In Europe, hotels were at one time rated, by various
government-related tourist institutions, as * to ****,
with the latter being extremely rare, but now places are
advertising 5 of them, which I believe is bogus, and some
fancy resprt in I believe Dubai or Abu Dhabi claims 7 stars.
It's all pretty bogus, if you ask me.

In Canada the CAA awards 1 to 5 diamonds to select hotels. None of

The CAA/AAA has no official standing, and I wonder if anyone
has tweaked its nose by giving itself a five club or heart or
spade rating. Or for that matter, one might claim it had seven
no trump, redoubled, the world's highest possible.

the ones in Yellowknife are rated. The Explorer self proclaims to be
3 star. But when I met some well to do Chinese business men who are
planning on building a very high end place here ("truly a 5 star establishment") for Aurora tourists with excess dollars, and who
were lodging there, one of them smiled at that description and said,
"Maybe 1 1/2 stars".

As I've not stayed there, I can't say, though where I've
stayed in your city would be rated four stars for the
cuisine and the staff. I will say that the perfectly adequte
restaurant and bar would be worth a solid 2 diamonds, and I
suspect in a fair scheme, the establishment would get into
the exceedingly wide 3-star category, similar to a Hampton,
maybe a partial notch better.

Tomorrow is the beginning of Diwali, the Festival of Lights, and
even though our Indian friends have moved away Roslind and I have an
excuse to indulge in some sweet treats and deep fried snacks. Hey, if
I can celebrate Cinco de Mayo and Saint Patrick's Day why not
Diwali?

Hey, sure, I celebrated Diwali, sort of, mostly by avoiding
the most Hinduized parts of town, but we decided to go to a
steakhouse at 5 pm on Danteras, both circumstances that would
cut down on the competition for a table. We ddid fine, but by
6, there was a line out the door.

Title: Rose Flower Chirote
Heat ghee in a deep kadai on medium flame. Deep fry flowers on
medium fire one by one. Serve sprinkled with powdered sugar.

I've never had that nor had any Indian dish made with
that much attention to appearance, but then Indian to
me is a budget choice the same way Chinese is to most
Americans.

Atlas Martini
categories: booze
servings: 1

60 ml Fords gin
15 ml Mancino Bianco Ambrato
5 ds Champagne vinegar
2 ds orange bitters

Combine with ice in a mixing glass. Stir 30 sec,
strain into chilled martini glass, aromatize with
lemon zest spritzed over and garnish with a twist.

Sim Sze Wei. Atlas Singapore
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