All posts tagged: culture

DEAR ANTHONY

Dear Anthony, I found out the news this morning that you passed. It was the first thing I read when I opened my eyes and it took me several minutes to process. In fact, I think I still am processing everything. It wasn’t until I started reading through all the tribute articles and social media posts that reality finally set in. It seems like we are constantly hearing and reading about celebrity deaths, and surely it all affects you in some way. But this hit me hard. I guess like so many others, I feel like I’ve known you for years, as I’ve followed you on your journey and exploration of the world. I devoted countless days watching marathons of No Reservations and Parts Unknown. I’ve seen every episode. You brought me and so many others on your journey to seek the unknown, to embrace and respect the uniqueness of cultures, to breakdown boundaries and barriers, bringing unity to the world. You brought people together through food, and your aspiration to connect with humanity is admirable. You inspired people to travel, live life to the fullest, and to get out …

COOK ISLANDS

I just got back from the Cook Islands. When I tell people I went there, I pretty much get a lot of blank stares. I think a lot of people don’t really know where that is, and I admit I didn’t either when I was pitched to visit. WHERE IS COOK ISLANDS? Cook Islands is a bunch of small islands in the middle of the South Pacific ocean northeast of New Zealand between French Polynesia and American Samoa/Hawaii. There make up a compilation of a several small islands, and I visited the largest  island of Rarotonga and a smaller island called Aitutaki. FLIGHTS TO COOK ISLANDS: I went with the Cook Islands Tourism Board for one week. I flew direct on Air New Zealand from Los Angeles into Rarotonga, which is a 10 hour flight. There is only 1 direct flight a week on Air New Zealand. We took an 11:30pm flight on Saturday night and arrived in Cook Islands early Sunday morning. Because it was a sponsored trip flights were covered, but I got …

MY LIFE IN A NUTSHELL

If you’ve been following me for awhile, you know what I’m about. My life passion’s are food, travel and culture. I graduated UCLA with a degree in World Arts and Culture and dance, and quit my steady job at E! to travel the world full time and show different culture from around the world. My mission is to inspire you to get out of your comfort zone. To book the flight to a place you’ve always wanted to go. To educate and unveil economical and political issues in the places I travel to. To motivate you to follow your dreams and do what you are truly passionate about. Take the risk. Live and love to the fullest, and help make the world a better place by spreading good energy and positivity. Being a foodie is what started everything for me. I started this blog in 2009 as a food blog, and would write and review restaurants I would eat at across the world. I would book my trips based on food I wanted to try and restaurants I wanted to …

FOUR SEASONS BALI EXPERIENCE

FOUR SEASONS SAYAN I couldn’t leave Ubud without experiencing the Four Seasons Sayan. It came highly recommended and is another great choice when looking into luxury accommodations in Ubud. Also located in the middle of the rainforest and alongside the Ayung River, the Four Seasons exudes complete tranquility surrounded by the beauty of mother nature. It’s unique architecture was built from the inspiration of Ubud’s signature rice terraces, staying true to traditional Balinese design. The resort’s main entrance is breathtaking, with a vast circular lily pond on top of the main lobby, signifying the center of a large rice bowl. The lush property is surrounded by tropical palms, rice farms, lily ponds and scattered gardens of fruit trees, medicinal and spice plants, all of which are labeled by name. The Four Seasons put together a personalized itinerary of Sayan Signature Experiences which allowed me to really get the full resort experience. I practiced Power and Anti Gravity Yoga in the amazing open air bamboo studio overlooking their own rice terraces. Anti Gravity Yoga uses a …