What We Ate in Thailand

Get ready for some serious foodporn because we pigged out all across Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Chiang Rai. I love Thai cuisine and had been fantasizing about it weeks before our flight. Even after the trip, I cannot wait to go back and indulge some more. While writing this post, I could feel myself drooling and entering some next-level bliss, living vicariously through pictures we took ourselves. So here is a summary of our food recommendations (cooking class will be a separate post). Let the salivating begin!

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Going Home to Guangzhou

I haven’t been back to Guangzhou, my birthplace, in over a decade. When I was younger, my family used to return every five years or so to visit relatives during the summer (bad time to go unless you’re a fan of the heat, by the way). Since they have mostly immigrated to America and sold off their homes in the mainland, there hasn’t been much reason to go back. This was my first trip to Guangzhou without my parents, but the wave of nostalgia I thought I would have was noticeably absent.

China is changing at such a rapid pace that every time I return, it feels like an entirely different place. My mom’s ancestral home has been torn down to erect new apartment buildings. If you’re lucky, the government will displace you to a new home in a well-developed part of the city. Few street vendors can be seen anymore since the major crackdown right before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, in an effort to improve the image of the country. Sadly, that’s one of the things I miss most. Ordering fish ball skewers dipped into hot sauce from metal carts, sipping Mexican coke for 1RMB a bottle before recycling them into a plastic crate, or shopping for stationery with my cousin as vendors lined all sorts of pretty pens, notebooks, and art supplies along the road. All vestiges of a past China.

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A Step Into the Past in Athens, Greece

Visiting Greece was always something on our bucket list, and this May/June we were able to travel internationally with a group of friends (Winnie, Kacey, Daniel, and Albert) for the first time. It turned out to be one of my favorite trips so far. Having friends to laugh and do stupid things with while exploring a foreign country took us out of our usual hotpot-and-board-game-at-home situation. Not to mention, we ate so much delicious food! One of the best things about traveling with a group is being able to family-style every meal and try as many dishes as possible without breaking the bank. Outside of Astoria, New York lacks an abundance of amazing Greek food so of course we had to stuff ourselves given the chance.

Although Tie and I usually plan a pretty thorough itinerary for our trips, this time we decided to be a bit more spontaneous as we were traveling with a group and understood that some of us would have conflicting interests. I admit that not having a solid plan made me kind of stressed out in the beginning, but I eventually accepted that this should feel like a real vacation so just lounging around sometimes should be okay.

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The Weekender: What to Eat in Nashville, Tennessee

This past weekend, I flew to Nashville with my girl friends Winnie, Alice, and Roxana. I wanted to get my hands on as much hot chicken as possible after having watched the Hot Ones video series on YouTube prior and salivating each time. So of course I took my food research quite seriously. My friends probably got sick of having so much meat every meal. I think I ate enough chicken to last me through the rest of this year. Anywhos, here’s a list of all the places we tried. Enjoy! (P.S. I only brought my phone with me this time, so no DSLR quality photos :T)

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What to Eat in Singapore

I’ll admit, the main reason I wanted to visit Singapore was because I saw the Fung Brothers eating at the hawker stalls there. I think one of the most fascinating things about Singapore is that it is truly a city of immigrants. Malaysians, Chinese, Indians practicing a range of religions from Islam to Buddhism to Christianity. This diversity also lends itself to a diversity of flavors in Singaporean cuisine. Here are some of our recommended foods!

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The Weekender: SoYummy in SoCal

Some of our friends may not know this, but Tie and I actually first started dating in Los Angeles. I’ve always had an attachment to the west coast. So we decided to consider having our wedding there, scheduling a venue tour and food adventures over Labor Day weekend. I’ll write a post about the venue and some of the sights in SoCal later, but first order of business: the food!

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