No, it was more than that. It was awe-inspiring to see the birth of these future giants. They were about the size of silver dollars and all flipping away their tiny flipping parts. Plain cool. We picked out two of the most active and had Von Holzen fry them up for a snack.

And, of course, she was missing some points – Mahdi drove us to his boss’s fish hut 1) To introduce us to a spectacular shoreline and eat great, fresh seafood and 2) He probably gets a little kickback for getting us there. I started to fill up with that nausea again – the kind got by getting stuck in a group where one person fails to see the whole picture and stands poised to louse it all up. Without any thought for how this might affect anyone else she was at the edge of ruining supper over the fucking choice of cocktails.

…the electric ripples of hot pepper pain still running through our gums we were picked up to go snorkeling and visit Turtle Island. Didn’t know what Turtle Island was maybe it’s where the snorkeling was at. Maybe we’d swim with sea reptiles…wrestle them… or be enslaved to carapaced overlords with Kaiser helmets and ninja gear.

Balinese Suckling Pig…  This is what we were getting our fingers greasy on, during a pre-Monsoon storm at a villa in Legian, when I asked Elisa to marry me.  Fiery hot pork and bad weather – no better way to get engaged, yes? 
   Although better known by its Indonesian name, …

a horseshit manner of vacationing on the other side of the earth. Resorts are for low-feature, close to home places like Florida. So around one o’clock we took off down the road, hoping to find lunch on less elegant plates. What’s the name of the road? Dunno, but it did go from left to right and we hadn’t gone right yet. Had an appetizer en route, from a pushcart at the construction site of yet another resort…

He was loving life & rearing to throw back a bunch of drinks to emphasize the emotion. I deeply involved with every minute as well, but there is this strange thing that happens to me when I travel: I’m never too keen on drinking a whole lot. Not to mention that multiple beers would have mandated peeing in the awfully nice pool.

use cold, cooked rice, as warm rice will stick to the wok and absorb liquid too quickly.
INGREDIENTS:
6 tbsp oil
6 shallots, peeled and sliced
6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
6 oz chicken or pork, sliced*
8 oz medium size shrimp, peeled*
¼ small Nappa cabbage, shredded
3 eggs, beaten
½ cup sambal tomat
4-5 cups cold, cooked rice
2 …

Not knowing the place of vermin on the Karmic scale here, I wadded toilet paper into a catcher’s mitt, scooped the critter up gently and tossed it outside. Seemed like a fair compromise; I’d let it live but there was no way were going to be tub buddies.

Picture Miami with a little Chinatown every few blocks and lots of American stores. If you went to South Beach on a record hot summer day, walked up Lincoln St, ate bowls of Mee Hoon on Washington instead of Media Noche sandwiches, bought film and Banana Republic cashmere wife-beaters back on Lincoln, then down Ocean Drive to look at tan chicks in tiny skirts you will have experienced Singapore

 INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup oil
14 red serrano chiles, seeded and chopped
10 bird’s eye chili, chopped
4 tomatos,  seeded and cut into wedges
10 garlic clove, sliced
15 small shallots, peeled and sliced
1 tsp dried shrimp paste, roasted (sub 1tsp Thai fish sauce)
2 tbs palm sugar, chopped (sub brown sugar)
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 tbsp salt
PREPARATION:
Heat oil in heavy saucepan over …