I’ll avoid any details of planning or site seeing, but feel free to comment or contact me if you’d like to hear more! Do have a browse through the rest of my Flickr photos.

So here goes:

The Background
Officially, my friend Nisha got married in October 2011, but in January this year she had another wedding: in India. With my close friend, I spent four days at the wedding, which included non-wedding activities and just hanging out in the city that the groom is from: Vidyanagar. My friend and I also spent another 6 days traveling in the region: Mumbai, Rajasthan (Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaipur), Agra, and Delhi.

The Wedding
Gujarat is a dry state: no alcohol. But this did not stop any festivities.

Noise. Colors. Aromas. Traditions. Music. And just plain happiness. When I think about the 3 days of wedding activities, my senses are filled: visually, auditory, physically. I can’t get over the enthusiasm of dancing down the street. The marching band playing in front leads the way. We stop traffic. The women’s saris are of course nothing but stunning and colorful. We dance the traditional circle dance, which at first I have trouble picking up: Left foot crossover right foot, back step, front step, right foot to the right, swing your arms in the same motion, clap, and repeat. Kicking up dust along the way, everyone is in-sync. There’s a feeling of rhythmic soothing, almost trance-like with the motions. Other traditions included religious sermons, a fire ceremony, and a water-pot carrying ceremony, where in the old villages the bride would carry water from her home to the groom’s home on her head. Without the water spilling, this would prove her strength and ability to care for the future of the family. Nisha had it easy in comparison. The decorated pots are much smaller then the traditional, and only a representation of olden days. Though, I hear it was still quite difficult! (The girls kept switching hands to hold the pot on their heads.)

I felt so welcomed around Nisha’s family, friends, and extended relatives. The aunties would ensure that my friend and I (being the only two Chinese girls) were included in the festivities and well taken care of. I recall Nisha telling me about her mom’s concern about finding my friend and I at the airport. Nisha’s response was, “don’t worry mom, they will be the only two Chinese girls arriving at Baroda airport!”

The Food
Nothing short of delicious. Flavorful. Colorful. Aromatic. Buttery. And yet again: sensory-filling.

Is it silly (or dumb) to say? Well, I don’t care. I’ll say it anyways. I had the best Indian food I’d every had when I was in India! Maybe it was the ghee (butter). Actually, very likely it was the ghee, but that just made it ‘oh so good’. The flavor of the spices was intoxicating, and we couldn’t get enough. Eating with our hands, I’m sure, enhanced the experience and connection to our food. In fact, I enjoyed that experience and trying to improve my ability to scoop with my fingers. In my plan for a healthy start to the new year of 2012, I probably ate more and gained more weight in India than I had in a very long time. Haha. Good thing it was still only January. And we tried to convince ourselves that it was healthy food because it was mostly vegetarian. With the amount of food we ate, it’s surprising we didn’t get sick!

It’s amazing that just a little masala (aka spice) can transform a dish. After a week of traveling, my travel-buddy and I realized that we could sniff out ‘good’ versus ‘touristy’ Indian food. When we were convinced by our tour-guide to visit a certain restaurant, as soon as we tasted the food, something about it was just ‘off’. Perhaps not enough spices, or a lesser quality of ingredients? Nonetheless, we wanted the authenticity we had while we were eating in Gujarat: home cooked meals

There is one thing that I do crave from India (besides the masala-tea), now that I’m back in Hong Kong. Indo-Chinese food. We all know that food is often changed to accommodate local pallets and Chinese food, of course, would be the prime example. This is no exception in India. Spice it up. Add some sugar and chilies. It is delicious. I couldn’t have it every day, but my taste buds were having new experiences in food and flavors. I want to try it again!

Next up on the highlight of food is pani-puri. This street food snack (which we dared not try on the actual street) was so delightful and fun to eat! Instead we went to a restaurant called Mirch Masala, which looked very much like the chain restaurant, Chili’s in the US. It’s a bit of a process (an enjoyable one!) to eat these little, fried, stuffed puff-balls. The puffs came to the table half-filled with peas and potato and then you fill the rest of the puff with a soup broth that had a fresh cilantro flavor. Then pop the whole thing in your mouth before the little crispy ball gets soggy. Broth fills your mouth, mixing the textures and flavors that are just right.

The Impressions Beyond Food
In no particular order, this is part of the email I continue to reference to jog my memory. Perhaps each topic deserves a post of its own (when I get to it..). For now, I’ll share this list:

1. Music and Religion. Both have such a big influence…
2. Cities don’t match my perception of ‘cities’.
3. English is more widely spoken than I expected. (Nature of where we traveled?)
4. Women in saris, I didn’t expect this on an everyday/normal basis.
5. Infrastructure: We had multiple occasions of the electricity cutting out, once in a hotel and a few times at my friend’s house.
6. Lots of social enterprises and organizations trying to empower the rural communities. And more interestingly, this didn’t seem to be acknowledged by those ‘more privileged’… to do w/ the caste system?

I’d love to go back again one day – I’m positive that just like China, it takes more than a lifetime to learn the history and geography and regional differences. In fact, I saw a number parallels to China in terms of culture: family importance, development of economy, and my impression of rural villages are rather similar in the two countries.

Have you been to India? Another area of the country? What did you think?

I returned to HK yesterday from another trip to Xining, China… and looking forward to a pizza lunch in Central. It’s been a while since I’ve had American food (though it seems that’s all I write about)! This is just a quick update to share what I’ve been writing for VeggieWala.

Check out a few things I’ve been trying in HK, since the last visit to the World Peace Cafe:

Delicious selections of wonderfully thin crust, brick oven pizzas at Black Sheep Pizza, 330 Shek O Village (Shek O Road).

How could you be in HK and not be drinking bubble tea??? Although, I know this tea is actually from Taiwan…

And of course, there’s always a brunch craving! I highly recommend Eggs Sardou (a veggie eggs benedict) at The Flying Pan.

我今天从青海西宁回香港。。这张博客让你知道我还帮Veggiewala写一些关于吃素的食品。在香港吃的太好了！

I recently took another trip to Hong Kong and encountered a pleasant and tranquil surprise. In the middle of one of the world’s most international financial capitals and densely populated cities is The World Peace Cafe in Hong Kong.

There are several set menu options available, mixing and combining the choice of soup, appetizer, entree, and a drink or smoothie. I happily decided on humus, the vegetable sandwich, and tea. The humus was chunky, thick, and flavorful with perfectly warmed sesame pita and some spices as garnish. The open-face vegetable sandwich came with a small side of fries, cous-cous, and cabbage; however, the most memorable was not the perfectly grilled veggies, but the generously spread pesto that coated the bread. For HK$88, I couldn’t even finish my sandwich after the humus!

If you find yourself in Hong Kong, either as a destination or as a travel hub, make some time to enjoy this cafe and contribute a small part for world peace!

Located at 21-23 Tai Wong Street East, Wan Chai, HK

我最近在VeggieWala翻译的post：

我最近也去香港了，吃惊的碰到挺舒服和安静的地方。在香港，世界上一个最多人口和国际金融的城市是天下太平咖啡馆。对我情趣，挺好的朋友们带我到天下太平咖啡馆。着家不是一家普通的咖啡馆，他们只服务器质性素菜，新鲜果汁，和草本茶。在咖啡馆里也有小商店卖书和健康食品。我们吃午餐的时候非常多顾客，他们要拿多一些桌子和椅子让人座，人比较小的时候，椅子和桌子放下。

菜单有不同的套菜，可以配汤，小菜，菜和饮料或冰沙。我开心的点鹰嘴豆泥，素菜三明治，喝茶。跟住他们的浓粘稠香香的鹰嘴豆泥是刚刚暖的芝麻面包。套我的素菜三明治是一些薯条，米饭，和圆白菜。虽然菜很好吃，最值得是在三明治面包上的香蒜酱。我套菜附了港币88块，连我三明治吃不光。

如果你在香港要么旅行要么停过，应该用时间试试尝尝天下太平咖啡馆，太平捐班。
地址：香港灣仔大王東街21-23號地下

Chinese cuisine is always said to be particularly difficult to navigate as a veggie foodie. I’m not personally a vegetarian; however, I certainly appreciate the dietary, health, and moral factors, and sympathize with the troubles of eating as a vegetarian.

We ordered a variety of dishes, including imitation meat dishes, which are surprisingly meat-like in both taste and appearance. Because these mock meats are made of wheat gluten, soy, or tofu it easily absorbs mock meat flavors and provides a very unfamiliar texture. There were also sprinklings of mock meat in the recommended sticky rice ball. Delicious!

Of course, there’s no need to pretend to eat meat. There are more than plenty of pure veggie options that include silky tofu, and a plethora of bean based options that are beautifully presented. It’s surprising how delicately tasty the dishes were without any onion related foods used in the recipes. In addition to the spewingly beautiful presentations, the food was fresh and flavorful. Though, the Chinese would call the 100 RMB ($15) per person meal expensive. You come and judge; I say it’s worth it!

Lotus in Moonlight （荷塘月色）
Dongzhimen (东直门) Location
12 Liufang Nanli, Chaoyang District
朝阳区柳芳南里12号楼

他们说吃素菜的人吃中国菜比叫难。虽然我不是吃素的，但我明白也领略吃素的健康利诱和同情在中国吃素的是很难。佛教菜不只在中国可以吃， 但当然在中国佛教徒菜也有。我知道在亚洲有不同的佛教信念，所以不同的信念很可能有不同的吃法特别关于肉的。佛教信念不能对动物残酷，但有时候也吃肉。在中国，佛教徒菜都是素菜。

在北京有很多不同的素菜餐厅，一家比较有名的是《荷塘月色》。地址不太容易找到，但应该找找，他们氛围很好也在比较当地的小区。所有的商店都是面向当地人。那么，近去餐厅的时候，不是我想象一样，餐厅里大部分用木的大方优雅的中国设计。音乐也舒服安静。

我们点了多菜，也有假肉。假肉用豆腐或麦面筋来作的因为这些配料容易浸染肉的味道，但因为用这样的配料口感也不面熟有点儿不习惯也奇怪。如果你喜欢吃口感的话因该试试，如果不是的话也应该尝尝假肉的味道。在米饭包里也有假肉，非常好吃。

当然不一定要吃假肉， 有挺多的素菜拣选比如豆腐，土豆，豆子都很有吃也很好看。吃惊没用洋葱家的菜来做饭，但也有很好的味道。加上很好看菜也好吃。肃然中国人可能觉得每个人一百块的饭有点儿贵，还应该试试尝尝！

Have you ever had a ‘date cake’? If not, it’s definitely worth the long Beijing commute to try.

The little shop on the north side of Chengfu Lu, about 5 minutes walk directly west of the Wudaokou subway stop is called 糟糕王 (Zao Gao Wang), which translates literally to “Date Cake King.” That it is exactly what this shop is: the King of Date Cakes. With the sign stating “买一斤送半斤.” 斤 (jin) is the Chinese measure for .5kg. The sign says “buy .5kg and get .25kg free.” .5kg is currently 8.8RMB. That’s right $1.30 for fresh baked, moist, and delicious date cakes! My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

You’re probably thinking, “What could be so special about $1.30 worth of cake?” Not to mention, it’s made of dates. Well first, it’s not the typical westerners idea of a sweet birthday cake. It’s more like a brown-sugar angel cake. It’s not super sweet, but instead there’s just a hint of honey-like sweetness or maybe it’s the brown-sugar. They use real dates in their product; I’ve encountered a seed or pit more than once baked into the cake. I can’t say I’m a date fan, but the cake is just cooked perfectly and it’s addicting.

Check out the full, original post at Veggiewala.

我朋友告诉我一家小商店在五道口，糟糕王。他在城府路的北边，从五道口地铁站走路五分钟就到了。值得来五道口怎么远常常糟糕王的早高。不仅挺好吃，也不贵，在他招牌说“买艺斤送半斤”每斤8.8人民币。好吃也便宜，太好了！在想这家商店的糟糕的时候我染指垂涎。

这家家庭的小商店只做糟糕的。她们有两个烤炉不停的做蛋糕，不管什么时候这家商店会排队。虽然我平时不太喜欢糟，但们用真正的糟来做蛋糕挺好吃的；有时候蛋糕里会有糟的种子。有一点儿甜但不象西方的甜品或蛋糕。太瘾头了。哈哈。

对了， 他们每天十一点开店。常会见到婆婆卖两大袋子新鲜糟糕！我推荐给你，早点儿去买最好，完的时候也下班的时候一定会排队。

Guess what?! You have no idea how exciting this is: you can find freshly made, artisinal cheese in Beijing! That’s right…fresh. And homemade. Once I heard about the Cheese Maker of Beijing, “Le Formargerie de Peking” or 北京布乐奶酪坊 earlier this year, I was dying to check it out. About a 15 min walk from the HuiLongGuan 回龙观 subway line 13 is the small Le Formargerie de Peking shop.

The founder of Le Formargerie de Peking, Mr. Liu Yang, is a native Chinese trained in France to learn the high quality and art of cheese making:

In order to make artisan cheese with the highest quality, LFP imported its equipment and cultures from France and follows the standard operational procedures in traditional French cheese making. The mission of LFP is “a taste of France away from France”. In additional, Mr. Liu would like to expose the Chinese palates to the authentic taste of French artisan cheese.

For the time being, LFP offers a variety of soft cheese (similar to camembert), ricotta, mozzarella, whey cheese, etc. Future products to be launched include blue cheese. LFP’s products got good reviews at various tasting parties and are loved by its customers.

Luckily, I’m living just a few subway stops from the shop location, but for a visitor or the typical ex-pat, HuiLongGuan is a bit of a hike. Check out the website for delivery in Beijing!

The advantage of going there in person is being able to try 10 types of the homemade cheeses on stock. Don’t expect any extravagant shop set up though; it’s quite minimal. And the location is still very local. The shopkeepers pulled out folding chairs and a table for us when we asked for a tasting. The cheeses were straight from the fridge and after buying 3 blocks to take home, the tastes (of course) were much stronger and different at room temperature than straight from the fridge at the shop. I must say that the trial portions were generous! Amongst the variety of soft and semi-soft cheeses on site, one of my favorites was the harder, medium flavored Tomme cheese.

All very, very reasonably priced for excellent cheese, averaging 40RMB/ 200g. Check the website for more detailed information and hours of operation. There are also tasting/party platters available Who would have thought, you could satisfy your cheese cravings in Beijing!? Now, if they had a wine bar next door, it would be heaven…

Originally posted at Veggiewala.

太高兴了！你猜猜为什么呢。北京有法式手工奶酪！真的很新鲜。 年初我听说有一家北京布乐奶酪坊，这时候已经很想去看看了。从回笼观十三号线地铁站走路十五分钟就到这小家北京布乐奶酪坊。

店家的刘阳先生是一位中国人从法国学手做的奶酪：

北京布乐奶酪坊坐落于北京回龙观社区，它按照法国奶酪坊的设计标准建造，并使用法国进口的设备及发酵霉菌，承袭法国传统手工制作奶酪的方法，生产符合国际卫生标准的传统法式奶酪，奶酪坊建立者刘阳先生学成于法国专业的奶酪制作学校，他的布乐奶酪坊所追求的目标是—–让旅居中国的西方人吃到家乡的奶酪 ; 让国人认识真正的法国纯手工奶酪的味道和品质。

北京布乐奶酪坊已经具备一定生产规模，并推出一系列产品以满足喜爱法式奶酪的美食家们的需要。目前它的产品有：北京灰（软质干酪，类似CAMEMBERT）,乳清奶酪，白奶酪，并将于不久的将来重新推出 蓝纹奶酪。

恰好我在五道口住离开回龙观不园，只是几个地铁站。但对普通的外国人住在北京可能有点儿远。看看它们的网站可以送产品！

也有好处去商店。可以尝尝十种不同的奶酪在商店里做的。不想象商店回很豪华因为商店极小在很当地的地方。尝尝奶酪得时后坐商开小桌子让我们坐坐。让我们长奶酪的时候，他们从冰箱拿去奶酪。我们买了三种奶酪带回家但回家的时候知道从商店里尝的味道不一样，因为回家以后奶酪已经室温了所以味道比从冰箱拿出重点儿。值得说在商店里他们让我们尝的很多！有怎么多种奶酪我最喜欢的十中味儿的多姆奶酪 (Tomme)。

全的奶酪都不贵，平均40元没200克。看看他们的网站能找到信息细节和营业时间。北京布乐奶酪坊也有大奶酪拼盘让多人尝多种的奶酪。谁回想象我可以在北京能满足奶酪欲望？如果他的邻居十家葡萄酒店会在天堂了！

原本在Veggiewala写的。

It’s been a while since I posted! Apologies! And this one is going to be short… just a few photos that I’ve taken in the past couple months that I quite like

抱歉我最近没写。。这个post也很短，只让你看看我这几个月拍的几张照片儿。我相当喜欢！

Tianjin Snacks：天津小吃

Hutong Bikes near Lama Temple：胡同自行车在雍和宫附近

I previously wrote a small blurb on Beijing’s JianBing (煎饼), but there’s more to it! I’m happy to be working with VeggieWala, a great resource for you vegetarians out there, from recipes to restaurant reviews. With my love for food (although not always the vegetarian kind), I hope I can provide some useful and insightful information here from Beijing. Here’s a snip-it of my first post for VeggieWala, and head over there to read the whole post about “The Chinese Crepe”

One of Beijing’s famous street foods is the JianBing (煎饼). Jean who? No, no, JianBing. Many, myself included, consider it a Chinese crepe. In the dictionary it translates to a Chinese pancake and it literally translates into fried, round-flat cake. So, there can be many English interpretations, and don’t get the JianBing confused with the scallion pancake that you find at Dim Sum or other Chinese restaurants. Rest assured that all Beijingers will know what a JianBing is. And on your next visit to Beijing, you can find this wonderful, savory, vegetarian-friendly delight all over the city in street food stalls or grocery stores small and large. Originating in Tianjin, just 117km (72miles) southeast of Beijing, the JianBing is the perfect breakfast food, but it’s also an inexpensive snack and even perfect grub as you crawl out of the bar at 5am.

Where can you enjoy this vegetarian-friendly treat? You’ll most certainly find vendors next to Beijing subway stops, in permanent street stalls (like the one pictured) or moving vendors, as you would typically imagine. Often the local grocery store also sells them. I encourage you to explore the street vendors of Beijing (and China) to find who you think makes the perfect JianBing!

我以前写过比较短的post关于北京煎饼，但还有很多没说！我刚刚开始从北京帮VeggieWala，美国一个吃素的blog。它真有意思告诉这么做菜啊，在什么地方吃啊，也吃素的还可以吃什么啦。虽然我不是常吃素的，但我真很高兴兴奋我的食品爱好能从北京帮它写一点关于在北京吃素的能吃什么。看看我第一个post在VeggieWala吧！