Yangon: Burger Queen (Part 1)

Submitted July 16, 2009

Last night we ventured out onto the streets in an area close to our hotel. The time was around 7:30 p.m. and it was already dark. Navigating our way along the dimly lit street lights was a bit difficult. Fortunately, Rick's neon green t-shirt guided us like a lantern. There were mostly men, very few couples, and probably even fewer women out and about. And we were the only foreigners on the street, certainly not easily missed. Those kinds of signs made me wonder about the surrounding context, but we ventured on. I learned later that the women who go out at night are typically of questionable reputation. Apparently we made a more dramatic entrance than we'd hoped to.

There were several different little shops along the sidewalk, and we made a few stops just to look. Unlike MIT (Myanmar Institute of Theology) where all of the professors and many of the students are fluent in English, we found that the downtown knowledge of English speaking was minimal. Not too far down the road we found a little bit of heaven, Burger Queen. I realize what you might be imagining, but it is the farthest thing possible from a parallel to Burger King. Oh, how I wish I had a picture for you of this bright young girl with her small mobile Burger Queen cart. This small stand was stationed outside the doors of a convenience store. The small griddle on the left top side the cart lacked the promise of a flame-thrown char-broiled all beef double whopper.

I ordered a chicken burger, which comes in the form similar to that of a hamburger patty. Of course, due to the language barrier, ordering the burger wasn't as simple as that, and finally after a short round of charades we felt we had communicated our order. We actually did see her with the chicken patty and the cheese in hand, as she communicated to us in Burmese. She began by placing the bun on the griddle, then preparing the cheese, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and onion. Then she started to put the sauce on the bun, as we still waited for her to place the burger on the griddle. Again, I wanted to ensure that we were getting a chicken burger, and attempted one final round of charades. When she started to prepare the wrapper and plastic bag for our chicken-less burger we were both speechless and well-humored. Handing me the bag, I accepted graciously, and quietly responded "Jezu din ba day," thank you.