This melange of turmeric root, shallots, lemongrass, galangal, garlic, and chili would soon become the spice paste in our fish amok. The burnt-orange turmeric root is responsible for giving the amok its distinct creamy amber hue. But it also leaves…
Why do we stop writing?
I’ve been thinking about this a lot about over the past several weeks. Do we stop writing because we have too many stories to tell or because we have too few? And when we do stop, how do we get ourselves…
Some things I love about Europe
Desperados beer – beer (malt liquor) and tequila (-flavoured malt liquor) mixed together to birth the perfect 5.9% ABV beverage Subways with no turnstiles Cheese courses for dessert (as long as dessert is its own separate course) Bikers who aren’t out…
Baby steps, or my first year living in China
It still feels a little wrong to say that I’ve been living in China for a year. But I have. Here goes: “I’ve been living in China for an entire year of my life”. Wrong, because I remember coming back…
Life Abroad: What I expected and what really happened
Living in a foreign place never turns out the way you would have thought it to have turned out. And right now, I’m panicking. Hard. In about two weeks, I’m flying back to the U.S. for the first time in almost a year. It’s…
Twilight bike rides and countless other reasons to go to Guilin
I’ve never seen a place quite as picturesque as Guilin before in my life. I don’t say things like that often, because, let’s face it, those ugly deciduous forests that I pass while going into a new city are pretty much the same whether…
2014: The year in brunch
I think 2014 was the year I re-discovered brunch. Now okay, that’s a sweeping (and honestly kind of stupid) statement, but it’s kind of true. Brunch is not one of those meals that we need to eat (like breakfast is supposedly, but for…
My life in China in 4 drinks.
I never thought I’d spend so much time each day thinking about drinking water. But I am, I am consumed both by water that I drink (it’s often lukewarm and gross) and water that I don’t drink (8 glasses a day? that’s not gonna happen).
Roman Columns and Jewish Turnovers
Four years ago, I spent a magical summer in Paris, capturing memories in a long-forgotten blog. Every Thursday, I’ll post my favorite entries from that blog. This is reprinted from 7-14-10. This post is dedicated to food. Le Marais…
My 24-hour United nightmare, or how I finally got to Shanghai
Things that went wrong with my flight to Shanghai Would it be unfair to say everything? I think there was something to my bad omens about Shanghai. Having a shouting match at 3am in Laguardia with the United check-in lady, who…