Time for some Question and Answer action!

Hey Lingbo,

I hope you’re doing grand (and I’m a bit sad that my google reader hasn’t updated anything from your blog in awhile!) and that you find yourself in Brazil on your South America trip.

I’m writing because I want your input and advice. I’m quitting my job at the end of May, subletting my place, and basically just kicking it til med school starts in August. I have between 6-8 weeks of uninterrupted time to travel, by myself, something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, to Southeast Asia and see glorious beaches in Thailand, or the coves of Halong Bay, or try hokkien mee on the street, and just see a different part of the world. 

Seeing as you’ve went, and this would be one of my first solo experiences for fun (and where i don’t speak local languages other than some French), do you have any advice? Recommendations? Even proposed itineraries? Anything would be helpful.

Much obliged,

Traveling Penguin

Dear Traveling Penguin,

First of all, congratulations on med school and deciding to do some solo travel! Solo travel is awesome, and you are in for a treat.

With 6-8 weeks, you have a decent chunk of time, but not not enough to traverse the continent without running yourself ragged. I would recommend picking 2-4 countries. 2, for a more immersive experience, and 4, if you’re going to do more of a “greatest hits” tour.

Southeast Asia is extraordinarily easy to get around, overland travel can be booked on the fly and is dirt cheap, and your plans will inevitably change (embrace this change!). Logistics that seem daunting when you’re stateside are effortless once you’re there. So most of all, don’t worry, just trust you’ll figure it out as you go along.

Most importantly, figure out a start and an end point. Stare at a map really, really hard, pick out some “must visits,” then figure out a general order (are you going from north to south, or south to north), and figure out where to go in between once you’re there.

Most people start in either Bangkok or Singapore, since international flights will be cheapest there. If you start in Bangkok, you could decide to head north to Chiang Mai, or cross into Cambodia’s Siem Reap by train and see the temples of Angkor Wat, diddle around for awhile, then cross by bus/ferry into southern Vietnam. Or maybe you’ll hit up northern Laos first, then take bus or flight over to northern Vietnam (make sure you get a visa in Bangkok first).

Make sure to get visas for Vietnam and Myanmar in Bangkok, if you plan on visiting those countries. I highly recommend Myanmar, despite the logistical challenges. I had an incredible time there – some magical experiences and the nicest locals ever. As a side note, food is not the greatest there.

In the other direction, you could fly down to Indonesia from Bangkok and work your way back up north to Bangkok via Singapore (most recommend 3-4 days there), Malaysia, and the Thailand islands.

Whatever you do, make sure you check weather patterns for your time there – it may be monsoon season in many places.

My Picks

Bangkok is a nice place to start. You’ll probably end up staying on Khao San Road, which is the backpacker mecca of the world. It’s a bit sleazy and grimy, but that is ok for now. Plenty of traveler amenities here and a chance to get your bearings.

Thailand tourist rundown

If you’re looking to hop around Thailand, here is the quickest rundown of some (rather touristy) spots. I think it’s not a bad idea to start your trip off with some touristy places, just to get a handle on traveling.

Pattaya (not an island): mostly for sex tourists. Avoid if you’re not a sex tourist.

Phuket: one of the most developed islands – mostly big resorts and a lot of sex tourists.

On the east side:

Koh Samui: Another large, well-developed island.

Koh Phangan: Home to the infamous Full Moon Party. Worth a look if you find a group you like to party with (meet up with some people at a  Samui hostel), but I wouldn’t go alone, particularly as a female. It’s a bit douchey, but fun if you like huge beach parties.

Koh Tao: Cheapest place to get scuba certified.

On the west side:

You’ll probably take a bus to Krabi Town or Ao Nang, then take a longboat to the islands from there.

Rai Lay Beach: Must see! Laid back, incredibly beautiful, blue waters and soaring limestone cliffs, mixed crowd. Stay on Tonsai for the backpackery/climber crowd.

Koh Phi Phi from the viewpoint

Koh Phi Phi: For 20-somethings that love to party. Stay away if you don’t like these kinds of tourists. If you go here, make sure to hike to the viewpoint.

Koh Lanta: Super chilled out, one of my personal favorites. Good for relaxing, good food, good place to rent a motorbike and explore.

Koh Lipe: Most beautiful water/beach I’ve seen so far, but pretty dull otherwise. Mostly for families/couples.

There’s a lot of other places in Thailand other than islands/beaches! Consult your Lonely Planet for advice. If you’re looking to get away from tourists, head away from the water.

Elsewhere

I will refrain from writing rundowns of everywhere, but here are a few of my fondest memories:

Penang, Malaysia: Fantastic street food.

Rabbit Island

Kampot, Cambodia: A golden, sleepy town in southern Cambodia surrounded by picturesque countryside (great for motorbiking), soaring mountains, and one of my favorite islands. Nearby Kep is full of abandoned colonial houses and great fresh seafood. Take a boat out to Rabbit Island for an overnight trip, you won’t regret it. A great place to chill out for a week or two in between hardcore travel.

If this guy offers you a ride, say yes!

Monywa, Myanmar: Off the beaten track. One of my favorite days of my trip: met an incredible motortaxi driver named Saw on the street, great street food, friendly people.

Fisherman in Inle Lake

One of the most beautiful, picturesque places of my entire trip. Mountain ranges surrounding waterways and fishing villages. Make sure you bike out to the jetty and eat at a little restaurant which has stunning panoramic views for all of a dollar. Be sure to stay at Aquarius Inn: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g303662-d1536830-Reviews-Aquarius_Inn-Nyaungshwe.html

Malacca, Malaysia: Another great place to chill out in between big destinations. Great food, and I loved the guesthouse I stayed at: http://www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/malaysia/malacca/48178/

But honestly, I had amazing times in not-so-choice destinations just because of the people I met. (Phnom Penh is totally skippable, but I had a great week there, anyway. Hi Simone!) It’s not so much about where you go, but what you make out of it.

Make sure to use Couchsurfing.com both to experience local hospitality and for meetups if you’re in an area that organizes them. I met some fantastic friends and travel partners this way.

Places I would go in the future:

- Heard amazing things about East Timor. I’d love to get more “off-the-beaten-track.” (You will hear this phrase a lot.)

- Indonesia, somewhere.

- Palawan, Philippines and Boracay. Stunning island scenery and cheap beer.

- Laos.

$$$

You can do very reasonably on about $30/day in most places. Since you’re going during low season, you’ll probably be ok just showing up, but it’s always useful knowing where you’re going once you arrive somewhere. You can make hostel/guesthouse bookings online at places like HostelBookers.com and Agoda.com (which has a $2 booking fee). Never forget you can bargain for you room, and indeed, ANYTHING, especially if you’re staying more than 1 night.

You can also get free food/stays in return for working at a hostel – just inquire.

Get comfortable with bargaining!

Transport

… is pretty easy, but remember that AirAsia is great for cheap airfare. HOWEVER, you may have issues with your US credit card (I did), so be sure to buy well in advance, and possibly have someone back home buy your ticket for you if you’re having issues.

Health

Bring diarrhea meeds and rehydrating salts. You will probably have digestive issues. It’s ok, happens to everyone.

Make sure to treat every single cut/scratch/whatever with extreme seriousness. I never bother bandaging or disinfecting minor cuts in the US, but everything gets infected in the tropics. So be super diligent!

Drink bottled water, wear a helmet, buy travel insurance, use protection, bring a universal travel adaptor, etc.

Packing

Bring as little as possible. As. Little. As. Possible.

The Most Important Thing

My biggest piece of advice is: accept every single moment. I had a lot of times when I was pissed off at where I was, who I was with, etc. instead of just accepting it and enjoying it. Every person and experience brings something valuable to your travels. As long as you keep a positive attitude and an open mind, you’ll have a great time no matter where you go.

Also, don’t be afraid to chill out. Everyone has a different physical tolerance, so if you’re tired, rest. Take care of your body. I’d take “a week off” every 3 weeks and just do some work.

And learn more than “hello” and “thank you” everywhere you go. I loved the instant gratification of learning languages while you’re abroad – and the smiles you receive in return are incredible.

Bon voyage! You’re going to experience the beautiful, the ridiculous, the sublime. It’s going to be great.

Related posts:

1. What to Pack for a Southeast Asia Backpacking Trip
2. How To Dress When Backpacking: Or, You’re Doing it All Wrong
3. Tips on Traveling Alone as a Woman

At home, I usually pride myself as a reasonably put-together person. I may only wear one pair of shoes… but they’re a pair of platform wedges. I wear more dresses and skirts than the average college student. I at least attempt to swipe on black eyeliner and some concealer.

However, backpacking takes away all your pretensions. There you are, dancing away in light-up Minnie Mouse ears and sweatpants while some Australian dude spills a bucket of whiskey coke all over you. Oops. God forbid you get in the way when a Thai bartender slams a beer bottle on belligerent reveler, knocking him bloodied and unconscious.

So let me share my style lessons.

1) Flip flops. I’ve scaled steep, slippery rocks in a bikini and flip flops. I’ve motorbiked in flip flops. I’ve partied in flip flops. I would probably scuba dive in flip flops if it made any sense. Pro tip: after Full Moon Party on Thailand’s Koh Phangan, hundreds of flip flops wash up on the beach by mid-morning. Free flip flops galore!!

Looking like a rectangle is really hot this season!

2) Parachute pants. You see all those hippie backpackers with the dreads and funny looking pants. You laugh at them silently and think, gross hippie backpackers! I’m not like them! Then your hair gets all dusty and matted and locals ogle you because you’re wearing shorts and a tank top, plus it’s just really hot. Then you realize that parachute pants are God’s gift to backpackers: cheap, comfortable, cooling, light, and let you sprawl around without being indecent. Just be careful when getting on bikes or motorbikes – I always end up getting twisted around the back of the seat. Thank you, hippies, for letting me see the light.

3) Helmets. I have worn so many suspect motorcycle helmets. The top will be so scratched that it looks like the previous owner was tossed headfirst from a cliff. The buckle won’t stay buckled. The visor will be hanging off one hinge. Wear your damn helmet. And make sure the buckle works. Remember, don’t do drugs and go tubing/cliff jumping/rope swinging.

4) Viscose. Let me champion the cause of manmade fibers. These wholly unnatural fabrics will dry with amazing speed after a day of carting your 20 kilo (see, I’ve been away from the US too long) backpack and trying to haggle with tuk-tuk drivers by making silly duck faces after their ridiculous first offer. It helps me avoid getting angry, which is the kiss of death for haggling in these parts. So don’t get angry. Make weird duck faces, puppy faces, hop around like a rabbit, something. Laugh. Then, “You give me good price?” They will be so confused, they might just slip up. Also, if you just stay silent for a long time, then walk away, that works too.

Baby monkey!

5) Swimwear. If you pay the exorbitant fee to go walk in the shark tank at Bangkok’s aquarium, they give you a bikini for free. Free! For only the cost of a lame shark tank experience that could easily net you 2 real scuba dive sessions in a beautiful island dive site. Not worth it. But good for feeding monkeys in.

5a) Monkeys. They are not your friends!

5b) Monkeys, part II. Monkeys are like rats, but cuter and with brainpower and opposable things. Think about how terrifying this is. They will snatch your plastic bags and potato chips. If you try to feed the baby monkeys, the big monkeys will yell and take their food. However, they’re pretty cute when you throw them pineapple chunks from your kayak and they wash the food first before eating it. Repeat after me: Monkeys  = not your friends.

6) Hair ties. Buy them at 7-Eleven. Or cut a section off your pantyhose.

7) Pants. Wear them when you ride elephants bareback. Their hair is really coarse and wiry. Also, you shouldn’t ride elephants bareback. At least, I don’t think you’re supposed to. But no one else was watching and the Thai guy said it was fine. “Will I fall off?” “No no,” he says, smiling. Good luck.

Biking through Siem Reap, Cambodia

8) Daypacks. Motorcycle bag snatches are not uncommon here. Sometimes, the thief will carry a knife to slash your bag strap as they make a 2-wheeled getaway. Always let go, or else you’ll get dragged into the street and I will cry. So, like the anxious wreck I am, I carry a small backpack everywhere. I bought it in Ipoh for like, 30 Ringgit. (~$10) Which was too much. I saw a pile at the discount store in Kuala Lumpur for $15 Ringgit. (~$5) I should have bargained harder! My backpack brings all the boys to the yard. Along with my juvenile Asian pencil case that I stick antibiotics, eyedrops, and bandaids in.

9) Skin ailments. Not usually part of my beauty routine. At least to not to this scarring degree. But I like to think my shoulders, once pristine and now populated with white, polka-dot like patches, are the new fashion trend. Backpacker skin FTW!

10) Sarongs. I already detailed why I love sarongs in a different post, but my love just never ends. They also make for good ninja disguises and neck rests on long bus rides. Also for posing in Khmer Rouge’s legacy of abandoned houses in Kep.

BONUS: 11) Tshirts. Wearing a “SAME SAME” (front) “BUT DIFFERENT” (back) shirt doesn’t make you cool.

BONUS #2: 12) Lobsters. They’re giant sea bugs. Just think about it.

I hope this list helps you.

Related posts:

1. What to Pack for a Southeast Asia Backpacking Trip
2. Tips and Recommendations for Backpacking through Southeast Asia
3. I answer all the important questions.

Hello from Kampot, Cambodia!

A college friend asked me a bunch of questions on traveling alone. I feel like there’s a dearth of good information on what it’s like to travel alone as a female, so I’m posting my responses here.

Keep in mind that my experience is unique and that I’m talking only about Southeast Asia (which is great for female travelers! Other locations are less so).

—————-

Hi Lingbo!

Thanks for responding to my facebook message. I think it’s awesome of you to venture out on your own. I’ve traveled alone for a few days this summer, and it’s definitely a strange experience, in that it both opens you up to new experiences but at the same time also closes you off (i.e. you have to look out for your own safety, so no accepting drink invitations from strangers). Below are a few questions. There’s no rush, so I’d love to hear your thoughts whenever you have any time.

1. How do you locate budget-friendly and female-friendly lodging? If you do choose to stay at a hostel, how do you go about picking a relatively clean/non-sketchy one? I tried staying at a hostel when I was traveling on my own in Amsterdam but was told that all the rooms were co-ed. One look at the many European boys in tattered jeans smoking on the front steps drove me to shell out $100 for a hotel room.

Ah hostels…

Well, there’s a key difference between Europe and Southeast Asia. That is, you can easily afford your own room ($5-15) in Southeast Asia.

That being said, hostels can be great too. They sometimes have private rooms or female only dorms. However, I wouldn’t wholly rule out a coed dorm, either. I think you’ll find that most of those seemingly sketchy European boys in tattered jeans aren’t all that bad. Sure, they smoke, but a lot of Europeans do. (I hate smoking. With a passion.) There’s always creepy men in every hostel batch, but most of them are probably just like you – bright-eyed university students looking to have a good time while traveling. You’ll probably find that loud partiers of any gender barging in at 5am a bigger concern than the presence of men.

Try reading reviews on HostelWorld.com and HostelBookers to see if you’ll like the vibe there. Some hostels are notorious for being all night parties, others are for quieter travelers. Pick accordingly.

As you travel, you’ll find yourself doing things that would be considered lunacy back home – squeezing 7 people into a 5 person car, driving a motorbike in the opposite direction of traffic, spinning fire poi naked – and that’s part of the experience. That being said, just keep a comfortable level of vigilance that allows you to be safe while still trying out new things. Remember, you can always switch hostels. Bring earplugs!

2. From your travels, it seems like you’ve had no trouble making friends with fellow travelers and the locals. I always feel a little hesitant approaching new people (or new groups of people), mostly out of safety concern. Do you have any advice on how to do that?

Make sure you read safety warnings in travel guides and online. Different destinations have VERY different guidelines for do’s and don’ts regarding safety. For example, in Mexico City, it’s imperative never to randomly hail a cab off the street. In Asia, this isn’t an issue at all. In India, the chances of harassment as a female are much higher, and you have to act/dress accordingly. In Thailand, if someone speaking English approaches you on Khao San Rd (a popular tourist spot) with some sob story or gem-selling scheme, it’s a scam. Etc. Etc. You just get used to these after awhile, and learn how to ignore them. You’ll find that looking Asian insulates you a bit from these, since people aren’t sure if you’re local or not. Just be sure to do some initial research so you can spot scamsters and know where’s safe to go.

Met up in Koh Phangan with a bunch of friends made through a Couchsurfing meetup.

Here are some rules for making friends safely:

1) Don’t try to break into large groups of men. They’re not that much fun, anyway – they usually want to drink as heavily as possible, talk about sports, and light things on fire.

2) Don’t go chat up that dude in his 50′s who’s sitting all alone at the bar, nursing a double scotch. He will think you’re a prostitute.

Other than that, it’s not so bad. Here are prime targets for friending:

1) Another female traveling alone. This is one of the easiest and most promising friendships to be struck. Try spotting her in a hostel’s common area or chilling at a cafe, reading her Lonely Planet.

2) A mixed gender group.

3) Another male, around your age, traveling alone who seems nice.

4) A couple. Good for a casual chat, but unlikely to become your sightseeing partner.

5) Go to meetups. Major cities all have weekly Couchsurfing events where you can meet locals and travelers.

You’ll find that giant social groups naturally form at hostels, but it’s easy to meet people anywhere. As far as safety, just use your common sense. If a dude seems creepy, he probably is. But don’t let that deter you from all the genuinely friendly, uncreepy folks out there. Not much can happen in a well-lit, public area with other people around.

Please, please read my friend Lena’s fantastic blog entry on rejecting pushy dudes for the socially awkward. I think any girl who’s worried about “offending” a guy will identify with what she says.

Conversation starters:

- “Hey, did you mention you’ve been to ____(Amsterdam, Outer Mongolia, Reykjavik)___? What’s it like? I was thinking about going there next.”

- “Do you know where ___ is?”

- “How long have you been traveling for?”

- “Where have you been so far?”

See fake engagement ring on my left hand. Yes, we’re making animal faces. No, I don’t have a better picture of my fake engagement ring.

I bought a fake engagement ring for $3USD in a night market. Not sure how much it has helped. It’s good for quick, easy to rejection at loud parties – just point to your ring finger and shake your head. But I’ve been traveling a lot with people that I’ve met on the road and generally haven’t had any issues.

3. What about meals? I’m sure you’re trying out local cuisine wherever you go. If you want to dine at a relatively upscale place, do you feel comfortable eating alone or do you find someone else?  if the latter, how?

In Southeast Asia, upscale places are usually an expensive disappointment. The best and cheapest food is at street stalls, which are easy to sample by yourself. But I usually eat with someone else anyway. If you meet someone who seems nice earlier in the day, just casually invite them to dinner. They’ll say yes 99.9% of the time. Or maybe you’ll acquire a temporary travel partner. If you meet someone who seems cool and who’s heading in the same direction as you,  try planning on catching the next bus together. That way, you’ll save yourself from boredom on long trips and have a new travel buddy in the process.

4. Packing, part 2. You’ve covered a good deal of the packing on the blog already. I had a few questions about packing a camera/laptop/other heavy equipment. There’s obviously a trade off between bringing along a fancy camera to take really nice travel photos and being able to carry all of that and walk for a few hours. What do you do about camera? Do you opt for a compact one? What suggestions would you have for people who want to bring multiple camera bodies/lenses but at the same time still only one backpack, like you suggested on the blog?

I would err on the side of less equipment, unless photography is a main goal of your trip. I have a DSLR with me and wish I didn’t. It’s fine if you’re taking a shorter trip and not moving around too much, but I’d rather have a high quality compact camera. I usually don’t even carry my camera around because it’s so annoying to have with me.

5. How did you pick your travel locations? Did you plan the whole trip out before you started, or is it more spontaneous? Where have you been?

I’m not entirely typical in that my entire trip has been spontaneous. I ended up in Malaysia and Cambodia by accident. I’d meet someone who mentioned they were crossing the border to X or Y and I’d think, hey, why not? My visa is expiring anyway. You’ll find that there is a well-worn route of bus stops and ferry links – the typical tourist trail, if you will – and that other travelers will be going/coming from the same places. So for overland travel, being totally spontaneous is very much possible. Flights are a little different. Fares vary wildly depending on when you buy them, so better to plan about a month ahead on these to grab the promo fare.

Not planning is fantastic because if you like a place, why not stay longer? Or if you hear about some other cool town, why not go visit? You have to trust that nothing will go too wrong. Because it generally doesn’t. Unless you’re so off-the-beaten-track that finding transportation is an issue. In which case, be a bit more careful.

The most helpful thing is to have a end destination in mind. For me, that’s Shanghai, where my return flight is. So I’ve been meandering across the continent, but I try to keep on a generally northward path. Having a full 4 months means that I never worry about the time.

6. What has your travel experience been like so far? I feel like female travel memoirs like Eat Pray Love or Wanderlust make it all seem so easy, but it’s actually much more difficult in real life (or maybe it’s just me). Have you encountered any difficulties? Memorable experiences?

Travel isn’t hard. Think about it this way: there are millions of other people your age, much stupider than you, who have successfully backpacked across Southeast Asia. In time, you’ll find that the occasional hard bits make for the best stories and memories.

Probably the most annoying thing that’s happened is my skin flaring up like crazy. Nonstop traveling is tough on your body, particularly in an unfamiliar climate, so I’ve been careful to pick rooms with A/C, get enough sleep, and give myself long breaks. The most likely difficulty you’ll encounter is getting ripped off. But I’ve felt myself really grow in this respect – I’ve learned how to bargain without getting offended about being scammed, and sometimes just accept that I’ve been scammed. (It’s just a few bucks. No big deal.)

The most important thing I’ve gained is a sense of humor and patience in dealing with unfamiliar situations. Sometimes a bus will mysteriously break down, or drop you off at some random travel shop for 2 hours while you wait for an unexpected transfer. You just learn to stretch your legs, buy some pineapple, and pet a local kitten. Bring a book to read – there are book swaps at most guesthouses once you’re done with it.

As a side note, you’ll find that frequently touristed places – like any major city or place listed in the Lonely Planet – are really, really easy to navigate. Tons of people speak passable English and signs/menus/schedules will be available in English. It’s also helpful to have a phone to meet up with all your new friends, either with a local SIM card or prepaid phones. I’ve been trying to get by on wifi and Skype, but this is proving to be antisocial and a Really Bad Idea.

As for memorable experiences, there are too many to count. Friendly people, beautiful sunsets, inexplicable scenarios, massive parties, and moments of unexpected awe.

7. Who takes your photos?

I take photos with my camera, but as far as pictures of me, usually a travel partner or staff member.

8. How do you fund your travels?

I happen to freelance as a web designer while I travel, so I can work from the road. However, there are a million other ways to finance your travel that don’t involve having technical skills and a wifi connection. Some people just save up before they leave. (You only need $30-50 a day to travel very comfortably in SE Asia. Less, if you’re willing to forgo some creature comforts.) Many hostels will let you work a few hours a day in return for free room and board. I’ve met people who taught English, played online poker, worked at hotels, or just lived at home and saved up some cash from a secretarial or bartending job before heading out.

Related posts:

1. Tips and Recommendations for Backpacking through Southeast Asia
2. What to Pack for a Southeast Asia Backpacking Trip
3. Persian and Italian Prix Fixe Traveling Meal

After 2 months of backpacking through Southeast Asia, I have my luggage down to a science.

The most important part of packing is to not pack anything. It’s too easy to just hear this statement and just go “yeah yeah yeah, I’m going to bring my travel-size hair dryer and travel-size hairspray and only 4 pairs of shoes because everyone needs their slutty pair of heels.”

No.

Put all your crap into your backpack. God forbid you bring a suitcase. Have you tried arriving at an island in a rickety wooden longboat, wading through waist-deep water, and then trekking for half a mile across a beach with a suitcase? Because I have.

Do you see those little boats in the water? And how they aren’t directly on the shore? You have to walk through that water. 

Then go to the gym, turn off the A/C, and go for a brisk walk on the treadmill for 1 hour straight while sweaty weightlifters beat you up, mosquitoes attack you, and someone blasts ABBA in the background. (This is a frighteningly accurate depiction of arriving in a new city.) See how much you want your travel-size hairdryer then.

These are the clothes you should bring, and the ONLY clothes you should bring for Southeast Asia (list tailored for females):

• - 2 tshirts
• - 2 tank tops
• - 1 pair of shorts
• - 1 pair of light pants
• - 7 pairs of underwear
• - 2 pairs of socks
• - 2-3 bras
• - 2 bikinis
• - 1 pair of flip flops
• - 1 pair of sneakers
• - 1 black convertible pencil dress from American Apparel

Don’t even THINK about bringing anything else.

Once you’re there, you should purchase:

• - 2 sarongs

A sarong will save your life. A sarong is the most versatile and amazing thing in the world. It’s more awesome than Santa Claus covered in rainbow sprinkles.

That’s me, rocking a sarong on laundry day at the beach in Ko Lanta, Thailand. 

You can wear a sarong as a flowing tube top. Or a halter dress. Or a skirt. You use it as a bag. If your sheets are kinda gross, you can lay it on top and not fear catching yet another weird skin disease. It’s a fantastic beach towel, head wrap, modesty shawl for temples, pillow case, and blanket for chilly bus rides. You can fold it up and prop your head on a windowsill. It is amazing, dries quick, packs light, and the possibilities are limited only by your imagination and manual dexterity.

Don’t forget to bring a first aid kit and sunscreen (sunscreen is not cheaper in Asia than at home). You can always buy this upon arrival at a 7-Eleven, but it’s convenient to have. Every single scratch and cut gets infected with alarming speed in the tropics.

I never really paid attention to cuts back home – they inevitably healed up without my intervention. But I’ve become an iodine nazi now, swabbing antibiotics every 2 hours and changing bandages twice a day. Because infected cuts ain’t fun!!

Equally important is HOW you pack your backpack. Remember this: plastic bags are your friend.

Put your tops and dress in one bag. Put your bottoms in another. Bring another plastic bag for dirty clothes. Bring zip-locks for your chargers, USB, makeup, first aid kit, and other miscellaneous items. When you arrive in your ganky-ass hostel, this will save you from having to dig up the entire contents of your backpack to find your swimsuit, only to repack it hastily upon departure. Just remove the plastic bags and put them back in once you have to go. Easy!

Now you are ready to go on an adventure.*

*And by adventure, I mean hanging out with drunken British teenagers on their gap year.

Related posts:

1. Tips and Recommendations for Backpacking through Southeast Asia
2. How To Dress When Backpacking: Or, You’re Doing it All Wrong
3. Free Trip to Barcelona with Ferran Adrià for Winners of Harvard Science and Cooking Class

I spent a week in the desert for Burning Man 2011.

Burning Man, by its nature, is hard to describe. It’s a festival of 50,000 people in the desert, where participants leave no trace and commerce or advertising is not allowed. It’s not a barter economy, but a gift economy – people give things away, ranging from food, to alcohol, to performances, to trinkets, with no expectation of receiving anything in return. The only things you can buy there is coffee and ice – you have to bring all your own food, water, and camping supplies with you, and all your trash out at the end of the week.

It’s a farmer’s market, for free, in the desert. Duh.

One of the most incredible things is how fully-realized “Black Rock City” is. There’s a post office, 3 publications (BRC Weekly, The Shroom, some other one), street names, villages, and police. One camp set up a farmer’s market, where they gave away fruits and vegetables, as well as serving up homemade chai and hand salads. Improbable, interactive art structures dot the landscape, inviting you to climb or contribute. There are incredible parties that happen at all hours of the day (whether it’s 3am or 10am). This is the land where drinks are free (just bring your own cup); the dubstep blasts at top volume; the people are gorgeous; and everyone’s respectful of your personal space. I felt a lot safer here at night than walking around around Boston during the day.

The environment is intense. The hot, dry air immediately wicks away moisture, which proved hellish for my skin. They recommend you drink at least a gallon of water a day, which isn’t an exaggeration. You have to carry goggles and a bandanna at all times in case a dust storm kicks up, reducing visibility to 10 feet.

The temple, before being burned

The temple, in a choreographed burn.

Conversely, it’s also some of the most beautiful landscape I’ve seen. Biking around the playa as the sun sets is breath taking: the gasoline-slick of sky slipping behind the mountains, bikers in fantastical outfits criss-crossing the desert while white dust rises like fog. Look around, and you’ll see a stunning two-story temple built out of wood (which will be artfully burned to ashes at the end of the week), a Trojan horse, and of course, The Man – a wooden effigy that is burned on Saturday night after a frenetic fireworks display and 200 foot-high mushrooming green flames, putting every action movie to shame. At night, the playa lights up in all directions, a cross between an amusement park and an acid trip’s rendering of Vegas.

Photo by Bruce Miles

Imagine all this, while art cars – moving vehicles you dance on, ranging from sharks to yachts to octopi – blast their best dance music around a screaming throng of thousands. Some art cars carry giant propane tanks so they can spew 30 foot high flames into the night sky while they serve you drinks. The heat from the flames is actually somewhat painful, reminding you that yes, this is actually happening.

———

Photo by Bruce Miles

I ended up at Burning Man on total whim. A friend of mine from Harvard was organizing a theme camp and described it as an “art festival in the desert.” I was looking for things to do in my year off after college, so I shrugged and figured going with her was a good bet. It wasn’t until after I bought my ticket that I had this conversation:

Me: So, uh, what about running water?
Natalie: Well, you bring all your own with you.
Me: Oh. So what about showers?
Natalie: There aren’t really any, but we’re going to have a solar shower for the camp!
Me: But there’s electricity, right?
Natalie: No. But some people do have generators!
Me: Wifi? Cell reception?
Natalie: Nope.
Me: AM I GOING TO DIE?
Natalie: No.
Me: [hysterical] I’M GOING TO DIE. AM I GOING TO DIE?

I haven’t gone camping in over ten years. I was more nervous than excited as I rolled onto the playa in an overloaded sedan with Natalie’s friends from Berkley, CA.

The car engine immediately broke into pieces. We fretted for a few minutes, then the 5 of us pushed the car for 3 hours until we reached will call to pick up our tickets. They wouldn’t let us push the car the last two miles, so we hooked up the sedan, all of our luggage, and all 5 of us to the back of a Budget truck with nothing more than nylon rope thinner than my pinky finger. Miraculously, it held.

It was an inauspicious beginning, and my first full day on the playa beat me up physically. Scorching dry heat and high altitudes make you feel like crap. I drank some water, wandered around, went to bed early. My tiny tent and sleeping bag that night felt more luxurious than any 4 star hotel.

The hardest part to deal with is not the heat. It is the superfine, alkaline white dust. It coats everything and stays there, even if you rinse off your hands with water. Your fingers are perpetually chalky, and you’ve never had a worse hair day. There’s a coating of dust on your cooking supplies, dust sneaks into your sleeping bag, and dust grinds in your contact lenses.

My skin revolted, my feet ached, my hair felt like plastic. I gave up on makeup.

To my surprise, I didn’t die.

——–

I normally wrestle with a perpetual baseline of anxiety. Sometimes I’m aware it’s there, sometimes I can’t even perceive it. Like many others, I’m always attempting to control the world around me, and sorely disappointed when it fails to comply. Friends flake despite followup emails; it rains during a barbecue; my taxi sits in traffic before an important meeting.

Time exists fragmentally at Burning Man. Few bother with clocks. There are no cell phones, so you can’t text someone demanding to know where and when they’ll show up. Strip away the controls, and you find that social machinery still churns, with even more life and verve than before. I met the most incredible people by accident, and soon, accident became fate. People there, as a rule, are incredibly friendly and helpful.

At the same time, Burning Man only exists a week a year. The entire city is transient, burned or carried away with beauty and sullen efficiency. I caught myself pining for certain moments to be extended. It’s strange. So often, I feel saddest when I’m happy, because I’m thinking about how that particular source of happiness will end. That’s what I took away from the eponymous burning man at the end of the week: that beauty exists for a certain finite period in time. Its end is inevitable, even desirable. It is a gift to experience happiness, and it is wisdom to let it go.

No related posts.

A Seattle cocktail

Have you been to Seattle? I sure haven’t, but my food-loving friend Sam has. (Sam frequently appears on my blog as an eating companion or contributor – he penned a great essay on why Chinese food is so cheap.)

In addition to being an enthusiastic eater and Chowhounder, he’s a great photographer as well. Sam kindly agreed to let me post his stunning Seattle food photos so that you, too, can do some cross-country travel from the comfort of your torn underwear and desk covered in stale Cheetos.

A recent trip to Seattle took Sam and his camera to many restaurants, including Canlis, an ultra-luxe venue nestled into a hillside; Henry’s Taiwan and the Kawali Grill, humble ethnic eateries in inexpensive neighborhoods; Long Provincial, an upscale Vietnamese restaurant open-late downtown; the Lunchbox Laboratory, a completely unique burger joint; and finally Harvest Vine, a very swank tapas place.

A parade of gorgeous photos after the jump.

Canlis

Beautifully cut sardines, cantaloupe, pepper sauce, pepper gelée, fennel, and the tiniest bits of Sichuan peppercorns. Sea salt and dill were used properly, as were several oils.  It was a very intricate dish; exactly the style that I enjoy.  My only complaint is that having come from the tasting menu, they made up a price for this dish, which was $24.  That would have made it the second most expensive appetizer on the menu (second only to foie gras, at $28) and too expensive for the portion.

Canli agnoletti

The highlight of my trip to Seattle was a plate of freshly made agnolotti filled with ricotta and with sweet corn and epazote.  The combination was as unexpected as it was truly delightful.

Canlis souffle

Soufflé is notoriously hard to make right, and a restaurant that charges astronomical prices seemed like a good place to try.

Grand Marnier soufflé may almost be a cliché, but it did not disappoint at Canlis, being almost ethereally airy. The coffee in the background is a special limited edition decaffeinated version of Starbucks’ Casi Cielo and brewed with a Clover machine (one of the few outside of a Starbucks, but from the era after Starbucks bought the Clover).

Despite being rare, the decaf Casi Cielo doesn’t hold a candle to the regular Casi Cielo, which is much richer if a touch more bitter.

Canlis cocktail

This is the Ruby Crusta (pomegranate, rhubarb soda, ginger and lime), one of several non-alcoholic cocktails on the menu at Canlis.  Their cocktail menu features all sorts of interesting ingredients, from housemade green pepper syrup, Cordial Medoc and sous-vide infused gin, to unusual bitters from Trinidad, Milan, and a truly exotic location listed on the menu only as “East Coast”.

It turns out that even without the sugared rim, the Ruby Crusta was impossibly sweet. They replaced this cocktail, free of charge, with a new one — grapefruit juice, tonic water, Angostura bitters and Cracked Maple orange bitters, which definitely hit the requested bitter and sour notes.

You can do a lot in a cocktail without alcohol.

Lunchbox Laboratory

Burgers at Lunchbox Laboratory

Two burgers from the Lunchbox Laboratory. The foreground has beef, swiss, bacon, lunchbox onions, and black truffle mayo and the background has beef, candied balsamic onions, sweet chili mayo, and honey-mustardish sauce.

The Lunchbox Laboratory’s menu is so overwhelming and confusing that it could be something out of Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares . . . except that the food is excellent and the lines were out the door.  There are nine different types of salt to salt your fries.  Burger meats range far beyond beef to dork (duck + pork), churken (chicken + turkey) and velk (venison + elk).

I stuck to beef (having recently made the epic failure of elk burgers at home) and have rarely consumed a better burger than at the Lunchbox Laboratory.

Sodas! (Sam loves soda)

There are few things I like more than interesting sodas, and these two were definitely interesting.  Bubble Up is similar to Sprite, but with the more full flavors of lemon and lime oils, not just lemon and lime essence.  Nesbitt’s Peach, however, is one of the worst sodas I’ve ever tasted. It’s like bubble gum in a bottle and unbelievably over-sweetened.  180 calories in a 12 ounce bottle should have been a giveaway.

Henry’s Taiwan

How to Make Thousand Year Old Eggs

Talk of a thousand-year-old egg began to scare one of my dining companions, who hailed from Iowa, but he’s an engineer, so I explained how they are made by immersing duck eggs in a solution of sodium chloride, calcium hydroxide, and sodium carbonate.

This highly alkaline solution denatures the proteins in the eggs, similarly to cooking them in boiling water, but imparting a distinctive taste.  This was the best dish (among several good ones) at Henry’s Taiwan, where the eggs were served in an innovative preparation over slivers of dried tofu, a spicy Sichuan sauce, and terrifically fresh chives and cilantro.

Kawali

Kawali stew

Filipino food is not so common on the East Coast (and actually surprisingly hard to find in restaurants even in Seattle, which has a large Filipino population).  This dish is called Pinakbet, and is a complicated stew of sautéed eggplant, green beans, okra, squash, bitter melon, ginger, onions, tomatoes and pork belly in an anchovy-based sauce.

Despite being stewed together for a long time, each ingredient can really be tasted. I was so excited to see calamansi juice on the menu — a delightful, Southeast Asian citrus fruit — but then equally disappointed that it was a watered down from-concentrate version, and nothing like fresh calamansi.

Long Provincial

Long Provincial duck salad

We wandered into Long Provincial, an elegant Vietnamese restaurant, at 11 PM on Independence Day, when it was very difficult to find anything else open.

The menu was quite innovative – this dish is Gỏi vịt (duck salad), and involved shredded cabbage, chopped carrot, pickled red onion and a variety of herbs and nuts along with cold slices of roasted duck and ginger.

Other good dishes included the Gỏi cuốn Cây Me (vegetarian summer rolls), which included a little twist of fried dough in the middle of the roll to add crunch, and very rich Phở (beef noodle soup).  On the other hand, Chả quế cớm xanh (cinnamon pork rice balls), Cút nướng me (quail with tamarind), Cớm chả cá (fish mousse crispy rice) all sounded fascinating but ended up not being worth ordering.

The best thing there may have been the drinks, with a surprisingly wide array of non-alcoholic drinks, including sweet and salty lime soda, apricot and kumquat sodas, and even a non-alcoholic cocktails on the bar menu, including a wonderful combination of lemongrass, green tea, white cranberry juice and soda water.

Harvest Vine

Harvest coddled egg

The presentation of this beautiful coddled egg on top of house-smoked salmon at Harvest Vine was as delicious as the taste.  I expected good salmon in the Pacific Northwest, and this certainly met that bar.  Does it exceed Russ & Daughters in New York City, however?  Not quite.

Harvest gazpacho

We normally think of gazpacho as a tomato based soup, but this white gazpacho is at once similar and different.  The soup is made primarily from almonds, garlic and olive oil, and yet has that smooth mouth feel and refreshing quality associated with gazpacho.  The balance of flavors in this soup was superb.

Harvest VIne cheese plate

A simple cheese plate was really livened up by a few small toppings.  Candied walnuts resting atop the blue cheese in the rear, quince paste in the center, but most interesting (and most tasty) was the candied squash in front.  These weren’t random placements either — each topping really did pair best with the cheese it accompanied.

Related posts:

1. M&T Restaurant in Flushing, NY: a Tsingtao in Qingdao
2. Toro Restaurant in Boston: Ken Oringer’s tapas
3. Harvard Square Cafes: the definitive guide

Remember Pizza Hut and how it began serving pasta in 2008? It actually serves quite a diversified menu in China, where I snapped this photo of escargots for offer last summer in Chengdu. Along with one of the saddest salad bars I’ve had the displeasure of sampling, they served a variety of pastas and hot-dogged pizza crusts. Slice, take note.

Related posts:

1. The Blue October Pizza at Zing! Pizza
2. I <3 Crayfish Pizza
3. The Best Pizza in New York?

M Bar at the Mandarin Oriental reminds me of Shanghai’s slickly overproduced watering holes. The difference is that in China, these kinds of establishments stock only the most svelte and snowy-skinned of waitstaff, the kind with faces that inspire as much protection as possession.

(The physicality of Chinese beauty hits you in a very different way from Western beauty. Even at its most objectified, the former maintains a certain distance from its sexuality. It’s softer – it doesn’t assault you from the front so much as it circles an arm from behind.)

In honor of last summer, I ordered their Mo-del cocktail, which featured notes of rose and lychee, very Shanghai. I appreciated the generous helpings of sugared almonds and olives, which helped cut a very stiff drink.

I could almost imagine those were expat men lining the sill of the bar and spilling over the banquettes. I was never sure what to think of them last summer, to see them as so many suited malcontents, or to envy how some were mindlessly adept at making the city their jungle gym. Somehow, it felt unfair.

No related posts.

Some underwhelming prawns at Private Kitchen 44 in Beijing.

Donkey meat in Beijing at Noodle Loft… like beef, but with a gamier, greasier mouthfeel.

A roasted quail on a stick in Chengdu.

Now with a bit of love.

Related posts:

1. A continent of food porn
2. Trinity: Duck, chocolate creme brulee, cooked blood.
3. Some food porn from Harvard Square

Back during my tony days interning at City Weekend Shanghai, the benevolent dining and health editor would spit out recommendations with the efficiency of a finely tuned machine. I recently asked her for some recommendations for a friend in Shanghai, and I wished I had had this list when I was there. So in case you ever make your way to the Middle Kingdom’s most cosmopolitan city, consult this guide for what you should be inhaling.

Don’t forget these babies, the best breakfast crepes ever, on Mudan Lu, close to Pujian Lu.

———-

Joanne Yao, City Weekend Dining Editor’s Must Eats List
Vegetarian – Wu Guan Tang (try the carrot and potato faux crab roe, it’s amazing; the bags of fortune for a milder palate, the 8-plate appetizer set if you’re with lots of people, and knife-cut spicy mushroom noodles).

The crab place - must tries here are the dan dan crab noodles and the “yin-yang” pastries in the dim sum section (they’re fried halves of yummy glutinous rice, one stuffed with curried crab the other with lotus paste). They also have normal food (non-crab) too, if you’re on a budget.
for photos: http://www.dianping.com/shop/2093833

Cute cafes with actual good coffee have been popping up all over the place lately, so for coffeehouses, check out the last dining cover story. Out of these, my personal favorites are the Living Room, GZ Cafe and Cafe Dan for coffee and ambiance.

There’s Jesse’s for Shanghainese, which is a must try for anybody coming here. This is a good time to try their hairy crab tofu, which is delicious. If you want to splurge, then definitely get the wine marinated crab (it’s around RMB250). It’s freaken delicious, has lots of roe (it’s bigger than hairy crab) and can be split among 2-3 people. Also try the glutinous rice stuffed dates, the grandmother’s hong shao rou and if you are going with at least two other people, the fish head cooked in a canopy green onions (order this in advance, and always make a reservation).

The best sushi buffet in town is this place in Hongqiao. It’s around RMB220 for all-you can-eat sushi and all you can drink too (they have hot and cold sake, iced plum wine, milkshakes, etc.) For quality in a buffet setting, this place is the best. They have fresh oysters on the half-shell and sea urchin, steak, etc. They don’t skim on the good stuff.

Related posts:

1. Fun with dining advertorials
2. Shanghai’s Swedish Chef at T8
3. Lingbo eats bull balls: THE VIDEO.

I stumbled upon a Cantonese restaurant this summer when I was waiting for my friend to finish up work in Beijing. I had just had the worst “soup dumplings” of my life a few shops over where they were more steamed buns with juice inside that had long since leaked out. In desperation for a good meal, I saw a few people eating something delicious through the large glass windows of this restaurant and decided to give it a whirl.

There is something intensely comforting and yes, American, about Cantonese food since that’s the root of the USA’s rendition of the cuisine. I ordered a pork congee – soothing, fragrant, and creamy. Then a platter of this chicken dish which had a tensile crunch in each bite from the soft cartilage inside. I definitely skew more Chinese in this respect, since I love have some extra texture in the meat. The peppers were a gorgeous bright red, crispy, and fried until all the heat had abandoned their mean-looking flesh. Even the rice came nicely presented in a white ceramic pot. It seemed like a good photo, so I took one.

Fried, cartilage-laden chicken with fried peppers, pork congee on the side. Ancient cellphone mine.

Related posts:

1. See my GoodEater.org post on crayfish + chicken hearts on a stick
2. Ma Po Tofu
3. A Boston Epicure’s Photo Dispatch from Shanghai, China

Here’s a bartender who can really shake it doing some crazy tricks with his weapons of choice at LAN Club in Beijing. This was where I tippled on a sample of mixologist’s Mao’s summer cocktails while bonding with the super fabulous PR guy about the crappy gay expat scene in China. No matter where I go, it seems, my fag hag abilities are never wasted.

I was actually there on work. My goal: to pick a cocktail as City Weekend Beijing’s drink pick. Here’s the triage of drinks I sampled: a cool cucumber concoction, a cosmopolitan reimagined in raspberry, and my favorite – a killer kiwi number made with a fresh, macerated fruit.

They have a crazy, Philippe Starck-designed interior with all kinds of mismatched chairs, baroque frames, a bathroom fountain where a silver goose spits water onto your soiled hands, and other fantastic imaginings. I sampled my drinks sitting in a giant, red velvet throne with a golden eagle sculpture the size of an 8 year old perched on it, no joke.

Here’s the writeup I eventually sent in, I don’t know what the published version looked like since I headed back for America the next day:

There’s nothing quite like the magic touch of a good bartender. As easy as giving two parts hard liquor and one part tasty mixer a stir sounds, sometimes we need someone like LAN Club‘s Mao, master mixologist. He produces marvels like their kiwi martini (YY70), where he’s taken a whole kiwifruit and mashed it into a fine, lime green pulp, then fortified it with premium vodka, kiwi liqueur, lime juice, and flavored sugar. The result elevates a somewhat belittled, misunderstood fruit into a whole greater than the sum of its parts – and has us swooning over a simple tipple. We love most of all how there’s a bit of pulp just to make it, you know, more real. “I never taste,” Mao declares of his creations. “I don’t need to.” You can snag it for half price on Thursdays, 9pm-2am, or get two for YY70 on their Wednesday martini nights.

Related posts:

1. I answer all the important questions.
2. How to pick a date restaurant: advice from food writer MC Slim JB
3. Shanghai’s Swedish Chef at T8

A Starbucks in Chengdu, China

While Starbucks is sometimes seen as a monolithic coffeeslinger to the upwardly mobile masses, the coffee chain’s branches abroad don’t entirely conjure up home. Though it’s mostly a deliciously familiar task of navigating between tall, grande, and venti, be it NYC or Shanghai, I felt alienated at times without my standby sugarfree option and decent English magazines. (I wrote about how much I adored Starbucks in my post about being culture shocked.)

Starbucks is transliterated/translated as 星巴克 (xing ba ke, literally star + transliteration of “bucks”). They’ve  done an admirable and interestingly incomplete job of localizing its stores.

Overall, I will say that the similarities far outweigh the differences. Starbucks is not meant to be a Chinese experience so much as a Western one, including the quirky name scheme for different sizes, which is preserved. Its foreignness, that is to say, is a desirable quality. But the changes reveal interesting cultural differences in how – or which – people drink this stuff.

Some background: the Chinese coffee market is rapidly growing – one industry report pegs growth in the double digits – and there’s plenty of room for expansion. Per capita consumption hasn’t reached .1kg yet, while Japan, another traditionally tea-drinking nation, gulps down 3.3kg per capita. Starbucks first moved into the Chinese market in 1999 with its first store in the China World Trade Center in Beijing and has been expanding rapidly ever since.

Another Starbucks in Chengdu.

Coffee has really taken off in urban areas, where you can see expats and Chinese alike sucking down giant Fraps during business meetings. Here, it’s more a fact of daily life, but if you talk to the laobaixing (normal people), particularly the older generation and those not as well off, they’ll cringe at the idea of drinking coffee.
On foldout Beijing map distributed by the company, it not only maps every Starbucks locale (66 in total at the time of printing, 68 now), but also touts the chain as a blend of local and American culture. While the menu has a familiar slate of iced coffee, macchiatos, and lattes, I noticed major differences in not only drinks, but also the way they’re ordered.

Here’s a quick and dirty rundown of what you can expect.

What’s different.

1) There’s no sugarfree option.
Actually, the whole concept of “sugarfree” is pretty alien in China. Your only real option for sugarless drinks is diet Coke, and even then, that’s not guaranteed in most restaurants. So when you order your caramel frappucino, rest assured it comes with nothing but real sweetness. If you ask baristas about Splenda, they may look at you blankly (“Fake sugar! In yellow packets!” I tried to explain) but it is offered as a nod to those kooky Western traditions.

2) There’s less customization.
American Starbucks views a coffee drink as a make-your-own affair. The menu is not so much a menu, but a starting point for a perfectly customized, no whip, sugar free, extra shot concoction. Chinese people, however, tend to order coffee as it is labeled on the menu without lots of special requests – partly because most people aren’t that familiar with coffee in the first place. Some menus I’ve seen also have helpful, illustrated instructions on how to order a coffee, with steps like choosing a size and deciding whip or no whip.

3) Specialty flavors cater to local palates.
I tried a coffee with grass jelly concoction that would seem more in place at a bubble tea stop. Bits of black jelly shot up my straw, cool and slippery, as I marveled at the “glocalization” of a simple drink. The bill came out… a lot. Which brings me to my next point.

4) Prices are sky high.
The tall iced coffee, at 15 RMB (about 2.20 USD) is the drink closest to its US price. But since coffee is considered a luxury, lifestyle drink here, its pricing places it firmly out of the reach of many and even caused me to think twice about ordering anything but uh, a tall iced coffee. A simple vanilla latte is 30 RMB, about 4.40 USD, more than you would pay stateside. To put 30 RMB in context, a cheap entree in a Chinese restaurant in Shanghai would run about 15 RMB. A bowl of noodles is 5-6 RMB. Eat several meals or drink a latte? I would hate to choose.

5) There’s no extra charge for soy.
This is a land of soy!

6) People tend to sit and stay.
There’s a lot less takeout business (http://www.seattlepi.com/business/228728_sbuxchina16.html), and a lot more sipping, socializing, and meeting up. People stay for the experience, rather than just grabbing a pick-me-up and dashing.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it: what hasn’t changed.

1) Baristas repeat the order in English.
One quirk, however, is “tall iced coffee” becomes “iced tall coffee.”

2) Similar snacks and food are offered.
There’s the same offering of biscotti and muffins, but wait: Starbucks-branded moon cakes! At insane prices!

Yep, that's 328 yuan, or $48 USD, for four decorative cakes. Or you could buy nearly 70 bowls of noodles for the same price. Or a five course meal at a very nice restaurant.

3) Tall iced coffee is pretty much the same thing – and price – on both continents.

It’s my standby cheap, low cal, caffeinated pick me up. When I was back on American soil, it was also the first thing I bought in the LA airport, waiting for my connecting flight. Some good things just never change.

4) Baristas are (bizarrely) friendly.
I have no proof that I didn’t just happen to have naturally friendly baristas. But if you’ve tasted service culture in China, you know that good, Chinese-style service tends towards deferential, not chatty. In fact, my cashier asking casually if I was late to work one morning as I dropped a bookbag on the counter threw me for a loop. I wouldn’t have thought twice about it in the US, but the day before, something similar had happened. Did they… train them to make small talk? I have to wonder.

5) There are plenty of competitors.
Just as Starbucks must contend with independent coffeehouses and chains like Coffee Beanery and Peet’s Coffee in the US, there’s even more visible competition in major cities like Shanghai where every other street sports rivals like SPR Coffee (http://www.sprcoffee.com/), Costa Coffee (http://www.costa.co.uk/), and the Coffee Bean (http://coffeebean.com/).

Happy caffeinating!

Related posts:

1. The perils of being Chinese in China
2. Starbucks adds free Wi-Fi to all stores = I may go corporate
3. Weird Eats: Bull penis and live scorpions. Also, Starbucks coffee.

Hi denizens of the world wide web and faithful readers of my blog, you might be interested to know that I’ve been hard at work updating the content. I’ve scanned a bunch of my reviews and articles from City Weekend, including my super-camp “Shanghai seduction” spread, and added some FAQ’s to answer all those burning questions. Feel free to ask more questions. I promise to post answers. Unless you are some 50 year old dude who wants to have a drink with me. Because I can tell you the answer: really now? I’m actually insulted. Is this some elaborate neg?

I had a baller meal at Gourmet Dumpling House last night, photos and commentary to come! I will also instruct you on how to eat a Chinese meal.

.

Related posts:

1. How to read a recipe

Based on a tip by the City Weekend dining editor, I sought out something really exotic for a quick cafe break: yak butter tea. I already had warm and fuzzy feelings attached to yaks since a good friend from high school interned at Shokay, a social entrepreneurship startup that sells luxury goods made from yak down. I wondered if the strangely adorable creatures produced tasty beverages as well.

Tibet Cafe, on the famous strip of hutongs called Nanluoguxiang in Beijing, shines like a cheery orange beacon amidst the trendy boutiques and popsicle stands. I arrived around a slow lunchtime, so I took a seat in a deserted cafe. One cup of the stuff was 20RMB ($3-4), pretty damn steep for a drink, especially in Beijing.

I was pretty excited. Until I took a sip. I immediately cringed. It was like drinking salted curdled milk. It smelled like a pungent whiff of cheese, not necessarily a bad thing, but the flavoring was so strong that even when I went in for a third – and fourth – attempt, I couldn’t force it down without feeling kind of sick. The presentation in a solid black mug with the drink’s foamy white head was comforting, as were the Tibetan tapestries and bright color palette, but I just couldn’t force this stuff down. I held my breath and took a giant gulp or two, paid my bill, and left feeling kind of embarassed.

I guess there’s something for all tastes.

Related posts:

1. Cheesey, greasy Poland: review of Zaps in Allston in the Crimson
2. International food porn – Quails on sticks, donkey meat, prawns.
3. A continent of food porn