-
Trips always fade faster than I expect, but somehow I can still remember exactly where we had our favorite meals. In Canmore and Banff, beyond the postcard views, it was the hidden alley restaurant with creative cocktails, the unexpectedly outstanding Indian food, the peaceful creek trail, and the whimsical riverside walk that kept coming back to mind long after we returned home.
-
Judges’ Ranking My Personal Ranking Others finalists: Octavia, Le Marais, Bonjour Bakehouse, East Bay Bakery 1. Compagnon Bakery TL;DR: I think this is the rising star of the Bay Area croissant scene (menu and story here). Their Croissant au Beurre had everything I look for: fragrant butter, crispy exterior, airy lamination, and a light, flaky […]
-
Sidewalks as restaurants and cafes In Hanoi Old Quarters, the sidewalks are often turned into parking lots for motorbikes, food stalls, and café’s plastic stools, leaving pedestrians no choice but to navigate the narrow streets alongside motorcycles, testing each other’s boundaries. Some say Hanoians’ lifestyle is heavily influenced by French, chilled and slower paced, which is […]
-
Is Hanoi chaotic? Yes, it is. Is Hanoi fun? Most definitely.
-
Bringing back what we learned from coffee class at Hanoi to the Bay Area 🙂
-
-
Noting yummy foods and desserts in Paris, Strasbourg and Lyon!
-
During my first 10-day trip to France, my partner had bought me to “only” four Michelin restaurants during our 10-day trip. This is just a quick review for these four restaurants — all four of them are one-star Michelin in 2023, some have had a few years of Michelin while one just got it in 2023; two locate in Paris and two in the gastronomical capital of France — Lyon. It’s interesting how the top two of my favorites are actually fusion cuisine rather than classic french foods 😀
-
Have been wanting to camp for a while and decided to start out with glamping. “If you start with glamping, you will never reach camping”, friends told me. What I look for in a camping/glamping trip is the immersion with the nature, waking up to the bird chirping/singing, listening to the rain drops on tent while chilling, reading in tent, enjoying beer or hot tea and smell the grass after rain… I achieved some in Mendocino this time, and hope to achieve other “dream” of camping in the future. As my first glamping trip, Mendocino Glamping was unexpectedly healing and energizing, a great break from work and recent travels.
-
Coming to Hawaii, I have bookmarked so many restaurants that my google map has stars everywhere, Japanese cuisines, Hawaiian foods, poke, shave ice and farmers market. Within a month of travelling, I have removed stars, and also pinned new stars according to local’s recommendations. Below, I first shared the short list if you just want to know what I have on the map after a month; further down is more detailed comments/recommendations on foods, if reservation is needed, and if parking is available.
