Without any further ado, these are the things you have to try while you’re in the ‘land of smiles’.

1. Gai Yang, Kao Neow and Som Tum
This classic northern combination of Thai barbecue chicken, sticky rice and green papaya salad is readily available at just about every roadside shack and food court. This dish will cost you all of about 100 baht (AUD $4) for enough food for two people. Ask for it ‘mai pet’ if you don’t want your head blown off. Be aware that it traditionally comes with dried prawns and crab so if you’re not partial, make sure to point it out before they start smashing the salad together with a mortar and pestle.

2. Kao Pad
You might think fried rice is boring but Thai fried rice is some kind of spooky wonderful. Due to a mysterious and impossible to replicate combination of fish sauce, oil and magic, Thai fried rice usually comes with an option of meats, egg, onion, shallots and maybe some Chinese broccoli. This will cost you about 40 baht (unless you’re staying somewhere posh where they will charge you something extortionate like 200 baht or AUD $9).

3. Fruit Shakes
Some people avoid ice when they travel but I tend not to worry because I am fundamentally stupid. The upside of this potentially fatal trait is chugging down a heap of Thai fruit shakes that are a delicious concoction of sugar water, fruit and ice. I recommend the pineapple for pure tropical, guilt-free goodness.

4. Sticky Rice and Mango
This seems like a very simple dish but it’s tricky to perfect (believe me – I have tried!). The rice is cooked in salted, sweetened fresh coconut milk (and if you know how this is made, you are probably going to give up on any DIY aspirations right now) and the ripe mango used is a smaller species common to Asia. This combination is then topped with salty coconut cream and crunchy yellow beans. The result is nothing short of magnificent; gelatinous, squishy, crunchy heaven. This is only available at certain times of year due to the mango season so I recommend you plan your itinerary around it’s availability (I am only half kidding).

5. Mangosteens
Hailed as a super food by health food marketing posters, mangosteens are something that Thai people go nuts for. Unlike the thoroughly revolting durian, mangosteens a) do not stink, b) do not look like prehistoric weaponry and c) are the most luscious fruit known to mankind. They are very dark purple with a green stem and you eat them by slicing through their skin and pulling it apart to reveal the fleshy white centre. It has quite large seeds in the middle that are edible but can be bitter as they get bigger.

What is your favourite Thai dish? Any tips for good places to eat out in old Siam?

Goodbye long, dark winter of the soul … Hello swimming, thongs and cold beer!

To celebrate this VERY HAPPY DAY, I have decided to participate in something called 30 Days Has September.

For the next month, I have committed to doing something new every day. It can be as simple as walking home a different way or as complicated (and potentially fatal) as setting myself on fire.

What I am hoping that you will do is sponsor me here (pretty please) or even better still, register yourself for some mind-expanding springtime new-ness at www.30dayshasseptember.com and help raise money for The Ted Noffs Foundation Street University.

The Street University provides life-changing services for Aussie kids who have been affected by substance abuse, mental illness and/or homelessness.

Who’s in?

And what new things should we try?

You are invited to the SheGoes first birthday party on Thursday 23rd September, 2010.

It starts at 7pm and it’s in Sydney.

The problem I am currently facing is WHERE?

So, in the true spirit of community, I am asking you where you would most like to go. Most votes wins.

1. The Bavarian Bier Cafe in York St

2. Cafe Pacifico in Riley St

3. The International Nippon Club on Macquarie St

Please vote BAVARIA, MEXICO or JAPAN in the comments section below and I will make a booking. And put money on the bar tab. And in a mere 24 days, I will hug you all drunkenly while I rave on and on and on about how much I love you and how beautiful you are and how much I am so happy you came to the party and would you like another drink and did I tell you that I love you? Oh, I said that already? Well, I do. I really, really do.

By Jen McDermott

I think I’m coming down with festival fever… it’s a nasty case, really. Symptoms include constantly feeling distracted at work (as I constantly refresh gig guides and line ups), poverty (with tickets over $100 a pop) and frustration (hurry up, hurry up…).

While Sydney’s impending summer signals absolute music mayhem, around the world, festivals range a little more left of centre.

Here are some of the most quirky I have come across:

Cheese Rolling Festival – Gloucester, England

I love a lump of lactose as much as the next person, but would I hurl myself down a cliff for it, tussling for position with scores of other hungry punters? Er, maybe! Here’s what happens at the Cheese Rolling Festival: a guest roller starts the race by launching an eight pound wheel o’ cheese down a treacherous slope, while competitors all vie for first place, and the precious prize – the recently rolled cheese.

La Tomatina –  Bunol, Spain

You say tomato, I say La Tomatina! This annual festival sees one small street in a tiny Spanish town, packed with over 20,000 people prepared to spend a solid hour slogging each other with tomatoes. Sure, the logic may sound loco but definitely loads of fun! Word of warning though; don’t pack your whites.

Naked Man Festival – Okayama, Japan

This rudie-nudie festival sees scores of participants drop their daks in honour of a decree issued 1200 years ago to dispel a plague. Today, thousands of men meet to mingle in nothing but giant nappies known as fundoshis, attempting to touch the anointed ‘Naked Man’ in the hopes of expelling any bad luck and enhancing good fortune.

Hogmanany – Edinburgh, Scotland

Everywhere else in the world has New Year’s Eve, the Scots have Hogmanay! Aptly nicknamed “Snogmanay”, the stroke of midnight signals the chance to kiss everyone and anyone – no pair of puckers are safe. As for the next day, you can wash your partying sins away during the ‘Loony Dook’, a ritual sea swim. Brrr….

Tell me, my pretties, what are your favourite festivals? Is there a festival you would desperately like to go to? (For me it’s Day of the Dead in Mexico or Burning Man in Nevada)

1. A floatation tank

2. A massage therapist

3. A chiropractor

And then…

4. Outpatients when I couldn’t handle the agonising pain any longer.

Guess what? All I needed was antibiotics.

When I was offered some OLEA olive leaf products to try, I jumped at the chance. I had it on good authority that they were excellent for boosting immunity and I had been suffering from a cold for months. I didn’t want to be sick for my trip to Thailand and Vietnam so I decided to load up before I went away.

I tried both Fresh-Picked Olive Leaf Capsules (RRP $45.95) and Fresh-Picked Olive Leaf Extract liquid (RRP $39.95 500mL bottle) and I have to tell you, I think it did something. It’s a slow process, as with all homeopathic remedies, but I definitely started to feel better within a few weeks.

Study control:  I stopped taking olive leaf when I went to Thailand and within a day, I was back to having the sniffles. I can’t be sure it’s because of this but it’s an educated guess.

The capsules are much easier to take because there is no pesky measuring involved. Also, there is no taste (olive leaf liquid tastes pretty bad). However, the liquid is apparently faster acting so if you’re in a hurry to get better, go with liquid.

Where was Dave when he took this curious picture?

This week’s winner scores a large pizza of their choice delivered to their office, home or yurt, as the case may be.

]]> http://shegoes.com.au/where-am-i-wednesday/where-am-i-wednesday-9/feed 12 http://shegoes.com.au/book-reviews/book-review-the-best-womens-travel-writing-2010 http://shegoes.com.au/book-reviews/book-review-the-best-womens-travel-writing-2010#comments Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:20:17 +0000 admin http://shegoes.com.au/?p=1685 I have the attention span of a gnat. Seriously, it’s a wonder I get anything do … ooh, what’s that on television. Sorry, what were you saying?

That’s why I love short stories; so much plot line satisfaction jammed into one book. My awesome friend Shaunie T gave me an anthology of The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2010 to read while I was in Thailand and Vietnam and wow, wow, wow… now I am a little starstruck. And intimidated. And inspired.

These true stories are funny, elegantly written and quirky. The first page takes you 16,000 feet up the side of a mountain in Ecuador. I have never been there and, based on this story, I sure as hell don’t want to go but I am glad that Mary Caperton Morton did.

These women have healed sick dogs in Rajastan, moved to rural Ethiopia, were followed by government spooks in Burma, fell in lust in the Wadi Rumi Desert in Jordan and had a plaster cast made of her vagina in Brighton. Hell, I want to invite these girls over for a drink!

What struck me beyond the blatant courage and literary agility of these writers is the difference in emotion. These stories are written with a palpable tenderness; a willingness to be vulnerable, flippant and romantic. Male travel writers don’t seem to admit to their fears, follies and sorrows as much as women do. It’s not a bad thing – it’s just a different thing – but the lack of bravado is definitely the main reason I loved this book so much.

Tell me, Glorious Travel Nerds, do you think that male and female travellers tell stories in different ways? If so, how?

Sheraton, Pattaya aka The Most Beautiful Hotel in the World

Camping is so much fun because it takes you waaaay outside your normal life. You fall asleep to the white noise of cicadas and the creepy crackle and hoot of the bush, you pee in holes or in far distant toilet blocks and drink a lot of sherry shandies around the campfire at night (or maybe that was just my family).

The striking contrast of staying in in swish hotels fills me with the same sense of glee. Fluffy bathrobes! A horizon pool! A neverending breakfast buffet with coffee so bottomless that you might die of a happy heart seizure before noon!

A couple of weeks ago, my beloved Step-Mum Cheryl and I were lucky enough to stay in some seriously fancy hotels . We had the BEST time. All that crispy linen that we didn’t have to wash, gracious welcome messages from management, complimentary spa vouchers … we couldn’t get enough of it!

But after a while, a funny thing happened. I started to find fault. The air-conditioning was making a funny sound, there was no milk in the mini-bar, my swipe key wouldn’t work and I had to walk through monsoonal rain to get it reloaded. Hmph.

I have this theory that you should always start from a low base so that everything better seems so much better. Now that I have stayed in some of the best hotels in Asia, I am kind of worried. Will the bedbug ridden hostels of my past now seem untenable? Will I still be able to cheerfully buy breakfast from 7-Eleven? Will a 200 baht Thai massage seem really dodgy now I have had a 1750 baht massage in a day spa?

Have I turned into an accommodation snob? Like a pampered poodle, am I going to need paw booties and a Valium to walk on rough concrete?

Tell me, my friends, what do you love about fancy hotels? And can you ever go back to being a budget traveller once you’ve gone five star?

This week’s Where am I Wednesday winner scores one of the coolest DVD’s of all time. Sure, I may be a little biased because I have a dirty crush on him but whoever guesses this correctly will win a copy of Heston’s Feast. Yes, Heston Blumenthal of Fat Duck fame; the man who makes the most batsh*t crazy food in the whole wide world. In Series One, Heston explores the wacky delicacies of Victorian Britain, Tudor England, the Medieval era and Ancient Rome. Think mock turtle soup, blackbird-filled pies, fluorescent pink jellies studded with, erm, vibrators. He dishes up this total weirdness to the likes of Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Kathy Lette and various other B-grade British celebrities with amusing results. Horror. Disgust. Hilarity. Slurry, drunken video testimonials shot at the end of the night.

Where is the photo taken? Be specific for your piece of take-home DVD magic!

Self-confessed ‘Scruffy Gen X Winegeeks’, the boys have grown Qwoff into a community of close to 20,000 winelovers and are in the process of making a show called ‘Road to Vino’ that follows their global search for ‘bloody good wine’.

These clever lads have kindly shared insider information on finding an outstanding drop (or bottle, or case, as the case may be) …

1. How can you tell a good cellar door from a bad one? Are there any tricks you have picked up?

Justin and Andre, Founders of the Qwoff empire

It’s about the experience you have there, plain and simple. But here’s our list of priorities, and it’s important to note the order, because no amount of #2 & #3 can make up for a bad experience on #1 :
Cellar door staff – good hospitality can make or break the whole experience.

Atmosphere – has to feel relaxed and welcoming. Standing at a bar with a small taster glass and a spit bucket is a crappy way to experience wine. Period.

Wines – can’t stand it when they are only showing a small portion of their range – usually only the cheap stuff. Don’t mind paying for a tasting flight.

2. How do you hold your own when you encounter a wine snob when you’re travelling around wine country?

Wine snobs are okay if they genuinely immerse themselves in good wine. Wine snobs who are all about show are painful. Wine is more spiritual than that, and therefore fiercely individual. The only rule should be not to limit yourself to what you know. But after that, it’s about personal taste, and that has no rules.

To be honest, we have quite a broad knowledge of wine, so informed opinion usually shuts up the most avid wine snob. But for your average punter vs the wine snob – seriously, who cares? It’s yum or it’s yuk for you. The rest is just details.

3. What are the three keys things you should be taking note of when you taste a wine at a cellar door?

Technically it’s look, smell and taste.

More specifically the colour of the wine and a few other details about the way it looks in the glass -  seriously though, do you like the colour of the wine? Does it tempt you.

Swirl it round in the glass to release the aromas, and sniff. Stick your nose right in there.

The smell is basic – is there anything funky/unpleasant in there – wet cardboard, rotten eggs, nail polish, bandaids? No? Good. How intense is the smell? What do you smell – Strawberries? Chocolate? Spices?

And then sip it. Decent sip. Swoosh it round your mouth like mouthwash, savour the feel, the flavours. Suck some air in between your teeth without letting the wine drip out – the air opens out the wine, intensifying the flavour. Then spit or swallow, and reflect on what you’ve just experienced:

Was the flavour intense, or insipid? Was it rich, or light? Are you salivating (good acid), did the flavour last a long time in your mouth, like 15-20 seconds or more? (length). Does your mouth feel chalky? (tannins) In a good way (silky) or bad way (rough). Was there too much alcohol, or too much oak? Did the flavours sit well? Did the wine FEEL good in your mouth? Was it an aggressive experience, or a silky smooth one?

Bottom line – DID YOU ENJOY IT????

4. What are your three favourite cellar doors and where are they?

Here are 3 good ones: Samuel’s Gorge (McLaren Vale), BK Wines (Adelaide Hills), Murray St Vineyard (Barossa)

5. In your expert opinion, is wine tourism growing in Australia? If so, why is that? Are we all just a bunch of alcos pretending to be grown-ups?

Don’t know if it’s growing, in terms of visitor numbers, but it’s definitely improving. More experiences, better experiences. And no, hopefully a wine tour isn’t about getting pissed, although that often happens – you can do that just as well in a pub. It’s about food, wine and escape.

I think it’s improving because regions and wineries are constantly evolving.

6. Will you take all of us on a wine tour some time?

We’re always up for a designated driver. Pretty keen to get over to Margaret River again, though the Nullabor could provide a challenge to the old kombi. But who’s up for a surf and a chardonnay?