Photo of the Day (10.18.10)

by Mike Barish on
Street markets are a magical place. Various sights, smells and sounds assault your senses and you stuff your face with things you can neither pronounce nor identify. It’s easy to get lost in the excitement and energy of the market. That is, of course, until you see a tail. Americans aren’t used to seeing tails in their grocery stores or butchers. We see finished products. We buy trimmed steaks and boneless chicken breasts. We’re just not ready for the experience of seeing a boiled dog torso complete with tail.

That’s why this photo by Flickr user pirano caught my attention. At first glance, I thought that maybe it was an oddly-shaped pig. Would you believe that it’s boiled dog? After reading the blog post that went along with his photo, I learned the story about his conversation about dog meat in China. It’s worth a read if you want some background on this picture. No matter what you think about eating dog, you have to admit that seeing that tail is pretty mesmerizing.

Have a picture of some unexpected street meat? Or maybe just some great travel photos? Submit your images to Gadling’s Flickr group and we might use one for a future Photo of the Day.

Italian Cuisine in Rome: Made in China

by David Farley on

Compared to other capital cities, Rome doesn’t have a lot of ethnic restaurants. But locals and tourists are happy to forgive the city for its lackluster cosmopolitan dining scene because Roman cuisine – especially in the last few years – has been placed in the culinary sancta sanctorum. (Just look at the mouthfuls of chefs who have opened up high-profile Roman restaurants in New York City in the last two years, as evidence.) But spend enough time in the Eternal City (as I have a few times) and your taste buds will start to grow restless. The thought of more penne alla arabiata or spaghetti all’ amatriciana or even coda alla vaccinara (oxtail stew) might inspire a long, long walk until eventually you stumble upon the odd ethnic eatery.

Undoubtedly the first one you’ll come across is Chinese. Sprinkled throughout the periphery of the historical center, Chinese restaurants are the Eternal City’s answer to, well, Chinese restaurants just about anywhere outside of China. Quick, distinctive, affordable and dripping in MSG, the Chinese restaurants in Rome have elbowed their way onto the staunch Roman dining scene.

Unless of course, an air-born illness (followed by media hysteria) breaks out. Case in point: there once was a Chinese restaurant in Rome located near the Vatican. It did steady business, particularly at lunch with local office workers and Vaticanisti. And then SARS hit the newsstands. Remember that? The pre-swine flu Apocalyptic end-of-us-all that was made in China?

During the scare, business dropped at the Chinese restaurant precipitously. Even though this Chinese restaurant was far from China, local eaters couldn’t divorce themselves from the reports they were reading and hearing about on the news. And so with few options, the owners decided to transform the restaurant. They would go Roman. Same Chinese owners. Same Chinese chef. And so, General Tso was unceremoniously purged from the menu and any dish with “Buddha” in the title finally found its way to Nirvana.I know this because I knew a woman who worked at the place. Maria, originally from Spain, was a waitress, which meant for most diners she was the face of this change. The first day, a few curious eaters wandered in at lunch. The menu listed typical Roman trattoria fare and was organized like any Italian menu: there was antipasti like bruschetta; primi, which take the form of pasta dishes; and secondi, more meaty dishes.

A businessman in his forties ordered a bowl of carbonara, a classic Roman pasta dish with pancetta, eggs, and cheese. A few minutes later, Maria set down the bowl of carbonara in front of the diner and walked back toward the kitchen. She was promptly called back to the his table.

“What’s this?” said the forty-something businessman, pointing to his steaming bowl of pasta. “This is not carbonara,” he said, picking up a piece of what was meant to be pancetta. “This is bacon. And this sauce. What is this? It’s like a gloop of cream,” he said. “And this rigatoni,” he said, picking up the half inch, tube-shaped pasta. “Look at this limp thing. It’s way overcooked. Take it back to the kitchen. Now.”

So she did, dropping the plate on a back counter in front of the chef and the owner and explaining that the customers weren’t buying that this is real Roman carbonara, a dish that Rome has made famous but whose exact creation in the city (and the reason for it) is cause for an eternal debate.

“This is real,” barked the Chinese owner. “What city are we in?”

Maria responded: “I know, we’re in Rome, but –“

“Then take it back out there” –the owner handing her the dish back –“and tell him this is the real thing.”

Maria did as she was told. She took the plate out to the diner and held her breath.

There’s actually a food police in Rome who patrol the city’s restaurants, popping into the kitchen, to look around, maybe glance at a few dishes, and then, if everything looks okay, move on to the next restaurant. They’re not looking for bad hygiene practices in the kitchen; they’re actually checking to make sure chefs are correctly preparing Roman dishes according to tradition.

In 2002, the Italian government had an even more ambitious plan: to police every Italian restaurant in the world (there are 20,000 Italian restaurants in the United States alone), making sure eateries that claimed to be Italian were complying with tradition — that is, using San Marzano tomatoes or mozzarella or olive oil made in Italy. If so, they would be rewarded with a “Made in Italy” designation.

The “Made in Italy” program started a test run in Belgium. But it never crossed the Atlantic. It never even got out of Belgium, actually. After all, Italy, in general, and Rome, in particular, has a hard time policing its own restaurants. As Maria quickly learned. She approached the man with his unwanted bowl of carbonara and set it down in front of him. “The chef says this is real Roman carbonara and you have to eat it,” she said.

The businessman, a hunger-induced anger hanging over him, didn’t say a word. He got up and walked out. After this same incident happened a few days in a row, Maria followed the costumers: She left and never came back. She found a job sewing “Made in Italy” labels on clothes that were actually made in China. “Tourists would buy the clothes,” she told me. “They didn’t know the difference.”

Hyatt is heading to China; plans 11 new properties in China

by Melanie Nayer on

Hyatt Hotels Corporation is expanding across the Pacific, announcing plans to open 11 new Hyatt-branded hotels in emerging cities and resort destinations in China. The addition of these hotels means Hyatt has 22 properties under development in China across all of its full service brands, including Andaz.

The 11 new Hyatt hotels announced are:

  • Park Hyatt Changbaishan
  • Hyatt Regency Changbaishan
  • Hyatt Regency Changchun
  • Grand Hyatt Dalian
  • Hyatt Regency Guiyang
  • Hyatt Regency Jinan
  • Hyatt Regency Qingdao Grand
  • Hyatt Sanya Haitang Bay
  • Grand Hyatt Shenyang
  • Hyatt Regency Tianjin East
  • Hyatt Regency Wenzhou

Hyatt previously announced additional properties under development in Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Ningbo, Sanya Sunny Bay, Suzhou, Wuxi, and Xuzhou.

Four properties are slated to open in 2011:Park Hyatt Ningbo, a 253-room property, will be located on Dongqian Lake, one of the most scenic destinations in eastern China. About two hours drive from Shanghai, the hotel will feature low-rise buildings, private villas with spa and recreational facilities, meeting and banquet space and specialty restaurants.

Hyatt Regency Jinan, a 350-room property, will be part of the Wanda Plaza development, located in Shizhong District, one of the two central urban districts in Jinan. The hotel will offer meeting facilities, a spa and fitness center, and food and beverage outlets.

Hyatt Regency Guiyang, a 364-room property, will form part of the planned Guiyang International Conference and Exhibition Center located within the Jin-Yang New District of Guiyang, the economic and commercial hub of the Guizhou providence in Southwest China. Designed for the business traveler, the hotel will be adjacent to government offices and prime office and commercial space. Amenities will include five food and beverage options, meeting and residential style function space, ballroom, indoor pool, fitness center and spa.

Hyatt Regency Qingdao, a 450-room property, will be part of a high-end mixed-use development located on the Western end of Old Stone Beach in the Laoshan District of Qingdao, which is in Eastern China. The hotel, tailored to both business and leisure travelers, will enjoy unique ocean views and immediate beach access and will also provide a full range of amenities, including four restaurants and bars, multi-functional meeting space, indoor swimming pool, fitness center and spa.

The additional Hyatt hotels in China will be open in 2012.

First images: Langham Place, Beijing Capital Airport hotel

by Melanie Nayer on

Asia is fast becoming a hotbed for hotel growth. From the Ritz-Carlton’s new hotel in Shanghai to the W’s entrance into Hong Kong, hotel companies aren’t shying away from Asia’s tourism growth potential. Now, the Langham hotel group is adding to its China collection.

The second Langham hotel to open in Asia this year, the Langham Place, Beijing Capital Airport brings new meaning to the “airport hotel.”

Opened on August 23, the hotel had one solid mission: to revolutionize the way we see airport hotels. Now, guests flying into Beijing who need a place to spend the night before boarding an early morning flight, or those who just want to experience something a little out of the ordinary, will only have to go as far as Terminal 3 at Beijing Capital Airport.

The hotel will feature DJ’s in the lobby, loft-style rooms and a 24-hour high-tech lounge for work and play. The hotel features a full service spa and indoor pool, available to hotel guests and open for bookings for those with long layovers. For those guests needing a little nourishment, step into one of the hotel’s four restaurants including Fuel, Ming Court or The Place, an interactive all day dining restaurant.

Ten wild cab rides that you’ll never forget

by Grant Martin on

Everyone has their own way of immersing in a culture. Some jump in knees-deep into the food scene, massacring the local food blogs and munching their ways through every gastic adventure that they can find. Others enjoy the philosophical and soft-edged days of lounging in street side cafes, watching passers-by and drinking coffee in the early afternoon sun. Here at Gadling though, we prefer the good old cab ride.

It’s pretty surprising what you can pick up about a culture from the cabs, each driver with his own background, each car holding thousands of untold stories. Inspired by the works at the outstanding blog known as HACK, we’ve thus put together 10 of our favorite rides from around the planet below.

1. Cairo
One of the most fun and arguably scariest things about Cairo city life is the traffic. Here, traffic signals are rare and crosswalks are non-existant, meaning cars, taxis, trucks, people and donkeys are all jumbled into a free-for-all on the dusty Egyptian roads. It takes nerves of steel to brave these roads, which is why it’s so fun sitting shotgun in an experienced cabbie’s car. An average ride will involve darting through city traffic honking up a storm while barreling past 1960’s-era Fiats, diladapidated buildings and remnants of Cairo history, all for the grand sum of no more than 4USD.

2. Moscow/St Petersburg
The funny thing about cabs in Russia is that there really aren’t any. Instead, the majority of car service is provided by everyday residents looking for an extra few dollars of income. All you have to do to flag a car is hold your arm out low and wait for a passing vehicle to pull over — it could be the remnant of a cold-war era beater or a shiny new Volkswagon — then mutter your destination and you’re off to the races.

This could be a little unnerving for the first time hithchiker, which is why we recommend a few Stoli and tonics before trying your first time. Another handy tip: if you don’t speak Russian, take a photo of your destination and show the driver.

2b. Moscow at 5AM
Traffic is so thick in Moscow that it’s hard to ever really appreciate the passing city while gurgling through the congested streets. For a real taste of Russian ridesharing, try taking a cab to Domodedovo at 5AM when the streets are clear and when your car’s throttle can really open up. Roll down the windows and watch the amazing city of Moscow fly by as you get an uninterrupted view of the beautiful capital city.3. Tokyo
The most mindblowing thing about Tokyo cab rides is the cordiality. Approaching your target cab, the first thing that you’ll notice is that the door automatically opens and shuts for you — all controlled by the white-gloved driver. The rest of your ride is strangely reminiscent of a ride in a London taxi, with black, fancy leather and all the pomp and circumstance of a ride through Oxford Circus. Set that against the high-neon and non-stop glam of Tokyo and you’ve got yourself a formula for travel contrast bliss.

4. Bangkok via motorcycle taxi
Tuk-Tuks and taxi cabs are the mainstays of Bangkok public transportation, but if you really want to make progress then take a motorcycle taxi. You can pick them up at stations around the city and they’ll provide a helmet and the ride of your life — all you have to do is lean and and hold on tight.

5. Delhi via Tuk Tuk as told by Mike Barish

Plenty of places have pedicabs and rickshaws that cater mostly to tourists. They’re alternatives to cabs, but exist only to be kitchy. In India, however, the small cabs know as tuk tuks are commonly used by locals and tourists alike to navigate the incredible congested cities in the nation’s capital.

The tiny three-wheeled vehicles are as ubiquitous in Delhi as cows in the streets and the smells of spices in the air. They’re loud, mostly uncomfortable and expose you to the exhaust fumes from the trucks that suffocate the city’s highways.

All that said, tuk tuks are convenient and get you to where you’re going much quicker than walking. They cost a pittance (think $5 or less), can be found everywhere and usually idle on the side of the street, making it easy to approach and speak with the driver about the price. Once you get going, though, don’t expect to converse much. You’ll be lucky if you can still hear your own thoughts.

6. Enroute to Pudong Airport, Shanghai
The only thing slowing your cab driver down between downtown Shanghai and the international airport at city’s edge is the glaringly obvious radar banks over top of the highway. Imagine yourself comfortably crusing at 95 miles/hour on the People’s highway at 6AM when WHAM, the cabbie slams on the brakes and you slow to 45 for 2000 feet. Get a safe distance away and VRRroooooom, you’re pressed against the back of your seat on your way to the International Space Station once more.

7. Zambia as told by Willy Volk
After our bus from Livingston, Zambia, to Sesheke (a border crossing in the southwest of the country) choked and died, my friend and I sat in the scalding sun waiting for repairs. After about 90 minutes, an approaching pickup stopped when it saw potential passengers sprawled in the dust. Able to outbid the others for seats in the uncovered rear of his truck — we paid the equivalent of $2 each — we high-fived each other, jumped in the back, and sat down … on fifty-kilo bags of uncooked sweet potatoes.

For the next four hours — during which we covered maybe 100 kilometers — we rumbled, bumped, and jounced along southwestern Zambia’s dusty, desolate M10 “highway.” Cinnamon-colored dirt coated my skin and, together with the smoke from roadside fires, filled my nostrils. Bouncing over potholes as large as truck engines, we repeatedly flew in the air and landed hard on the solid, gnarled edges of the sweet potatoes. Bang, bang, bang: our asses smacked those unforgiving, rock-hard bags every 10 seconds for hours. Bang! When we were finally able to crawl out of our tortuous ride, we hobbled to the boat launch — Namibia’s immigration office lay on the other side of the Zambezi River — only to discover we’d missed the day’s final boat and had to be ferried across in a dugout canoe.

8. Technology touts in Taipei as told by Darren Murph
One of the unfortunate results of the broad information infrastructure in Taiwan is that streaming video is everywhere on the island, which means that more than a few cabbies are all-too-distracted by what’s going inside of the cab instead of outside. Darren recounts the full experience with photos over at Engadget.

9. Mexico City
They say tha cabs in Mexico City aren’t the safest in the world, but it’s just so hard to resist the cute little green Volkswagon Beetles that chortle through the street. Provided you have a good command over the Spanish language or at least a good idea of where you’re going, make sure to jump in the back seat of one of these vochos — there’s as much history in these taxis as there is in the city at large.

10. London
Sure, it’s cliche to tout the cultural value of the London taxicab, but there’s no question about it: it’s a rite of passage. From the iconic, black taxi styling to flip-down seats to the near-perfection of every London cabbie the experience is sure to please — just make sure you’ve got enough Sterling to make the trip, UK cabs are among the most expensive on the planet.

[Flickr image via Bruno. C.]