Eating out of a pumpkin: Burmese food

I went out for dinner with my 2 room mates last night, and we sort of randomly ended up at a Burmese restaurant in Burlingame called Mingalaba. Since most of my posts have been about Burma, I figured it would make a decent blog post.

The best of what we had, out of a massive meal, was probably the bread they brought out in the beginning called parathas. These were basically a hot, thin flaky bread that was served with a sort of curry sauce. I finished off my dinner with a pumpkin that had been hollowed out and filled with chunks of chicken, pumpkin, some kind of herb, and another nutty curry sauce. All in all it was incredible. A bit like Chinese food but with a definite Indian influence.

Burma Drafts Ceasefire with Separatists

This week the Burmese government drew up and signed an "historic" ceasefire between 16 ethnic separatists groups and militias in the capitol city of Rangoon (Yangon). The ceasefire, however, did not include the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) against whom the Burmese army has been fighting in the Kokang region of Burma, bordering China. In fact, no separatists in the Kokang region were included in the cease fire. It is interesting to find that Burma has an interest in ending volatile relations between separatists in their country, but not in the region where it matters most.

The conflict in Kokang may be too out of control for them to ignore it, or the MNDAA may not have been willing to cooperate. The article does not specify, but offers some possible reasons for a ceasefire not being sought in the Kokang. The national issues, of course, is a primary concern for the Burmese government, who is facing well organized groups seeking to tear the region away from Burma. Speculations of foreign funding coming into the country in support of the border conflict may also have the Burmese government thinking twice about ending the fight too soon. In any case, the ceasefire between 16 groups points to the fact that the Burmese governments wants to focus more, if anything, on the battle going on in Kokang.


https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/04/16/burm-a16.html

Kiwi Jailed for Music Loving Buddha

      Phillip Blackwood, a man of both British and New Zealand citizenship, was jailed last month after posting an advertisement for his bar online. Blackwood, who was born in Britain and raised in New Zealand, had been living in Burma (Myanmar) and managed the V Gastro Bar, along with 2 Burmese associates Tun Thurein and Htut Ko Ko Lwin. Their online advertisement for their bar featured a psychadelic backdrop and an image of Buddha wearing headphones. The 3 men were thrown in jail on accounts of insulting Buddhism and disobeying a public order. The sentence they currently face is 2 and a half years- 2 years for the insulting image of Buddha, and another 6 months for the disobeying of public order.

      Blackwood has essentially been abandoned by the British government, who has not responded to Blackwood's family's pleas for help. The sentences for the 3 men are ridiculous, and reek of the same free speech and religious intolerance issues brought to light after the Charlie Hebdo attacks in France. Burma is a country that is predominately Buddhist, and is known for severe levels of censorship. Granted the punishment for Blackwood is slightly better than if he had portrayed Muhammed, the Burmese government is still a bit out of line for jailing a foreign national for the mere placing of headphones atop the Buddha's head.

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/kiwi-jailed-in-burma-abandoned-his-country-birth-6277738