This is a video I found on trusty ol' YouTube. It's the Chinese burrito I've been telling you about. It's actually called jianbing.

That's the crepe batter. Then an egg. Then sesame seeds. Then cilantro and green onion. Flip. Plum sauce. Hot sauce. Then the wafer, and the close. It's served (always) in the little cheap clear plastic bag. You pay either 2.5 or 3 kuai, which is between $.35 and $.42. It makes a tasty lunch, I guarantee. Actually, it's what I had today.

Today was a bitter, nasty cold. I went to the grocery store, though. And I bought some stuff in the outdoor fruit market. Turns out you can still sell fruit, even when it's been outside long enough to freeze solid. I found rambutan! Party! As soon as it thaws out. Seriously, they were frozen together inside the little packaging. I pulled the poor babies apart.

I have visas for the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam now, ready and waiting in my passport. Thailand is also a "Kingdom of...", by the way. It never occurred to me that Vietnam is a Socialist Republic. I guess I've never before given any real thought to what happened after those pretty helicopters flew out of Saigon back before my parents were married. And parents. Since we lost that war, I suppose what we didn't really want to happen happened. Why didn't anyone ever tell me? Thanks, public school. Oh, and good job, France. I find them somehow culpable.

On a bright note, though, I get to go to my first kingdoms this month. Hooray!

This vacation is entitled The Buddha Tour '08, by the by. We intend to go to some super-cool looking temples and generally learn about a way of life including the religious soup of Buddhism and the envelopment of local deities. Also, we're going to the beach, and I have a bit of a Buddha belly, so it works out. (Actually, Buddha almost starved to death, so I have a Chinese-Buddhist-monk belly. Just what I wanted.)

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In a side-note so unrelated I actually drew a line, do you know they sell Sonic the Hedgehog video-game to be played on iPods now on iTunes? It's the original Sega Genesis Sonic game. You had better believe that I downloaded that baby for $4.99 and will be playing some mad mad mad Sonic while on trains and planes down south. Thanks, Dad, for the iTunes credit! I recall playing Sonic many years ago at Dave and Janie's house... the house with the weird upstairs room thing. Holy cow, I feel old. I was little back then, and now I'm not.

That game was released in 1991. It beats the pants off of solitaire.

T