Soupy noodles

Sometimes, the food on holiday can make or break your trip.

Mostly, I look forward to trying out new cuisine. I'm not a fussy eater and will try almost anything once... but I do have my limits!

Star fish on a stick - In the Hutong, Beijing

When I went to China a few years ago, I was really looking forward to some authentic Chinese food. It wasn't for me. Everything seemed flavourless compared to the English interpretation of Chinese cooking. Meat dishes were not made from succulent pieces of meat as they are back home, but tiny bits of crumbled bone with the odd bit of gristle thrown in for good measure. Tofu was tasteless. The rice wasn't much better. There were no vegetables. There were scorpians, and starfish and sea horses on sticks. I couldn't handle the chopsticks and was flicking food all over the place. In the end, there were McDonalds and Pizza Hut!

Sea horse on a stick - In the Hutong, Beijing

I have to say though, even through all the bad food, we did manage to find something we liked - crispy duck! And you could pick it up with your fingers! We found a world famous crispy duck restaurant (Da Dong Duck Restaurant, Beijing) where they regulalry serve the stars, including past US presidents, singers and actors alike. The food was the best we ate in three weeks!

Outside Da Dong, Beijing

When I went to Japan, I spent months dreading the food. I had visions of a combination of Chinese food and raw fish flapping around on my plate gasping for air! I was releived to find though that the food was not at all what I expected! I discovered Soupy Noodles (ramen) and fell forever in love!

Soupy noodes with pork - Osaka, Japan

There were all different variations on this dish and I enjoyed every one of them! Fat ones, thin ones, wet ones, dry ones, brown ones and white ones.

Hoto noodle soup - A traditional dish in Mt Fuji, Japan

You could eat them with chicken, with pork, with tofu, with vegetables, with rice - the options were endless, and all delicious.

Spicy noodles with sticky rice and honey chicken - Nikko, Japan

I even figured out how to use chopsticks!