Chungking Mansions was part of a weekly ritual for me when I lived in Hong Kong, and to a lesser extent Shenzhen, right across the border. Chungking Mansions was a world unto itself, filled with West African “member’s only” restaurants, Turkish and Indian restaurants, Pakistani and Bengali phone vendors, and octogenarian tenants, either in cramped […]
Tourism
Review: Garuda Business Lounge @ the International Terminal, Bali (DPS) Indonesia
In early 2022, I had come across an article about an airline status match with ITA Airways, the carrier borne out of the rubble of Italy’s Alitalia. Basically, if you had a certain frequent flier status with one airline, occasionally, a competitor — or outlier — offers the ability to get a similar frequent flier status […]
Eating Out in the Marshall Islands
In 2017, I had the opportunity to visit the Marshall Islands. After a seemingly endless series of red-eye flights from Fiji on Our Airline, I made it to Majuro, capital of the tropical archipelago– highest elevation, just under 10 feet. For a brief 20th century history lesson of the Marshall Islands, you may want to […]
Trip Report: Playa Balandra, Calafia Airlines, La Paz, Mexico (LAP) to Tijuana, Mexico (TIJ) & CBX Border Crossing to San Diego
Playa Balandra (Balandra Beach), Baja California Sur, MexicoAfter a few days of vacation during which I had been eating like a whale, and becoming a human chicharrón under the La Paz sun, I had to return to the US. This time, I opted for Baja’s regional carrier Calafia Airlines, since they had a convenient flight […]
The Smallest Park in the World
Portland, the largest city in Oregon, is home to a number of attractions. It’s the “City of Roses,” so you’ve got the International Rose Test Garden. Donuts and craft breweries are popular, as is the Japanese Garden. And for a bit of U.S. trivia, did you know that Portland houses the second-largest copper statue in […]
Top Five Unexpected Visits of 2022
To follow up the earlier post on my top five meals of 2022, I thought, food is great and all, but where the heck was I when eating? Why did I end up there? And, were any of those meals due to unexpected visits? Not necessarily, but I’ve got a fun top five list — […]
Free Guided Hikes at U.S. State Parks
Elephant Rock, Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, United StatesCome New Year’s Day, state parks around the United States will be hosting something called First Day Hikes. Introduced at the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton, Massachusetts more than 30 years back, the idea to offer free guided hikes around state parks has since spread so […]
Antenna Shops: Japan’s Lesser-Known Food Paradises
What would the U.S. equivalent of an antenna shop be? Let’s imagine that you’ve just moved from North Carolina to Manhattan, and you’re craving some barbecue and hush puppies. You could attempt a meal at an overpriced and underwhelming version somewhere in the city, or you could stop by the North Carolina store, where Lexington-style […]
