Hong Kong’s Hidden Treasure: Tai Long Wan

The ramshackle bus zoomed along the highway, its diesel engine wheezing and popping as it huffed away from Kowloon and into the mountains of the New Territories.  I watched as high-rise buildings and billboards and subways shrunk into the greenery, saw distant peaks rise where the civilization once stood.  The city came back briefly as our bus dropped... [Read more]

EZ Scrambler vs. the EZ-er Scrambler

I noticed that a lot of people — and I mean dozens, perhaps hundreds by now — have stumbled across my blog by searching for “EZ Scrambler” in some form or another.  I’m not quite sure what to make of it.  Are people genuinely interested in this product?  Do they want to know how it works?  Are they looking for someone... [Read more]

Confessions of a Nonalcoholic, Part II

Continued from Confessions of a Nonalcoholic, Part I *** As I embarked on a post-college career, the peer pressure lightened as my friends realized that there was more to alcohol than imbibing it as quickly and cheaply as possible.  But as irony would have it, I chose a path that would keep booze inextricably tied to my career.  Restaurant publicity... [Read more]

Confessions of a Nonalcoholic, Part I

I remember my first drink vividly.  It was in high school, and a fellow classmate had procured a bottle of vodka from her big brother’s stash.  “You should try some,” she encouraged.  “Here, it tastes bad, so I’ll mix it with Coke.”   She filled half a glass with soda, topped it off with the Smirnoff, and handed... [Read more]

Follow Friday: Everything Everywhere, Jonathan Gold, Jeff Bercovici

Tweet tweet, it’s Friday.  Lots of great weekend reading for you: #Travel – Gary Arndt, @EverywhereTrip Everything Everywhere Gary is the prototype wanderkind, a sojourner with a free spirit and brave independence that has kept him on the road since 2007.   He’s been everywhere, seen everything (hence the name, I suppose).  I enjoy... [Read more]

A Thousand Words: Fortune Cookie Wanderlust

This was my fortune cookie prediction from a very generic Asian food court meal that I scarfed down at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas this past weekend.   It definitely made me smile.  And it’s one of the few fortunes I’ve gotten where you can’t append “in bed” to make it sound dirty. And just out of pure whimsy, here’s... [Read more]

LA’s Cure for Cabin Fever

I get cabin fever far too easily.  I blame it on Los Angeles.  After almost eight years of living here, I admit that I’m — for lack of a better term — a pussy when it comes to the weather.  This was a hearty Midwest girl who used to wander out in the snow wearing a sweatshirt, scarf and sneakers.  Nowadays, below 60 temperatures... [Read more]

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