My heart and stomach feel like they're in the company of fellow foodies -- what a wonderful feeling. I promise there are more recipes to come. ;)

Jo: It's funny that what you say is true. There are some depths of a country or culture that can only be experienced with time. I must sadly confess however that I tend to be in a bubble wherever I live and jump out of the bubble when I travel, meaning there are too many places left undiscovered and unventured in the places I've called "home." This is something that must be remedied with our next place of residence. ;]

Brett: I'm always down for recipe-swapping if you've learned any good Chinese dishes with all the time you've spent over there. I'll be in the States next month. It'll be great to see family and friends as it's been about a year-and-a-half since I've last seen some of them.

Ahhh~ those are probably the Humboldt squids you are talking about. Now they are terrifying and I don't ever want to run into those swarms. Their speed and fast spreading populations are very scary, though. The good news is that they tend to be deep water creatures that only come up in specific regions when the evening draws near. The ones I saw, I believe, were just regular old squids. :)

Shane: Agreed. I definitely plan on seeing them again, maybe in the Philippines the next time around.

Dave: True! I didn't suffer from any mosquito bites (though that may be due to dousing my skin with repellent), ran into no spider webs (though Eto wrapped up and destroyed a couple with his branch), and no large red ants. However, there were some bizarre red insects that looked like they were in red cocoons and lined the side of a tree. My picture of it was far too blurry and I had no further notes written in my notebook, so I left it unshared. There were also the crickets, however, Eto brought them, so I don't think they count. Maybe the tarsiers ate all the rest?! ;]

Shane: Thanks for the comment! This was a new camera I splurged on in Singapore Airport in October 2010. Alas, I never found a remedy for the leaky housing, so I haven't taken any more underwater photos since this trip. I hope I can justify another splurge down the line because I'd love to sharpen my underwater photos.