the world outside / outside the world

Touristing in Toledo and Segovia, Spain

kurenai — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 18:46:00 GMT

Spain has been a fascinating city to explore – which is good because my flight to Madrid from the US was so late that I missed my separately ticketed flight to London, much to my dismay and my wallet! This led me to have more days in and around Madrid to explore rather than hopping off to the UK. One of those days I decided to book a tour to Toledo and Segovia.

Toledo is a couple hours south-west of Madrid and is known as the “City of Three Cultures” with a fascinating mix of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish influences found all over the city. In today’s age it seems to be an incredibly touristy area mostly full of shops selling tchotchkes and over-priced Damascus steel items. I’d recommend trying out the delicious marzipan! While you are meandering around give the Cathedral a quick look as it is quite lovely.

Overall Toledo seemed to be a good place to buy postcards and gifts for friends and family but it gets incredibly busy later on in the day so if you could head over late morning that would be the best time for photos and wandering around.

Segovia is in north-west Spain, a shortish drive from Toledo. It is famous for a huge Roman Aquaduct located in Plaza del Azoguejo. It is a lovely area to walk around in and far less touristy than Toledo. With that in mind if you end up in Segovia in the afternoon be prepared for Spain’s infamous siesta time when shops close.

Overall, I found it to be a lovely day visit to gorgeous cities near to Madrid. If you are in the area I’d say give it a try as long as you can find a tour with reasonable prices. If you had to choose between the two I think Toledo might be a better option.

Happy travels!

Tokyo's newest animal cafe - hedgehogs!

kurenai — Sat, 16 Apr 2016 10:46:00 GMT

There has been a lot of interest in the newly opened hedgehog café in Tokyo. I figured while I was in the area I should see what all the fuss was about.

Harry is on the second floor of Ms.Bunny, the rabbit café, in Roppongi. It is incredibly popular right now so a reservation is a good idea, even if there are eight spots saved for walk-ins. I made my reservation two days ahead and there was a decent amount of availability but day-of was completely booked.

The café is a short walk from Roppongi station. You head up a set of stairs and find yourself in a rather small room surrounded by aquariums with hedgehogs of various sizes and colors inside. The staff let you choose your hedgehog and they place it in a box in front of you so you can play with and hold your hedgehog. My advice is to choose your hedgehog wisely. I decided on a larger off-white one that seemed awake. Turns out he was very lively and spent most of his time exploring and defecating. Ah well. It was still fun to experience a hedgehog up close and personal as it made me realize that I would not want a hedgehog as a pet. Good to know!

Anyway, it was a fun experience and worth the time if you happen to be in Tokyo and want to try out a new café (if cats, dogs, owls, and rabbits are not your thing).

It is ¥1,000 (~$10 US) per thirty minutes, though I think most reservations are made for an hour. Mealworms are an additional ¥500 (~$5).

Happy playing (and try not to get stabbed).

You can make reservations here: http://www.harinezumi-cafe.com/english/

And when hunting up the cafe on Google look for Ms.Bunny, not Harry.

A Raw Vegan Foodie Experience in DC!

kurenai — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 12:10:00 GMT

We all need somewhere nice to go for our birthday dinner and after hearing about a lovely 5-course prix fixe dinner that was not only vegan but raw… well, I had to check it out! Enter Elizabeth’s Gone Raw, a raw vegan foodie experience that can only be had on Friday evenings through a reservation system.

Having made reservations on the website the week before, we sailed in to Dupont and found the restaurant easily. We were greeted warmly and shown up to our table immediately to start our culinary adventure.

The first course was a cute mushroom salad with truffle, shallots, and a bit of lime with a plate of kale chips appearing soon after. Next up was an avocado and cucumber gazpacho that was mild and somehow creamy. Quite nice!

Course number three turned out to be a baby corn and endive salad with a few pickled ramps, olives, and some parsley pesto. Fresh and crunchy and I admit you usually can’t go wrong with pickled foods and olives. Mm.

A palate cleanser of basil-celery sorbet was up next in a tiny little bowl. It was a unique experience but I wasn’t a huge fan personally.

The main entrée was stuffed squash blossoms with dill yogurt, fennel, some crispy beets on top, and a plethora of horseradish-mustard foam on the side. I found it to be a bit on the small side for a mail course and the foam to be… rather unique but overall it was generally tasty. The crispy beets were my favorite part of the dish, though.

Soon after came the dessert – a peach curd cake on one side with coconut ice cream beside it and both swimming in cilantro water. It might sound a little strange but this was the definite highlight of the meal! The peach curd was flavorful, had a good mouth-feel, and went down a treat! The coconut ice cream was quite nice as well and a good compliment.

All in all it was a fascinating journey on how to do raw vegan food at an upper class establishment and I was thrilled to be along for the ride. Some dishes worked better than others but I felt the reason to come here was more to check out the atmosphere, the cooking styles and ingredients (squash blossom as a main dish? Well, ok. Why not?), and get a bit out of your comfort zone (at least for most of us).

With that said, this meal isn’t particularly cheap. It starts off at $75 per person and you can add in a wine pairing for an additional $30. My friend and I opted for a glass of wine each and when all was said and done it was a bit under $100 without the tip added on. Still, it was a memorable experience for a birthday celebration and I am quite happy I had the chance to go!

If you're curious about the restaurant, take a peek over atn their website here: http://www.elizabethsgoneraw.com/raw.html

Bon appétit!

Let’s go to “The Beach” – at DC’s National Building Museum

kurenai — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 05:35:00 GMT

This exhibit has been making the rounds on newspapers and social media. It is a completely white indoor ball pit with beach chairs and against the wall tables to buy booze and food. My inner 5-year-old was thrilled at the idea and looking at pictures online pushed me into buying a ticket and heading out to the beach…

Snagging my ticket I met friends after work one Wednesday and we all took off our shoes, walked on the white astroturf, passed beach chairs and found ourselves in front of a waist-high beach pit teaming with people bouncing around, tussling, throwing balls, and sitting carefully while balancing their weight so they won’t sink all the way down. Jumping in feet first carefully so as not to jostle the crowds around me I made my way off to the side of the pit with friends and we spent the evening surrounded by tiny plastic balls or out beside the wine, beer, and cocktail table. It was a fun and memorable evening and I’d highly recommend you check it out!

Things to know:

- You can buy tickets online for $16 or in-person. You do not need to buy a museum ticket – just the Beach exhibit ticket. If you buy online when you enter the building go to the Membership line to get a wristband and then enter the exhibit line. If not, go to the General admission line and same process.

- Only Wednesdays are late nights until 9pm. If you can’t make a Wednesday evening than the “beach” closes at 5pm every other day of the week. If you do go on a Wednesday try to get there before 5:30pm or be prepared to wait in snaking lines that will probably take at least 30 minutes to get in.

- Consider eating beforehand as drinks and food are very limited inside and a bit expensive. You can get beer, wine, or two cocktails. Food seemed to only have some sort of nacho plate or bean dip with chips. Union Kitchen is the caterer.

- If you bring your cell phone, shoes, purse, or anything else in the pit make sure you have a very firm hold of it or leave it with a friend at a beach chair. A girl beside me lost her phone in the pit and I am not sure if she’ll get it back until the exhibit closes in September.

- The pit does get cleaned so hopefully it will not be too unsanitary when you go though I suggest going sooner rather than later.

More information can be found here and the exhibit goes through September 7^th.

Hope you get a chance to check it out and happy “swimming”!

Wave Gotik Treffen: Thoughts from a First Timer –

kurenai — Thu, 9 Jul 2015 04:22:00 GMT

Wave Gotik Treffen is known as the biggest gothic music festival in the world. It takes place in late May (the weekend of Pentecost, also Memorial weekend for those of us hailing from America) in Leipzig, Germany. It has an incredibly huge lineup of musicians and acts that take place all over the city! Tickets run from 99€ in advance to 120€ day-of for the weekend including free transportation.

After wanting to go for YEARS I finally managed to make the trek in 2015 for their 24^th year. Going to a huge music festival alone, especially in a foreign country, is a rather daunting experience! I managed to find myself a room to rent through Airbnb to save on costs and just sort of met people along the way as the weekend progressed… I’m not going to go in-depth on the activities that happen every year but use broad sweeping strokes of my experience throughout the weekend.

The People:
Overall I found most of the event-goers were repeat visitors and knew a number of people from prior years and were happy to stick with that group making it hard to try and approach people. The crowds seemed mostly Western European with a number of Brits thrown in the mix and, as mentioned, I had a hard time trying to make friends because the groups seemed a bit clique-y. I did manage to meet a couple of lovely people who took me under their wing and helped out which made the experience so much easier. Overall I’m not sure I found the experience to be super-friendly which makes me less inclined to go next year or another year down the road unless I brought my own group of friends.

The Venues:
…were very disparate. You literally run around the entire city to try and go to all the events going on and find yourself exhausted and missing out on a TON of things. I felt it would be best to take it easy and go with the flow. Apparently that just meant that I spent most of my time at the bigger venues – like the Agra – just hanging around or shopping at the Gothic Market and missing out on some of the smaller acts that were in less-than-easy-to-get-to venues. Still, the places I made it to were pretty awesome and I loved being able to hop on and hop off trams without paying. The best past is the black tram line that appears every year for WGT and disappears after the festival is over. Leipzig is cool like that.

The Bands:
Ohmygodthebands. So many bands! Everywhere! I was especially pleased to finally catch L’Ame Immortelle live. The band list appear on the website and by email as they are confirmed slowly though the year until rapidfire emails with all of the finalizing of the band list right before the event. So many bands it was overwhelming and I am sad that I missed out on so many small acts who were playing up against larger acts. You pick and choose your battles and unfortunately that means that you will never see all the bands that you want.

The Fashion:
There seems to be two generalized fashion camps at WGT: the Victorian-inspired fashion (Victorian, Lolita, Steampunk, military-inspired) and the more cyber-inspired fashion (raver-types, etc.). I didn’t know what to expect but I was honestly hoping for more variety in the scene. When I asked one of the gents I met there where I ended up on the fashion spectrum he wasn’t sure because I didn’t neatly fit into either of those two categories. Still, even so, there were some AMAAAAAZING costumes that were well worth taking photos of. I definitely had a great time people-viewing while sitting outside at a café. Come prepared to dress to impress because THIS is definitely the place to do it. If you have a high calibre outfit consider the Victorian picnic or one of the other fashion-related events that happen throughout the long weekend.

Accomodation:
Most hotels are booked solid really early on so start looking for accommodation as soon as you decide that you are going. Also, Airbnb has a number of locals that know the festival is coming through and expect price hikes for that weekend alone. I had to reach out to maybe 10 different places on Airbnb before I got an approval from someone. Also, go for a place closer to the city-center not closer to the Agra. You'll be heading out at night to some club venues that are in the city proper. I ended up by the TV tower which is quite close to Moritzbastei where you can dance your little heart out throughout the evening and into the early morning. I know I did at least once or twice - and the best part was being only a 10 minute walk away. Lucky!

The City:
Leipzig seemed a bit suburban as far as a city goes. It’s not as big as Berlin but not tiny either. I admit I only came for the festival so I didn’t do anything touristy outside of popping by the Medieval Marketplace so it is a bit hard for me to review the city itself. I found it charming, if a bit like an older variant of a concrete jungle with pretty architecture. Perhaps worth a visit if you’re already in Berlin. Due to train strikes I took a bus to Berlin from Leipzig and found it very reasonable…

Anyway, it was a checkmark in my list of life events that I must do. I am very glad I had the option to go but I don’t know that enjoyed myself enough to go again – like a number of the Europeans I saw with a long list of WGT bracelets on their wrists. I’m thinking of maybe trying for Convergence in New Orleans next year instead and see what a gothic festival in America is like (even if it will definitely be on the smaller side compared to WGT - but then again pretty much everything is after that, haha).

If you want to go definitely book accomodation as soon as you can, stock up on your New Rock Boots or steel boned corsets, buy a ticket in advance if you can manage it (I couldn't - I didn't have a European bank account), get ready to walk around a lot (consider sunscreen or parasols), and bring enough euros to last the weekend as not all places take credt cards (which I found out the hard way and had to pull out cash from an ATM paying premium fees. Boo!). Also, check out where bands are so you can try to plan your day if you want to see specific bands considering how far away some venues are from each other.

Happy festival stomping!

Schloss Sanssouci: A Prussian Palace of Rococo Extravagance

kurenai — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 03:22:00 GMT

Sanssouci Palace is a UNESCO heritage site located in Potsdam, Germany – a quick hop, skip, and jump down from Berlin. It is a sprawling park complex than one can easily find themselves lost in and spend the whole day trying to run around to see everything. Note: you’ll probably fail.

I woke up early in Berlin and took a train down to Potsdam and walked all the way to the park. And then walked some more around the park. And then walked back. Quite a lot of walking, really, but a lovely view. The weather in late May was beautiful and it was a perfect time to visit the park with just a light jacket.

The first thing you’ll want to do is head straight to the Palace to buy your tickets for 20€. You’ll be assigned a time to get in – we were assigned a two hour gap in which we could wander the park before heading in to Sanssouci itself. Two hours was barely enough to scratch the surface of the park so consider getting an even later time to view more architectural sites. Just a thought.

Tickets in hand we set off to get lost in the Park itself and only managed to make it into a few buildings before our time was up. The Orangerie was a lovely building quite close by indicative of the Rococo splendor you will find later on in more grand buildings. It was a quick in and out and wasn’t crowded when we got there so an easy place to take some photos if you bought the photography wristband on top of the Palace ticket.

Next up was the Chinese Pavilion which was my favorite of all the buildings we saw. It was tiny but full of elaborate displays of golden people, animals, and fruit. I especially appreciated the pineapple chandelier so prominently displayed at the center of the building.

Charlottenburg Palace needed ticket times as well – free but a German guided tour only every 30 minutes – so if you want to go here make a beeline to get a ticket time and know that you’ll be guided in German with a pamphlet in English.

We made it all the way to the Neues Palace on the other side of the Park but didn’t have enough time to go inside before we raced back to get into Sanssouci. Alas. But from the outside the views were stunning and I was saddened to leave it before catching a glimpse of the Frederician Rococo splendor that I’m sure the inside must have held!

Sanssouci Palace itself was much smaller than I imagined – only ten rooms – but gilded and painted and gold bedazzled my eye everywhere I looked. We were given handheld devices with information on each room and went at our own pace. It was quite crowded so not as easy to take photos but still a lovely, if rather excessive, building.

By that point we had walked all over the place and were tired so we meandered our way back in to Potsdam for a well-deserved sit-down at one of their charming cafés scattered about the city. Overall I found Sanssouci to be gorgeously over-the-top and I only wish I had more time to spend gawking. It is a beautiful park so if you think of it bring some snacks and blankets and have a picnic like I saw a few people doing. You won’t find much by way of food or refreshments in the park itself – there was a tiny over-priced café at the windmill – so plan ahead and bring a lot of water and things to nibble on.

Happy viewing!

Photos: Germany

kurenai — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 03:20:00 GMT

Photos from either Leipzig, Berlin, or Potsdam

All the chocolate in Brussels!

kurenai — Sat, 7 Feb 2015 01:31:00 GMT

We all need some time off and after the winter I’ve had I was definitely looking for a change of scenery. I booked a trip to Paris to visit a friend of mine and thought a day stop to Brussels for some chocolate would definitely lift up my sagging spirits. Booking an afternoon chocolate tour was the definite highlight of the day. As it was February the weather was a bit cold and blustery but that worked in our favor as we were the only ones on the tour that day which was awesome!

Meeting our tour guide at the Leonidas shop located inside the Royal Galleries St. Hubert, we were given a quick history lesson on chocolate as our guide pulled out his phone and showed some images of cacao beans and the involved process to become the taste that we know and love. He then pointed out the visual aspects of the store and told us take special interest in how the store was set up, the colors, advertisement, and of course, the taste.

At Leonidas we were given white chocolate with a coffee-ganache filling that is apparently a great favorite but I found overly sweet. The store seemed quite similar to chocolate stores that I tended to see in America – bright, vibrant colors and eye-catching displays.

Keeping that in mind we made our way to the next shop along the way: Neuhaus. This chocolate shop is quite old and is known for a patented fold over box for their chocolates. The store was still bright and eye-catching but the colors were a bit more muted than those at Leonidas with some pastels thrown in the mix. We were given a basic dark chocolate truffle which was quite nice with a semi-bitter finish.

The next stop was Mary across the way which was an elegantly white and gold shop that had less clutter than the first two chocolatiers. There were less boxes and less chocolates but the chocolate we were given was quite lovely. It was a milk chocolate with a vanilla tonka filling. Not having much exposure to tonka I was curious to try it but mostly tasted vanilla with hints of coconut. I found the shop to be good but I still wasn't impressed enough to buy any chocolate.

After the three shops in the mall we meandered out into the ominously dark sky and made our way across the city to the more modern chocolate shops that were a 15 minute walk away. Our first stop was Frederic Blondeel which had a beautifully muted set up utilizing rich browns and a display window full of roasted cacao beans surrounding a palm tree. We got to try a lovely dark chocolate thyme truffle. It had a crisp taste that lingered and I was quite impressed with this store. This was the first store that had single-origin chocolate bars and very unique flavor combinations. It was also the first one we bought some chocolate to take back with us. I found myself buying a raw chocolate bar from Peru which I am keen to try and my friend got a bagful of the truffles with fun flavors like rose cardamom and basil.

Moving along, the next store was called Pierre Marcolini and it also had a classy feel with contrasting black and white décor – and a higher price tag to match. Walking upstairs we were given a four space dark chocolate truffle that had a nice snap when we bit into it due to the tempered chocolate. I wasn’t into the spice profile of this one but my friend just loved it. However, I got to try a milk chocolate Earl Grey truffle which was divine and I floated around the store in a haze of bergamot oil. I ended up nabbing a few more bars of single origin chocolate and a box of cacao infusion which is apparently the cacao shell that you steep like tea. Sounds intriguing!

The final stop on our trip found us at Patrick Roger, a minimalist shop that honestly looked more like an art gallery than chocolate shop. This was the crème de la crème for chocolate shops in Brussels. We were handed a beautiful small turquoise box that looked like it should hold a ring or some other jewelry but inside we found a beautiful half sphere of glossy white and lime green on a dark brown shell. I was told to place it in my mouth and just lightly push it up to the roof of my mouth to get the complex flavor profile. And complex it was; rich dark chocolate with caramel and lime with a hint of vanilla. That might sound simple but it was simply divine. Probably the best piece of chocolate I have ever tried and perhaps the most expensive.

All in all it was an incredibly fun experience and I learned a lot about chocolate. Well worth the 30€ each for the tour. I’m exciting to be bringing good quality chocolate home and I now have an idea of what to look out for when I enter a chocolate shop to better know the quality of their products.

If you’re keen to take this tour pop over brusselscitytours.com

Happy tasting!

Photos: Paris/Brussels

kurenai — Sat, 7 Feb 2015 01:28:00 GMT

What I Learned From a Week's Travel in Sri Lanka –

kurenai — Fri, 8 Aug 2014 11:02:00 GMT

Let’s start with the fun location-based travel first:

Pinawalla Elephant Orphanage: There were many places that touted elephants and elephant rides. Our organizers picked the orphanage for one very specific reason – it is an orphanage and I would rather give my money to a sanctuary for elephants. It has the largest herd of captive elephants in the world and a great place to stop by if you can find the transportation to get here. I had a nice time taking photos of baby elephants and buying tourist elephant poo postcards (yes, I act like I’m 5 years old sometimes). The entrance fee will run you around $20 US, I believe, but it is worth it. Locals only pay maybe $1?

Tea tours (Kandy): From Pinawalla my group headed into Kandy to take a tour of a tea plantation. Alas, as the day was waning we couldn’t find anywhere that was still technically open. However, one nice man gave us a tour anyway a bit after closing and we tipped him appropriately afterwards. It was pretty fascinating seeing rows and rows of tea leaves drying, to the machinery that sorted tea into various grades from tea dust (think Lipton tea) up to BOP (broken orange pekoe) and various tipped leaf teas. We were able to find a tea shop and stock up on gifts for home. Unsurprisingly Ceylon tea is just amazing in Sri Lanka. Drink up!

Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic (Kandy): The end of that day brought us to the Temple of Buddha’ Sacred Tooth in Kandy. This temple was one of the reasons that Kandy became a UNESCO world heritage site and I can understand why. The temple itself is gorgeous if a bit barbaric with tooth-related sacred items and wall hangings with rows of locals in white filing into a line to get close to the tooth as it is the most sacred relic in Sri Lanka. Outside you can light candles and watch this lovely open building aglow in tiny pinpricks of candlelight. There were definitely less tourists here but I suspect that was more due to the timing (evening) than anything else.

Golden Temple (Dambulla): This was a unique temple built into the side of a cliff wall though you might not notice that at first. You are greeted by a giant golden seated Buddha adorning a dragon-like creature’s face which is the entryway to the small Buddha museum. Skirting the building you head left and walk up a good number of uneven stone steps until you come to the cave walls. You pay an entrance fee to get in and then you find yourself surrounded by singing wind and tall cliffs with dark rooms painstakingly carved with more Buddha statuary inside, including some rather large reclining Buddha figures. I popped into the museum afterwards which had small Buddha statues from around the world but it wasn’t really worth the time to go in. The caves are the important place to go.

Pigeon Island (Nilaveli): Taking a few days of respite we piled into our van and headed off to the Pigeon Island Beach Resort. This is a great place to pull up a beach chair and just relax with a king coconut and a good book to keep you company. You can also buy a spot on a tiny boat that will drive you out to Pigeon Island for some snorkeling. Be forewarned that there is no shade so bring lots of sunscreen and water.

Koneswaram Temple (Trincomalee): This is a classical-medieval Hindu temple that is a well-known Hindu pilgrimage site devoted to Shiva on the opposite side of Sri Lanka from where we started out (Columbo). It has a lot of beautiful statues and unique flourishes that caught the eye. I especially liked going through a gate onto cliffs with crashing waves below and mini shrives to various entities. The temple itself seemed to have an ongoing ceremony which I felt a bit odd interrupting but everyone there took it in stride – I guess they are used to foreigners meandering about their temples. It was quite lovely if far away from other touristy sites.

Polonnaruwa Ancient City: This is the second most ancient city in Sri Lanka and a World Heritage Site. It is a fascinating architectural relic site that is just so incredibly vast and full of palatial ruins, algae-laden bath houses, statues, temple stupas and so many more building foundations crumbling away. There is a lot to see here and it is all so spread out. It is incredible thinking of this as a bustling city at one point in time in the distant past. Really amazing and worth checking out if you can find your way here!

All in all I had an enlightening time in Sri Lanka. It was not a particular pick of mine to go to but with a group of friends and the right price it turned out to be a fascinating trip. I am glad I had a chance to go.

Some of the boring but important bits if you are thinking of going to Sri Lanka:

Tourist Visas: A necessary evil. Most people can apply online and 99.9% will have absolutely no trouble getting a tourist visa within the next day or two. I, however, had to deal with Immigration for numerous weeks to get my visa because according to their website my credit card payment didn’t go through (my credit card statement says otherwise). My visa status remained pending all the way through until the day I left for the airport 5 weeks after I applied. I spent a lot of time on the phone with Immigration and my visa was finally cancelled the morning of my flight so I could reapply and have my payment go through. I was accepted two minutes later. Yay. Finally. Visa in hand I could go to the airport with a much lighter heart.

Airlines: I flew in on a combo Etihad/Sri Lankan Air in and Sri Lankan/British Air on the way out. Both of my non-Sri Lanka flights were great; I had window seats with lovely people beside me, the food wasn’t awful, the leg room wasn’t the worst, and the planes seemed quite new. Both Sri Lankan flights were two of my least favorites ever; I had problem people sitting beside me, both flights had screaming babies, the food was atrocious, the seating was far more cramped than the other flights, and the planes seemed old. This is not a reflection on the staff, who were quite nice and competent, but I cannot in good conscious recommend anyone to fly in on Sri Lankan Air. If you can get any other airline flight in do it.

Transportation: Unsurprisingly everyone will try to stiff you at any point of the journey. I took mostly taxis and tuk-tuks when I was not in our share van and had problems just about every single trip. Some advice would be to make sure that you take a metered taxi or tuk-tuk and visually look for where it is and what the price is. Be as clear as possible on your location or you will end up somewhere else completely and the tuk-tuk will get money or gas coupons or something for dropping you off. Not cool. So anyway, be careful not to get ripped off too much. It will happen – it did happen – but do your best to be alert to scams.

Food: The food here is amazing and full of heavy curries and fried foods. I was a big fan of the egg hopper and all of the local veggie curries. The tea is amazing unsurprisingly. The local alcohol of choice is Arrack (distilled from coconuts) and I'd recommend that you give it a try, though perhaps cut it with something first. Eat as much fruit as you can cram in; it is all tasty from the king coconuts to the rambutans to the flavorful watermelons. All good. But speaking of liquids, bring a water bottle; the water is not safe to drink and even the locals drink bottled water.

And my final bit of advice: Take whatever I say worth a grain of salt; I did not do any travel research beforehand, nor did I pick the destinations, the transportation, or the accommodation. For the first time in my life I just flew in and the trip was already prepared and there for me to embark on. Lucky, I know.

On that final note, happy travels!

Photos: Sri Lanka

kurenai — Fri, 8 Aug 2014 10:39:00 GMT

Sri Lanka

D.C.'s Grand Sake Tasting Event: A Night of Fancy Booze and Great Conversations

kurenai — Sun, 20 Apr 2014 00:57:00 GMT

April hit me like a brick of rocks and started off quite shaky. Because of that I haven’t been in the best of moods so when I was offered a spot to volunteer at the annual Taste of Japan Grand Sake Tasting event (part of the National Cherry Blossom Festival) in early April I jumped at the opportunity. Looking back I can say it is without a doubt one of my favorite memories of living in Washington D.C.!

I got there early to sort out where I would be helping out. With a bit of shuffling about I was given an amazing opportunity to work with a lovely gentleman at Kamotsuru Sake from Hiroshima, Japan. He had limited English and I had some limited Japanese language skills so between the two of us we managed to have a wonderful night working side by side and playing off each other’s strengths. I don’t know much about sake so it was a definite learning experience for me.

One of the best parts of the night was when I was given the opportunity to steal away for fifteen minutes to try other sakes at the event and let me tell you they all were just amazing! I have never had sake that good before – and I probably never will again as all of the sakes I tried that night are in the top 1% of those produced in Japan. Wow. I admit, I’ve always felt like the sakes that I’ve tasted before had a strong back-taste that was less-than-exciting for me but every single sake I had a chance to sample was incredibly smooth with balanced notes ranging from grassy to fruity to just simply clean. They all went down a treat!

The Kamotsuru sake was a big favorite of mine from the get go though I’m sure part of that was because I was working with that vendor all night and helped explained each of the three sakes to anyone who stopped by. I quite liked the Tokusei GOLD Junmai Daiginjo, which had cute little sakura-stamped gold leaf floating around inside the vase-shaped bottle. It is apparently the first Daiginjo sake ever produced in the entire history of sake making in Japan which doesn’t seem so surprising considering Kamotsuru sake was founded in 1623.

I was sad to miss out on some of the other sakes which got cleaned out completely before I could finally break away from work to stop by at the end of the night – Hakkaisan’s sparkling sake comes to mind – but I still had an amazing time and was thrilled to try Born’s “Dreams Comes True” Junmai Daiginjo, which is famously known as the sake gift from the Prime Minister of Japan, Shizo Abe, to President Obama.

The event was held at the Carnegie Library and there were around 20 vendor tables with sake along with a beer booth, a few food stands, and some taiko drumming to keep the heart pounding if the alcohol wasn’t doing it enough. Tickets were $100 for general admin or $150 for VIP. If you have the cash flow for this I would highly, highly recommend it. I had a wonderful, wonderful time and this memory will remain as one of the best nights I’ve had in DC in a very long time.

Bottoms up and kanpai!

Blue Lagoon: the Geothermal Tourist Trap

kurenai — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 01:30:00 GMT

Blue Lagoon is justly famous in Iceland. It is also probably the most touristy place you will visit on your journey. Not to say it is a bad thing but just be ready for waves of people coming in on large tour buses going either to or from the airport.

With my touring buddies and a rental car we decided that a trip to Blue Lagoon, the well-known man-made geothermal spa about a 40 minute drive from Reykjavík near Kaflavik International Airport, should be on our itinerary. So we bought day passes online for €35, drove over from Reykjavík, and headed straight inside without a wait. We were handed blue water-proof bracelets to put on and then made our way into the changing rooms where we all had to shower down first before headed into the steaming smoky hot waters outside.

The pools are of a murky turquoise blue hot enough to be happily warm but definitely not scalding. There are also mud stations located at a few side areas where you apparently slather yourself with this salty white mud which is supposedly good for your skin. I tried the ritual but I can’t say I noticed much of a difference but it was quite odd feeling the mud harden and almost cake off of my face. What was almost weirder was seeing all these strangers doing the exact same thing so everywhere you looked there was someone covered in white mud. A unique experience to be sure.

On that note, I do want to mention how busy it was – very. Even though we were in Iceland in early March and it was cold and snowy there was still a huge number of people in the pools of all ages from the elderly to the young. It is easy enough getting about the pools but any photos to be had would be filled with other people in it.

As for the pools themselves, there was one main pool that most people were hanging out in and a few smaller pool areas off to the sides with bridges to swim under to get there. You can also visit the bar while in the pool to cool yourself down with a nice drink (alcoholic or not) and you “pay” for said drink with your bracelet which I thought was kind of cool. Of course the drinks will be horribly overpriced but it is all about location and for the price this was a good one.

After a long hot soak a friend and I went inside to one of the buildings facing the pool that had reclining beach chairs in it and we spent another half hour air drying while watching people splash about outside. And then it was time to shower again, change, and sleepily make our way back to the car.

I’m not huge on pools, geothermal or otherwise, but was still happily surprised how much fun I had here. It was fun to try on the mud mask and swim about talking to other tourists that happened to be in the near vicinity. But the best part of the day was when it started to snow. Here I am sitting in a geothermal hot springs surrounded by smoky steam with snow falling into my hair and eyelashes before quickly melting away. It was a surreal moment but one that I will definitely cherish.

If you don't have a rental car there are buses that will take you to Blue Lagoon after arriving at the airport or before returning to the airport. And they seem to come at a decent pace so you can plan out your day to spend however much time here that you think you might want. It's not too expensive and I would definitely recommended stopping by if you get chance.

Happy swimming!

Jökulsárlón, the famous Glacial Lagoon

kurenai — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 00:59:00 GMT

Jökulsárlón is almost at the other end of Iceland when you travel from Reykjavík. Situated at the edge of the Vatnajökull National Park on the lower east side of Iceland, it is an amazing lagoon full of powder blue glacial ice melting slowly as the lagoon gets deeper and deeper with the melt off. Jökulsárlón has also been a setting for four Hollywood movies: A View to a Kill, Die Another Day, Tomb Raider and Batman Begins, as well as the "reality TV" series Amazing Race if that is any indication how pretty this site is. Well worth the drive if you have the time.

My travel companions and I rented a car with this as our final destination and what a destination it was! The lagoon was absolutely beautiful and I had a fun time scampering around in the cold snapping photos of the glaciers (which I had never seen before outside of pictures). We were also quite privileged to see seals in the lagoon playing with someone’s pet dogs that happened to be there that day. It was incredibly fun watching the interaction between the sleek black heads of the seals and the excited antics of the two dogs running around as they considered jumping into the freezing waters before the seals popped back down and resurfaced further away.

We could only manage to be outside for so long before the snow and wind drove us into the teeny tiny souvenir shop beside the lagoon where hot coffees and chocolates were had by all. Refills of coffee and then back into our car to turn around and drive the 8 hours back to Reykjavík surrounded by vast areas of snow-peaked mountains and snow-filled fields. The drive was definitely long but very serene and I felt almost meditative on the journey back to the big city.

Out of all my journeying around Iceland I think this may have been my favorite moment and I will remember this place fondly for the rest of my life. Getting to Jökulsárlón is not particularly easy but it is well worth it for all that.

Happy glacier hunting!

Dyrhólaey, or A Good Place to Stop on a Long Car Journey.

kurenai — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 11:53:00 GMT

Dyrhólaey (aka black sands beach) is a remote beach near Vik, on the very bottom of Iceland about where east meets west; halfway between Reykjavik and Vatnajoekull National Park. It is quite picturesque and full of what, at first glance, seems to be black sand but in reality is millions of small dark gray pebbles spread out along the beach. Not a particularly nice place to set out a towel and sunbathe but majestic in its own right.

I thought that was a good enough reason to stop and take a peek around on my road trip further east to Jökulsárlón, Glacier Lagoon, if only the weather behaved. Alas, spring was not yet on the horizon and my little car troupe battled snow, rain, small pellets of hail, and even gale-like winds (ok, maybe not quite that bad) on the journey.

Trying to find this beach was not the easiest thing to do and we completely missed it on our way across Iceland so we were pretty determined to stop on the drive back to Reykjavik, snow be darned! After passing Vik for the second time we kept our eyes peeled for the Dyrhólavegur turn off to get to Dyrhólaey beach. Finally spotting it, we turned down the long windy road and meandered across what felt like a little path of dirt and road just large enough for the car to circumvent the ocean until we were eventually deposited into a parking lot. At this point the rain was pelting down and the car was almost being rocked back and forth by the wind picking up. Needless to say we all still piled out of the car, ran forward up the pathway to take in the amazing, if sodden, view below. The ocean was creeping up almost angrily against rocks and pebbles down below on both sides with that strange rock-like structure in the middle. I almost felt like I was back in the Grotto on the Great Ocean Road in southern Australia from Melbourne to Portland again, but in winter.

Carefully making our way back down the pathway we turned an about face and headed further into the cove towards the beach stumbling on slick pebbles and stones larger than our fists as we went forward. The ocean waves were crashing around angrily in front of us and spraying even more water forward but as we were all drenched anyway at that point it didn’t seem to matter much. Photos taken, we headed back to the car, stripped off our wet jackets, and cranked up the heat. Mission accomplished. Back to the car for another good number of hours before Reykjavik started to appear.

All in all I thought it was a nice stop and a great way to break up the monotony of a long car ride across Iceland. I’m not sure it’d be a great place for beach-y activities but still a very lovely view, nonetheless.

Up next: Jökulsárlón, Glacier Lagoon!

Beyond the Wall: An Icelandic Game of Thrones Tour

kurenai — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 01:30:00 GMT

I admit I’m not the biggest Game of Thrones fan out there. Blasphemy? Well, maybe. I read the first four of the A Song of Ice and Fire books back in the early to mid-2000’s and sort of gave up; too many characters, too many subplots, and just not enough interest in any of it. And then the TV series came out which dragged me back into that world. I found myself appreciating the parsed plotlines, the limited number of characters and the amazing visual aspects of the world that the TV show created. I was hooked.

With that in mind and a trip to Iceland planned I thought maybe it would be fun to go check out where some of the Game of Thrones scenes were filmed. So after booking my flight to Reykjavik’s Keflavik international airport I then booked a domestic flight out of the Reykjavik domestic airport and up to Akureyri in the far north, an hour-long flight or a six-hour bus ride if you have the time.

And thus we come to our tour: the Travel Viking’s Myvatn Mystery & Magic Game of Thrones Tour.

I was picked up bright and early by my tour guide of the day, Jon, in a big solid-looking jeep. We stopped by to pick up another girl and our tour was off – and an almost private one at that, which was really nice.

First up was Goðafoss, a stunning waterfall surrounded by snow-peaked mountains. Our jeep definitely came in handy getting here. Photos duly taken we then made our way up into the mountains as our tour guide, Jon, talked about the filming of Game of Thrones. He stopped the jeep a couple of times and brought out an iPad to show us where some scenes had been filmed.Mostly we saw scenes of Jon and Ygritte and various wildlings. He pointed out where some of the filming was and we could compare with his video clips.

And then we were off again, this time to visit some Yule-lads, the 13 Icelandic Santas, which had been turned to stone due to the bright rays of the sun. Sadly all we could see were great big rock formations that, according to our tour guide Jon, were all that remained of a troll party caught by sunshine.

By this point I was shivering so a stop for lunch at a lovely little café on the way and some time for me to bask in the sun from the large windows that surrounded the restaurant. We then piled into the jeep, popped down into a grjotagja, an underground cave, where there was steamy warm water at the bottom. Alas, swimming was not to happen until a bit later on as our next stop was Hverir, full of bubbling mud pits and steam vents. It was somewhat reminiscent of New Zeland’s bubbling pits of Rotorua but it was completely surrounded by snow. Very surreal!

Fun Game of Thrones fact: when Sam was being chased by a white walker in a blizzard he was actually running through the sulfurous steam of Hverir with snowy sound effects added in.

Muddied but happy, we were next off to the Myvatn Nature Baths for a nice soak. The Icelanders sure do like their baths (I believe they are called hot pots there? Very strange. I feel like I’m dinner if I’m simmering in a hot pot!). After that we made our way down the mountain and into downtown Akureyri.

My thoughts on this tour were that it felt a little expensive for being billed as a Game of Thrones tour. We definitely chatted about the books and the show in the jeep, and got to see some places where filming happened but I was sort of hoping for just a bit more. It felt like a normal Myvatn tour with Game of Thrones tacked on to raise the price. However, with that said Jon was an amazing tour guide and very amenable to changes we might have or how long we wanted to stay places. Also, as there were only two people on my tour (myself and a lovely quiet girl from the UK) the price was definitely right. It was a fun experience and now I can say that I’ve been “beyond the wall”.

The Game of Thrones tour will most likely run until summer 2015. Details can be found here:
http://www.ttv.is/en/winter/myvatn-mystery-magic

Good luck and beware, winter is coming!!

Photos: Iceland

kurenai — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 01:25:00 GMT

Iceland winter 2014: Akureyri, Reykjavik, Skaftafell,Vik, Dyrhólaey, Jökulsárlón, etc.

Taking time out for theatre at the Shakespeare Theatre Company

kurenai — Wed, 26 Feb 2014 05:16:00 GMT

Shakespeare Theatre’s The Importance of Being Earnest & NT Live’s Coriolanus

I love theatre (when I can afford it) and recently I was lucky enough to catch two amazing shows: The Importance of Being Earnest at the Shakespeare Theatre Company and National Theatre Live’s broadcast of the Donmar Warehouse’s Coriolanus at a Shakespeare Theatre venue. Both were absolutely fantastic for completely different reasons.

First off, The Importance of Being Earnest:

This was (shockingly) my first time seeing this play by famed author Oscar Wilde. I found it refreshingly funny and the cast was just stellar. The lenses of time could not tarnish the humor and each actor played their part to the hilt. I was in stitches for most of the show. Also, hats off to whomever decided on the fabulous costumes and the attention to detail in the background scenery. Not much else can be said about it other than this: nab some tickets before closing night. The Importance of Being Earnest has been extended to March 16^th at the Landsburgh Theatre location.

Added bonus: Look on Shakespeare Theare’s website for Under 35 tickets for a deal on prices. Sometimes it’s great to be a young professional in a thriving city.

http://www.shakespearetheatre.org/info/tickets/under35

Secondly, Coriolanus:

Wow, just… wow. That play was incredibly intense! I admit Tom Hiddleston was the main draw but after seeing his theatrical rendition of Caius Marcius I think I am an even bigger fan of his than I was before! Having the chance to see a broadcast of a play streamed onto a movie screen was an interesting experience and another first for me. I appreciated the close ups and the camera angles that showed me movements and facial expressions of characters I might have missed otherwise. It made me feel even more invested in the play’s performance. With Mr. Hiddleston coming from a movie background the close-ups were wonderful because he had such an expressive face throughout the play in keeping with his character. I felt some of the secondary characters could not pull off close-ups nearly as well but one does not usually need that for a stage show. The scenery was also very well-thought out, if a bit sparse. However, the stage was filled in unique ways and I very much appreciated all the directorial nudges and nuances throughout.

All in all I found it to be a highly entertaining and deeply impressive show to the point that I was considering going again but alas, it looks like the next show up, War Horse, is all that is available. Well, I’m definitely interested so maybe I’ll check that out, too.

Coriolanus was at the Shakespeare Theatre’s Sidney Harman Hall with War House being the next NT Live to come. A whole new world of theatre has opened up for me and I’m very much looking forward to another NT Live show!

There’s my mini-round up of Shakepeare Theater events for the moment. If you’re popping by DC I’d highly recommend checking them out for some high-class entertainment lower-class costs.

http://www.shakespearetheatre.org/
http://www.shakespearetheatre.org/ntlive/

Happy viewing!

Traversing through Joshua Tree National Park

kurenai — Thu, 2 Jan 2014 01:37:00 GMT

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Today I bring you a mini day-trip to California’s Joshua Tree National Park situated in the Mojave desert near Twentynine Palms.

First off, as this is the high desert it will be a bit cooler than what you might expect – even in late December when I went. I’d recommend at least a light jacket, hat, sunscreen, and lots of water depending on what it is you want to do. That day I was only looking to accomplish a bit of walking around and some photos but you can always head over for some great rock climbing, hiking, or even camping.

There are two main entrance stations once you’re in the general vicinity: Twentynine Palms (North Entrance) or the Joshua Tree (West) entrance. I would not recommend the further south Cottonwood entrance to start off as it is quite far away from the interesting attractions. Also, as this is a National Park you will have to pay a fee to get in. I think it was maybe $10 or $15 for the whole car?

Starting off we missed the Twentynine Palms entrance so we drove up through the West entrance. Already the Joshua trees were their full array and I spent a lot of the initial drive glancing around at these strange desert trees. And then huge brown rock formations came into view, perfect for climbing. As I had no time, no gear, and no experience in the art of rock climbing I left that to those who had all three and were already well on their way towards climbing up some of the hulking behemoths.

That is the majority of what you will find at the upper end of Joshua Tree: the trees themselves and huge rock formations. If you decide, as we did, to continue on down into the bowels of the park there are two other attractions that might suit your fancy: the cholla and ocotillo gardens. Be fair warned that they are a decent drive away from the entrances and by the time you make it that far down the Joshua trees are starting to become scarce. If you have a lot of time a jaunt down to the yellowy-gold cholla cactus and the spindly thorn-riddled ocotillo might be interesting but otherwise I can’t say I was horribly impressed. (But then again, I’ve spent a lot of time in deserts so if you grew up in a completely different landscape than it can be impressive, indeed.)

Driving on down further there are just lots of dry, brown dirt valleys and dry, brown mountains in the distance for many miles. A mini visitor center will be your last stop and immediately after that is the Cottonwood entrance/exit which is right outside of the I-10 freeway to get home.

So there you have it. Happy hiking and don’t forget your water!

P.S. If you didn't bring lunch and want to nab something outside of the park, I'd recommend Pappy & Harriet's in Pioneertown. It's maybe a 15 minute drive outside of Twentynine Palms and definitely off the beaten track but they serve great BBQ (and even have some decent vegetarian options). It was definitely family-friendly at lunch and I would guess turns into more of a biker bar in the evenings (I could be wrong. I was only there in the daytime).

Pappy & Harriet's

53688 Pioneertown Rd

Pioneertown, CA 92268

(760) 365-5956

There and back again: a visit to Hobbiton

kurenai — Fri, 1 Mar 2013 08:59:00 GMT

This journey starts with a car ride down to Matamata, where the Hobbiton movie set is located. Passing through lovely rolling hills made tan by drought and summer, spotted with sheep and cows grazing lazily in the sun, we found ourselves in a parking lot full of tourist buses.

My friends and I headed into the gift shop and bought our tickets: $75 each which included a quick bus ride to the set and one free drink at the Green Dragon Pub.

Alas, lunchtime touristing meant that we had to wait an hour for the next not-ridiculously full tour. Grabbing some snacks at the cafe located above the gift shop we settled in for the wait while munching fries (not chips, apparently) and some ginger beer enjoying the mildly warm weather.

When the tour bus finally made its way back offloading the previous group we filed in and made our way down a twisty road as our driver mentioned details of the set along the way. Arriving at the entrance we were separated into a couple of more manageable groups with a tour guide. Passing through the fence and foliage suddenly there was Hobbiton! We walked down a gravel path dotted with charmingly rustic hobbit holes of varying sizes and colors that had details down to the painted functional mail-boxes and mini-clothes racks. It was quite adorable! Some of the homes were truly hobbit-sized and meant for background shots while others had human-sized doors. There was even one propped open so you could grab a photo walking out.

All of these homes were situated on a hill and initially they were made as temporary structures which, with storm, were worn down with time and nature’s temperament. With The Hobbit movies happening the crew decided to build more permanent structures which is what the tour groups now view. I thought an interesting lesser known fact about the set was the large oak tree above the Baggins’ residence was actually a fake. But from far away it looked real enough to fool me.

All of our sightseeing out of the way, we headed to The Green Dragon Pub for a well-deserved drink. Apparently the interior was added in later so all the scenes in the movie were taken down in Wellington but arriving inside it looked just like a regular pub with rustic touches. They brew their own beer, cider, and ginger beer, too, which I thought was great. I only had a chance to try the hard cider but I found it to be very good and would definitely buy it if I could nab some at a retail store. Sitting outside over a glass of cider in lovely summer weather with good people was definitely a highlight of the day!

So that is my experience of Hobbiton. I thought the price was a bit steep but well-worth it in the end.

More info can be found here: http://www.hobbitontours.com/

Happy travels!