Veganizing "Friends": The Joey Special!!!by Randi / September 9, 2013
Leaving Bagan like the horsey
When our time in Bagan ended, it was pretty hard to leave the natural wonder of the region. However, Mandalay and the ancient cities in the Mandalay region were up next with their own wonders and amazing sights. I was also secretly most excited about Mandalay because Rudyard Kipling’s poem about it has the most perfect rhythm ever:
By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin’ lazy at the sea,
There’s a Burma girl a-settin’, and I know she thinks o’ me;
For the wind is in the palm-trees, and the temple-bells they say:
“Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to Mandalay!”
Come you back to Mandalay,
Where the old Flotilla lay:
Can’t you ‘ear their paddles chunkin’ from Rangoon to Mandalay?
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin’-fishes play,
An’ the dawn comes up like thunder outer China ‘crost the Bay!
U Bein Bridge
Upon landing in Mandalay (after, if I remember correctly, the scariest flight yet), we drove to our first destination, Amarapura. Once (actually, twice) the capital of Burma, Amarapura is most known for U Bein Bridge, the longest teak bridge in the world. Walking along U Bein Bridge is the thing to do. It’s a nice stroll, guaranteed warm and sunny, and buggy – make sure to use extra mosquito repellent.
A few boaters off of U Bein Bridge
The line for lunch at Mahagandayon Monastery
Amarapura, besides being the most fun name to say, is also home to a pretty happening monastery, Mahagandayon. Actually, I’m pretty sure all the monasteries in Burma can be called happening; it’s pretty common for young sons to be sent away to study, and they all seemed pretty crowded.
I’m (almost) on a boat
Next, we took a boat across the river to visit the ancient imperial capital of Inwa (or Ava). Inwa is a very lush, unkempt place, very much for travelers to visit and not so much for living. A few monasteries, pagodas, and other sights await.
WARNING: Due to the whole ‘for visiting/not for living’ setup and the whole rural, unkempt land thing, Inwa has no roads, no cars, and isn’t very walkable. The only way people get around is by horse cart. Upon landing on the Inwa riverbank and seeing what our guide was leading us to, I was vehement about absolutely not forcing a horse to cart me around. I tried to find a bike or something, anything else to use to get around. But after some effort, we learned that the choice was either to use the horses or to skip the visit. So, we went. Hard decisions regarding cultural clashes with veganism always come up when traveling, and I guess I was lucky that this was the worst one I faced in Burma. I still feel badly about it, but I’m not sure skipping Inwa would have been the right decision.
The guide didn’t speak English and didn’t understand what my problem was, so she thought I was scared of horses, and throughout the day kept holding my hand and stuff. It was weird.
WARNING: Due to the whole ‘for visiting/not for living’ setup and the whole rural, unkempt land thing, Inwa has no roads, no cars, and isn’t very walkable. The only way people get around is by horse cart. Upon landing on the Inwa riverbank and seeing what our guide was leading us to, I was vehement about absolutely not forcing a horse to cart me around. I tried to find a bike or something, anything else to use to get around. But after some effort, we learned that the choice was either to use the horses or to skip the visit. So, we went. Hard decisions regarding cultural clashes with veganism always come up when traveling, and I guess I was lucky that this was the worst one I faced in Burma. I still feel badly about it, but I’m not sure skipping Inwa would have been the right decision.
The guide didn’t speak English and didn’t understand what my problem was, so she thought I was scared of horses, and throughout the day kept holding my hand and stuff. It was weird.
Inwa’s rice paddies and pagodas
Maha Aung Mye Bon Zan Monastery. Much bigger in real life
Inwa was home to one of my absolute favorite buildings in Myanmar, the Maha Aung Mye Bon Zan Monastery, or Me Nu’s Brick Monastery. Huge and colored with age, the imposing building was really beautiful. And, you get to walk around and explore all the tiers (barefoot, of course. Everything is barefoot).
The last great sight in Inwa was the Bagaya Kyaung Teak Monastery, another teak wood wonder.
The last great sight in Inwa was the Bagaya Kyaung Teak Monastery, another teak wood wonder.
Bagaya Monastery This beautiful monastery had a little classroom inside! We spied on some future monks as they learned. So cute.
After Inwa, we visited Mingun, one of my favorite stops in this region. I like to think that I loved Mingun for its wondrous temples and monuments and not just because it’s where I ate my first custard apple, the most delicious thing in the world. |
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Mingun’s Unfinished Pagoda
No, Mingun’s sights really are astounding and almost as great as a perfect custard apple. The Mingun Pahtodawgyi, the unfinished pagoda, is freaking massive. It would have been the largest stupa in the world, but astrologers predicted that the king would die upon its finishing, so the work stopped. Astrology causes so many problems.
Hsinphyumae Pagoda
Near the enormous unfinished stupa is Hsinphyumae Pagoda. I love the facade of this one because it looks like waves in the ocean. It’s named after a princess who died in childbirth.
Mingun also has the world’s largest uncracked bell, a distinction I appreciated as a Philadelphian. Visitors can ring the Mingun bell by smacking it with a big piece of wood. It’s harder than it sounds, and when you do it you look ridiculous, hence no pictures.
Besides perfect custard apples, Mingun’s other culinary claim to fame is its spirulina beer on tap. As a vegan, I’m pretty hip to the spirulina, so I had to try this even though I despise beer. You know what? It tasted like kombucha!
The sign for spirulina beer After my spirulina hit, it was time to see the lovely Sagaing, known for its hill facing the Ayerwaddy River. The hill is literally covered with monasteries and pagodas.
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The only time you’ll catch me drinking beer |
Sagaing Hill from across the Ayerwaddy
One of these is not like the others
My favorite pagoda up on Sagaing Hill was the U Min Thonze Temple. It’s known as the Thirty Caves Pagoda because it has 30 Buddha statues with a little cave-like entrance in front of each Buddha.
This was not our boat, but ours was pretty similar
After seeing all of these wonderful ancient cities, we crossed the Ayerwaddy River to finally see Mandalay. I loved taking all these boats; it’s cooler on the water.
Women washing in the Ayerwaddy
Center of Mandalay
Welcoming sign
You might recall from the first post about Myanmar when I said something about the Tatmadaw crushing all who oppose the military government. It’s because of this frightening, enormous sign warning all to obey the Tatmadaw or, well, be crushed.
Thankfully, the rest of Mandalay was pretty welcoming, although not very comfortable. It’s a very dilapidated city, with makeshift sidewalks built by laying stone planks down over holes in the ground. I near sprained my ankles multiple times. So, in summary, tread carefully around Mandalay!
You’ll likely visit the Mandalay Palace, the royal residence of the last two kings of Burma. Most of the grounds were destroyed during World War II, so this is a replica.
Thankfully, the rest of Mandalay was pretty welcoming, although not very comfortable. It’s a very dilapidated city, with makeshift sidewalks built by laying stone planks down over holes in the ground. I near sprained my ankles multiple times. So, in summary, tread carefully around Mandalay!
You’ll likely visit the Mandalay Palace, the royal residence of the last two kings of Burma. Most of the grounds were destroyed during World War II, so this is a replica.
Mandalay Palace
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My favorite pagoda in Mandalay was Kuthodaw Pagoda, better known as The World’s Biggest Book. Separate little huts house single (huge, stone) pages of the book, and with more than 1000 pages, you probably won’t get to see all of it. Biggest book indeed! This is such a cool sight.
One row of many housing the book’s pages |
One page of the book |
Mandalay had great food. We found this insanely delicious Nepalese place called NVC, that had unlimited thali for about a dollar or something insane. (It’s probably what eventually made us sick.) Also, Mandalay had a truly vegetarian restaurant! The food at Marie Min restaurant was delicious, and more importantly in this country, the produce was washed with boiled water! I could have salads! We had a variety of curries and vegetable spread, and of course whatever raw produce we could get. If you go, order the eggplant dip. So good. I loved this place, especially the sign that hangs out front:
How amazing is this!
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A very famous pagoda in Mandalay is the Mahamuni Buddha Temple, home to a very important Buddha that pilgrims can touch and coat with pieces of gold leaf. NB: pilgrims are only men, obvs.
Rude |
Mahamuni Buddha |
After a few days in Mandalay, we embarked upon one of the scariest adventures of my life. My boyfriend loves epic train rides, so when he learned there was one in Burma, we had to go on it, no matter how insane the idea. This ride was famous because it crossed the Goke Hteit Viaduct, a treacherous pass.
That skinny little track across the cliffs of insanity is the pass we just had to cross! So scary, isn’t it? Here we go…
I KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!
How petrifying is that view! Oh my goodness! You can bet that I had my seasick bands around my wrists and I was gorging on ginger chews during this! Obviously, we made it across, but man alive was it scary! And pretty cool. It was built in 1902 by the Pennsylvania and Maryland Steel Co., so that’s pretty neat! We met really nice Burmese people in our train carriage (which rivaled the Bosnian trains) who helped make the ride more pleasant despite the language barrier. That’s always the best part of traveling, meeting great locals. (And getting to the other side of this viaduct.)
The takin
The last place we visited in the Mandalay region, before flying to Inle Lake, was Pyin Oo Lwin, which used to be called Maymyo when it was a British hill station. Pyin Oo Lwin’s biggest draw is this huge fancy nature park, the Kandawgyi Botanical Gardens. We saw so many incredible plants and animals, including my first black swan, and this guy, the takin. I’m not really sure what kind of animal he is, but he’s cute! They kind of just roam around in the forests and we probably shouldn’t have been so close.
We also saw this peacock! How gorgeous is that! I had never before seen a peacock do its dance before. Love it!
Stay tuned for the last leg of my travels through Myanmar, to come next week.
We also saw this peacock! How gorgeous is that! I had never before seen a peacock do its dance before. Love it!
Stay tuned for the last leg of my travels through Myanmar, to come next week.
Last sunset over Mandalay
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Zagreb Vegan Scene: Green Point
On Saturday night, I was expecting to enjoy a meal at Zrno, but when I arrived around 7:15pm, the sole staffer there told me they were closed. Cue tears (almost). Luckily, I had Green Point marked on my map, and luckily, it’s open pretty late.
Green Point offers vegetarian fast food, which is always necessary to have in a city. It’s a small space, with only a counter behind which the one worker heats up the frozen patties, makes smoothies, and easily prepares whatever else they offer. Obviously, and sadly, there is no bathroom.
Green Point offers vegetarian fast food, which is always necessary to have in a city. It’s a small space, with only a counter behind which the one worker heats up the frozen patties, makes smoothies, and easily prepares whatever else they offer. Obviously, and sadly, there is no bathroom.
On one of the main drags, a tiny cutout of a place houses the vegetarian fast food joint Green Point. It’s easy, quick, and decent. And, thankfully, it’s open past 7pm – a rarity in Zagreb. A lot of the items looked and sounded really interesting, but unfortunately the majority were not vegan. I ordered a hemp burger without cheese (only regular cheese here).
The burger was pretty good. It tasted like slightly more interesting Boca burger, and had bit of spicy salsa, along with tomato and lettuce on a big bun. It needed more sauce to counter all the breading, but there were few vegan options.
The burger was pretty good. It tasted like slightly more interesting Boca burger, and had bit of spicy salsa, along with tomato and lettuce on a big bun. It needed more sauce to counter all the breading, but there were few vegan options.
I also ordered a banana hemp soy milk shake. It was decent, but not as thick or cold as I wanted it to be.
I wouldn’t go out of the way to come here if you are vegan. Vegetarians would have tons more options that looked more interesting. But hey if you are hungry and it’s past 7pm, it’s a great option to have.
I wouldn’t go out of the way to come here if you are vegan. Vegetarians would have tons more options that looked more interesting. But hey if you are hungry and it’s past 7pm, it’s a great option to have.
Green Point, Zagreb
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Cork, Ireland: Lovely Little City with Great Vegan Food
Apparently Cork is a city; I had to look it up because I was about to call it a little town (it’s a quiet village). But it’s a lovely little place and an easy town (village) (city?) to see when visiting a wider swath of Ireland and especially en route to the countryside (which is the best part of Ireland). I was there for the weekend recently to speak at the Indie Cork Film Festival, an annual autumn event that I recommend going to if you’re in town. Hooray for independent film and lovely Irish people who pronounce it ‘fillum’ (LOVES IT). I was also there three years ago (!) during a visit to the countryside of County Cork and so will be mixing information (food) about both trips herein. Try to guess which info is from which trip! What a fun game!
Gray and rainy along the River Lee
First of all, arriving in Cork from a city like London, especially a city with a giant mall-airport like Heathrow, is adorable. Cork airport is a wee bebbeh, which means the lines at the car rental desks will probably include your entire plane. And if you are going out of the city, you need a car. So just budget time accordingly.
It’s about a 15 minute drive from the airport to the city center, which is situated on the River Lee, which separates into two channels for a lil bit and creates an island in the middle (like the Seine!) and that island is the busier city center. On the way you’ll pass the tallest building in the Republic of Ireland, The Elysian. No pictures because driving (I mean I wasn’t driving (‘ohhh, I don’t druive’)but it’s hard to get a picture of something when you are moving). Apparently it’s an apartment building and it has an Aldi on the ground floor, which is nice for people who don’t like going outside. NB that it’s not the tallest building on the island of Ireland; that’s in Belfast, which is Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, which is in trouuuuuble.
Pretty colors on a rare sunny day
So now you know about the tallest building and the independent film festival and the Ile de la Cite but of Ireland and you’ve seen pictures of the river which is very nice to stroll along and so apart from visiting a few cathedrals if you want to, you’re done with Cork! I wasn’t kidding. Tis a babe! It’s a very nice place but it’s not exactly a tourism hot spot. And yet I’ve been twice! And yes once was for work but you know what, it’s a pleasure to be there – especially as a vegan. The vegan scene is getting very exciting there, and so we’re going to talk food for the rest of this post. Coming from Philly and London, two beyond incredible vegan food cities, I might seem a little silly for raving about wee Cork’s wittle vegan scene, but it was able to tick all my boxes (ice cream, healthy food, avocado toast) and more importantly it shows signs of a strong base to keep it active and growing.
First stop, the Quay Co-op.
Okay this picture might be giving away what trip it’s from
The Quay Co-op is a vegetarian institution in Cork, a workers cooperative that was established in 1982 (older than me!) to serve as an alternative community project, a collective effort for feminists, environmentalists, LGBTQ, and other groups and people. Like vegetarians! Now, it’s a vegetarian restaurant, an organic shoppe next door, an in-house bakery, but still a place for radicals and rad people in general to mingle and mix and be. And eat!
Assorted salads my favorite thing!
It was a cold and rainy day (naturally) when we went to the Co-op, so we shared soup and bread (classics really) and two mains. I ordered the mix of all the assorted salads (I love assorted salads!) with two mounds of gravy-covered…mounds (probably a nut roast kinda thing) while Husbo P ordered the shepherd’s pie.
I REALLY LOVE SOUP. AND BREAD.
you know like food mounds
that cauliflower is looking at me because I don’t want it unless it’s making a cheesy sauce
Everything was pretty good! It’s not life-changing food or anything but it’s solid and inexpensive and the people were friendly (like everyone in this town really). This is really the place you go because it’s an institution and the vibe is uplifting.
yay inclusion and nice people!
Next up is one of my faves that I wish was my little local cafe, 143V (which I am going to assume refers to the old-school way of saying ‘I love you’ because that sounds nice). 143V may be a little outside the city center for some visitors (it was pretty close to our hotel though (see below)) but it’s worth a visit. I adore the menu, and it’s just an adorable little place. Although it wasn’t rainy, it was a little chilly so we did that thing of sharing soup. It was a simple tomato soup and it was really good! Then Husbo had the Southern burger, which is a seitan ‘chickun’ burger and it was great. I had the Oasis bowl, which is usually a falafel salad but they were out of falafel but I was actually glad because I just wanted a big ass salad but not really falafel, so I ended up getting a big ass salad (they added beans). All of it was great! They also have a lot of fun drinks like actual iced tea (not from a bottle) and turmeric lattes and smoothies. It’s somewhat slow paced so it’s not for you if you’re in a hurry but it’s lovely to sit in for a while.
We got the vegan brownie to take away, which in true UK & Euro form was more like chocolate cake (because it was cakey) but it tasted good and was saved by the inclusion of a little pot of chocolate sauce to pour over it! Yum!
My other favorite place in Cork was Earth Cafe, which is a restaurant that looks like a big black box of a shipping container was plopped on the bank of the river. It’s very close to Quay Co-op. While the Co-op has that old school veggie vibe, Earth Cafe is very much the millennial cool vegan vibe, with all the trendy hot drinks (including pumpkin spice lattes), jackfruit, and avocado toast. They offered pretty much my perfect brunch, which is a salad bowl of zucchini noodles and spinach and what nots and then a whole bunch of avo toast crammed in. I like!
Also in this vicinity is THE BEST ICE CREAM IN IRELAND, and that’s both in my opinion and what seems to be official word. Casanova Gelato had a line out the door and down the street even though it was coooold.
And there was a doggo in line with us!
HEHE DOG
They usually have a half dozen or so vegan flavors. While most of them were your standard fruit sorbet flavors (NO!), they did have two non-fruit flavors that were spectacular. Okay one was great but one was BEYOND. One of the best ice creams I’ve ever had. The great one was dark chocolate.
The PHUH NOM one was called Wanna be my Vegan and it was a finalist in an ice cream contest! I don’t know what ice cream contest or where or how I get to be a judge but man alive if this was a finalist the winner must have cheated because I can’t imagine anything better. It was a chocolate hazelnut base with like everything good mixed in, like cookies and chocolate and love and hope. AMAZING.
i wove you ice cweam
The cherry on top of all of this is that they had vegan cones – and an assortment of them at that! I obviously picked the charcoal cone because if you offer me charcoal in my food I will take it for no good reason.
My “favorite” food experience in Cork was when it was super late one night and we had to find a restaurant for dinner but because we’re in the British Isles everything closes pretty early (and it was Saturday!). But HappyCow alerted me to a pizza place called Milano that was open still AND had a separate vegan menu! Vegan pizza that wasn’t just regular pizza with no cheese? We’re in! I was excited to see what kind of indie Italian restaurant in this little baby town had a separate vegan pizza menu. And I did not laugh harder the entire trip than when we rolled up to Milano and we both instantly remembered that Milano is simply the Irish name for the chain Pizza Express. DYING! But you know what, it’s still pretty decent! I got the new Vegan Puttanesca pizza that uses marinated jackfruit in the puttanesca sauce. And yeah I might have a Pizza Express literally 4 minutes from home and then on every single block in the city after that but you know what? I’d eat that again.
I know but how good were the rest of the food pictures in this post? wouldn’t be right if they were all good that’s not what you come for
Our last food adventure came from the Malaysian noodle bar Malay Kitchen, which is entirely vegetarian and mostly vegan. We picked up a few noodle dishes and a container of deep fried tofu to eat at the airport before our late night flight. It took forever for them to make our order, but it was pretty good. If you like supes greasy noodles like your favorite cheap counter service, then you’ll love this.
On our recent trip, we stayed (courtesy of the fillum fest, a-thank you) at the very nice Hotel Metropol, which we found utterly hilarious because that’s the name used in all our Russian classes when you learn about hotel words. Gde otel metropol? We said that a lot. It means where is Hotel Metropol. I still find this hilarious. Anyway it was a very nice hotel with a big indoor pool (!!) and both a dry sauna and a steam room! I didn’t have much time to use them all so I did a fast run through of all of them in less than half an hour. It was very fun. Hotel Metropol also has a giant gym for a hotel, and I enjoyed all of it even though I actually did the thing where I hit my headphone cord when I was on the treadmill and my phone went flying (it’s okay!) and I stopped the treadmill to go get it but I started walking back before the track came to a complete stop so then I went flying and fell kind of simultaneously if that’s possible and I have a big bruise on my calf but I’m okay and my phone was okay and the dozen or so people in the gym with me did the respectable thing of pretending they didn’t see anything.
The hotel had a water jug and green apples for the taking and big fluffy white bathrobes for the wearing, which I did because that’s my favorite thing about hotels.
This apple’s sticker says “I never fall far from the tree” lololol A TALKING APPLE |
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So that’s my time in Cork! It’s a very nice city with not too much to do but it makes a great stopping point when you are visiting the countryside. And that’s really the thing you do in Ireland; you don’t go for the cities. We will talk about the beauty that you do go for in the next post!
