Just discovered some outstanding Malay food stalls for a dinner on the street. Damn, that was good.
Reaching satisfactory levels of caffeination (through the conventional method) can be quite difficult. Here are some of the major challenges one faces:
1) The language barrier can occasionally make it difficult to prevent milk or sugar from being added to your coffee automatically. Occasionally, when I successfully convey that I really do actually want the coffee black, and with no sugar, I'm given a rather skeptical look, as though I can't really mean it.
2) At many restaurants, there's simply no way of knowing in advance whether you'll get real, brewed coffee (which, happily, is rarely terrible and occasionally very good, especially in Vietnam and Laos) or nescafe. In fact, I once had really good coffee at one restaurant and enthusiastically went back the next morning where I was served...nescafe.
3) (This is the big one) A cup of coffee is, anywhere from 2-6 oz. in most cases. (In Laos and Vietnam, when you get 2-3 oz of coffee, at least it's double/triple strength...). Refillable coffee, with one notable exception,* isn't done. Fortunately, it's generally cheap enough that you can order a second or third cup (the third and indeed fourth cups you order get you incredulous looks), but this can be a pain if you're in a hurry.
The good news is that Laos and to a lesser extent Vietnam have excellent coffee. Laotian coffee, in particular is outstanding. I'd heard in the past that the Bolaven Plateau in Southern Laos (wasn't able to visit it, sadly) is a truly world class coffee growing region, and the reason boutique coffee roasters around the world aren't selling laotian roasts the way they do Ethiopians and Yemenis and the like is that Laos simply doesn't have the infrastructure and international trade connections to make exporting coffee feasible. I don't know if this is true but I wouldn't be surprised. Laotian coffee reminds me a bit of good Sumatrans, but with a bit more natural sweetness (which makes loading it up with sugar all the more abominable, dammit!)
*The exception here is the glorious Scandinavian Bakery of Laos (branches in Luang Prabang and Vientiane), where I went for breakfast every day I was in those cities, and should I return, will do again. Their coffee is expensive for Laos (about 80 cents, compared to 20-40 cents normally) but you get a full 12 oz. mug with one free refill, and it's excellent and strong, and they serve it to you black without even having to ask. The so-called Scandinavian pastries aren't very good but they discovered the marriage of tropical fruits and bread pudding, which makes for a tasty complement for the outstanding coffee.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Friday, August 31, 2007
Food
Ok, so I kinda dropped the ball on this whole blogging while travelling thing. With 5 days to go, though, here I am (Penang, Malaysia, my second-to-last destination before returning to Bangkok and then home). If anyone is still checking, I thought I'd record some thoughts about food. This will take the form of vignette style observations rather than essays.
While Malaysian food is basically awesome, I've discovered I don't much care for Laksa (a noodle soup common here in Penang, with a fish-paste and tamarind broth).
The food in Vietnam is suprisingly bland.
The food in Thailand and Laos, on the other hand, is often very spicy, especially once you get away from obvious tourist locations. The spice levels in Cambodia, Singapore, and Malaysia have been a nice level of spicyness. There haven't been that many things I found simply too spicy to eat--however, every attempted Papaya salad in Thailand and Laos was, in fact, too spicy to eat.
There is really good, cheap indian food everywhere--even in places like Laos where there is no local Indian or South Asian population to speak of. In fact, Laos seems to have only one chain restaurant--Nazim, and Indian restaurant (it doesn't look anything like a chain, it looks like just another ramshackle restaurant in every location). I saw seven branches in the five towns I visited. It is gloriously wonderful. The vegetarian indian restaurants of Little India in Singapore are the only non-hawker food to be both cheap and good, at least that I found (except for that one Chili Crab place).
Spring rolls are consistently much better here than in the US, even at places that have otherwise mediocre food. (Jody would be sad about the springrolls here, though, the two most common ingredients are pork and mushroom).
The fruit situation is simply brilliant. The bananas here but the bananas avialable in the US to shame. The strawberries of the Cameron Highlands, where the brilliantly cool climate allows them to grow year round, are the best strawberries I've ever had. There's a small problem with cantaloupe here, as people seem confused about when it should be served; it's often clearly not ripe yet. Dragronfruit is awesome, and the Lychees here are amazing. I don't much care for Guava. Watermelon isn't any better here than at home. Mangoes are much better, and I more or less enjoy them, but there's something weird about eating Mangoes I can't quite pinpoint that interferes with my enjoyment. The infamous durian, that fruit so foul-smelling it's public consumption has been banned in Singapore (500 dollar fine!), is actually kind of a let-down; once you get past the smell, it tastes kind of bland, not that good, not that bad. I was expecting to love or hate it. It does make a very nice desert with sweet coconut milk and sticky rice, though (I prefer it to the more traditional Mango in that dish).
Furthermore, delicious fresh fruit is served by street vendors for trivial prices (rarely more than 30 cents US for large servings). This seems like a good strategy for public health. If really good fruit were sold by street vendors in ready to eat form, I'd probably be a healthier snacker. I often try to take apples or bananas with me to healthify my out of home snacks during the day, and they invariably get squished or something, and I end up buying a danish or something. We need fruit vendors!
One of the best bar-food type snacks is avaible, as far as I can tell, only in Luang Prabang, Laos. It's a fried freshwater Mekong seaweed, covered in sesame seeds, and seasoned with garlic (sometimes, with some fried tomatoes, sometimes with peanuts). At it's best, it's served with a dipping sauce made with chilies, plums, and flecks of dried buffalo meat. Delicious.
The best food I had in Vietnam was hands down the local specialties in Hoi An, a small town in central Vietnam (also the highlight of Vietnam for me, by a fair margin).
When in Singapore, eat cheap food. Hawker food and vegetarian restaurants in little india (not all restaurants in little india are veg, but most are, and I was warned off the meat-serving ones by serveral). From the hawkers, you are commanded to eat BBQ stingray and Chili Crab.
Hawkers in Singapore are (surprise surprise) strictly regulated. They are inspected and given a grade on the cleanliness of their kitchen. THeir grade--A, B or C (D gets you shut down, Don't know what happens if you get an F--caning?) is prominently displayed. At their food stand.
In Laos, eat Laap. I sort of minced meat salad with lots of mint and garlic. Wonderful stuff. I thought Beef was the best, although I had an excellent vegetarian Laap as well.
I've got more posting coming later tonight, but the downpour that forced me into this internet cafe appears to have given way to the sun, which means it's time to go sit on the beach for a while.
While Malaysian food is basically awesome, I've discovered I don't much care for Laksa (a noodle soup common here in Penang, with a fish-paste and tamarind broth).
The food in Vietnam is suprisingly bland.
The food in Thailand and Laos, on the other hand, is often very spicy, especially once you get away from obvious tourist locations. The spice levels in Cambodia, Singapore, and Malaysia have been a nice level of spicyness. There haven't been that many things I found simply too spicy to eat--however, every attempted Papaya salad in Thailand and Laos was, in fact, too spicy to eat.
There is really good, cheap indian food everywhere--even in places like Laos where there is no local Indian or South Asian population to speak of. In fact, Laos seems to have only one chain restaurant--Nazim, and Indian restaurant (it doesn't look anything like a chain, it looks like just another ramshackle restaurant in every location). I saw seven branches in the five towns I visited. It is gloriously wonderful. The vegetarian indian restaurants of Little India in Singapore are the only non-hawker food to be both cheap and good, at least that I found (except for that one Chili Crab place).
Spring rolls are consistently much better here than in the US, even at places that have otherwise mediocre food. (Jody would be sad about the springrolls here, though, the two most common ingredients are pork and mushroom).
The fruit situation is simply brilliant. The bananas here but the bananas avialable in the US to shame. The strawberries of the Cameron Highlands, where the brilliantly cool climate allows them to grow year round, are the best strawberries I've ever had. There's a small problem with cantaloupe here, as people seem confused about when it should be served; it's often clearly not ripe yet. Dragronfruit is awesome, and the Lychees here are amazing. I don't much care for Guava. Watermelon isn't any better here than at home. Mangoes are much better, and I more or less enjoy them, but there's something weird about eating Mangoes I can't quite pinpoint that interferes with my enjoyment. The infamous durian, that fruit so foul-smelling it's public consumption has been banned in Singapore (500 dollar fine!), is actually kind of a let-down; once you get past the smell, it tastes kind of bland, not that good, not that bad. I was expecting to love or hate it. It does make a very nice desert with sweet coconut milk and sticky rice, though (I prefer it to the more traditional Mango in that dish).
Furthermore, delicious fresh fruit is served by street vendors for trivial prices (rarely more than 30 cents US for large servings). This seems like a good strategy for public health. If really good fruit were sold by street vendors in ready to eat form, I'd probably be a healthier snacker. I often try to take apples or bananas with me to healthify my out of home snacks during the day, and they invariably get squished or something, and I end up buying a danish or something. We need fruit vendors!
One of the best bar-food type snacks is avaible, as far as I can tell, only in Luang Prabang, Laos. It's a fried freshwater Mekong seaweed, covered in sesame seeds, and seasoned with garlic (sometimes, with some fried tomatoes, sometimes with peanuts). At it's best, it's served with a dipping sauce made with chilies, plums, and flecks of dried buffalo meat. Delicious.
The best food I had in Vietnam was hands down the local specialties in Hoi An, a small town in central Vietnam (also the highlight of Vietnam for me, by a fair margin).
When in Singapore, eat cheap food. Hawker food and vegetarian restaurants in little india (not all restaurants in little india are veg, but most are, and I was warned off the meat-serving ones by serveral). From the hawkers, you are commanded to eat BBQ stingray and Chili Crab.
Hawkers in Singapore are (surprise surprise) strictly regulated. They are inspected and given a grade on the cleanliness of their kitchen. THeir grade--A, B or C (D gets you shut down, Don't know what happens if you get an F--caning?) is prominently displayed. At their food stand.
In Laos, eat Laap. I sort of minced meat salad with lots of mint and garlic. Wonderful stuff. I thought Beef was the best, although I had an excellent vegetarian Laap as well.
I've got more posting coming later tonight, but the downpour that forced me into this internet cafe appears to have given way to the sun, which means it's time to go sit on the beach for a while.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Vee-It-Nam
No that I no longer am travelling in Vietnam, I will say this. Before getting into the country I had travelled to 14 other countries and had to varying extents enjoyed all 14-- despite having some tough experiences in some. After visiting Vietnam, I will say that I am now 14 out of 15.
Vietnam had its moments and I did kind of enjoy Nha Trang and motorbiking around the DMZ, but I had a very negative reaction to what I saw. People were very pushy and rude and arrogant and you had to fight people off basically when you exited the hotel. And, although the individual sights were nice, when I got off the beaten track a little I got this feeling from the people that I was somehow trespassing. Maybe it was the fact that I was an American. I don't know.
Right now, Dave and I are in Phnom Penh and I like it already. Nice people and a generally good city. We were a little afraid of the security situation around here, but it really looks like things are fine with well lighted streets and plenty of people walking around. I usually only get weirded out when travelling when I don't see anyone around.
I'm going to attempt to negotiate with China Airlines to see if I can get a couple days of extension on my trip here. I'm scheduled to leave on the 23rd, which due to the vagaries associated with travelling overland from Siem Reap to Bangkok, means that I will have only the tail end of the 21st and the morning of the 22nd to see possibly the finest religious monuments in the world at Angkor Wat. I'm going to try to leave on the 25th, which puts me back in San Francisco with barely enough time to through some camping gear and water bottles together for Burning Man.
Tomorrow, Dave and I are headed from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, which people have told us takes about 5 1/2 hours to go to. Given our luck lately with bus and train travel, I'll be happy just to get there.
Vietnam had its moments and I did kind of enjoy Nha Trang and motorbiking around the DMZ, but I had a very negative reaction to what I saw. People were very pushy and rude and arrogant and you had to fight people off basically when you exited the hotel. And, although the individual sights were nice, when I got off the beaten track a little I got this feeling from the people that I was somehow trespassing. Maybe it was the fact that I was an American. I don't know.
Right now, Dave and I are in Phnom Penh and I like it already. Nice people and a generally good city. We were a little afraid of the security situation around here, but it really looks like things are fine with well lighted streets and plenty of people walking around. I usually only get weirded out when travelling when I don't see anyone around.
I'm going to attempt to negotiate with China Airlines to see if I can get a couple days of extension on my trip here. I'm scheduled to leave on the 23rd, which due to the vagaries associated with travelling overland from Siem Reap to Bangkok, means that I will have only the tail end of the 21st and the morning of the 22nd to see possibly the finest religious monuments in the world at Angkor Wat. I'm going to try to leave on the 25th, which puts me back in San Francisco with barely enough time to through some camping gear and water bottles together for Burning Man.
Tomorrow, Dave and I are headed from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, which people have told us takes about 5 1/2 hours to go to. Given our luck lately with bus and train travel, I'll be happy just to get there.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Plain of Jars
This is one of many sites associated with the Plain of Jars. Many of the jar sites are plagued by the presence of unexploded ordinance and even though most of the fields around this site had been cleared of weapons it was still a good idea to stay on the paths around here.
The Plain of Jars is an enigmatic group of sites that together contain thousands of stone jars strewn on in a linear fasion. Possible explanations for the jars were that they were used as furnances for cremation, as water storage devices, or as trading devices between different groups. The Laotian explanation is more imaginative. They believe that the jars were used by a group of giants to ferment and drink gallons of Lao Lao rice wine.
It was a good visit to come out to the jars-- mostly for the Laotian scenery and the great people you meet off the beaten path. Definitely worthwhile to make the trip out to the east side of Laos-- even if it was a bit of a pain to get there.
The Bombing of Laos
Laos is the most heavily bombed country in the later half of the 20th century and still has a devastating problem with unexploded ordinance in the country, which maim and kill hundreds of Laotians every year. Several teams of expatriots are working to remove the bombs, ordinance, anti-personnel mines, granades, and other weapons of continual destruction from Laos. It is painstaking work to say the least.
The picture I took is of U.S. bombing missions over the Laotian countryside. The resolution of the photo doesn't give justice to the thousands of marks on the page-- each of which represents a bombing run consisting of tons of ordinance. One particularly nasty form of bomb used in Laos was the cluster bomb consisting of hundreds of small bomblets. These small bomblets are designed to literally rip apart any human unfortunate enough to be in its range. An even more unfortunate aspect of this type of munition is that an estimated 30% of the bomblets fail to explode on impact-- leaving behind active munitions over a wide area that are capable of blowing off a hand or a foot.
Tubing down the Nam Sa in Laos
This is a picture of two completely random people tubing down the river that Dave and I went down. Both Dave and I forgot our cameras.
After getting the hang of it, I thought tubing down the river was one of the most relaxing ways of spending a day that you could have. Near the start of the trip, the Laotians had set up various fixed lines that you could slide down and jump into the river. I made the mistake of stopping for one of them and jammed my foot in the raft of bamboo that was used to construct the platform. A week later, I still have a bruise.
But other than almost breaking my foot, loads of fun.
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