Rangoon In Photos

Had a lot going on in life lately - went to Myanmar (Burma), found out we have to move because the landlady will be letting her sister live here more or less permanently (I'm devastated and Brendan is upset too, although he doesn't show it as much), lots of post-Chinese-New-Year work.

So, in lieu of actually posting something, here are some photos from Rangoon, with more photos of other parts of Myanmar to follow.




I really enjoyed Yangon (Rangoon) - it's quieter and more manageable than other capital cities in the developing world (I realize it's no longer the capital, but for all intents and purposes it may as well be), and a lot of quiet, faded, somewhat melancholic charm still exists (well, the melancholy has probably been settling over the city over time). In some ways, it's like a smaller, less European version of Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul. It lacks the decent public transportation of other cities but makes up for it with cheap, mostly honest cab drivers.



And, beyond the temples and Raj-era architecture, it has a few of its own colorful, eccentric gems.





It's got a night life and street food scene not too different from Taipei's: what it lacks in full night markets it makes up for roadside stands selling Burmese, Thai, Indian and Chinese treats and beer gardens, mostly serving noodles, hamburgers and Chinese-style ("Burmese Chinese") food.



Rangoon is also incredibly diverse - it is not uncommon to see a guy who looks thoroughly Chinese chatting, in Burmese, with a guy who is obviously South Indian in ancestry, Burmese both being one of their native languages, while a Bamar guy nods in time with the conversation. In fact, we did see that.





I did not enjoy the gauntlet-like sidewalks or dim, hazy air, but I did enjoy the vibrant street life, roadside tea shops with low stools (well, my back didn't really enjoy the stools), the temples plopped down in traffic circles and the general time-capsule-just-opened eccentricity of the place...although I do realize that urban character, partly a result of being shut off from the rest of the world for so long, comes at a steep price to the people and the economy they live in.







Everywhere you go, you see Buddhas and stupas, Buddhas and stupas. While after awhile they all do start to look the same, if you don't let yourself get too dulled by the Buddhas-and-stupas you'll see that they're all quite different in style and design (well, the Buddhas are. The stupas really all do look about the same). Different sizes, details, clothing, colors, facial expressions, the lot.

Restaurant Recommendation: Golden Peacock Burmese

Golden Peacock Restaurant (金孔雀) - Burmese
#48-1 Huaxin Street (Burma Street)
Zhonghe, New Taipei City
MRT Nanshijiao Exit 4, exit, turn left, keep walking, turn left again on Huaxin Street

金孔雀
新北市中和區華新街（緬甸街)48-1號）

捷運南勢角站4號出口

Just popping in to recommend this place - the food is excellent and while I've never been to Myanmar, I have traveled in that part of the world and I can say that it holds up as tasting authentic.

Other restaurants on this street are also excellent, but so far this place is my favorite. There are different dishes you can choose from already set out - get the chicken in curry gravy and the powdered or pickled mango rice flavorings for sure. Their noodles are great, too, whether you get the thicker or thinner ones.

Make sure to finish up with tea or coffee - we got iced coffee and it was delicious and very Southeast Asian. It had a lot more flavor than what you usually get at upmarket Thai restaurants here.

Golden Peacock is not even remotely high-end, but the food is fantastic!

Burma Street

To get to Burma Street (Huaxin Jie - 華新街), take the MRT to Nanshijiao (南勢角), leave by Exit 4 and turn right on Xingnan Road right out front (興南路). Walk for about 7 minutes, through a weird intersection with Nanshan Road (南山路). When you reach Huaxin Jie, it'll be obvious: turn left through the two entrance pillars made to look like the domes of Southeast Asian temples. There's a Cafe 85 on the corner.

Last Saturday dawned dreary and rainy (ah, Taipei) so after my thing in Zhonghe, we decided instead of going too far afield that we'd hunt down the famous, yet elusive "Burma Street" in Zhonghe. Apparently, there are many such streets where people of a certain ethnic extraction establish businesses and restaurants in Zhonghe, including a Korea Street that we now have to find.

We took our friend Aliya's directions and made our way there with growling stomachs - and me with a broken purse (the strap snapped). We were not disappointed: store after store and restaurant after restaurant serving up Burmese food to Burmese immigrants*, blasting Burmese music (mostly Western-style rap...in Burmese) and selling Burmese groceries.

Doing our usual reconnaisance, we found a popular place with a crowd of locals - by locals I mean Burmese people - sitting 'round a table drinking and shooting the breeze with no particular plans to leave: if they like it, it must be good, right?

And it was! We got two kinds of noodle ("Give us your most popular dish...what's the most...Burmese?") - one was like a Taiwanese thin noodle (麵線) and the other was like a dry stir-fried ramen (炒拉麵), but with different flavors. There was a sour vegetable in the thin noodle and the stir-fry had a coconutty peanut flavor accented with fried garlic and dried scallions and, I think, a hint of lemongrass. The owner, deeply amused at the two foreigners asking for "the most popular/most Burmese" thing on the menu, gave us a free dessert - a fluffy bread similar to a Singaporean prata or Taiwanese onion pancake, but sweet and dipped in sugar. We also got a cake that the group of locals was eating, which seemed to be pan-baked, topped with what looked like white poppy seeds and delicious, though not astounding.

The milk tea was more Indian than anything else, and there were free refills of regular (non-milk) tea. There was a menu in Chinese and Burmese (for those of you who can read Chinese but have no idea what to order in Burmese - and they seemed to be the same stuff) and the owner has been here for over 20 years and can speak quite good Chinese. Other restaurants seem similarly well-equipped for us non-Burmese-speakers.

Oh, and the whole meal came to less than 200 kuai for 2. Yay!

We also stopped at a grocery and picked up some cooking supplies that are far cheaper there than at Jason's (fenugreek seed, kaffir lime leaves etc) as well as some unfamiliar snacks ("Saltcheese" crackers, V-cut "Pinoy Adobo" potato chips, something reeking of garlic etc.)

All in all, a good day. I recommend checking it out.

*interesting how those of us from developed countries are "expats", but those from developing ones are "immigrants". As Brendan says, "that's because they'll more likely stay here and make their kids do well at school. We're more likely to go home someday." Fair enough.