The bleak of winter can be a heavy burden on the soul. The sunless skies, the freezing rain, the brutal wind, the scenery of naked trees stripped of all life until the warmer seasons. However do we make it to spring year after year without losing heart? For me, it is taking refuge in the [...]
travel
Sometimes we put off some of the most obvious things on our bucket list for an unusually long time. We cannot explain it beyond the excuse that we just haven’t come around to doing them. Over 8 years ago, in a small Mexican restaurant that has since shut down, Argentine tango found me. I say [...]
Being a savvy traveler is an exceptionally smart skill to have, easy to develop and hard to do without once you firmly establish the habit. When I look back at our initial travels, I shudder at the immature ways I went about them. I can almost pinpoint the day that my husband read an article [...]
Paris means something different to everyone. Everyone who has walked the streets of this immutable city knows and loves a Paris all their own. For that reason alone, it is impossible to create a universal guide for enjoying Paris. And an even more daunting task would be to claim to have such a guide for [...]
This Thanksgiving was with family and friends. Last Thanksgiving, Hawaii. But I will never forget that in 2007, after a trying year with career and other challenges, we decided in a moment’s notice to pack up and go to Hong Kong for Thanksgiving. Traveling there from East Coast of United States is not exactly a [...]
If you desire it, they will have it, in the world’s best kept and most delicious secret: the Depachika, the food havens in the heart of underground malls of Tokyo. A depachika is a contraction of depato (department store) and chika (underground mall), a place of endless wonder and marvel producing a feast for the [...]
I cannot remember my first cup of espresso but I have had countless sweet memories of delicious coffee over the years. When in 2007 I decided to give up my daily coffee, I missed more than anything the idea of having a cup of espresso, the preparation, and the aroma. It takes great courage to [...]
I distinctly remember my dad constantly begging us to take a trip to Athens, Greece when we lived in Turkey with my family for 3 years in the 1980s after we had left Iran. For some inexplicable reason, the whole family was against going anywhere else. Perhaps the unexpected move from Iran had left us [...]
For the Love of Film. The beautiful motto seen everywhere across Toronto during the fabulous, exciting, and thoroughly fun film festival, also known as TIFF. This was our very first film festival and I am eternally grateful to my friend for sharing her yearly tradition with us. The festival’s energy had completely engulfed Toronto by our [...]
I was not expecting to get a call from the Executive desk at American Airlines this week, but I did. “Hello Mrs. Brock, this is the AA Executive Desk” “Oh yes, hi. How can I help you?” “Well, we were just wondering where you are spending the holidays next year. We haven’t seen you fly [...]
The Japanese are brilliant. I have always known this. Growing up in Iran, we had a ranking system for all products that were imported from various countries. The Japanese always and without exception ranked the highest. It did not matter if it were clothing, electronics, house-hold items or a car battery. Their brand was universally [...]
The awe from standing in the Pantheon and looking up at the oculus is inadequate for words, and yet I will attempt to put into words the rush of emotion from the sight of the last standing Roman architectural feat. I will ascribe words to a human achievement built as if by a miracle some [...]
Truth be told, I do not closely follow any best sellers list; I do not make it a point of watching Oscar-nominated movies or popular TV shows. No, I follow my own heart when I choose my entertainment, and so should you. I do not have a particular strategy for choosing my next book either [...]
Reading Travels in the perfect setting of Hawaii made it all the more memorable. This is perhaps the least well-known work by the prolific and beloved Michael Crichton, and yet it served as my introduction to his work and writing. I also found it very fitting that my first reading of him was an autobiography, and [...]
