Aug 2023
8/4/23
Welcome to August!
First of all, It was raining when I got up the other morning and I needed to venture out into the streets. While out, there was a break in the rain and on the off-chance that folks were not at the gym working out, I stopped by with camera in hand. Yeah! people were not there at 6 a.m… so I snapped a few photos…and to think we spend huge dollars on fancy weight machines to put into expensive membership-driven gyms. So…I finally got pictures of gym equipment posted here.
It is forecast to rain all day today, so I'm sitting at one of my local coffee shops “blogging”. There have been two recent typhoons (Luzon and Docsuri) that have slammed into Taiwan and Hong Kong and they have been affecting our weather here (somehow) and we've been having rain more than typical, even though it is the rainy season in Hanoi. Rain in Hanoi generally means that once it stops raining, it's muggier and hotter than it was before it rained…oh well.
So far it has been raining as per the forecast. I mention this as my department chair at TXSTATE is fond of reminding me that weather forecasts are seldom accurate. Today must be that one time they are.
Moving along…
Moving along…
I've had a request to add more food pictures. So… above is a picture of some duck for you to feast your eyes upon (arrgh, arrgh).
Although it's hard to tell from the picture, this is the entire duck including the head and feet. On the left side of the plate the piece pointing upward to about 10:00 is one of the feet (web and all) and the next piece up from that, is part of the head.
I'm not sure what the orange glaze is made out of. I know it's not orange, and not curry, and I don't think it is turmeric. Whatever it is, it's phenomenally delicious and this slow-roasted duck is made fresh every day. The owner gets up at the crack of dawn and places 24 ducks onto hooks around an automated rotisserie; this is the end product served each night. Notice how not only is the duck chopped up with the bones intact, but the angle of the slices make a pleasing presentation. According to all the food shows on the web and television, presentation seems to be important and somehow makes the food taste better?…probably all smoke and mirrors, or in this case, smoke and glaze.
This plate is part of a meal as described on the next page