Last weekend, I was in Paris, France. What with a direct train connection from my hometown to London St. Pancras International station and an onward connection by Eurostar to central Paris, it’s really easy for me to get a short ‘fix of français’ whenever I need it.

I arrived at lunchtime at Gare du Nord. Naturally, I was hungry (I always am, but I’m particularly so around midday for some reason) so I thought about where I could grab something to eat. This isn’t too much of a problem for Paris. There are thousands of food options and places to eat and you’re pretty much guaranteed that it will be tasty and fulfilling.

I still had my bag on my back though. I hadn’t even checked in at my hotel. A proper restaurant or cafe was not what I wanted. I needed something quick. After a moments thought, I knew exactly what would hit the spot. I hopped on the metro and headed for Rue des Rosiers.

I had already had falafel in Paris’ Marais district before. I had enjoyed it a lot, but I didn’t have much choice in where to get it. I had stupidly turned up on a Saturday, the Jewish sabbath, so apart from this one place, all the outlets were closed. This time, I did have a choice, though I only had one place in mind; the much-hyped L’As du Fallafel.

You can’t miss the green facade of what is, for some reason, trumped as Lenny Kravitz’s favourite falafel restaurant. Bright flashing lights, press cuttings and a bright yellow menu board draw you in. A guy with a small receipt book rounds up potential customers in French with smatterings of English. Once you’ve joined the queue, he takes your order, you pay him and he hands you a receipt which you then hand to the guys behind the window. “How hot do you want it,” you’re asked. “Hot!” is the response. With tongs, crisp salted cucumber and pickled red & white cabbage is quickly flicked into large, soft pitta bread. Five (six if you’re lucky) glistening golden brown balls of fried chickpea fritters (falafel) are thrown in along with soft aubergine. On top of it all, hummus and hot harissa sauce is spooned on.

It’s difficult describing the taste without being vague. You’ll just have to try it for yourself. I love food that has a variety of textures and flavours all in one, so for me it really hits the spot. Its crispy and soft, sweet and sour, hot and mild, crunchy and chewy. It ticks all the boxes. If you’re not sitting in the adjoining restaurant, the generally accepted way to eat is to find a nearby doorway to stand in or find a step or kerb to sit on. Then open your mouth wide and stuff as much of it in as possible. Forget about your dignity and manners. It’s just too good.

Please stand to attention and salute the magnificent culinary chaos that is before you. Eating hotdogs in Denmark is almost a national pastime. Wherever you are in the country, you won’t be far from a ‘Pølsevogn’ or hot dog stand, where delicious and inexpensive treats await. Though an ordinary hotdog is certainly nothing to be sniffed at, the Danish thought they could better the concept, inventing many variants on the familiar sausage in a bun idea we’re all so used to.

Here is one such example, which was presumably created on a particularly warm day where everyone was feeling a little light-headed and lethargic. This is a sausage, wrapped in bacon, with ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard and remoulade, fried onion, pickled onion and pickled gherkins, all stuffed neatly into a bun. I ate this in Kongens Nytorv (King’s New Square) in Copenhagen a few years ago. The hundreds of commuters who were cycling home around the square that evening would have been no doubt perplexed upon seeing a lone man eating his dinner noisily and messily, whilst grinning at it.

Feel free to salute once more if you see fit. I am.

If you’d have called me a few evenings ago, I wouldn’t have been able to answer, for I was in Trafalgar Square in London, filling my big, stupid grinning face with Malaysian food.

The most famous of city squares was once again playing host to a celebration of Malaysian food and culture. For one night only, Londoners could sample food from around 30 different stalls whilst being entertained by traditional Malaysian music and dance on the big stage. The atmosphere was terrific, helped largely by the fact everyone was high on Satay, Laksa and Nasi Lemak.

Here’s what I had;

Penang Laksa - Rice noodles in a hot & sour mackerel sauce with prawns, pineapple and garnishes. Delicious and quite unique. Not at all like the Curry Laksa I’m used to.

Satay - Grilled chicken on skewers in a spicy peanut sauce. I loved it before having this serving and if anything, I love it even more now. Amazing!

Roti Punai - An Indian-inspired flatbread, torn, with a vegetable curry gravy. Great texture and really tasty.

Aneka Kuih - A quartet of steamed Malaysian cakes. Kuih Lapis is a rainbow layered, jelly-like cake that is eaten by the layer and made with coconut milk and sago flour. Kuih Bakar is likened to egg custard. Kuih Serimuka has a bottom layer of rice and an upper layer flavoured by pandan leaf. Finally, Binka Ubi is made using Tapioca and Coconut Cream.

And to wash it all down, I had;

• Teh Tarik - I first had Teh Tarik, a strong “pulled’ tea made with condensed milk, in the Arab quarter of Singapore. It was a real treat to see it being made again and obviously an even bigger treat to drink it. The preparation process was as labourious and showy as it should have been.
• Coconut Juice - I was informed before trying this that Coconut Juice is an acquired taste. Not so. It is refreshing, sweet, creamy and lovely.

The year between now and the next Malaysia Night in London is going to feel like an age. Perhaps the only answer to this problem to go to Malaysia before Malaysia comes back to me. Well, alright then, I will!

I’ll always remember this breakfast. It was a great way to say goodbye to Singapore.

Hot Milo (a malty chocolate drink that also comes ice cold), two soft boiled eggs (fun to eat with those big spoons) and Kaya toast (Kaya is a sugary spread). About £1.50.

As is abundantly apparent from reading my trip notes, I consider food to be a major part of the travel experience. Trying new things is what it’s all about. It’s this policy that lead me trying Puffin (with Blueberry sauce) in Iceland.

Hong Kong’s cuisine isn’t as varied or exciting as perhaps Singapore’s, but there are still plenty of new things to try. Causeway Bay on Hong Kong Island boasts plenty of outlets where adventurous eaters can feast for next to no money. Ying Heong Yuen was my favourite place and certainly seemed to be the most popular in the area with the locals. The list of food on offer was enormous and rather overwhelming. In short though the menu consisted of the body parts of various animals skewered on sticks and deep-fried. Some of it looked rather grisly, though no doubt delicious. I just ordered randomly and ended up;

Fish Balls with Curry Sauce - Really tasty. The fish taste wasn’t overpowering and the sauce complimented them nicely.

Chocolate Waffle - I fancied something sweet. This was warm, soft, light and crunchy on the outside.

Coconut Milk Sago - I never envisaged I would end up favouring the drink of a meal, but in this case I did. Small balls of tapioca mixed with a thin, milky coconut juice. Beautiful.

In which I take a 25 minute cable car ride to the beautiful Po Lin Monastery where I soak in the atmosphere and try Snow Fungus Cake.

15 April 2011 - 1155 Hong Kong

Currently sat inside the Po Lin Buddhist Monastery. It’s all rather nice. Very atmospherically Chinese. Lots of Chinese architecture and signs. Makes for great photos. It took 25 minutes to get here via cablecar. Longest cable car ride I’ve ever been on. I got a great view of the airport as we sailed along.

There’s a lovely smell of incense permeating the air. In half an hour, I’m heading for the monastery restaurant for a vegetarian meal. Exciting.

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I had good reason to be excited. I was served a soup and tea to start with, then after a few minutes, a saucepan (an actual saucepan) of rice arrived with two plates of vegetables and a third plate of spring rolls. Really enjoyed the experience.

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Gurrghh! Too much cake. Really good though. I particularly enjoyed the Snow Fungus cake. It was like mushroom flavoured jelly.

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And that was my visit to Ngong Ping. I’m writing this so I don’t have to make eye contact with the member of staff employed to take photos of everyone. Why do they insist on doing this? They’re terrible photos. Off to a goldfish market when I get back to the city.

In which I take in the sulphurous air, cascade down the world’s highest commercially rafted waterfall and regain my appetite.

7 April 2011 - 1120 Rotorua, New Zealand

Just had the best sandwich of the trip. A delicious pastrami, Swiss cheese, salad and gherkin sandwich on incredible seedy brown brown. I’ll be going back there again. Yummers! I’m eating early as I’m getting picked up to go White water rafting at 12. Better get my trunks on!

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God it really does stink here. It’s not like Iceland where there was a thin (though noticeable) whisper of sulphur in the air and water. Here, it’s pungent. A thick, eggy smack in the chops the second you go outside. It’s the richest egg smell I’ve ever smelt. Imagine an egg, then wrap it in another egg and then dip it in oil of egg and you might come close to the eggness. Man, it smells like egg here! Like I’m wearing a boiled egg on my upper lip. Like I’ve bathed in egg mayonnaise. Like I’m wearing a shirt made out of egg.

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Got back a short time ago from White water rafting down a 7m waterfall, the highest commercially rafted waterfall IN THE WORLD. Made a tit of myself by misinterpreting an instruction and then jumping out of the boat into the rapids. The guy wanted me to sit on the other side of the boat but he used the word ‘jump’. So I jumped. Anyway, great fun, though much more of a workout than I expected and hauling the boat up a hill on my head after an hour of rafting wasn’t fun at all. Can’t see me wanting to do it again, but I’m very very glad I did it today.

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Just had my first decent square meal in ages. And in a pub no less. Good old fish and chips! Three fillets of fresh fish in beer batter and good “chip shop” chips, followed by an enormous creme brûlée with cream and toffee ice cream. I’ve been struggling to eat well in New Zealand, a mixture of poor quality food and a mysterious loss of appetite. but tonight, both those things were shunted to the sideline. And to top it off, I was sat square in front of a tv showing French Top 14 rugby.

It’s been a good day. In about 35 minutes, I’m meeting up with a Ukrainian dude I met at the rafting and we’re going climbing at the climbing centre in the basement of the hostel.

Tomorrow will be an easy day I think.