Street cart

In Solo, Java, Indonesia.

Street sweets

Foolishly, I never tried whatever this is.

In Yogya, Indonesia.

Sidling sideways

Past some tiny jewel coloured crabs at a street marketstall on Yaowarat Road, Bangkok Chinatown.

Patongkoh

From China to Malaysia, Vietnam to Burma, these sticks of fried dough are sold for breakfast.

These ones are being made fresh in Laos, and were sold plain (slightly salty) or coated in sugar. They're deep-fried over a fire in a cart, then cooled in a conical woven basket the same shape as a sticky rice steamer before being dispensed to hungry customers.

Later, in Chiang Mai, I breakfasted on the same snack, served with hot sweet soy milk. It's especially delicious dipped right in the hot liquid, if a rather rich way to break a fast.

The dough sticks are yu tiao in Mandarin, and you can buy them in Chinese and Viet groceries all over Canada (though not usually as freshly made). In Laos, they're called pah thawng ko (or so wikipedia tells me) and in Thailand, patongkoh. But pointing and smiling works fine.

There, he dreamt I was an architect...

I was supposed to be in Canada tonight but a "broken airplane" grounded me here, so I took the chance for a wee saunter to the East Village with a few of the other marsupials. It's unseasonably warm today - over 20C!! - and it was still pleasant and balmy by nighttime. We did a tour of 1st, 2nd and 3rd aves, visiting the lovely Otafuku, purveyor of takoyaki, and trying our new favourite again - Caracas, the areparía on 7th st. between 1st Av and Avenue A.

As on my first visit, the tiny space was crowded and warm, but we managed to snag the same corner table and from that cosy nook devour light and delicious treats. An arepa, for those who haven't yet experienced its delights, is a griddle-fried corn flatbread stuffed with delightful treats - most classically cheese. But the possibilities are endless. On the first visit I shared a plain white-cheese Paisa; and a Playera, a fabulous combination of fish, tomato, herbs and a bit of cheese into a moist and toothsome morsel vanishing far too fast. This time I tried la del Gato, which had guayanés cheese, fried plantains, and avocado slices. And it was delicious! Even more delicious was a sauce on the table which I tried to parse into its component parts. For now I'm guessing olive oil & vinegar (ciderish?), mustard, thyme/oregano, chile powder, and passionfruit juice... With all this I had a fantastic refresco of papaya, not too strong or sweet but with real pieces of fruit gently suspended in it, and a hit of citrus. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm....

But the funniest thing that happened was, after we peered into the cute little ramen place we found recently on 3rd Av, and then sauntered bravely on, I heard a man's voice persistently calling, "Excuse me! Excuse me!" Confident that I hadn't dropped anything, and tired of street harassment, I carried on undaunted. But the unstoppable man persisted, finally running up and actually grabbing my arm to get my attention.

"Excuse me," he said, holding my arm just above the elbow. "Are you an architect?"

"No," I replied flatly. And he dropped my arm and faded away, back to the bar patio from whence he had so urgently sought me. We marched on, wondering. Did he mistake me for someone famous, whose name he couldn't quite remember? Did he urgently need a consultation on his bathroom fixtures? Did he and his tablemate bet each other they could pick an architect at 40 paces? I fear I shall never know.

And we walked into the night.