Eating | AFIELD

Remember the Holidays?

We sure as hell do! It is hard to believe that we are starting our second month of this fresh new year. We came back from our holiday island sojourn with renewed vigor and hit January with all we had. Now, going into February, Blondie and I need a little reminder of what it was like to be lazy and cheerful and warm (currently -16C). Keep reading to discover fun(ny) things about our time south of the Equator at Six Senses Fiji (not a sponsored post, but I wouldn’t mind if it were ;})

Island Time: Belize

Mmm, so blue.

Once again we braved airports, planes the size of VW Beetles, and a boat ride to arrive on Coco Plum Island Resort (who is not paying for this post), a 16 acre speck of an island just off the coast of Dangriga Town, Belize. The resort is home to 18 cabanas of varying sizes, one over-water bungalow, a main office/restaurant/bar area, and a dormitory area for the workers. Other than that there are some hearty trees, sand, sun, the occasional water bird swooping in to say hey, and two resident crocodiles (one of which is named Rebecca). The resort is small, simple, and perfect. Read more

Bengaluru: A Beautiful Mess

Bengaluru, formerly known as Bangalore, is indeed a beautiful mess. Our visit last November was my first introduction to India and I must say that it wasn’t a good first impression. Blondie was there to attend a conference so, naturally, I tagged along, but I wasn’t ready for the full-frontal assault on my senses. The first thing I noticed was the traffic – millions of cars, auto-rickshaws, scooters, trucks, and buses going somewhere fast – all the while laying on their horns using them as part warning and part bat-like sonar. The second thing I noticed was that there were people everywhere. Bengaluru has a population of nearly nine million people and apparently none of them like to stay at home. Thirdly, and I say this not as an insult but more of as an observation, the city has a dire waste management issue as well as a number of other infrastructure problems, but I won’t get into all of them here. There are piles of trash of varying sizes and consistencies all over the city. Someone told me that occasionally the trash piles spontaneously combust, which must be a solid gold drag for the people who live near them. Lastly, one is never truly ready for their first encounter with a gigantic cow ambling down a crowded city sidewalk or the amount of stray street dogs giving you the stink eye – every time I encountered dogs I either felt bad, like I was sitting through one of those Sarah McLachlan animal cruelty commercials, or I felt like they were sizing me up as a possible meal. Read more

Searching Seoul

My very first video on Afield. I set the camera to shoot the intersection below our hotel, went to bed, and this is what I had in the morning. I am accepting suggestions on which music to add to it.

This past summer, long before the Siberian winds started keeping me indoors for days at a time, we made a quick weekend trip to Seoul, South Korea for some shopping and a little dose of the western world (and Mexican food). Blondie, being the family travel agent, made the reservations and bought the tickets well ahead of the trip, but, unbeknownst to her, at around the same time some cosmic jackhole didn’t wash his hands and brought a terrifying infectious disease (MERS, also known as Camel Flu) to one of the most densely populated metropolitan areas in the world. The fallout and general madness that followed the outbreak gave us a little pause – should we be like the 100,000+ other tourists who said “f__k that!” and cancel our plans or should we just go and see what happens? Read more

Diving the Maldives

The Republic of Maldives is a wee tiny chain of islands southwest of the southernmost point of India way out in the Indian Ocean. There are a few interesting facts about the Maldives that you may not know. First, it is the smallest country in Asia both in size and population. Second, it is made up of 1,192 coral islands in a chain of 26 atolls spread out over ~35,000 square miles. Third, the highest elevation in the entire country is just under 8 feet, making it the lowest country in the world, which also means that when there is a tsunami warning anywhere in this hemisphere the locals clench up a bit – unsurprisingly, there are few, if any, climate change deniers living in the Maldives. Lastly, the Maldives is a Muslim country so the culture is rather conservative especially when it comes to drugs, alcohol, showing skin, and many other things that people like to do when they take their vacation, however, the big resorts have worked out a deal where they can serve alcohol and people can rock their teeny bikinis, but god help you if you try to smuggle in drugs or alcohol because the punishment is dire. Read more