Tomatoes!

Vegetables here in Laos are unbelievably fresh. Mind you, there isn't a concept of organic or otherwise. The people simply grow vegetables the way they always have. Agricultural land is largely unpolluted, except for those evil unexploded buried bombs.

With alot of skepticism, I took a small scoop of tomatoes to try. These were just normal tomatoes. They weren't the honey tomatoes or anything fancy. But woah, 2 bites were enough to convince me to go back to the buffet line and dump a larger scoop onto my plate.

In fact, a full plate of raw cubed tomatoes and sliced cabbage was all I wanted for lunch. I'm salivating just thinking of having the same thing tomorrow. Crunchy and sweet, I could happily eat another plateful if not for the fact that people already think I'm obsessed with my weight.

I didn't bother clarify about dietary preferences or tell them that I'm not trying (not too hard anyway) to lose more weight. It isn't very polite to tell my hosts that I don't eat chicken and I'm not too interested in the rest of the food can I? They will think that I don't like Lao food; when the truth is- I don't even eat this sort food at home. Let's just say that I can cook a better spaghetti bolognaise than what's been served at lunch.

So I simply smile and let them assume I eat this way because girls generally want to keep their figures trim.