More Goan Daytripping

Awake and looking for more adventures around Panaji (pronounced, inexplicably as "Panjim"), we rode 5-6km to a ferry crossing and took a boat over to Chorgao island. there, our tourist office map informed us, was  bird sanctuary. it turned out to be, in eliot's estimation, "a mosquito sanctuary" but the fresh air, bizarre mangrove formations and a few herons actually made it almost worth the 50Rs they asked for entrance.

we took the ferry back and covered the remaining 10km or so to Old Goa, site of some Big Catholic Church and some Other Big Catholic Church. we opted for one, snapped some photos, looked at paintings of old Portuguese dictators and decided to skip the Other in favor of some food which was less-than-fresh. stomachs full (of what, i cannot say) we biked back to Panaji, read, packed and had two last beers - turborg and a kingfisher i believe - before hitting the sack. tomorrow would be a long one.

we awoke early, and i felt like crap. more accurately i felt like i couldn't crap, but i'll spare you the details. suffice it to say the short 15km or so to the train station was grueling for me - it was early, i was tired, i felt bad and i had nothing but a 14 hour train ride in "sleeper class" to look forward to. the picture painted of sleeper class by the guide books is bleak to say the least. the term "cattle car" leaps to mind. the words "grim", "noxious" and "unbearable" are close behind.

we jumped a train from Panaji to Margao with some confusion with the porters about the bicycles. a few bills and about a thousand pieces of paper saw the bikes safely onto the train. everything in india works on bureaucracy and none of it is in the least bit efficient. rampant, rank inefficiency is the name of the game here. you often have to speak with a man to get a form to requisition the paper work to get a meeting with the guy who can fill out the form to get you into the office of the guy who you end up paying 100Rs. to look the other way. it works, eventually.

anyway, we had 3 hours to kill at the Margao train station - Margao itself is nothing to see. we bought some american comic books (spiderman, batman animated series reworks, and (best of all!) old reprints of conan the barbarian from marvel). we read, snacked and had no less than 15 cups of tea. the train station restaurant was less poor than expected.

in time, we boarded the train to bangalore. little did we know what we were in for.

Mr. Kunal

there is no way to sum up everything that happened we met and stayed with mr.kunal. i think, for the sake of the blog, i'll try to sum things up quickly.  sadly, i cannot transmit to you everything that was said and felt during our evening with him and his beautiful family.  you'll just have to take my word when i say it marks a meeting with one of the finest souls i've met in this life.

(fyi, for visualization purposes, imagine ghandi and hemingway mixed together and you've pretty much got it)

so there we are, tired and hungry with only a dim hope that up ahead lies someplace, anyplace, where we can rest.  we pull into a 'holiday house" to ask for directions.  a deaf man waves at us and smiles, then motions to the big house. a smiling man in a blue shirt and simple sandals emerges and approaches us, smiling and waving.

we give him the standard speech. "hi, we're gringos. we're traveling india on bikes and we're looking for (insert poorly pronouced destination here)." we expect broken english and a vague sense of where the next town is. instead we get -

"kim beach is very close. but you may camp here on my land if you wish. here, here or over there - wherever. there are guest houses there you may use if you don't wish to camp. here is a double room. come inside. here is hot water. is this bathroom okay? the water is all filtered. i know how you westerners are about clean water. here is hot water for a bath. take one, it will work out all the knots. sit here, i'll get some tea."

we were stunned. he never insisted we stay, he only made sure we knew we were welcome too. "may we pay you for the room?" i asked. "why? just stay here, there is not trouble."

honestly, i was on the verge of tears.  bleary eyed, i wiped my face and sat down to tea and biscuits. we had tea while the sun set in kunal's backyard. he left us alone saying he had a few things to do. when we were settled, we worked on the bikes for a while and both took a long indian style bath - basically pouring water over yourself from a small bucket. it's wondefully refreshing, a good exercise (as mr. kunal later pointed out) and oddly luxurious. we adjusted the brake pads and trued all the wheels before deciding that we should go thank our hosts again.

we were welcomed into the main house with smiles and were given the full tour. kunal spent years working as a wireless operator for different oil companies and ammased enough money to buy a little land, build a house and plant many trees to eat off of.  his prayer room was beautifully tucked away and very cleanly swept. the kitchen was well used and smelt like fresh food. the whole place was spacious, comfortable and lived-in. we were seath and kunal and his lovely wife gave us rum and pepsi.  we drank two rounds with kunal and talked about so much ... amnog the two hours or more throughout which there was never a dull or uninspiring moment, a few bright points stick out -

"europeans think too highly of themselves. you have to buy yours bread over here, not there. you are over there, i am over here. you are low. i am high. in France you must always be less than the french. france is a terrible place."

"churches can be very good but you must be careful - they like to build buildings and wear white robes, clean robes only. sometimes they are really good people but often they want some money or they say "you better think like me!""

"being on the bottom, being poor, is a very good thing. way up high on the mountain are the officials, the rulers and the priests and things.  but from the bottom of the mountain you can see straight up their robes. so you know their asses are as dirty as yours."

"the world is a round place - what happens here, goes around to there."

"if you have stream that's flowing in one direction and you want to change it, you cannot cut it off, or just block it.  it will explode and run over. you have to turn it very slowlyvery gradually and then it will go right where you want wihout any problems. this is how indians deal with things. when we kicked the british out, there were anglo-indians left who only wanted to associate with each other. so we said - okay. and we pushed them out a little. next generation, we push them out a little further. now, there are none."

"in america, decades ago, it didn't matter what you did, only how much money you made. we make the same? we're on par. it doesn't matter if he is a drug dealer or pimp or anything - money made you equal.  now i think things are different. but here, we don't just move out the dealer. if you make it, maybe you sell it, or you use it. just like the stream - little bit at a time, we push them all over there.  we kick them out. if you do any part of it, we move you over there, we move you out - slowly."

"there is no other woman than my wife for me, romantically. there are other women, i know. but sex or something - doesnt cross my mind. a son grows up and he says "this is my mom. this is my new mom. this is my new dad." and he grows up with that and he sleeps with whoever. i think you guys, your generation is better, but many americans and europeans grow up and they don't klnow what marraige is. i love my wife, she is my the only one."

"it's like benches or signs that say "no blacks or dogs allowed." a kid, maybe 6 or 8 he doesn't know, doesn't care. his best friend is black. but he sees that sign and his friend sees that sign.  then about 10 or 11 he says, what is black? he is black, i am not black, like this. there are many examples. we shouldn't teach our children these things. but it's very important to know - something changes in the mind at ten or eleven. we stop just being us, our mind opens uand we start thinking and seeing other people differently. we should be careful what we teach children."

Dinner with the Sharans

We drove over to the house of a guy who works with eliot's dad. Vikram Sharan and his wife Shwetka invited us over for some amazing food and advice about travel to their home country. Besides having a great apartment overlooking the water, an adorable (and talkative) daughter, and a bunch of good advice, Vikrams wife is an amazing cook. We had two kinds of vegetarian dishes, a yogurt, rice, homemade bread,carrot dessert and curried chicken.

Before lunch, gathered around a small table in the living room, Vikram ran us through about a hundred little towns and cities we have to see. From simple straight forward advice like "the view of the north is that it's unsafe. It's really very safe. Even for westerners" to some lofty claims like "Fateh Pursikri is much better than the Taj." and in the contiuing tradition of people everywhere in the world loving Texans, Vikram smiled when he learned that's where I'm from and, with some prodding, proclaimed "Bihar (his birthplace) is the Texas of India!!" He made the motion of pulling out six shooters. The legend of Texas continues! All hail the mighty state!

Really, we talked about too much to sum up here
but I wrote down as much as I could and I'm sure we'll be referencing it throughout the trip. It sounds like we'll get to experience the festival of colors (Holi) when we first arrive, got some Great Advice about traveling and staying in Nepal, and perhaps best of all, Vikrams brother is a colonel in the army who we're assured will be happy to show us to the Golden Temple!

dinner with the saeeds

i work with a wonderful person named Nabeeyah Saeed. We just call her Bea. Bea was born and raised in Michigan but her family is originally from Yemen, and that's where her husband was born. Alot of their family lives in India, particularly in and around Hyderabad and Madras.  Last sunday they invited us over for dinner. 

When we first got there, Mr. Saeed treated eliot and i to a nice, cold XXs.  apparently, he's crazy about mexican beer. i can empathize. we talked alot about the trip, his family, our family. we had some chili / lime fried chips (also from mexico). as we munch down and knock back beer it occurs to me that mexico and india have a lot in common. deeply religious, traditional older folks set against the modernization of the young, post colonialism and (as i've mentioned here) a love of mixing sweet with spicy. also, dancing. 

mr. saeed talked a lot about his time in madras as a young man. about brahmans looking down on those lower than them (in the caste system, that's everyone else), about Sikhs hating muslims ... some strong words were exchanged. at the end of each assertion, though, Mr. Saeed would sweep it away. "Do what you want to do" he said later in the evening. "if people don't approve, then to hell with them. Go somewhere else." I guess that's how he ended up with Bea, in America. 

Bea is a perfectly western woman. She lied to her mother to play soccer, hid her intentions to join the FBI and ended up working as a director of nurses at a hospice taking care of the dying. she does what she wants, says what she thinks and has one of the biggest hearts in the world. Mr. Saeed is a blessed man, and he knows it. As much as Yemenis extremists have been in the news, here are two wonderfully loving Americans, sharing food and wisdom with a couple of wide-eyed american-born idiots. Mr. Saeed left Yemen, then India, married a strong, independent woman and settled down with his family. 

Bea makes Yogurt curry, rice, green beans and tuna curry.  There's chutney, and chili sauce and something i can't identify - another chutney maybe?  It's green and spicy and tastes good with everything. Me and eliot eat two plates before taking a break. I want more but i'm stuffed. I drink the rest of my beer to calm my stomach down. Everything tastes amazing. 

He beams when his sons are in the room - he has 3. He scolds one of the young ones who is playing his video games upstairs too loud. he tells us about the food in india, how he loved curries and hot arabic dishes ... about how madras is the perfect city for vegetarians. He tells us that when he got married, bea told him she'd cook dinner on the first night. She made sloppy joe's.  He was expecting curry and rice. Bea didn't know how to make curry (she grew up in Michigan - remember?). 

Later we're in the garage. Mr. and Mrs. Saeed are smoking.  Bea is sitting on an old bow-flex machine and Mr. Saeed leans on a desk.  Eliot is in front of a heated and i'm in a plastic lawn chair. It's so cold we can see our breaths. Their cigarettes look warm.  

"My sister was the third woman in Yemen to drive a car," Mr. Saeed is saying. "And you know, nowadays, that's okay. But then it was a big deal. It was Ramadan and you know, you're not allowed to eat all day.  So people go out, they go for walks, they drive, they go to the market or the mall. So we were out driving and this guy, he stops us because my sister is driving.  I get out and we start talking ... he says this ... I say ... I said a bad word.  And it was Ramadan so I can't say these words. He pulls out a J-knife, a big knife, you know a j-knife? And he comes at me and I grab a rock and I hit him in the face."  Eliot and I share a look. 

We're back inside and the Saeeds are telling us about places to go, people they know we should look up. Mr. Saeed makes chai - we each have at least two cups. The tea is strong - and perfect. Mr. Saeed tells us to eat "paan" whenever we get a chance but to be careful where we spit - the treat turns your saliva red. He says to stay away from "sooka." It's like paan but stronger, made with some kind of tobacco or cannabis that will "turn our heads," he says. He says even indians won't touch it, the smart ones anyway. 

We shake hands about a dozen times, i'm writing everything on my phone.  We say goodbye five or six times and finally, four hours after arriving we walk out to the car, leftovers in our hands. 

spicy safari, episode 4

EPISODE 4 - Knife-Faced Cats

OR

Another way to die in India

WARNING - LOTS OF AWESOME TIGER VIDEOS! 

And so we come to the national animal of India - the Bengal Royal Tiger. The bengal is probably the tiger you've seen if you've been to the zoo - not as big as the siberian tiger, but the most numerous. and even though there's only about 2100 of the guys in the world, somewhere between 1300-1500 live in India.  Tigers are amazingly powerful, have enormous claws and eat up to 60lbs of meat in a single meal. Also they are purely carnivorous! We're Doomed! AGAIN! 

no but seriously, tigers are fiercely territorial and stay spread out.  like every other animal on this list, rapid encroachment has forced tigers out of their typically habitat meaning tigers and humans sometimes bump shoulders.  even though they'd much prefer to be left alone,  they don't like eating humans (they'd much rather eat their cattle - and even that it's anywhere near their top choice).  when pressed and hungry, tigers have been known to eat old, sick and wounded humans (check, check and check - we should be fine). such a tiger is called a MANEATER and will continue to eat humans. tigers have also been known to eat wolves, jackals (not, unfortunately "jackyls"), bears (<-- great music on that one) and even crocodiles as food and even though it's rare, they've been observed taking down rhinos and even elephants. 

STELLAAAAAAAA!

whenever you get scared about a tiger, bear, shark or any other animal munching down on you just remember that to them you look and smell like a giant hairless monkey - nowhere near what they usually eat. moreover, the soap and fragrances we wear make us smell like a bunch of nuclear flowers.  they are much more interested in our urine (which smells like an animal and more to the point contains salt - mmmm) and, if you eat meat, your food. raw meats, jerky, and smoked fish smell awesome to animals. thankfully, me and eliot are both veggies and super flatulent to boot. that's nature's tiger repellent. 

Faster, Tiger, KILL KILL

on to much more interesting tiger facts: tigers live on their own, and are expected to create and maintain their own territory from the time they are 18 months old on. their fathers will leave as soon as they are born, so they're raised entirely by their mothers. they basically spend their lives cruising around and munching down on small and medium-sized game and staying out of areas that other tigers have sprayed. tigers can tell male from female sprays, and should a male wander into a female's territory (or vis versa) they will typically get it on.  the exception is if the female is already preggo. then the male tiger's like "i don't need no drama" and he gets a jäger and peaces.

above all, the largest enemy to tigers is humans. ugh ... once again messing up what is inherently awesome in the universe.  get this: the number one killer of tigers? CRACK-POT MEDICINE. in addition to the famous tiger-wang powder that is supposed to make a dude rip-snorted sexual tyrannosaurus (i tried - it doesn't), their teeth, organs and pelts are prized for magical purposes. you can find a really disgusting list of things here if you're into that kind of thing.  

look, i love (LOVE) black magic, supernatural powers and mysticism more than just about anything. but one thing i DO love more than all those things is kittens. and tigers are basically big kittens. with knives in their faces. so please, please: stop killing the giant kitties, won't you?  

taking their penises isn't going to make you feel any better about your penis. 

please. stop stealing tiger wang. 

emirates air jordan

BEST. AIRLINE. EVER.

just sampling the various vegetarian options on my way around the world. check out the meal plans:

Meal Preferences for MURRAY/ELIOTMR

Flight number	Route	Meal
EK212	United States, US (IAH) to United Arab Emirates, AE (DXB)	Standard Asian Vegetarian Meal Bland Meal Diabetic Meal Fruit Platter Gluten-Free meal Hindu Meal Low Calorie Meal Low Cholesterol/Low Fat Meal Low Sodium Meal Muslim Meal Non-Lactose Meal Raw Vegetable Meal Seafood Meal Vegetarian Meal Vegetarian Jain Meal Vegetarian Lacto-Ovo Meal Vegetarian Oriental Meal
EK502	United Arab Emirates, AE (DXB) to India, IN (BOM)	Standard Asian Vegetarian Meal Bland Meal Diabetic Meal Fruit Platter Gluten-Free meal Hindu Meal Low Calorie Meal Low Cholesterol/Low Fat Meal Low Sodium Meal Muslim Meal Non-Lactose Meal Raw Vegetable Meal Seafood Meal Vegetarian Meal Vegetarian Jain Meal Vegetarian Lacto-Ovo Meal Vegetarian Oriental Meal
EK509	India, IN (BOM) to United Arab Emirates, AE (DXB)	Standard Asian Vegetarian Meal Bland Meal Diabetic Meal Fruit Platter Gluten-Free meal Hindu Meal Low Calorie Meal Low Cholesterol/Low Fat Meal Low Sodium Meal Muslim Meal Non-Lactose Meal Raw Vegetable Meal Seafood Meal Vegetarian Meal Vegetarian Jain Meal Vegetarian Lacto-Ovo Meal Vegetarian Oriental Meal
EK211	United Arab Emirates, AE (DXB) to United States, US (IAH)	Standard Asian Vegetarian Meal Bland Meal Diabetic Meal Fruit Platter Gluten-Free meal Hindu Meal Low Calorie Meal Low Cholesterol/Low Fat Meal Low Sodium Meal Muslim Meal Non-Lactose Meal Raw Vegetable Meal Seafood Meal Vegetarian Meal Vegetarian Jain Meal Vegetarian Lacto-Ovo Meal Vegetarian Oriental Meal

Food of India, part V: The Mystery of Chicken 65

you may or may not know this, but both eliot and i are vegetarians and have been for quite a while.  but today i want to focus on a mysterious meat-centered dish known the world over as CHICKEN 65.  here's what we know about chicken 65:

1. i was introduced to it via the little indian buffet down the highway from where i work.  all meat-eaters rave about.  i snuck a bite. it's pretty great. 
2. visiting pakistani and indian workers to a large hosting company here in town not only were shocked to find it, they  were elated, claiming it's one of their favorite dishes back home. 
3. no one knows where the name comes from. 

it sort of resembles spicy chicken wings in that it's bright orange (at least where i've seen it) and fried, often deep friend. it's bright, it's spicy and it's delicious. but what in the blazes does the 65 refer to? to the Google!

i have to say, i'm disappointed in the internet. the wiki article writes that no one knows where the name comes from.  it offers some explanations.  searching around a bit, it seems that the year it was created in a hotel called Buhari in Channais / Madras is a popular story and at least has some claim considering the other "annual" dishes they serve.  like everything else in india, there seem to be about 1000 angles and answers for this question. frankly, india seems a country content with ambiguity and happy with what they have. it seems like every time i try to track down some bit of indian minutiae, i end up with a whole bunch more questions.

i leave it to you, dear readers. what DOES the 65 in chicken 65 refer to? 

Food of India, part IV: beer!

today we're going to tackle the two most popular beers in india: Kingfisher and Haywards 5000, both of which are lagers (meaning, among other things that they bottom-ferment as opposed to "real" ales which top ferment.)

Haywards distinguishes itself as the world's largest selling strong beer, reportedly selling 14 million cases worldwide on average. most reviewers claim that it is strong and assertive but not pungent or unpleasant.  it seems to have a pretty popular following (mostly among folks who had it once and are trying to track it down again, if the forums are any indication).  since the term lager can cover a lot of beer (and in my estimation popular lagers like pilsners are generally tasteless) i imagine that Haywards is probably a middle-of-the-road drinking kinda beer. on the other hand, as the can indicates, it is "SUPER STRONG." i've never had one so i'll leave it here with Haywards 5000's official slug line: 

"Launched in 1983, Hayward's 5000 lager is synonymous with strong beer in India. It's an authentic, premium Indian lager that hails as India's most preferred and popular beer. The bold character and lingering flavor of this Indian classic derives from a careful blend of select hops and malts in a brewing process that exemplifies timeless Indian traditions. Exclusively brewed and bottled in India under SABMiller supervision, this Crown Jewel of Indian beers is now enjoyed worldwide!"

Now Kingfisher you've probably heard of if you spend any amount of time in bars. Take it away, Kingfisher Breweries Marketing Department: 

"Kingfisher Premium Lager is a conventionally fermented beer, with a perfect balance of flavor congenors. It is brewed to the highest international standards, from the finest quality malted barley and hops.

Kingfisher Premium Lager has won numerous international awards for its excellence & exceptional quality.

Kingfisher Premium Lager is available in over 55 countries. In England, Kingfisher Premium is the lager of choice at the over 7000 Indian restaurants. It is also available at stores such as Sainsbury's & Safeway. In the US, Kingfisher is the largest selling lager in Indian restaurants nation-wide!

Kingfisher Premium Lager enhances the taste sensation of many foods - From the savory spiciness of Indian cuisine, to the wholesome taste of steaks, burgers, hot dogs, pizza & pasta!"

Again, i'm generally unimpressed with light beers. But India is no different than the rest of the world and folks prefer what's Cheap and available. Heck, I wouldn't fault a man for drinking (the nigh-tasteless) Lone Star Beer.

As soon as we have boots on the ground in india, we'll let you know how these beers measure up in their native land.  it somehow doesn't seem right to review indian beer in america. until then, please enjoy more efforts from the good folks trying to sell you Kingfisher (OOOhh LA-la-la-La Le-Ley-OOOOOO!) and Haywards 5000 (Dude!).

Yeah, you tell 'em Sanjay. Pansies.

Food of India, part III: naan

naan is actually a generic term although you will hear people say "i love naan bread." this is pretty much the equivalent of saying "i like bread" which, while perhaps true, is a little vague.  naan just means flat bread (often JUST "bread"), usually leavened with yeast. and, yes, the typically variety you get in an indian or middle eastern restaurant is delicious. i can't fault you there.

in the north of india, heavily influenced by greek and arabian culture, you'll find naan is the staple, and the back-bone of every meal (conversely, in the humid south, rice is king).  naan comes in a bunch of forms - from buttered breakfast varieties, to sugar sweets. roti is a "pocketed" variety of naan, sometimes called india pita.

it's common throughout asia to eat with one's hands (always the right!) and bread and rice act as utensils.  don't believe me? let's take a trip down to the india buffet around the corner: you'll see old and young alike grab a pinch of rice or naan, drop it into the daal and pick the whole shooting-match up to munch on. before you freak out about the nastiness of eating with one's hands, i highly suggest you go take a peak at the kitchen staff at your favorite restaurant. think every single one of those forks and spoons is getting a sanitized scrubbing? think again. at least with your hands you're in control of how clean they are.

i'm not sure what else to say about naan so i'll just drop a link here to a much greater authority on the subject of making naan, Manjula. looooooove that accent.

Food of India, part II: saag paneer

saag paneer (also called Palek Paneer) is a super tasty dish that indians enjoy on a daily basis. i enjoy it when i make the drive down to bombay hall for lunch. either way, it's delicious to the max.


saag is usually made with spinach or mustard greens, and it's basically just wilted and then cream is added. paneer is the name of a simple cheese (usually homemade) that goes in the dish. actually, i was up at the grocery last night and saw paneer in the cheese section so, there you go. not so exotic.


like most of what westerners think of as "indian" cuisine, saag paneer is punjabi. see, when pakistan was united in 1947, all the conservative muslims went thataway, which drove alot of ethnic hindus down into the country from the Punjab region.  at least, that's the story i heard from the nice indian lady on splendid table who went on and on about how awesome mangoes were (see previous post!). punjab cuisine became all the rage and as more immigrants left india for the west, that's the cuisine they brought with them. pretty much all the indian food you've had, chances are, has been punjabi.


here is a video on how to make this dish. you know it's a good recipe when every ingredient is "to taste" and the cooks eye-ball everything.

Food of India, pt. 1

i have officially declared it food week here on the blog, meaning that in addition to our usually, nonsensical posts, you're going to be learning about the cuisine of india.

when your talking about food in india, you have to start with the mango. the mango is national fruit of india  and there are hundreds of varieties available in india. due to some bizarre ban on fruit from india, the united states couldn't import them, so we mostly had the boring ol' standard mango. however, in 2007 the ban was lifted so if you look around you may find a few crazy varieties. expect them to be expensive and not-as-fresh as mangoes grown more locally.

mangoes in india are like apples in the states, only like a hundred-times bigger deal.  India is the largest producer of mangoes in the world, by far. but india represents less than one percent of the global trade in mangos since the consume nearly all the mangoes produced. these are serious, mango-eating people.

in the traditional folk medicine of india, Ayurveda, mangoes are used to restore and maintain balance in the body.  they are made into chutneys and pickled, but they're also eaten raw with salt or a little chili.  much like our friends in mexico, indians are obsessed with matching sweet to spicy. pahna is a cool drink made from mango juice enjoyed in the peak of the hot season, and a mango-yogurt smoothie called lassi is super popular as well. a freshly squeezed mango-juice from a street vendor will run you about 20 rupees (about 43¢).  march to may is the best time to get mangoes across the country, since that's when the bulk of the fruit ripens (just prior to the monsoon season).  lucky for us, we arrive february 25 and leave may 28 - during a lull in tourism and at the very peak of the mango-buying season meaning prices will be low and the fruit fresh, plump and delicious.


among indians, the consensus is that the alphonso mango (also called Hapoos) is king. named for Afonso de Albuquerque, it's grown mostly in Karnataka and Maharastra.  It's apparently amazing on it's own, and makes the best smoothies and candies. it's also really expensive, and can run you about 50 rupees ($1.08). it was described by one reporter as "knockout sweet, sorbet-smooth and very wet." the juicier the better when it comes to mangoes, as lapping up the overspill is de rigueur.