Foodies

Disclosure: My cooking class was provided courtesy of Uncorked Cooking Workshop, however I was not otherwise compensated for this post and all opinions are my own. Oh, my love for ceviche knows no bounds. It’s one of the dishes that I’ve tried up and down the continent of South America and have pretty much […]

A photo posted by Malia Yoshioka (@maliayoshioka) on A few months ago, some of my family on my mother’s side were making plans for a celebration of my grandfather’s 90th birthday. And now I was standing at a crossroads and leaving it up to the world wide web of wonders to see if I could make a trip to the US feasible… I put out a request to my network to see if I could find a job (and a couch to crash on) for a few months and got replies from all over the country! BEST Kids, Inc. BEST Kids needed support around their annual gala taking place in October and strategy to support their year-round fundraising efforts to continue to provide caring and consistent mentors for youth in DC’s foster care system. A photo posted by Malia Yoshioka (@maliayoshioka) on My time in DC is winding down, and soon I’ll be heading back to Indiana for Thanksgiving, then back to Turkey at the end of the month.

People often ask me questions about the life I’m living, and I get it. I’m definitely not following a conventional path in life or career and some of the choices I make tend to leave others scratching their heads a bit. I often hear, “I wish I could do what you do, but…” or “I […]

Tonight it came via a stainless steel tray, loaded first with the simplest of flavors – a spiced vegetable curry with tender, sweet carrots, creamy chunks of village potatoes and crisp green bell peppers. This morning as our group leader, Krishna, took my bag to carry up the steep steps to our guest house I tried to object since he was carrying not only a huge backpack but another bag in his hands as well. I cried then out of frustration and put up my walls, but now I felt nothing but a deep gratitude that this country has ripped me open in order to teach me that sometimes you need to be vulnerable to accept the love, the nourishment, the support and the kindness and beauty that exists in the world. Then I realized, perhaps India is full of such extremes precisely to make us appreciate the contrasts – the noise of the cities to appreciate the stillness of nature, the nostril-curling stench of the streets to appreciate the warm spices flowing from the kitchen hearth, the frustration of the bad situations to appreciate the kindness of those who genuinely want to help.

Disclosure: My cooking class was provided courtesy of Uncorked Cooking Workshop, however I was not otherwise compensated for this post and all opinions are my own. Oh, my love for ceviche knows no bounds. It’s one of the dishes that I’ve tried up and down the continent of South America and have pretty much […]

Managing Your Money on the Road I opened my eyes and looked out past the lace curtain on my time-capsule 70s hotel room. Without needing to leave the warmth of my bed and its four layers of thick blankets, I could watch the morning fog roll down the side of the mountains surrounding my hotel in La Paz, Bolivia.

Food highlights: caldo de costilla, ajiaco, empanadas, stuffed arepas, guanabana, guarapo, bandeja paisa, casuela de frijoles, lechona, pandebono con arequipe I loved my tour down the Avenue of the Volcanoes to visit Cotopaxi the Nariz del Diablo train, plus a side trip to Banos (where I got to try ziplining!), the “swing at the end of the world”, and Lake Quilotoa, which literally took my breath away – and not just because of the altitude! hornado, choclo mote, chuntacuro (not my favorite, but happy I tried them!), seco de chivo, cevice, locro de papas, emapanadas de morocho, salchipapas, guayusa tea, encebollado, picada, mote pillo, cecina, horchata, cafe lojano Eventually, I said goodbye to La Paz and headed south to the salt flats of Salar de Uyuni for a three day tour by Jeep, where I made new friends from Brazil, Paraguay and China.

Disclosure: My cooking class was provided courtesy of Cusco Culinary, however I was not otherwise compensated for this post and all opinions are my own. In Cusco, there is no shortage of touristic sights to keep you busy – in fact, most visitors to Cusco opt to purchase the Boleto Turistico which gives you access […]

Managing Your Money on the Road I opened my eyes and looked out past the lace curtain on my time-capsule 70s hotel room. Without needing to leave the warmth of my bed and its four layers of thick blankets, I could watch the morning fog roll down the side of the mountains surrounding my hotel in La Paz, Bolivia.

I began attempting the mental addition to figure out how much I’d need to settle my hotel bill, book a tour in Salar de Uyuni to see the famous salt flats, and to get myself to the Chilean border in the next few days. I contacted a Spanish-speaking friend who lived in La Paz, who offered to go with me to the bank where I’d used the ATM in hopes of retrieving my card. Then, with nothing else to do but wait, I took my sad self to the nearby restaurant, one that accepted credit cards, and promptly treated myself to a consolation glass of red wine and a steak. Upon hearing that the card was not one of their bank’s, the clerk directed us to an office a few blocks down, apparently where lost ATM cards go to wait in purgatory until they’re claimed.