THE SAI OUA INCIDENT

"Sai ua or sai oua?" was The Moderator's topic for Panel 4.

The Thai lady who sold grilled meat near the Asoke Station in Bangkok argued for the former and Chiang Mai sausage. 

A stall at the "night market with food" along Vientiane's Rue Hengboun was for neither and offered spicy sai kok instead.

The kitchen of the Tamnak Lao Restaurant vetted for the latter and authentic Luang Prabang sausage.

The next day, Discussion Group 4 was convened by The Facilitator at Lan Xang 1 of the Crowne Plaza to find Vin's sai oua stall.

PHILIPPINES: Our delegation was advised it should be in front of SNACK & CHILL a block from the forex kiosk near the Lao National Cultural Hall. 

VIETNAM: Tuesday's grilled fish at the Mekong Night Market was an excellent fallback but our delegation wishes to clarify that the two ladies in the next table are from another party.

LAOS: We don't have information if it is still operating or it was just too early but we hope you enjoyed Wednesday's braised river eel and spicy beef as options. 

THAILAND: We have no intervention at this point except to clarify that Yaowarat is our Chinatown, commend the Lao bands who sang Thai songs and note that the fried frog is just okey.  

Sai oua is as ancient as the Kingdom of the Million Elephants and the White Parasol.

It could have fed the workers whom King Setthathirath tasked to build Pha That Luang when he moved from Luang Prabang to Vientiane in 1566.  

The then 37-years old king who was murdered in 1571 is the guardian of Pha That Luang's main entrance until today.  

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I was so desperate to find what is reportedly one of Vientiane's two best sai ouas that I accepted a beer drinking challenge from a lady who called herself Nar.

I lost 400,000 kip and she left without telling me where.

The sausage served at Tummour on Friday felt like the texture of a wet rag worn by use, rough and raspy as a November Rain and the shuttered door of the Khambang Lao Food Restaurant.      

I lost another 800,000 kip without knowing where.

But perseverance matters.

One humid afternoon, Google Maps finally got it right and led me to Ban Haysoke after a 1-kilometer walk from internet-less Somerset, to one of the best sai ouas in Vientiane, a place I've passed by at least twice in the past.

I somehow sense then that it is the place.

And thus was how the Sai Oua Incident was moderated, facilitated and concluded...