I love to visit local markets whenever I visit a foreign country. The markets can tell you so much about the culture – the food they eat, their priorities and the way people socialize. On my recent holiday in Luang Prabang, I signed up for a cooking class. The teacher, who runs a wonderful restaurant called Tamarind in Luang Prabang, took us to the local market so we could appreciate the ingredients used in Lao cooking. Banana flowers, fennel and buffalo skin are some of the key ingredients in their cooking. The open-air kitchen was a hut next to a river, surrounded by trees and plants, a perfect setting ?for the cooking class. After several hours of cooking, we finally sat down to enjoy the fruit of our labor?in the lush garden.?
Dear Gychorgora:
Thank you for your comments.
I just met a friend who told me she found out a special place and wanted me to visit.
Guess what this place is? You are right on.
It is Luang Praband. The price is still very reasonable and people are so nice there. You still can lay back and enjoy the simple life with the local.
Please visit the few places that I mentioned here. I, especially, recommend you to take a two days guided hiking trip to the hill village. It is a tough hiking but the reward is to see these people living happily in the most primitive environment. It was an eye opening for me.
Ping
It’s amazing
Dear Editor Lady;
You also made my day with your kind words and inspiring comments.
Luang Prabang is commercialized fast. If you want to explore this wonderful place, you need to do it now.
I felt that we must have a lot in common. You must be an expert in creating memorable moments.
Thank you for dropping in.
Ping
Personally, I think Luang Prabang is one of the most endearing and lovely places on earth. I loved my time there. Visited some 18 temples, and, yes, they have magnificent ones. But it’s the people, their sweet smiles, generous nature, strong faith and hard working attitude I recall most fondly. Yes, I too went to the market and it was “an experience.” Far too few travelers go into the heart of a city and try to experience a taste of what the locals see and do every day. You are too be commended…. You’ve made my day — as I dig out the photos and recall the memories. Travel is such an invigorating experience. Happy travels!
Dear Apple: Canmeng Aveda is blessed with so many young people who accept the daymaker as thier new philosophy in life and work. Please integrate your work with your life. This is the secret that people fail to realize. Monocle is a great magazine that will give you different views on global affairs and latest design concepts. I am sure you will enjoy reading Monocle magazine once you overcome the fear to English. Ping
Dear M:
I hope this info will catch you before it is too late. I did some checking. The restaurant name is Arisai. The most charming chef’s name is Sommay. You can mention my name. Actually, Lung Ying Tai just wrote an article about him and his restaurant not long ago.
Please create some memories intentionally.
Ping
Dear M:
I hope you can check email while you are still in Luang Prabang. I highly recommend a small French restaurant Arisai with an open kitchen on the main street. You won’t miss it. Please tell the chef, Sommay that you are from Taiwan and mention my name. I went to this restaurant three times and befriended him. I also recommend you to take a cooking class while you are there. It is fun and a good way to make friends with some fellow travellers. There is one nice shop owned by a Chinese from Hong Kong and his partner from England, Orange Tree or something like this. Their shop is on the street next to the Mekong River. Please spend some time to get to know local people. All you need to do is to invite them out for a nice dinner. They will also take you to their hang out places. Rent a boat and ask them to take you to their home village, instead of the village for tourists. I visited a working village that sells nothing. I did a two-day hike which was not a good idea for me. It was too hard and too strenuous. We did have one unique experience of living with the poorest tribal family though. I had never seen such a poor village in my entire life except on Discovery channel documentary programs. The whole village is a big zoo farm. You have all kinds of animals living with the human inhabitants. It was so surreal that I could not believe that people are still living under such circumstances. Please explore and experience the natural charm of this place.
Be a daymaker and the Karma will take care of you.
Love,
Ping
hi, ping
can i ask the detail for the cooking lesson, look really interested. half day? i am going to visit luang prabang next week, any restaurant you would recommend as well?
Thank you for inviting me. I think I am not ready to play this kind of chained game that can connect with more poeple. However, I like all your anwsers though.
Ping
親愛的朱平先生：
您被我幸福點點名了
這是網路上的一個遊戲
因為我很想知道您的想法是什麼
所以點名了您
如果您有時間的話
一起來玩吧
http://blog.yam.com/chinchinwu08/article/14344398
金津
Dear Freda:
Thank you for your kind words. The dish I made in the cooking class was delicious. I did not put too much chilly pepper so I can appreciate the subtle difference in so many aromatic ingredients. We made three different kind of salad from the scratch. It was fun to grind all ingredients with your own labor. Grinding is a much better way to have the fresh flavor than cutting or chopping. Now, I know why their salad tastes so much better than ours. We also cooked one dish with the carving of lemon grass. It was the most difficult dish to make. We had fish and beef dish too. Laos really wants to redefine their cuisine from Thailand’s. I also took cooking class for India and Thai food before. I always want to learn a culture from the way they cook food.
Dear Apple:
I always believe there is a reason for everything. Unfortunately, we usually don’t appreciate what we already have untill someone reminds us. Monocle is a great world class magazine. You can see from the amount of advertisement page sponsored by world renown brands to know that Monocle is in main stream now. I have mixed feeling about being main stream. I have confidence that Tyler Brule, the editor in chief , will have the wisdom to leverage his power this time to influence the world affairs, culture, business and design. Thank you, Apple to let me know your feeling.
i have to mention the food from Nonzero are wholesomely awesome. i recommend everybody should go eat at least once a month if not more.
good food do give us good mood, try it.
Dear Ping,
i am so happy to see you are such an good impact on so many people. that makes all the efforts and sacrifices you have done worthwhile. yes, curiosity is a must in our daily life, and step out of our comfort zone is another excellent challenge. you are a superior example for us to follow on our everyday living.
your spirit is a subject of my admiration. press on pal, i am expecting amazing things from you all times.
love your pictures, what are the food on table?
今天下午在店內翻了一下MONOCLE雜誌。它真的蠻值得看的！
一開始感到它是一本很陌生的雜誌，我嘗試著想去翻它，也上網搜尋它，卻始終不了解它。
直到有一天，一位客人不經意的說：這本書很好看。（帶著喜悅的眼神！）
他的眼神說服了我。
於是，我再次靜下心，細細咀嚼著書中的每一項。
最新的一期已然在架上，我想我很幸運可以輕易地翻閱內容！
其中一個字眼吸引了我的目光 “Valleta”!
是我曾經去過的那個小島國家嗎？手中迅速翻到那ㄧ頁。真的是！！好開心喔！
因為那次的旅行回來後，周遭很少人聽過 MALTA 這個國家。少了一種與人分享的共鳴～～～
卻在一本雜誌中的再次回憶起，腦海中閃過一幕幕情景，看著書上的圖片，就是這裡！我曾到過的！
旅程中的體驗與學習，是難以言喻的深刻在心裡。
果然，讀萬卷書，更要行萬里路！
我要開始規劃下一個旅行的目的地了！
很感謝 Monocle 用心的傳遞世界上每一個不論大大小小的訊息。
更感謝因為在 AVEDA 而認識了這本書！