Street food here in The Philippines is absolutely delicious, and fast, but I watched them cook it right in front of me.

So I think "industrial food" might be a better term.

what I like is that in some affluent places you can simply get prepped fruit as street food

it is yuppie prices of course, but still a good option

?

I've seen it in Munich and Frankfurt, for example. Just stands in the inner city which sell both fruit which is easy to eat with your fingers (like strawberries) and cut up fruit in a plastic container with a plastic fork.

both are sold in sizes which are meant to be eaten as a snack, not in "take home, wash, make jam" sizes.

Ah, so convenience types.

Exactly. Pure fruit turned into fast food.

"fast" in the convenience sense, not the industrial sense.

We have a few chains that are good food and "fast" but they're not so easy on the pocketbook. Most will end up being around $10 by the time you get a salad, drink, and add tax.

Reminds me of packing my minors' lunchboxes. There is always some fruit or veggie strips in there.

@rumtscho You can get a fresh mango here for about $0.35, and the vendor will happily slice and cube it for you. Same for fresh coconut (they'll whack it open and give you a straw) and pineapple / etc.

@TimPost oh, stop it - you are making my mouth water ^_^

There are mango trees growing out of most public sidewalks here (in the space where trees go) and enterprising individuals climb them, pick the riper ones, and sell them to passers-by :)

last New years eve, I was at a party given by a friend of the granolish persuasion. As one of the snacks, she had cut up colored bell peppers in 7 mm cubes. Believe it or not, it had the same attraction on us as if it had been a bowl of gummi bears.

But you're not paying for the mango, you're paying for them picking it.

It is a trick I certainly plan on stealing (the colorful diced pepper).

I wish that would work with certain kids.

@TimPost that's enough incentive for me to want to visit the Philippines!

Yes, I don't know if it worked with all the kids. But for the adults, it wasn't a matter of "I feel good about eating this because it is healthy and right to eat", it was a matter of finding yourself reaching for it unconsciously, to occupy your mouth.

Today I apparently served "yuck with ugh and blech", judgig by her reaction. The others went back for seconds and fought over the last bits.

The lady is getting pickier every month.

Eh, the human body is much more robust when it comes to nutrition than the scaremongers will have you believe.

@rumtscho local food here has a very heavy emphasis on humble and simple. But since many here want to work abroad, they go to culinary school and travel to Vietnam, France, England, Germany (usually in that order) then return to do their own thing. It's an eater's paradise.

@rumtscho I see early signs of malnutrition, though.

@TimPost I wish a plane ticket wouldn't cost my two years' food budget :(

<packs bag> @rumtscho, get two tickets!

@Stephie I want to go, too!

Ha! Group discount!

Yay!

@TimPost, you asked for this ;-)

shopping for prawns, squid, and crab

Oh, it seems affordable!

rome2rio.com/de/s/Heidelberg/Manila

Which means @ElendilTheTall stays home...

I really thought it will be at least 5000 Euro

the supermarkets blanch their muscles and clams because that's how most people want them (just cooked) but you can get them totally fresh too.

@rumtscho why are the prices in dollars?

is it localizing for me?

Yes, it localizes in Euro for me, even though my browser is in English

@Stephie Lol. I was just thinking that!

@Cindy the photo ops might sway him, though.

Hmm, I am right now pondering a question of etiquette and finance. Quite difficult to decide.

@Stephie True.

I'd like to hear your opinion on it.

When my friend died last winter, he left 16 boats behind.

Manfred, yes.

his children gave me one of them, we never talked about whether I am buying it or getting it for free

On the one hand, it feels proper to pay them some sum

On the other hand, I know that they don't need the money and I do

in fact, they decided that any money they get for the boats, they will give as a donation to our club (the children are not in the club, Manfred was)

Everybody in the club knows that Manfred would have given the boat to me as a gift had I asked for it while he was alive.

But still, it happens to also be one of the more sellable boats he used to have.

Not the one for which he paid the most

but there is one boat in the lot which a museum turned down, a mahagony 2-seater.

Another set is a pair of folding boats he imported from overseas, with maybe 10 pieces ever sold in Germany, there are just no people wanting to buy something so rare and expensive.

And this one is a good everyday whitewater boat.

@rumtscho If they gave it to you without mentioning you purchasing it, I would think that they wanted you to have it just because you were a good friend of his. I'm not familiar with customs there, but here that would be how it would be perceived.

@rumtscho dito. But continue.

There is a person from the club selling the rest of the boats for them and collecting the money, he says from his point of view it is my personal decision whether to pay something, if anything.

If I do, it certainly won't be the market price of the boat. This model could fetch 700 Euro on ebay - it is as much as a brand new boat from other brands.

If I give anything, it would be 100 Euro, I think.

But I have really no idea about their expectations for the whole thing.

If they gave you that boat and all of the others were to be sold, it certainly sounds as if they just wanted you to have it.

Ok, so there are two sides. A) the family and B) the club.

@Cindy well, I asked for it when the boats' fate was being decided. I guess I never talked to them clear enough about my role as either "a friend who is getting something from Manfred's things" or "an interested buyer who is allowed first pick".

And to top that, I wasn't there on the date the boat was taken.

I was supposed to be there, but somehow I missed the appointment because it was a Saturday evening and I hadn't taken a look at my calender - it is extremely unusual for me to have an appointment of any kind for a Saturday.

@rumtscho Ah. I see where your concern lies.

So a guy from the club transported it to the club, but I never talked to them at that moment (this is when I should have offered them money and they would have said if they want it or not)

As far as the family is concerned, I kind of think the boat was a gift. Manfred took you under his wing and wanted you to have it. We are talking emotional value here. If you are very insecure, ask them. Tell them you just want to be sure and don't "bereichern" yourself.

Maybe I should really ask them. I don't even know if they knew that Manfred would have given it to me. He had almost broken up contact with them for many years.

They had begun to grow a bit closer in the last year and a half of his life though, through a gregarious grandchild of his. The grandchild started college and Manfred started giving him math lessons.

And if they repeat the "all proceeds go to the club"?

Since the person in charge of selling the boats says it's your decision whether to pay something or not, it doesn't sound like there is an expectation. I do agree with Stephie that it was most likely a gift. Especially if they had learned of your closeness to him.

Hmm, good question here. They do get a bit through the whole thing too, because the donation reduces their taxes.

They are rather wealthy in principle, and I think Manfred left them a good amount of money, plus they got a lot from the accident insurance of our club members. So the money is peanuts to them.

@rumtscho Income tax, yes, death duty, no.

My position here comes more from being seen as a kind of parasite who just uses an old man's softened heart to get at his possessions.

Plus, as this much time has passed, if they expected anything, surely someone would have contacted you about it.

Dang, keep the boat and pay back Manfreds generosity by paying it forward.

@rumtscho I'm sure no one thinks that.

@Stephie Maybe that's a good thing to do. Wait until I have more income and someday donate more to somebody who needs it.

@rumtscho I'll second that!

If you do decide to give 100€ to the club though, make it clear that it's not payment for the boat, but a donation in memory of Manfred.

@Stephie Good point!

I'm off to start chopping stuff for the meatloaf. Catch you guys later! :)

@Stephie Actually, the mechanism would be "give money to person who sells -> he gives it to son -> son donates and gets income tax reduction". They explicitly asked for that part for all sold boats. Or do you mean it is best to not treat it as a sold boat?

The latter means you get the tax deduction...

I am more concerned with the social side of things, I guess.

But OK, I think I will leave it with the carmic donation for someday.

Not a donation for the club now - I love the club, but it is not the best cause to donate to, I think. It is doing OK financially (I know it, because I'm the cashier). Not making profit, but not losing money either.

Isn't that exactly how it should be? If you are an e.V.?

yes, it is. I mean, if I donate to something, maybe I could choose a charity, like Doctors without Borders.

Remember that "paying it forward" can also mean by donating your time and effort. Mentoring someone, for example.

I am sometimes doing something similar when I teach my kids a new skill.