Tag: Food glorious food

Notes From Hanoi: Post-Tet Bling, Wise Men and Orion Pies For the Gods
March 2, 2015

Notes From Hanoi: Post-Tet Bling, Wise Men and Orion Pies For the Gods

I’m surprisingly comfortable with having no clue what’s going on around me. I’ve spent most of my adult life in countries where I’m not only far from fluent in the language but am also illiterate and still learning the cultural ropes. Vietnam- and specifically here …

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Leicester is For Food Nerds: A Tangentially Culinary Introduction to an Unlikely Place
August 4, 2014

Leicester is For Food Nerds: A Tangentially Culinary Introduction to an Unlikely Place

Leicester (lɛstər/ les-tər) isn’t exactly on the global culinary map. It’s barely on any map at all, except perhaps one detailing manufacturers of, say, sturdy meat pies or Indian sweets.     Rumour has it that people have traveled vast distances to get a big …

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Feed Me, Leicester: Eating Everything Before We Go, the Kayal Edition
June 2, 2014

Feed Me, Leicester: Eating Everything Before We Go, the Kayal Edition

One of the lesser-known perks of having an overtly personal blog that occasionally masquerades as something useful is that you sometimes get some rather unexpected offers out of left field. Like last week, after I finished up my rather haphazard month of attempting happiness, I …

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Day 4: The Happiness Project
April 23, 2014

Day 4: The Happiness Project

    One of the things that I hadn’t entirely realized before having Thwacky was how much arm-time babies (or at least this one) require. Not a difficult or unpleasant time, but a lot of it nevertheless. My parents arrived when he was a month old, …

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Day 2: The Happiness Project
April 21, 2014

Day 2: The Happiness Project

  It’s Day 2 of my attempt to find something that makes me happy for 100 consecutive days. Today was a bit easier than yesterday to find something suitably happifying. The sun was shining and the tree blossoms were perfumed and billowy rather than sodden …

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Why, Hello Leicestershire: Notes on Suddenly Moving to Middle England
December 1, 2013

Why, Hello Leicestershire: Notes on Suddenly Moving to Middle England

People, I have moved to England.     The seemingly interminable spouse visa application process suddenly terminated and within a week of getting our surprise approval we were safely ensconced in a ridiculously genteel, chocolate-box village just outside of Leicester. That’s the one pronounced Lester. …

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Big Dumplings in Little China
October 20, 2013

Big Dumplings in Little China

It’s hard to write about your homeland.   I’ve spent decades honing my skills at describing places from the perspective of an outsider looking in. It helps to not fully understand what’s going on, or if I actually do know what’s going on, to be …

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I’ll Be Lucky to Escape With My Waistline Intact: My Last Month of Eating Everything in Shanghai
June 12, 2013

I’ll Be Lucky to Escape With My Waistline Intact: My Last Month of Eating Everything in Shanghai

    This is going to be a major food porn post. I just realized that after over four years in this city, I’ve really never delved into all things foodie on this blog. Mops, cats, pollution, water monsters, bad maps– sure. Food, not so …

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I’ll See Myself Out: Attempting Shanghai Nightlife (for Burnt Out Recluses)
March 19, 2013

I’ll See Myself Out: Attempting Shanghai Nightlife (for Burnt Out Recluses)

So I’m leaving Shanghai. Sometime in June, I’ll be handing in my Foreign Expert’s Certificate (actually a booklet, just to muddle matters) and sorting through my accumulated detritus to ship things home or to redistribute them amongst the neighbourhood rag-and-bone dudes. [Random note: Modern day …

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Managing Your Plague in China: Brief Notes on my Stupid Cold
November 15, 2012

Managing Your Plague in China: Brief Notes on my Stupid Cold

So I finally made it in to work today, after two days spent under cover, barking my lungs out at home, destroying entire forests with my nasal detritus. I packed a little baggie with 2 boiled eggs and 2 small oranges (plus a massive coffee) …

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A Totally Impractical Guide to 6 Underachieving Nights in Hong Kong and Macau
October 9, 2012

A Totally Impractical Guide to 6 Underachieving Nights in Hong Kong and Macau

This is one of those times when I have, in theory, at least 4 blog posts worth of things to write about but haven’t the wherewithal to even try to shove it all into one, much less 4. Bear with me then, as I attempt …

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Making You Jealous in Tangier, Morocco
August 1, 2012

Making You Jealous in Tangier, Morocco

So, Tangier. We came here because Doug was sick as a doug dog in Chefchaouen and we needed to go somewhere less strenuous than our previous intended destination, which was the freaking southern desert area. Camels and Bedouin and all. Not good when you’re ill. …

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