The food, oh baby the food.

I'm in a country that has been described as a food-lover's paradise. I'm currently downing a bag of mangosteen, which is pretty sublime. The mango selection is amazing. You can get pineapple and oranges and melons and dragonfruit and kiwi and green apples on just about every corner.



Laksa: Noodles, prawns, cockles, tofu and fishcake in a spicy coconut-milk gravy. Yummy.

I've been flex on the vegetarian thing in the name of adventure. I'm the kind of person who would eat deep-fried tarantula if given the chance - I've just been veg for so long now that when cruising the hawker centres, the words "beef" and "chicken" and "pork" and "prawn" don't even register in my brain as "food". It's easy enough to score a bite of somebody else's, though, so I can try pig's brain soup without actually ordering a bowl (although I have to say that BSE has made me hesitant to ingest any kind of brain). Note to travelers: some hawkers will attempt to charge you above the posted price if you're sharing with others. Even though they're giving you the same amount of food. If they try to spring that on you when they bring you your plate, stick to your guns and they won't pursue it for too long.



Rojak: salad of fruit, vegetables and dough fritters in a seriously rich sauce with peanuts on top.

Not pictured: carrot cake - no cream cheese icing in sight. It's a savoury dish made from steamed white radishes fried with garlic and eggs, served either black (with sweet soy sauce) or white. You can get it with chili sauce if you're into it (I am). Greasy. Delicious.

You can get any kind of mock meat imaginable, and they really go all-out with it. I had mock fish yesterday and it actually had fake skin on it. I've seen people order mock chicken and never even notice that they weren't eating flesh. It's really impressive.

Mostly, though, I've been going to "mixed vegetable rice" stalls where you can choose your vegetable or meat dishes and get them with a serving of rice. They're usually very cheap, generally less oily than the more elaborate dishes, and a valuable source of green stuff. Now, if I can get some brown rice I'll be all set.