Pan

Erm, I think Suzy was responding to Tepee's comment that Telok Gong was a place in the middle of nowhere. ← That's exactly what I meant! I can't imagine getting in the car, driving to an unfamiliar suburb, choosing a restaurant at random (by the number of cars parked outside!), and turning up that kind of incredible meal in Hawaii or New York for that matter! ← But, as I said, in Malaysia...

What if the mouse has a disease or parasites?

Well, I'd find it pretty difficult to be a surgeon, too (not to mention, since I don't have fine enough dexterity, I'd kill people). Should that make me anti-surgery? Many people simply don't like the sight of blood. For that matter, a lot of people wouldn't want to be farmers, either.

The other thing is, there may be holes in your house or apartment that the mice are getting through. I had a recurring problem with mice until the super finally put a metal sheet over the hole in my floor that the landlord had been unwilling to fix since before I moved in. But, you know, I do think mice are cute and I respect their intelligence, but why aren't they smart enough to figure out that they shouldn't be in my apartment? I'm happier not having to kill them, but there's still a glue trap down just in case. In terms of slaughtering, I am somewhat squeamish about it, but I also think that human beings are omnivorous by nature. Yes, it's possible for humans to survive well without eating meat, and I do doubt that I would eat meat if I had to slaughter it myself and there was enough other food around for me to subsist well on it, but even though I'm conscious of what slaughtering is like -- having witnessed it -- I resign myself to the moral imperfection of eating meat. I think whether to eat meat or not is a very personal decision.

No, I haven't been to Oriental Palace, but that beef dish sounds similar to the delicious pepper short ribs I had at Prince Seafood Restaurant on Prince St. in Flushing.

How would you compare his Szechuan Smoked Duck with the Smoked Tea Duck you get at Spicy & Tasty or Grand Sichuan?

A few unconnected thoughts: (1) What's your favorite dim sum place in New York? (2) Did you notice that they didn't translate "tripitas" in the taqueria in Gilroy? Sounds like tripe to me, and I probably would have ordered that! (3) Ah, Venice, my cousin's neighborhood -- and I mean neighborhood. That's one part of LA where people do take walks and meet people they know on the street. Nice ocean breezes...

TP, don't be alarmed by all that talk about restaurant prices; most Americans aren't regularly spending $50/person for dinner (as per the truism: the majority in almost every country are at least relatively poor; plus, some of the non-poor are very frugal), though it isn't difficult to spend that much and more if you want to. Laksa, what'd you say? hzrt8w, keep it coming.

Hey, binkyboots! Do you eat Tikka Masala and other (Anglo/Scot-)Indian food much? Enjoy your week of blogging!

If we include drink, we increase the pool of poems exponentially. I've liked Jacques Prévert's Déjeuner du matin ever since I was taught that poem as an illustration of the passé composé. I guess it belongs here because of the title, but only coffee is mentioned, no food. You can read the poem (in the original French) on the upper left side of this page.

Cedar jelly; how do they make that? Pine-mushroom ice cream -- was that sweet or savory or in between? And is that a pumpkin-sugar chip on top of a regular (apple) tarte tatin? Aurora Bistro seems to have some things in common with a place like WD-50, in combining things that don't immediately jump out at you (me, whatever) as going together. But that applies to only a couple of dishes they presented for you and your dining partners, not the whole meal.

Stay with the Chinese food and you will be just fine! That's what you plan to do anyway (or else someone will die I heard ). This protection envelop can only be found in the Los Angeles basin and San Francisco areas. Can't help you when you visit San Diego or Santa Barbara. Perhaps those nights would be designated as US cultural nights (MacDonald's, Taco Bell, Pizza Huts, etc.)... ← Santa Barbara would be La Super-Rica and for San Diego, well, there's a thread about that city in the California forum, where we should continue discussing these things...

Very strange indeed! In Italy, Ferragosto is totally synonymous with summer vacation!

"Demanding" is a tough word. No one ever demands - it's common practice. Anyone who has requested a table just knows - common knowledge. ← That sounds exactly like the way bribery of the police and various officials works in a lot of corrupt countries.

West Indians use allspice a whole lot more than Indians do, but I don't find that its taste is in any way identical to cloves, and I think both spices have merit.

I don't believe you've asked me this before. Yes, I've tried it a couple of times. The ayam laut is offered as one of the ikan bakar (grilled fish) choices, very smooth meat. ← Yeah, and a really fabulous taste! Genuinely a bit chickeny, I thought.

I couldn't agree more. The worst that would be likely to happen is someone could say: "Hey, that smells great! Where did you get it?" I've been known to ask such questions, plus "What is that?", when it isn't obvious. Here in New York, though, such questions asked on the bus are likely to be met with a pretty unenthusiastic reaction from the rider, who usually just wants to have a quiet ride and be in his/her own world.

Believe me, I ate plenty of hawker food and it was wondeful, but I also had a few upscale meals as well as a few chain restaurant moments. I realize that many view hawker food as quintessentially "authentic" but I also like to see how locals eat. And locals patronize both American chains like Starbucks, as well as regional ones like Secret Recipe. ← Sure. For Malaysians -- correct me if I'm wrong, people -- KFC is exotic foreign food. But I don't eat there when I'm in the US, so I don't eat it when I'm in Malaysia or China or France, either. I have nothing whatsoever against upscale food in Malaysia, though!

Daniel, I see that you passed by Olympia, home of one of my cousins. The thing that I remember most about Olympia is the wonderful fragrance of the tall cedar trees. But I guess that isn't food-related. It's cool that you visited the Tillamook factory, a place I actually recognized the name of! Good cheddar cheese.

I did too. I also loved what I called "fruit coptail" (the mixed fruit cocktail in syrup in a can, of course). I probably haven't eaten either for decades now and don't miss 'em. I'm looking forward to the balance of your photos from Aurora. I'm just awed by the number and consistently high quality of your photos, and also the amount of time you've put into this blog during a busy week! Thank you for one of the best blogs ever.

I don't think most of my Malay neighbors thought much of ikan selayang either. They said "Isi sikit, banyak tulang." (Little meat, many bones.) But it was cheap and it was still better than that really salty dried fish we had to eat all rainy season! The really prized fish in the area was ikan aya (tuna). That cost a lot more, but it was great! And the best fish I had during my first trip to Malaysia was ayam laut, the "chicken of the sea." Forgive me if I've asked you before, but have you had that?

I have a feeling that you were thinking of the shrimp paste that is the salted fermented shrimp paste (belecan) used for cooking. ← Or the red Chinese equivalent. Which is why the name of the dish sounded so odd to me. I have had tofu stuffed with shredded shrimp and crab before.

Yum! I want some of that! Do people in Hokkaido usually save the hotpot for the cold times? (Hmm...is early September already cold there?)

Fried Shrimp Paste is a dish by itself?

Hey, Makan King, Beijing food not good enough for you, is it?