ARTICLES
Where to Find Traditional Eats in Modern Macau
National Geographic Travel, October 2015
Behind the casinos of the “Las Vegas of the East” is the traditional cooking heritage of the Chinese region of Macau, a fusion of Portuguese, Chinese, and African influence. (National Geographic Intelligent Travel, October 2015)
Pop Quiz: Can You Tell The Difference Between Fake Food And Real Food?
Epicurious, May 2014
A photographic quiz based on a visit to the Hangzhou Cuisine Museum in Hangzhou, China. (Epicurious, May 2014)
Farm To Table: How Longjing Tea Is Hand-Processed In Hangzhou, China
Epicurious, May 2014
A tale about tea tourism in Hangzhou, China. (Epicurious, May 2014)
ENTRIES FROM THE GLOBAL TRIP BLOG CHRONICLES
Chopsticks and Train Tracks
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted August 25, 2004
DAY 306: I woke up early that morning in Ulan Baatar to catch my 8:05 a.m. train to Beijing, China. Everything was packed and read to go by seven — except for one thing: my watch.
Money, Lodging and Beer
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted August 26, 2004
DAY 307: “Did you see The Wall?” Colombian Pilar from Barcelona asked me in the early afternoon as I entered the dining car — a new Chinese dining car that had been swapped for the Mongolian one during our overnight transformation to conform to the width of the Chinese rail system.
“Huh?” I said in confusion.
“The Great Wall,” she said before saying some exclamation in Spanish. “The conductor told me we stopped here for five minutes to see The Wall because a lot of passengers are foreigners.” Four minutes had already passed since we had stopped. The whole time I was just in my compartment reading; I thought the stop was just one of the many other stops of the day, in a small village for quick pick-ups and drop-offs.
Forbidden No More
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted August 26, 2004
DAY 308: At the heart of Beijing lies the Gugong, the Imperial Palace, more commonly known as The Forbidden City. Why it was still known as The Forbidden City I don’t know — they just let me (and hundreds of others) right in through the front gate.
The Fantastic Wall
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted August 28, 2004
DAY 309: I remember watching a television special as a kid in the 1980s when hotshot magician David Copperfield performed a “magic” illusion in which he walked through The Great Wall of China. Actually, from what I recall, you never really saw him pass through The Wall; on both sides of The Wall he put up a backlit translucent screen so that you only saw a silhouette of David Copperfield go in one end and out the other. The end result, as mysteriously executed as it was, was pretty lame.
No Common Denominator
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted August 31, 2004
DAY 310: What does a dead body, a heavenly temple, a lama, an old wise man and a dozen girls on a bike have in common? I’ve asked myself the question over and over trying to find an angle for this Blog entry but have come up with a blank — my day was spent visiting a pretty random collection of sights within Beijing.
No Summer Coincidence
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted August 31, 2004
DAY 311: “If there’s anything I’ve learned [in my travels so far], it’s that nothing is coincidental,” my American roommate Paul from Kansas said as we entered a sort of deep conversation about the meaning of Life — perhaps to balance out the fact that we had just watched Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Snoop Dogg in Starsky & Hutch on bootleg DVD on my iBook connected to our TV, which has no real redeeming philosophical value whatsoever.
The Zoo Debate
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 01, 2004
DAY 312: Zoos are controversial things. One on hand, they aim to bring wild animals from faraway lands to urban areas, so that city folk who don’t have the time, money or courage to see them in the wild can simply stroll around and see them all in a day before “Must See TV” starts. On the other hand, innocent animals are held in captivity for the convenience of Man — their treatment depending on the level of professionalism of the zoo. Lonely Planet China‘s biased paragraph of the Beijing Zoo states that “All zoos are animal prisons, but Beijing Zoo seems like death row.” As readers of The Blog may know, you can’t believe everything you read in a guidebook — particularly a Lonely Planet one — so I decided to see the zoo for myself. Besides, I wanted to see the pandas.
Workin’ For The Blog
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 01, 2004
DAY 313: Everyday when I’m behind on The Blog I tell myself, This is the day you’ll just stay in and catch up, Erik. You become a writer when you write because you have to, not because you want to. Some days I listen to my inner monologue, but other days I go out to do more — all for the benefit of The Blog and its readers of course. I swear, it’s hard work playing the role of producer, keeping each daily entry interesting and different from others so as a whole, The Blog doesn’t get stale. Anyway, I decided that this would be the day to catch up, to finish as much I could before my 5:33 p.m. train to my next destination, Xi’an.
He Said, She Said in Xi’an
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 01, 2004
DAY 314: Xi’an, the former imperial capital for eleven dynasties since China’s territories were unified by Emperor Qin Shi Huang of the Qin dynasty, lies about a third of the way westward from the eastern Pacific coast. Here, the Great Silk Road was established linking trade between the Romans and the Far East, making Xi’an one of western China’s most prosperous cities not only politically but commercially. Today, Xi’an is the political and commercial capital of the Shaanxi province, a modern city of five million whose center is surrounded by protective city stone walls. For tourists, it is the base for visiting one of China’s must-sees: Qin’s Terracotta Warriors.
The Farmer That Found A Warrior Within
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 01, 2004
DAY 315: In 1974, a group of peasant farmers in a remote countryside of the Shaanxi province were digging up a well. Instead of water, they stumbled upon something else: without aiming to do so, they had found one of the greatest archaeological sites of the 20th century, Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s army of The Terracotta Warriors.
Big Wild Goose Chase
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 05, 2004
DAY 316: Xi’an’s center is surrounded by a moat and a protective wall that was originally built to fortify the city during the era of dynasties, but nowadays it just sort of separates the city from the suburbs in the most straightforward manner possible. Most of it has been restored — complete with dress up guards at the gates for show — forming a sort of jogging/biking trail on top perfect for a morning bike ride — which was how I spent the early morning. It was a relaxing start to another hectic day on the road.
Sichuan Style
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 05, 2004
DAY 317: Chengdu is the capital of the Sichuan province, the southwestern province before the Chinese occupied territory of Tibet. Chengdu is a modern metropolis as most Chinese capitals are, known for its famous school of traditional medicine, its panda breeding center, and above all, its spicy cuisine.
Porn For Pandas
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 06, 2004
DAY 318: When you look at a panda, chances are you don’t think of it as a “sexy beast.” That sort of description goes to a sleek animal like a panther, not that I’ve ever had the urge to spoon a panther. Pandas are, from what I gather of mass public opinion, considered to be “cute,” which according to Rough Guide, contributes to the fact that they have an unfair advantage over other animals on the endangered species list; it is their cuteness that people respond to that have launched worldwide awareness and conservation programs of the otherwise lazy animal. If the dodo was an attractive animal, it might still be around today — although I doubt I’ve have the urge to spoon a dodo either.
Chicken Styrofoam
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 06, 2004
DAY 319: I was awake at 6 a.m. before most people in the Dragon Town Hostel were awake. I was down at breakfast by 6:30, when I met the only other guy up and ready to go: Wayne, an Australian technician for Telstra on holiday in China for three weeks. We had both waken up for the same reason: to get the 6:40 minivan transport to a bigger bus that would take us to Chongqing, the starting point of a three-day Yangzi River cruise we had booked.
Submerged
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 08, 2004
DAY 320: Taking a river cruise on the Yangzi River, the world’s third longest, was one of my must do’s in this first visit to China for me — it’s impossible to see everything in one trip — since a lot of people have told me to do it before it’s too late. At the time of writing, construction of a huge dam was already two thirds complete and when it is finished, the waters upstream from the dam will rise and submerge the natural and man-made treasures along its banks in the same manner the Aswan High Dam of the Nile submerged a lot of Nubian sites in southern Egypt.
Gorgeous Gorges
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 08, 2004
DAY 321: The Yangzi River stretches for over 3,960 miles from the western mountains of Chinese-occupied Tibet all the way to the East China Sea, but it is the 215 odd miles between Chongqing and Yichang that most tourists travel through. It is on this stretch that the mighty Yangzi cuts through the famous Three Gorges, a big draw for people to experience, much like The Three Tenors: Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and (if you’ll allow me to borrow a bit from Seinfeld) The Other Guy. (Thanks, Jerry.)
The Tower in the Detroit of China
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 09, 2004
DAY 322: Wuhan, the capital city of the Hubei province, is another big “generic” modern Chinese metropolis, an inevitable stopping point for anyone traveling through the region; it is not only a place of industry but a major transportation hub. Although it has historical significance of being one of the meeting points of Sun Yatsen’s anti-Imperialist society of the early 20th century, generally speaking, it is not a particularly attractive city to tour around; Blogreader F. Levente once called it the “Detroit of China,” and I’m sure he meant that in a negative way with no intended offense to you readers out there from Detroit. (Then again, I don’t know, maybe he hates your Detroitian guts and wishes both cities a plague of rabid beavers.) In any case, I found myself in this “Detroit of China” with others from the Yangzi River cruise when our bus arrived at a confusing bus station around eight in the morning.
Mistaken Identities
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 12, 2004
DAY 323: As an American born from a bloodline from the Philippines — the southeast Asian archipelago country once colonized by the Spanish — I have a certain façade that has been mistaken for other nationalities, depending on what country I’m in. In South America, locals often approached me with words in Spanish under the assumption that perhaps I was one of them, and whenever I had trouble responding right away, they assumed I was just from the neighboring country. Ecuadorians thought I might have been Peruvian. Brazilians thought I might have been Bolivian.
A Couple of Monkeys
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 13, 2004
DAY 324: I’ve racked my brain for two days trying to find an funny angle for this Blog entry, and why exactly I don’t know — there are monkeys in this entry! I’ve always thought monkeys were funny ever since I met the orangutan from The Cannonball Run II (his name escapes my mind) who made a special guest appearance at one of my Cub Scout meetings. (He was already a washed out simian actor by that time.)
Chinese Spider-Man
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 14, 2004
DAY 325: The summer before I left for this trip, my friends (and Blogreaders) Cheryl and da Rzz had started to get into indoor rock climbing, going practically every weekend to an indoor rock gym in northern New Jersey, somewhere between an industrial factory and a mafia safe house. They had invited me several times to join them so that I too could experience the hard-earned endorphin rushes of accomplishment after reaching the top of a completely fabricated rock face with colorful fake rock holds bolted up to them.
I didn’t really get too into their newfound hobby — mainly because I didn’t want to get hooked right before leaving the country for sixteen months (or until money runs out, whichever comes first), and besides, rock climbing used up every muscle in my body and it made me feel like I had been run over by an eighteen-wheeler for the next couple of days. Don’t get me wrong, I liked going rock climbing with them, especially the part when we descended down the wall, took off our harnesses and went down the road to the Tex-Mex place down the road to get some beer and sizzling fajitas.
Dishes
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 16, 2004
DAY 326: When I arrived in Yangshou three days prior, I was approached by a tout trying to sell me on the perks of his hotel, so that I might give him business instead of giving it to a place listed in a guidebook that didn’t need any extra publicity. This has been a fairly common thing in my travels when arriving at a new place — someone tells me I’ll get a private room with a private shower and hot water (24/7), etc. for a price just as good as any place listed in a guidebook. While these unlisted places might be a steal, comfort exactly isn’t the most important thing I look for as a solo traveler. The most important factor is finding a place listed so that perhaps I’d meet other fellow solo travelers with guidebooks to hang out with. If you’ve followed The Blog for a while now, this strategy has been the reason why I’ve met so many “characters” on the road.
Forgotten Names
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 16, 2004
DAY 327: “I know you,” I said to a passer-by in the restaurant/cafe next to the hostel the night before. We had made eye contact two nights prior at the hostel’s little computer area.
“Yeah, last night at the internet,” the voice of the familiar-faced woman said. I knew that I recognized her face from somewhere, but couldn’t exactly place it right away. I’m absolutely horrible with names — I forget almost immediately after I hear them — and I only really remember if I write them down so I have a crib sheet to look at. It’s cheating, I know.
Keeping Up With The Raichelsons
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 17, 2004
DAY 328: When the British Empire defeated the Chinese and took over Hong Kong in 1898, little did they know that 99 years later it would eventually be taken over by the Starbucks Empire. Regardless of the British handing back Hong Kong to China in 1997, Hong Kong has remained the gateway for international business in Asia (and therefore trendy coffee shops), attracting all the major international banking and financial institutions. You know, the big boys like Citigroup and HSBC — and even smaller guys like Bob’s Piggy Bank and Barbecue Emporium (that’s not actually true). While Hong Kong has been losing business to upcoming Singapore and Shanghai lately, it is still the shimmering showcase of sleek post-modern architecture that pays homage to the perpetual sharp and sophisticated wheeling and dealing going on inside its shiny glass façade.
A Day Away With A Big Buddha
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 18, 2004
DAY 329: “Are you in on the Buddha?” Aviva asked me. Out of context that may sound like a request to try some wild hallucinogenics, but she was referring to a plan she and Moe had to spend their Sunday away from Central Hong Kong to see the sights of nearby Lantau Island. Any chance Moe could get away from the skyscrapers of Hong Kong to see more of this part of the world, he was all for it.
“Sure,” I said. Moe’s co-worker Meg and upstairs neighbor was in on the Buddha too.
The Greens Under The Glass
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 20, 2004
DAY 330: Everybody goes back to work on Monday in Hong Kong. The movers, the shakers, the wheelers and dealers, Moe, Meg and the 150,000 Filipina maids — everyone except Aviva and me. While Aviva would eventually look into more productive things to do for her six month stay in Hong Kong with Moe — fundraising for the local Jewish Community Center, possibly teaching English or learning Cantonese, planning vacations — this week she would be my tour guide in Hong Kong. Besides, she wanted to be out of the apartment when the maid came (courtesy of Citigroup) so it wouldn’t seem like she was a loser with nothing to do; the week before she was in and out of the apartment to run errands but always managed to coincidentally be home when Julia the Filipina housekeeper made her daily rounds.
The Six Days Between Dawn And Dusk
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 22, 2004
DAY 331: Travel has a weird effect on the perception of time. When you’re doing so many new things out of a daily routine, everything becomes a blur; every experience is in one ear and out the other. Seconds feel like minutes, minutes feel like hours, hours like days. In the eleven months I’ve traveled thus far, it feels like I’ve been away for at least three lifetimes already. Days seem especially long when you pack activities in right from the crack of dawn.
The Big Bang / Getting Money
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 22, 2004
DAY 332: “Just go ahead, I can’t run in these [flip-flop sandals]!” Aviva called to me as we were running through an underground pipeline tunnel in the Causeway Bay district. I quickened by pace. There was no time to respond. There was about to be a very big boom within seconds and we had to get there before it went off.
Portuguese Chinese
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 24, 2004
DAY 333: Great Britain, as great as it was before the break-up of The Beatles, wasn’t the only European power meddling in places on the other side of the world. During the hey day of seafaring trade, Portugal was also a major power of international commerce, particularly in Asia after they had wisely decided to rent a piece of land from the Chinese government in 1557 at the strategic location where three major Chinese rivers fed out into the ocean. This colonial port, known as Macau, became a major hub of trade in between the east and west and propelled the Portugal in the import/export business — eventually other countries used Macau as a port too. Some Portuguese settled in Macau, importing their language, food, architecture and religion to an otherwise Chinese area. Macau was handed back over to China in 1999 — two years after the UK handed back Hong Kong — but the Portuguese legacy can still be felt today as it stands as one of China’s Special Administrative Regions (SARs), with its own currency, immigration/customs regulations and unrestricted gambling laws.
Cubes and Triads
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 24, 2004
DAY 334: “I suddenly remember that I don’t miss this,” I said to Aviva. We were sitting in a familiar but frightening place to me: an office cubicle, Moe’s desk and workspace on the 50th floor of Hong Kong’s Citigroup building (near the famous Bank of China building, designed by world-renowned architect I.M. Pei). Aviva had to drop something off to her husband and I tagged along to see the inner workings of Hong Kong’s high-paced financial world — only to discover it was just like the generic American office environment, the battleground in the modern classic film Office Space.
The Last Village
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 25, 2004
DAY 335: Modernization has really taken its toll on Hong Kong Island since its colonization by the British in the seventeenth century. Skyscrapers have sprouted like weeds on the northern shore, filling every hole in the Hong Kong skyline. However, as tall and modern these skyscrapers may be, they were built with an age-old method; all scaffolding was made out of just bamboo sticks tied together. The rickety bamboo scaffolding is still in use today, even at eighty plus stories up.
Last Time for Tea Time
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World"
Posted September 26, 2004
DAY 336: If there’s one thing to mention about the influence of British imperialism in the Hong Kong territory, it’s the concept of high tea, or “tea time.” You know, drinking tea and eating krumpets and scones with posh British accents and saying things like “Cheerio” and “Good day.” While having high tea isn’t exactly a mainstream thing that every Hong Konger does everyday, it’s still a ritual that is practiced, particularly on weekends. According to all the guidebooks, the place to have it is at the Peninsula Hotel, a fancy luxury landmark opened in 1928 in the Tsui Sha Tsim (TST) district of Kowloon, so fancy that if you have a reservation there and want a transport from the airport, they send out a Rolls-Royce.
A Shanghai Welcome
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Chinese Leftovers and Other Asian Appetizers"
Posted April 28, 2010
DAY 7: “Can I take your picture?” I asked the soon-to-be familiar face waiting for me outside the arrivals gate at Pudong International Airport. “I never had anyone hold out a sign with my name at the airport before.” (Later I learned that she had hand-painted the “Erik Trinidad” with a calligraphy brush, along with the Chinese characters for “Welcome to Shanghai” underneath.)
“Okay,” she obliged awkwardly.
Dog Day Afternoon
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Chinese Leftovers and Other Asian Appetizers"
Posted April 29, 2010
DAY 8: “I think the dog peed over there,” I told Juju in the morning, pointing out a spot between my guest room and the bathroom. “Because I went to the bathroom in the middle of the night and I think I stepped in it.” My sock got a little wet in a pee puddle, so I put it in the pile for the cleaning lady to wash with my laundry. Qiu-qiu the three month old pup shaked her tail and pleaded innocent, although we knew she was the likely offender. But you could never really get mad at her; I mean, look at that little punim!
Strawberry Fields Forever, For The Day
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Chinese Leftovers and Other Asian Appetizers"
Posted April 30, 2010
DAY 9: Music from the street level was loud enough that it became within earshot, along with a Chinese voice on a megaphone seemingly shouting orders, like some sort of Orwellian sci-fi movie. “What’s that music?” I asked Juju.
“Oh, that’s just the school,” she answered. “They exercise.”
I looked across the way and saw from afar Chinese children in matching jumpsuits marching in single file.
And so began the morning of what would be a beautiful sunny day.
That Jerk Jackie Chan
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Chinese Leftovers and Other Asian Appetizers"
Posted May 02, 2010
DAY 10: “Jackie Chan,” Juju said during our morning coffee and news session at the Starbucks across the street. “We don’t like him.” She continued, saying how while he may be a comedic karate guy in the USA, he was known in China to be a jerk and a womanizer, with kids from different women that he sometimes didn’t claim to be his. Plus, “His movies are all the same; cha cha cha [action sounds] and a little funny… but his kung fu is only so-so. Jet Li… he does real kung fu.”
Race To Yellow Mountain
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Chinese Leftovers and Other Asian Appetizers"
Posted May 03, 2010
DAY 11: Huang Shan, which translates to “yellow mountain,” is amongst the Lonely Planet guidebook’s “Best Of China” list — one of the reasons for my second trip to the PRC for “Chinese leftovers.” A glorious mountain landscape that has been the subject matter of countless classic Chinese paintings, Huang Shan’s heavenly peaks — which are even more ethereal when they jut out of a sea of clouds — have inspired many, from ancient Chinese 8th-century poet Li Bai to American 21st-century director James Cameron, who has cited Huang Shan as one of the inspirations for the art direction of Pandora in the mega blockbuster Avatar.
Crouching Tiger, Hundred Tourists
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Chinese Leftovers and Other Asian Appetizers"
Posted May 03, 2010
DAY 12: “I want to go to here,” I whispered under my breath, tweaking Tina Fey’s now immortal line of bewildered amazement (immortal for any 30 Rock fan anyway), as I gazed upon the Huang Shan sunrise in the magnificent mountain landscape that has inspired many a Chinese painting. (When you’ve already gone to there, you are “here.”) Huang Shan’s beauty is so surreal, especially on a misty day, that it served as the setting of the final scene in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hu cang long to the Chinese), where Ziyi Zhang gracefully jumps from the great peak and into the clouds. However, my magic moment was only a split-second of nirvana — even at the stupid o’clock hour of 5:30am — for I was not alone.
Chinese Things On May Day Monday
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Chinese Leftovers and Other Asian Appetizers"
Posted May 05, 2010
DAY 13: “Any idea what you want to do today?” Scott asked me the Monday morning of the long weekend for International Workers Day (a.k.a. “May Day,” like Labor Day in the USA). He really had no plans but to run errands on his day off. I suggested seeing the popular pedestrian strip Nanting Road, and maybe check out some of the markets I’d been recommended. Also,
“We should all get massages,” I added. (Why not, at under ten bucks for an hour-long massage from a professional blind masseur?) He agreed.
Shopping and errand running was a good way to see life in Shanghai as it is, and all of its different people. We left Qiu-qiu (pronounced “tcho tcho”) at home, grabbed a Starbucks coffee and Starbucks Dragon Roll (a sweet gelatinous dumpling), and took to the streets of Shanghai on what was shaping up to be a beautiful day.
Going Backtracking
From the trip blog: "The Global Trip: Chinese Leftovers and Other Asian Appetizers"
Posted May 09, 2010
DAYS 17-18: “Qiu-qiu!” (pronounced “tcho-tcho!”) I cried out to the cute little puppy face greeting me outside of Juju’s Peugeot back in Shanghai (picture above). I had greeted Scott and Juju as well when the three of them picked me up from the Maglev station after I’d flown back to Shanghai from Seoul for an overnight layover.
“She’s excited,” Juju told me, which led to one thing:
“I think she peed on me,” I reported. I checked my pants; she had peed right on my crotchal region. “It looks like I peed.”
“Welcome to China,” Scott joked.
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ABOUT ERIK R. TRINIDAD
When he’s not making a living as an interactive/motion designer or playing with fast food, Erik R. Trinidad is a travel writer, blogger, video host and producer focusing on adventure and culinary content. His work has been featured on National Geographic Intelligent Travel, Adventure.com, Discovery.com, Saveur, Condé Nast Traveler, and 
Hyenas Laughed at Me and Now I Know Why, which also includes the work of Tim Cahill, Doug Lansky, Jennifer Leo and Rolf Potts. He has also referenced his travel experiences in his solo book, Fancy Fast Food: Ironic Recipes with No Bun Intended.
For over ten years, Erik has traveled to the seven continents of the world — from Timbuktu to Kalamazoo — with a curiosity for exotic foods and a thirst for adventure (and writing material). In his travels, he has been mugged at knifepoint in Cape Town, extorted by corrupt Russian police on the Trans-Siberian Railway, stranded in tornadic storms in the American midwest, and air-lifted off the Everest Trail by a helicopter that was thankfully paid for by his travel insurance. But it hasn’t been all fun; he has also donned a tuxedo amidst the penguins of Antarctica, paraded with Carnival-winning samba school Beija Flor in Rio, run for his life at Pamplona’s “Running of the Bulls,” cage-dived with great white sharks, gotten shot point-blank in the stomach in Colombia (while wearing a bulletproof jacket), and above all, encountered many people around the world, including some Peruvian musicians in Cuzco who learned and played “Y.M.C.A.” at his request. He loves the irony that, after everywhere he’s been, he has never been to Mexico.
Erik writes stories and news articles when he’s at his base camp in New York City, and continues his blog when he is on the road — provided he’s not occupied tracking down lost luggage.
Additional news/article clippings at ErikTrinidad.com.
See Erik talk about travel in an American Express ad:
Read about Erik in this feature article from Filipinas magazine by National Geographic Traveler Associate Editor Amy Alipio.