Gallimaufry#52

 Just a gallimaufry of photos 📷

FROM THE TRAVEL ARCHIVES

Galeries Lafayette, Paris 2019

Jaya Plum (Syzygium cumini)

Japanese dinner

Gyoza

Hakata chashu rice

Fried rice with chashu and ebiko

Ramen

When eating ramen, it's totally cool to slurp away!

Loud slurping may be rude in western cultures, but in Japan it is considered rude not to slurp!

According to Ippudo, a famous ramen chain in Japan, the key to enjoying ramen is sound. 

"One should slurp the noodles, creating the distinct noise the Japanese describe as zuzutto, which signifies maximum enjoyment of the Ramen, because it is created by simultaneously consuming the noodles and the soup, which allows the complexity of the flavors to spread throughout the mouth, eventually leading to the ultimate experience of Nodogoshi ... the silky sensation of food slipping through one's throat. But do be careful with the hot soup ..." 🍜

 

TIFFIN CARRIERS

Tiffin carriers or dabbas are round, metal, tiered containers used as lunch boxes in Asia. The tiffin culture was adopted by the British from India and brought to Malaya in the mid 1800s.

The colorful tiffins displayed in this restaurant are vintage collectibles that were once used by the *Peranakans. Decorated in enamel paint, these were used to carry food from the kitchen to the workplace.

*Peranakan  — A sub-ethnic community of Malay-Chinese ancestry.

FUN FACT

In the Indian city of Mumbai, there is a complex and efficient delivery system that regularly delivers hot lunches packed in dabbas to city office workers from their suburban homes or from caterers. The empty dabbas are then returned to the homes/caterers on the same day. It uses delivery workers known as dabbawalas whose only modes of transport are trains and bicycles.

It is claimed that dabbawalas make fewer than one mistake in every six million deliveries.

With a population of over 18 million people in Mumbai, nearly 200,000 homemade lunches are delivered by dabbawalas daily. Even amid the chaos, they have an accuracy of 99.9% in their deliveries!

Cissus roots

Cascading roots in a shopping mall

Nature's curtains

Its incredibly long and fast-growing aerial roots, if left undisturbed, can reach more than 10 m in length and grow so densely that they literally form a curtain of roots, hanging from the tree it grows on. It is also known as Millionaire vine, Princess vine, Tropical Grape vine, etc.