In this IDtelevision documentary, Steven Klimek spends an evening inside a West London pub as neighboring Chelsea Football Club attempts to win the Champions League for the first time in its history.

In honor of the announcement that the NHL lockout will end and play will resume…

Take a walk around any big city, London to New York to Narnia, and you’ll see that street food is all the rage these days. Never mind the fact that people around the world have been eating out of carts for centuries; when white people in places like Austin start to take note of its “charm” and willingly fork over $10 for a taco, you know street food has arrived. Sadly, they can try every one of those $10-a-plate carts in every city in America, and they’ll never find anything as good as what can be had for a tiny fraction of that price on the streets of Bangkok.

Thailand is notorious for street food, as it suits the local culture in so many ways. First, Thai people generally don’t eat three square meals a day, instead preferring to have many more small meals. Second, these are a social people, generally preferring to meet outside rather than staying in the home. And finally, Thais are sticklers for cleanliness—obviously an important factor when eating a few meters away from speeding motorcycles and trucks.

Furthermore, you can find just about anything on the streets here, though there’s a good bet that it will have undertones of fish sauce and red chilies. Given the international nature of Thailand and its cuisines, the mixture of culinary traditions from throughout Asia and even the Middle East leaves room for plenty of creative concoctions.

While small dishes rule the roost, my personal favorites are larger meals, often cooked up on the sidewalks of regular restaurants after they are closed for business for the day. Picture anything you’ve ever ordered at your local Thai restaurant (except for pad thai, which of course seems targeted more towards unsuspecting white people), and it is available here in abundance, with only fresh, local ingredients, for about $2 USD.

Street food here is neither boutique-trendy nor low-quality. It’s just a normal part of the local food culture, and you’re stomach will probably be best suited here if you never set food inside an actual restaurant.

The rules of Brighton le Sands

Just a little something to get you in a beachy mood. Just be aware, there’s no lifesaving service here today!

Before you even finish reading this post, chances are your friends in Spain are getting ready to eat—again. See, the Spanish don’t believe in the three square meals a day traditionally enjoyed by much of humanity. Here, it’s actually more like six. But before you worry about heart attacks and blood clotting that this sort of gluttony must surely lead to, fear not—the meals are small, and people here tend to enjoy healthy lifestyles full of walking and exercise.

So without further adieu, let’s introduce you to the meals enjoyed in Spain throughout the day—a far more intricate exercise than your typical breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Timetable of Meals in Spain

8:00am:  El Desayuno

A small meal typically eaten at home consisting of coffee and some bread or pastry—perhaps churros (think stick-like Spanish donut) or porras (similar to churros but slightly thicker).

El Desayuno: churros and a cup of hot chocolate (or coffee)

11:00am:  Tapas

Small plates eaten between breakfast and lunch, typically at a local bar, each of which serves its own specialty. Hot or cold, the selection of tapas varies greatly by region, and even by restaurant, but some of the most common are the Tortilla Espanola (Spanish potato omelet), Patatas Bravas (potatoes with spicy tomato sauce), or Gambas al Ajillo (shrimp cooked in garlic).

A selection of tapas available in a Madrid restaurant

A close-up of a tortilla espanola…

2:00pm:  La Comida

The largest and most important meal of the day, this historically consists of several courses and is enjoyed slowly, with most Spanish people taking a 2-3 hour siesta (break) from their jobs or schools between about 2:00 and 5:00 in the afternoon. This tradition is more confined to rural areas now, as most Spanish businesses today offer the standard 1-hour lunch break, which is still enough to feature a large meal with a soup, a protein, salad, dessert and a coffee.

Lunch in Madrid

A fine Valencian paella

5:30pm:  La Merienda

This is a small snack between lunch and dinner, usually consisting of a piece of bread with some lunch meat or chocolate on top.

A typical Merienda

9:00pm:  La Cena

Dinner for Spaniards consists of similar meals that may be enjoyed during La Comida, just in smaller quantity—perhaps two courses. Families typically eat around 9pm, but this may be much later in the summer, when it is not uncommon for people to stay up well past midnight.

Dinner selections are similar to lunch, just smaller

Midnight:  Dessert

This is by no means mandatory, but it is typical for people here to enjoy a light snack prior to bed, which often consists of a churro and some hot chocolate (very similar to El Desayuno). You’ll see this sold frequently by street vendors in popular nightlife areas.

If I had to choose one word to sum up my fascination with Japan, it would be contradiction.  It’s a culture in which the more quickly you can become comfortable with extremes, the more quickly you can assimilate.  This range of seeming opposites is prevalent in many aspects of Japanese society, and evident with just a quick stroll around business-cultural hubs like Tokyo’s Shinjuku, Ginza or Roppongi neighborhoods at different times of day or night.

Growing up in America, I had often heard of Japan’s extremely serious “business” mentality—from the pressure put on children to perform on academic tests at a young age to the dark, homogenous suits and long business hours in the workplace.  In other words, when I saw this group of identically-dressed businessmen on the 6:10am JR Keihin-Tohoku line train from Yokohama to Tokyo Station, or this cluster of early risers walking from the station trying to be first to the office, again dressed alike, I wasn’t surprised.

Keihin-Tōhoku Line between Tokyo & Yokohama

Outside Tokyo Station

However, over the course of rushing to catch the last train home each night (usually around midnight, depending on the line and station) whenever I’m in Tokyo, which is a common nightly exercise for many, I was initially shocked each time I saw one of these traditional Japanese salarymen, bland dark suit and all, sprawled out completely unconscious on a train platform floor.

Hibiya Station; Chiyoda Line

Roppongi Station; Oedo Line

Shimbashi Station; Ginza Line

Aoyama Itchome Station; Hanzomon Line

As if working 12 hour days is not enough, you’ll quickly discover drinking to be a major part of Japanese business culture.  While intended to ‘relieve’ stress, it is more of an expectation and obligation than voluntary pursuit, yet another contradiction to mirror the simple idea of an intimidating, business-savvy, demanding boss to many by day knocked out on a public floor like a flunking college freshman by night.

Ah, the beauty of Japan…

A little shout out to my university…