Jonathan
Ah, I have good memories of those late-night bbq stalls. Eggplant, mantou and corn were standard fare for me, best enjoyed while seated on a five centimeter-high stool of dubious quality. With all of the wooden skewers thrown on the ground, it would be possible to keep warm all of China north of the Yangtze before Beijing turns on the heat.
For Guangzhou, you can visit other PRD cities too.That's the only reason I'd fly through it, save for a quick hop to Xiaobei.
The one that's been on my mind (haven't been yet) is Zhangye, China. Streaks of stereotypically autumnal colors paint the hills and valleys of this Gansu province diversion.
Whenever a photo was loading on your page, it showed "OTP," obviously standing for offtrackplanet. I couldn't help but think of Bucharest's airport though...
One of my favorite finds from any market that I've visited - figs stuffed with mascarpone - was purchased at Queen Vic. I should've eaten more Greek food though...
What bothers me more is that I know sometimes, I know I'll be getting different treatment right off the bat because the merchant says to me (if translated into English) "you're from Western Country du jour/your skin is light," therefore you're rich.
I can't help it, buddy. Not to mention, these days, using this argument in parts of Shenzhen (China), Hong Kong or Singapore (mentioned because I'm familiar with those three places) is simply confusing.
In other news, I wanted to go on an alpine slide in Shenzhen a few years ago, and the ticket said 20? (at the time, ~US$2.80). Two employees tried to sell it to me for 30?. Thanks, but this will only work if A) I didn't know Chinese and B) they didn't have tickets.
I hardly think that SE Asia has been done to death. One example is that the average guidebook to Bali is as big as or bigger than one for the rest of Indonesia.
Not to mention, Myanmar is not too well-traversed, Brunei is...home to free amusement parks for its citizens, and Mindanao is more like "Minda-not-yet."
Even in Singapore, I can't say that I have seen too many backpackers in Paya Lebar.
There's Thailand, Cambodia, West Malaysia, Vietnam, and Bali, and then there's the rest of ASEAN lying in wait. Tony Fernandes would like to assist.
Considering my fatalist zest for big cities and the food they offer, I'm not sure why I haven't yet visited Lagos. Never mind the safety aspect, but can one freely take photos around Lagos, or are permits required?
Seems to me ecotourism is decidedly not responsible tourism. Let's save the rainforest by walking through it, sleeping and eating in it and telling others not to visit. Well, at least the fool's paradise is warmer than it is in the northeastern US now...
Nice...you had me at "eating." Street beets? Haven't seen that yet.
I think I tried doogh in Ürümqi, but the Iranian version looks much more promising.
Ah yes, I first started noticing these a while back.
Okayama's refers to the folktale of Momotaro, a child borne of a peach (momo) sent to Earth to fight some demons. He met a few crafty characters along the way. Funabashi's has a boat (fune/funa), and unfortunately I can't remember the others now.
Though, this isn't to say that NYC's sewer covers lack an interesting back story...
Oh, I just realized that the third photo is of plov, a popular Central Asian/Xinjiang dish. If you're in NYC, you can get it in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn.
I find that traveling through the US (where I'm from) is rarely a good value, particularly when going solo.
Not to mention, all of the places that I'd like to visit just about require having a car, which is not ideal for me when on vacation. Sure, I might cave in and eventually get to Caddo Lake and southern Utah, but until then, I'll continue to delight in visiting various other parts of the world.
I was just lamenting how little I know about Vietnamese cuisine. On the whole however, it doesn't look spicy enough for my tastes! What are your favorite condiments there, Jodi?
I started http://buildingmybento.com/ two years ago with the hopes of introducing to whomever was interested the quirky aspects of travel, food and architecture. My first series of posts involved a trip to the DPRK, and since then I've tried to stayed loyal to documenting places relatively off-the-beaten-path.
Worse is the term "ecotourist." Talk about an oxymoron.
My major gripe with that article is that only economy class pictures are present. In my experience, where there's a passenger, there's a question mark. Flying brings out the worst in many of us.
Otherwise, I'm not complaining that it's often cheaper per mile flown (and sometimes just cheaper) to get from NYC to SE Asia than to Toronto. Introducing the argument of cheaper labor costs associated with certain airlines plying those routes is irrelevant to this discussion.
I was in Shimonoseki, the home of fugu, and was actually surprised to see it sold in convenience stores. ...Not the fresh stuff, but a vacuum-sealed bag. I bought one, and my mouth was tingling for a bit.
Shimonoseki is also interesting because you can walk to Kyushu from there.