M on the Bund

Cuisine: Continental

Hours: Daily 6-10:30pm; Tues-Fri 11:30am-2:30pm; Sat-Sun brunch 11:30am-3pm; Sun tea 3:30-5:30pm

Address: Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu 5 Location seventh floor (entrance on side street at Guangdong Lu 20), Huangpu District (Downtown Shanghai)

Transportation Metro: Nanjing Dong Lu

Lodged atop a handsome seven-story colonial building on the Bund, this is the restaurant that put Shanghai dining on the world map in 1999. All Art Deco elegance, M boasts a terrace that affords unsurpassed views of the Bund, the Huangpu River, and Pudong's skyscrapers, as well as a "Glamour Room" for nightly dinner and drinks. The fine menu changes frequently to take advantage of fresh local ingredients, but signature dishes include the slow-baked leg of lamb and the exquisitely sublime Pavlova dessert. Increased competition from the neighboring Bund restaurants has forced service to improve in recent years after a dropoff. M has consistently been on the must-try list of many visitors, largely due to its previous renown and its glamorous environs.

Dishes to try: The seared tuna salad for appetizer, Duck cofit for main and the Earl Grey creme brulee or pistachio and lychee sorbet atop a sesame crisp for dessert. All this for $118 RMB (approx $20 USD) per person.

Arnold Palmer's Restaurant

Owned by the famous golfer, Arnold Palmer's is appropriately located across the street from a Palmer-designed golf course in La Quinta, California. The restaurant has earned a reputation for its most popular appetizer: homemade, deep-fried potato chips accompanied with a bleu cheese dipping sauce. A sprawling menu includes everything from pot roast to wiener schnitzel to veal oscar along with some of the best steaks in the Palm Springs area. The restaurant is open daily from 3:00 p.m. and dinner is served daily from 5:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m

Minus 5 at Mandalay Bay

Las Vegas is known for its magical hot spots and steamy nightclub scene but a new bar in town is putting a freeze on all that. Minus 5 at Mandalay Bay is Las Vegas' coolest bar - literally. Inside the bar, everything is made entirely of ice and temperatures are kept at a constant minus five degrees Celsius, or 23 degrees Fahrenheit.

Minus 5 is the first permanent ice lounge in America. It was all started by Craig Ling of New Zealand. The whole experience starts when you walk through the door. Once inside, each guest is greeted by promo girls and then you enter the briefing room where everyone is outfitted in insulated parkas, boots and gloves - a requirement for entry. 400 people a day are outfitted before led into the 2,000 square foot super-refrigerated lounge. There are about 350 blocks of ice in the bar and they use Canadian ice because it's clear. When you walk in, you see a whole room of ice - the chandelier, couches, the bar. Everything is a work of art. Even the glasses are made of ice and Minus 5 melts through 3,500 of them a week. The glasses are made from some of the most pure water in the world: New Zealand artesian water. The glasses are molded and shipped frozen. Minus 5's drinks aren't your boring old hot toddies. They have 12 signature cocktails which contain exotic fresh fruits and lots and lots of premium vodka. It's so cold that patrons are advised only to spend 30 minutes at a time inside the bar. To really chill out, you have to hit Vegas' Minus 5: the country's coldest, hot spot.

Chutter's Candy Store

Home of the World's Longest Candy Counter, a visit to Chutter's is a trip to candyland where the air is delicious with the mouth-watering scents of candy and fresh-made fudge. Chutter's has something for candy lovers young and old in a lively, fun-filled atmosphere. The longest counter of its kind anywhere, Chutter's candy counter runs the entire length of the store. An impressive 112 feet of gleaming glass jars filled with brightly colored candy ranging from yesterday's favorites and hard-to-find flavors to the best of today's most sought-after treats. Grab a bag and choose from the vast array of sours and gummy's, gourmet and traditional jellybeans, chocolates, licorice, caramels, and nostalgic pieces. Chutter's is a treasure trove of tasty treats!

Chutter's is named for its original owner, Frederick George Chutter, a Congregational minister who came to Littleton to preach but instead, resigned his ministry for the dry goods business, eventually becoming a well-loved and prominent member of the community. A brochure from the era claims, "Mr. Chutter is a warm-hearted, cordial, and enthusiastic man, of optimistic temperament, and much interested in the welfare of Littleton." More than 100 years later, the shop retains his name, and the hospitality for which Chutter's General Store was renowned still resonates throughout this delightful shop. Feel like a kid again. Visit Chutter's on Main Street in Littleton, New Hampshire and discover the sweet life.

Anatomy of a Japanese meal

In Western culture, a meal consists of a light first course or two, followed by a main course, then smaller following courses. The most basic format is soup or appetizer, main course, then a dessert. The main course itself is centered around the protein part, whether it's meat, fish or something vegetarian, and the vegetables are starch are the side dishes.

In Japan, a home meal is served in one course, but with several dishes. There is the starch, which is usually steamed rice; a soup, which is usually miso soup, and at least two dishes. The rice is taken for granted, but it's the central point of this meal. The accompaniments are collectively called okazu, and they are the supporting cast to the rice.
The main okazu is usually protein based - a grilled fish, or some sort of meat dish. The secondary okazu can be a vegetable dish, or more protein such as a bean dish. Everything is served in its own container usually. The secondary okazu in particular are often served family style, from which each diner takes his or her portion. The usual way to eat a Japanese meal is to take the rice bowl in your hand, then take a little of this and that from the various okazu.

Occasionally, you set down the rice bowl, take the bowl of soup, and take a sip and eat some of the things in it.
When you go to a Japanese restaurant in Western countries, you'll often see a selection of side dishes listed in the Appetizer section. This is bowing to Western food habits - those side dishes are actually designed to be eaten with the main meal, with the rice. (High end Japanese restaurants in Japan do serve each dish on its own as a course. This means that a meal can go on for hours!) Dessert is not a traditional ending to a meal - one usually just has a cup of hot tea. Japanese people eat sweet things as a snack in-between meals. Of course this custom is changing as more people take on European/American ways of doing things.

There's a special category of okazu called hashi yasume, or "chopstick rest". This is a side dish that contrasts in flavor, texture, temperature and so on to the main side dish. Pickles are the most typical hashi yasume. Small side salads are often used as hashi yasume too.

Food to eat in China and Hong Kong

Ever since I've decided to re-visit China and Hong Kong, I started to compile a list of all the food I must eat when in these two countries.

If you are a brave and adventurous eater, feel free to give these a try:

Almond milk
Beef brisket
Cantonese roast duck
Chow mein
Claypot rice
Dan dan noodle
Dragonfruit
Dried cuttlefish
Drunken chicken
Egg drop soup
Egg rolls
Egg tart, Cantonese & Macanese
Fresh bamboo shoots
Fried milk
Grass jelly
Hainan chicken rice
Hand-pulled noodles
Hibiscus tea
Hot Pot
Jellyfish
Scallion pancake
Silken tofu
Sugar cane juice
Taro
Tea-smoked duck
Wonton noodle soup

Korean Food

Bibimbap is a dish, made of steamed rice mixed with vegetables and red pepper paste (known as gochujang), is the most popular Korean dish, according to recent polls. Since a variety of vegetables and beef, chicken or seafood are mixed with rice, the dish contains numerous vitamins and much fiber, minus the fats and cholesterol that are contained in many Western dishes.

It is also easy to cook, since all you need to do is put vegetables of your choice and hot pepper paste onto rice and mix it up with a spoon or chopsticks. As can be easily guessed, bibimbap is a nutritious diet food.

Besides bibimbap, samgyetang and seolleongtang, two main Korean soups, are gaining popularity abroad. Samgyetang is essentially a whole chicken, stuffed with rice, boiled in a broth of ginseng, herbs, garlic and ginger.

Samgyetang is perhaps Korea's most typical example of boyangsik (hot, high-protein foods that are believed to re-energize the body, allowing it to recover from summertime lethargy and malaise). It is definitely a healthy dish, because eating samgyetang, rich in protein and vitamins, is supposed to help keep one healthy in the hot summer.

Korean restaurants in Japan have seen a rise in their samgyetang sales recently because many people there have become aware that the dish is reinvigorating and is also good for the skin. The popularity of samgyetang is shown in recent polls taken around the world. Samgyetang has been ranked fifth in a survey of most popular Korean dishes in China, while it was ranked second and sixth in Vietnam and the United Kingdom, respectively.