Gordon's Great Food Inspiration

So it's been a while since my last post but that is partly because I've been indulging in catch up TV and one of the gems I've been watching is Gordon Ramsay's great escape to South East Asia. Firstly because i love food but secondly because he's in the part of the world that I'll be in this December. We will be staying in Thailand for a month so I was excited to see the food awaiting us there! The programme is great because Gordon gets stuck in, isn't afraid to try anything (beating snake heart anyone??!!) and he's honest about what he tastes, cooks and sees. Food allows a great insight into the culture of a country i think and you can essentially sum up what is great about a country in a dish. He also crushes any food stereotypes one may have of a country. Just as theres more to the UK than fish and chips, theres more to Thailand than green curry and pad Thai. I can not wait to try the food in Thailand but for now i shall be cooking up some of Gordon's recipes in south London!! One of my favourite looking one's is his tom yam recipe, check it out here - http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/tv-show-recipes/gordonsgreatescaperecipes/gordons-tom-yam-recipe

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Will this prada fit in my rucksack?!

Clothes are certainly not everything....but they can be more than just a practicality! In my ideal world my travelling wardrobe would be boho, laid back and still put together. I like the idea of floating around a beach in Brazil in an amazing lace white dress or looking especially cool in cut offs and a tie dye top on bondi beach.....i some how think that in reality this will not be the case! i think i will most likely wear the same shorts everyday and throw a top away after wearing it a week. A practical rucksack and a waterproof all the accessorizing I'll need. But in the spirit of dreaming instead of being practical for a day, this is my ideal travelling wardrobe in a mood board! (as you can see I've now finished exams and have time to create such a thing!) Although i doubt any Dolce will be coming along with me, i hope i get a bit of style alongside the practical!

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Wishful Watching

Guide books, experts, travel agents, blogs and facts are all very useful when planning a trip or gap year. However I sometimes feel that while useful and essential they can sometimes take the fun and excitement out of the trip. It's easy to get lost in a world of penny counting, practicalities and lists. This is why films can bring back some of the romance of going travelling. They allow you to escape the facts and figures for an hour or two and take in the beauty of whats unfolding in front of you. There are films out there that speak volumes about a destinations culture, lifestyle and scenery. You might not be following in the foot steps of Muriel in Auz (Muriel's wedding) but the thing or things that drew you to going to certain places in the first place will bw highlighted. Here are some of my favourites, based on where we are going. So put down the book and sit back and enjoy!

Australia

1. Muriel's Wedding - perfect just to listen to the Aussie accent

2. Finding Nemo - you can see Nemo in Sydney's Aquarium!

3. Australia - Baz Luhrmann's ultimate epic on the country

Thailand

1. The Beach - might put you off unless Leo's there....

2. The Hangover part ii - Wolfpack hit Thailand!

3. The King and I - old school romance

Brazil and Argentina

1. City of God - complete work of art, in Portuguese too

2. Evita - passion, tragedy and perfect Argentina

Costa Rica

1. Jurassic Park - one of my childhood classics!

Miami

1. Some Like It Hot - Marilyn hits Miami

2. Miami Vice - Ultimate Miami

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Eu não falam português!!

Well with exactly four months to go until the adventure starts, I thought it would be good to introduce you to a new challange we're facing before we leave.....LEARN PORTUGUESE! as we are going to brazil for a considerable amount of time our travel adviser at STA told us plainly our school level french and spanish was not going to get us by. Actually he said that as two young girls travelling alone in brazil it would probably be wise to know some of the language. this not only scared us but made us think we had to learn portuguese fast!! gone are the days of textbooks and language tapes,  nowadays there are so many online portals that allow you to learn a language, as well as apps and podcasts. It's much quicker and easier, if a tad less fun in my opinion. Anyways i've been checking some out, here are the results! I'm no expert yet but I'll update with any progress made!!

1. http://www.easyportuguese.com/ - this is quite basic but no faffing around with joining up etc

2. http://www.101languages.net/portuguese/ - also basic but gets to the point quickly

3. http://www.portuguese-flashcards.com/ - a more fun one but you have to start paying for premium content

4. http://www.babelnation.com/portuguese/ - one of my favs

5. For all you iphone users out there this is suppose to be great - http://www.byki.com/iphone/iphone.html

I'm also going to start downloading podcasts onto my ipod and listen to them in the gym, kill two birds with one stone...I'll be Gisele Bundchen before you know it - amazing beach bod and perfect brazilain esc portuguese!!!

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The Interview

This week I got the chance to ask Boris and MuiMui (creators of one my favourite travel blogs) some questions! Thanks so much to them for the answers! To all of you reading this - check out the interview - it's honest, interesting and passionate! Also don't forget to check out their blog - http://www.meandfrenchie.com/!



Holly - What attracted you to travelling in the first place and how did it become a reality?

Boris - I grew up in France and have always been attracted to the US. I finally went there for an internship and loved it. Once I graduated, I immediately found a job in San Francisco. I loved the city so much that I was disappointed to have ended up there before seeing more of the world. One year before our world tour, I told MuiMui that I wanted to move abroad and experience life in a different country. She replied that if she had to leave everything, she wanted to see more of the world. We agreed to go on a world tour together.
MuiMui - My desire for travel grew from loving parents who worked all the time and basically from their lack of travel. In college, I snatched every chance I had to travel outside of the US. Then when I joined the corporate world, travel became my yearly escape. When I met my Boris, he would challenge me when I would say, "I wish I could ..." so here we are, circling the globe.

H - How is travelling different from taking a two week holiday?

B - Traveling has nothing to with going on holiday. First, you always have to look at your budget to make you can make it to the end of your travel and that you don’t have a bad impact on the populations. Second, traveling is, for us, more oriented towards meeting people and learning cultures than just sightseeing. Last, I would say that when you travel you have to give yourself time to rest and reenergize.
M - The two do not have to be so different but as a typical American, my short and infrequent holidays seem to dictate how I travelled initially, so I would automatically try to maximize my experience by seeing as much as I can and within the western comforts I am use to. It was when I went to Vietnam for the first time on holiday and explored the small villages and did away with my usual comforts that made me realize how much I was missing out on.

H - Imagine I have enough money to visit 5 places in the world where should I go?

B - Thailand, Colombia, the Galapagos, Norway, and Antarctica? ;)
M - This is always a difficult question for me, as I love every place I have seen. Since I have to choose only 5, it would be: being taken away by the remarkable temples at Angkor Wat, falling in love with the adorable animals in the Galapagos, hiking to the top of Wayna Picchu and enjoying the view of Machu Picchu below, walking through the rice fields and being greeted by the locals in the villages of Sapa in Vietnam, and having a gastronomy experience in the south of France.

H - What have been some of the best experiences you've had so far?

B - People in Colombia are amazing. A poor man was selling cheap pens in a local bus and he decided to give one to me so I can remember Colombia and its nice people. Renting a HUGE house in Koh Samui (Thailand) with MuiMui and 5 other friends. Seeing 3 landmarks appearing in front of our eyes: Angkor Wat, Machu Picchu and The Taj Mahal
M - When I think back on our 12 months of travel, what remains closest to my heart is: riding on scooters with our friends to find the best beach in Thailand, hiking in the mud and arriving in paradise at Tayrona National Park in Colombia, our homestay with a wonderful family in Peru, the kind locals that helped us without wanting any return, and meeting friends & family along our travels.

H- Any scary stories or low points?!

B - Nothing really scary as we never got robbed but if I have to choose low point, it would be our experience in Indonesia on the road to Mount Bromo: A driver tried to rip us off and then a group of youngsters on motorbikes “saved” us, which was all an organized scam. We were in the middle on nowhere with no other tourists or public transportation around. It took us 3 hours to get out of there.
M - When we arrived in Arequipa and was looking around for a hotel, we met a female traveler who just experienced an attempted taxi kidnapping the evening before. She was still trembling and emotional and that woke me up how we always have to be careful in any country and as much as we are, shit still happens when there are bad people.

H - What are your top three tips for anyone thinking about travelling?


Both - 1: Go. 2: Meet as many people as you can. 3: Be open-minded and never reject something because it is different from what you are used to. 4: Always be aware of your surroundings.

H - Any do's and don'ts?

Both - DO follow your instincts and change your plans. DO NOT leave your stuff unattended even for a second. When riding on trains or buses, make sure your things are attached to you at all times. It just takes one second of snoozing for your things to be stolen. DO learn the local language or at least use basic phrases or words. DO NOT dress up like you would at home when visiting India. Not only will you shock the people, you may encounter constant harassment. DO try local cuisine away from tourist areas if possible.

H - What's your next dream destination?

Boris - It is hard to say. I want to go back to South America very bad. I will probably visit Bolivia, more of Argentina, Chile, Brazil, maybe we’ll go back to Ecuador and Colombia and if money allows it, an Antarctica cruise leaving from Argentina. For a more “Dreamy” destination, relaxing and diving in Micronesia would be pretty awesome.
MuiMui - I would not call it a dream destination but I am eager to see: Nepal, Burma, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Africa. I asked Boris once that if he had to pick from buying a car of his dreams or going into space, which would he choose. Boris chose the car and I chose a space voyage.

H - Finally what's the best thing about travelling?

We always think that the best thing is to see beautiful and famous places. After coming back, I don’t think it is true anymore. Learning is the best thing that happens when you travel. Meeting people from different cultures will open your eyes on the world and your own life. This is in our opinion, an invaluable experience.

HX

Minogue on Auz

While taking a break from doing boring finals revision i stumbled across some lovely bits Dannii Minogue had written on Sydney and Miami (2 places we're going). She talks about interesting places to go, see and do. Really good to see an aussies take on Sydeny and there's place's she lists that I'll defo be going. Short but sweet Sunday research session!

SYDNEY - http://www.mydaily.co.uk/2011/03/25/dannii-minogue-travel-tips-sydney/

MIAMI - http://www.mydaily.co.uk/2011/04/22/dannii-minogue-travel-miami/

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