I expected Cambodia to be louder. Not with voices—that’s an American thing. Americans love to be heard, especially in places where people don’t look or sound like them. I expected—for no other reason except that past travelers had told me— that Cambodia would sound like India. India is is a combination of raucous rips…
Travel
Food+Culture Series: Eating Insects in Cambodia
One of the main reasons I travel is to—surprise surprise—eat. I love deep diving into a region’s popular foods and finding out their origins. It gives the food and region so much more character, and it shows the evolution of food as part of the culture surrounding it. For most of my trips this year,…
Lisbon: City History and Travel Guide
As a proud SF citizen, I often tout the city by saying how unique it is. We have hills! We have cable cars! We have a Golden Gate Bridge! And then I went to Lisbon and saw that they have ALL these things, and they’re even better than what we got here. So sorry SF,…
Food+Culture Series: Queijadas de Sintra, the Must-Eat Portuguese Pastry that Nobody is Talking About
We all know about pasteis de nata, the quintissential Portuguese pastry with its buttery crust and silky filling. It’s the pastry on every must-eat list and every must-wait-in-line-to-eat list (yes I waited in line too). They’re great. But I don’t care about them right now. Right now, I care about the Portuguese sweet that’s got…
One Year Later: A Look-back at Ferrandi and my Time in Paris
As most of you know, last year I went to Paris to get an advanced pastry certification. I’d worked professionally in kitchens for years, eventually leaving them for tech but missing the life sorely. In the same month that I got accepted to Ferrandi School of Culinary Arts, I also lost my job and all…