Eat. Pray. Love. Read. Swim.

Eat.

EHJ- My most-reluctant-to-try-something-new

selected: oatmeal with cane sugar,

bacon, soft-pretzel (bretzilin),
and yes, that is popcorn chicken for breakfast!

Ever adventurous, MGJ

Sipping on Coconut Milk

After she consumed the milk,
they cracked it open for her to eat the meat inside

My lived-in-Asia-her-whole-life-baby

sampled: Korean kim bob (seaweed rolls), prosciutto and parma ham,

Edam and blue cheese, Indian paratha,
and a Munich sausage with a side of whole grain mustard,
washed down with coconut milk,
and followed up with hunks of juicy watermelon.

(Can you guess which thing she didn't actually end up liking?)

Eat:: Breakfast

The morning buffet @ the Ritz-Carlton Sanya was possibly the most complex and satisfying way we've ever broken our daily fast.

It was and East meets West meets East again experience. Our plates were an interesting amalgamation of dishes from all over the world. And although some seem gastronomically juxtaposed, it was amazing to have such a dizzying array to choose from:

• Dim Sum and then some: We are not huge fans of this hit of Hong Kong, but there were some pretty savory morsels available in those never ending stacks of bamboo steamers.
• Korean favorites: kim chi and kim bob (yes spicy pickles and sushi rolls for breakfast!).
• The Curry station: Curries from India, Malaysia and Japan, with healthy chunks of oily panfried paratha and rice for sides.
• Stir Fries and Hot-pots: While Westerns opt for a sweeter morning meal, Asians tend to go for savory. Full veg and fish dishes, fried noodles and fried rice, and the steaming hot-pot creations where you submit to the sous chef the fresh veggies you want to have blanched in boiling water, and indicate the level of spiciness your morning palate might require. (We mostly missed out on this area too, although Mr Johnson & MGJ made sure to get some Si Chuan spicy beans, and Bei Bei did stand in this line, loudly proclaiming her need for steamed broccoli at 7:30 in the morning!)
• Congee Corner: We have never gotten into this bit of Asian breakfast cuisine, but if we wanted to this would have been the place to start!
  
• Fresh Juices: as in watch-the-whole-fruit-become-juice-before-your-eyes, then watch as it's transfered into blown glass pitchers which are nestled in a bed of ice. Then you stand there trying to choose which one: watermelon, mango, apple, pineapple, grapefruit, or tomato. (Did I mention whole coconuts are also on the beverage list?)
• Cheese Plate: with wheels of brie, wedges of edam, chunks of camembert, and crumbles of a mild blue. Of course this was aligned with the cold-cut meats and smoked salmon and blended beautifully into the salad station
• Salad Station: It was in hard fact to tell where the imported protein items (cheese et. al) ended and the salad station started. And where do I start? -- probably with the Caprice salad - balls of buffalo mozzarella 'nuff said!
• Western Breakfast foods too: in addition to all the unique Asian items there were Western ones as well-- bacon and eggs (various styles), German sausages, British baked beans and broiled tomatoes, Austrian muesli, and a variety of fresh made yogurts, oatmeal with all the fixings, and cold breakfast cereals--- but really who could be bothered! There were some really fabulous bread choices, and pastries, and crepes, waffles and French toast. There was even honey dripping from a comb. These folks down right out did themselves!
• Fresh Fruits: After fusion plates of Western and Eastern breakfasts were consumed and tea and coffee cups drained, we made a true Chinese experience by ending our meal with fresh fruits. And again, the selection was neither minimal nor mundane. We were forced to decide between: bananas and mini bananas (plantains), apples and pineapples, watermelon, rambutans, lychees, longan, mangoes and mangosteens (I googled "mangosteens" it for you and this is what wise geek says:

The mangosteen grows on small evergreen trees in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and southern India. Some farmers are trying their luck in Hawaii and the Caribbean, but the fruit is known for being difficult to grow. It is said that Queen Victoria offered a sizable prize to anyone who could bring an edible mangosteen back to England, but no one was able. Mangosteens are currently not available in the United States because the rind can carry pests that would threaten other crops.

Eat:: Lunch Not surprisingly, we opted not to. At least not Mr. Johnson or I. We diligently ordered mini-cheese burgers for the kiddos a little after Noon. Then, just as we saw the trays with the stainless domes arriving, we'd call them out of the water for some sustenance, a new coat of sun screen, and then they'd slip back into the water like little fishes!

Eat:: Dinner

Our dinner was different each night. Thai take out from a neighboring hotel. Dining in on pizza from the wood-fired oven @ the on-sight Italian eatery. Dining alfresco on the beach to the sound of gently splashing waves of the South China sea, and the crooning sounds of two Philippine balladeers. And, plain old room service.

Eat. Pray. Love. Read. Swim. Sleep.

Eat. Pray. Love. Read. Swim. Sleep.

That's pretty much all we did on our recent holiday.

Which is a good thing, because when we came home we hit-the-ground-running.

We are:

• full-on on the fourth day of book week @ school (character day)
• knee-deep in apartment hunting (saw six places yesterday)
• beginning the final countdown before saying some really hard goodbyes to some really great friends (sniff)