In Reply to: Book Tragic...... posted by carlos501b on Thursday, 4. November 2004 at 16:19 Bali Time:
Just let me sleep. Coz if I'm in Indonesia, most likely I'll have been still drinking at 5am earlier that same morning.
For some reason, beer tastes better on a balmy night sitting in the street at a good warung just before dawn comes to tell you it's bedtime. And there's something ineffable about hearing the Meuzzin's call at 4am, and seeing half your drinking buddies putting down the bottle and staggering off to pray for 15 minutes or so.
On the subject of Indian food... I live across the road from a decent (and very cheap) Indian restaurant (run by Punjabis). I know the owner well, and he does admit to having to dull his sauces to cater to western tastes, otherwise a lot of food is left on the plate or returned. It is possible to get a good madras with napalm sauce in Australia, but you might have to eat at the same place a few times until the staff there are confident you can eat it.
My friend and I, a few years back, toured the curry houses of Melbourne, searching for a curry so hot we couldn't eat it. We never found such a curry, but on a few occasions we ate some that we were afraid to let out again.