anil

Edmond Fallot. I have their tarragon and blackcurrant flavours in my refrigerator

Apart from the inexpensive labour issue it is also that of the urban geography. Keep in mind, this dabbawalla enterprise is quite old - I remember it being in place as a kid; successful and efficient as it has been in Mumbai (Bombay) it has not been replicated successfully in any indian city.

FUD = Fear Uncertainity and Doubt. It was a classic technique used by many salesdroids during the 80s A basic conceptual article if you want to read more. It still exists in its more virulant form when you meet Micro$$oft types. Travel and Computing is full of acronym and abbreviations - Can't help it - Ya have to seperate the jargon compliant from the clueful in my world.

I can do neither . However, eons ago, a certain room-mate of mine insisted that having it in tea or at dinner - enhanced one's abilities later during the night I have taken ginseng tablets to combat jet-lag and associated fatigue. You know there are different kinds of ginseng too .....

You have to see what the experience of traveling during peak hours in Mumbai is like. It is bad enough that you are carrying a briefcase and an umbrella most months ..... One is nearly sandwiched in same manner as peak hours in Tokyo.

I agree about Banana Leaf, there is one also in Kowloon, HKG - In similar vein, Mutthu's Curry on race Course Rd. which serves you like in the small towns in South India - in a banana leaf with servers coming by and pouring vegetables, dal, sambar on our rice. Eat with your hands without any repercussions. I understand Woodlands was to open one - Never got around to asking my friends last time around about it. Holiday Inn has a fairly decent Indian Restaurant. This is up there with Rang Mahal - because of the upper income groups associated with the hotels, who tend to not explore the food courst of SIN

It is a Co-operative, or call it a consortium of independent workers. - You pay the dabbawala, or another backup partner.

BTS has never been able to grow out of the EastEuropean mold and did not quite develop a sizeable tourist traffic, hence the restaurants there were plain utilitarian [This is of course a five year old assessment]

We were in the neighborhood for a meeting today, and dropped by Dominic's for lunch - House salad, and Pork Chops with hot peppers, hmmm, yummy

It is very simple - You cook the meals by say 10:30 AM (Which was cooked for my brother when we lived in Mumbai and he was working in Worli) and put it in a tiffin carrier. There are standard containers in which you then put your tiffin carrier, and put it outside your door (if it is an apartment complex), or give it to the guard (if there is a security gate) - The guys come in bicycles and pick it up. They are then transported to the nearest train station - Western or Central ralway lines. There is one specal carriage reserved for dabbawalas. The boxes are then loaded and unloaded at each station - The time to load and unload is nine to fifteen seconds flat (that's the maxium amount the train stops at a station). The timing by when you have to have the dabba (box) ready depends on how far you are from the Churchgate or VT a.k.a Victoria Terminus (now Chattrapati Shivaji) station. The boxes are then taken to office buildings where they are left outside the reception. At lunch time, one goes out, picks one's box. Once you have finished your meal, drop the dabba (box) off outside the reception - and the boxes journey back home begins the same way. The key to this efficiency lies in the urban geography of Mumbai (Bombay) and the super efficiency of their local-train systems. The city is essentially linear - and two major electric local train systems (Western and Central ) run in parallel except for connecting at one station -- Dadar. As these people unload the racks fille with boxes, they sort and exchange the boxes from one rack to another in a super efficient way. The color coding and symbols are a work as elegant as a lisp-code Here is the snippet from a story done by Forbes ? Keep in mind, Sigma5 is a very desirable goal in my world - The COs of AT&T and Verizons of the world try for that goal. Hope this helps.

We have visited Chinatown nearly every week for the past few months, as I have been doing site visits downtown. With respect to HKG, BKK & SIN the airlines have either suspended or cancelled flights - Yet the tix prices remain high, so I have to live with a limited mobility internationally. I have totally stopped even cooking a meal or two per week since 9/11; exclusively patronizing the restaurants on 9th Ave. in Clinton area during the weekdays after work. Heck, I have even shored up my primary airline, instead of spreading it amongst two-or-three. The key to combating FUD factors is information - I think CDC and WHO have done a fairly decent job in dessiminating information and update about SARS. It is sad that NYC has succumbed to paranoia w.r.t to Chinatown.

I'd err on the side of excessive salt - specially green parrot - which you had; and, quail (whose meat is naturally salty) fried (I'd suggested to the waiter to ask the chef to steam it instead). This restaurant being in our neighborhood, we'd hope that it retains its quality for years to come. Cinnabar, an promising 'neighbourhood restaurant went down fast Hoping it re-open more modestly with emphasis on moderation

sti suvla (sp?) yahni (sp?) are my favourite lamb dishes. We shall be eating this after the Greek Easter, naturally Much of the islands offer fresh fish, simply cooked. While the mainland, specially in the north, lamb based dishes are the main fare.

What kind of a rice is used in a rice soup dish (whose name escapes me at this moment) ? This is supposedly the second most popular meal (after ramen) amongst the Univ. students in Kyoto.

Without comment a favourite of our local host

I remember that - Actually green chickpeas came as a bunch with leaves and small branches. One could also pick the chickpeas from their individual pods and eat them raw.

I've barely woken up - Gotta step out and get the paper Will follow up. Maybe these guests hanging around in this board are getting inspired by us

Try Cooking with Jazz in Queens - It is a small place Kind of awkard if the table next to you is a bit vocal; because the whole restaurant can hear what thay are talking.

Do you drink your Guiness cold ? or Murphys ?

Has anybody ? Somebody ? explored this culinary place of late ? I threaten to do a mileage run there

Sapporo-Ramen ? In NYC there is a restaurant called Sapporo - a kind of like a inexpensive diner. One of their specials is Sapporo-Ramen - Of!Course there is the beer also called Sapporo readily available in most grocery stores in NYC too

An restaurant worth it's salt (kosher,rock or sea) will have a few vegetarian entrees. to satisfy the dietric needs or religious observances of its patrons. Having said that, you are safer going to South Indian restaurants; they will ensure that no animal fat was used in frying any of there vegetarian dishes. The few macro-biotic restaurants below 56th St. are to be avoided as non-flavourful and bland. Steven Shaw has covered the specifics quite nicely.

More info from BBC World about recent find

somen - I was first introduced to these thin noodles, green in color. I forgot what they were called- and gobbled it with Sopporro beer

Eon's ago we'd walk over the bridge to Fenway Park, buy bleecher tickets and eat hot-dogs and beer and more beer Now, we go over to the Yankee Clubhouse eat and watch the first few innings on the monitors before heading to our seats.