On a rest day during the trip, I finished this book, Wolf of the Plains which is a historical fiction about Chinggis Khan. It chronicled his hard childhood and events that led to the start of his conquests. The story was quite poorly weaved but there was a poignant description of how the Great Khan’s steed served as companion, sidekick and sustenance. You cringe but in the harsh conditions of Mongolia – and you have to realize that the conditions 900 years ago has got to be much worse than it is currently – the arrangement makes perfect sense.

Mongolians really like their meat. In a land where agriculture is almost impossible because of the extreme and dry weather, livestock provide nourishment for the people and a nomadic lifestyle seems to be the norm for many. Sheep and goats feature prominently on menus and cows, though reared, provide an alternative source for milk. Pick any random item on the menu and it’s likely to be mutton cooked in broth, steamed with dumplings, dunked in milk or all of the above. It’s a rich diet and I found myself weary of the meat by the third day.

On my return to Ulaanbaatar after the Terelj detour, I joined the folks from my hostel room for dinner. There was a good Mongolian BBQ place nearby and some of them raved about the cook’s theatrics.

Laugh at his hat and you’ll get the nasty end of his knife-sword

There is a buffet spread of raw meats and other assorted appetizers (ie. more meat). Pick the meat you want, sprinkle various seasonings, from garlic to basil to Special Mongolian Sauce, and pass it to the cook who’d stir-fry everything on a giant metal wok the size of a banquet table. I had some horse meat, beef and chicken but overdid the seasoning all three times so I didn’t exactly had a proper taste of horse. It quite possibly tastes like beef though because there wasn’t anything on my plate that stood out as being particularly game-y or unfamiliar.

Horses are our friends. Yummy yummy friends.

Venture into the countryside and you’ll find animals aplenty. Every other family has their own herd and the animals are left to roam free. It does make you feel a tinge of sadness for the animals back home that are kept in zoos with the premise that it is a pampered life they lead. As horses gallop the miles and miles of plains, you can almost feel the energy and freedom the environment brings. Despite compost being a prominent part of the landscape, there isn’t as much a stench in the air as one would expect. The grass must be fresh since the animals retain a luxurious (and clean-looking) coat of fur.

Free-roaming goats, sheep and the occasional bare-chested unicyclist roam the countryside.

It’s quite amazing how families can keep track of their livestock and how the goats and sheep would return home on their own but I guess with hardly a tree in sight on most of the land, it shouldn’t be too difficult to track down a stray. Herds visited our campgrounds on some of the days and the goats ran wild, chewing on our tents and our belongings. They were awfully tame and weren’t privy to the fact that a good number of us were omnivorous.

Our camp chef bought a sheep from a neighboring ger on one of the days and prepared it in a local style.

The sheep was first made to lie on its back and a small slit was cut in its underside. The murder was complete in mere minutes as he grabbed at its heart and squeezed it til it stopped pumping. The sheep made gagging sounds for a while and barely struggled. He then de-skinned it and piled up the wool in a carton, to be sold for garment at a later date no doubt, and set off to clear out the insides. The meat is chopped and blood is mixed with flour and some spices to be made into sausages using cleaned-out intestines. Everything was next thrown into a giant milk barrel with some stones, cabbage, spices and water and pressure-cooked over a fire. The sheep’s head was thrown into the fire for good measure just to show it who’s boss.

The stones were delicious.

At the end of the night, the Mongolian crew gathered with us for a bonfire and we sang songs and danced around under the stars.

We woke up the next day to the most spectacular wind ever, rivalling Wellington’s but that’s another story for another day.

I’ve been making banoffee for dessert these days and it’s apparently pretty good because bananas and toffee is ALWAYS ALWAYS good. I don’t really like pies so this is a sludgier version. At the bottom is a biscuit base, followed by a layer of dulce de leche, then bananas and finally cream with a dusting of cocoa.

Artery-clogging goodness.

Daiso doesn’t sell any of those minimalist white cups unfortunately so I got these instead. I don’t really know what’s really in chawanmushi since I’ve never been bothered to look for a recipe but this looks and tastes pretty similar to the better ones out there so I’m concluding hence that a pretty container is an essential part of your recipe.

I think I can use these cups for creme brulee…

I used lemon juice to curd the mixture which meant the resulting cheese bore more than a slight hint of citrus. This time, I used twice the amount of juice than called for and the mixture clumped up way better. The yield was almost twice as much as on my first attempt and the cheese is firmer too.

Because cheese cloth isn’t common around these parts, I used a coffee sock instead. I added some dill for flavor because I found some fresh dill at the supermarket and I’ve never seen fresh dill before.

This really reminds me of egg mayonnaise. I like how it has a lumpy texture and yet isn’t wet enough to stick to the bowl. If you’re wondering about the crazy blur in the photos, I’m using my Lensbaby and am obviously quite inapt at handling it. I’d get better I hope.

I really like these Hong Kong cafes that have been popping up all around town. In particular, I like this chain’s version of the french toast, made with a crazily thick slab of soft bread and doused with honey (It’s probably sugar syrup but still).

I should post more pictures of food. I really like feeding my face.

We went there after lunch and got…

A $5 bowl of fish soup.

This looks less appetizing than it is. We got a serving each of wanton mee and there was definitely over 10 wantons in that bowl of soup which incidentally is the same size as the plate (perspective fail). All this for… $3.

And back to the program.

Here’s a family from China who was walking behind us. Mom tells her kids that she can unicycle so I turned around and said she can have a go.

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There was a jogging trail at Manukan Island (That’s in Kota Kinabalu) that spans 1.5km (3km both ways). The route is paved except in some areas where landslides and fallen trees block the path so it was a rather leisurely ride. Come to think of it, the fallen trees and landslides might have occurred the night before, during the earthquake because the soil looked fresh and there weren’t any cobwebs on the branches yet.

This was the rare downhill on the trail although you can’t tell it’s downhill. I tried to dramatically grip my seat and hold out my hand for stability to illustrate that. Oh yeah, kids, remember, always wear a helmet. At the end of the trail, there’s this pavillion that tells us that we can gape at the spectacular sunset from there if we were to be there in 7 hours time. Such signs should really be at the start of the trail…

If you ask me, exercise makes you fat. We went for food after.

This is supposedly quite an established place. Our meal costs something like RM30 and consisted things that chinese people eat. Like liver and kidneys and assorted parts. Bloodlust is in our genes. I like the soup a lot. It’s more herbal than the versions we have in Singapore and I’m actually more impressed with the aforementioned assorted parts than with the ribs that they’re known for. The tea was quite weak though which sort of ruined the deal for me.

And because the serving was quite small, we went around the streets for more food.

We had fried bee hoon and mee turang at a random stall, the latter supposedly a Kinabalu favorite. Despite the similar color, they were actually as different as bee hoon and mee. The bee hoon was colored by tumeric powder and the mee is apparently some sort of egg noodle that’s very chewy. We also noticed while sitting there that all the stalls seem to use the SAME photos for their menu.

Hmm.

This is one of the draws of returning for Open Mic nights.It’s got this fruity, smooth flavor that doesn’t leave a bitter aftertaste .

Apparently the rules have changed since the last time I was there and performers get a free drink. So I bought a pint of this and got another free Carlsberg after and the latter tasted like sewer water. It didn’t mix well. I later found out that Kronenbourg’s owned by Carlsberg. The irony.

McDonald’s in Hong Kong sell Banana pies. Sweeter than I’d have liked. And speaking of tropical fruits, here’s an odd one, Coconut-flavored M&Ms. I thought they tasted like cough mixture but some people liked it. You know what they say about people who like cough mixture…

This is possibly one of the best no-frills snacks you can find in Macau. A hard roll (does this count as a bâtard?) with a thin slice of pork chop with a bit of bone at the side, as if to remind you that it isn’t processed meat you’re eating. It’s almost like someone figured out that if you can’t afford to have fresh vegetables in your sandwiches and sell them at a reasonable price, WHY BOTHER HAVING ANY. Good move.