Nucha's Filipino Food Recipes

Sinagang (Tamarind Soup)

Ingredients:

1/2 kg.     Pork Ribs, or Pork (with fat)
1 package (200 gm) Mama Sita's Tamarind Mix 
               (Knorr or Maggi brand can do)
2             White Chinese Radish, sliced
2-3          Taro, sliced (optional)
100 gm     Winged Bean and/or Long Bean, cut to 3 inches 
               length 

100 gm     Okra, cut into halves
200 gm     Kangkong (Ipomoea or morning glory), cut at half
3             Onions, cut into quarters
2-3          Tomatoes, cut into halves or quarters
2             Eggplants (long), sliced

2-3          Large Green Paprika
1.5 litre    Water


Instructions:

Put water in a big soup pot. Add pork, half of onions, 
radish and taro. Bring to boil. Pick out the ugly foamy 
things that float (is there a name for this thing?). 

Lower heat. Add 2/3 package of the tamarind mix. 

Wait until pork turns white. Add the okra, beans and 
eggplants. Continue cooking in medium heat for an hour.

Add the kangkong and rest of onions. Cook for another half 
hour. Put tomatoes and paprika. Turn off stove. Cover to 
continue cooking.

Add the rest of the tamarind package (to taste). Add salt,
sugar or pepper if needed. Ready to serve.


Serve 6. Eat with rice.


Note: 

The vegetable and tamarind mix can be found in any Asian 
grocery near you.

If you cannot find the mix, you can 
- look for a package of fresh tamarind sauce, or
- prepare the tamarind sauce yourself... using fresh green
tamarind. Boil it and smash it and filter it to get the 
juice.

The sauce you bought or made could be very sour. You will
need to add salt and sugar to the soup. the taste should be
sour:salty:sweet = 4:1:1 .




Bicol Express 

Ingredients:

200 gm.         Pork Ribs or Pork with fat (3-layered)
200 gm.         Large Green Paprika, julienne
2 tablespoons Filipino Fresh Shrimp Paste
1 tablespoon  Garlic, crashed and chopped
2 tablespoons Onion, crashed and chopped
To taste        Salt and Sugar
1 tablespoon  Vegetable Oil
1 1/2 cups     Coconut Milk


Instructions:

In a frying pan, fry garlic and onion in oil until smelling
like garlic and onion.

Add pork. Continue frying until cooked. 

Add paprika, stir. Then add shrimp paste and coconut milk. 
Stir. 

Lower the heat to medium. When coconut milk is boiled, add 
salt and sugar to taste. Continue to cook for a few minutes.
If sauce too thick, add water and bring to boil again.


Serve 6. Eat with rice.


They call it "Bicol Express" because this food is originally
from Bicol province, and it is so hot that you have to rush 
it in.

If you asked me (a Thai), it's not so hot... compared to 
my Thai food.

 

 

 

FRESH LUMPIA (Springrolls)


Ingredients:

1/2 lb shrimps, de-veined and cut into small pieces 
1 chicken breast, boiled and flaked 
2 cups bean sprouts, washed and drained 
1 cup sweet potatoes, cut in thin strips 
10 lettuce leaves 
2 cloves garlic, crushed 
1 small onion, diced 
1 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon ground pepper 
Fresh lumpia wrappers 

Directions:
 
In a medium size pot or wok, saute garlic, diced onion, 
shrimps and flaked chicken for about 10 minutes. 

Add bean sprouts and sweet potatoes, salt and pepper to 
taste, and cook for about 3 minutes. Drain well. 

On a big plate, lay wrapper flat and place a lettuce leaf on 
wrapper with about a third part of the leaf showing. 
Put two tablespoons of filling on top of lettuce leaf. 

Fold and roll wrapper. 
Seal with a little water (or egg) and place edge down. 

Pour lumpia sauce on the roll. Top with crushed garlic. 



Fresh Lumpia Wrapper

You can buy it in any Asian Grocer. That's easier. Don't
try to substitute with Roti, kebab wrap or taco wrap. 
That's bad!  However, here's the recipe...

Ingredients:
 
1 cup flour 
1 egg 
1 cup water 


Directions: 

Combine all 3 ingredients and stir until smooth.
 
Lightly grease a non-stick skillet and heat. 

Pour in a thin coating of the mixture. 

When the sides start to come away from the pan, lift wrapper 
out carefully. Makes 10 wrappers. 



Fresh Lumpia Sauce

Ingredients: 

4 tablespoon cornstarch 
1/3 cup brown sugar 
1/3 cup soy sauce 
1 cup water 
5 cloves garlic, crushed 


Directions: 

Mix cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce and water. 

Cook until thick over low heat, stirring constantly. 

Transfer to a sauce container with the crushed garlic. 




FRIED LUMPIA  (Or Lumpiang Shanghai)


Ingredients:

1/2 lb Pork, ground
1/2 lb Shrimp, finely chopped
1/2 cup Water chestnuts, chopped
1/2 cup Green Onions, finely chopped
1 Egg
1 tablespoon Soy sauce
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Ground pepper
1 package Egg roll wrappers
1 cup Cooking oil


Directions:

Combine pork, shrimp, water chestnuts, green onion, egg 
and soy sauce. Then season with salt and pepper.

Place a level tablespoon of filling on the center of each 
egg roll wrapper.

Brush edged of wrapper with a few drops of water.

Fold one flap of wrapper over filling. Fold inside flaps and 
roll up toward top point.

Deep fry wrapped fillings in hot oil until golden brown. 
Drain on paper towel.

Serve with sweet and sour sauce.



Sweet and Sour Sauce:

You can buy this sauce in any Asian Grocer. Alternatives can 
be Thai's Chicken sauce, Thai's Squid sauce (plum sauce), or
Lee Kim Kee's Spring Roll Sauce.


Ingredients: 

2 cups Water
1/2 cup Catsup
1/3 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Red-hot sauce
3 tablespoons Cornstarch dissolved in
4 tablespoons water


Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a pan.
2. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minute or until sauce 
thickens. 



Practically, for Fried Lumpia, the stuff can be anything...
Shitake, noodle, fish, bean sprouts, etc. Just add the 
shrimps always. It helps mix the taste.



MINI SHANGHAI (Nucha's special)

Get wanton wrappers from any Asian Grocer. Cut cheese into
strips. Wrap each strip with the wanton wrapper. Seal with 
wet corn starch, egg or water. Deep fry in hot oil until 
golden brown. Eat as appetizer. You can dip it with cranberry 
sauce, sweet and sour sauce, Thai sweet chili sauce, 
or even Ketchup.

The Long-Necked Karen

(First published in Small World Ezine on 18 February 2002)

 

(Genesis Stock Photo)

 

One of the hill-tribes recorded in Sir Ripley's "Believe-It-Or-Not" series is the Thailand's "Long-Necked" Karen.

"Karen" is  a mountain tribe, not one homogeneous group but rather a loose confederation of heterogeneous and closely related tribes with the same style of clothing and spiritaul believes. They reside scatterly in the mountain ranges which are now the borders between Thailand and Myanmar (Burma), Laos. Mostly in Thailand's side of the borders because of the political problems in the other side.

The "Padung" or "long-necked" Karen is one of the Karen groups residing in Thailand's Mae Hong Son province. The Term "long-neck" signifies the practice of adorning their women with
brass rings around the neck.

The women of the Karen Padaung villages start wearing multiple brass rings around the neck, the arms and the legs since they are 5-6 years old. The rings on the neck reach from the clavicle
up to beneath the chin. Please have a look at the picture to your left. 

The neck grows longer as additional rings are added with each passing year. One woman in Plam Piang Din Village wears 37 brass rings around her neck and this is considered ideal. It is said that if you removed the ring from the neck of a grown-up woman, she'd die because the neck bone and muscles had become too weak to carry the weight of the head she could not even breathe! Well... That's not true. the girls can remove the rings and still live.

Nowadays, the tradition continues. Educated mothers do not put rings on her daughters' necks anymore. Those who continue claimed to have followed the tradition. But I suspect pat of it is  for tourism purpose.

 

More:

In Thailand's Northern province of Phrae lives another Karen "Padung" group. The women of this group display their beauty, and their status as married women, by wearing carved elephant
tusk in their ears. When a woman is married, her ears are pierced and an elephant tusk of one to four centimetres in length is inserted.

The weight of the tusks gradually weighs down on the ear lobe and the ear gets larger and larger, and longer and longer. Then larger pieces of tusk are inserted and the process repeats itself until the woman's ears become extremely elongated and floppy. The married woman wears these ear pieces for life.

Unmarried girls in these tribes do not wear the ear pieces, but they do wear white dresses, in contrast to the red and black dresses worn by the married women, and on the backs of their
hands a few magical words are written in spiritual languages. These words carry meaning to bless these girls to have a happy life.

Of course, no doubt, this group of Padung Karen is called the "long-eared" Karen.

 

Borobudur - UNESCO World Heritage

(First published in Small World Ezine on 12 August 2003)

 

Our condolences to the families of all Jakarta's Bomb 

Victims. Today I will introduce you to "Borobudur" -- 
Indonesia's most visited historical site. It is said to be 
another wonder of the World. If you do not feel like going 
to Indonesia at this time, take our virtual tour and use
your imagination ;-) 

They said it's a Buddhist temple. I would say it's nothing 
rather than a large step pyramid topped with several bell-
shaped stupas (pagodas), of which purpose was to store 
ashes. You can say it's a large monumental urn. In Buddhism, 
stupas this big were normally built to keep the ashes of 
Lord Buddha and some of his famous followers.

Borobudur (assumed to be derived from Sanskrit "parama" --
"big" or "supreme" and "Buddho" -- "Buddha". Locals gave
the name to this place centuries after -- when Java has
already converted to Muslim) was built by the Sailendra 
Dynasty of Java, between 762 and 824 AD, a full three 
centuries before Angkor Wat, and four-hundred years before 
work began on the great Cathedrals of Europe. Little is 
known of its early history, except a massive workforce 
consisting of sculptors, plasterers, master masons and 
painters converged on the site, laboring under the tropical 
heat to move and carve the 60,000 cubic metres of stone. 
It's structure is comprised of 55,000 square metres of lava 
rock erected on a hill in the form of a stepped pyramid of
six rectangular stories, three circular terraces and 
culminating in a central stupa, forming its summit. From 
above, entire Temple seems to be built in the form of a 
giant lotus.

If you need figures,... The stupa is some 31.5m high, and 
almost square with a side of 123m. From a broad podium, the 
visitor progresses through four relief-covered galleries to 
a circular terrace, adorned with 72 bell-shaped perforated 
stupas, each containing a seated Buddha. If you'd like to 
meditate. Start from the base. Walk clockwise until the top
(about 4 km.). There (at the top), people like to sit down
and either enjoy the scenery or meditate in the quiet 
environment... until the next tour group arrives LOL...

They believe that Borobudur was abandoned by the time
the power changed hands because the religion also changed.
As the structure was built out of grey volcanic stone, the 
tropical climate, with an average rainfall of over 2m per 
annum, has ensured that the structure has been invaded by 
mosses and lichens. Shaken by several earthquakes, covered 
by volcanic dust from the nearby volcano, and over-grown by 
Java's equatorial rain forest, the great monument was 
unknown to the world for centuries. 

The discovery credit of 1814 was given to British Governor, 
Sir Stamford Raffles. He and his people cleared out the 
trees and bushes and checked the fallen stones. The resident
of Kedu, C. L. Hartmann, did further clearance work in 1834 
and 1835. Nevertheless, degradation continued. Later it 
was even proposed that the reliefs be dismounted and 
displayed in a purpose-built museum. But then they 
discovered a secret basement which had led to the second 
restoration.

The second restoration was done and documented by N. J. Krom 
& Th. Van Erp in 1919. But that was not the final work with 
this great Buddhist monument. The third restoration started 
with UNESCO's appeal in 1972, and the work actually 
completed in 1983. Money came from Indonesian government, 
UNESCO campaigns and helps from 27 other countries.

The Buddhist sanctuary of Borobudur was included in UNESCO's 
list of the world cultural heritage in 1991. See the 
finished restored site at ...
http://www.geocities.com/tripborobudur/default.htm

More:     

How to get there... to Indonesia and to the site.

Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, is also located on 
Java island. Several world's major airlines fly there. If
there is no direct flight from where you live, look for a 
flight to Singapore or Bangkok. Singapore airline, Thai 
Airways and Garuda (Indonesia's official airline) have 
several daily flights from these cities.

ASEAN, U.S., and Australian citizens can arrive without 
a visa. But if you plan to stay for a long time, you still 
need one. Contact the nearest embassy for details.

From Jakarta, you can buy a boat/bus ticket to Yogyakarta.
From there take another bus to Borobudur. It takes about 40 
minutes to an hour. You can also rent a car or taxi. A 
private guided taxi (taxi of which driver also acts as a 
tourist guide) is available from airports, large hotels or 
touristic sites.

When you are there, do not forget to visit the nearby Hindu
temples of Mendut and Pawon.

And when you are in Yogyakarta or "Yogya" (pronounced 
"JogJa"), get around and see the cultural shows, arts/crafts
and historical museums they have there. Silverware is also
a big industry in Yogya. You can even wander around to see 
the silversmiths at work.

Who is Buddha?

(First published in Small World Ezine on 24 April 2002)

 

Lately, since Dhalai Lama traveled West, Buddhism has become
a subject of interest. You probably have heard about Dharma,
Karma, Nirvana, meditation, and other Buddhist talks. But do
you know anything about Lord Buddha?

"Buddha" is not a name. It is a title meaning "One who is
Awake". Lord Buddha was born "Siddhartha".

Siddhartha was born about 2625 years ago in Lumbini, a garden
near the foothills of the Himalayas... then India... now
Nepal. He was the Prince of a very rich and powerful warrior 
class (like royal) family -- Goutama.

Growing up, wealth and power sheltered Siddhartha from the 
harsher facts of the world. He was also married with a son.
They lived comfortable lives within the palace. But this was
not forever...

One day the Prince felt bored and went outside to see what 
it was like outside the palace. He met with an old man, a 
sick man, and a dying man. He saw how suffering it could be 
and was determined to find the way to help people from being
suffered. So, Siddhartha left the palace one night to search 
for the truth of life.

It was a belief at that time that one liberated the spirit 
by weakening the physical body. In his first 6 years of 
truth-searching, Siddhartha practiced the extreme religious
austerities. He refused to bathe, wore no clothes, and ate
and drink very little. They said he was too thin his belly 
almost touched his back in the 6th year he tortured himself.

His fame in asceticism brought followers from all over India,
but Siddhartha learned nothing near what he was looking for.
Realizing that his austerities had led him nowhere, despite 
his fame and reputation as a holy ascetic, Siddhartha 
abondoned his previous course. He bagan to eat in moderation. 
And his followers thought he gave up. They left him in 
disgust.

Alone, sitting calmly in the shade of a tree, Siddhartha fell 
into deep meditation. Gradually he found what he was looking
for just inside of him -- the wisdom. On a full moon night of 
May, complete enlightenment had finally dawned, and 
Shddhartha Gautama became "Buddha". He then decided to teach 
people about the Great Truth he'd found until he passed away
at the age of 80. And that year was referred to as the first
Buddhist Era (B.E.). 

 

More:

Lord Buddha started teaching when he was 35. He passed away 
at 80. During the time, aside from his teachings, there were 
legends and myths of miracle and such; but Buddhists do not 
take them seriously. Some raise Lord Buddha as a god. Some 
say he was a great human teacher. And that's OK because it 
is not the principles of Lord Buddha's teachings -- the 
Great Truth. 


Here's one example...

Wherever he could, Lord Buddha helped people see things as 
they really are. One day, a woman came to see him. Her child
had died and she was distraught. She asked the Buddha for a
medicine which will restore her child's life. 

"Very well" said Lord Buddha, "But first you have to bring
me a cabbage seed".

A cabbage seed? How easy!

"But" Lord Buddha added, "The seed must come from a house 
where on-one has died".

The woman rushed off with her dead child in her arms to beg 
for the seed. She dashed from house to house. People were 
very willing to help her, but whenever she asked "Has anyone 
ever died in this family?" the answer was the same. "Yes."

As the woman passed from house to house, the message began
to sink in. Death comes to all. There is no getting away 
from it. She returned to Lord Buddha and laid down her dead
child "I know now that I am not alone in this great grief.
Death comes to all."

The Sherpa

(First published in Small World Ezine on 26 May 2003)

 

This week the world celebrate the 50th anniversary that
Sir Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa buddy Tenzing Norgay
have reached the top of the Everest.

Everyone have heard of Sir Ed, the famous New Zealander. But 
how about "Tenzing Norgay"? Who is he? How had he become Sir 
Ed's second? And what is a "Sherpa"?

 

From success of Sir Ed and Tenzing Norgay, thousands of 
hikers and mountain climbers have reached the foot of the 
Everest every year. And the Sherpas' tourist industry had
expanded tremendously. The Sherpas had become famous world 
wide for being great trekking guides and porters until the 
term "Sherpa" has become the synonym of trekking guides all 
over the world. There are Sherpa trekking services and 
mountain resorts everywhere -- even in America. We've even 
found a Sherpa restaurant in Japan (owned by a Sherpa who is 
married to a Japanese lady mountaineer). 

Actually "Sherpa" is the name of an ethnically and 
culturally rich tribe of Nepal inhabiting in the Himalayan 
region. "Sherpa"s got their name -- which means "The Man of 
the East" -- because they are believed to have walked from 
Tibet some 400 years ago. And because the Sherpas had chosen 
to settle in a remote valley -- beyond the reach of the 
Hindu in the lowland Nepal or India -- they had also managed 
to keep their culture, language and religion faith -- all of 
Tibetan origins -- distinctive.

Since the British brought potato plants to the region in
the 19th century, the Sherpas had become potato planters. 
They grew potatoes in their homeland, and even travelled to 
Darjiling (india) for more potato planting jobs. When more
British officials came to vacation in the beautiful 
Darjiling (oh well... it was said to be Asia's Switzerland 
at the time. But now it was so war-torn that it could be 
compared to only Sarajevo.) Sherpas found a new job 
opportunity in construction.

Then the first mountaineer arrived in early 20th century, 
and they hired the strong Sherpas from Darjiling to be
porters.

As these Sherpas had been living in the higher land for 
their lives, their lungs had already been adjusted to the 
lower oxygen level at the higher altitudes. So they didn't 
seem to get tired easily and owned the reputation of being 
the better porters than the Indians. They had even become 
essential helps for every mountain climbers.

Then, after Mount Everest had been summitted by Sir Edmund 
Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing, climbers flocked to the Sherpa
village of Khumbu every spring and fall. Khumbu's economy 
was then developed around trekking industry. There are now
inns, restaurants, and even an Internet cafe for tourists.

Sherpas started to send their children to study in schools
in Nepal. Some of the children didn't come back after 
graduated. Newer generation has been moving down to the city 
for better jobs. The rich culture has become diluted. And 
lives have depended more on new inventions. Households have 
transported televisions, VCRs, and etc. from Nepal for daily 
entertainment.

After the events of September 11 and Nepal's domestic issues
(the assassination of the royal family and the problem with 
Maoist rebels), trekkers almost stopped visiting the 
Himalayas. Lives have become difficult. More and more 
Sherpas moved to town for jobs. We hope this 50th summit 
anniversary would bring trekkers back to the region once 
more.

         

In the news...

Everest speed record broken (by a Sherpa)

Everest hero 'unfairly treated' (Tenzing's Grandson said he
should have been given a Knighthood also)

 

More:

Does this teach us a lesson? I believe if a community can
take care of itself (living a self-sufficient life) without 
depending on income from outside (or foreign investment),
the community will not have to be worried when the sources
of income is depleted.

Why haven't the Sherpas tried to reach the top of the 
Everest earlier as they've already had the quality? Let me 
quote National Geographic's T.R.Reid here...

"Tradition taught Sherpas that some of the mighty mountains
just over their shoulders were the abodes of the gods, to be 
respected from afar but not intruded upon. And so for 
generations they never tried to climb Mount Everest or the
other great Khumbu peaks -- until the steady stream of "peak
baggers" from the West made mountaineering a profitable 
enterprise." ("The Sherpas", National Geographic May 2003)

I, too, have to admit that I do not see the point why human 
have to try to beat the nature. Probably because I am a 
woman, probably because I am an Asian, or probably because I 
am a Buddhist. I praise Sir Edmund Hillary and everybody 
who've ever tried -- successful or not -- for their will and 
their efforts. But I still can't see the point why... (sigh)

Bangkok -- The City of Angels

(First published in Small World Ezine on 23 April 2002)

 

I was born in Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand. The city
of Bangkok is celebrating its 220th Anniversary this year.
And I am very proud of it.

Actually we stopped calling this place "Bangkok" since the
beginning of "Bangkok". Huh? Did I confuse you already? 

It's like this... 235 years ago, Ayudhaya -- our capital city
then -- lost the battle against the Burmese. The Burmese 
invaded the place and destroyed it pretty badly. Our new King 
Taksin then set up a new city in Thonburi and called for the
remaining Thais (who survived the massacre) to move in. 
Thonburi remained capital for only 15 years. After King 
Taksin passed away, King Rama I moved the capital city across 
the river to the place then called "Bangkok", and renamed it 
"Krungthep".

And that's why "Bangkok" has never been the capital city of
Thailand.

Actually "Krungthep" (City of Angels)  is just a short term 
for "Krungthep Maha Nakorn" (the Great City of Angels), which
is also the short term for "Krungthep Maha Nakorn Amorn
Ratana Kosintra Mahintara Yudhaya Mahadilokpop Nopharat 
Ratchathani Buriromaya Udom Ratchanivet Mahasatharn Amorn 
Pimarn Avatarn Satit Sakha Thattiya Visanugarma Prasit". Yes, 
Guiness' Book of Records has already had it for the city with 
the longest name. No challengers so far.

In the old time, people got around by boat (No, not 
elephants). Canals were dug all over the country. While 
Bangkok was the center of transportation, we had more canals
here than anywhere else. The city was even once called 
"Eastern Venice" by Europeans. It was said that villagers
will get lost if they had to travel by foot or in a carriage.

Our first modern road was constructed by King Rama IV (or King 
Mongkut in "The King and I") 170 years ago only because 
Westerners and missionaries in Bangkok had asked for a road 
they could get around by horses or carriages -- just for fun!

Too sad, after WW II, the government wanted to show the 
world that we are a civilized nation (in a wrong way) by 
constructing more roads instead of canals. Nowadays, main 
canals are still there, but we've lost the reputation as the
"Eastern Venice" already.

 

More:

How to get there, and where to go?

Bangkok is located in the center of South East Asia. Thai 
Airways and 200+ airlines all over the world fly there from 
500+ major cities. Our new International airport is on 
construction. It's scheduled to be opened in the end of 2003. 
Then we'll have the largest and modernest airport in Asia.

You can also sail to Bangkok. Our port is said to be one of
the safest. If you like travelling by train, There is a 
luxurious train between Bangkok and Singapore weekly. You can 
drive from Laos, Cambodia, or Malaysia as well.  

Americans, EU, APEC, and ASEAN countries citizens can stay 
in Thailand for 30 days without a visa. There is a visa-on-
arrival counter at Bangkok airport for most others. If you'd 
like to stay longer, just contact the nearest Immigration 
Office while you are there. The process is quite fast and easy.

The map of Bangkok in English is available for FREE at 
Bangkok airport arrival area, hotels, tourist information 
offices, restaurants, even on a taxi.  

Inside Bangkok, the BTS sky train brings you to all business
and shopping regions of Bangkok. It's much faster, never been 
packed, and without traffic. The underground tube is going to 
be finished next year. Air-con bus hostesses are polite. 
Taxis are with meters. It's now pretty easy to get around.

If you are interested in the old Bangkok, the Royal Palace, 
popular temples, and museums are cluttered in a walking 
distance. Just start from the Royal Palace ("Wat Pra Kaew" or 
the Temple of the Emerald Buddha). On Sundays, the area is 
closed to traffic. There will also be a sightseeing tram with
an English speaking guide you can take if you feel tired of 
walking. At the end of the day, don't forget to stop by at
"Wat Poh" (The Temple of the Reclining Buddha) for the REAL
traditional Thai massage. Then walk to the river bank behind 
the temple to watch the famous scenery of the sunset at the
Temple of Dawn (which is most beautiful at dust) across the 
river. (Don't cross the river to the temple. You have to 
watch it from this side, or you'll miss the scene).

This program will take you all day. Oh to enter the Royal 
Palace and other palaces you have to dress nicely. No shorts, 
sandals, or sleeveless allowed. Actually, lots of tourist 
guides advice ladies in their groups to wear shorts because 
the palace officers will lend you a Thai traditional silk or
batik sarong to wear inside the palace. Then you can have 
your pictures in Thai clothes without having to rent ones. 
You can also buy the sarong if you like. (But the Thais will 
give you a nasty look if they see you coming to their palace 
in shorts ;-).

Note: The new airport is up and being used sine 2007. 

You may find the information from Here.

1421: The Year China Discovered America

(First published in Small World Ezine on 10 February 2003)

 

Today we are talking about the recently raised issue...
"Did the Chinese Discover America in 1421?" -- according to 
the book titled, "1421: The Year China Discovered America," 
by Gavin Menzies.

 

Gavin Menzies, the author of this book, is a former Royal 
Navy submarine commander. During his anniversary trip to 
China with his wife, he had found some charts with the 
Caribbean Islands and Florida coast in it. The chart were 
dated 70 years before Columbus'.

With more and more researches, Menzies found more and more
compelling evidence. He retraced the Chinese junks' routes 
around the globe and found shoreside marker stones, carved 
in a host of Asian languages, all over the world. 

There were also sunken junks with evidence of 
Chinese-speaking peoples in the pre-Columbian New World.
Menzies even stated that, "The first Europeans who came to 
the Americas found Chinese chickens, rice, Chinese porcelain 
and jade..."


Arguments were made, even by the Chinese, that there was
no written record whatsoever in China. Do not forget that
the Chinese are one of the most nationalist nations. If 
there was any single thing to claim they discovered America
before Columbus, they would not wait a day to announce the 
theory.

The other thing is -- the age of the marker stones and 
sunken junks were not confirmed.


However... Menzies argued that there was no records in China 
because, later, Chinese foreign policies changed, and they
had destroyed all the papers regarding the new world.


Let's look into China in 1421. It was also the year the 
Great Wall was completed. This was the time of the Ming 
Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.). During the Ming Dynasty, China
was at its (another) peak in arts and literature as well as
foreign relations. Ming Emperor had sent their trade 
vessels everywhere the ships could reach. They traded with
everyone. It's very possible that one or more of them could
have reached one or more undiscovered continents.

But, if it happened, I do not believe all records were 
destroyed. The Chinese are too smart to let go their papers.


However, WHO CARES who discovered America? Is it going to
change anything in our lives one bit?


Even before Columbus left Europe, there were even rumours
of an island called Brazil. It was said to be one rich 
place, full of natural resources and water. Shipmen were
trying to search for it for hope to get water supply for
their around-the-world trip. They even said Columbus did
follow a Brazil map given to him by a sailor. (Info not
confirmed... I used to read about it in a children's book
I can't remember the title).

If the above is true... The place was discovered long ago, 
only the people who did it had never come back... or they
did not receive an assignment (and fund) from a King 
(Queen?) to do so. That's why there was no official mapping
and claim.


Actually the land is already there. Why do they need to be 
discovered?

If you define "discovery" as a "finding and claiming colony
by another country ," then it was certainly Columbus
who discovered America.


Everyone is aware that Columbus was not the first human 
being in America. Before him was his sailor. And before his 
sailor were already the natives. At the time, there were 
Indians all over the place (North, Central and South 
America) and the Eskimos in the colder North.

Studies show (and no doubt from looks and builds) these 
natives are Mongoloids. They walked over the Berring Strait 
from Northern Manchuria and settled in the continent
centuries before Columbus. Did they discover America? 

How about the Vikings? There was also evidence that they 
had arrived and settled in North America probably even 
before the Asians. Did they discover America?

Or if there was no exploitation, we don't count it as a 
discovery?

Did the Chinese discover America?

China not sure it 'discovered America'

1421: Official site and discussion forum

 

More:

If you asked me, I would say the Chinese had probably been
there, but they did not find anything or anybody interesting
to trade with... So they did not pay attention to the place.
I would not either when I had the rich South East Asia, 
Japan, India, and Persia to trade with. I'd be full-handed,
too busy to risk my fleet with an unexplored continent.

They probably never explored the land much. 


There are new theories everyday. During my search on this
topic, I even found another theory that Marco Polo had
probably never been in China! read it here...

Article in AsiaWeek

Did Marco Polo Go to China?