TRAVEL WATCH: DECEMBER 6, 1999 VOL. 154 NO. 22

ALSO IN TIME

Who's Afraid of the Millennium Bug? If you plan to be airborne as the millennium rolls in, here's the good news: your plane isn't going to drop out of the sky Detour For many people, Taiwan means industry and business. But two-thirds of the island is covered with forested peaks Web Crawling A new site featuring executive survival guides for major Asian cities Off the Shelf The art of eating one's way around the globe

Off the Shelf

The Fearless Diner
By Richard Sterling
(Travelers' Tales; 126 pages)

This slim volume is dedicated to the art of eating one's way around the globe. The tone set by Richard Sterling, author of Dining with Headhunters and editor of Fiery Foods magazine, is part Miss Manners, part Conan the Barbarian. While Sterling describes in loving detail certain high-class culinary experiences--he devotes an entire chapter to mastery of the Russian place setting--he is at his best eating in the rough. From yak picnics in Tibet to roasted camel snacks in Egypt to blood soup feasts in the Philippines, Sterling possesses a splendid appetite, a cast-iron stomach and a storyteller's ability to bring alive the establishments that have hosted him. His pithy tips on table manners will help readers become welcome guests anywhere. Travelers would be wise to follow his advice: go forward and eat--and meet--the world.