Mr Huo comes from Lanzhou in China, a city on the Yellow River. He used to drive

a truck, hauling goods between Lanzhou and Tibet, but that is ancient history now.

Like any budding entrepreneur, he decided to come to Phnom Penh and start a small,

family-run restaurant near Psar Thmei, one of those small shops that serves a plate

of dumplings for a buck, and noodle dishes too, among other delicacies all reasonably

priced.

The concept was so popular that it multiplied. Now there are more than a half a dozen

Chinese restaurants on that small lane between the market and Monivong. At lunch

time you're lucky if you can get a seat.

But Mr Huo is worried. He saved and invested and has now moved his Lanzhou Noodle

House to spiffier, air-conditioned premises in the New York Hotel a bit south on

Monivong Blvd. He says his noodles are still the same great quality and the dumplings

are still a bargain at a buck. He fears his regular expat customers won't be able

to find him.

So, Mr Huo's regular customers-even including the missionaries-should go visit him.

He misses you, and he knows you miss his noodles too.

But one thing is clear. Mr Huo does not miss driving a truck between Lanzhou and

Tibet.

*** The die is cast, the date is set, the clock is ticking. Hurley Scroggins says

the official grand opening for his Cantina will be Oct 23: Paris Peace Accords Day

and his mom's birthday too.

*** Inside sources say that neither Mr Huo's Lanzhou Noodle shop nor Hurley's Cantina

will ever serve Ostrich tripe. That is because an ostrich may at any one time have

up to three pounds of gravel in its stomach to help grind up food.

*** The process of forming a new government is gaining momentum with each passing

day. When a palace official was asked on Sept 23 "So what's the news?"

the response came quickly: "There is news every day!"

*** Don't miss the latest front page story in Business News. "Shock over girls

with male organs" is a classic piece of quality investigative journalism.