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I want to go to Vietnam for the food.

holly — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 03:13:05 +0000

Yeah, I know, I’m thinking with my stomach again. But blogging about food has so many fewer calories than actually eating it, so it’s worth it. Plus, this keeps me on my Jillian Michaels meal plan (that I’m following loosely, with emphasis on the “loose”, but that’s another blog altogether). So anyway, back to the topic at hand: I have a craving for Vietnamese Pho, and I’m tired of settling for the yummy westernized stuff they serve in Vancouver. I want real Vietnamese food, and the only way I can get it is to actually go to Vietnam. There it’s just called food. Alas, I am still in saving mode after the last trip, and am already paying off the next (California in September – stay tuned!), so my Pho craving will have to wait until next year, at least. Big pout. In the meantime, lets all take a moment and fantasize about that cuisine you love and can’t wait to try the authentic version of, or that plate of steaming awesomeness you once had and wish you were back there again.

One of my clients told me, which is probably why this is on my mind in the first place, that he was once in Texas and had a steak so good he actually cried. I, of course, told him he was a lunatic. Kidding. I just thought it. He had a point though, global cuisine can transform a vacation into an experience. The local delights are as much of a cultural experience as a dance performance or a museum, but they can be much easier to find and, depending on your tastes, either way cheaper or waaaaayyy more expensive.

Some of the best food in much of southeast Asia can be found at street carts for next to nothing, but it’ll keep you coming back for more. When I was in Bangkok there was this cart on the corner near my hotel that was little more than a single burner run by jumper cables hooked to a car battery, and there was this real and very dead rooster head hanging from the side, but every morning the line up was practically around the block for a container of their stir fry. I never tried it, the combination of the line length, the rooster head, and my weenie Canadian palette made me chicken out, but I still think about it, and vow that if I’m ever back there I’m totally eating from the rooster guy’s cart. If the locals like it, it has to be good.

What’s the deal with Korean Kimchi, anyway? It’s just fermented cabbage buried in a vat underground for like six months, but every time I’ve been out for Korean food, they use it on everything. I have not acquired the taste for it. To me it’s like sour… something nasty… but I can’t help but wonder if the stuff you’ll get on your plate of braised short ribs in Seoul would be so much better. Does the shipping process make it nastier? Is it less pungent straight from the ground?

Mmmmm… chicken tikka masala…. another of my faves. Admittedly, the BF does cook one hell of a home version, but it blows my mind thinking of the layers of rich flavour that can only come from a spice mix hand-ground daily by the women of the village. Yum. Just wait until I find myself in India one day and all the spices are ground by your standard coffee grinder, but in the interim I will happily allow my mind to wander to the romantic fantasy I have created. Besides, I’d go to Vietnam before India, the flight is shorter

So tell me, what foods would you love to try fresh from the source?

The ultimate relationship test – traveling with someone

holly — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 23:50:11 +0000

“We’ve been best friends since ninth grade, we’ll have the best time in Europe!”

“I love him! Three weeks on the beach will give us time to connect more!”

“You’re going to Asia? Me too! Let’s go together and save on the hotel costs.”

It seems like such a good idea at the time. You get along with/are dating/are married to/share similar interests with someone and you decide “gee, Steve, wouldn’t it be awesome if we went on vacation together?” Picking your travel companion is usually done even before the destination is chosen, but before you begin to suggest a trip, stop and think about it. No, I mean, really think about it. There’s no greater test to a relationship than travelling together.

Let your mind wander back to your childhood. When Mom and Dad packed you, your brother and your ten thousand suitcases of crap into the van and took off for a weekend up at the lake. By the time you reached mile eight someone had thrown something, someone had been insulted and someone was crying. Just because you’re grown up and not necessarily with children doesn’t make a vacation any easier, as it still involves the same components: long hours trapped together and unable to escape, tedium where you have to struggle to keep yourself occupied or come up with something to say, stressful connections or deadlines, and exhaustion. Everybody reacts to these factors differently, and if, when she’s over tired and jet lagged, your best friend gets really weepy and needy or she gets so bitchy she’s taking shots at your family/career/significant other/fashion sense/pet, she may not be the ideal person to be with. Unless, of course you are prepared to handle this.

And don’t forget, you’re going to be just as unpleasant. We all have our triggers. God knows, I fly all the time, but if anyone I’m traveling with wants to wait and check-in for the flight less than the recommended three hours prior, I’ll take them out. We can relax once we’re through security, but until I know I’ve made my flight and am not going to have to run/beg/risk having my seat given away to a standby passenger, I’m in go mode. I don’t fucking care if you’re going to have to go sixteen hours until your next cigarette, that’s not my problem, so let’s get a move on it. Apologies to anyone I’ve told off in this situation over the years, but I still get this way every time I step into an airport, ticket in hand, and I don’t foresee this going away any time soon. Consider yourselves warned.

My point is that when it comes to traveling with someone, you have to, as my boyfriend always says when he does something that mildly irritates me (like leave his damp – they’re always damp – socks beside the hamper instead of two inches to the right in the hamper) take the “good with the bad”. If you can work through your differences in extreme conditions, then you’re going to have a fantastic time together. But if you have a mental picture of this person being perfect and they fail to live up to your expectations, you’re going to have issues.

Travel can test even the strongest relationship, bringing you closer than ever or tearing you apart. The way I see it, if neither passenger comes home in a body bag or handcuffs, it was a success. If times get occasionally testy just remember, you’re normal. That’s just part of the experience and (unless you’re the one in the body bag) you’ll laugh about it later.

London – My favorite museums Pt. 2 – The Natural History Museum

holly — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 04:29:11 +0000

Finding a museum in London is like finding a Starbucks in downtown Vancouver – if you spit, you have a pretty good chance of hitting one. But unlike Vancouver Starbucks, the majority of these gems are free (although a donation is greatly appreciated). Thank the British lottery for that. With availability like that, if you tell me you didn’t visit some of these incredible museums, I’m going to smack you. Seriously, I will smack you. I know all that choice can seem overwhelming, but allow me to help steer you in the right direction with a spotlight on my must-sees. This one proves that looking at Dinosaur bones isn’t just for kids and nerds, the Natural History Museum.

I admit, I have a bit of a passion for architecture. Maybe it’s because I’m a painter, but the incredible, graphic things being done with stone and glass always fascinates me. The Natural History Museum holds a special place in my heart, architecture-wise, as it’s an interesting mix of classical and whimsical, and I love whimsical. Technically it’s an example of the German Romanesque style, with spires and sweeping arches, all done in a mix of buff and cobalt blue terra cotta, circa 1881. What makes it stand out are the relief carvings of plants and animals that crawl all over the outside, so subtly included in the design that you could easily walk by and not notice them. But upon closer inspection it becomes “ooh, there’s a monkey climbing up that tower!” and “is that a Pterodactyl on the roof?” The western winghas living forms while the eastern’s are all extinct. I spot more creatures every time I’m there and, as I learned firsthand, it makes waitingin line to enter a rather pleasant experience. Inside it’s just as cool, particularly the ceiling of the central hall, which is covered with a patchwork of more than 160 painted botanical panels, each depicting a different plant. There are more monkeys crawling the columns and girders in here, too.

I love a good entrance, and this one greets you with a fully-assembled diplodocus skeleton smiling at you. Well, if he had skin and muscles, I’m sure he’d be smiling. Anyway it’s sure an impressive way to greet the visitors. He’s just the first of many dinosaurs, some real, some animatronic that fill the gallery to your right. That’s an interesting gallery, as are the Earth (earthquakes, rocks, weather, etc.) and Ecology ones (bugs, big trees, recycling), but personally, as a girl who’s been hauled to zoos around the world her entire life, the real draw for me are the animals. The stuffed animals. Taxidermy still kinda creeps me out, but when you remember that this was the norm back in the 1800’s when most of these samples were collected, and that they’re incredibly well preserved and displayed, it takes some of the “eww” factor away. Some are even faded from sun exposure over the last hundred and fifty years or so. This is also the only way to actually see a dodo, sabre-toothed cat and more species of animal than any zoo could hold, all life-sized and not reproduced by computer, so I guess it’s worth it. The bird, primate and mammal galleries are my favorites, specifically the animals that are elusive to see in the wild, like lemurs (only in Madagasgar), lorises (damn that nocturnal thing) and duck-billed platypusses (what is the plural of platypus? Platypusses? Platypii? Whatever it is, they’re so damned hard to find they were thought to be a myth for years).

Another thing the Natural History Museum has going for it is their food, specifically the cafe by the bird hall in the green zone. No, we’re not talkinghigh gourmet here, but as far as museum food hall fare goes, it’s pretty darn good with a price point and selection to match. You can get everythingfrom a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to fresh plated pasta. A couple of years ago I had a bowl of tomato-basil soup that tasted exactly like my homemade spaghetti sauce, and I love my spaghetti sauce. I cannot tell you how good this was. It’s making me hungry just thinking about it. Once we were wanderingaround South Kensington around lunchtime and couldn’t decide on a restaurant, so, because of it’s free admission, we went into the museum cafe just to eat.

The Natural History Museum is totally not just for kids. Granted, the kids will love it (lots of ooh-ing and aah-ing), but you adults will enjoy it too.

WTF – The airline lost my client!

holly — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 00:45:51 +0000

Let’s file this one into the “smack your head in amazement of their stupidity” file. And I stress, I am not making this up. If I was making it up it would involve a rare species of bird and a police chase. This, on the other hand, is just stupid.

An airline (who shall remain nameless to avoid a lawsuit) actually managed to loose one of my clients.

Yep, as in “no we have no idea where he currently is, but we know he’s on a plane going… somewhere”. That’s actually pretty close to the exact words the agent said to me. At this point I’m staring at my phone in complete disbelief. You’re a freaking airline, moving thousands of people every day and with an incredibly sophisticated computer system, but yet you have no idea what plane you put my client on? You have got to be kidding me.

The situation was this: my client showed up at the airport in Cordoba, Argentina, only to be notified that his flight had been rescheduled and he’d miss all his connections, so he been rerouted. Instead of the planned route Cordoba to Santiago to Mexico City to Vancouver, he was now going Cordoba to Santiago to Los Angeles to Houston to Vancouver. Nice, eh? Ooh, surprise, you’re no longer even touching down in an entire country (where he had been supposed to spend the night and had a hotel reservation) and we’re sending you all over the Americas just for the hell of it. But because all these changes were made right at the check-in counter at the airport, his tickets were issued and he was on a plane even before the airline’s computer systems had time to catch up with the changes.

Luckily he had called his wife, who had called me, to notify her of his new schedule, so we (the important people) knew where he was at least supposed to be, even if the airline didn’t. I can’t even begin to imagine what it would have been like had his poor wife not known where he was and I wouldn’t have been able to give her any answers. I’ve had upset clients before, but she would have taken the gold medal for having the best reason to freak out. But alas, all was calm. Just dumbfounded.

On the upside, he arrived right on time and everything turned out great, but I just can’t help but wonder that if the airline could spend hours not knowing where a passenger is, what do they do to luggage? “Oh, I’m sorry, your bag had an emergency rerouting to…somewhere. You may get it back, but we really have no idea at this point”.

And get this: regular passengers out of Cordoba told my client that this wasn’t unusual. It’s like airplane roulette, you have a 50% chance of landing close to where you want, but nothing is guaranteed! Needless to say, next passenger I have going anywhere close to Cordoba, I’m monitoring their progress every step of the way so that even if the airline looses them, I don’t!

Spooky Halloween around the world.

holly — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:48:09 +0000

Here in North America Halloween rocks. We have a commercially-successful excuse to dress up, trick or treat, do crazy things (”but Officer, it was Halloween!”), set off illegal fireworks, sing Monster Mash far too loudly and eat the junk food we spend the rest of the year trying to remove from our waistline. Personally, I can’t survive the day unless I’ve heard Michael Jackson’s Thriller at least three times - something I don’t think will be a problem this year. In the US it’s now the second most popular holiday for decorating after only Christmas. But if you think we can party, you should check out how they do it in other countries.

Scotland gave us one of the great traditions we over here have stolen/corrupted/commercialized into our standard Canadian holiday. Little Scots used to carry traditional lanterns called Samhnag’s made out of turnips with the devil’s face carved into them in order to scare away evil spirits. Nowadays they’ve switched to pumpkins for their jack-o-lanterns, mainly because it’s waaay easier to carve a pumpkin than a turnip, but some cities, such as Perthshire, are trying to reinstate the old ways. Hopefully vandals don’t go around blowing up turnips like pumpkins are blown up here, as a turnip can do so much more damage since they don’t smush and splatter on impact!

In Wales Halloween is called Nos Calan Gaeaf (the beginning of a new winter) and legend has it that the fearsome spirit Yr Hwch Ddu Gwta took the form of a tailless black sow and roamed the countryside with a headless woman. Needless to say, kids would rush home early. This fascinates me, mainly because I have no idea how to pronounce Yr Hwch Ddu Gwta. It’s hard enough to type correctly. Your how-itch do-doo g-wah-ta? Beats the hell out of me, but it’s fun to try.

Halloween in Mexico is just the start of three days of festivities, Witches Night (Halloween), All Saints Day and Dia de los Muertos (the day of the dead). I mean, really, why shouldn’t the dead get to party, too? Skulls play a huge part in these rituals, as wooden skulls are placed on alters dedicated to the deceased, sugar skulls made with late relatives’ names on the foreheads are eaten, and they dance to honor the dead while wearing wooden skull masks called calacas. Sugar and dancing? How have we not started celebrating this yet? Sweet.

Romanians have the perfect reason to celebrate Halloween, as Dracula himself, according to myth, lived right there in Transylvania (specifically the town of Sighisoara – another one I’m not going to try and pronounce). Dracula’s spirit is believed to live here, as the city once was the site of public Witch trials (it makes sense to keep all your spooky dead people together, right?) which are recreated by actors amidst all the costume parties. Can you just imagine getting pissed drunk and watching a live “Witch trial”? Neither can I.

In Lebanon, Syria and the Palestine don’t actually celebrate Halloween, but Arab Christians hold Eid Il-Burbara (Saint Barbara’s Day) on Dec 4th instead. The festivities are nearly identical to the Halloween we know and love here, and include wearing costumes, trick or treating and singing a Halloween song. No, not Monster Mash, though I would love to hear that in Arabic. Similarly, Kuwait and other Gulf states have Qarqe’an. It’s not scary, but children wear traditional costumes and sing outside homes for handouts of candy and nuts. There it’s actually cool to get nuts, and if you give them out you don’t have to worry about your house being egged later that night!

And then there’s Japan. There actually is no Halloween per se in Japanese culture, but think about it, do you really think they would pass up a chance to dress up in weird clothes (or weirder clothes) and celebrate? Their Halloween is based mainly on American pop culture, but it has really caught on and I personally would love to see it. Carved pumpkins are a common sight and Disneyland and Universal Studios over there have huge festivities leading up to the big day. A few years ago I was in Disneyland Paris just before Halloween, and the decorations were massive, with everything from a troupe of life-sized pumpkin men taking over Frontierland to the riverboat in the rivers of the far west being turned into a giant floating gray ghost, but apparently the decorations and theming in the Tokyo park are twice as impressive.

There are many reasons fall is one of my favorite times to travel, but if you really want a show, check out some of these countries and I’m sure you’ll have yourself a bewitching good time. There’s just something about Halloween that makes we want to end this blog with a big Mad-Scientist cackle. So i will.

Mmmmwwwwwaaaahaaahahahahahhahaha!