Angkor

I'm sweating through the cheaply woven palm frond hat, sold to me the day before by an eleven-year-old hawker for $8 and clearly marking me for further harassment, as I climb the steps of Pre Rup, a Hindu temple built just over a thousand years ago. It is 8:30 a.m.

This was the beginning of our second full-day of privately-guided touring, which, in total was about 16 hours and included trips to Angkor Thom proper, including Bayon, Baphuon, Thommanon, Phimeanakas, Preah Palilay, and the Terraces of the Leper King and the Elephants, Ta Keo, Ta Prohm, Angkor Wat, the aforementioned Pre Rup, Neak Pean, Preah Khan, as well as side trips to Tonle Sap Lake, an artisan vocational school, and the Landmine Museum. Whew.

Much has been written on this place by learned historians more knowledgeable and eloquent than I. So I will let my pictures do the talking. Simply put, though, I was put in awe of these amazing structures; they demonstrate how magnificent the Khmer empire was because of their sheer number and the intricacy of their detail. I've never been to a place that captured so much of the history of a people, and that demanded that you consider what life was like for them when they were supreme. In me it invoked a visceral reaction not unlike those I experienced in other World Tour sites where I could not completely grasp either how or why something was done, namely the terracotta soldiers in Xi'an and the Great Wall in China and Machu Picchu. I have some reading to do. Now, however, I'm going to the beach.

Lunch

Two of the greatest things about Singapore are its location, right in the middle of Southeast Asia, and its history as an important stop in the trade routes that exploited seasonally changing trade winds and the Strait of Malacca. Both, together, have helped create a unique food culture here, a culture influenced by Malaysia, China, South India, and Indonesia. You can imagine how excited I was to get out there and explore (super-duper). The picture you see above is of my companions, Kennon, Dave Berger, and Dave's girlfriend Jen, at the tail end of our walking food safari through three hawker centers. Everyone was quite full after the tour, for which Kennon deserves much respect for the research he organized.

The hawker food centers are comprised of rows and rows of tiny stalls, each with purveyors of varying pushiness selling three to eight dishes. Typically, each of the dishes costs between S$1.20 and S$6 (approximately $1-4 US). It's a little nuts.

Our meal started at the Tekka Mall Food Court, which we stumbled upon looking for the Tekka Temporary Market. We were unsure whether this was what we were looking for, but decided to start eating because we were quite hungry. I started my meal with roast-duck rice, which was basically a medium-size serving of Peking duck, over rice, with a side of cucumbers and clear soup. I followed this with fresh pineapple, kiwi, and dragonfruit and a fresh lime juice. The duck was tender and flavorful, with the appropriate dark hoisin-style sauce, and just enough crispy skin. The fruit was extremely fresh; the lime juice was quite sour, but very refreshing. Total cost for the meal was $6.

I also sampled the dishes purchased by my friends. Jen ordered a "double-taste" noodle.

I'm not sure what the two tastes were, but I liked both of them. The dumplings were roasted pork meatballs inside a chewy boiled dough. The soba-esque noodles were dressed in a dark, sweet sauce. Kennon bought chicken tandoori, with onions, fresh nan, and a delicious curry sauce.

This dish was very good, in my opinion, although it was quite similar to many other tandoori dishes I have had in the past. Dave brought a spicy chicken laksa to the table.

Laksa is ubiquitous at the hawker centers we have visited (this wasn't my first rodeo, y'all), and seems to be one of the favorite local dishes. It's a spicy coconut curry soup, with rice noodles and all sorts of crazy bivalves and bean curds swimming inside. It is an overwhelming experience if you are not prepared for the heat, but well worth it.

From there, we walked through Little India, a bazaar of nick-knacks, woven goods, trinkets, and fruit stands. We needed the walk, because we had clearly purchased too much at our first stop, and our goal of going to multiple hawker centers was in dire jeopardy. Without knowing what we were doing, we actually happened upon the Tekka Temporary Market, our original starting point, but we were too full to order anything except some ABC juice, made from freshly squeezed apple, beet, and carrot. Juices in hand, we hopped into a cab and asked to be taken to the Maxwell Food Hawker Center, in Chinatown.

Dave and Jen were fading fast, and couldn't order any main courses at Maxwell, but Kennon and I had the iron stomachs and fortitude to continue on our ill-defined and unrecommended quest to try everything. Our research indicated that two of the quintessential dishes, available at that food center, were Hainan-style chicken rice and chicken porridge. Although there were some lines to wait through, we were not to be deterred.

The chicken rice was fantastic. The chicken was poached in its own stock, and served over perfectly cooked rice. It was very similar to the roast duck I ate earlier, although the taste was much more subtle. The side dipping sauce of crushed red peppers in vinager really set off the ginger flavor that permeated through the chicken. The highlight of this round of orders, though, was the Chinese porridge. It had tender thigh meat as well as crispy pieces of skin, green onion, and a dark sauce. It had other things in it that I could not identify. I'm fairly certain that my description does not do the dish justice, as it was transcendent. We also got some banana fritters, which were whole small bananas fried until crispy. This simple preparation was great.

Jen also purchased a "mango de longan," a mound of shaved ice with almost a dozen peeled longan fruits, as well as pureed mango and colored jellies for texture. I like longan, but to my unsophisticated palate they seem extremely similar to leche fruits. The dessert was cool and sweet; the bite I had was quite refreshing after everything we had eaten prior.


After leaving Maxwell, we wandered through Chinatown for a little bit. Seeing that we had come to the end of our lunch, I decided to pick up one last snack at a small stall.

The BBQ Pork Pastry was still warm after coming out of the oven. It was flaky and crispy on the outside, with a slight sesame taste. Inside was a chinese-style barbeque sauce with a few pieces of pork shoulder (I think).

I lost track of how much everything cost, but it was an unbelievable value nonetheless. Now I need a nap. The walking food safari was at once overwhelming and a great experience. I am not sure if I will ever eat again, but I do still need to try the fish-head curry and the chili crab. After eating an assortment of satay, chili-fried tiger prawns, spring rolls, and orders of laksa over the last few days, I am fairly certain I could never run out of things to try in this city. No time, though, to eat it all; tomorrow Kennon and I fly to Siem Reap, Cambodia, where other strange foods await.

Arigato Gozaimasu

Tomorrow morning Kennon and I leave Japan provided the current rainstorm does not thwart our departure. It has been an amazing trip. I would be remiss if I did not thank everyone here in this wonderful and bizarre country for everything they have done for us. Friends, one old and many new, went far out of their way to show us around and organize our social schedule in the big city. Our experience would have been much less rich and exciting without them. For this I am grateful. Of course, I would and will do the same for them should the opportunity hopefully arise.

See you in Singapore.

Quick update...

So much has happened. The trip to Kyoto, and then Nara, was fantastic. Nara was a much smaller and more isolated place with much history. We enjoyed our two nights there at a Ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn, and had a relaxing wander through some fascinatingly ancient spaces and gardens, including Japan's largest bronze statue housed inside the world's largest wooden building. Also, in Nara there are relatively docile deer roaming freely throughout the area that includes many of the tourist sites. I say "relatively" docile because currently one of my most prized possessions is a video I shot of Schreiner feeding a deer that proceeded to bite his posterior. These are good times.



After taking a bullet train back to Tokyo, we've had quite a big weekend already, including going to a baseball game and spending two nights partying late with the cool kids in Roppongi and Shinjuku. Last night we went to a Korean restaurant for an amazing meal; the occasion was a birthday party for two of the Japanese women who live here, and they were nice enough to include me for the cake and some humiliating gifts. It was quite nice to have a surprise birthday party.



Today Mike left us, because his time was up and it was time for him to return to Atlanta. We will miss him, of course. He has been a great traveling companion. Tomorrow Kennon and I fly to Singapore to meet up with Dave Berger, my old roommate from DC, his girlfriend Jen, and Samar, a good friend from college.



Also, yesterday we saw sumo (awesome!):

A Continuation on a Theme...

Something I am Not Used To...

So we are staying at a high-end hotel in Kyoto, but we just checked out. I am using the urinal downstairs by the lobby when a female attendant comes in and starts to wash the bathroom. Very strange...

Kaiseki

I could regale you with tales of the castles and shrines we have visited during our time in Kyoto. And I could post a pretty funny description, in my estimation, of the onsen public bathhouses here, in one of which KP3, Bot, and I spent yesterday afternoon. But I won`t, because, as you might already know, I want to talk about the food.

Last night we went to a kaiseki ryōri. The restaurant, Yata, was finely appointed in a luxurious eastern style. We were greeted in an enclosed entry and asked to take our shoes off, a request we are very familiar with at this point. We were led to a small room where we sat on mats and cushions around a bar-like table we were to share with two couples who were finishing up their dinners. Our host brought us hot towels and discussed with us which meal we wanted. The three of us decided on the Hagi menu, a nine-course meal.

Course 1: Marinated Mackerel and Grilled Eggplant -- This was a pleasant way to start the meal, more because of the textures and the presentation than the taste. Sure, the fish was incredibly fresh and the other ingredients accompanied its flavor quite well, but the arrival of this dish signaled to me that we were in for a long-evening assault on many senses, rather than just the one that is typically targeted.

Course 2: Deep-Fried Sea Eel and Matsutake Mushroom in Clear Soup -- This course was quite a change of pace. The deep-fried sea eel was completely encased in sesame seeds, which preserved the fish from any of the oil during frying, and it was not fried long. I ate the ingredients out of the soup with chopsticks, and initially thought that the broth had little or no flavor. As I ate, however, the flavor of the broth became clearer and stronger, either because the remaining ingredients lent it flavor or because my palate became more attuned to the subtlety. In any event, when I drank the remaining broth at the end of the course, it had fully taken on the flavor of the ingredients. Also, I love eel.


Course 3: Seasonal Sliced Raw Fish -- This was sashimi, as you might expect. Four pieces, all extremely fresh, and garnished with flower petals and a piece of daikon radish. Again, I thought this course was quite beautiful.

Course 4: Grilled Eggplant and Shellfish with Sauce -- A revelation! This steamed giant clam sandwich had grilled eggplant in exchange for bread, was crushed with a thick, sweet teriyaki-style sauce, and garnished with a soybean. Each half of the sandwich was small enough (barely) to eat in one bite; this was like nothing I had ever seen. It was playful; more importantly, though, was that it had a deep and rich flavor. Now we were on a roller-coaster ride, for sure.

Course 5: Vinegared Brown Seaweed -- Although this was not my favorite dish, probably because my western palate and predilections prevent me from fully recognizing its redeeming flavors and texture, I thought this dish was exquisitely presented. Our instructions were to mix thoroughly before eating, which we did, although I had only half my bowl. The other couples in the room watched with anticipation as the three of us battled with this one, and giggled a little more than just to themselves.

Course 6: Grilled Sweet Fish -- This fish was about four inches long, and aside from a small opening in the side where the chef had stuffed some corn meal, it was completely intact. It was grilled, and served whole, as you can see. Our instructions here were to pick it up by head and tail, and eat. I mangled mine. I was thrilled when our host gave me a compliment for the state of the carcass once I was done.

Course 7: Simmered Turnip with Blue Crab Sauce -- This dish was equally beautiful in taste and appearance. I had never had a large piece of turnip that had been cooked until it was as soft as a fully cooked onion. This one was in the middle of the bowl, surrounded by lump crab, more flower petals, and turnip greens (I think). The broth had little taste, but accentuated the flavors of the other ingredients. The combination was quite nice, and was a perfect next step after devouring a fish whole.

Course 8: Rice with Pacific Saury, Mushroom Miso Soup, and Pickles -- Although I enjoyed the taste of everything here, I did not completely understand the grouping. We had fried rice with fish in it, which was some of the best fried rice I`ve ever had. Then we have a miso soup with the tiniest, most delicate mushrooms and a fantastic dark flavor. Finally, we have traditional Japanese pickles. I know I`m neither Japanese nor do I even partially understand the cuisine, but these tastes just do not seem to go together.

Course 9: Grated Pear and Grape -- Ah, desert. Some people know I`m not the biggest dessert eater, but when there is a fantastic one I am happy to eat it, and sometimes in large quantities (see, for instance, banana`s foster at Commander`s Palace). This dessert was a perfect end to our meal. A light and refreshing soup of pear, with two large grapes split in half and divided by a small mohawk shaving of ginger. It`s so simple, and I like to cook, and yet I have no idea how the chef created the consistency of pear. It was transcendent.

So, that is all. This was easily the best meal I have had in Japan, and one of the best meals I`ve ever had. We left quite full, and happy. There were a couple misses, mostly for cultural reasons I expect, but the experience overall was off the charts.

Tomorrow we head to Nara for a couple nights before returning to Tokyo.