One for the Road: Nomad’s Hotel

by Kelly Amabile on

In the past week, I’ve come across two different thumbs up for a collection of travel essays by Dutch writer Cees Nooteboom. I’ve now added Nomad’s Hotel: Travels in Time and Space to my 2008 “really-must-read” list and wanted to give all of you list-loving readers a chance to do the same. Here’s what I’ve gathered:

First, in the latest issue of Geist, Michael Kozlowski describes the pieces in Nomad’s Hotel as “meditations” and calls it “…less a book of travel stories than a collection of Nooteboom’s musings on travel and impressions of places.” My interest was piqued. Then I found it listed among Rory Maclean’s 2007 recommended reads, where he praises it as, “…a jewel of a travel book, free of pretension, full of easy adventure, fresh with childlike wonder for the world.” Rory wrote a much longer review of the book for the Guardian earlier this year. These two positive reviews were enough for me to take notice of Nooteboom, but if you need more, check out this in-depth look at the fascinating “traveling writer.”

Amazing Race 12: Recap of nothing. Instead Survivor:China gets on my nerves

by Jamie Rhein on

Okay, you can bet I was disappointed to not have my fix of Amazing Race tonight. Particularly after enjoying Martha’s recap of last week. I missed the show because I was having my white knuckle drive back from Kentucky. Tonight, I was all set to take notes on who said what and did what for my own recap, but no. Amazing Race was not on. Instead, there was a two-hour Survivor: China. While I watched Survivor, a show I have never seen before, I thought about what makes Amazing Race such an interesting show–and why Survivor gets on my nerves.

Sure there are parts of Amazing Race that are staged, such as hoisting furniture through windows in Amsterdam and milking camels in Burkina Faso, but the activities are mostly the type of activities people in those countries really do. Not all people in those countries, but the people whose jobs are to milk camels, like this woman in Niger (next to Burkina Faso) or hoist furniture, like the photo below. The Amazing Race is one of movement with varying backdrops. Segments don’t have to be created to be more entertaining, as anyone who travels knows. Entertainment and craziness can happen as soon as one steps off an airplane in another country and culture, particularly if you are traveling without a lot of direction.

The Amazing Race feels natural to me. Perhaps this is because there is not an endless amount of time–or at least footage of people who blather on about each other and their inner thoughts. Heavens, does everyone who ends up on a reality TV show watch the same video on how to talk on a reality TV show? I hope it’s not catching.

Can you imagine what it would be like if we all talked with each other in the same tones of voice with the music notes highlighting tension?

In Amazing Race we get Jennifer screeching at Nathan; Ronald acting like an admiring and disgruntled dad towards daughter Christina; and Nicholas shaking his head at his grandfather’s antics. Then there’s Vyxsin and Kynt who were characters from the get go, and are still characters, but are shown as being people just like anyone else as time goes on. TK and Rachel, also still in the race, seem like if you ran into them in their regular lives, they’d be–well, regular.

People on the Amazing Race are on the move, trying to buy tickets, working on being polite and understood. People don’t have time to work on their personas while they are traveling thousands of miles at a time.

The other thing about Amazing Race that is done well is that there’s a decent look at the countries where the contestants travel. There is a sense of place that if you actually went to one of these countries you’d have some idea of what you might see. In Survivor: China, you could have staged the show in Hawaii, put up a few Buddha statues and a fake temple and the show could be the same. For example, when told to enjoy their last night in China, there were the last three contestants lying in their bamboo lean -to blabbing on and on with each other. What kind of enjoyment is that? What actually lets them know that they are in China? Did someone say, “Welcome to China?” Where are the Chinese people? The Chinese American contestant doesn’t count.

Then when they woke up there was breakfast in front of a small Buddha statue looking like an offering to the ancestors. This is co-opting culture in my opinion. The element of culture is there without any explanation of what it means.

Instead the last three squealed at discovering pancake batter and got busy with a frying pan and the fire. Watching them cook pancakes on a fire made me think of that WoodGas Camp Stove I reviewed. A WoodGas Camp Stove would come in handy on Survivor. In Amazing Race there is always, as far as I remember, an explanation of cultural traits as part of every activity. While browsing through photos of past episodes of Survivor: China I did see some elements of Chinese culture like when there was an archery contest using an ancient Chinese cross-bow.

Also, with all that torch carrying and recapping of what has happened from days ago to just last minute, on Survivor it’s like a non-stop tiki torch party–and a soap opera. With soap operas all you really need to do is watch once in awhile to stay abreast of happenings since the people will talk about what they did several episodes ago for several episodes. Seriously, I used to watch Days of Our Lives years ago. I happened to catch part of a show last week and knew what was happening right away. I spent little time catching up–five minutes tops. Kayla and Patch are back on. And Sammy and Lucas are still having problems, although Will is grown. Like a soap opera, the contestants also wear outfits they wouldn’t wear elsewhere. How many ways can you fashion an outfit out of a piece of cloth that says Survivor: China on it? Don’t get me started on cultural sensitivity and dress. At least in Amazing Race a factor isn’t how one might look in a bathing suit. Remember Don, Nathan’s grandpa?

If you miss one episode of the Amazing Race you can miss an entire country and not see events like Nathan’s dad stripping down to his underwear while pole vaulting over a ditch. You wouldn’t know that the Internet can often come in handy while locating the best airline ticket options, but you should go directly to the Air France office if you’re in Ouagadougou. Also, if you have a hernia, don’t let that stop you from traveling. Ronald has a hernia and he walks on stilts.

As I browsed through the various episodes of Survivor: China to see what I missed, I did see that some folks made it to the Great Wall while those back at camp ate Asian pears. That’s authentic.

If you ever do make it to Jiangxi province where Survivor: China was filmed, it is filled with historical sites, lakes and mountains. It’s also the porcelain capital of the country. Porcelain has been made here for 1,800 years. Oh, so that must be why in this particular episode of the final four the contestants had to stack various porcelain dishes. No one said this is why they were stacking them to see who could stack them best in order to win a spot on the Tribal Council–another co-opting of culture. Tribal councils do exist. I’m not sure this what they look like. If so, where do they get their tiki torches? Walmart? Oh, well. I ended up switching Survivor: China off once I found out who won. Todd. He’s the guy taking a drink. For some reason, I thought he’d win when I first tuned in. I just couldn’t listen to anymore talking about who did what and why for 45 more minutes. Anyway, Survivor Micronesia is next. It looks like Survivor: China considering that the torches were in full blaze in the teaser. And, I have to say, from the small bit I saw, it still looks kind of like Hawaii. I guess Hawaii: Survivor 16 might sound kind of dull, but consider this. Amazing Race 12 still has a ring to it.

I did see that Amazing Race is back on next Sunday. Hooray!!! It’s been okay dabbling in Survivor, but I’d much rather watch people like TK and Rachel looking like I have when I’ve traveled. Their photo reminds me what it’s like to sleep on the deck of a ferry from Greece to Italy back in the day when I was traveling with a boyfriend who, come to think of it, looked a lot like TK. I bet these two went to sleep without talking about the endless minutia of the day. I know we did.

Our ferry ride was after hoofing it from the island Skopolos to Athens via another ferry that left at night . There were two train rides also involved–the one to Athens and the one from Athens. We barely made the connections and almost missed the ferry. That would have made us miss our train ride in Italy and added a couple extra days to our trip. It felt so great to lie down.

Gadling’s Grand Giveaway Day 1: A handful of books!

by Justin Glow on

Welcome to the first day of a week-long Gadling giveaway extravaganza! Today we have a handful of books up for grabs. What do you have to do to win? Easy, just leave a comment on this post including which book you want, and after the week is up we’ll randomly select winners. Here are the books we have (click for Amazon details):


Want to win a copy? It’s easy. Here’s how:

  • To enter, simply leave a comment below stating which book you’d like to win. Make sure to use a valid e-mail address, or else we’ll have no way to contact you if you win!
  • The comment must be left before Friday, December 21, 2007 at 8:00 PM Eastern Time.
  • You may enter this contest once.
  • 7 winners will be selected in a random drawing.
  • Prizes probably will not be shipped in time for Christmas, so plan accordingly!
  • MSRP for the books are as follows (in order of the images above): $14, $25.95, $21.99, $13.95, $13.95, and $26.26
  • Click Here for complete Official Rules.

Other prizes we will be giving away this week include National Geographic’s Journeys of a Lifetime, Discovery Channel’s Planet Earth DVDs, and a new backpack from Eagle Creek! Stay tuned this week for your chance to win.

Spanish ham, sweet Spanish ham

by Abha Malpani on

For those of you pork-eaters in the US who have never tried made-in-Spain Jamon (ham) Ibérico, now that you can avail of it in again locally, jump on the opportunity because you don’t know what you have been missing.

Although produced in the US since 2005, it’s import from Spain had been prohibited by the USDA because Spain’s slaughter houses did not adhere to it’s safety regulations, and presumably because of the pig-borne viral swine virus that was prominent in Europe years ago. Last week, the ban was lifted and now authentic Ibérico can be bought in the US at a cost of US$50-$100 a pound, depending on the type.

This ham is the Spanish delicacy I can’t get enough of. A general fan of sausages, cold ham and bacon, since I have been introduced to cured Spanish ham, it has happily replaced my desire for any other pork production. I will eat it anytime, anyhow, anywhere — sometimes even preferring it to dessert (*gasp*). I am a regular customer at Madrid’s Ham Museums where you can nip in for a cold beer and a plate of ham that fits your budget.
Jamon Ibérico is made from the Iberian pig that is bred in Southwestern Spain and Southeastern Portugal, for a period of 14-36 months. Good ham in general is also called “Jamon de Pata Negra” (ham of the pig with black feet), the most expensive is the acorn fed Jamon de Bellota that in Spain costs atleast US$720 for an entire leg.

Yes, extremely expensive, so most of the time I have to resort to a ham of lesser quality and appreciate its remote similarity to Jamon Ibérico, but now and again it is something I generously pay for.

I would say eating ham in Spain is like eating noodles in China, households rarely go without it. Also, eating and gifting high-quality ham is a sign of status in Spain; for Christmas (for example), it is not uncommon for the Spanish to gift each other legs of ham.

Knowing how to buy ham and then how to cut it is an art in itself that I am still clueless about, but am determined to understand at some point very soon.

Messiah Sing-a-Longs (and you don’t really have to sing)

by Jamie Rhein on

I went to my first Handel’s Messiah Sing-a-Long Friday night. This one was a joint effort between the ProMusica Orchestra in Columbus, Ohio and area orchestras and choirs–plus their conductors who took turns conducting various segments. As soon as I took my place in the soprano section, it was obvious I wasn’t prepared for such an event. All around me people had score books with the music and the lyrics. I had just the program that was handed to me at the door. Oh. That’s what a sing-a-long means. I expected that there would be a choir that I would listen to and the audience would pipe in from time to time. Not so. Not in this case.

The audience was the chorus, meaning the main event. Like a true chorus, we were directed to sit in sections according to our voice range. And, although I was dressed fairly nicely, I wasn’t in the same league as the women around me, particularly the one in front of me with the spectacular dress and a voice to match. Think sequins and tulle, but stylish, like something Beverly Sills would wear. I briefly wondered if the wrinkles in my pants had shaken out by now.

But, being that I’m game for about anything, I stood on cue and followed the conductor’s stick, thankful that I’ve heard the Messiah more than once, and thankful for my high school choir days. I may not have had the score in front of me, but I could fudge a bit. Truly, this was a blast, but next year, I’m bringing the score, and if I don’t have one, I’m looking for that woman in the sequins. She was awesome. Listening to her helped me find the range and follow along–even though my voice could be described as “thin” and often off key. But, hey, I paid honest money for the price of the ticket, and that means, I’ll sing if I want to. You don’t have to sing though, several people, like my mother, just sat and listened.

If you’re looking for a special holiday event, find a sing-a-long Messiah. From what I’ve found out since last night, these are increasingly popular. I found several that have already happened this year. Here are some Sing-A-Long Messiah’s still happening.

Here’s a link to “How to Sing Handel’s Messiah” If I had only known.