The Chinese are famous for eating everything. Name an animal and I guarantee there’s a restaurant that serves it; name any part of that animal and they’ll have a dish featuring it. To be fair, mostly this stereotype applies to the south. There’s even a saying among the Chinese that people in Guangdong province “eat […]
How Long Does It Really Take To Pick Ten Lychees?
I’ve been on a number of sightseeing tours in China and they all had one thing in common: they were bad. Often very, very bad (like this one in Xi’an). Despite that, I enjoyed most of them. Having the right people on the tour helps, but the most important factor is attitude. If you go […]
Hurry Up and Eat Your Squid Before it Dies!
I know you’re not supposed to play with your food, but in this case, our food seemed to be playing with us. The two squid lying on the pile of ice before us pulsated and changed from a translucent white to a dark red with every heartbeat. Dark pupils jumped around in large eyes. Whenever […]
Karakul Lake’s Sawut: A Soon-To-Be Global Fast Food Giant
Move over McDonald’s—it’s only a matter of time before the Sawut Fast Food Restaurant takes over your spot as the world’s number one franchise. Let’s just hope they don’t forget their humble roots on the shores of Karakul Lake in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China and continue to serve only the freshest horse […]
Homestay in Jiaju Where A Film Crew Steals our Feast
Once we had gotten rid of our drunk, lunatic driver, we had no choice but to walk around Jiaju village with all our bags until we found a place offering homestays that actually had rooms available. It took us about an hour, but we eventually ended up staying with a really nice family who had [read more…]
Redefining Greek Salad on Goa’s Palolem Beach
One of the greatest things about traveling in India is the abundance of cheap, yet tasty food. Even the lowest priced dishes from the filthiest street carts rarely taste bad and for a few more rupees, you can get some pretty amazing meals. Nevertheless, every western visitor will eventually crave some western food; and you […]
What Does a $100 Dumpling Look Like?
It looks big. Very, very big. This “jumbo gyoza” (a Japanese dumpling known as pot sticker) sells for 9600 Yen, which is US $110 at today’s exchange rates. If you happen to find yourself in Tokyo with a large group of extremely hungry friends, make your way to the Iidabashi district. Take a right after […]
Japanese Gothic Lolita Dungeon Dining With a Christian Twist
I could do a whole series of posts on unusual restaurants and food traditions in Japan (many already have and there are even a few books on the subject), but for now, I’m just going to look at one: The Christon Café. Featuring a ridiculous amount of Christian imagery in a Gothic dungeon setting, this […]
Singing and Dancing in Malacca’s Chinatown Interferes With My Dinner
The city of Malacca is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located 150 kilometers southeast of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. It is famous especially for the bright red buildings that make up the Portuguese built historical downtown area, but for this post I’m going to focus on Jonker Walk, also known as Malacca’s Chinatown; more specifically, […]
Wine Tasting in Myanmar at Inle Lake’s Red Mountain Estate
The Inle Lake area of Myanmar was my favorite of all the places I visited during my month in the country. While there, you can take a boat out on the lake, bike around the lake, walk to the lake……ok, so it doesn’t take too long to realize there’s not much to do that doesn’t […]