Food and Drink

A bowl of Thai rice porridge (jok moo) with ground pork, soft-boiled egg, ginger, and fried dough kicks off a morning market visit that also uncovers a bucket of large frogs destined for stewing or frying, distinct from the smaller variety eaten whole.

A food-focused travel account covering adventurous eating across Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and the Philippines, highlighting dishes such as goat satay in Bogor, shark’s fin and bird’s nest soup in Hong Kong, and Bangkok street food including ya dong, a 10-baht herb-infused spirit served with pandan juice and pickled fruit chasers.

A traveler recounts a rainy-season trip through Japan, highlighting unique food discoveries like blue raw shrimp eggs and unusual Pringles flavors (including soft-shell crab and lemon sesame), alongside a visit to Fukui where ill-timed sunshine led to a sunglasses purchase just before the rains arrived.

A runner training on a healthy diet visits the Carpinteria farmer’s market near the Pacific Ocean, discovering standout offerings including Fat Uncle Farms’ seasoned almonds and free samples of goat’s milk feta, nectarines, and guava.

A runner training for the Hood to Coast relay race in Bangkok shares their enthusiasm for rum raisin milk, a boxed flavored cereal milk drink found at Bangkok 7-Elevens, claiming it serves as ideal fuel before and after runs, with the cookies and cream variety also available but less impressive.

A step-by-step guide to making and eating miang kham, a Thai dish of fresh Piper sarmentosum leaves wrapped around desiccated coconut, lime, roasted peanuts, dried shrimp, onion, garlic, ginger, chili, and palm syrup with fish sauce, costing just 39฿ ($1.20) for all ingredients. The author enthusiastically endorses the dish for its complex, adjustable flavors and extraordinary value.

A food lover recounts standout meals in Thailand, including a seafood feast in Hua Hin and a revelatory dinner of miang kham—a traditional Thai bite-sized snack of toasted coconut, peanuts, chili, ginger, lime, and dried shrimp wrapped in cha plu leaves—paired with a margarita.

Royce’ Banana Chocolate is a nama chocolate variety offering a chocolate-forward flavor with a prominent banana aroma, balanced sweetness, and a smooth, pudding-like texture that the author highly recommends.

A turfgrass scientist describes a post-seminar ski trip to Niseko, Hokkaido, praising its deep powder snow, affordable lift tickets, and lack of crowds, before visiting Otaru for its historic canal and renowned sushi.

A turfgrass scientist recounts a whirlwind trip through Japan, including a seminar near the world’s busiest train station at Shinjuku, travels to Thailand for a sustainable turfgrass conference, and plans to ski and visit onsen in Niseko, Hokkaido.