Chinese Food in Kuala Lumpur

We found a wonderful Chinese restaurant inside the night market just off the upstair food court, "Old China", full of locals. Food was great (chicken fried noodles, tofu in a sweet and sour sauce, and sweet eggplants) ### Ho scoperto un piccolo ristorante Cinese nel mercato notturno, al piano superiore, chiamato "old China". Il cibo e' veramente molto buono.

Hotels In Kuala Lumpur

Well, I was also able to enjoy a suite at the Shangri-Lah hotel in Kuala Lumpur ### Mi sono potuto godere anche una suite allo Shangri-Lah a Kuala Lumpur.

Hotel Rooms in Bangkok / Stanze d'albergo a Bangkok

Well, it never hurts to get upgraded thanks to the membership level in hotels!!! In Bangkok at the Conrad I got upgraded ... twice. First to a club level room, then to a mini-suite. Wouldn't mind my home having such a bath. Note the glass wall dividing the bath from the room in the second room I got.

### Beh, e' certamente piacevole poter ricevere una stanza di categoria superiore a quella prenotata grazie al livello di fedelta' con le varie catene d'albergo. E mi e' capitato due volte nello stesso albergo, prima con una stanza di categoria superiore e poin con una suite.Da notare la parete di vetro tra bagno e camera nella seconda stanza.

Japanese Octopus Balls and Squid Balls #### Frittelle giapponesi di polipo e di calamaro

Japanese octopus balls (takoyaki, Osaka's beloved octopus balls) are a fast food very popular with Japanese students. They even have museums dedicated to them!!!!

HOWEVER ... Ok, here we go. Pay careful attention. Octopus balls consist of a tasty batter made either with potatoes or some other roots, with a small piece of octopus n the center, then cooked in special muffin-tin type pans, and with a sauce and squirted with mayonnaise. These are rather good. You can find a recipe for them here: http://recipes.chef2chef.net/recipe-archive/30/164645.shtml. Ah, they are great with beer, but Japanese also have a special type of soda for them (http://www.tokyomango.com/tokyo_mango/2007/05/octopus_ball_so.html). The picture shows takoyaki.
Then, squid balls is what I call death on a stick. Sorry, I don't know their name in Japanese. From outside they look about the same, but the squid balls are fried. So far so good. However, squid balls are filled with a mix of squid interiors. The result is a very hot fried ball of dough filled with a very bitter liquid/jelly filling that ... well, it typically creates two reactions in Westerns. The either go down or they come up. I let you imagine what that means. I won't provide a recipe for them, for your sake. had the pleasure to taste them at the Kyoto fish market, in a restaurant in Osaka, and in Nagoya. I know, I should have stopped at the first attempt, but getting even to a third one was crazy. I am a slow learner. Enjoy!!!

The famous Kobe Beef ### La famosa carne di vitello "Kobe"

Ok, ok, I am ignorant. I have tried the famous Kobe beef a few times, in a variety of restaurants (low class and very high class).
The verdict? It's good, for sure, but ... well, spending $130 for a steak with a few sides it's wayyyy to much for me. I am not a conosseur enough to really appreciate the difference from a great top sirloin steak you can have in France or Italy. Call me ignorant if you want ...





Here we are in Kobe's Kobe More restaurant, a high-end Kobe beef place (Chris, yours truly, Ed, Luisa and Gary).

See the chef below cooking the beef in front of our eyes.

**** Va bene, va bene, sono ignorante. Ho provato la carne di Kobe varie volte, sia in ristoranti di non altissimo livello che in ristoranti di alto livello. il verdetto? Beh, buona, certo, ma spendere $130 per una bistecca di vitello con contorni mi pare un filino eccessivo. meglio una buona bistecca di controfiletto in Francia o una tagliata in Italia. Chiamatemi pure ignorante se vi fa piacere ... qui siamo in un ristorante di Kobe chiamato Kobe More, un ristorante di alto livello (Chris, io, Ed, Luisa e Gary).

Great restaurant in Kobe, Japan **** Un ottimo ed interessante ristorante in Kobe, Giappone

Modern Hanare. During my trip to Kobe in October 2007 I discovered by chance this interesting place in Kobe very near to the Sannomiya train station. In a street overwhelmed with flashy neon lights, suddenly you'll find a small entrance covered with (fake) stone and an elevator that leads you to the 6th floor. When the doors open you'll find yourself in a very different place. They reconstructed an old country village, with waterfalls and all, on top of a modern building. The atmosphere is great, the music very nice (if a bit annoying after a few hours), and the food is great. The restaurant is split in small rooms, so if you have a party of 6 or moe book ahead of time. They have a large room with ground sitting, whereas the small rooms have regular chairs and tables. We ordered the whole menu (not kidding here), but we were 7 hungry people! Here's the website, unfortunately only in Japanese: www.kingyo-hanare.kobe.walkerplus.com (Tel. 078-322-0828) **** Nell'ottobre del 2007 ho scoperto per caso un ottimo ristorante a Kobe vicino alla stazione di Sannomiya. In una strada caratterizzata da neons e insegne, luci e rumori, si trova una piccola porta circondata di roccia finta che porta ad un ascensore. Salendo al sesto piano, si entra un modo diverso. Hanno ricostruito un antico villaggio di campagna, con fontane, tetti e case. L'atmosfera e' ottima e rilassante, la music piacevole (anche se mi da' sui nervi dopo un paio di ore), ed il cibo ottimo. Hanno molte stanzette piccole con tavoli e sedie, ed una zona nella "casa" principale dove si mangia a terra e che puo' ospitare gruppi di persone. Consiglio vivamente di prenotare. Potete trovare delle informazioni sul sito www.kingyo-hanare.kobe.walkerplus.com, purtroppo solo in Giapponese.

Here we go/Si parte

After years of collecting information from my world-wide trips, and storing them in my notebook, I think it's time to have a new blog to keep track of such valuable information. Enjoy! **** Dopo aver raccolto per anni informazioni su luoghi, ristoranti, cibi, ecc. durante il mio vagabondare, e dopo aver raccolto un sacco di informazioni nel mio diario, ho deciso che e' venuto il momento di condividere queste informazioni. Rimanete in onda per le informazioni.