Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Bak Kut Teh


I think I got the spelling right!

Two of the EAs at the place I interned at decided to take me to a farewell lunch (very sweet of them) and asked me what I have and what I have not tried - or what I like and maybe don't like. I'm not sure if I made a mistake or not, but I said - I'm pretty much open to anything... except beef & octopus (at which point one of my coworkers who was in the elevator when I was posed this question responded with: "octopus? that sounds like a very specific experience has scarred you..." <no comment ;)>)

SO back to the experience... we get out of the elevator and cab it to an area near the riverwalk. I can already see the genuineness of the area from the expression of the cab driver when my coworkers gave him directions. I was ready.

Ready like chopsticks... or chilies in soy sauce...


And so started a very intriguing dining experience - Not so "difficult" as in gizzards or odd edibles or any of that - but somehow the amount of available soup & meat & veggies - something about that. The taste, the setup. Something felt very different from any other place.

OH so what we did eat:
pork. more pork. veggies. fried-dough. rice. more pork.

And as much as I like pork, I've never actually eaten that much pork in any one meal in my life. And it was good - the meat was tender & soft & slid right off the bones. There were massive (whole) pieces of garlic in the soup which was probably the highlight of the soup and the flavors were amazing, but man on man was it a "heavy" meal!

I'm glad I tried this out - and it is quite traditional to say the very least. And my coworkers were sweet enough to pick up the tab. It was definitely a great experience and one I'm glad I tried with the people who knew what they were talking about... otherwise I know I probably could've made some fun mistakes.

That said - this event also made me want to start thinking more seriously about learning Mandarin, especially if I'm going to end up living in Asia (Singapore/HK?)

How is everyone?! My number is now: +65 8374 1423 by the way!


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