Recently, I set off with a true tourist's attitude to get to know infamous New York City. I intended to go shopping at a store a friend had told me about called H&M. Unfortunately, H&M is on Fifth Avenue. I've never been the greatest fan of shopping, and going into the heart of the debutante shopping center made me queasy.

A block away from Fifth my cab driver pulled over and said something about not going further. That was all I got from the man, since his words came out in a mix of Mandarin, Spanish, Russian, and Urdu. People really are serious when they say it's a requirement that cab drivers speak multiple languages (and preferably understand a miniscule amount of English). I exited the cab and walked down the block to Fifth in the vicinity of H&M. [Read article]

HEFEI - Before I began my trip to Asia this summer, I mentally prepared myself for the food here, knowing that the Chinese eat everything except the kitchen sink.

In order to embrace the cultural experience to the fullest, I decided to eat anything that was put in front of me with the exception of civet cats, which are believed to be the source of SARS.

Last Thursday at 4:30, my friend called me with an urgent message: "Please tell me you're free right now; we've been invited to a banquet." [Read article]