Ode to the expat newspaper

by Meg Nesterov on

One of my favorite things about traveling, in addition to foreign supermarkets, oddball museums, and miniature toiletries, is the local English-language expat newspaper. When I’m home in New York, I tend to get all my news online, either directly from news websites through specific searches or curated from friends’ links on social media (one of the best sources for news from US newspapers is Canadian NY1 anchorman and New Yorker favorite Pat Kiernan‘s site Pat’s Papers). Sorry US newspapers, I know I’m part of the problem. But while I’m traveling, I love to grab the local newspaper over hotel breakfast or in a coffeeshop and learn about local issues, news, and phenomena.Last month in Malaysia while reading the New Straits Times, I learned about how competitive the Chinese are at a kite flying festival and how southeast Asian children have to be taught to detect sour milk. The travel section reviewed a new hotel in Penang with a first impression of “adequate” and the Niexter insert written by Malaysian teenagers taught me all about malapropisms. A couple at our hotel told me they came to Penang after reading an article on the Hotel Penaga’s renovation from the paper in Kuala Lumpur.

It was from Istanbul’s Today’s Zaman that I learned about the excellent expat community and online forum I’ve become a part of in the last year, and I now have friends who have worked at Zaman and their competitor the Hurriyet Daily News. When I first visited Turkey in 2008, I recall reading an interesting editorial in one of the papers about how stealing things from airplanes like safety cards can cause delays, as the plane can’t take off without enough for everyone. The torn out article is long-gone, but I’ve retained the factoid and it keeps me honest on airplanes (though I’ve been tempted to take a souvenir from some eastern European airlines). When the Hurriyet turned 50 this year, writer Jennifer Hattam wrote a great piece on the particular challenges of not only translating the language of news, but the cultural specifics and background as well.

Expat news doesn’t only come in print form. I tweeted about expat news sources and read how writer Lisa Bergren relies on the BBC for news as well as comfort, and CJGuest recommends Al Jazeera from the Arabic world, the German Deutsche Welle, NHK from Japan, and Russia Today from the Russian Federation. Gadling’s own Grant Martin likes the South China Morning Post and the more western Sydney Morning Herald.The local English-language paper doesn’t always have the freshest content, the most stellar writing, or the coolest layout, but it provides an invaluable look into regional and national issues. Expat news can also provide a lens through which to see world news through local perspectives, and help us keep in touch with the sentiments and opinions in our home countries and cultures.

Gadling readers, do you have any favorite news sources abroad? Please feel free to share in the comments.

Photo courtesy Flickr user Ed Yourdon

Ancient art stolen from Egyptian Museum recovered by police

by Sean McLachlan on

Egyptian police have recovered four stolen statues, two of which were taken from Cairo’s Egyptian Museum, Ahram Online reported.

Two of the statues were among several items that went missing when rioters broke into the Egyptian Museum. The other two were apparently looted from somewhere else, perhaps an archaeological site. There were scattered incidents of looting from several museums and archaeological sites across the country during the January Revolution, and the extent of the thefts remains unclear.

The statues are all of bronze and depict important gods such as Osiris, god of the afterlife, pictured here in an image courtesy of user Rama via Wikimedia Commons. This is not one of the recovered statues.

The statues date to the Late Period, a period dating from 664 BC to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC. This era saw a final flowering of Egyptian art and religion before it went through a long period of domination and decline under Greeks and Roman rule. When the Roman Empire converted to Christianity, poor old gods like Osiris were slowly forgotten.

The thieves possessing the ancient art were arrested. Of the 54 objects missing from the museum, 23 have been recovered.

Pop-up restaurants: dining for a new decade

by Laurel Miller on

First, it was underground supper clubs. Now, everything’s coming up pop-ups. As with food trucks, this form of guerrilla cheffing borne of economic need has become a global phenomenon. Equal parts dinner party and dinner theater, a pop-up refers to a dining establishment that is open anywhere from one to several nights, usually in an existing restaurant or other commercial food establishment.

The impermanent nature of pop-ups means no real overhead or utilities, and little food cost and labor. They’re not enough to sustain chefs financially, but are instead a great way for them to make a name for themselves and draw some income in between (or during) gigs. Pop-ups also give chefs a chance to stretch themselves, stylistically or ethnically, although some prefer to let local ingredients shine. Most pop-ups give props to sustainability by sourcing product from local farms, which is part of what gives these fly-by-night operations such a wonderful sense of place.

I first heard about pop-ups while couch-surfing in San Francisco two years ago (my own pop-up form of survival after relocating back to the West Coast from Colorado). Chef Anthony Myint, the brainchild behind SF’s Mission Street Food pop-up, which started in 2008, was serving much-lauded, locally-sourced dinners Thursday nights, each time with the help of a guest chef. The food was unpredictable with regard to cuisine or style. The location? Lung Shan, a nondescript Chinese restaurant in the city’s vibrant Mission District (FYI, my favorite place for great, usually cheap, eats). I remember thinking at the time, “More, please.”Fast-forward 24 months, and while the pop-up is no more, the venture was so successful, Myint is now co-owner of San Francisco’s popular Commonwealth, as well as newly minted (har) chef at the forthcoming Mission Bowling Club. And Joshua Skenes of Saison, one of Food & Wine magazine’s newly crowned Best New Chefs, started the restaurant as a pop-up.

San Francisco has long been an incubator for innovative ideas involving food, so it’s no surprise pop-ups are, ah, popular there (click here for a recent round-up). Meanwhile, fellow 2011 Best New Chef Jason Franey, of Seattle’s Canlis, has also been getting in on the pop-up. In February, he cooked a one-night gig at “Hearth & Home,” held at one of the city’s Macrina Bakery locations (another tip: if you’re in town, visit Macrina in its own right. Four words: chocolate-orange pound cake).

The pop-up trend–which now applies to boutiques, galleries, clubs, coffee houses, and bars–has gone national. Los Angeles, San Diego, New Orleans, Chicago, New York, Boston, Portland (Oregon), Miami: all popular for restaurant pop-ups. Oakland has seen phenomenal response to its Pop-up General Store, which features a twice-monthly gathering of food vendors held at a catering kitchen. Founded by former Chez Panisse Chef Christopher Lee and his former sous chef Saimin Nosrat (of Berkeley’s defunct Eccolo), the venue features all the deliciousness you would expect when a group of mostly former Chez Panisse cooks and food artisans get together and prepare things to eat.

Pop-ups are even crossing the pond. The New York Times reports that, starting today, Singapore is sending some of its top chefs and a pop-up kitchen on a yearlong trip around the world, with nine stops planned in Moscow, Paris, London, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Delhi, Sydney, and Dubai. Dubbed Singapore Takeout, the goal is to showcase the city’s eclectic, multi-ethnic cuisine. The kitchen is a converted 20-by-eight-foot shipping container. Also hitting the road is chef Thomas Keller of The French Laundry, Ad Hoc, Bouchon, and Per Se. He’ll be featured in a ten-day pop-up at Harrods, London later this summer.

Tip: Due to the nature of pop-ups, the best way to find them is to Google the words, “pop-up restaurant, ____ (city).” You can also go to Pop up Restaurants for news. Get popping!

Travel group promoting Trusted Traveler Program

by Chris Owen on
Should frequent flyers and business travelers get through airports faster than everybody else? Yes! says the U.S. Travel Association who is trying to convince lawmakers that big airport users need special attention.

“Travelers encounter much hassle at our nation’s airports, and it’s time for Congress to act,” said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. “A one size fits all approach to security is inefficient. If Congress implements a trusted traveler program, we’ll see more Americans traveling – and that will create more American jobs.

Called the Trusted Traveler program, the idea is to have those who go travel extensively go through an extensive background check and basically be certified safe to fly. At the airport, the Trusted Traveler would zip through security and have a minimum of checks.

The “Be Trusted” campaign is a national grassroots campaign advocating Congressional implementation of a trusted traveler program. The campaign will include advertisements in newspapers and airports, social media, events at airports, an advocacy website and toll-free number to connect travelers directly with members of Congress, and an online petition.

Flickr photo by redjar

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Summer Travel: A week in the Holy Land

by Matthew Firestone on

With the summer holidays rapidly approaching, it’s safe to say that many of us are suffering from serious bouts of wanderlust. Fortunately we at Gadling have the cure, namely a heaping dose of pure, uncut travel advice. Side effects may include flight bookings, hotel reservations and the loss of a few clean passport pages.

Every year, travel experts (myself included…) seem to tout a *new* destination that somehow seemed to escape all prior notice. But today we’re here to tell you that one of the hottest summer destinations has in fact been around for a long, long time. Rather than keeping you guessing, we’ll just spill the fava beans and come right out and say it.

Geopolitics aside, Israel is an awe-inspiring place to visit.

In one tiny strip of land, you’ll find ancient cities, a mélange of cultures, stunning natural environments, rich cuisine and decent value for your dollar. Israel’s compact size also means that you can tick off a long-list of sights in a relatively short period of time. And, you’ll find that English is widely spoken, which makes independent travel very feasible.

%Gallery-122137%If you’re arriving in Israel by flight, chances are you will touchdown in Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV), just 10 miles southeast of Tel Aviv proper. In comparison to the historical hot bed that is Jerusalem, Tel Aviv is generally described as being modern, secular and progressive. It is also unapologetically bold and brash, and consequently serves as the country’s hedonistic playground.

Dubbed by National Geographic as one of the world’s ten best beach cities, Tel Aviv easily rivals any of its Mediterranean counterparts. The westward facing strip of sand ensures uninterrupted sunsets, though beach life is anything but a daytime activity. The warm, dry nights bring out droves of party people, who booze it up in chic canopy lounges and trend-setting mega-clubs.

For the more culturally-minded traveler, a visit to the adjacent city of Jaffa is an absolute must – just follow the beachside promenade south for around a mile. Home to archaeological ruins dating back to 7500 BCE, Jaffa is believed to be one of the oldest ports in the world. But the core architectural plan is largely Ottoman in design, with fortified sea walls, soaring minarets, rounded cupolas and serpentine alleyways.

You could easily spend a full-week indulging in Tel Aviv’s signature brand of fun. But no trip to Israel is complete without stepping foot in Jerusalem, sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. Truth be told, trying to capture the magnitude of Jerusalem – especially in a meager blog post – is something of an exercise in futility.

Indeed, Jerusalem hosted the court of the Israelite King David, oversaw the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and was visited during the Night Journey of the prophet Muhammad. Yet despite this monumental line of biblical succession, the old city of Jerusalem is easily accessible, surprisingly compact and conducive to exploration on foot.

On your first day in the city, start at the Western (Wailing) Wall, a remnant of the Jewish Second Temple that was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. If you continue up to the Temple Mount, you’ll see the gold-plated Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine built in 691 CE that is now one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks. Continue to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is built around Calvary (Golgotha), the site of Jesus’s crucifixion. Save time for sunset at the top of Mount of Olives, a historic Jewish cemetery that is referenced in both the Old and New Testaments.

On your second day in the city, grab a flashlight and head to the City of David archaeological park. The centerpiece here in the 1,700 foot-long Siloam Tunnel, a subterranean aqueduct that dates from 701 BCE. Walking through the dark while ankle-deep in water is a surreal yet memorable experience. In the afternoon, hop from cafe to cafe in the fashionable and cosmopolitan New City quarter. Also don’t miss the Israel Museum, which houses several surviving copies of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Leaving Jerusalem behind is no easy task, but Israel also presents numerous opportunities for enjoying the great outdoors. Summer heat can be intense, but there is no better place for cooling down than in the southern resort city of Eilat. Located on the shores of the Red Sea, Eilat presents opportunities for swimming, boating, SCUBA diving, camel trekking or simply lounging around without a care in the world.

Equally refreshing – but more saline – is the Dead Sea, one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world, and the lowest point on the Earth’s surface. Floating on your back without expending any energy is amongst the quintessential Middle East tourist experiences. But trust us – don’t enter if you have any open cuts. And unless you really want to feel the burn, best to hold off on shaving until after you’ve taken your dip.

The jumping off-point for the Dead Sea is the oasis town of Ein Gedi, which lies adjacent to one of Israel’s most beautiful nature reserves. Nearby you’ll also find Masada, a natural rock fort that was the site of a famous mass suicide during the First Jewish-Roman War (66–70 CE). A hot and sweaty hike to the top (bring water, and start early in the day!) brings you to the spot where almost a thousand Jews committed mass suicide in order to avoid being captured by the Romans.

We’ve just barely scratched the surface of everything that lies waiting for you to discover in the Holy Land. But even if you don’t have much time to spare, a one-week jaunt really is enough time to explore a fairly decent swathe of Israel. So check your preconceived notions at the door, and get ready for some truly life-changing travel.

** All photos are the blogger’s original work **

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