As I ventured out for my first Colombian meal I sardonically said to my boyfriend, “Screw it, I’m going to eat churraso (grilled meat) today.” And though I’ve been a strict vegetarian for nearly 15 years, that’s exactly what I did. I was absolutely famished after traveling 15 hours from Los Angeles to Bogotá. And…
I spent my first afternoon in Bogotá wandering around the historic district of La Candelaria. I meandered along narrow cobblestone streets, passed by 500-year-old buildings and studied colorfully graffitied walls. My first day in La Candelaria left me smitten. But after spending one week delving deeper into Bogotá’s history, art and food cultures I was head-over-heels in…
In 2007, my boyfriend and I were scheming about where to go for a 6-week trip. I desperately wanted to go to South America, but Aaron relentlessly argued that we should head to Southeast Asia instead – specifically Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Let’s just say I was skeptical, to say the least. I knew nothing about…
If you’re a vegetarian, eating in Southeast Asia can be frustrating to say the least. In Vietnam, I can’t even convey how many times I repeated the phrase “no fish sauce” just to smell the overwhelming aroma of nước mắm (fermented fish sauce) wafting from my bowl of vegetarian phở (Vietnamese noodle soup). In Thailand my requests for “no…