When I’m down south, all I want is hot chicken, biscuits, mash potatoes and other sweet sweet memories — as sweet as the tea — of a Southern childhood that I never had. Monell’s was all this and a basket of steaming buttermilk biscuits.
I’m excited to announce I’ve finally gotten around to launching my new podcast, Never Date a Traveler, violable on Soundcloud and, as of today, on iTunes! Which is pretty awesome, someone can choose to listen to me on ITUNES! I really believe the fastest way to learn a new language or to learn about a culture is to date someone of that culture. Latin and Spanish definitely helped me pick up Italian quickly while studying in Milan, but dating Italians no doubt expedited the process. To ignore that being a charming girl with a good smile doesn’t help me when I travel would be silly. At times, it even gives me access to people and events I otherwise wouldn’t have access to, like the perfect fondue spot in the Swiss Alps, or an artist rave in Milan. There are few things I love more than story-time with my best girlfriends recounting these adventures. Dating is something I have always wanted to cover on ‘N A Perfect World, but I’m one for an epic whirlwind romance …
I thought having a frog was bizarre. And then I remembered that I grew up with very, very wild animals. Like lions and panthers and sloths are my favorites.
It was within that food culture that I found the paradox — to me a bit unsettling — of Singapore. When you visit a city like Singapore, it’s hard not to see the future. The skyscrapers, the sterile cleanliness, extreme efficiency; it definitely has that Jetson-esque vibe….
Then I flash back to what Ivy Singh-Lim of Bollywood Veggies said.
I also like to get weird and go off the beaten path. That’s where the people of the beautiful countries that I visit come in. The people I meet shape my perception of these countries. One of the best examples of this in my recent travels than is Singapore.