Tuesday, January 12, 2010

big announcement!

Sprinting through today’s eats because they were pretty unexciting (I woke up feeling sore throated and generally narsty) and cause I have BIG NEWS.

Apparently my refrigerator is just a beacon for other peoples’ leftovers. But I’m not complaining, because Phyllis’s chicken from last night was aaaaaaaaawessssommmme.

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I had it with an Asian yam and apple chutney (!).

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I have to say, I’m not usually a chicken skin person AT ALL. I think it’s slimy and who needs the extra saturated fat. HOWEVER. This was luscious French restaurant roast chicken skin. And I could not stop eating it oh em gee.

Also had a luscious yogurt bowl with crazy ripe and awesome Harry and David pear *swoon*

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For dinner my wunnerful mother made me avgolemono soup. You know how matzoh ball soup is Jewish penicillin? Avgolemono soup is Greek penicillin.

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Chicken broth (in our case wonderful homemade stock from our turkey carcass that we froze) + rice + leftover chicken (not traditional but we had it!) + eggs + lemon juice.

Heavennn.

And then that got me thinking about Greek food, so I made horta, the Greek word for greens. We got gorgey mustard greens at H Mart, so I heated up some olive oil, threw in some garlic, threw in the greens, and cooked them down with more chicken broth and topped with lemon juice.

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Wonderful!

And my bowl of avgolemono:

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Lots of freshly cracked pepper is a MUST!

Finally, BIG NEWS:

I’ve been experiencing some serious *angst* with my current state in life: meaning, I was ambitious and graduated early and now have NO JOB and NO CLUE WHAT TO DO.

So this rather AMAZING opportunity came along, courtesy of my dad’s business trip, and I decided to take it. I didn’t want to announce until it was OFISH, but tickets have now been booked!

In one week and two days, I will be going here:

(Taipei)

And here:

(Bangkok)

Eee!

I’m trying to be excited about the amazing cultural experience and not the… 14 hour plane trip x_x I am not a great flier. It’s scary but I’m sure ultimately amazing, as the best life experiences always are.

Plus, yknow:

 

Lovely bloggies out there: does anyone know the terrain in Taipei and/or Bangkok? Give me places to go and things to do!

12 comments:

Penny said...

OMG!! How exciting!!! Hope you have loads of fun. And I hope you have a laptop for blogging on the go. :-)

The chicken looks sooo good. I would have totaly eaten the skin too.

Astra Libris said...

I'm SO excited for you!!! Sooooo awesome!!!

Food Makes Fun Fuel said...

You're going to have a blast there!

Lily @ Lily's Health Pad said...

That is a big announcement. Lucky you! Can't wait to read about your travels.

Unknown said...

LUCKY YOU!!!!!!! Can you PLEASE stuff me in your suit case!! PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! :)

Genesis said...

can i come as your travel companion?! please im begging you! gosh you're so lucky!

La said...

Ahhh!!! I spent seven weeks in Thailand this past summer, mostly in Bangkok! I am soooooooo jealous - I would love to go back.

On the weekends, check out the Chatuchak Weekend Market (it's known among 'farang' (foreigners) as the JJ Market, but the Thais would know it as Chatuchak). It's this MASSIVE market where you can get everything - clothes, food, books, toys, furniture, you name it, it's there. You can find incredible coconut ice cream at Chatuchak. Don't miss Khao San Road, this is like the tourist center of the universe but you can get pretty good deals around there for drinks and food and whatever. One bar does "two-for-one" bucket drink specials, I don't know if that's your cup of tea, but if it is, it's really worth it to pay $10 for two MASSIVE cocktails in buckets. There's an amazing falafel place called Shoshana's right around the corner from Khao San... Ugh my mouth is watering. Definitely go see the Grand Palace, if there's one major tourist site you do, let that be it. The Paragon shopping mall and all the malls at Siam Center are definitely worth at least an afternoon, even if just to stare around in awe at all the expensive shopping around.

Don't let taxi drivers jack the prices!! If you get in a cab, ALWAYS make sure they put on the meter unless you know the ride is long and want to negotiate a cheaper price. Tuk-tuk drivers are even worse - they'll ask for 3x the price of a metered taxi fare (tuk tuks are like little two-seater taxis pulled by motorbikes).

Food-wise, of course try pad thai and spring rolls on the street at least once. Buy pineapple from any street vendor and you may not want to eat pineapple at home again (I can't ...it sucks here!). Also you MUST try mangosteen and rambutan! These are the most delicious fruits in the entire world! You might want to try durian, the "stinky fruit," just because you're in Thailand and it's a major Thai essential, but some people really don't like it. Cost-wise, your best bet is street food, but there are restaurants of every shape, size, and cuisine available in Thailand. Even amazing Italian food. Gosh I'm jealous.

Are you just going to be in Bangkok or are you going elsewhere?

Whitney @ Lettuce Love said...

You will have so much fun! Congrats on the travels :)

fittingbackin said...

ooh how very exciting!! Can't wait to follow your journey! My dad lives outside of Bangkok - i'll see if he can share anything!

Jess said...

HOW EXCITING!!! That's awesome!!

Delicious looking chicken!
<3 jess
xoxo

Michal said...

YOU ARE SO LUCKY! You are going to have an amazing fantastical adventure. I cant wait to read all about it :)

Anonymous said...

congrats on a fabulous trip. The post you make when you come back will be tons of delicious ethnic food!