#bamboo shrimp just have very nice lines.. would have loved using it

[maythray]

i wanna make peanut a bamboo shrimp but also that would make him the only non-caridina shrimp out of the bunch and that feels a lil mean to him tbh...

[everyonethinksmynameiskayla]

Coding data and binge eating clementines

I’ve been meaning to sit down and write another post for a while now but since my head is no longer preventing me from having a coherent thought (I do still get occasional headaches), I’ve been working on coding my interview data and by the time I’ve done that all day I just want to lie down and not use my brain. Coding is so exhausting - it requires such intense concentration. I had to jump through all these absurd hoops to get the software for it too, I had to download VirtualBox to run Windows 10 on my MacBook in order to run the coding software, QDA Miner, and getting Windows 10 for free or really downloading anything is a huge challenge with crappy internet. So that took almost a week. But now I’m in the groove, so to speak. I’ve got giant pieces of paper hanging in my apartment so I can work out my ideas etc. and I’ve got all of my transcripts back from Oumoul as of this morning. 

^ My giant paper  

Starting next week I’ll be in Thies (about 1.5 hours east of Dakar) for almost two weeks for a training that Tostan is doing on their human-rights based non-formal education approach to community empowerment. I didn’t know about it until last week but they’re letting me slip in at the last second for a fraction of the price that the other representatives from other African development NGOs are paying for room/board/training (I think that’s basically who’s going to be there, but we’ll see) since they’re my sponsoring organization and my research, which the training will be useful for, is going to be helpful for them.

Last weekend Brittany’s friend from the US, Teresa, was here visiting so we went to spend a night in Simal in Sine Saloum, a region on the coast of both the ocean and the river about three hours south of Dakar. I think I’ve probably already talked about this, but to get anywhere outside of Dakar you have to take a “sept-place” the ridiculous old, worn-out circa-1980′s Renault station wagons which hold 7 people, hence the name “sept-place” which means “seven places”. To get a sept-place you have to go to the garage baux maraichers, which 3 years ago when I was here was the apex of chaos in the universe but has since gotten a bit cleaner and more organized. So we found a guy going to Fatik, which is past Sine Saloum but we were just going to get off early. We had to wait a little while since no one else was there for Fatik yet but that actually worked out okay because we got the three best seats (the passenger seat and the two window seats in the middle, you have to be a contortionist to sit comfortably in the way back). It took forever, as per usual, to get out of Dakar and Rufisque, the next city which at this point is being swallowed up by Dakar, because there was an insane accident that seemed to involve a giant truck flipping over into a ditch so a crane had come and pulled it out and so we sat in completely stand still traffic (engine off and driver nowhere to be found) for at least an hour. So by the time we got out of the sept-place in Tataguine (which I enjoy because when you say it with a Senegalese accent it sounds like Tataouine) it was dark. After much negociation and confusion we found a guy who had a car and who claimed to have a vague idea of where Simal, the coastal village where we were going to stay, was. However once we got closer to the village it became clear that he in fact had no idea where he was going, and we proceeded to drive around in the sand for approximately an hour, asking random people who clearly did not know where the campement was either for directions, at one point a little boy even got in the car to try to help but he kept changing his mind about which way the driver should turn so that was useless. The driver kept calling the lady from the campement, which was likely also useless since the only descriptor of where we were at any given moment was “near some sand and a fence and some donkeys”. But eventually we made it and boy, was it worth it, we sat at a table right on the water and had tabouleh and chicken and then the next morning had an assortment of jams with tappalappa (the village bread that I like) and coffee that wasn’t instant. Then we had a ride on a pirog that came with the room, so for about two hours a very nice man steered us down the river and through the marches on a very large pirog (there are pictures of that on the photo blog). He explained how the women would wade out and plant what looked like tiny mangroves in the marsh in these perfect rows, and showed us the shrimp nets that were tied to long bamboo poles propped up in the trees, which you have to come collect in the middle of the night. Then I had a headache so I hung out in the restaurant area while Brittany and Teresa kayaked, which was fine because it was serene and beautiful and I was happy to sit and do nothing for a while. 

As we were discussing how we should get home and when we should leave, this young French woman came up and said she couldn’t help but overhear and explained that she and her husband were about to drive back to Dakar in about ten minutes, did we want a ride? We obviously wanted a ride. Her husband was Senegalese but they met in France and they turned out to be the absolute coolest people ever. We all chatted the whole three hours back and he let me borrow a book about microlending in Bangladesh and Brittany promised to show the woman, Sophie, around the art scene in Dakar (since she’s an artist and they had just moved here when they got married in January - she had some incredible stories about the marriage rituals Souleman’s mom had guided her through). 

^ Where we stayed, Campement Simal

Other than that little jaunt to Sine Saloum (and I would say another day trip to Ile des Madelines, but I’ve been there so many times it doesn’t really count anymore, although this time I did ride in the trunk on the way there), life is fairly normal (by Dakar standards).

^ In the trunk on the way to the island, at the top of the cliff once there

I go home for lunch a couple of times a week and over to Moussa’s for attaya every couple of days. During the day I mostly code and work and read either at home or at a café. My new friend who works in the monitoring and evaluation department of Tostan invited me to come use the extra space in their office to work but I have’t gotten around to doing that yet because it’s not super close to where I live. Every Thursday Brittany I go to “Marché Jeudi” (Thursday Market) which is a labyrinthine collection of people selling giant piles of clothes and various other random things that pops up around the corner from my apartment every Thursday and you have to really dig (literally) but everything is about 200-300 francs and we’ve had some amazing finds. Like last week I got an Eddie Bauer button down and a top from Zara (for less than 50 cents a piece!!). Right next to Marché Jeudi is the “beignet lady” and I go to her fairly often and bring beignets (which are fried balls of sweet dough) to Moussa’s to go with the attaya. She’s legendary and always surrounded by a huge crowd waiting, but it’s a very modest set-up, just a woman sitting on a stool on a particularly narrow street surrounded by a giant vat of boiling oil, buckets of dough, and a big bowl where she deposits the beignets when they’re done so her daughter can wrap them in Swedish newspapers (my bread I get from the boutique next door also is wrapped in Swedish newspaper…I don’t understand where it’s all coming from…maybe Sweden…but why???) and bag ‘em.

I go every now and then to Marché HLM also, which is the fabric market in the HLM neighborhood, which is like the projects but for Dakar. I love Marché HLM for a couple of reasons. The fabric is so vibrant and beautiful so I enjoy being surrounded by it (it’s also only about $1 for a yard) but I also like that it’s one of the only spaces in Dakar that feels ruled by women. Most of the sellers and shoppers are women, and even if they’re men they aren’t crazy aggressive like they are at markets like Sandaga where they gets lots of tourists so when they see a Toubab they descend and won’t leave you alone until you buy something. At HLM I’m pretty much always guaranteed to be the only Toubab and it’s also just quieter in general even though it’s absolutely massive and ten times as labyrinthine as Marché Jeudi. There are tiny little corridors lined with fabric stalls and you can only pass through one person deep. It’s also my favorite place to practice my Wolof, because everyone there is super game to speak Wolof to me instead of French and because of the repetition of buying and selling and each stall owner asking me the same questions over and over I learn the words better and it’s easier to repurpose them later.  

^ Some of the fabric I’ve gotten at HLM that hasn’t become clothes

I’ve really gotten to know the bus and informal public transportation systems (car rapides, kolandos) even better and only take cabs if it’s too late at night for buses. It’s great because I know the city so well now and taking public transport everywhere makes me feel more connected to Dakar and my fellow Dakarois (most ex-pats just take cabs all the time, since relative to the West it’s cheap, but relative to the buses here it’s astronomically expensive). It can be frustrating as public transport can be anywhere else; waiting forever, insanely crowded buses (like the kind of crowded where you don’t need to hold on to anything because you can’t move at all anyway), people accidentally stepping on you or elbowing you in the head etc. But now that I’ve gotten used to it I can never justify a cab to myself. 100 francs (16 cents) versus 1500 francs ($2.50) for the same distance…not a hard choice. That might seem petty but it’s all relative, I don’t convert currencies unless I’m making a big purchase when I’m living abroad.

One instance where I do convert and allow myself to splurge a bit (by Dakar standards at least) is this new restaurant about 10 minutes from my apartment called Mawa’s Taste of America, which is owned by a Senegalese woman who lived in the US for decades and makes absolutely incredible American breakfast food. I’ve also been obsessed with clementines (about $1.20/kilo…I eat A LOT of them) but the season is ending soon and I’m so bummed. Speaking of food, Brittany and I also recently tried some sort of weird cake called the Dakaroise from the bakery near my apartment and it was not only twice the size of our faces but one of the strangest things I’ve ever eaten. It was fairly dry yellow cake with layers of filling that was what I can only assume pure butter whipped with some sugar in it. It was like if I was making cookies and stopped after the first two ingredients and then used that to fill the cake.

^ Brittany’s head for scale 

Also here’s the most adorable picture ever of me having a tender moment with my baby cat who fell asleep with his paw on my face (not at all my cat, but I like it more than Brittany and it’s her families’):

[mwcowan]

Mark and Georgia’s Big Trip

Chapter Twelve – Philippines Living in the Viral Age

We’ve just finished our second week of “enhanced quarantine”, the state of which continues to evolve. Enforcement of movement about town, and social distancing, is very strict, which we applaud. The infection rate is still relatively low here compared to most countries, although, as elsewhere, it’s still climbing. Like everyone, we look forward to seeing the curves tip over and start downhill. The most recent rule change has been to limit each quarantine pass holder to two days per week that they are allowed into town. This isn’t much of an issue for us though as they let us choose our days – Georgia has two days, I have two, and our caretaker Ranny has two, so we have every day except Saturday covered. Not that there’s anything to do in town except go to the market.

Yes, the quarantine has changed our lives here, probably similar to the ways yours have changed. No vacations to other islands, no dive trips, no visits from our friends and family in the US, no restaurants, no hardware stores. It’s hard to live with that last one, but I’m coping. Lots of things to write about, lots of pictures, that just aren’t going to happen. But that won’t stop this blogger!

Fishing

Hervé and I went fishing this morning, down to the beach just south of Kawayan Cove. We walked along a ledge below a tall cliff to get out to a point where we cast our lines. Lots of action, if you call ‘action’ getting your bait taken in 2 seconds after it hits the water. There are lots of fish, although I think they’re very small. Hervé proved this by catching a couple that might have added up to 6 inches laid nose-to-tail. I think we need a way to get out to deeper water, and better bait. We were using raw shrimp which the fish really seem to love, but it’s also very soft and too easy for them to steal. Even without fish, it was nice to get out of the house for a bit. Not having remarkable pictures of our catch, I’m reminded of something I’d meant to show you – this lure I found while snorkeling in the cove. Carved out of wood, meticulously painted and detailed down to the eyeballs, a piece of lead in the belly to sink it, and an absolutely nasty-looking homemade hook. True Filipino innovation!

Jungle Arts and Crafts

Welcome to the first edition of Jungle Arts and Crafts. This week we consider the two things we have plenty of around here, time, and bamboo. Remember we’re in Kawayan Cove, Kawayan being the Tagalog word for Bamboo. Lots of bamboo here, so today we have bamboo craft!

Our first project is something that’s necessary for all of us would-be tomato farmers, the tomato cage. These are not available here, and folks just aren’t familiar with them. Maybe this is why tomatoes are so bad here, they weren’t given proper homes. Bamboo (and some fishing line) to the rescue! Here’s one of my tomato seedlings checking out its future digs.

Everyone likes wind chimes, right? A little hard to call them “chimes” actually, as they make more of a hollow bonking sound. This one’s made of freshly-cut green bamboo as it’s easier to cut and shape, with a round piece of coral as the bonker. The result is a soft and mellow bonking, which I think will get a bit louder as the bamboo dries out.  I’ve made two so far; it takes about an afternoon to make one. Hmmm, lots of time, lots of bamboo… Christmas presents!

Stay tuned for next week’s edition of Jungle Arts and Crafts as Georgia demonstrates how to make a bra from coconut shells.

Himbabao (Heem-baba-oh)

Himbabao is the green bean sized flower (or fruit, there’s some dispute over this) of the tree of the same name, also called Alokon, Malambingan, and Babayan in Tagalog, Birch Flower in English though it’s related to the mulberry, not the birch family. The tree is native to the Philippines and is primarily found here, although there’s some distribution around Indonesia. We happen to have a himbabao tree in the lot next door – yesterday I saw Ranny up the tree and he soon came back with a large sack full. Georgia made a salad of it last night, delicious with a slight nutty taste. Very nutritious too, with healthy amounts of vitamin A, calcium, phosphorous, iron, and carotene.

Things That Will Kill You, vol. 1

First up on Things That Will Kill you are everyone’s favorite insect, ants. We have every sort of ant you’d ever want to imagine here. Most are just annoying, and this mostly just because they’re everywhere, inside and out. The one that’s more than just annoying is the large red ant, which swarms and bites if you’re unlucky enough to step among them or brush up against a tree or bush they’re occupying. The “will kill you” part I’m speculating comes from their nests, which I don’t think you want to have hit you in the head. They make these by somehow bending together all the small branches and leaves at the end of a tree branch and gluing them together into a football shaped thing about the size of your head. The one below was hanging over the sidewalk in our front yard, just about head height. It was quite a sight when I sprayed the outside and the branch with Baygon (local Raid, same company). A million ants swarmed out including a lot of large ones with long wings (the “queens” maybe?) but luckily stayed off the branch long enough to let me cut it down and plunge the whole thing into a 5-gallon bucket of water. That caused the other 10 million inside to try to swim for it, but sadly they didn’t make it. I was proud of my work until I looked up in the tree above where I removed the nest, and saw three more nests! No, I’m not climbing the tree to get them; at least the others aren’t at head height so we’re safe for the moment.

Sunset of the Week

Summer’s coming, the weather is changing, with fewer clouds on the horizon to make spectacular sunsets. Most evenings just the big orange ball sinking into the sea, leaving behind a glowing sky. A few clouds last evening produced this pleasant moment.

Take care everyone, stay safe and healthy!

[asianbourdain]

Beijing: All the Random Shit I Ate in Beijing 2016

4/24/16

Traditional Beijing Breakfast at some local spot

We arrived in Beijing early Sunday Morning and we got into a taxi as fast as we possibly could because we were starving.  My girlfriend directed the driver to take us where the locals go for breakfast and we were off.

Upon walking into the place, two emotions immediately took over my body: 1. This place is real local 2. What the fuck are we supposed to do?

A complete sensory overload.

Individual stalls with lines in front of it like this:

But everyone is holding a ticket? Ah OK, you’re supposed to pay up front first, then take the tickets and get in line individually to collect your order.

Each window also has a specific set of condiments, so now it’s getting real serious.

After about 5 minutes of messing around and me ruining our breakfast this is what the result is.  A bean gelatin of some sort, two kinds of fry bread, a tea egg, a dumpling, savory soy milk (that I ruined with some chili oil), a red bean-sesame-sticky rice napoleon, and this super popular pasty porridge called Miancha.  It’s a wheaty porridge topped with a sesame syrup of sorts.  Apparently you’re supposed to sip it around the rim until the syrup is gone, then get another ladle of syrup.  We really fucked that up too.  Regardless of the correctness of our process, the meal was interesting, eye-opening, and really really cheap.  I really want to give this another shot and not suck at it.

Nan Luo Gu Xiang Zha Jiang Mian from this hole-in-the-wall shop

We also ordered some preserved egg soaking in black vinegar and topped with ginger.  The dish to the left was another popular noodle style that’s a lot wetter, more pasta-like variant.  The preserved egg in this style is always a hit.  Both noodles dishes were special in their own sense.  One was heavier and more complex with a stew-like meat sauce slopped in.  The Zha Jiang Mian was not what I expected.  I thought it would be something closer to a DDM, but this was fresher.  A lot of snap and crisp from the julienned veggies.  A must whilst in Beijing.

Grilled Lamb and Sausage from this Hawker Stand

I always love Uyghur-influenced grilled things on skewers.  I just wish I had some beers.

Hot Pot at Hai Di Lao

Some cucumbers and tomatoes to diffuse the fire in between bites

Yin and yang.  Fire and corn? Both broths were INSANELY flavorful.  Dimensions, depth, and crazy development in both soups.  Some serious stuff.

The crazy sauce bar

I also ordered a Harbin Beer, but they threw cucumbers in it?

The spread, pretty standard but everything was just on point.

We also added the infamous dancing noodle at the end.  A ridiculous deal for 2 bucks.  A guy comes to your table in all white and hand pulls a noodle while dancing to the music of your choice, absolutely sick.  What a ridiculously great meal. Everything was on point.  After this meal, I come to find out there’s one in the 626!  It probably isn’t as good, but I must try.

4/25/16

This spread at a work lunch

The supplier wanted to put us to sleep at lunch because this spread was real serious. Steamed fish, Gai Lan, Green Onion Pancakes, Sweet Fried Pork (probably a dish ordered to appease us soft Americans), bamboo shoots, stir fried lamb in scallions, stir fried chicken in scallions, soup, house made soft tofu, pan fried green onion cakes, fried and steamed shrimp, and the weirdest thing of all: No rice!?  How does a restaurant run like this?  Proper execution on EVERY dish?  Amazing.  The food culture here is starting to grow on me...

“Beijing Barbecue” at this local spot

The concept is simple. The front of the restaurant is a full-fledged meat market.  You pick out what you want, a host takes it down and it gets grilled and brought to your table

Scallops, oysters, grubs, and shrimp.

All the regular meats

The shroom station

The veg

The local craft beer!

The fucking hand-pulled noodle station, half chubs.

Mouthwatering Chicken

Absolutely killer.  It’ll also light your mouth on fire if you’re not careful.  Cold chicken, chilis, scallion whites, Szechuan Peppercorns, and more.  It requires some elbow grease to dig out a piece of chicken, but when you finally find one and harvest the 2 threads of meat and/or skin, it’ll be totally worth it.

Beef Noodle

Not a typical dish ordered at this meal apparently, but I don’t care.  This shit was good.  The noodle texture was on point, the thickness was consistent, beef was still tender, and the soup had me going back for more after every spoonful.  Great touch on the seasoning.

Baked Scallop with Noodles

Small apps of scallops stir-fried with some cellophane noodles and dropped back on the half-shell. 

Ong Choy and Enoki Mushrooms

I think they ordered this because I requested some veg, but these light and dry stir-fried preparations were clutch.

Grilled Squid

1 huge cuttlefish chopped up, skewered, seasoned, and lightly scorched on the grill.  A bit chewy, but still tasty.

Chicken Wings

Butterflied Fish, Lamb, Chicken, Chicken Gizzards, Chicken Hearts

A lot of classics, can’t-go-wrongs at the top of this picture.  The fish was presented beautifully.  Butterflied down the back, flattened out, then grilled.  The seasoning was salty and spicy, great with beer.

4/27/16 Chaoyang This Sweet and Sour Szechuan Fish Thing from Some Big Company Banquet Dinner

Besides the fact that the species of the fish was a complete mystery to me, everything about this dish was perfection.  The presentation was crazy.  The prep must take forever for every one of these they need to pump out.  Debone, skin, butterfly, and then crosshatch each fillet into bite-sized morsels before you bread, fry, and sauce.  The fry was impossibly crispy, even after a healthy drenching of a thick pineapple-based sauce.  What a great American Palate-friendly dish, yea that’s probably why I love it.  

4/28/16

Gui Jie Fried Whole Squid at some Kiosk

These were found everywhere that was even remotely touristy and I resisted a few times already, but I had to do it this time.  It came out really nice, but it was essentially the same profile as most other fried Chinese drinking snacks.  A heavy dose of sweet potato flour, a hard fry, and then dusted with five-spice salt.  Chilli powder is optional.  The squid itself was still a bit chewy since it was so large, but this is very similar to the small squid tentacles found at any milk tea cafe.

Donkey Burger

The place only had a few words of English, but they all pointed to the words “Donkey Burger”.  What was the actual protein stuffed inside this crispy bun?  Shit I don’t know but it tasted real funky.  Not sure if it was the seasoning or the protein itself but it was quite strange.  Funk and gaminess that my tongue was just completely confused by.  But was it good?  Hell yea, the bun had a crunch that resembled a scallion pancake.  The meat was tender and well seasoned through a stew. I just wish there was a nice pickle to cut it.

 Fried Intestines from this kiosk

After some research, I found out the words on the stand said fried intestines, but this was by far the shadiest thing I’ve ever attempted to eat.  Walking up to the stand, the guy pulled the pieces of meat(?) out of a pot from the hidden shadows, then threw them on a large flat wok heated by a small propane burner.  He collected money, fried, collected orders, and served all by himself.  The biggest attraction for me was the large group that gravitated towards this guy.  After I put in my order, I realize he’s backed up at least 6 covers (more than his wok can produce in 1 batch).  So I waited patiently.  When It was finally my turn, I watched him throw them onto a plastic clamshell, then dress it with a garlic vinegar.  I can’t say it was worth the wait, nor was it the best thing I’ve eaten on this trip but it was undeniably tasty.  A bit heavy, a touch chewy, a little greasy, and a lot of crunchy.  No way I would say no if it was next to an ice cold beer.

4/29/16

Lunch at a random mall cafe

Another Chinese Burger

The bun wasn’t as crispy and light on this one, but the filling tasted more like a protein that I'm familiar with.  Something that doesn’t smell like it got scraped off the side of the road.

Zha Jiang Mian with handpulled noodles

Holy shit this was fantastic.  This might have been my favorite thing all trip.  Thick chewy noodles.  Light stewy broth.  Perfectly stewed pork.  Fiery chili oil cut with some pickles and cucumbers.  Beautiful balance of flavors and textures.

Crazy mess of a delicious soup

This soup had everything: handpulled noodles, tofu skin, cellophane noodles, cilantro, cabbage, pork, leafy tripe, chili oil, and a deep numbing broth brewed for hours.  Great stuff.

Chili Dumplings

Oh man, this is the stuff.  One of my favorite things ever.  Huge boulders of ground pork wrapped in a blanket of chewy dumpling skin bathed in a hot lava of soy, scallions, dried and fresh chilis.  I ate all but one of these suckers.

A mind-blowing meal from a random cafe at the mall?  Either this was a jackpot or the food standards in Beijing are in the right place.

Sanlitung Jian Bing from this cart

Stumbling around Sanlitung drunk, I was looking for a clear spot to call my Uber to head home, but then I saw this aura radiating from a woman and a tiny food cart. A drunk’s oasis.

 Holy fuck, it’s a Jian Bing cart! I threw up a prayer to the drunk gods and they answered with this mainland special.

First a layer of batter for the base.  Then goes an egg spread evenly around the entire base.  The filling began with green lettuce, cilantro, onions, scallions, pickles, seasonings, hoisin? and a crispy bread cracker thing.  Wrapped and thrown in a bag

I have crossed over into a new realm of drunk eats.  This is on a stage of its own.  The complexity of flavors combined with the layers of different textures justifies any drunken tongue burn.  There are a few guys trying to do this in the states, but nothing beats spontaneously running into this cart after a thorough inebriation caused by 12 beers.  Severely underrated.