dhaka, i was told by a bangladeshi friend, is the most densely populated city in the world. well it's not hard to believe when you see it. i have never looked outside the hotel window and see a street not filled with people and moving vehicles. it's always busy.
it was a privilege to be with my bangladeshi friend. he knows so much about the place he lives in and showed me around with such grace and familiarity. i thank him for his time and for sharing his knowledge. here are some things that we did the night we met:
we walked from the hotel to where the rickshaws are parked. not very far about a 2 minute walk. i told him that i wanted to buy clothes the cheap overruns much in supply in dhaka. so we headed for that place with our rickshaw. the traffic is just crazy. everybody's just moving everywhere. amazingly, we didnt get into an accident. the vehicle to your left, right, front and back are just inches away. the rickshaw is a better mode of transpo in my opinion. you can really feel the soft night breeze, as it not enclosed like the tuktuk which looks like a mobile prison cell. it's not expensive in dhaka. we took a rickshaw ride and just rode about the university area for 20 to 30 minutes and paid only about 70 takas. from the hotel area to the clothing market (bongo plaza) only cost about 30 takas, it was like a 10 minute ride.
the clothes are cheap too. theyre overruns from factories of h&m, zara, topshop etc. but you always got to check for defects. i decided not to buy coz i know its going to take a lot of time from picking out which ones id like, trying em out and to haggling for the price. and i didnt like the fact that my guy friend will have to wait for all of those to finish in the sideline. so i decided that we go have a bangladeshi dinner.
i told him im up for anything so we went to this bangladeshi eatery. well it wasnt the nicest diner to be in. i believe it was like in the middle of the market area. i put all trust to my bangladeshi friend so i didnt show any hesitation. my colleagues have been telling me that i shouldnt eat food outside the hotel but there i was. okay the place looked kinda dirty. we ate using hands. it feels awkward at first. its been years since i used my hands directly on food during meals at the table. i very rarely use bare hands during eating cos i have this bad habit of not washing before eating and ive learned over the years how to use the spoon and fork without my fingers ever ever touching the food. the place had a faucet and a soap bar for washing hands. every time i look up from my dinner plate, at least 3 bangladeshi men were staring at me. my dinner was delicious. i had beef which was very spicy and rice. and some side dishes, one was a mashed potato with crushed chili, another was spinach and bitter gourd that wasnt at all bitter which was good. my friend got himself a snack that was made of bread, he finished it quickly. he asked me if id like to order bottled water or the filtered one, the type that he was going to have..tap water. and i said i'll have the same as youre having. but i know next time im having bottled water. although i dont feel anything bad yet, i just cant help but get paranoid about the things that ive eaten especially that ive got a chest and throat infection 2 days after that food fest. its a chest infection not a stomach infection so maybe im fine. and the throat infection was probably because i ate too much sweets before going to dhaka and got tonsilitis and never gave my vocal chords a rest. but i really do want to go back there. i really do think the dinner was delicious.
anyways, after that we just chilled and toured around the university area on a rickshaw. we passed by the monuments of the martyrs, the science dept of the university, the arts building and even the dormitories. outside the dormitory for girls, lovers scatter in pairs around the park area.
unfinished...
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
beijing, a dream come true
ive always wanted to go to china and see the great wall, the only man made structure visible from outer space. i took up chinese mandarin for a semester in university and always said that id try to become an expert in speaking chinese and maybe be able to teach the language part time. well that never happened, ive kept about 3 to 4 sentences in my head..and i never got to use any of those when i went to beijing and never said one chinese word despite the fact that i brought a chinese-english booklet with me.
i love beijing. i stayed for a week there in a nice homey apartment owned/rented by filipino couchsurfers. oh they were nice to me and i got to stay for free. my friend jopet had created an itinerary for my weeklong stay in beijing. i followed most of it, changed the sequence of events and activities and dismissed a few items in it due to time, physical and financial constraints.
there's so many things i love about beijing.
food - just wonderful. authentic chinese cuisine.
i stayed at landscape apartment in chaoyang district and across the street at the corner is a restaurant that serves oh so yum dishes. not very pricey but the quality is good. i felt like i was eating in a nice expensive chinese restaurant in cebu but paid a quarter of the price. i had a spicy bean curd dish, spicy diced chicken with nuts and rice. i went there twice for the chicken with the nuts. there's always a mix of spicy and sweet and sour, never too salty. chinese food is just right for my taste.
one day i went to see a couchsurfer in a hospital he was supposed to host me but couldnt cos he got sick, i took a train from the hospital and stopped at liangmaqiao station. i walked out and went to the bus stop, i was very hungry. i couldnt take it anymore so i went to check if there are foodshops near the bus stop, i walked around the corner and saw a pricey looking italian restaurant and about 3 shops from it is a small eatery. i went inside and signed that i wanted the same thing that the man at the other table is having. the menu was in chinese so i couldnt understand, my body language mustve been effective cos after about two minutes my dumplings arrived. there are ten dumplings in one serving and i ordered the clear soup too with egg and vegetables. it was so good, and all of that cost me less than 10 yuan. it's a small shop, equivalent to a carenderia in the philippines but their food is good. and you can tell that they use fresh ingredients.
then i walked out and saw another small shop selling like some sort of pancakes. thought id try it. it was flat bread and you get to choose what you want to put inside it, they have spicy pork and i think sausages and chicken pieces. i chose the pork, he diced it and i paid 6 yuan, it was still hot. i never got to finish that one cos i was so full after having a dumpling feast. while walking down the street of nan lu guo xiang, dinah (my host) pointed out to me churros, a mexican snack thats made of dough shaped into about 5 inches long thick sticks and comes with a chocolate dip. cost, 15 yuan. and i said, okay i'll try. and i loved it. i loved it that when we got back to the apartment i quickly sent a message to my sister and told her that we have to franchise churros in the phils. and searched the net for churro recipes. surprisingly when i went back to cebu, i saw a churros franchise i thought nobody in cebu knew about churros yet, i bought some (this was in sm city cebu) and man they were terrible. really terrible, the ones i made at home after coming back from beijing tasted better. anyway, i liked the churros at nan lu guo xiang.. i tried to go back to that street just to taste it again but i got lost along the way so i turned back. and then i tried another day, and i was successful, i got to experience another time the buttery taste of the warm nicely done fried dough after dipping it in a melted chocolate delight.
during the last day of my visit i went out with a very nice chinese guy that i met in a bus that i got on mistake (this was when i got lost) we went to the summer palace together. he was so genuinely nice, liuzeyu is his name. liuzeyu tried hard to acquaint me with everything chinese and wanted me to have a great experience. before entering the summer palace, i noticed a crowd of people gathering around a mobile food stall. and because i am what i am, which is snoopy, i went near to see what it was. and i wanted some. the lady was selling like crepes the inside was stuffed with spicy sausage and some lettuce and an egg. i thought it was delicious and had it for breakfast. paid 6 yuan for it.
at the summer palace, liuzeyu made me try this traditional chinese soup. look i felt cold already so i wanted to buy some hot drink, i chose hot chocolate but liuzeyu insisted that i buy the soup. it was presented to me in a bowl. the seller put some powder (almond flavor, i think it was a mix of almond powder and starch) into the bowl and poured water in it then sprinkled black sesame seeds on top. it didnt look very delicious but looks can be deceiving. it was mmmm good at the first 10 sips but after that i felt that it became too sweet and got cold and i just had to throw it out. cost: 10 yuan.
after a few hours of walking i offered liuzeyu a snack that i brought from cebu. otap. i proudly declared, you know its a delicacy from cebu. liuzeyu was an honest guy, he ate some after i insisted that he taste it, and said "you know what, we have the same or almost the same kind of dessert here in beijing and to be frank, i think it's much better than this." i must have turned red even though it was freezing cold and we both laughed.
we went to a street called wangfujing. its a busy street with lots shops high end and bargain stores, locals and foreigners. i wanted to try something exotic as i heard that you can find exotic food in this street. and we did find the place after looking and asking around for almost an hour. you go inside a small alley and from the entrance you can already see and smell the exotic-ness of what;s in there. youll see displayed scorpions, bugs that look like beetles or fat cockroaches, seahorses, starfish..when i saw the starfish i was like, what? you can eat that? i heard they sell spiders and worms for consumption too. of course you dont eat them alive. liuzeyu and i paid 20 yuan for 4 dead skewered scorpions. theyre tiny. it was fried, until it looked like it has zero percent water content a dehydrated scorpion and dipped into a mix of spices. according to the person who sold this exotic snack to us, this is actually healthy and can help get rid of toxins from the body. oh well. so we went ahead, i ate two and liuzeyu ate two. i broke off the tail part where the venom and sting was supposed to be, i cant risk being food poisoned in china hehe. and my nice friend ate all of his share. it was nice. id probably do it again when i return to beijing.
...unfinished post
i love beijing. i stayed for a week there in a nice homey apartment owned/rented by filipino couchsurfers. oh they were nice to me and i got to stay for free. my friend jopet had created an itinerary for my weeklong stay in beijing. i followed most of it, changed the sequence of events and activities and dismissed a few items in it due to time, physical and financial constraints.
there's so many things i love about beijing.
food - just wonderful. authentic chinese cuisine.
i stayed at landscape apartment in chaoyang district and across the street at the corner is a restaurant that serves oh so yum dishes. not very pricey but the quality is good. i felt like i was eating in a nice expensive chinese restaurant in cebu but paid a quarter of the price. i had a spicy bean curd dish, spicy diced chicken with nuts and rice. i went there twice for the chicken with the nuts. there's always a mix of spicy and sweet and sour, never too salty. chinese food is just right for my taste.
one day i went to see a couchsurfer in a hospital he was supposed to host me but couldnt cos he got sick, i took a train from the hospital and stopped at liangmaqiao station. i walked out and went to the bus stop, i was very hungry. i couldnt take it anymore so i went to check if there are foodshops near the bus stop, i walked around the corner and saw a pricey looking italian restaurant and about 3 shops from it is a small eatery. i went inside and signed that i wanted the same thing that the man at the other table is having. the menu was in chinese so i couldnt understand, my body language mustve been effective cos after about two minutes my dumplings arrived. there are ten dumplings in one serving and i ordered the clear soup too with egg and vegetables. it was so good, and all of that cost me less than 10 yuan. it's a small shop, equivalent to a carenderia in the philippines but their food is good. and you can tell that they use fresh ingredients.
then i walked out and saw another small shop selling like some sort of pancakes. thought id try it. it was flat bread and you get to choose what you want to put inside it, they have spicy pork and i think sausages and chicken pieces. i chose the pork, he diced it and i paid 6 yuan, it was still hot. i never got to finish that one cos i was so full after having a dumpling feast. while walking down the street of nan lu guo xiang, dinah (my host) pointed out to me churros, a mexican snack thats made of dough shaped into about 5 inches long thick sticks and comes with a chocolate dip. cost, 15 yuan. and i said, okay i'll try. and i loved it. i loved it that when we got back to the apartment i quickly sent a message to my sister and told her that we have to franchise churros in the phils. and searched the net for churro recipes. surprisingly when i went back to cebu, i saw a churros franchise i thought nobody in cebu knew about churros yet, i bought some (this was in sm city cebu) and man they were terrible. really terrible, the ones i made at home after coming back from beijing tasted better. anyway, i liked the churros at nan lu guo xiang.. i tried to go back to that street just to taste it again but i got lost along the way so i turned back. and then i tried another day, and i was successful, i got to experience another time the buttery taste of the warm nicely done fried dough after dipping it in a melted chocolate delight.
during the last day of my visit i went out with a very nice chinese guy that i met in a bus that i got on mistake (this was when i got lost) we went to the summer palace together. he was so genuinely nice, liuzeyu is his name. liuzeyu tried hard to acquaint me with everything chinese and wanted me to have a great experience. before entering the summer palace, i noticed a crowd of people gathering around a mobile food stall. and because i am what i am, which is snoopy, i went near to see what it was. and i wanted some. the lady was selling like crepes the inside was stuffed with spicy sausage and some lettuce and an egg. i thought it was delicious and had it for breakfast. paid 6 yuan for it.
at the summer palace, liuzeyu made me try this traditional chinese soup. look i felt cold already so i wanted to buy some hot drink, i chose hot chocolate but liuzeyu insisted that i buy the soup. it was presented to me in a bowl. the seller put some powder (almond flavor, i think it was a mix of almond powder and starch) into the bowl and poured water in it then sprinkled black sesame seeds on top. it didnt look very delicious but looks can be deceiving. it was mmmm good at the first 10 sips but after that i felt that it became too sweet and got cold and i just had to throw it out. cost: 10 yuan.
after a few hours of walking i offered liuzeyu a snack that i brought from cebu. otap. i proudly declared, you know its a delicacy from cebu. liuzeyu was an honest guy, he ate some after i insisted that he taste it, and said "you know what, we have the same or almost the same kind of dessert here in beijing and to be frank, i think it's much better than this." i must have turned red even though it was freezing cold and we both laughed.
we went to a street called wangfujing. its a busy street with lots shops high end and bargain stores, locals and foreigners. i wanted to try something exotic as i heard that you can find exotic food in this street. and we did find the place after looking and asking around for almost an hour. you go inside a small alley and from the entrance you can already see and smell the exotic-ness of what;s in there. youll see displayed scorpions, bugs that look like beetles or fat cockroaches, seahorses, starfish..when i saw the starfish i was like, what? you can eat that? i heard they sell spiders and worms for consumption too. of course you dont eat them alive. liuzeyu and i paid 20 yuan for 4 dead skewered scorpions. theyre tiny. it was fried, until it looked like it has zero percent water content a dehydrated scorpion and dipped into a mix of spices. according to the person who sold this exotic snack to us, this is actually healthy and can help get rid of toxins from the body. oh well. so we went ahead, i ate two and liuzeyu ate two. i broke off the tail part where the venom and sting was supposed to be, i cant risk being food poisoned in china hehe. and my nice friend ate all of his share. it was nice. id probably do it again when i return to beijing.
...unfinished post
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
turtlepace's maiden voyage
after having created 14 blogs over the years that havent been updated for months and some for years, i have come up with the greatest idea in the world of creating another blog! hopefully one that will be continually updated as i travel through the rest of my life. :)
i call it turtlepace : a travel blog. it will not only be about the places that ive been to, great travel tips in that area and travel information but will more importantly contain, in honor of my vain self, a lot about me.
turtlepace is a name that i have adapted years ago, probably during my teens when my father would compare me to a turtle who moves slowly. hed always point out to me how i eat slowly, dress slowly and just simply do things as if ive no deadline to catch. and well, i dont. and since ive loved turtles for being cool creatures (hard shell house, head that retracts into the shell, of course theyre cool) i have named my very first blog in college, turtlepace. ( I LOVE YOU PA!)
and now that im in my mid 20's, with the midlife crisis over my head, i have concluded that ive enough experience in my life to share to the world and hopefully the world can learn from it. (and im hoping id get through this crisis thing gracefully by blogging all about it.)
bon voyage!
disclaimer:
i tend to joke a lot, mostly at my own expense. but if a reader would feel offended by anything that i write(id be the number one reader of this) i just want to say that i have no intention of offending anyone in the world. everything i write on here will be original, authored by me :) so i wont have to worry about lawsuits. photos will be those that i own, and for photos that are grabbed from the internet, it will be labeled properly as owned by somebody not me. words or phrases borrowed will be properly placed inside quotation marks. no copyright infringement intended. whatever that means.
i call it turtlepace : a travel blog. it will not only be about the places that ive been to, great travel tips in that area and travel information but will more importantly contain, in honor of my vain self, a lot about me.
turtlepace is a name that i have adapted years ago, probably during my teens when my father would compare me to a turtle who moves slowly. hed always point out to me how i eat slowly, dress slowly and just simply do things as if ive no deadline to catch. and well, i dont. and since ive loved turtles for being cool creatures (hard shell house, head that retracts into the shell, of course theyre cool) i have named my very first blog in college, turtlepace. ( I LOVE YOU PA!)
and now that im in my mid 20's, with the midlife crisis over my head, i have concluded that ive enough experience in my life to share to the world and hopefully the world can learn from it. (and im hoping id get through this crisis thing gracefully by blogging all about it.)
bon voyage!
disclaimer:
i tend to joke a lot, mostly at my own expense. but if a reader would feel offended by anything that i write(id be the number one reader of this) i just want to say that i have no intention of offending anyone in the world. everything i write on here will be original, authored by me :) so i wont have to worry about lawsuits. photos will be those that i own, and for photos that are grabbed from the internet, it will be labeled properly as owned by somebody not me. words or phrases borrowed will be properly placed inside quotation marks. no copyright infringement intended. whatever that means.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)