The thing I wanted to to more than anything else in se Asia was to ride an elephant through the jungle. I’m not sure why, but I REALLY wanted this to happen. I did my homework and discovered that Mondulkiri, a remote province in eastern Cambodia near the Vietnam border, is among the best places in the world for elephant trekking. The trip from Siem Reap to Mondulkiri took 12 hours, 4 of which were spent in a 14 passenger van that had 17 people plus baggage. As I was getting off the bus in Mondulkiri, I met 4 other travelers who were also headed to the place I would be staying, The Nature Lodge. Rathana, the owner’s nephew and a really cool guy, picked us up at the bus stop and took us to the lodge. Lonely Planet recommended staying there and with good reason; the place was perfect. It was rustic, green in every sense of the word, family run and fantastic. On our second full day there, three of us went on a 2 day/1 night elephant trek. My expectations could not have been higher and to say they were exceeded would be an understatement. The elephants were amazing and they were not even the best part of the trek. Our mahouts (elephant jockeys) were Phnong, an ethnic minority group in Mondulkiri. There was a woman in her 40s, a guy about my age, a girl that was between 15 and 25, and a boy that was 10 or 12. They spoke no English, but did not need to. Our English speaking guide, Dol, spoke very little English and was quite a character. Dol prepared all of our food from scratch and it was delicious. We even got to eat wild mushrooms that the mahouts harvested along the trek. Our camp site was by a river and small waterfall. We slept in hammocks covered with mosquito nets. Tarps were hung over the hammocks, but no rain fell despite it being rainy season. On the second day, we went to a larger waterfall and had lunch in a Phnong village. The people there were so happy to host us and really enjoyed having their pictures taken. There was not a single letdown during the trek; everything was perfect. In total, I spent 4 days and 4 nights in Mondulkiri. I count them among the best of my life.
open mind, empty stomach
travel, food, and fun
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Siem Reap was a breath of fresh air after Bangkok. The journey there, the border crossing in particular, is supposed to be a little challenging; it was. My research indicated that getting to the Cambodian side of the border was the difficult part, then you’re home free. For me, it was the opposite. Once I passed through customs, an official government guide showed me to the free shuttle bus that takes people to the bus terminal. The terminal had no ATM, a vicious exchange rate, no change for dollars, and was a good introduction to how the Cambodian government conducts business. There were 3 options for getting to Siem Reap: the bus, a taxi, and a minivan. I was trying to take the minivan, but it left while I was in line to buy a ticket. I was told that there were no more taxis or minivans, but the bus was leaving “right now.” I bought my ticket and hurried to the bus. The bus left over an hour after I boarded… It takes 3 hours to get to Siem Reap from the border, this includes a “mandatory” 30 minute stop at a restaurant. The restaurant had an English menu with french fries that cost $4.50 on the cover. Despite being extremely hungry, I did not order any food. I met a couple that had also refused to participate in this debacle. They were really cool and I spent a lot of time with them while in Siem Reap. Eventually, we made it to Siem Reap and were freed from government operated exploitation. We stayed at the Popular Guesthouse, which there friend and my official guide had recommended. It was $12 for an ac room and $7 for a fan room; wifi didn’t work in the rooms. Siem Reap was really small and had a nice vibe to it, especially compared to Bangkok. It was extremely walkable and most everything was in a centralized area. My official government guide was also a tuktuk driver and he spotted me at the guesthouse and would be my tuktuk driver for the Angkor ruins. If you purchase your 1 day pass after 5 pm, you can go to Angkor and watch the sunset, then have your pass start the next day. I did this, but the sunset wasn’t very good at all. The following day I did the short loop and the long loop around Angkor. The temples were amazing. I went to Angkor Wat for the sunrise, but it was not colorful at all. I really liked the temples that had trees growing in and through them. I wore my vibram five fingers trek sports and all of the tuktuk drivers were in awe. They looked at me like I was a God with individual toe compartments on my shoes. It ended up being $25 for the short and long loop, which took me less than 6 hours to do. Later I would find out that this was a huge ripoff. The driver didn’t have change either, neither did the guesthouse… They tried to tell me the exchange rate for Thai baht was waaaay worse that it was. I had enough of getting taken advantage of and checked out of the guesthouse. I went to a crappy place a few doors down that was only $3 a night. The tuktuk driver and first guesthouse were the only bad things about Siem Reap. The rest of the experience was terrific. Food and drink was relatively cheap. They had 50 cent beers at many restaurants and food was $2-8 for a meal. They had “happy” pizza all over the place as well. For $2 you could have tiny fish eat dead skin off of your feet for 20 minutes and get a free beer. After a liquid lunch, I tried this with the couple I was with and it was really funny. I’m extremely ticklish and apparently so were Haze and Al. It was a 20 minute giggle fest. I could have stayed in Siem Reap much longer, but moved on after 4 days. I really enjoyed my time there.
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This trip officially kicked off in BKK. Bangkok would be the starting point and ending point for the se Asia leg of my vacation. The hostel I stayed at, NapPark, was very close to the tourist hub of the city, Khao San Road. It was the highest rated hostel on the hostel booking websites, but was still lacking. They turned off the ac in the rooms from 12-6 everyday and did not do anything to facilitate travelers getting together. There were no tours, pub crawls and no rooftop bar. I made friends with an American dude about my age named Craig that was staying in the same room. We were drinking buddies for my time in BKK and added a Canadian named Ryan that was also staying at NapPark a couple days later. I checked out Chinatown and had lots of delicious and cheap street food. I went to the Chatuchak Weekend Market, which was HUGE, and spent 6 enjoyable hours. They sold clothes, housewares, art, pets, gadgets, food and all kinds of other stuff. I would walk around and browse, get some food, have a beer and people watch, then repeat. There was a cool bar in a prime spot to observe the sights of the market while listening to some really good electronic music. If you are an animal lover, I would avoid the pet section. The animals are not in treated well… Craig and I hit up Sukhumvit, which is one of the major red light districts. We sat at a bar facing the street and had beers while watching sleazy middle aged plus western dudes do what they come to Bangkok to do. I checked out the major tourist sites of Wat Pho and Wat Phra Kaew. They were really nice and lived up to the hype. Wat Pho is also home to the best massage school in Thailand and I got my first real Thai Massage at their affiliated studio. It was only $8 for an hour of pure bliss. I decided then and there that I would get a massage whenever possible while in se Asia. On my last night in the city, a police officer stopped me in the street in front of my hostel and gave me the most thorough pat down/search I have ever had; he was very thorough to say the least. I spent 4 days in Bangkok and that was more than enough for me. It had its high points, but was not my kind of place.
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Rather than arrive in Bangkok at 1:30 am local time, I opted for a 14 hour layover in Taipei. My flight from Narita landed at 5pm and I decided to take the bus from the airport to Taipei city to take advantage of the layover. The first thing I noticed was scooters; lots and lots of scooters. In fact, there may be more scooters than people in Taipei. After an hour and 15 minute bus ride in rush hour traffic we arrived at the bus terminal in the center of the city. I went into the train station next door to the terminal and connected to wifi. It had been a very long few weeks for me, with the last few days being especially hectic. I was not in the mood to pull an all nighter and go straight to the airport. I found a hostel that was a 2 minute walk away and got a room there. My original plan was to check out the famous xlb place, Din Tai Fung and then head over to the Shilin Night Market. I ended up doing neither and went to the Ning Xia Night Market, which was in walking distance from my hostel. The market was big and crowded. The best part was that I was the only non-Taiwanese person there. I had a couple noodle dishes and walked around for a bit. There was a really long line for some small, deep fried cake things, but I didn’t have the desire to wait. I returned to the hostel and woke up at 4 am to catch the bus to the airport. It was an extremely short stay in Taipei, but it was pleasant.
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I had been a very inactive member of my university system’s Slow Food Chapter, Slow Food KCC (Kapiolani Community College), but things changed when I received an email about a Maui trip. Maui is my favorite island in the Hawaiian archipelago and there was no way I could pass on a club subsidized ag-tour. Our wonderful president, Gida and culinary student/amazing person Wendy did all of the work setting up this great trip. Thanks ladies! Wendy has an auntie with a beautiful house/protea farm in Kula that she was kind enough to let us stay at for the weekend.
We arrived in Lehue at about 9 am and our first stop was Roselani Tropics Ice Cream. It’s a family owned and operated ice cream maker/Coca Cola bottler and we received a tour and got to sample some of the product. Sweets aren’t really my thing and I don’t touch soda unless there’s booze in it, but it’s always good to see a local business hanging in there.
Our next stop was Ulupalakua Ranch, a part of Maui Cattle Company. The story of the ranch was as beautiful as the views. Ranching has a long history in Kula and the current owners of Ulupalakua have written one of the best chapters. Thousands of acres have been protected from development, native plants have been reintroduced, electric prods and whips are not used, rotational grazing was implemented, and alternative energy is used to power the facility. There is also a winery on the premises, which we got to tour and sample. This was the first time in my life that I couldn’t finish pours at a tasting. The stuff was horrible. We had lunch at the restaurant and, unlike the wine, it was very good.
From the ranch, we proceeded on to Shim Farm. Casey Shim looks like he is about 106 years old and does all of the work on the farm himself. He is a retired school principal, Army officer, and a really happy guy. He refers to his home/farm as “utopia” and I believe him. He produces coffee and flowers, has 2 horses and grows a variety of fruits. I really enjoyed our short time at his little farm and didn’t want to leave.
For dinner, we returned to Wendy’s aunt’s house and cooked together. Being the only non-pro/pro-in-training, I relegated myself to salad duty and let the experts do their thing. Dinner was delicious. The steak prepared by our special guest, chef at the Honolulu Convention Center and great guy, Jacob Silver was a real treat.
The next morning we went to the Maui Community College Swap Meet/Farmers’ Market. It was geared primarily towards tourists and a lot of the “farmers” were selling produce that came from the continent.
Next, we went to Maui’s hippy enclave, Paia and had pizza for lunch at Maui Flatbread Company. I had eaten there on a previous trip to Maui and, once again, it was good. We had a brief stop at the fledgling Maui Olive Company. A family has taken advantage of upcountry’s unique climate and started an olive orchard. The trees are only one year old and will not produce fruit suitable for making oil for another 2 years, but it looks very promising.
Our next stop was another one of Wendy’s auntie’s houses, Upcountry Farm Specialties. Wendy’s auntie and her husband, a retired Swiss chef, own and operate UFS. They were a very intelligent, happy, and welcoming couple. It was evident that there was a woman’s touch here. Casey Shim’s utopia seemed like the creation of lone man with ADD compared to this well organized, meticulously maintained operation. Don’t get me wrong, I liked both very much, but they were different. UFS grows coffee, christmas trees and a variety of exotic fruits and vegetables. The unique microclimate of upcountry Maui enables them to grow nearly everything imaginable. There was a peach tree growing next to a pineapple plant and, during the winter, they can actually grow brussels sprouts in Hawai’i!
After we tasted a variety of jams and spreads at UFS, we went to Surfing Goat Dairy. Surfing Goat seemed very commercial after our previous trips to small operations, but was still enjoyable. We got to tour the facilities, milk goats, and sample cheese.
We went ‘home’ and caught a beautiful sunset before the hour long drive to Star Noodle for our splurge meal of the trip. Star Noodle is the hottest new restaurant on the garden isle and we were all looking forward to it. The chef has weekends off and wasn’t there for our meal. I’m hoping this is the reason why things were not cooked properly and that our experience was an exception. The menu comes from all over Asia and looks extremely promising. The problem with our meal is that things simply weren’t cooked properly and that is what matters in the end. The service was great and we got to tour the kitchen, but the meal itself was a disappointment.
Wendy’s Auntie’s house is located just 30 minutes from Hale’akala, and I couldn’t be that close and not watch the sunrise. Only one of my traveling companions was willing to wake up at 4 am to make it to the summit in time for the birth of a new day. Charles and I went up and witnessed a beautiful sunrise, then enjoyed the scenic drive back to the house. It was Easter Sunday and everyone worked together to produce a delicious easter brunch.
After brunch we went to Alii Kula Lavender and got to walk around their lavender farms. It wasn’t really my thing, but the grounds were pretty. From there, we went to Haiku Maui Orchids to check out a self sustaining tilapia pond and orchard farm. Flowers aren’t really my thing, but there were some pretty cool/exotic ones.
The ‘happy ending’ to our trip was Maui Brewing Company. Our gracious host came to give us a tour/tasting on Easter Sunday and it was really enjoyable. As much as I love Kona Brewing Company, MBC is the REAL local brewery in Hawai’i. I was fortunate enough to sit next to a non-drinker for the sampling portion and managed to get a very solid buzz on. We went to MBC’s nearby restaurant for our last supper and had more delicious beer with a good meal.
This was an amazing three days and, by the end of the trip, all of us were seriously considered moving to Kula. Each place we visited offers similar tours and I highly recommend checking at least some of them out when in Maui. -
Rather than Panama City Beach, Cancun, South Padre Island, Vegas or any of the popular destinations, I chose the city by the bay as the venue for the last spring break of my 11 year pursuit of a bachelor’s degree. Despite the weather (the heavens opened up for the better part of my week in SF), I had a great time in one of my favorite cities in the world. I had hoped to spend a few days in Napa, tour some wineries and dine at TFL. The Laundry would not accommodate a solo diner and the weather was not so good, so I put Napa off for a future visit.
In just 7 days in the city, I went to the Ferry Building 3 times, including the Saturday Farmers’ Market. The Ferry Building is Mecca for any lover of food. The first thing I had to eat on the trip was a porchetta sandwich (with extra crackling!) from RoliRoti, a food truck that parks in front of the building a few days a week. I then went to Boccalone and had a meat cone for dessert. Before leaving I returned to this cured meat paradise and stocked up on nduja, lardo, and a few salumis to take home. There are also stores specializing in cheese, mushrooms, seafood, pork, gourmet donuts, and several other things that I love. In hindsight, I’m regretting only going to the Ferry Building three times.
Like any other trip, I did some thorough research for my meals. I search blogs, yelp, get creative with google and talk to friends that live or have visited where I’m going. Friend and blogger extraordinaire Ono Kine Grindz provided me with some great recommendations once again. My splurge meals were at Commonwealth, Sons and Daughters, and Flour + Water. The first two places were incredible and F+W was a letdown, but not bad. There was a 2 hour wait and the food was very solid, but nothing special. A friend from my Army days, Josh, lives in SF and tends bar at a place on Haight called Hobson’s Choice. I went to visit him at work a couple times and he got me very inebriated. HC specializes in rums and was a really cool bar in a really cool area. We went to a steakhouse for dinner after one of his shifts and had a standard,very good steakhouse experience. It was his pick of restaurant and I avoid steakhouses when traveling because they tend to be the same everywhere. The food was well executed and the company was great. It would not be a San Francisco experience without trying cioppino and the place to go for it is Sotto Mare. I nearly took down a double order by myself and it was beyond good.
I did some non-food related things in the city as well. During a rare window of clear weather, I went to Alcatraz. It was really cool and not at all what I expected. The views were amazing and they have a really nice garden and bird sanctuary. The whole prison thing was interesting too, but I thought “the rock” was more of a place of beauty rather than misery.
On the other sunny day I was in SF, I went to Golden Gate Park. The park is HUGE and I didn’t manage to cover the entire thing, but really enjoyed what I did see. The Japanese Tea Garden was very Japanese and very nice. The Botanical Gardens had plants from all over the world and I really enjoyed my stroll through the grounds. All of the walking made me hungry and I stopped for a ceviche sampler and some cava at Pasion. The chef/owner, son of the owners of the well known Fresca restaurants, was working lunch on a Monday (crazy, right?) and showed me how they make the ceviche to order. It was really, really good and a perfect refreshing snack after a morning of sightseeing.
I spent one of the rainy days in the MOMA. I’m not the most refined art fan and tend to prefer classical stuff over abstract/obscure, but had a good time at the museum. They had a wine exhibition and a sex exhibition going on and I am a big fan of both. There were some things I enjoyed and others, like stacks of newspapers or urinals being passed off as art, that I failed to appreciate the artistic merit of. The museum was perfect for a rainy day and I got to enjoy a Blue Bottle Coffee at the cafe.
My final cultural stop in SF was Haight Ashbury. Decades ago the area transitioned from the birthplace of the hippie movement to a commercialized tourist trap, but it’s still a really cool place to visit. There are countless quirky little shops, many of which don’t sell bongs or t-shirts. I went into the enormous, and enormously cool, Amoeba Records. It would not be a trip to Haight without checking out Hippie Hill. The view from the top was beautiful and the smell was fantastic.
SF is not a cheap place to visit and with my focus on food, I stayed at a hostel to help with my budget. USA Hostels San Francisco was clean, nice, and reminiscent of staying at hostels in Europe.
Despite very moist weather and not being able to make it to TFL, this was a great little vacation. San Francisco is a city like no other in the US. People there take pride in what they do and you can see this attitude in everyone from newspaper salespeople to chefs. The cocktail/mixology scene is on par with the food scene. I was blown away by the creativity and taste of the drinks in SF. This was not my first trip to San Francisco and it definitely won’t be my last. If you haven’t been, go! -
Some people don’t like to travel or go out to eat alone. I don’t mind doing either. You can end up having the meal of your life sitting alone at a restaurant bar far from home. I did at Commonwealth. Located in the Mission district of San Francisco, Commonwealth is one of the hottest new restaurants in a city that is full of outstanding dining establishments. Needless to say, it was high on my list of places to eat while in SF. I made a reservation, but opted to sit at the bar for my meal. This was a decision that would pay off. I ordered the tasting which consisted of 5 courses and wine pairings. The bartender was very friendly and it was early in the evening, so he had time to chat. We talked about food and how it was the driving force behind my trip to his city. The open kitchen was located next to the bar and the bartender went and had a brief conversation with the chef. The chef personally brought out and explained each of the 9 courses I had. The tasting includes 5 courses, which is more than enough food, but I got to try nearly everything on the menu. This is the stuff dreams are made of! The night before I had a spectacular meal at Sons and Daughters, a meal so good that it set an extremely high bar. My experience at Commonwealth exceeded that newly set, yet formidable standard. There was even more imagination and creativity in the dishes and molecular gastronomy was at play, but not to the point of overkill. The chef was a mad scientist with menu development and each dish was executed to perfection. The wines were on the money and enhanced an already great meal. Every bite sung to me and, more than two hours later, I rolled out of Commonwealth a very happy and extremely full person.
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The first dinner of my spring break trip to San Francisco was at Sons and Daughters. Through the magic of Facebook, I was joined by a special guest. Anyone who has succumbed to the pressure and joined the social networking site knows that you end up being friends with people that you went to school with and never really talked to. Due to the proximity of our last names, I sat in front of Lisa in most classes in middle school. We chatted somewhat, but were never really close. I moved before high school and hadn’t seen her in 15 years. We have been ‘friends’ on FB and she turned out to be a really smart, interesting, and lovely person… who happens to live in SF. It was cool meeting her again and we obviously had a lot of catching up to do. Sons and Daughters not only provided a great location for such a meeting, they gave us an outstanding meal. We each did the tasting menu with wine pairings and got to select four options. Our only overlap was the cheese course because we both preferred that over a dessert. This way, we were each able to try 7 dishes and they were all amazing. The flavor combinations were creative without going overboard and every bite was delicious.
open mind, empty stomach 