I have an innate hatred of supermarkets. The faster I can get in and out of them, the better. But the big supermarket near me in Nanjing takes the cake with the time and motion issues. Walking down the street you pass what were the… Read more
All posts tagged “Travel”
Cheap Eats Nanjing 19 – vegetarian at the Jiming Temple
The Jiming temple is our neighbour at NIGPAS ( the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology). I can see them out my office window. According to Wikipedia, the temple was first built in 557, then what we have today was “initially” constructed in 1387, then… Read more
Cheap Eats Nanjing 17 – Green tea and red bean ice-cream at Bellagio’s
The green tea and red bean ice-cream (see featured image) served by Bellagio’s became an absolute favourite of mine whenever I was passing through Beijing, going to and from Mongolia. Bellagio’s is a restaurant chain and there were two outlets I would go to there. When… Read more
Cheap Eats Nanjing 16 – Korean Leek Cake
Korean Leek Cake – yum! Never heard of it before, but it tastes as good as it looks (see featured image). This is a Korean restaurant that’s on the edge of locally cheap, but well worth a visit. The Korean leek cake is sort of a… Read more
Cheap Eats Nanjing 15 – even better chicken curry and rice
I thought I was on to a pretty good Nanjing food deal at the place where I had a chicken curry and rice, and the chick who cooked would sneak iPhone shots of me. But if I can ignore the ego-boost and focus on the price, this… Read more
Mongolia – crap, fire and herbal-tea
I once had a student come to me for help looking at sheep crap. It took the mystery out of what this stuff actually is. Under the microscope it’s quite a treasure-trove of little bits of plant leaf. From the various patterns you can tell… Read more
Cheap Eats Nanjing 14 – All You Can Eat – and Drink!
Not really one of the cheapest – by local standards, but hear me out….. This place is called Jinfushan, it’s an all you can eat buffet for 60 RMB (US$ 9.20). There’s fruits, fresh fruit juice, vegetables, fries, crabs, salads, dumplings, desserts, ice cream. But… Read more
New Zealand: The Jurassic fossil forest at Curio Bay
If you make your way down to almost the bottom of New Zealand’s South Island, you can walk among the stumps of a petrified Jurassic forest (that’s about 170 million years old). It’s a gem of New Zealand’s fossil plant history, and because of its complete preservation… Read more
The Honey Trees of Kalimantan
I was sitting in a ger in Mongolia when I put up my hand to go to Indonesia. My ulterior motive was to get a chance to get into the Indonesian rainforests. Back in 1988 I had read Eric Hansen’s book “Stranger in the forest:… Read more
Turkey/Armenia: Ani – capital on the wrong side of a border
I’ve seen two cities that look like they were comprehensively destroyed. I don’t mean just ruins, but places where someone seems to have made a comprehensive, and successful attempt to wipe the place out. Warsaw may come to mind – it was practically obliterated in the… Read more