James Zwier
My life and work in Laos
On a Sunday afternoon walk in Holland
Taken at Holland Lighthouse (aka Big Red)
Fall garden
Since we'll be in the US this fall, I planted low-maintenance beans in our garden this month. My goal is to improve the soil, reduce weeds, and hopefully collect some seeds when we return in January. I planted nine different legumes: two kinds of velvet bean, black bean, pinto bean, red and yellow rice bean, soybean, crotalaria, and indigofera. Thanks to Rick Burnette at ECHO Asia in Chiang Mai for these seeds!
Videos of market fire in Phonsavan on September 13, 2011
There was an electrical fire at the main fresh market in Phonsavan last week. It started at about 6am and spread through a row of 44 stalls, causing 4.75 billion kip of damage. The stalls were located along the road behind the post office and sold mostly dry goods, baskets, and tourist souvenirs.The fire truck arrived too late to put it out, of course. Read more about it from the Vientiane Times. I've also uploaded two videos taken at 7:30am, while the fire was still smouldering, of people trying to salvage what they could from the ashes.
(download)
(download)
First meals in Vietnam
Lunch: beef pho soup with assorted greens. Not very good broth, but
tasted good with lots of nuoc nam sauce. Dinner: we couldn't read the menu so we tried to get rice with stir
fry. I went with the waiter's recommendation and it turned out to be
rice soup with eel and a great sauce. Delicious but not what I wanted
(a big plate of rice).
tasted good with lots of nuoc nam sauce. Dinner: we couldn't read the menu so we tried to get rice with stir
fry. I went with the waiter's recommendation and it turned out to be
rice soup with eel and a great sauce. Delicious but not what I wanted
(a big plate of rice).
Posted
from Nghe An Province, Viet Nam
Tea at the Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok
For a special treat in May we had afternoon tea at a fancy hotel on
the river in Bangkok. It was delightful and delicious. We rode the
hotel shuttle boat from Saphan Taksin bridge to the Mandarin Oriental
hotel. The tea room was filled with wealthy Thai people and a few
tourists. We got one traditional English tea set with an extra pot of
tea on the side. We got a Darjeeling and the Mandarin special black
tea with orange and jasmine. We loved the scones, clotted cream, rose
jam, crème brûlée, and salmon sandwiches. It was a lovely afternoon
date for us.
the river in Bangkok. It was delightful and delicious. We rode the
hotel shuttle boat from Saphan Taksin bridge to the Mandarin Oriental
hotel. The tea room was filled with wealthy Thai people and a few
tourists. We got one traditional English tea set with an extra pot of
tea on the side. We got a Darjeeling and the Mandarin special black
tea with orange and jasmine. We loved the scones, clotted cream, rose
jam, crème brûlée, and salmon sandwiches. It was a lovely afternoon
date for us.
Posted
from Bangkok and กรุงเทพมหานคร, Thailand
Making fish traps
The guard at the CRWRC office, Uncle Khamlá, is always busy making
something. It's been raining a lot this week so the natural thing to
make is fish traps. This type of trap is used at the drainage points
of rice paddies to catch any fish that want to escape. The basket is
long and narrow so it fits in the ditch with a wide neck to hold it in
place. It took him a half day to make two of these traps.
something. It's been raining a lot this week so the natural thing to
make is fish traps. This type of trap is used at the drainage points
of rice paddies to catch any fish that want to escape. The basket is
long and narrow so it fits in the ditch with a wide neck to hold it in
place. It took him a half day to make two of these traps.
Posted
from Phonsavan, Lao People's Democratic Republic
