You know, the Chinese are funny people: so long as their eyes are open, they are looking for food.
– an ethnic Chinese Malaysian man sizes up the Malaysian appetite for street food
Truth is, this quote applies to just about everyone in Malaysia. And why not? Like many of its neighbors in Southeast Asia, Malaysia is home to the holy trinity of street food enjoyment: availability, quality and price.
From stink bean squid sambal to giant prawns in huge buckets of satay sauce, Malaysia delivers an experience of culinary and cultural diversity. Here’s a wee taste of the wide-ranging (Malay, Chinese, Indian and Indonesian) bites you might find.
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Filed Under: Food, Malaysia by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
23 Comments | 29 March 2009
With growing curiosity and a healthy double-edged dose of excitement and apprehension, we set off recently for the next segment of our journey: a new region with its own story, unfamiliar cultures with their own features, and distinct cuisines with their own flavors.
We share ten impressions from our first ten days in Guatemala – from chuchitos to proselytizers to contradictions – as we begin to absorb and comprehend an entirely new cultural panorama.
1. El Autobús del Pollo
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Filed Under: Central America, Guatemala, Perspectives, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
16 Comments | 24 March 2009
Malaysia, Truly Asia? Perhaps, depending on how far and wide you’ve traveled. But tropical, modern, vaguely exotic and multiethnic it certainly is. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Malaysia, Photography, Southeast Asia, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
No Comments | 18 March 2009
In our previous piece, we shared – hopefully with a bit of levity – a few features of life in America that we’ll miss.
Now comes the part where we offer some critical observations from our recent visit home, the longest in seven years. Continue Reading »
- Saying Goodbye to America, Again: What We’ll Miss
- Saying Goodbye to America, Again: What We Won’t Miss
Filed Under: Perspectives, United States by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
22 Comments | 16 March 2009
Our recent visit to the U.S. was our longest in over seven years. Becoming reacquainted with our home country was in its own right a learning experience. Having just departed a few days ago for the Latin America leg of our journey, we take inventory of a few things that we’ll miss – and a few that we won’t.
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- Saying Goodbye to America, Again: What We’ll Miss
- Saying Goodbye to America, Again: What We Won’t Miss
Filed Under: Perspectives, United States by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
15 Comments | 13 March 2009
“Audrey, something smells. Did you burn the toast?”
“No, look behind you – the volcano just erupted!”
– Our first morning in Antigua, Guatemala. Fuego Volcano lets off a puff of smoke as we assemble breakfast on the rooftop terrace of our friend’s home.
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Filed Under: Central America, Guatemala, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
5 Comments | 12 March 2009
Filed Under: Southeast Asia, Thailand, Travel by: Daniel Noll
20 Comments | 9 March 2009
In the United States, International Women’s Day comes and goes without much notice. Not so in Estonia when I lived there a decade ago.
“Buying flowers for every woman in the office on International Women’s Day” was technically not written into every man’s job description. Neither was “picking up bottles of champagne and cognac.” But both may as well have been. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Motley Mots by: Audrey Scott
2 Comments | 8 March 2009
“If you were stranded on a desert island and could choose only one cuisine for the rest of your days, which would it be?”
Have you ever considered this? The thought of choosing just one cuisine for the rest of our days makes us break out in sweats.
But change that question to: “What’s your favorite place for street food?”
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Filed Under: Food, Photography, Thailand by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
12 Comments | 8 March 2009
Before setting off on our journey, I had never touched HTML, I had no idea what SEO (Search Engine Optimization) meant and my writing consisted mainly of reports to management on how to operate legally and efficiently in countries like Azerbaijan or Kazakhstan.
How things have changed in the last couple of years. I can now code basic HTML, I’m painfully aware of the relevance of SEO and I now write pieces that have nothing to do with operating legally in Farflungistan.
My world has also changed because of social media, virtual connections, and this thing called Twitter. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Blogging, Technology by: Audrey Scott
8 Comments | 6 March 2009
