Shock of the Day: Food is Home

I am currently chatting with a friend in Thailand and I made a realization that the concept of home has changed for me now that we are moving all over the place.  We'll it's more like my concept of home has evolved over the years.

I indefinitely consider Hawaii home.  It's where I grew up and lived most of my life.  My family is there and I've got a lot of memories invested in that place.

What has changed is it seems that now a days, especially since I'm moving more often and not making a firm home base as I did in Hawaii, I may have added a new criteria to the list.

FOOD (and drinks)!

Good food that make me feel at home.

Yes, I am now using a food as a way to feel anchored to my location.  It sounds weird but it's true.  At the rate that we are going at traveling and seeing new things, I won't have a new home home for a while and that fine.  I've now found that food is my way to connect myself to a place because it's as close to a feeling of home as I'll get on my fleeting visits or stay.

My first ever Flat White in Western Samoa in an Italian Restaurant of all places!
Best Flat white so far but whenever I drink it (now available at Starbucks) it takes me back to Samoa.

I guess you can say it all started with basing a good trip on the best food we can find in the region, but now it's come to the point where I miss food just as I would miss my home.  I get HOME SICK for food.  I can care less about the place as I've enjoyed my visiting and seeing new sites but food and drinks are where it's at!

YES, of course, meeting great people and seeing beautiful scenery is great but that in itself is an added bonus on top of the food.  I know it sounds a bit fucked up, me putting food over more tangible things like people and actual places but hear me out.

I miss people and associations and I also miss and yearn for those good times that we've had with them more than anything.  In fact, I still pine over my times with friends and family in Hawaii, Thailand, Japan and California even.  My separation from those people were really tough but I think once I left Thailand the first time, I may have mentally prepared myself for not coming back in a way I never did before.

Yes, I knew I wasn't going back to my other homes, but my leaving for Taiwan was different.  I knew I was leaving Taiwan in two months and then going back to Thailand for a week before heading for China.  That may have steeled me from getting too attached to people and places as I've done in the past.

Don't get me wrong, I made some really great friends there but in the back of my mind, I always knew I would leave so I lived more in the moment there than I did in most other places before hand because of that very finite end in sight.  Hence, why I've invested more into food and less into everything else.

I think that's why I really honed in on my need for food as not just a emotional crutch -which it really is - but also a thing to keep me grounded in my lofty state of carpe diem as I flit around like a butterfly moving from place to place.  My attachment to the places and people were just as fleeting as my attachment to the food but while I had it, I'm totally committed.

Doesn't this look amazing? Taiwan's famous Manguo Bing!  It tastes as good as it looks.

Once it was gone, it was gone.

Maybe I associate food as comfort and a way to feel safe and just....GOOD.

I really don't know, honestly!

Back to the ranch...

Maybe it's also because I can associate good food with great memories as well.  The cake below is my absolute favorite for it's subtle flavors and overall scrumptiousness but....it may also be well loved because it was also the cake I chose to be my wedding cake.

Almond Teres Cake at my favorite baker in Hilo Hawaii (BI) at Moonstruck Patisserie

I just know that when I'm in Hawaii, I want good poke, kalua pig and go to my favorite Hilo dives to make me happy.  These foods reminds me of home and familiarity and brings me to my happy place.


I know that if I am in Thailand, I want to go to Salaya in Nakhon Pathom and eat at "Crazy Bird" - We named it that because I have NO IDEA what to call it and have my Tom Kha, Prikang, and Gai Pet Met Mamuang (I can't spell Thai stuff) and then go around the corner, get Cha Yen or Nam Manaow to drink or even eat Kao Soi Gai.  I love getting my fresh fruits and Mango with Jim Nam and oh, Muslim chicken.  These foods remind me of our time living in Thailand and how all I had to do was walk across the street from my old home to get great food and around the block to get everything else I'm hankering for.

Cooling off with Malaysia's version of shaved ice, Cendol

Unagi in Hiroshima or Miyajima Island on a nice rainy day

If I'm in Japan, I need to eat Matcha ANYTHING but I also want to eat Shabu Shabu, I love their bento boxes - don't judge me but I find bentos from the grocery store to be the best!  Buying sweets and getting just about anything from vending machines - I mainly LOVE cold season because then you can get hot cocoa in a can from vending machines.  Don't get me started on all-you-can-eat/drink buffets over there because the food is VERY good (nomi houdai and tabe houdai)!  These food remind me of the great time I've had in Japan and I can always aesthetically appreciate the presentation as well as the great taste.

When I'm in Taiwan, I want to eat Mango Bing, Niu Rou Mian, and drink Zhen Jiu Nai Cha and many other great street food delicacies at the night market.  I just think about the batered deep fried mushrooms, jipai, bacon wrapped grilled cheese, nai cha and so many more good foods!

Now here in China, I am associating Niu Rou Mian and Chou Doufu and Rou Jia Mo with Shaoxing.

I can be home everywhere and when I eat good food I can feel at home because it's like a security blanket.

The Golden Rule I did learn though, was not to eat a country's cuisine in another country.  If that Thai food isn't from Thailand (or in my case from a specific eatery within BKK) don't expect it to taste perfect because you'll most likely be disappointed.

It will NEVER be the SAME!

You're just setting yourself up for failure because you were jonesing for that perfect Prikang, well, save it for when you go back for a visit.  If you find something that is exact, you're VERY fortunate but honestly, the best way to feel at home in these new places is to find what food is their specialty and eat at that location.  It makes it a lot easier to transition to the new place you are visiting or living in by giving you something you can look forward to or rely on.

So instead of wishing to revisit that same exact experience, how about try something new until the next time you can say hello to that 'old friend' again in the future.

I promise it makes the wait that much more bearable. 

Preview of Little You in the Global World - My New Pet Project

My new project is actually a compilation of stories, not just from me,  but from others that traveled through UH Hilo's study abroad program and some of the not so glamorous aspects of traveling like culture shock.  I'm going to apologize ahead of time if I offend anyone but I'm writing from my naive 21 years old perspective and I'd like to think that I've definitely matured a lot since then...maybe not by much.  I swear a bit in this one - then again, I do in most my posts but you've been warned.  The whole point of writing this is to make our readers aware of what they could expect when traveling to a new, unfamiliar location.  Since this is my first draft, don't expect to see it exactly as is once it's printed.  I'll also be adding photos to this blog just to make it less boring to look at because the book will mainly contain text.

"What I Know Now"

I grew up in a large city until the age of 12 before I moved to Hilo where I reside till this very day.  I had never been anywhere on my own and when I finally got tired of only looking at people’s pictures as they traveled, and listened to their stories while abroad, I knew I had to assuage my curiosity.

I bought a cheap flight after more than a year of saving to go to Thailand and planned for my trip to get to my dream destination, Angkor Wat.  What all those travel blogs and guide books don’t tell you when you’re planning a trip on a shoestring and with no help is that it’s extremely hard and time consuming your first time doing this!  Here I was researching everything I could about safety for women backpacking alone and what to expect culturally and financially.  It was a lot of work but I stumbled upon a few great sites that gave me pointers that I use even today.  I sorta-kinda winged the majority of my scheduling, hoping my timing would work out. 

Luckily, it did.

Yes, it was a stressful way to travel, but I’m also okay with that sort of stress because I wanted the flexibility to stay longer at certain places if I needed to.  It also taught me a lesson on planning in general.  I had to plan out my budget for each day, my trips to the next town and other details to get the best out of my short stay.  Every day, when the sun went down after exploring, I hunkered down in my room - I was paranoid after watching movies like ‘Hostel’ - to plan out my trip for the following day.  While I’m out and about sightseeing, I would find a small local travel agency to ask recommendation for the next big town and also book the next shuttle down for the next day.  That was my cycle for about three weeks.  I had to make sure I made it on time to my shuttle and not get lost wandering - as I did in Trang looking at the White Temple and ALMOST missed my shuttle - but I found out by accident that they have something similar to Hawaiian time and I’m ever so grateful that translates to other tropical areas.

It turns out, South East Asia (S.E.A) is pretty safe but a lot of my learning happened while on my trip.  When I first arrived in Bangkok, Thailand.  I knew it was a huge city and I would be overwhelmed but getting out of the airport and finding a cabby that spoke enough English to understand me was something I didn’t expect.  There was this safety notion in my head that everyone spoke or learned English at one point or another in these countries. When I had a hard time finding someone that would understand me saying “Yaowarat”, the name of their Chinatown in their language, I started to get scared.  I went to the hotel I looked up on Lonely Planet - that's what it felt like! - and showed up with no reservations and so Lo and Behold! - no vacancy.

I caught another cab and decided to go to a train station to make my way down south towards Malaysia for a rendezvous with my host through Couch Surfing (CS).  In that cab ride, I broke down and cried because I really felt like I had bitten more than I could chew and what was I going to do?!  

Well, long story short, I found a travel agency that was open late, made reservations for a flight to Phuket and a hotel for a cheap - or at least what I considered cheap - rate and felt better about it in the morning.  Yeah, I felt a bit defeated after a rough start but once I had my day planned and my next destination booked, I knew I would be okay.

Another thing I'd like to point out that travel shows will not tell you about is how exhausting it is to go from town to town, city to city everyday!  I was ‘gogogo’ mode from the time I landed in BKK until I reached Malaysia and I was on a tight schedule because I made arrangement for with my CS host to be at a certain place by a certain time.  It was also my first time really using CS outside of my host country so I wanted to be sure everything worked out perfectly.  My itinerary was BKK→ Phuket → Krabi → Trang → Hat Yai → Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (KL).  I essentially need to get to KL in 6 days and so I hopped in a shared van and traveled all the way down to Malaysia that way to.  I was really bad about reading up on news in general back then and apparently when I was there, southern Thailand had just had a huge coup de tat due to conflict between a Muslim group against the local government.  I had just missed a huge bombing in Pattani and it was a huge selling point for me to take the Hat Yai route down to KL via bus.  Moral of this segment of travel: make sure to know what is going on in the news and the political climate of the area you are visiting.

There were a few points during my month travel that I felt overwhelmed just as I did on my first day arriving to BKK.  I remember after being in KL for a few days of exploring, I took the wrong bus to a very politically enthusiastic part of the city and I was just shocked by the propaganda all over the place.  You know when you watch presidential election and speeches and you see banners everywhere in that stadium, banners and flags waving all over the walls.  Imagine that stadium was hit by a typhoon and blew everything up all over a town, covering it with a parties colors and a person's image. It felt almost suffocating and oppressive in a manner.  I don’t think I’ve felt so uncomfortable by a communities...fervor for a certain party as I did in that bus.  Luckily, the bus driver noticed I hadn’t gotten off - how could he not? I was the only one on it at that point! - and kindly directed me to the right bus stop. He was kind enough to make sure I was in the right place and advised me what bus to take. As odd as it sounds, I was a bit shaken by that experience for some reason and I still don’t know if it’s because of conditioning or a prejudice of what I see in the media about fervent political ideologies or the combined feeling of being lost and surrounded by something so foreign.

By the time I got to Cambodia, I was a bit hardened and felt like a seasoned traveler - though I was far from it - but I still managed to get swindled!  When I landed in Phnom Penh, I was extremely exhausted from all the traveling.  I just wanted a driver that spoke English and would take me to a hotel.  I asked this persistent motor bike driver if he speaks English - mistake #1 - and asked him can he take me to a hotel - mistake #2 - which he readily replied, "Yesyesyes" to.  Previous drivers were honest and turned me away so I was probably too hopeful that this guy would be honest and do the same.  This guy started to rattle on nonsense about where he was taking me and I kept on reiterating I just wanted to go straight to a hotel and rest.  

Well, he started to take me to some random shack that was in the middle of bum-fuck-nowhere, didn’t explain why he needed to stop there and I was almost afraid that that was the hotel that he was suggesting. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect from Cambodia and if he had said it was my hotel, I was so tired at that point that I probably would have taken his word for it. Thankfully it wasn’t but he then took me to the Killing Fields - very eerie place, a shooting range, and a market before stopping at a decent hotel.  He had quoted me $15 when I first talked to him and at the end, his quote turned into $50! WTFF?!  I was fuming and told him off because I only wanted a hotel and I gave him $25 because he failed both of my interview questions on whether he knew English and can he take me straight to a mother fuckin' hotel?! (rant over)

When confronted with Angkor Wat, you are awed by the beauty, scale, and history of these temples but something that no one likes to mention is the destitute poverty the Khmer people live with.  Their lean-to tents and homes against the ancient site was an eye opener for me and then the panhandling from the children was more than I can handle - especially for a sucker like me.  In a way, I’m grateful for the brief trip to the Killing Fields because I was schooled on the despotic rampage that Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge inflicted upon the Khmer people - check it out if you don't know but it's pretty fucked up.  They are still trying to rebuild from those four years of his premiership that lead to the death of 25% of Cambodia’s population due to executions, lack of food and medical attention, harsh working conditions and political uprisings.  These children out here accosting vulnerable tourist like me, selling and begging were also missing parts of their childhood because they had the obligation to make money for their family. I don't know about you, but it was opening since my childhood was filled with school and playing and enjoying first world amenities. But not these kids.  They had to work at a young age and yes, I did break down and buy stuff from them - many guides will tell you, DON'T DO IT! you'll just perpetuate a messed up systems but you try and look at these kids and say, "no". Despite my bleeding heart, after a while, I become desensitized to their haranguing .

My senses were on overdrive over in these countries and you don’t realize how you’re used to certain sights and smells until you go to somewhere completely different.  Sure, guide books will warn you about really spicy hot food in Southeast Asia but will they tell you about the tent in the middle of an open market where it smells like old and drying blood remnants from when they butchered the meat earlier in the morning? No, they won't!  I remember staying at a motel in Ho Chi Minh City and sitting on the couch resting when the owner of the motel comes out with a duck and held it by the body and proceeded to hit its head against the floor because it was dinner.  I was shocked to say the least but I just watched in quiet horror because I knew that was how they did things over there.  They didn't have regulations like we do in US about fair treatment of animals as well as humane deaths.  She sees it as food and a means to an end and she only knew one way to kill it.  She then proceeded to take the dying or dead duck and scared the poor dog watching her by shoving the limp duck in its face before it ran off. Yeah, I was shocked to say the least but I wasn't going make a huge production of it and I schooled my expression to make sure my shock wasn't completely evident - I'm sure my eyes were all bugged out though. I almost wonder if the old woman had a sadistic side to her and wanted to see if the shock value of her killing the duck would affect me. I almost thought she was waiting for some kind of reaction from me. Oh, well. I guess I disappointed her but I wasn't going to be her entertainment at the expense of that poor duck - now I do sound like a privileged '1st Worlder' (not a word but I don't care! I'll just coin it!).

I caught a bus on my way back from Viet Nam to Thailand and we made a stop through Cambodiato get there.  The bus stop had a stall of bugs - and mind you I'm not that picky of an eater - I am more than willing to try a few different bugs but not a whole cart of roaches the size of my palm!  I draw the line at roaches and really squishy bugs unless they are cooked but I still won’t try a roasted roach.  Traumatized by them as a kid.

My travels abroad was one of the most exciting, scary and hands-on educational learning experience I’ve ever had in my whole life.  I’ve traveled to places with family but unless you are on your own and have to rely on your own instincts. I, personally, don’t think you’ve really traveled unless you’ve had that bit of fear and a bit of triumph over your own prejudices and overcoming these challenges.

Memory Lane 懐かしい...Malaysia Hop on Bus

If you have a free day with nothing particularly planned, hop on the City Tour Bus

I forget what it's officially called, but it was such a brilliant idea, I wondered why more places didn't do this.  You pay a single fee for the day or for a single trip.  If you have a day pass, you can get on and off when ever you like at any of the stops.  This idea only made it to my home town last year and I did this trip back in 2008.

Check out some of the great things I got to see from the Bus!

I can't wait to go back!

Memory Lane 懐かしい... Cendol and other goodies from Malaysia

I LOVE Cendol!

I first had it in Malaysia and it was my go to dessert to cool down.  In fact, it has to be my favorite sweet from Malaysia.

This is what I would call the food for the Gods or Ambrosia but better!

I just love it and there are so many different ways to make it!

I was looking up the recipe and found this site. 

Here's one that I found online:

Cendol Batter Recipe

5 Tbsp Hoen Kwe flour (mung bean flour)
4 Tbsp rice flour
1 Tbsp tapioca flour
½ tsp salt
625ml water
A few drops pandan concentrate

1. Combine all the ingredients and mix well.  Cook on low heat, stirring constantly until the batter thickens and turns translucent.
2. Prepare a bowl of iced water.
3. Put a small amount of batter into potato ricer and squeeze into iced water.  Repeat until all the batter is used up.
4. Transfer cendol into container. It’ll keep in the fridge for about 4 days.

Cendol Drink Recipe

This is the recipe I used for my restaurant cendol drink, and it’s heavily modified from what you can expect to get in Malaysia.  That’s because I don’t have access to fresh coconut milk; I use packet coconut milk and add a bit of evaporated milk to it.

3 TBS cendol
60ml clear sugar syrup*
80ml coconut milk
20ml evaporated milk
½ cup shaved ice
30ml palm sugar syrup **

1. We put the cendol in a glass, then add all the other stuff and top up the glass with cold water. Feel free to experiment with sugar amounts and adjust to taste.

* made by dissolving 2 cups white sugar and pinch of salt in 375ml water, then cooled. Store in fridge.**made by dissolving 2 logs Indonesian Gula Jawa or Gula Aren in 4 cups water, then cooled. Store in fridge.

Very delicious pineapple tarts that I got from Chinatown in Melaka.  It was still warm!

My lovely couch surfing host made a lovely spread of food for us

Here is more from our lovely host!

I have no idea what this drink is but I LOVED IT!

And now, for something different:

A chicken stew with lemon sticky rice and a lovely limeade.

I like checking out franchises in international settings to see what they do to accommodate local tastes and food and this Micky D's did such a great job I think!

I was eating an egg sandwich but I ordered a HUGE cup of Mile (I LOVE Milo!) and I had to take a picture of the paper menu with a Chicken Pita sandwich and Azuki bean sundaes

Memory Lane 懐かしい... Batu Caves Malaysia

I can't wait to go back to Malaysia!  I can't help but think about all the fond memories I have of that country.

The Petronas Towers...again!  I can't get enough of this structure.  I had to find a bus somewhere near here to get to Batu Caves.  Luckily my CS hostess told me which bus to chose because it would otherwise be confusing.

Batu Caves takes its name from Sungai Batu or Batu River and is one of the most visited Hindu Shrine outside of India.

This shrine is dedicated to Lord Murugan.

Great view from up here

A really amazing cavern main of Limestone

An obligatory Monkey Pic.

Let me tell you though.  This monkey slighted me when I was offering it some coconut, the greedy bugger thought what I offered it wasn't enough.  SO, it decided to climb up my leg and pull at my bag of coconut from my hands!  I didn't want any monkey disease so I relinquished my hold on the bag and Lo!  Behold the little thief!

I've grown to mistrust monkeys but they're still amusing critters

Memory Lane 懐かしい... Malaysia KL

I've been feeling very nostalgic about Malaysia and really freaked out when I couldn't find the pictures I took there; especially those of the Petronas Towers.

Long story short...I found them!

This was a really cool building and I think the look out was only at the 40th floor.  Something like that.

I took a panoramic picture....but that I can't find.  The view from the look out had a great view of Kuala Lumpur.

You may have seen these towers featured in the movie Entrapment with Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones - I think that was the film that put her on the map.

Well, I didn't know what to expect when I went inside but if you want to know....

....A shopping mall!  Granted, those are only the first few floors but I definitely wasn't expecting that!

I'm sure there are more businesses in all the other floors but I was just shocked.

Other buildings that I saw but had no clue what the are (at the time I did, but that was over 5 years ago)...

Memory Lane 懐かしい... South East Asia

All this thinking about Cambodia has gotten me nostalgic for S.E.A..

I can't help but remembering that trip as one of the most defining moments in my life.  Honestly.

Granted, that year was very big for me because I've never left home and I decided I was going to leave home and moved to Japan for the year.  

Kawagoe, Japan.  One of my favorite places in Japan.

Then I started my journey in Thailand

At the base of Tham Seua or the Tiger Temple in Krabi.

1,200 steps later, the top of Tham Sua and my fear of heights gone!

Melaka - A cultural hub that was once a huge trading port in Malaysia

Dutch influenced

Ankor Wat at Sunset

 Ankor Wat at Sunrise - some of the oldest most beautiful temples I'm ever set foot on

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Market Place in Viet Nam

Beautiful hotels and commercial area

Cu Chi Tunnel

Very small and a place where I discovered claustrophobia for the first time.

Motorbikes EVERYWHERE!  They even ride on the sidewalk!

These are just snippets of things that I've seen but I feel like this trip was an eye opening experience that I'll carry with me the rest of my life.