Where can I find pita bread in Dhaka? I found a pita lookalike in a local supermarket the other day; it's a local bread called the naan. There are a few supermarkets near where I live, but I usually go to Nandan and when I want some cheese or maraschino cherries, I go to Agora (about an hour away but that's only because of the Dhaka traffic). Guess what I found in Agora the other day? MANGOSTEENS!!! They were only about $4/lb, which is a steal considering the price is about 8-10 times that back in the US. I prefer these supermarkets to the street vendors or roadside markets because a) all the products are labeled, b) the prices are on the labels and c) I don't have to haggle to get a good deal. On my first trip to Nandan, I got some pasta, olive oil, mushrooms, a can opener and some pistacio ice cream, all for about $11. Not bad, right?
It's been raining a lot for the last three or four days. It's monsoon season here, and I am expecting a lot of rain over the next couple of months. There was a terrible heat wave during my first couple of weeks in Dhaka, but thanks to this torrential rain, it's not suffocatingly hot any more. It rains sideways here; I think I mentioned this before but it's true.
Last night, I watched No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. It was the Vancouver episode, not one of my favorites. If you are interested, the show is on Food & Living (or whatever that channel is called), and it's on at 1:00 am (I think? Could have been 12:30 am for all I know) local time.
Anyway, on to random thoughts:
- Ron Artest to the Lakers: terrible move. Artest is no longer the defender he used to be, and he shoots too many ill-advised 3s for my liking. Look, if you are gonna give an MLE deal to someone, give it to someone who's already shown he can do it for you (i.e. Ariza) and not a headcase who's created problems for every team he's ever played for. Btw, Ariza is a lot younger than RonRon; thought Kupcake might want to know that.
- Don't complain about rush hour traffic until you've lived in Dhaka.
- There's no greater joy than eating a tropical fruit right off a tree. True story.
- Maybe the DST shenanigans worked; maybe it's because the heat wave is no longer here; anyway, the rolling blackouts aren't as bad or as frequent as they used to be during my first couple of weeks here. Or maybe Donny is right and I just got used to those darn blackouts.
- Eating popcorn while you are stuck in traffic: who woulda thunk it? Apparently, some pretty smart Dhaka entrepreneurs did. Teenagers (mostly boys) walk through the maze of vehicles stuck in Dhaka traffic and sell popcorn, water, gossip magazines and trinklets.
That's all for now. I hope you all enjoy the weekend.
Friday, July 3, 2009
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