Comments | zuvembi: Evils of the East

zuvembi

Evils of the East

May 02, 2005 16:39

Wednesday night I'm stepping onto a plane to Philadelphia, The City of Brotherly Gunfire as I like to call it. I'm looking forward to seeing my brother mostly. It will be good to see my father, though of course it's overshadowed by his recent illness. Now I need to figure out what to do while I'm there. A fair bit of cycling with my brother, ( Read more... )

vacation, family, philadelphia

Comments 10

Dim Sum! obnox May 2 2005, 23:49:39 UTC

You know you want it...

Re: Dim Sum! ouij May 2 2005, 23:55:16 UTC

Dim Sum is always a good thing.

One thing I haven't had in ages (and I know it's politically-incorrect to want this, given the near-total depletion of this fishery): a real good, thick, sharks' fin soup.

Re: Dim Sum! zuvembi May 3 2005, 13:58:12 UTC

I've eaten just about everything else I can think of that walks, flies, or swims that is served at Dim Sum, but I haven't had that. I suppose it's not served very often anymore. I always wait on tenterhooks for the Gai Lan or the turnip cake personally.

One of the best things about going to Dim Sum with my friend Christina is she likes almost the exact same things I do. So I have someone to share Gai Lan with, otherwise I have to eat the whole platter of it (and it's not nearly as good reheated). I really need to go hit the Taiwanese place again with her, especially if we can lure some of our coworkers along. They have this fabulous dish that's a potato starch base filled with vegetables and various meat and seafood. It tastes great, but it looks more than a little like snot. And the texture is pretty slimy. I really want to take some of my less adventurous coworkers and subject them to it.

Re: Dim Sum! ouij May 4 2005, 02:59:48 UTC

I have simpler tastes. I'm always happy if I can find somewhere that'll serve me taufu-fa for dessert.

It's tough, since for us, in Tagalog, it's called taho (accent on the last syllable). Finally, I was able to ask a friend of mine what the word for it was in Guangdong, and it was, in fact, taufu-fa.

What is it? um, just tofu, hot, in a sweet syrup (tasting of almonds and ginger). Very satisfying at the end of a meal or just as a snack. My lolo (granddad) used to buy it for me when I was a little kid from the hawkers who'd walk by his house shouting TaHOOOOOOOO. It was the only hawker food he'd let me eat; the wisdom on the street was that taho required cleanliness, since an unclean vessel would prevent the tofu from setting properly.

Hauling it back on-topic, our local dim sum joint has it, and thereby has secured our custom forever; dim sum, then taho, then home for a nap--ah, Sundays!

Thread 8

ouij May 2 2005, 23:57:09 UTC

I keep meaning to go to Philadelphia to look at ships.

Commodore Dewey's Olympia is moored at the navy yard there, and for my own sense of history, I'd like to be able to sit on the bridge and imagine what it must have felt like at the beginning of an empire.

zuvembi May 3 2005, 16:35:07 UTC

That might be something interesting to do. It looks like it's located right along the river / bike-path - so we'll probably be passing close by anyway at some point (since I intend to drag my brother out cycling frequently while I'm there).

Looking closer, it's only five miles away from his apartment. Nifty, I guess this means I really need to pack my camera.