Breakfast!

Our hotel room has one of those European style key card slots where you place room key in order to make the lights work.  Makes sense, so that you can't leave the lights on and waste energy while you're out of the room.  Unfortunately, the mini-bar also shuts off, and when I eventually have one of those Bintang Pilsners I'd like it to be cold.  One of the Russians, Andrei, taught me trick.  Any card will work to activate the system. I tried it with my health insurance card and sure enough, it worked.  Right up until 5:45am this morning, when suddenly it beeped and turned on every light in the room simultaneously.  To my sleeping eyes, it was like the Griswold Family Christmas display.  For future reference, I would not recommend this "trick".

But just as well we were awake, because Mia's local cell phone started buzzing literally one minute later.  Possibly due to the sheer number of us (now that the whole cast of Le Masque and Shanghai are here, along with a half dozen Europeans coming in tomorrow,  about 50 circus peeps) we will now be taking our breakfast on the 9th floor instead of in the lobby restaurant.  I was disappointed because I love the breakfast downstairs.  My fears were unwarranted: everything except the egg station has been replicated right on our floor.

First off, the coffee is to die for.  At least on par with, and likely better than the best we had in Costa Rica.  Along with that, fresh guava juice and OJ.

Cereals, toast, croissants, excellent jams.

Salad, fresh cut fruit, meats and cheeses, yogurt, and then the steam tables: today bacon, tater tots, fried rice, sausages, and other local breakfast items.  There was some kind of chicken fried beef dish that was great.

Last but not least, this is a chicken porridge.  The rice base is on the right, the chicken broth on the left.  Throw in your other items and get a hot bowl of delight.

A late update - breakfast returns to the first floor tomorrow by popular demand - unfettered access to eggs for our heroes resumes.  (Mothballing my plans for an Ursula K. Leguin parody entitled "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelets".  Deep man.  Really deep).