junk drawer // armchair travel volume 1

Honcun, China

The ‘Junk Drawer’ is a random dose of  things to read, eat, enjoy and explore

Along with what seems like the large majority of humans, I have been doing an above average amount of ‘armchair travel’ lately. Using flavors, films, books, and even falling prey to the scroll-hole of instagram to carry me off to far-flung places.  Oh yeah, and baking bread.  Lots of bread.  Ever since I can remember I have been prone to a hefty amount of wanderlust. I have vivid memories of 10 year old me, pouring over glossy issues of National Geographic, imaging that one day I would become a photographer and journalist, traveling to the corners of the earth, rolls of film in my pockets with a tiny notebook in hand.  I still kind of cling to that fantasy, so how excited was I to discover the Tales of Light documentary recently?!  When I got a bit older, I saw Romancing the Stone for the first time, and it is quite possible that part of me hoped to grow up to be a bit like Kathleen Turner’s character: a successful writer on a grand adventure filled with peril and romance.   But if I am being honest, I really wish that I could have been a traveler back in the 20’s or 30’s, like Meryl Streep in Out of Africa.  Can I go back in time, please?  Those outfits… those steamer trunks…gazing out across the veldt, my head filled with all sorts of romantic notions.  Or how much fun would it be to dance through the streets and wind through the parties of Paris in the 1920’s (wearing rolled-down stockings and a beaded dress, of course) like in the film Midnight in Paris?  I have to say, Woody Allen seemed to tap right into my own stockpile of fantasies with that one.  I have often imagined myself at some gorgeous little cafe sipping absinthe with some of the most brilliant minds in literature and art.  So, while I try to figure out how to transport myself back to the magic of that time and place, you can find me slurping some bubbly from from one of these and eating quiche Lorraine . (oh, where is my DeLorean?!)

Before the coronavirus changed the face of the world, I was hoping to travel back to China sometime in 2021.    We were fortunate enough to be able to do a little bit of exploration in the Anhui region a few years ago, (where the majority of Ang Lee’s stunning film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon happened to be filmed)  and I absolutely fell in love with the beautiful terrain- those stunning views atop “Beginning to Believe Peak’ from one of our most memorable hikes to date, and the fact that it still felt like a grand challenge to navigate through the country, to say the least it was a thrilling combination.  Nothing like not quite knowing where you will end up after you hop onto a bus rattling up  a winding  mountain road to make you feel like you are really living. I have a ‘dream trip’ I have been working on for a while now: one that begins in Chengdu, winds down through Shangri-la, down through Sapa, and ends up in Hanoi.  A massive adventure, for sure, one I hope to take before too many years pass by. But for now I will think about re-reading Paul Theroux’s Riding the Iron Rooster and lose myself in the stunning vistas of The Painted Veil.  For anyone curious about seeing another side of China depicted in film, I would recommend Still Life.  It is a slow journey of a movie, set in Fengjie along the Yangtze River during the time of construction of the Three Gorges Dam, depicting the displacement of humans in the face of rapid industrialization. I am also thinking about treating myself to Fushcia Dunlop’s Every Grain of Rice,  or maybe The Food of Sichuan. Lately, I have been cooking up some classic Chinese-American dishes (in lieu of take-out), like Chinese orange chicken,  black pepper steak… chicken with snow peas, but am definitely feeling like I would like to delve deeper into the true cuisine of the country.  And what better time than now?

Where else have my ‘armchair travel adventures’ been taking me since this quarantine descended?  I have been spending time in one of my very favourite cities…Manhattan!  Watching classics like Taxi Driver, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, After Hours, and Manhattan Murder Mystery. For some reason I had never seen After Hours until just a few days ago, and I really had a flashback to some of my own crazy East Village/ Lower East Side late night (early morning?) adventures from bygone days.  It’s the ‘rough around the edges’ version of  New York that I fell so totally in love with back when I was 18.   My fingers are crossed that I will still be able to visit in July like originally planned, to catch up with old friends and share a meal in some of my favorite places.  Since I can’t grab a bagel from David’s Bagels right now (where my top rated bagel in the city is to be found) I am thinking of trying my hand at making my own with this recipe.  Other things I want to eat in New York City include but are not limited to:  bombolini at Bar Pisellino, olive oil cake at Cafe Abraco, and pork belly adobo at Pig and Khao.  That list will change and expand by tomorrow, I promise you.  And since we are on the subject of food and travel, have you seen the film The Lunchbox?   It is set in Mumbai, India and is a beautiful tale of food and friendship.

Where to next? Tokyo? Italy? Memphis, Tennessee?