I do have to say though, the one week me and my fourth-cousin/bff/ex-coworker Shyla made a conscience decision to stop talking so much crap and start manifesting positive things, we both got laid off by the end of the week. The irony is killing me. But maybe, it was some karmic revolution trying to tell us that getting laid off was the thing we were manifesting all a long. It's entirely possible that I tell myself this to feel better about losing my job, but, I've always had faith in the philosophy of everything happening for a reason, and now two months later, I'm about to hop on a plane to Asia.
I was reading up a bit on Laos today in my intensive South East Asia on a Shoestring, my Lonely Planet Bible for the next four months, and I subsequently decided it would be a phenomenal idea to take a cooking class in Laos at the Thong Bay Guesthouse In Vientiane. I know nothing about Laotian cuisine. I don't even think I have ever seen a Laotian restaurant in San Francisco which is ubiquitious for it's multi-cultural food options. I just googled "Laotian restaurants in San Francisco" and literally came up with nothing. I did find this appetizing restaurant in Albany, but it's not simply Laotian food, its Lao-Thai cuisine, which is frankly not the same, though I'm sure their food has many of the same influences. To be honest, I found it somewhat unsettling that Laotian cuisine is so terribly unrepresented in this area of the world and the fact that I don't even know what Laotian cuisine really tastes like. To me, this is tragic; I want to know what every flavor and cuisine on the globe tastes like. I want the smells to be familiar of another place in the world and my taste-buds even more so. It's the way chicken karaage transports me back to my grandma's kitchen in Japan, every time I taste it or smell the intoxicating aroma of ginger and garlic wafting in from the stove-top as the chicken is dipped in bubbling oil. No restaurant could ever compare to the way she cooks it.
I think this class will be my way of bringing back Laos to San Francisco, if I can actually remember how to cook anything when I get back. The way I imagine this cooking class is how Anthony portrays life on No Reservations--full of fragrant spices, happy locals, and fresh vegetables, neatly spread out on a vibrant multi-colored table cloth. Maybe with some fresh lobster and fish and a bucket full of traditional Lao beer to take it all in. Then we bake, grill, steam, fry ... and savor every last heavenly bite at a beautiful outside table overlooking the Mekong river with a blooming array of native flaura and fauna surrounding us. I don't know if it's going to be as Bourdainesque as I fantasize it to be, but it's only fifteen dollars and, if anything, it would be a fun culinary adventure. Plus, I really like how the guesthouse is called "Thong bay." How can you go wrong with that?
My dream Laotian feast
Thong Bay Guesthouse
