{"id":998,"date":"2007-01-20T07:52:00","date_gmt":"2007-01-20T07:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/poagao.com\/poagao.org\/?p=998"},"modified":"2007-05-06T00:29:02","modified_gmt":"2007-05-06T04:29:02","slug":"i-met-up-with-such-community-luminaries-as-prince","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/poagao.org\/2007\/i-met-up-with-such-community-luminaries-as-prince\/","title":{"rendered":"Dunkin’ Donuts, but not as We Know It."},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>I met up with such community luminaries as Prince Roy<\/a>, Mark <\/a>and Battle Panda<\/a> last night after work. I was the first one there, so while I waited I sat on a sidewalk planter outside the MRT exit gazing vacantly at a lobby I was sure I had entered for some nefarious purpose in 1991.<\/p>\n Mark had an inexplicable hankering for cheesy faux-Italian cuisine, so we headed to the alleys behind Zhongxiao where he knew of some likely candidates all lined up in a convenient row. We picked one and found they had no rice, left just noodles. The soup tasted canned; proof of this was on display along the wall, lined with various Chef Boy-ar-Dee products.<\/p>\n After dinner we headed over to Nanjing East Road to sample the new Dunkin’ Donuts store, despite reports that they’d taken a lot of the sugar out of the recipes to “suit local tastes.” After walking a couple of blocks from the station, the aroma of the shop brought back memories of my childhood.<\/p>\n There was a short line, but nothing anywhere near as egregious as the Mister Donut mobs of yore. The setup was a lot better than MD, too; you just picked up tongs and filled your tray with the donuts you wanted from the shelf, rather than being introduced to a brochure and led one by one to the counter to negotiate your purchase with the cashier.<\/p>\n