Post Tagged with: "zen travel"

by / on October 19, 2012 at 3:53 pm / in California, Gary Fong, San Francisco, See, USA

SAN FRANCISCO: ALTERNATIVE PRESS EXPO

    SAN FRANCISCO  – So, I’m what you’d call comic book challenged.  I’m the guy who asks (while watching the recent Avengers movie) whether Captain America can die and whether Black Window and Hawkeye actually have super human powers and, if they don’t, then how can they be super heroes, let alone members of the Avengers (okay, perhaps in [...]

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by / on October 17, 2012 at 8:03 pm / in California, Eat, Gary Fong, Restaurants, San Francisco, USA

SAN FRANCISCO: CAFÉ NEW HONOLULU

    SAN FRANCISCO – I miss so many things about Hong Kong:  the perfectly temp-controlled, the over-the-top shopping malls, that incredible skyline (one of the best, up there with Chicago), the blunt and often endearing pessimism of the locals (who claim “HK died in 1997”).  I even miss the city’s fascinating (and often frustrating) yin and yang aspects – [...]

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by / on September 6, 2012 at 12:32 pm / in Go, Monica Byers, USA

TWO NIGHTS IN GETTYSBURG, PA

GETTYSBURG, PA – So you’ve been roped into an educational vacation – a trip to visit the Civil War battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  And wondering whether you can possibly have any fun in what appears to be a one-trick tourist town.  I was the same.  I’ve been trying to expose my British husband to all sorts of Americana, and a [...]

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by / on August 3, 2012 at 2:22 pm / in Drink, Monica Byers, New York

NEW YORK: ENDING THE EVENING AT VINTRY WINE & WHISKEY

BY MONICA BYERS NEW YORK, NY – New York City’s Stone Street dates back to the 1660s; it got its current moniker sometime later on due to its cobblestone paving (so the name is based in history, not irony).  I want to love this short artery because it’s old and cute.  In reality, though, the establishments that line it are largely [...]

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by / on August 1, 2012 at 6:06 pm / in Asia, Lopburi, See, Thailand

THAILAND: LOPBURI

  LOPBURI, THAILAND – We were headed to a small town called Lopburi.  I had never been to Lopburi, nor had I heard of it prior to this trip.  In fact, I had never even been to central Thailand (where Lopburi was located).  My Thai travels had always centered on Bangkok and the various islands, with periodic jaunts to the [...]

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by / on July 30, 2012 at 1:37 pm / in Gary Fong, New York, See, USA

NEW YORK: ASIA SOCIETY MUSEUM

  NEW YORK – Located smack dab in the middle of NYC’s Upper East Side is one of my favorite NYC art venues, the always interesting but often-overlooked Asia Society Museum (ASM).  I say overlooked because it’s not officially grouped in with the nearby venues along Museum Mile (that includes the Met and the Guggenheim) nor is it officially part [...]

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by / on July 25, 2012 at 1:08 pm / in Eat, Monica Byers, New York

NEW YORK: A PERFECT DATE NIGHT AT BARRIO 47

BY MONICA BYERS NEW YORK – As happens so often in a walking city like New York, my husband and I randomly wandered into Barrio 47 for an after-dinner drink one night.  We were immediately charmed by the sexy Latin vibe of the place, and by our personable bartender.  We were also seduced by the giant wood-burning oven that dominates [...]

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by / on July 18, 2012 at 12:55 pm / in Drink, Monica Byers, New York

NEW YORK: A NIGHT ON THE TOWN AT ARTHUR’S TAVERN

BY MONICA BYERS NEW YORK, NY – For months, I’d hang out with my friend and fellow Zenster Gary and – sometime after the 3rd or 4th martini – he’d say “Let’s go to Arthur’s in the West Village.”  To which I’d say “There is no way I’m travelling all the way to the West Village at this time of [...]

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by / on July 16, 2012 at 9:03 am / in Asia, Gary Fong, See, Tokyo

TOKYO: ARTY FARTY

  TOKYO - Okay, some might say that Japan tries too hard when it comes to art but, for me, some of the most original and engaging shows I’ve seen have been in Tokyo…and I don’t mean those mega put-ons at the National Museum in Ueno or those over-hyped, what-were-they-thinking exhibitions at the Mori. Rather, it’s the small-to-medium sized venues that [...]

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by / on July 13, 2012 at 1:00 pm / in Eat, Monica Byers, New York

NEW YORK: THE RESTAURANTS OF GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL

BY: MONICA BYERS NEW YORK, NY – So here you are at the beautiful Grand Central Terminal (though you might call it Grand Central Station).  You could be a tourist checking out the Beaux-Arts architecture, snapping pics and wondering to yourself if New York could afford to build such a cavernous, stunning building today (my guess is no).  Or, maybe [...]

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