Malaysia

Josh Trevino: A Chat With The Prominent Texan Conservative Voice Outed as Malaysian Agent

After the Berlin Wall fell in late 1989, Western agents began probing the documents long squirreled away in Soviet-satellite archives. Among the documents unearthed following Prime Minister Eric Honecker's democratic decisions was a money trail circling an Australian journalist named Wilfred Burchet ... More >>

Ron Chen, Owner and "Head Coach" at Rattan Pan-Asian Bistro

What he does Ron Chen is quick to note something right up front: "I am not a chef. I'm like a coach. As in, I don't play basketball but I coach the game, you know?" The owner of Rattan Pan-Asian Bistro, Chen has already put in a lifetime in the restaurant business and has no plans on stopping now. ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 3, John Sikhattana of Straits Shows Off Singaporean Food

John Sikhattana Executive Chef Straits Asian Bistro 800 West Sam Houston Parkway North 713-365-9922 www.straitsrestaurants.com This is the third and final part of a three-part chef chat series. Part 1 and Part 2 ran in this space over the last couple of days. Our chat with John Sikhattana this wee ... More >>

Double Happiness at Banana Leaf

A new location, right across from the old one, serves up new and old favorites. And yes, you might still have to wait.

Bartender Chat: John Ng of T.K. Bitterman's

Last weekend marked the official start of baseball season, and if you're trying to avoid the crowds, there's no better place to catch a game than the cozy Montrose sports dive T.K. Bitterman's. Completely lacking in pretension and douchebaggery, it's got that comfortable, old-school vibe. It's obvio ... More >>

Ingredient of the Week: Soy Sauce

Photo by John SuhKikkoman low-sodium: good for dipping sauces​Last week, we brought you fish sauce, the essential ingredient of southeast Asian cuisines like Thai and Vietnamese. This week, we feature a sauce of Chinese origin whose use has spread all over Asia and even the world. Read on, a ... More >>

Cover Story: Natalie Irish Paints With Her Lips (With Video Of Her Painting This Week's Cover)

​Natalie Irish has Houston's most famous set of lips. The subject of this week's cover story, Irish has recently grabbed the attention of the world by making portraits with her lip prints. She puts on lipstick, puckers up, and kisses a blank canvas until a famous person appears. Confused? S ... More >>

Phuong Anh: New Houstonian Tells Of Her Time As Near-Slave

Photos by Paula BeltránPhuong Anh told a harrowing tale of survival​The promise of a $300-per-month job was enough to convince Phuong Anh to sell her home in Vietnam and move to Jordan. Things didn't turn out like she expected. Earlier this week a tearful Anh told her story of resilience and s ... More >>

Planet Houston: Country Cooking

An around-the-world guide to the foods of Planet Houston

This Week in Deliciousness

It would be easier to keep Godzilla out of your neighborhood.​ Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where discussions on where to go for lunch routinely erupt into violence, the way our comments section almost did over our article on food vs. service. Some believe that, ... More >>

Pee Your Pants at the Hobby Center

Change of life, change of roles​In an odd, yet somehow appropriate exhortation given the context, actress Megan Cavanagh, who stars as Earth Mother in Menopause the Musical coming to the Hobby Center next week, says audiences should see the show because: "It'll make you laugh so hard you'll pee yo ... More >>

Star Snow Ice's Durian Tapioca Smoothie

​Sure, the drink in this photo looks like a mild-mannered smoothie, but don't let its vanilla appearance fool you. This is a durian smoothie from Star Snow Ice (9889 Bellaire Blvd.), which is one of my favorite places for bubble tea. WARNING: This smoothie is not for the faint of heart. The ... More >>

Up, Up and Away: Songs for Balloon Boy's iPod

Last week, America was captivated by the saga of Falcon Heene, the six-year-old boy we were told was floating across Colorado in his father's experimental weather balloon. We were so riveted, in fact, that media outlets struggled to find airtime for other equally important stories, like Madonna get ... More >>

The Burmese Come to Houston

Get in, get out. Refugees have a shrinking window of support until it's time to fend for themselves.

The Number Of Burmese Refugees Will Just Keep Growing

​A new stream of refugees began flowing out of Burma (or Myanmar) last month. Burmese troops broke a 20-year cease-fire with ethnic groups in the country's northeastern Shan region, causing an estimated 30,000 to flee across the border and into China.The fighting is part of a trend toward more vio ... More >>

This Week's No Reservations: Street Food

Photo by BOMBMANWhat we wouldn't give for this kind of street food in Houston...​This week's "Street Food" episode of No Reservations was kind of phoned in. The only new footage was of Anthony Bourdain wandering around New York City eating a hot dog and pondering aloud -- the other scenes were ... More >>

Kidnapped

Texan Larry Plake went out to one offshore oil job too many and ended up held for ransom in the Nigerian jungle.

The Willie D Scam: Read Along As It Goes Down

Willie D is still cooling his heels in a Federal lock-up as we write this, but there's updates o'plenty. Hair Balls's old buddy Matt Sonzala posted a Willie D round-up on his blog yesterday. To us, the most fascinating link Sonzala unearthed was this one, in which you can document in real time the r ... More >>

Malaysian and Chinese at Hong Kong Dim Sum

James Oseland’s Cradle of Flavor

I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone

It’s three on a mattress in Tsai Ming-liang’s look at modern love

Great Gado Gado at Noodle House 88

A nondescript noodle shop on Bellaire is serving some of the best Indonesian food in the U.S.A.

Hannah from Heaven

The Rodeo saves local parents from a winter of sulking. But what's this whole Miley Cyrus thing about, anyway?

Little Misses

Introducing the best movies of 2005 you probably didn't see

Damn Fine Fish Heads

Keep an open mind: Malaysian food is full of surprises

Free At Last

A harrowing journey leads to America, and then to someplace better

Thanks, Babe

A dead aunt plays narrator and matchmaker in Bertice Berry's When Love Calls, You Better Answer

Digging It

Tunnels are a rare bird in Houston. But will they fly for I-45?

Le Grand Cheesecake

The Vegas version of Venice, or Vienna, or someplace

The Blog Age

Matt Mullenweg helps usher in the real information revolution, one Web log at a time

I'm a Loser, Baby

Will success spoil Neil Hamburger? Don't bet on it

Letters

Reality Bytes

The White House-cracking cybergang is gone. Now Houston’s most notorious hacker hopes to reboot his life and return to his love: computers.

Best Malaysian Restaurant

Malaysia Restaurant

Noodle-Gazing

A five-part journey into Houston's fusion scene starts with some noodles

Racist Radio?

A rights group forms after local airwaves flow with anti-Chinese sentiments

The Spy Who Loved Meat

Matahari Restaurant and Bar

Duke Truong's Freedom Ride

A precocious refugee from Vietnam sought a fast track to the American Dream. He found prison instead.

Letters From the Inside

Ricardo Lara spent 19 years in Texas prisons. He got out the other day.

Cambodian Queen

Yani Keo flies under the radar of most Houstonians. But if you're a refugee or an Asian-American leader, you know how important she is.

Cali Sandwiches

Big hugs, tasty poor boys and durian -- if you dare

Trading with the Enemy

Houston oil companies maintain their profitable ties to Libya, in roundabout ways

Naturalist Born Thrillers

Butterflies are nature's floorshow and the Natural Science Museum's cash cow. John Watts' job is to keep the performers alive and flitting.

The Last Battle of Chau Minh Nguyen

An ex-commando claims the U.S. owes him for 19 lost years

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