“On my birthday, I count my blessings for what I have today, rather than pass it off as just another day…and I count my blessings for what I have today before I lose it.”
—Sandy Kannan
Our daughter Michelle, husband Kyle, Jason and Alix joined us at the bustling Palo Alto eatery owned by John Lee, who is originally from Burma. I just loved the large artfully designed photo collages of familiar and charming scenes that adorn the walls on both sides of the dining room. I had spent a lot of time in Burma from 2005-2010 while on meditation retreats at Kyaswa Monastery outside Mandalay I had many opportunities to sample Burmse food including the famous Mohinga, a rich, hearty soup with rice noodles, ginger, garlic, cilantro, lemongrass, hard boiled eggs and fish stock that is eaten at the start of the day and is referred to as the “Myanmar’s Breakfast of Champions.”
Burmese cuisine in general, is influence by Indian, Thai and Chinese cooking and is all the rage among foodies. Every single dish we ordered was without exception outstanding.
and was accompanied by delicious condiments, sauces and chutneys
We began by sharing Vegetarian Samosas and Lettuce Wraps with radish carrots, water chestnuts tofu, green pepper and Tofu and Palata, a multi-layer flat bread served with Coconut Chicken. We also had their famous and traditional Tea Leaf Salad with fried garlic, yellow beans, sesame seeds, lettuce, tomato, jalapeño. It is a good way to tease out the taste buds. For our entrees we shared a Pumpkin Tofu Stew, Garlic Noodles, Rangoon Lemongrass Chicken, Mango Chicken, Salmon Lemongrass Fusion, etc.
We all shared Fried Banana with ice cream and Coconut Pudding deep fried with a side of mango ice cream. I was surprised by a dessert ice cream treat with a fireworks display that my loving son Jason captured perfectly on video as everyone sung Happy Birthday. It was a magical evening.
After dessert I was invited to open my presents as the fun evening began to come to a close. As the old saying goes, “Time flies when you are having a good time.” I realized once again that on our birthdays we pay tribute to time because it is depleting asset and we must seize the precious moment while its here.
Postscript: I am so excited for Michelle and Kyle who will visit Burma in the fall where my friend Maybelle who also has a daughter named Michelle, will take them to visit the monastery grounds where I studied mindfulness meditation. I’m also thrilled to finally share the richness of this wonderful culture with my wonderful wife Cecile early next year. it has been 8 years since my last pilgrimage there. One of the photos shown here from that time is me with one of the resident monks.
