When my friend Erica, who grew up outside Boston, came to visit me in Hawaii, I wanted her to try the popular "Boston's Pizza" - a small chain in Hawaii. I wanted her to tell me what was "Boston" about it. In Boston, she explained over pizza, this would be called "Gino's Pizzeria" or "Luigi's Pizzeria". It's just NORMAL pizza, served by the (large, thin) slice, with different toppings, warmed in a large brick pizza oven. Before Boston's Pizza opened in Hawaii, all we knew was delivery from Pizza Hut or Domino's.
The reason for my remembering this today, almost a decade later, is because of a fun fact I just read:
"New Zealand is the largest grower of "Chinese gooseberries" although the world now knows the fuzzy berries - which did originate in China - as kiwifruit.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
HELPFUL TRAVEL HINT: Local Laws and Customs - Know Before You Go
Country info pages on the U.S. State Dept web site (http://www.travel.state.gov/)
Local Laws and Customs section of each country on the U.K.’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office web site (http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/)
Travel Advisories pages on the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade web site (http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/)
Local Laws and Customs section of each country on the U.K.’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office web site (http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/)
Travel Advisories pages on the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade web site (http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/)
HELPFUL TRAVEL HINT: LA Airport Terminal Maps and Restaurants
Decide in advance if you want to eat before leaving for the airport, or in the terminal:
http://www.lawa.org/uploadedFiles/LAX/pdf/T1_Directory.pdf
i Pink Berry was added to T1 but not yet on this map
http://www.lawa.org/uploadedFiles/LAX/pdf/T2_Directory.pdf
http://www.lawa.org/uploadedFiles/LAX/pdf/T3_Directory.pdf
http://www.lawa.org/uploadedFiles/LAX/pdf/T4_Directory.pdf
http://www.lawa.org/uploadedFiles/LAX/pdf/T5_Directory.pdf
http://www.lawa.org/uploadedFiles/LAX/pdf/T6_Directory.pdf
http://www.lawa.org/uploadedFiles/LAX/pdf/T1_Directory.pdf
i Pink Berry was added to T1 but not yet on this map
http://www.lawa.org/uploadedFiles/LAX/pdf/T2_Directory.pdf
http://www.lawa.org/uploadedFiles/LAX/pdf/T3_Directory.pdf
http://www.lawa.org/uploadedFiles/LAX/pdf/T4_Directory.pdf
http://www.lawa.org/uploadedFiles/LAX/pdf/T5_Directory.pdf
http://www.lawa.org/uploadedFiles/LAX/pdf/T6_Directory.pdf
HELPFUL TRAVEL HINT: Interactive Packing List
Interactive Packing List
You check off what you need to bring from their suggestions, add your own, and create a list. Very handy!
http://www.independenttraveler.com/packing/
You check off what you need to bring from their suggestions, add your own, and create a list. Very handy!
http://www.independenttraveler.com/packing/
The indescribable fascination with India -- DESCRIBED
Below is a great excerpt from an editor letter in Conde Nast magazine, which discusses the pros and cons of traveling with an agenda versus allowing for spontaneity. Ultimately, the editor concludes, “…the two approaches to travel—free-form and formatted—in reality have much in common. No amount of scripting can suppress the world’s surprises or keep its wonder and strangeness from seeping through, altering in unimaginable ways our best-laid plans.”
All this is interesting to think about – in a country like India it is probably best to sketch out a plan before traveling on your own. For me, in any destination I go to, I can’t escape that part of me that has always been a planner. But I love the spontaneity that comes with travel and I try not to let the schedule to get in the way of the adventure. It’s kind of like the Mark Twain adage “don’t let school interfere with your education.” In this case, don’t let planning ahead interfere with (as Dilip would say) having a damn good time.
While all this is interesting, what really struck me about the letter is the description of India, in all its contrasts, explaining very well in my opinion why many are fascinated—obsessed even—with India.
I had been prepared for Hinduism’s holiest city, Varanasi, to be extreme – the Ganges, cremations, cows, crowds-but not for the old wooden boat I sat in as darkness fell; the giant water bugs skittering over my shoes; the monsoon downpour; the corpses laid out on the burning ghats, in plain view mere yards away, awaiting their turn in the fires that the rain did nothing to extinguish; the saffron robes of the pilgrims on the narrow streets awash in excrement (of cows, monkeys, and the gods only know what else); and, in the midst of it all-people joyfully swimming. 
…it was filthy and fantastic and unforgettable: great beauty alongside the squalor, life and death entwined in a macabre yet natural embrace-as they always are, but it took that night on the Ganges for me to really feel it.
- Klara Glowczewska, Editor in Chief, Conde Nast Traveler, October 2009 issue
All this is interesting to think about – in a country like India it is probably best to sketch out a plan before traveling on your own. For me, in any destination I go to, I can’t escape that part of me that has always been a planner. But I love the spontaneity that comes with travel and I try not to let the schedule to get in the way of the adventure. It’s kind of like the Mark Twain adage “don’t let school interfere with your education.” In this case, don’t let planning ahead interfere with (as Dilip would say) having a damn good time.
While all this is interesting, what really struck me about the letter is the description of India, in all its contrasts, explaining very well in my opinion why many are fascinated—obsessed even—with India.
I had been prepared for Hinduism’s holiest city, Varanasi, to be extreme – the Ganges, cremations, cows, crowds-but not for the old wooden boat I sat in as darkness fell; the giant water bugs skittering over my shoes; the monsoon downpour; the corpses laid out on the burning ghats, in plain view mere yards away, awaiting their turn in the fires that the rain did nothing to extinguish; the saffron robes of the pilgrims on the narrow streets awash in excrement (of cows, monkeys, and the gods only know what else); and, in the midst of it all-people joyfully swimming.
…it was filthy and fantastic and unforgettable: great beauty alongside the squalor, life and death entwined in a macabre yet natural embrace-as they always are, but it took that night on the Ganges for me to really feel it.- Klara Glowczewska, Editor in Chief, Conde Nast Traveler, October 2009 issue
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Autism: 1 in 91 children
Aram and Alineh
Autism Speaks is "dedicated to facilitating global research into the causes, treatments, and an eventual cure for autism", a disorder that affects 1 in every 91 children today and one in 58 boys. "Government statistics suggest the prevalence rate of autism is increasing 10-17 percent annually." We do not know all the reasons for this increase, although improved diagnosis and environmental influences are two reasons often considered. (Source: autismspeaks.com)
Autism is a genetic disorder with an environmental trigger. Studies suggest there are multiple causes. Further research is desperately needed to determine how to prevent, treat, and cure autism.
The dollars raised through the first-annual Santa Barbara walk will go to funding research so that answers can be found and that increase in prevalence will soon decrease.
My friends and I formed a team called the Fly Girls and walked to support this disorder that affects Aram, Shant, Steve, Ben, Bianca, Griffin, Olivia, Dov, their families, the estimated 1.5 million individuals, and tens of millions worldwide.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
