output :[

Skeptical of my little output experiment, today as we spent a rainy New York Sunday lunching at one of our favorite restaurants (Penang Chinatown, NYC), my girlfriend semi-sarcastically asked me "so are you going to blog output this place?".

"No," I replied, "it's not vegan."

True enough, but apart from having the best Malaysian food this side of Taiping, one thing we love about this place is no disposable chopsticks! Brilliant! In our wasteful, modern existence, this is like a breathe of fresh, bamboo-filtered air. I know I don't have to bring my own chopsticks to this place.

It also baffles me why disposable chopsticks are still so prevalent. You wouldn't accept disposable cutlery at even a semi-decent western style restaurant, yet we do at even moderately high-end Asian eateries? Maybe this is just par for the course in a city where you are given a plastic bag for your damp umbrella, so that the water (giver of life) can't melt your skin off... or something like that.

So, remember to BYOS (bring ya own sticks!) or give your local a hard time if they give you disposable cutlery. Failing that, head down to Penang Chinatown, get the Sayor Lodeh, Vegetarian Duck (tofu skin) and an absolutely divine Pulut Hitam, and before waddling home, give 'em a thumbs up for (chop) sticking up for the environment!

• Bring your own chopsticks - The Star (Malaysia)
• Saving the Environment, One Chopstick at a Time - Columbia News Service
• The true price of disposable chopsticks - The Independent (UK)
• ECO Love-Earth DX Portable Own Chopsticks @ jbox.com

Sincere apologies for terrible puns! :[