6 best Burmese foods to try in Myanmar

Influenced by the overlapping tastes of the 100 ethnic groups that call the country home and the five countries that share its borders, Myanmar’s cuisine is simple but superbly diverse. You don't know what you're missing out in Myanmar until you try these delicious foods, drinks and desserts.

Ngar Hta Min

A brilliant dish from the Shan region, Ngar Hta Min is a delicious fish-tomato rice or fish-rice cake – a comfort food best suited for rainy evenings or cold nights in the hills. It’s a simple dish prepared by making small round balls from a mixture of pre-cooked tomato, fish, rice and potatoes together, and garlic, chilli and fish oil for flavour.

Mont Lin Ma Yar

Within the same category as above but sold independently is a gorgeous looking snack Mont Lin Ma Yar – informally called the ‘husband and wife snack’. While walking in downtown Yangon, you’ll come across many hawkers selling these golden muffins. They are made with rice flour batter in a special iron mould. The batter is divided into two sections – the first half contains only batter and the second half is topped with quail egg and roasted chickpeas. Both the halves, the “Yin and the Yang”, are then joined together to create the Mont Lin Ma Yar.

Shwe Yin Aye

On a hot day in Myanmar, an iced dessert cannot be too far from your thoughts. Shwe Yin Aye is similar to Chendol from Indonesia and is prepared with steamed sticky rice, coconut milk jelly, tapioca seeds, coconut milk, sugar, bread and ice. You can eat this dessert with different combinations of seaweed, agar-agar, palm sugar, etc.

Mohinga

A savoury fish noodle soup which is indisputably the ultimate breakfast dish of the country. A fish flavoured rice noodle soup, it is delicious and available almost everywhere in Myanmar.

A word of caution here, though, it is a fish soup in its true sense – cooked with fish, fish paste and fish sauce. If the smell of fish bothers you, clip your nose and but do have it.

Sanwin Makin

A traditional Burmese sweet which draws its inspiration from Indian semolina desserts, these cakes are common treats available on the street. In addition to semolina, coconut milk/cream, egg, cardamom and sugar also go into preparing these cakes which are then topped off with a sprinkling of poppy seeds.

Shan Noodle Soup/Salad

More popular in the Shan region, it consists of flat rice noodles in a flavoursome broth with shredded chicken or pork, a sprinkling of toasted sesame with garlic oil and pickled vegetables on the side. It is served more in the boat noodles (a popular Thai dish) tradition – serving size is small and probably good for a snack. But it is a snack that is deliciously addictive, so don’t be alarmed if you end up having 3-4 bowls or more. It is also served without soup like a salad.

See more: 7 reasons why you should visit Myanmar

Source: tripzilla

Phuket on rainy days: what to do and where to go

There is a bit of rain in Phuket. Do not worries. It is rainy season here and the island looks a lot better when it is all green and the dams are filling. Try something on our instant list of the 6 things you can do when it is wet and rainy in Phuket.

Shop, Eat and Play at Jungceylon Shopping Mall

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Melt those rainy day worries away and go shopping. Antiques, clothing, fabrics, homeware, souvenirs and more are all to be found at Jungceylon in Patong Beach as well as cinema, bowling, indoor shooting range, shell museum, laser gun, game arcade and even fish spas.

Have a go at Thai Boxing

If you have already taken a stroll down Bangla Road by Patong Beach, you will realise just how popular Thai boxing is. Exciting enough on TV, if you are not going to attend a live show, you can take a class. There are many training camps all over Phuket and all cater for different skill levels from beginners to professionals.

Visit Phuket Trickeye Museum

Phuket Trickeye Museum is a fun attraction in Phuket Town and a perfect escape for a couple of hours on a rainy day. Located not far from the old Phuket Town, it is easy to reach and can be combined with some nearby museums visits. The price is a bit high, but if you have kids you will not regret all the fun poses and funny photos you will be taking back home.

Have a Thai massage or Spa treatment

You deserve it. There is plenty of alternatives and style of massage all over the island, well, all over Thailand. A traditional Thai massage, firm, medium or light, will be an experience you will always remember. Do not ask for firm unless you are prepared for some PAIN! Despite the publicity, most massages do not include a happy ending. Unless you are in Patong, you are probably not going to get that ‘optional extra’.

There are also plenty of spas for all sorts of additional indulgences. Many of the bigger international hotels have excellent spas for ‘walk-in’ customers. Leave the rain and wet outside and enjoy.

Join Thai Cooking Classes

Learn how to cook Thai food and impress your friends and family. Thai cuisine is a unique blend of tastes and textures that has developed over hundreds of years. The beautiful part of is that you can learn to prepare it in a single class! Go shopping with the chef, prepare the ingredients under his supervision, enjoy your own cooked meal and get a certificate. It is that simple. A number of resorts offer indoor programs for adults and kids as well as fruit-carving classes. It is truly a great rainy day activity.

Scare yourself at Game Space

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Open for a few years on Bangla Road in Patong Beach, Game Space has a lot of great games and virtual reality rides to enjoy for an hour or two. And just watching those who dare climbing in those spinning contraptions is fun too! It is very popular at night but it is also a fun way to spend an occasional rainy day. Kids will love it too.

See more: Discover interesting spots from Phuket, Thailand

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Where to go fruit picking in Japan

Cherries, melons, blueberries, peaches, grapes, pears and more. What better way to enjoy them than to pick your own? Find out exactly when and where in Japan you can do so.

CHERRY

These red jewels ripen at the beginning of summer, usually between May and July, ready to land into your woven baskets. In the Yamanashi prefecture of Japan, located southwest of Tokyo on the island of Honshu, there are many farms (either cherry farms or mixed) to satisfy your cherry picking excitement. Check out the farms at Minami Alps City, Koshu City and Kawaguchiko among many others. Beyond that, if you’re in Tokyo, you can head to Higashimurayama City. Ohashi Cherry Farm in Hokkaido is also popular among fruit enthusiasts!

MELONS

Between June to mid-August, you can visit melon farms in Hokota City in the Ibaraki prefecture. There is also the melon-only Irago Seaside Farm in the Aichi prefecture. In the Shizuoka prefecture, there is the Kashima Harvest Farm and the Izu Fruit Park to make a visit.

BLUEBERRIES

Between July and August, you can head over to many farms growing these blue beauties among other fruits but there are in fact many blueberry-only farms in Japan. Some include the Zao Blueberry Farm, with over 10,000 blueberry plants of different varieties, in Miyagi, Sekiaen Farm, with 2,000 plants, in Kazuno City of the Akita prefecture, as well as the Okudaisen Blueberry Farm, with 17,000 blueberry plants and 47 varieties, in the Tottori prefecture.

PEACH

Next up are peaches which ripe towards the end of the cherry picking season. You can find them in abundance between late June to early September. While Yamanashi will be an option to collect peaches while picking cherries and other fruits around late June, you could also head out to areas like the cities of Kobe and Himeji in the Hyogo prefecture, as well as Lidzuna Town and Nakano City in the Nagano prefecture.

White peaches in Okayama are indeed to die for and to get the “best flavour of Japan” or so it is often described, you can travel down to the Tomomien Fruit Farm and Nishiyama Farm.

GRAPE

Ripe around the same time as peaches, grapes are available from July to October. Grapes are hugely popular in Japan and there are many farms for you to collect them. In Kumamoto prefecture of Kyushu, you can head to Asu City and Minamata City, and if you’re in Osaka, the farms in Kawachinagano City and Kashiwara City will be a fantastic place! Marukei Orchards and Maruhara Orchards in Fukushima offer grapes during the season too!

MIKAN ORANGES

Available to tantalise our tastebuds from October to January, these juicy seedless fruits are farmed in places like Minamiboso City in Chiba, Fukaya City and Chichibu-mura village in the Saitama prefecture. They are also farms in the Shizuoka, Kumamoto and Aichi prefectures!

See more: The must-try fruits when traveling to Japan

Source: Internet