LUANG PRABANG

The ghost of Luang Prabang haunted me ever since I was forced to give it up for an outcome harvesting workshop in Manila in 2019, and it was only after PG 941's bumpy landing at the Luang Prabang International Airport that a fierce afternoon sun exorcised it forever.

Luang Prabang is the mystical royal capital of the deposed Kingdom of Cambodia, home to 6 of what tasteatlas listed as the 9 best sai oua in the world and ancient temples where monks beat oversized gongs to usher the Festival of Light through Google Maps to the Tamarind Restaurant and Cooking School along the Nam Khan River and what is said to be the best sai oua in the world.

But the tounge got confused by five bites from a Lao sampler plate and the amazing offerings from pricey Manda de Laos (right below) and 3 Nagas (left below)so I came back for a second sampling and confirmed that Tamarind's (middle below) is way below its #1 ranking from tasteatlas. 

In fact, my ranking for Tamarind's is even below Silk Road Cafe's sliced version (left below) and that of Khmu Restaurant's fried offering (right below).

All of them though will be in my #10 but my #1 ranking in terms of authenticity, taste and value for money will be that for an unnamed stall at the Luang Prabang Morning Market (middle below) that represents what sai oua should be minus the hubris of plating,presentation and a fine dining.

Yes, Luang Prabang is indeed the sai oua capital of the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site too since 1995, its rich history seamlesly fused into an ensemble of well-preserved traditional and colonial architecture that packed the Old Quarter to the seams where every morning, my imaginary bike tour cruised through ancient temples and a line of monks performing the daily alms giving ceremony for a horde of tourists.   

The gears of the complimetary mountain bike from our fancy hotel doesn't work, its sticky handle bars reminded me of the many chewing gums I've sat on in my lifetime but it carried me to temple pit stops (Wat Sensoukharam, Wat Sop Sickharam, Wat Wisunnarat), the placid headwaters of the Mekong River, the early morning market show, and a unique crossing across a French-era steel bridge.

I have 5 wonderful days in Luang Prabang supporting a regional workshop on enabling social protection, taste testing its famous sai oua, and biking through the narrow streets of the Old Quarter.

The triumvirate of Marx-Lenin-Ho hanging from the walls of the Luang Prabang Federation of Trade Unions was a strange encounter so is my failure to find a souvenir plate at the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Center.

I sought refuge from the burning sun at the ornate central shrine of Wat Xieng Thong and almost had a heat stroke chasing the crown jewels of the Royal Palace Museum.  

And there were nights of Lao Beer at a "comfortable grilled goat shop", Luang Prabang Beer and grilled fish at the night market, and more beer and deep fried bufallo skin at Sopha's place where everything smelled of cheap soap and perfume.

The Phra Bang spoke to me and I will be back for more.    

THE MANILA AND BANGKOK LAYOVERS

PART 1: The Grind

“The sarcophagus ’neath his new city waits.

Pylons and angels guarding o’er his tomb..."

A pilgrimage to the Quezon Memorial Shrine was agreed even before payment requests were amended and disbursed for the monthly power and water bills, phone charges and credit card statements... 

...that were rejected by newly activated replacement cards, collaterals for pieces of concrete real estate in Hop Inn-Ortigas, Red Planet-Asoke and Hotel XYZ in Tacloban...

...as the futile search for Johor Bahru's budget codes topped the agenda of the ACWC who will convene in Siem Reap a month before the Luang Prabang ToR takes effect...

...to initiate the final Ormoc arrangements and social protection for Xieng Thong where the I-JET and FFA PMUs will meet to decide on the fate of the missing mentee...

...who mixed a cocktail of Red Horse and cheap birthday brandy in lieu of an unmasonic charge, two tours in Bali, and the signing of a 6-month contract after 5 biking days. 

PART 2: The Ghosts of QC

"Adorned in Ilustre's design he lies.

He rests at last with his murdered wife.”

Boy Ching Woo is framed in Caloocan

chauffeur to dead presidents 

curator of the Presidential Car Museum

Tandang Sora wept with the rain

her National Shrine disgraced 

San Pedro Bautista relegated

Pansit alanganin, Neapolitan pizza

premium finally paid by Motorino

brunch, dinner at Marhaba Lounge

PART 3: Sleepless in Bangkok

Soi Cowboy sleeps

a Red Planet of sai ua

food tasting the trains

sapphire for a juice

pork cooks in Room 408

Luang Prabang beckons

--- With apologies to Dan Brown

LIFT OFF

her scent lingered, 

a resilient ambassador to forgotten acquaintances who skipped a Monday meeting in a bus to Bulacan, to the university and a senator meeting with consorts at Rodic's where reheated lunch was launched as a dinner at the The Patio

breakfasts at Morato, 

ribsilog wrapped with blank pages of an HR contract in a buffet of email spams offering fairly financed tapsilog, burger meals, and a just transition from the green bus to a confused discussion on ASEAN influencing in Luang Prabang

the first PMU meeting, 

Laos chocked by a loud Cambodian voice fostering a 6-month spending plan for a travel insurance through amended payment requests that were Tried and Proven with a sweet brandy in Baloc and cold strong beer in Bakal 2 

a panel in Johor Bahru, 

330 kilometers from Kuala Lumpur is 25 kilometers via Singapore, just one of four days in the bike trails on a fuel of cheap burnt wine from the Sunday market where a voluptuous lady threw furtive glances at the fish monger's stall