There’s a few flushed faces in the room as China’s national firewater is downed in tiny gulps. It has a BANG the baijiu virgins aren’t expecting. Bloggers, Instagrammers and the curious are crammed into the elegant Moutai Baijiu showroom in Sydney’s Chinatown. We’re listening to marketing managers Imogen Hayes and Ed Xian explain the 2000-year-old art ofContinue reading “Tasting the kapow factor of baijiu”
Tag Archives: New York
Home stay or hotel?
Airbnb and other home stay companies allow travellers to stay in frugal or fantastic accommodation all over the world. The concept opens up destinations to people who couldn’t otherwise afford it (yes, that’s me), and to people who want to engage with communities and cultures at a grassroots level. Is that you? The idea ofContinue reading “Home stay or hotel?”
How travel tests you
This is how travel tests you. It challenges courage, resilience, tolerance and mocks your comfort zones. Which is a good thing.
Franco Lania: New York chef
New York celebrity chef Franco Lania believes “food is the passport that brings people together, especially those from different cultures”. I catch up to him, briefly, for an interview with this ultra-busy man.
Christmas a little less jolly
Baubles the size of small planets light up Manhattan as they do every Yuletide, while in Europe the Christmas markets envelop visitors in a fug of gingerbread and mulled wine. Yes, it all looks like Christmas as usual. Or is it?
9/11 memorial and museum opens
Occupying eight of the 16 acres at the World Trade Center, the 911 Memorial, now open to visitors, is a tribute to the past and a place of hope for the future.
True soul of wine on Long Island summer day
Drinking the Malbec of Shinn Vineyards with artisan David Page on Long Island was like a walk in the forest on a summer’s day. Earthy, mind-bending and unforgettable.
Painkiller is not your usual Tiki Bar
Manhattan is not your typical island and Painkiller is not your usual Tiki Bar. The dark brooding streets on the now trendy Lower East Side hold deep secrets poured into cocktail glasses.
Movies that make us pack our bags
Films inspire us to travel. The Lord of the Rings Triology revealed New Zealand’s dramatic scenery, Gandhi unleashed a generation of backpackers on India, and Thailand is about to get a whole lot more drunks with The Hangover Part 2.