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tea posts
India's Human-Powered Ferris Wheel
Apr 23rd, 2013 at 3:00PM:
In India there's a man for everything – the wallah. The chai-wallah dispenses your tea. The auto-wallahs drive the ubiquitous auto rickshaws. The dhobi-wallah does your laundry. They are India's indefatigable industrious core and the exact opposite of a jack-of-all-trades.
The mastery with which these wallahs perform their one task is often mesmeric to watch. A chai-wallah mixes his ...
Budget Hong Kong: The Best Cheap Eats For Under US$5 A Bite
Dec 21st, 2012 at 12:00PM:
Tourists come to Hong Kong for a number of reasons: business, shopping, sightseeing.
Me? I came to eat.
I have long heard about Hong Kong's famed cuisine, with its unique blend of Chinese, Western, Japanese, Southeast Asian and international influences. The city is home to dozens of celebrity chefs and boasts 62 Michelin-starred restaurants. It's regularly called the culinary capital of ...Moments Of Serendipity: Daily Life In Afghanistan
Dec 6th, 2012 at 11:00AM:
Good travel pushes you to let go of control, and Afghanistan is certainly one of those places. Here, daily life is dictated by security decisions, which roads are safe to travel on and which ones are not, and if you are trying to stick to a concrete plan, something will surely get in the way. Afghanistan is the place for serendipity, a place that when you come to understand that you have ...Dim sum has a little somethin'-somethin' for everyone
Feb 21st, 2012 at 12:00PM: I realize that Chinese New Year ended on February 6th, but in an effort to establish that there's no bad time to visit Hong Kong or eat Cantonese food, I decided that now would be a good time to write about dim sum (also, I'm a terrible procrastinator. Is it really almost St. Paddy's Day?).
Hong Kong means different things to different people. Some go for the bargains on everything from cameras ...Photo of the Day: Smoked Turkish cheese
Jan 5th, 2012 at 6:00PM:
It used to be a common expression to say that someone "smoked like a Turk," and I can confirm after living in Istanbul for nearly two years, Turks still love their smoking. Even after the indoor smoking ban of 2009, cigarettes and nargile (water pipes) are very common here. This portrait by Flickr user MichaelAV captures two of the Turks' other loves: çay (see the tiny tea glass on the ...London: A nontraditional tea
Aug 22nd, 2011 at 10:30AM: High teas loom large in the fantasies of many tourists. How is it possible, I was wondering to myself earlier this month, that the only teas I'd enjoyed since moving to London in January were simple cream teas at various country pubs and inns? Most of these cream teas were notably lovely, with scones slathered in double or clotted cream the main event in each case.
But a blow-out high tea had ...Turkish tea truck offers Istanbul version of food truck trend
Jul 22nd, 2011 at 9:00AM: The food truck craze is nothing new to many Americans. Long a popular foodie option in New York, Los Angeles, and even Cleveland, it's a food trend that's constantly evolving to bring new ideas and tastes to the, er, table. The Turkish food blog Istanbul Eats, who launched a book version last year and now offer food tours of the city, spotted a very local version of the mobile eatery trend along ...VIDEO: Istanbul in 1967
Jun 6th, 2011 at 11:00AM:
As an expat in Istanbul, I enjoy seeing anything Turkey-related, and this vintage video of the former Constantinople is especially fun to see. Narrated by a droll British commentator, you travel over and around Istanbul, checking out some of the big sights such as Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque, as well as life on the Bosphorus before the bridges were constructed to provide alternate access ...
Students to travel the world in search of tea
May 22nd, 2011 at 7:00AM:
College students across the United States will spend the Summer in a variety of ways. Some will work, some will play and others will continue their education on campus or in a variety of summer options that involve travel. At Harding University in Arkansas, some will discover that the things we drink play important roles in our culture as students travel the world in search of tea.
"It's a ...SkyMall Monday: USB Cup Warmer
Apr 25th, 2011 at 1:00PM: Is coffee part of your morning routine? Do you need coffee to wake up in the morning? Do you tell people not to talk to you until you've had your third cup of coffee? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you most certainly have a caffeine addiction. Don't worry, I'm not judging. I don't drink coffee, but most of my friends do. I'm used to them making me stop at coffee shops with them ...Dreaming of Bali - A guide to Indonesian food
Apr 5th, 2011 at 10:30AM:
Pizza lovers, did you know Indonesians adore Pizza Hut? True, your typical Indonesian pie probably has more crispy fish pieces, shrimp and corn on it than you're used to back home. And you probably won't find avocado milkshakes as an option at the soda fountain back in Grand Rapids. But the Indonesians in Bali are lovers of pizza much like you and I, dear reader, and unashamedly so.
At this ...Retail therapy: Istanbul ShoppingFest begins March 18
Mar 16th, 2011 at 3:30PM: Every year, many people visit Istanbul to shop in the historic Grand Bazaar to haggle over carpets, Turkish tea glasses, and souvenir t-shirts. But most locals do their shopping in Istanbul's many malls, markets, high streets like Istiklal near Taksim Square and Bağdat on the Asian side, and neighborhoods such as posh Nişantaşı and funky Çukurcuma. This year, from March 18 to April 26, ...Knocked up abroad: prenatal care and pregnancy advice in a foreign country
Feb 22nd, 2011 at 11:30AM: See part 1 of Knocked up abroad: getting pregnant in a foreign country here.
One of the best parts of my experience so far with pregnancy in a foreign country has been the excellent medical care I have in Istanbul. Like many other expats before me, as soon as I took a positive pregnancy test, I called up the American Hospital for an appointment. The hospital treats many foreigners each year, is ...10 ways to survive a Russian winter vacation
Jan 12th, 2011 at 3:00PM:
The phrase "Russian winter" may bring to mind images of tall fur hats, snowcovered gold church domes, and steaming bowls of borscht. It may also remind you that both the armies of Hitler and Napoleon were driven off by the cold winter of the north and that "Russian winter" is also an explanation why every invader has failed to conquer the country. Winter of 2010-2011 was forecast to be the worst ...South of the Clouds: Yunnan's ancient tea-horse road
Dec 23rd, 2010 at 9:30AM: In November, Gadling traveled with WildChina throughout Yunnan province. The theme of the trip was "the ancient tea-horse road," and it followed a trading route that runs from Yunnan's tropical lowlands up to the Tibetan plateau and eventually in to India.
As the name implies, the "road" was a caravan route along which tea and horses were traded, though salt was also a major commodity. Lesser ...York: capital of England's north
Oct 19th, 2010 at 3:30PM: So far my journey through Yorkshire has been one of small towns and moorlands, yet the most popular destination in Yorkshire is the city that gives the shire its name--York. No trip to the north of England would be complete without checking out this historic city.
A brief look at York's long history
Like many English cities, York's origins are lost in prehistory. It's first recorded in the ...Round-the-world: Mauritius top five
Oct 13th, 2010 at 10:30AM:
Mauritius has all sorts of charm by the bucketload. It's got beaches, beautiful resorts, rough-and-tumble districts, colonial architecture, and a tropically lush physical environment. Following are five stand-out places and pastimes that showcase the island's distinctive beauty.
1. Local grub. In addition to the fresh seafood on offer, there are hunting reserves on Mauritius that generate ...Visiting the Brontë sisters in Yorkshire
Oct 7th, 2010 at 9:30AM: People say literary genius is a rare thing, something seen only once in a thousand or a million people. Maybe so, but the Brontës had three (and maybe five) literary geniuses in the same family.
From their father's parsonage in Haworth, Yorkshire, in northern England, the three Brontë sisters Charlotte, Emily, and Anne produced some of the most popular books in the English language. ...Flying Ryanair no cup of tea: Poland flight diverted to Germany
Sep 2nd, 2010 at 11:00AM: When wackiness hits the European skies, it's usually safe to guess that Ryanair is somehow involved. A British plane from this discount carrier had to land in Germany – rather than in Poland, its intended destination – because a passenger couldn't keep her tea in her cup.
The 56-year-old British woman spilled hot tea on herself, according to German police, forcing the flight from ...Letter from Hanoi: Vietnam old, new and ever
Aug 30th, 2010 at 5:24PM: When I was a boy growing up in Canada, Hanoi was the enemy. In those days most foreign visitors to Hanoi were American pilots who had taken a wrong turn over the Bay of Tonkin. Travelling on one-way tickets, they were accommodated at the 'Hanoi Hilton', a notorious prison where room service consisted of a propaganda lecture and a bowl of maggoty rice. Sometimes they appeared on television, rather ...
