Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 42 of 58

Raw Horsemeat (Basashi)

Thursday, February 18th

Learning Moment: Yokohama, Japan

We had dinner with two good friends and colleagues, Haemi and Yagi-san.

Food, sake, and friends is a great combination in Japan.

I also had raw horsemeat for the first time in many years. I used to eat it quite a bit when I traveled to Kumamoto, but it's been a long time.

It was still delicious.

Haemi Kaku and Mikio Yagi

But, no matter how good the food, the conversation was even better.

Catching up with friends is one of the reasons I love to travel.

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 41 of 58

Angie at Maimon, Yokohama

Wednesday, February 17th

Learning Moment: Yokohama, Japan

One of our favorite things about Japan is the food. Here Angie is about to dig into a fried shiitake mushroom. Yum!

Behind her you can see part of the Yokohama Cosmo Clock (part ferris wheel, part clock) and the Intercontinental Hotel.

One of our least favorite things about Japan is that the smoking section still often gets the best views... Boooo!

Oh well. Great meal anyway.

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 18 of 58

Coconut Milk Appam

January 25th, 2010

Learning Moment: Chennai, India

Today I facilitated day one of our flagship management workshop - Managing at KLA-Tencor. It was great session, with excellent questions.

During lunch, my friend Lawrence Sanjay took me to an Appam restaurant for lunch. He described appams as a 'kind of pancake', which wasn't far off. We had a coconut milk appam as a starter - I absolutely love coconut milk - and a mutton appam with curry for the main course.

If I'd ever had an appam before, I didn't know what it was. Now, however, I will not forget.

They are delicious. I highly recommend you try one, wherever you can find it.

Do you "Gross Out The World"?

My better half, Angie, doesn't!
Angie knows how to eat noodles in Japan, as she demonstrates in this photo from a Yokohama shop.

Since Friday is culture day at huesworks, we'll see if you are as adept as she is.

"Don't Gross Out the World" is a short, fun site that tests your global dining etiquette.

It's also well designed, and easy to use - a great way to learn.
Enjoy!!

Singaporean Food

Well, I'm back in Santa Clara.
I would have updated the blog sooner, but I was too distracted by all the great food in Singapore.
I've often said that you can see all of Singapore in a week, but it would take 2 years to eat all of it. Trust me, I've tried...

Martin is modeling my favorite Singaporean special - Jumbo Seafood's Sri Lankan Pepper Crab - but that's only the tip of the tropical iceberg.

My second favorite is Hainanese Chicken rice. This plate was served by room service at the Intercontinental Hotel, but the $2.50 versions in any food court are just as good (if not as pretty).

Third on my list of favorites is Nasi Padang, a specialty from Indonesia. You get to pick from a slew of spicy foods to scatter over rice. This one is spicy chicken coconut curry, with spicy potatoes, and spicy tofu. Yummmm!

I got this at the Bugis Junction Food Court for $4 (Singaporean currency).

Finally, if you like Thai food, well, we can do that too.
Here's an fresh plate of Paad Thai, from Patara.

Hungry yet?

Olives - from Israel

One of the treasures of the Mediterranean is fresh Olives.

We've been eating a lot of these little green flavor bombs over the past week.
Just can't get enough...

The trees are everywhere, and I mean everywhere.

This morning I had spicy olives for breakfast.
It's a first for me, but I hope not a last...

Singapore has the Best Food in the World

I firmly believe that...

You can see all of Singapore in a week, it's true.
But it would take you a good five years to eat your way through the Lion City.

Last night (my birthday, by the way) we had dinner at the Cafe Lotus, at Clarke Quay.

Here's a close-up of my Beef Rendang, a beef (obviously) dish cooked in a spicy coconut (anything's better with coconut, is my belief) gravy.

As Montgomery Burns would say, "Excellent...."

When in Japan, drink like a Japanese

One of the pleasures of being in Japan is drinking fresh squeezed Chu-hi.

Chu-hi is a shochu (rice whiskey)-based drink that's mixed with juice and sparkling water.
It's refreshing, with a nice kick.

You can buy it canned, but I like it best when I've squeezed it myself.

It's available in many flavors - lemon, plum, and lime, for example - but my favorite is grapefruit.

I used to joke about creating a new alchoholic drink for children called, 'pikachu-hi'. 

Get it? Pikachu and chu-hi? Yeah, no else thought it was funny either...

Here, I'm pouring the grapefruit juice into my glass and getting ready to say, "kanpai"!

Tomorrow, we're off to Singapore.

Two Things You Must Do in Seoul, Korea

I'm in Yokohama, Japan now. but I wanted to close out our Korea trip with two pieces of advice, if you happen to visit Seoul.

1. Eat a dinner at Sanchon, home of delicious vegetarian temple food (pictured here with my wife, Angie). And, just to be clear, I am a confirmed carnivore. These canine teeth of mine get a regular workout. However, this is one vegetarian restaurant that doesn't leave me wanting...

2. Make sure to see a Korean dance performance. Sanchon has a show every night. Korea House and the Chongdong Theater also have shows. All are worth seeing...