[Short of time? Read the Haiku review instead] One of the great joys of travelling in the third world is not having to cook for yourself. Street food is sometimes so cheap that it makes economic sense to eat out every night. This can lead to problems on arrival back in the real world though, when food preparation skills have simply been forgotten, like the ancient Egyptians’ ability to travel through time. This is unlikely to be the case after a trip through Europe, where one’s talent at preparing pasta and sauce in hostel kitchens can become so honed as to constitute a practical thesis on modern Italian cuisine. Either way, “Why would I want to carry a stove on my travels?” you might be thi
[Short of time? Read the Haiku review instead] Everything I ever heard about travelling in Japan indicated that most of the population wouldn’t speak English. Any why should they? This is a nation that invented the Tamagotchi – a toy that dies if you don’t look after it. A children’s toy designed to die! They’re hardly going to worry about lactose intolerant foreigners eating the wrong type of cheese. I like a challenge. I like not knowing what is going on around me, trying to pick the mystery ingredient in the soup, and guessing what people are trying to tell me (unless they have a rifle and are shouting angrily in my face). There is one potential scenario which terrifies me though – accide
