change.I know.I’m awesome.Below are pics of some of my meals and an inspirational quote.

“sex feels good, so does cake.but everyone isn’t 1000 pounds and I don’t go around raping people” – Anon

I

am

a

fucking

culinary

genius

Sleep

brb sleeping at 5am and waking up at 5pm.Fuck my circadian rhythms.

Education

This.

Aesthetics (This one’s gonna be deep)

I had this epiphany about a month ago that I care more about how I look than my education.Don’t get me wrong, education is still pretty high on my priority list in life but being good looking is just higher.My parents have always inputed the idea in me that having the desire to look good and spending time and money on looking good is shallow and will lead you nowhere in life and the only thing you should focus on is your education so you can get good grades and go to a good uni and get a good job and blabbity bla and everyone will like you for your radiant personality and inner goodness.This is a LIE!!!!

LIES I TELL YOU!!!

A lie they feed to innocent little children who’ll just eat up all that and genuinely believe that the world will accept them for who they are, how they look and all that idealistic shit.Fact is, you get judged on a daily basis on how you look and quite frankly, good looking people just get mad awesome points in the first impression department so I’m in the process of drafting myself a 2 year “Aesthetics” plan.The aim?Be a hot bitch at the end of 2 years.I’m going to write a detailed entry on this one of these days.

Yes, I lurk misc.

Financial Independence

At $6 per hour, I’m pretty much slave labor at Subway but it guarantees me about $200 a week to blow on whatever I want and honestly the work is quite enjoyable, you get free meals, a whole new social circle and funny anecdotes about weird customers, so if you’re still on holiday and bumming around at home, Get a job you lazy fuck!

The moment you first achieve some sort of financial independence will be the second best moment in your life.The first, I imagine, is when you achieve your aesthetic goals and strut down Orchard Road while people give you the ‘FUAAAARKK MIRIN!!’ look.The fact that you can earn an amount of money that you can do whatever the fuck you want with will give you a power you never imagine you can have.Srs.And for the unaware, you can apply for a debit card when you turn 16 and buy questionable online stuffs without having to resort to credit/debit card thievery from your parents.

Try not to piss yourself in excitement while getting yourself one of these babies for the first time

You are now throughly enlightened.You’re welcome.

The recipe was found here. It came second in the Google search and seemed pretty close from what I ate while travelling. The result is great, especially if you like peanuts and lime.

Ingredients

• 40 g peanuts, roasted (I had plain unroasted peanuts from Burma that I’ve put in a frying pan with a drop of sunflower oil and it worked great – but as these unprocessed peanuts are hard to come by in Europe, I would recommend getting a bunch of whole unsalted peanuts and do the same)
• 1 fresh red chilli (the original recipe mentions that two dry ones roasted along with the peanuts – to be tested)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 lime juice (could be replace by lemon or vinegar – to be tested)
• Fish sauce for taste
• 4 ripe tomatoes, sliced in thin wedges
• A small bunch of fresh coriander

Instructions

• Crush the peanuts using a food processor or a mortar – it’s good to get a bit of powder but keep some larger pieces as well.
• Get the seeds out of the the chilli(s) and add half of the peanuts (the smaller pieces, preferably). Add the lime juice, fish sauce and sugar.
• Blend the above (if you don’t have a food processor, just cut the chilli(s) very thin and stir the mix thoroughly).

• It looks more like a paste than a dressing, so try to spread it out evenly on the tomatoes
• Sprinkle the coriander leaves and the rest of the peanuts on top.
• Stir the salad before serving.

The gang consists of two Burmese brothers and a little tabby called Pegs.

All three are under 2 years of age and have boundless energy. At one stage I’d taken off my shoes and socks but as one of the boys started getting dangerously close to my toes – and he had already demonstrated his skills in pouncing on prey (i.e. soft toy) – I decided to re-attach my boots and shift my feet out of the way.

I tried to capture his energy on film. Unfortunately being alone I could only hold my iPhone in one hand and the end of the toy in the other and hope he got into shot. I got a little more than I bargained for:

We could learn something about local folks by their attire, posture and activities.

In Bagan or rural town, a hard day labour could earn 1500 Kyats (USD2). It reminds me how lucky am I when I ordered my Starbucks coffee. These construction workers at Yangon invited me to take of picture of them. They were so contented with just a glimpsed of their photo from the LCD screen.

Despite the hard life at lower rank society, many Burmese are still friendly and very religious.

Religion is inseparable part of most Burmese lives.

I will dedicate another posting about the monks and nuns in Myanmar.

Another immediate observation by foreigner on the Burmese ladies face would be the thanaka cosmetic. The pale yellowish powder like patches on the face is made from ground tree bark/stem.

The picture above was artist’s impression and the photo below is the real person.

Many tourists also joined the fun of putting on thanaka cream (with creative patterns and drawings). It was a traditional cosmetic to shield the skin from bitter hot sun in Myanmar.

There are plenty of rich people in Myanmar, driving fancy SUV and their children are playing with iPad. The ordinary folks will create their own toys and games.

Some kids have to help their parents as vendors on the street.

Many elders are still working for a living. It was high noon (look at the shadow of the tricycle) and this old man is repairing his bike without any shelter. The temperature on that day in Yangon was 37 Celsius. Temperature can soar over 40C during summer.

When you pass by any park and see umbrellas, it will be a special scene only found in Myanmar (at least not as popular in other country).

When we walked pass the Kan Daw Gyi Lake, we discovered the action(s) behind the umbrella. You can see so many umbrellas by the roadside and park, very unique way of dating.

Next, I will share the similarly interesting street views of Yangon. The hotel that we stayed in are using the same old air conditioner (without remote control).

I already knew from their website that there is only a small section of Burmese dishes, the rest are kind of random Western/Italian dishes? Pastas, steaks, etc. Gahh pet peeves are acting up.

One section was for Burmese noodle soups: We tried each of these and were quite dissappointed We may just be used to our Mom and relative’s fantastic cooking but the technique was a little slack and the presentation was nothing to be wow’d by. I mean in the photos, I was the one who added the cilantro and onions to make for a better picture LOL Maybe I should’ve taken them as they came and let people judge for themselves. But I cannot bring myself to take a completely unappetizing photo of food. I die a little inside

This one was probably our least favourite. Ohn-no-kaut-swe is egg noodles in coconut soup.

It seriously came out without anything on top, like a bowl of thick creamy mushroom soup.. Looked really unappetizing. The soup was way too thick and creamy and sweet. Flavours didn’t seem quite right. For a lack of a better word, it was simply boring. Isn’t there usually chicken in this anyway? And egg.. Very unimpressed.

This was mo-hin-ga. Rice noodles in a thick fish broth.

Which is supposed to be the big show stopper considering it is pretty much Burma’s national dish.. Not as bad as the previous one but still not impressed. It was just noodles, in the soup with a whole egg. C’mon now. Can’t you slice the egg so that the yolks add a little colour or garnish it a little? Once again the soup was too sweet (not sure if they are trying to make the flavour milder to suit western customers but seriously the flavours in the fish soup are what make this dish entirely and it is not spicy or anything to offend milder taste buds) I just don’t understand why people feel the need to water down ethnic flavours, if people are going to an ethnic restaurant, I’m assuming that they WANT to try authentic flavours and something new… (I’m crying inside)

This is the kyar-san-kyet. Noodles with chicken and etc in a chicken broth

This one tasted nothing like what we expected or were used to. It was more like a hot and sour soup. But I won’t say too much about it, all the thoughts are about the same as the other soups and I’m going to give it the benefit of the doubt (since it was really SO different than any kyar-san-kyet I’ve ever tasted in my life) that it may be a recipe from a different part of Burma as there are instances where things are cooked differently.

Burmese noodle soups traditionally come with limes, fish sauce, chilli powder or flakes (theirs was more of a chinese chilli paste.. eh), onions, cilantro and other flavour adjusters so that each diner can make their dish just how they like it. MY personal favourite part of Burmese eating! Cus I can omit onions Yuck and make it super spicy as I like with no care for others heeehee. Also traditionally served with crsipy fried split peas? (not sure exactly what kind of peas they are called)

Their other Burmese section was A-thoks. Or Burmese salads, now everything we had from this section was quite flavourful and delicious.

Seafood salad. Fresh and good flavours. Shrimp were well cooked. But umm.. there was ONE mussel. What?

Tofu salad – Not with the soft shan tofu that we normally make tofu thok with but nevertheless, good flavours, good portions.

Rice salad or Tha-min-Thok. This was probably my favourite of the salads ( I know it’s not technically a vegetable salad in western terms, but in Burmese, a-thok doesn’t only apply to those type of salads) And it would be filling enough for a meal for one person too.

My brother also ordered the Butter Chicken which was not one of the burmese dishes but still quite delicious.

All in all, I’d say that I was 50% impressed with the Burmese food. Limited selection, Excellent A-thoks, dissappointing noodle soups.. Not a place I would frequent or enthusiastically recommend to others as a must-go Burmese food destination but may go back to have more of the rice salad or to try some of their non-burmese entrees. Parents were mildy impressed, I think mostly for there even being a Burmese restaurant in town haha.

I’m waiting for the day an amazing Burmese resto finally opens. And it doesn’t have to be a 5 star restaurant, I mean the street food in Burma is some of the BEST foods ever. A small hole in the wall place with a few select dishes would be fantastic! As long as the food was cooked well, with all the fixings, with care and love the way that real burmese people cook for their families. It would be my dream come true if that could be me.

If anyone has ever questioned what Burmese food is all about (I definitely have), Burma Superstar will quickly squash any lingering reservations.

The Tea Leaf Salad, with tea leaves from Burma is a fan favorite with its crispy friend garlic bits and crunch peanuts.

309 Clement St, San Francisco CA 94118 – (415) 387 2147