Damn, I actually saw this photo earlier and was planning on blogging about it today. Turns out
Slashfood beat me to it.
But I’m going to show it off anyway and click the “food” category here. The image won this year’s
Visions of Science Photographic awards. There are some other amazing
pics here to check out. Including one of a shrimp
on the lips of a fish.
Sitting here with a steaming cup of Starbucks next to me, I confess I found this upcoming event rather appealing.
Although I won’t be in Hawaii in the near future, if I had plans to do so, I might very well check in on the
Kona Coffee Cultural Festival being held on Friday, November 4 until the
13th on the Big Island of Hawaii.
The festival bills itself as Hawaii’s Oldest Food Festival…which presumes it has been around longer than the any
festivals celebrating Poi or The Annual East Maui Taro Festival.
As you might imagine, the Coffee Festival will involve a good deal of sniffing, drinking and
cupping, as well as a
driving tour of the Big Island.
I stumbled upon this place to eat in New Zealand by way of
Travel &
Leisure who runs a good piece on picking the right hotel, B&B, or resort to stay at while
vacationing in the area. It appears there are several hotels, but many amateurs in the biz that don’t know how to
provide the service. But when it comes to food there are only few place sin Queenstown that offer delicious New Zealand
fare unmatched by most.
The Bathhouse Restaurant looks to be one of them. What used to
be an actual bathhouse to commemorate the coronation of King George V, was turned into the restaurant after a
series of floods and neglect in the late 1980’s. Today the menu
features items such as whole roasted quail, ragout of wild rabbit, ravioli of crayfish and confit of duck to give you
an idea. I haven’t been able to match the dessert seen here with the ones listed on the menu, but it sure looks
interesting. Reminds me of a gigantic mosquito looking to feed off of delicious sugary items. Something about that
picture grabs me.
In any case, the atmosphere alone and beachfront deck might make it worth a visit if the food seems a little too far
out for some.
Many of us travelers are true wanders, going through life without any plans, itineraries, or maps
to guide us. We let the wind take us to and from our next destination and if we get a
little lost a long the way, that’s okay. Some journey to intentionally get lost, to live out childhood fairy tales
of Alice and Wonderland or to keep their minds puzzled while finding a way out of the maze. Confused? Sound a
little like yourself or someone you know? MSNBC has a magical piece
on corn maze trips. Should you decide to keep the kids busy for a while or be amazed with the maize maze
yourself, you can’t say they don’t make for an awesome day-trip. Strolling the cornfields while the sun drenches
its ever warm rays upon your head as you seek the next possible turn out! Marvelous, simply marvelous. The article
provides tons of suggestions on corn mazes across the states, many on as much as eight acres of land with three
miles of twists and turns like the one pictured here, found in Layton, Utah.
Want to find out everything you need to know about Vietnam before embarking on your trip?
Check out Hitchhiking Vietnam, Letters
from the Trail, on the PBS web site. Incredible! Whether you crave a little blood soup for dinner or wish to
read up on some Hmong superstitions before you hit the sack tonight, they have got you covered. Some of the
superstitions found in the section on Vietnam’s minority people might fill your dreams with something a little wacky,
but I’ve always taken a liking to reading about superstitions. For instance, one belief states if a child does not wear
a hat for protection its spirit will escape from its head. In terms of travel, going at the road alone is a big no-no
for the Hmong as a spirit of the road may cause a sprained ankle.
If you wish to skip all the hocus-pocus you can also find some extremely useful information and tips on what to do
if you happen to end up in jail, visiting the animal market, Hanoi and how to make it big as a Mekong farmer. Start
with the visual Vietnam quiz. You’ll
see some interesting photos of items you might see on your travels through the country. Some were pretty
easy to guess while others will surprise many.