Ginger

Last night, me and Zurin went for an "International buffet". I'm proud to say that the buffet turned out to be more patriotic than we were led to believe, which is actually kinda sad, come to think of it. At least half, (closer to 70% actually) of the food was of the local variety.

So while we were expecting some goodies like maybe some sashimi, a bit of pasta here and there, God forbid even a taco, we were presented with a nice spread of... rice and noodles. Don't get me wrong, there was other stuff there too, but it seemed to me that main attraction was your everyday food which you can actually grab heaps of and not fork out tons of money for at your nearest food stall (even with the rising price of food!).

Barring that, go visit your grandma or a close relative who likes to cook...

Although I would understand the appeal for our foreign guests, it's a bit unfair to label the buffet international and not have the inter part play much of a role. And there weren't many (any?) foreign guests (and food!) yesterday that I could see.

That being typed though, I do have a hard time understanding people who come to a buffet and immediately attack the rice dishes instead of sampling the other foods first. There's nothing wrong with rice, but at a buffet, that fills you up faster than a Shell petrol pump (seriously, those things have like a pump accelerator or something) which means you either quit eating early, or soldier on at the cost of your stomach lining and dignity.

See, I get that certain foods will taste better when prepared at establishments. Steak? Check, a restaurant will do it better, probably. Pasta? Depending on the type, a restaurant would probably do it better, or at least have more variety. But rice? With lauk? Your mom, grandma, granddad, cousin who loves cooking and your pet turtle will always trump any establishment when it comes to cooking rice and lauk.

But, having typed that, I must say one thing in the defense of my fellow buffeters last night. They weren't exactly spoiled for choice :(