ulan bator 2/7/07

at 9+am today:

while waiting for the good news (hopefully!!) that we'll get our full refund for the 2nd trip, i am stoically sitting in a small coffeeshop having bfast and watching over our bags while the other 2 attempt to wrestle with the BIG BOSS LEVEL 30.

so let me tell you about the thing on my plate.

buuz is a mongolian dumpling, with a thick starchy skin and meat inside. it's very much like a xiaolongbao, but a little more, um richer. (just short of calling it less delicate eh?)

a whitish oily skin of starch hugs the filling of mutton from the bottom and ends at the top with a tapered twist. bite into it, and you might wince from the hot steam and the thick musty smell (aroma perhaps?) of mutt-on. not only is it just meat, but one finds a liquid oozing out from the dumpling. is it a rich stock of nutritious juice?

unfortunately, it's oil.

which is actually pretty sick, when you actually notice it's 2 drops of juice in a large puddle of oil. and then you look at the filling and you realise you've got a generous amount of whitish bouncy fat.

anyhow, spending 1 plus hour waiting for the good news has a certain effect on me.

1) i milk my drink and food for all it's worth

2) i doodle and draw on a receipt of stuff bought in ulan ude. i've drawn 9 plus characters, mostly imaginary and looking quite bad. also, i've drawn a line connecting all of a particular cyrillic character, thereby creating a landscape suitable for the game "Worms"

3) i observe people eating the buuz.
some effect a small puncture wound in the luxurious dumpling, and then continue to suck it's life force dry before consuming it in large greedy bites. i could almost hear the pig-like snorting as they devoured the dumplings.others bite into it thoughtfully, but finally give way to their animalistic tendencies.

4) i start writing out my speculation about what's going on.

0850 - a&k leave the cafe
0910 - they should be talking to the boss now
0930 - they're still negotiating with the buffoon
0945 - ok i think we're going to have to go for the 2nd trip. i doubt we got the refund.
0950 - draw, luke. just trace the lines on the napkin. drown your worry in repetitive action.
1000 - ok they should be done with renting the tent. they should be here any minute
1005 - where are there??? bet those guys are pulling my leg
1015 - kinyan shows up. i expect andrew to follow, but the boss isn't even there yet.
1030 - andrew shows up. we are getting our money back.
1031 - the sun seems to be shining brightly
1032 - i order the last cup of salty mongolian national tea that i will drink during this trip to celebrate.

-l