You can make seven different dishes from one dog, the local who was with me informed me, seeing my horrified look and disgusted fascination at the dog restaurant in Hoi An, Vietnam. The local who was with me was eating a plate of coin shaped dog meat disks (see previous pictures). Just when I was thinking that I had seen enough already, these two chaps walked in. One lights up while the other tucks into his bowl of dog meat soup- yes, that is another of the dishes aside from the disks you saw in the previous picture. Two more locals at the far end are relaxing after finishing the meal. The smell was unappetizing and I had to finish off quite a lot of rice wine, which was fortunately free, to hold on to my nerves. (Hoi An, Central Vietnam, Nov. 2016).

Everyone in Amritsar seems to know 'Giani Lassi'- it's legendary.

A peek into the tiny shop also reveals pictures of celebrities, including foreign chefs enjoying a lassi (beaten yoghurt drink) at Giani. With such a tiny shop in front, and scores of customers breathing down your neck behind you, there is only one other way you can look- up. This is the sign for the nondescript tiny Giani lassi shop- he does roaring business nonetheless and caters to scores of foreign tourists as well. (Amritsar, Punjab, northern India, Nov. 2017)

Not the most complementary of expressions I'm afraid- sorry Xiaochuan (Jane)! We are here having a leisurely breakfast with a lot of small talk. So Jane is here trying to tell me something (or getting her little son Charlie to eat- he is presently peeling an egg). Her husband Jiangfeng (Jeff) is sitting directly across from where I am sitting. (Hangzhou, China, May 2017)

Efes is the local beer of Turkey and is fairly widespread. Despite the cold and bad weather, I still managed to down quite a few golden Efes pints. The beer is quite drinkable.(Istanbul, Turkey, Nov. 2014)

I am now in a small, traditional Japanese cafe located on the exit path to the Kiyomizu-dera temple and have stopped for tea. This was what was placed before me- a cup of Japanese tea and two dango (Japanese flavoured rice balls on a stick). The lovely old lady who served me charged only for the dango- unlimited tea was on the house! Dango is a Japanese dumpling and sweet made from mochiko (rice flour), The dish is vaguely related to mochi. It is often served with green tea. Dango is eaten year-round, but the different varieties are traditionally eaten in given seasons. Three to five dango are often served on a skewer. (I got four, as you can see here). Chadango is green-tea flavored dango which I what I seem to have got as well here. Detailed notes about the Kiyomizu-dera temple and some of it's subsidiary shrines appeared earlier in this album. (see previous pictures). (Kyoto, Japan, Apr/ May 2019)

Back to civilization, it's time now for a quick lunch stop before we hit Gobustan proper. It had been a busy morning, having checked out Martyrs' Lane in Baku (placed in the Baku album), followed by a long drive here to near Gobustan coupled with a rather tiring and unbelievably bumpy and bone jarring ride over an unsealed road to see the mud volcanoes. (see earlier pictures in this album). For lunch, we came to a shopping centre like place with this very rustic local eatery, much to my delight. Give me these over plush 5 star dining any day! Much cheaper, more tasty and a lot more authentic. (Gobustan, Azerbaijan, Sept. 2017)

I generally tend to go vegetarian, or at the most go for fish, as I generally tend to dislike chicken and certainly will not touch any red meat, including pork, unless I am starving to death or have no other alternative. So here I opted for a bowl of noodles with eel. And a new thing for me here was corn milk. I've never heard of this one, and simply had to try it. So here I am, with my bowl of eel noodles and glass of corn milk. The corn milk tasted just like soya milk. (Danang, Central Vietnam, Nov. 2016)

Man's best friend on a plate. A Vietnamese local reaches out for dipping sauce to put on his plate his plate of dog meat. It was pathetic to hear a couple of dogs barking in the background and one chained with another stuffed into a tiny cage awaiting their doom. And no, I did not try it. The plate in the foreground was meant for me but I told the local to help himself to it- I will pay for it, but I will not eat it. It smelt disgusting though. (Hoi An, Central Vietnam, Nov. 2016)

I am looking for a place to eat in the crowded Shibuya area of Tokyo and what I have in front of me is a rather crowded sushi place with a long queue of people to get in. The lady in yellow appeared quite pissed at the crowd. (see previous picture). Sensing her frustration, a friendly restaurant staff tries to direct her towards the queue to get into the tiny basement cafe. I am in the upmarket Shibuya area of Tokyo, Japan, notes and pictures of which appear before and after this picture. (see previous and subsequent images in this album). (Tokyo, Japan, Apr/ May 2019)

There are cool underground chambers in the Peshtoun or Afghan themed restaurant. These underground rooms offered a cool respite for weary travelers to sit and relax and pray while their animals were tied outside. There was also a rudimentary 'wind tower' like ventilation system for the underground room which appears above ground as a pleasant dome. Today this underground chamber has been converted into a wine cellar and bar of sorts. And although it was closed on this day due to Eid, it would probably make the erstwhile Afghan traders turn in their graves, devout Moslems as they all were! (Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 2017)

You just saw a video of the chefs churning out plate after plate of delicious Pad Thai (Thai style stir fried rice noodles) at the one Michlein star holder Thipsamai cafe in Bangkok. Non stop, the process was going on like clockwork, with the staff totally oblivious to the gawking snap happy tourists and the long queues all around them. In fact, long queues snaking down the street usually form outside Thipsamai Pad Thai restaurant up to an hour or even more before their regular opening hours. (a picture of the queue appears later in this album).It would appear that sixty minutes in the stifling heat of Thailand’s capital is a small price to pay to taste an original version of Thailand’s most famous dish- Pad Thai- a sweet and spicy egg-wrapped combination of noodles, prawns and prawn-oil sauce. More notes as we go along in this album. (Bangkok, Thailand, Oct. 2018)

A slightly farther view of the legendary Giani 'lassi' shop in Amritsar.

Well, 'far shot' is a big of a misnomer- the street is barely three or four feet wide and has a constant flow of vans, cars, motor scooters and pedestrians, so this 'far shot' is barely a few feet away. Still, what to do when one has to wait one's turn? Lassi is a beaten yoghurt drink served sweet (or salty but we had the sweet one), topped up with generous dollops of cream and butter. (Amritsar, Punjab, northern India, Nov. 2017)

Pad Thai done, it's time to move on. My guide NyLah had chosen a table in an inner room, and so we have to pass the main dining hal as we leave the cafe. Plenty of satisfied diners here, enjoying the legendary Thipsamai Pad Thai! I would have probably been better off using my iPhone X: I was still getting used to a brand new Sigma f2.8 lens which was giving me less than good results in low light! Since my own photo was a tad blurred, I put in this picture which I downloaded from the internet. My own photo was more or less identical, though a bit fuzzy. Photo by Alisa Suwanrumpha at www.bbc.com/travel/story/20180227-is-this-thailands-best-... (Bangkok, Thailand, Oct. 2018)

A pose inside the Peshtoun/ Afghan based 'serai' (pit stop or motel)

restaurant in the Icheri Sheher old town quarter in Baku Azerbaijan. Now I do not generally like to use the flash (strobe) as it brightens the main subject but darkens everything else- and that's exactly what has happened here. With the usual Nikon dSLRs that I generally carry, I wouldn't generally bother with the flash as the auto ISO feature of these advanced cameras generally takes care of exposure, but here I was not carrying my dSLR. Instead, i was carrying my brand new Nikon Coolpix P900 point and shoot which is large like a dSLR but is still only a point and shoot, and I was not sure how things will go with this camera. (Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 2017)

And just like how I had heard of and tracked down the paneer burji cafe (see previous pictures), my brother too had heard of one famous cafe for kulfi (or traditional Indian ice cream or gelato). We came across a couple of large kulfi cafes like this one, but could not locate the one my brother had narrowed down on. Likewise, I too could not locate another kulfi store which served the gelato with fruit in double churned cream. That cafe was supposed to be close to the paneer burji cafe but we could not locate it. We finally ended up having our kulfi in this cafe. The stuff was not bad, though a 'sugarless' one I selected later was totally tasteless and felt as though I was eating frozen water crystals, much to the amusement of my sis in law.(Amritsar, Punjab, northern India, Nov. 2017)

The Afghan (Peshto) side was decidedly more elaborate. Set in the Icheri Sheher old town quarter of Baku, Azerbaijan, this was actually a caravanserai (pit stop or motel for caravans) in the days of the ancient Silk Road. This is now a themed restaurant of sorts. These vast underground chambers now house a restaurant and wine cellar and offered a cool respite for weary travelers. The wine cellar bit would probably make the erstwhile Afghan traders turn in their graves as they were staunch Moslems! A coat of arms of sorts is displayed on the wall at the far end and two ladies are going towards it. One of them is visible here- they are tourists as well. Well, the 'coat of arms' are probably carpets which the Afghan traders would have traded in, among other things. (Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 2017)

Opposite to the Arabic serai is another one, which my guide described as Peshtoun something. Which means it must be Afghanistan or Pakistan-centric. There were Afghan traders using the Silk Road in it's heydays too. Both 'serai' (resting place or an erstwhile motel for camel caravans) were opposite to each other. While we have seen the Arab side of the serai, this is the entrance to the Afghan side of it. This serai was a lot more colourful and was much larger. (Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 2017)

So that is the finished product- super delicious paneer burji (scrambled cottage cheese)- an Amritsar specialty. Super tasty but a true bit of artery clogging heart attack on a plate. You previously saw two videos (on Flickr- the videos unfortunately do not upload on Facebook, so sorry my Fb viewers) of the dish actually being prepared. This paneer burji is super tasty, but is a true artery clogging heart attack on a plate. Paneer, or Indian cottage cheese is fried in butter with shallots, tomatoes, green chillies and other condiments. The finished product (seen here) is dished out, with another generous blob of butter added to it, and then served up in this style with tomato ketchup, onion slices and four slices of white bread. I only wish the bread was toasted as well. We were three- my brother, sis in law and I, and we struggled to finish this fat laden dish. Super tasty though! (Amritsar, Punjab, northern India, Nov. 2017)

Since I had a Hoi An local acting as my guide, he asked the cafe owner if I could take pictures inside his kitchen. The owner was surprisingly open about it. A lady who had been cooking nearby had left the kitchen briefly, and while no cooking was actually going on at this point, here are cut up pieces of dog ready to serve in the kitchen. It was pathetic to hear a couple of dogs yelping in the background. Dogs are intelligent creatures, and I am sure they knew their eventual fate already. (Hoi An, Central Vietnam, Nov. 2016)

So that's my lunch in the traditional Japanese restaurant in the Gion district of Kyoto, Japan. Now I do not recall exactly what dishes I had but it was a thick soup of some sort along with sticky rice as you can see here. That soup was pretty good. My eating companions- people who sat next to me at least-- were tourists from Korea (or China) of whom one couple ate and left pretty quickly while one guy at the far end of my table- bar actually- seemed to spend more time texting than eating. (Kyoto, Japan, Apr/ May 2019)

My dear guide NyLah took this picture of me as I was enjoying my Pad Thai (Thai style stir fried rice noodles) at the legendary one Michlein star winning Thipsamai Pad Thai cafe in Bagkok, Thailand. There was actually only one item on the menu, Pad Thai. (though there were several versions of it). I am fresh off the plane after a long flight from Dubai and with just an hour of rest. My thrill of being in Bangkok once again shows on my face, doesn't it? Detailed notes about Thipsamai as well as videos (not available on Facebook) of the Pad Thai actually being prepared appeared earlier in this album. (see previous pictures). Indeed, Thipsamai Pad Thai- finger lickin' good! (PS: just an expression: Pad Thai is messy to eat with your fingers, use chopsticks like most people do, or at least a fork!) (Bangkok, Thailand, Oct. 2018)

I had breakfast here December, 2010 and it was mighty good! Biscuits & Gravy, two eggs, and some country potatoes. My father in law told me to go there and I didn't regret it.

Plastic food plating in a restaurant show window is a standard feature all over Japan and so here is one in the busy Shibuya area! Despite the convenience of ready metro connections and so many food outlets and other convenient options in this district, real estate here in Shibuya is eye wateringly expensive and the hotels in fact so expensive that you should be sitting on wads adn wads of cash if you want to stay in this area. So rather than a place to stay, Shibuya is more suited towards sightseeing, eating ethnic Japanese cuisine (if you can tolerate the long queues outside each cafe) and for a spot of upmarket shopping. Notes about the Shibuya district along with more photos appeared earlier in this album (see previous pictures) and will also appear later as we go along. (Tokyo, Japan, Apr/ May 2019)

While trying to locate the kulfi (traditional Indian ice cream/ gelato) cafe we eventually had our kulfi in, (see previous pictures), my sis in law halts briefly to ask for directions in one of those places turning out scores of fried breads and savouries. That gave me a chance to take a couple of pictures at leisure. While the foreground of one such cafe appeared earlier in this album (see previous picture, one more appears immediately after this), the store interior seems equally busy, probably in packing some of these fried goodies which I guess will later be sent to shops around town. (Amritsar, Punjab, northern India, Nov. 2017)

Pure cream and pure butter- the lassi is as heavy as it gets! As though the purity of the yoghurt is not bad enough, the friendly folk at Gian i Lassi add a fresh dollop each of fresh cream and a fresh butter to top up the lassi. It's these two fatty additions that are on the two wings of the L these trays are arranged it! Super delicious but also super heavy-

once you have been through one lassi here, you will not be able to eat for another couple of hours at least! (Amritsar, Punjab, northern India, Nov. 2017)

With the time well past 14:00 and with ten shots of premium Sake (traditional Japanese rice wine) and me being worse for the wear, a spot of lunch was in order. Only this restaurant appeared to be open this late in the day. Sorry, everything is sold out except vegetables in curry sauce, the nice old lady told me. Perfecto! I have been going vegetarian all the time anyway, and I was in no mood for a cold sushi, so vegetables in curry sauce was just what the doctor ordered! As the lady was preparing my lunch, she told me that the Japanese love curry, and she loves Indian food as she had spent several years in India. Good show! I did try the Japanese version of curry on a few occasions, but all of them tasted identical as the curry flavour probably came out of a ready mix tin. The jolly lady agreed for me to take her picture but unfortunately disappeared partially beind the counter just as I was pressing the shutter. Two Caucasian ladies looking for lunch as well popped in a few minutes later and ordered the same dish- vegetables in curry sauce- mostly because everything else was sold out anyway. (Nara, Japan, Apr/ May 2019)

The local at the other table gingerly picks at this bown of dog soup. The local chap who was with me was surprised that I had come here from Hanoi. But how come you didn't see any dog meat restaurants in Hanoi, he asked me in disbelief. For the north is where the consumption is at it's maximum, and they even hang dogs in their stalls like they do Peking Duck, he told me. Well, I certainly didn't see any dog restaurants in Hanoi, at any rate it was the first day of the lunar calendar when I was there, so dog was strictly off the menu due to local beliefs. (Hoi An, Central Vietnam, Nov. 2016)

After that unsuccessful attempt at finding headphones in the store I'd just come out of- it was a fashion mall with no electronics- I decided it was time to break for lunch. I had been in Japan for two days now and hadn't had any sushi yet, for the simply reason almost all the sushi or traditional Japanese cafes I had seen so far were tiny with long queues outside to get in. Just look at the line up of people trying to get in here! That was enough to put me off, as that would be a total waste of time, especially as I had much ground to cover yet, so I decided to seek out an alternative. (Tokyo, Japan, Apr/ May 2019)

Our friend the jalebi maker keeps churning out jalebis non stop, unconcerned at my pointing my dSLR all the time in his direcrion and our guide and my travel companions gawking away. We were given hot, hot jalebis fresh from the work (and the sugar dip) to taste, they were super delicious! I generally avoid sweets as I have a slight sugar problem but I did go for seconds. I was very much excited to see this establishment as it had featured very recently in a Nat. Geo. documentary 'David Rocco's Dolce India', and the same jalebi maker had featured in that film. Of course the guy at the counter was different. A jalebi is a pretzel shaped Indian sweet which is a simple mixture of flour and water, fried until crisp and dipped in sugar syrup.

The delightful explosion of sugary syrup when you bite into that crisp outer crust is something you have to experience yourself. (Amritsar, Punjab, northern India, Nov. 2017)

The lentils or 'dhal' served by Kesar da Dhabi cooks for over twelve hours, slowly simmering away for maximum taste. It is then topped up with a couple of millimeters of butter, garlic and flavouring. It was a bit too oily, heavy and garlicy for my taste. We could have only a couple of dips of it. When this dish featured in John Torode's Asia on Nat Geo, celebrity chef John appears equally shocked at the amount of butter on it! In that episode, John even visits the kitchen of Kesar da Dhaba and films the making of the parathas (Indian unleavened bread), dhal, the seasoning (tarka) of it and takes us on a tour of the kitchen of this cafe. (Amritsar, Punjab, northern India, Nov. 2017)

The 'serai' is an old Mughal term which means a resting place. It essentially served as a watering hole for man and beast- traders and their caravans. We are now entering the Arab side of the 'serai'- up ahead is a circular stone around which animals could be secured. All around were rooms for the travelers. I am not sure if restaurants existed in the days of the Silk Road or it was merely cooking facilities which were provided but traders could obtain refreshments here in the day. This serai presently serves as a restaurant- it was closed at the time of our visit. This is in the Icheri Sheher- old town quarter in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 2017)

A basement room in the Arabic section of the old caravan serai now serves as a gift shop. Apart from trinkets, it also sells antiques. We did not go down there- it was too hot and I had no intention of buying antiques anyway. We are in the Arab side of the 'caravanserai' or resting place for camel caravans in the days of the Silk Road. The facility now serves as a restaurant, though it was closed at the time of our visit. This is in the Icheri Sheher or old city quarter in Baku, Azarbeijan. (Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 2017)

The chap rolling out poories continues to do so in ninja style while his partner (standing) fries them up instantly. Here he has just removed a fresh lot of poories from the hot wok and is placing them on a sieve to drain off the excess oil. If it is that fresh and hot, it can't be bad! Poori tasting was of course part of the walking tour and were were offered some to try. My brother unfortunately decided to play KJ and decided to pass, much to our irritation. All of us had to forego the fresh, hot poori as well. My bro is sometimes paranoid about fried street food. (Amritsar, Punjab, northern India, Nov. 2017)

After a less than successful trip up to see the Merapi volcano- less than successful because the mountain was completely behind cloud cover due to which we could not see even an inch of it- it had been an enjoyable morning out though, which included a ride in a 1940s era WW-II Willy's jeep. After descending back to the town level, we decided that a stop for lunch was in order, before we went on with the rest of the day's activities. Most eateries were closed due to the Moslem holy month of Ramadan, but my guide managed to sniff out one cafe which was open. We ordered something local, and while waiting for the food to arrive, my guide catches up on some texting. It later turned out he was sending to my Gmail account some pictures of Merapi which he had received from our jeep driver on WhatsApp. Good man- he saved the day! (see previous pictures). (Y/Jogjakarta, Indonesia, May 2018)

I am outside a rather crowded sushi restaurant in the Shibuya area of Tokyo and am rather pissed at the long line up of people to get in. A Chinese tourist appeared as exasperated as i was but sensing this, one of the friendly restaurant staff was trying to get her to join the queue. (see previous pictures). You can clearly see him pointing towards the queue here. The lady soon joined the queue to enter (or at least that's what I think) but I decided to move on and look elsewhere. After all, I had much ground to cover and spending this much time in a queue would be a total waste of time. I am in the upmarket Shibuya area of Tokyo, Japan, notes and pictures of which appear before and after this picture. (see previous and subsequent images in this album). (Tokyo, Japan, Apr/ May 2019)

My driver guide and I are in a local eatery at the base of Y/Jogjakarta's legendary UNESCO heritage listed Borobodur temple. This place is a really rustic cafe catering to the locals, so it it basic, has cheap plastic sheets on the table and wooden bench seating, but the food was really delicious. This picture was taken by my guide. In the foreground, nearest camera is his plate of rice with veggies and meat balls. At the far side is my own meal of Indonesian vegetable salad called gado gado. This is basically sliced vegetables,but they serve it with a peanut sauce topping which is rather spicy,due to the use of birds eye chillies, and I could have sworn there was shrimp paste or some kind of fish in it. (Y/Jogjakarta, Indonesia, May 2018)

And if you thought paneer burji (scrambled cottage cheese) was artery clogging,!this one is a killer. Fried in what seemed to be half a pound of butter is this paneer burji sandwich. Tasty no doubt but it was almost dripping with butter. Another specialty from Amritsar in Northern India. It basically comprises of slices of paneer (Indian cottage cheese) along with a bit of chickpea dhal, and tomatoes placed between two slices of bread and then fried in half a pound of butter. It was actually my brother who opted for this, thinking it would be lighter, but no, it was even heavier than the paneer burji (scrambled cottage cheese) which you saw in earlier in this album. (see previous pictures). I preferred the paneer burji though- apart from the visually excessive amount of butter on this, the edges were well done and too hard for my liking. (Amritsar, Punjab, northern India, Nov. 2017)

It was wet and dark outside, and hardly beer season. But fruit juices might have killed my already sparse appetite so I opted for beer anyway. I had tried Bia Ha Noi- the local beer here in Vietnam. Here is Larue- another local Vietnam beer brand. There were three waitresses doting over me, but with me being the only diner in the restaurant, and once the order had been placed in the kitchen, one of the girls left for the day. (Hoi An, Central Vietnam, Nov. 2016)

Sadly, those large chunks of orange I'd seen from outside were merely chunks of roast pork skin, just like in all the other cafes I'd seen so far. I am in Bali and am trying to take pictures of Babi Guling or roast suckling pig, a local specialty. And although I am not a big fan of meat, especially pork, I am curious to see and experience a bit of what the locals eat, as food is a major part of culture after all. This is the last picture of a babi guling restaurant. While the large chunks of pork skin I'd seen from outside are hidden here, they are actually behind the large chunk of roast pig at the extreme right. I took this picture to show what a typical babi guling restaurant looks like. Although I'd seen a Natl.Geo film of an entire pig on a spit in one of these babi guling places, in reality the animals are roasted elsewhere and only large chunks of the roasted animal are brought to the cafes. Here the chunks are chopped into bite sized bits, portioned and then served. (Bali, Indonesia, May 2018)

Colourful despite all being in a single colour- an uniform geen! This is a line of food outlets along Jalan Malioboro in Y/Jogjakarta, Indonesia. Most were closed due to the Moslem fasting month of Ramadan. But like the satay stall I had encountered earlier, outside the Malioboro wet and dry market, if wonder if any of these stalls would have dished out something to eat had I approached them. I didn't need to eat at that point though and with due respect to Ramadan, I did not even try. The first stall probably might have, judging from the roasted meats sitting out in the open and the casseroles on the counter, probably filled with food. (Y/Jogjakarta, Indonesia, May 2018)

And so it is time for lunch. We checked into a local cafe in Da Nang for a bite. And as is customary in local cafes all over Vietnam, the fist dish to be served is this: various ingredients to make your own spring rolls, while the maid dish is prepared. Here, a little training certainly helps! Having learned to make fresh spring rolls on the boat at Ha Long Bay,it was a breeze here at the local cafe in Danang

Only change being the rice paper was hard here and had to be dipped in water to make it soft and pliable. The plastic thing you see at the extreme left is a twin tub for rice paper and water. Once the rice paper has been dipped and is soft, simply place on it all the ingredients shown here, roll it up, dip it in fish sauce and enjoy! (Danang, Central Vietnam, Nov. 2016)

A crowd outside a sushi bar in Shibuya. This is one of the larger ones- most of the others are less than one fourth the size! It's always a queue to get to the counter or inside the cafe but this is one of the shorter lines you could encounter. I had put in a picture earlier in this album about quite a line to enter a tiny basement sushi place along with pictures of one particular lady getting pretty pissed- see previous pictures earlie in this album. Notes about the Shibuya district along with more photos appeared earlier in this album (see previous pictures) and will also appear later as we go along. (Tokyo, Japan, Apr/ May 2019)

As I left the small traditional Japanese cafe after lunch in the Gion area in Kyoto, Japan, I noticed several items on display set in cubes or rectangular receptacles in the wall. These items are all apparently for sale. I could not really make out what these items were, as the signage was all in Japanese, but the items seemed to include towelletes or place mats of some sort and packaged foods like tea etc. The restaurant had officially closed- the last few of us left were the last diners so I did not linger on too long to explore. At any rate I had places to go and so had make a move on. (Kyoto, Japan, Apr/ May 2019)

Celebrate #moderncoffee 's 5th birthday tonight! It is located at 411 13th St. Oakland. We will be there to show our support for our clients! #birthdayparty #celebrate #coffeeshop #cafe #localcafe #oaklandca

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I was surprised to see an open food cart during Ramadan in a Moslem country- this is just outside the wet market on Jalan Malioboro, or the main Malioboro shopping street in Y/Jogjakarta. I was actually trying to focus on a very beautiful Indonesian girl at the stall, but she, or her mother probably realized it and the girl sat down and never looked in my direction again! I did engage the mother in some conversation though and went on my way. I'd already had breakfast, and it was Ramadan, so there were limitations eating at the spot anyway, so I did not push the matter further. (Y/Jogjakarta, Indonesia, May 2018)

Being in Indonesia, and since I had to have at least one meal of rice in a day, I opted for Nasi Goreng- Indonesian fried rice, which is the de facto national dish in Indonesia. I was surprised that mine had bits of octopus in it. I had thought that a smaller regional town like Surakarta would have a more local and less touristy version of Nasi Goreng, but this one was not really up to much and tasted quite bland. And it seemed to be missing the mandatory fried egg topping. Still, I was not complaining as we were lucky to find this, as lunch options were quite limited as most eateries around town were closed due to the Moslem holy month of Ramadan and so options were rather limited. (Surakarta/ Solo, Indonesia, May 2018)