The New Orleans Chicken Pizza Burger

I've become a bit of a 7-Eleven sandwich connoisseur. I try not to eat them often, but they're always coming out with new, intriguing concoctions that beg me to try them.  Sometimes they work - like their spicy chicken burger, but most times they don't - like their "fondue" sandwich.

Their most recent sandwich was their boldest yet - The New Orleans Chicken Pizza Burger.  I love all of those things.  What could go wrong?

 Everything... especially, the sliced pineapple on top

One bite and this one ended up in the trash bin

Tomahawk

I cooked my first tomahawk last weekend.  About 1kg, 2" thick, a perfect medium-rare from edge to edge, and seared with a blowtorch

Tipper was very impressed.
 

 

Sous Vide, of course, but it almost didn't fit in my cooler. 

 

I enjoyed the novelty of axe handle sticking out of my steak, but next time, I'll stick to a good old-fashioned rib eye. 

Cali-Mex

Bangkok's newest Mexican restaurant. It's a Hong Kong chain, but they do cheese, chips, and tortillas right - and beer taps at your table.

 

  

 

 

Fools In The Rain

For the first time that I can remember, Nuch and I got caught in the rain. Monsoon rains usually only last about 15 minutes, so if you're home, at a store, or in a restaurant, you just wait a bit until it passes.  On this day, Nuch and I were walking down Sukhumvit when the sky opened up. To avoid the deluge, we jumped into a 7-Eleven. We only had a few blocks to go, so instead of waiting it out, we bought some one dollar, disposable rain gear and braved the elements.

Road Less Traveled - Phnom Penh

Some pics from my trip to Phnom Penh with two of my Bangkok pals.  This is one of our (almost) quarterly trips to somewhere we would not normally go.

Although I've been to Cambodia a dozen times, my last trip was 10 years ago.  It still feels like it's stuck in the past (imagine Thailand 40 years ago), but there's been a lot of development since 2009.  You can see the office buildings and condos in the background - before, it seemed there were only a few buildings over 3 stories tall.  And, it used to be that the wide french colonial streets were filled with a slow, steady stream of bicyclists.  Now, you cross at your own peril.

At the Foreign Correspondents Club of Cambodia FCCC

Along the Mekong

This was our "driver" who had converted what looked like an old carnival ride into a tuk-tuk

View of Phnom Penh from the East.  We stayed near the river not far from the bridge.

New Toy

Recently, I picked up a new toy to go with my Sous Vide - a handheld blowtorch to sear my steaks. So far, no complaints, and it's quicker, cleaner, and cooler than my grill.

Cat Nap

Fondew

The cheese craze continues in Thailand. Cheese "Fondew" (spelled in Thai with an unnecessary "w" on the end) is the latest addition at 7-Eleven.

 

  

 The sandwich isn't bad, but it's far from fondue.

 

  

Instead of cooking your sandwich in melted cheese, you get a packet of cheese for dipping. Disappointing, but not surprising.

The Original Facebook

An old treasure recently re-surfaced - a photo collage that I had put together before leaving the Peace Corps back in 1997.

A lot of memories...

and apparently, a lot of booze

 

  

This was my Thai language training group.  Moo 7 was the small village where we did our home-stay in Suphanburi