November Birthday in Oaxaca!

Each year, I try to plan a new adventure for my birthday. Usually international with the exception of last year, pre-vaccine. It softens the blow of getting older and helps me reframe the occasion to be a more joyous one. Once September hits, I get that back-to-school fall feeling even though I have not been in school in years. That nervousness of starting a new chapter, not knowing what to expect. That anticipation of the cold and dark winter coming. And that looming birthday, which marks the end of my personal year and forces me reaccess my life. Travel (and vacation) gives me something to look forward to and helps me get my mind off the stresses of adulthood. After such an amazing road trip to Valle de Guadalupe this past June, I decided to return to Mexico and explore Oaxaca. Many Californians like to visit Cabo, Playa del Carmen, and Puerto Vallarta, but I’m not really a beach resort type girl and I’m not a fan of the super touristy spots. I love quaint little towns, countrysides, nature, small little beach destinations, and boutique or unique accommodations.

My friend in Missouri joined me on my annual birthday adventure and we met up in Mexico City. If you’re meeting your friend at the airport in Mexico City, make sure you know your arrival terminal. We arrived at different terminals and it took us awhile to find each other. She had to take the tram from Terminal 1 to meet me in Terminal 2 and it took an hour to wait in line for a taxi. Make sure you purchase a taxi ticket and wait in line first thing. Traffic in Mexico City is pretty bad. Also, another tip. If you travel to Mexico in November, it’s super cold at night! Pack warm clothes. Except for a couple hours in the afternoon, most of the time, we were freezing! I packed mostly dresses! It felt colder than what the temperatures showed.

We only had a couple days in the city so I can’t say we had that much time to really explore the city other than visit some delicious restaurants—Cha Cha Terraza, Contramar, Quintonil, and Gin Gin—and take a boat ride at the Xochimilco canals. Cha Cha Terraza had a fun lively vibe for dinner and drinks on their upstairs terrace. Contramar had great seafood. Gin Gin is a great bar/lounge down the street from Contramar and has really good cocktails and music. Quintonil is super upscale with an option for a tasting menu. Even though Quintonil is a special culinary experience, it was a little stuffy. Indoors. No vibe. No ambiance. It was also expensive for Mexico standards. You could get an amazing meal at a more fun restaurant for half the price or less. We also stopped at Cafe Toscana next door to Buna cafe in Roma North for a snack and glass of wine mid-afternoon one day and both places were really cute.

In Mexico City, we first stayed at the Sofitel in Cuauhtémoc, which felt like downtown. Even though the area is close to Condesa and Roma North, it was very busy and not as nice. We also stayed at The Orchid House Hotel in Polanco, which I loved because it’s small and boutique. Polanco is Mexico City’s upscale neighborhood. It’s quaint, charming, and walkable. I would definitely stay here again. I had previously wanted to stay at Brick Hotel in Roma North, which is also a cute area, but the rooms were all booked. If you prefer the big hotels, but want to stay in Polanco, you could do The W or The Intercontinenal.

From Mexico City, we flew to Oaxaca. It is a short 1 hour flight. And just as I imagined, Oaxaca was amazing! So quaint and charming! Arts and crafts sold by street vendors. Markets with an array of textile, leather handbags, hats, and jewelry. Cobblestone roads. Decorative flags lined the street. Colorful buildings with beautiful exterior artwork. Old churches. Boutique hotels, delicious food, and great cocktails. Every meal we had was better than the last. I was in heaven!

One thing to note is that I made the majority of the restaurant reservations about two months in advance. Thinking that it would be warmer in Oaxaca, I chose many outdoor rooftop venues for dinner. While Oaxaca was hot during the day, it was even colder than Mexico City at night. Some of the places had heat lamps but they weren’t always working. On two different nights, a couple restaurants mentioned that they ran out of gas for the lamps, which made eating very uncomfortable. I would recommend dressing very warm or doing the rooftop spots during the day for lunch to enjoy the view.

We dined at Los Danzantes, Tierra del Sol, Casa Oaxaca, Criollo, and The Terrace on top of Hotel Los Amantes. While the food was good at all the restaurants, my favorites were Casa Oaxaca and Criollo. Criollo was where I had my birthday dinner and it was super special! The chef from Mexico City’s world renowned Pujol is part of the Criollo team. The only option at this restaurant is to enjoy their 6 course surprise tasting menu, which included a variety of Oaxacan dishes. Each plate was artfully presented and delicious! Casa Oaxaca was a pleasant surprise for lunch. They have rooftop dining. I loved the fresh table-side salsa, the sweet potato wrapped squash blossoms, the agua chile, and their corn-flan dessert. I had never had a CORN flan dessert before and I loved it! Tierra del Sol has a nice rooftop terrace view. They had really good tacos de lechon with chicharron wrapped up in what looked like a banana leaf. It was so good that we came back the next day on my birthday for lunch! The other dishes weren’t as good but we could have ordered the wrong items since they didn’t have an English menu. One thing I learned on this trip is that I love chicharron on everything! I ordered soup several times while in Oaxaca and it often included chicharron in the soup with Oaxacan string cheese, which is also very delicious. Downstairs in the same building of Tierra del Sol, there’s a little cafe that sells Atole, which is a soothing hot corn and masa based beverage that Oaxacans often drink for breakfast or at night. It comes in different flavors. Try it! It’s interesting and different. I liked it. Los Danzantes also served really good food. That’s where we dined on our first night in Oaxaca. But that Sunday night, it was really quiet. We had tortilla soup, mahi mahi and fresh garden tomato ceviche, and fresh short rib pasta.

Upstairs from Los Danzantes is their partner speakeasy bar called Selva. There’s no sign. The entrance is roped off with a man guarding the doorway. The bar is super charming with prohibition era vibes. Cocktails were pretty and carefully curated. Another bar we enjoyed was Sabina Sabe, which is a lot more casual but has great music and good cocktails. They serve food as well but we didn’t get a chance to try any. The rooftop at Hotel Los Amantes has great views for a sunset drink. They have a small bar downstairs that we liked as well. I think I ordered a mezcal cocktail with pineapple everyday in Oaxaca.

Aside from eating really well, I did a group tour to Hierve el Agua. Helpful tip: exchange your dollars for pesos. You will need it for the entrance fee, for the group buffet lunch, and also for mezcal purchases at the distillery (they have a high minimum for credit card purchases). The tour lasted all day because they include a few stops including a mezcal tasting, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Because of land disputes, we had to take the unpaved, bumpy road up the mountain to get to the pools. Once you get to the entrance/parking lot, you have the option of hiking 45 minutes down to see the petrified waterfalls or just going straight to the pools. Going down was not a huge problem but it was a little exhausting coming back up because of all the steps. It definitely gets you all heated up and ready to jump in the pools. But if you just want to take cute pictures and relax, skip the hike and just go straight to the pools and then you won’t have to worry about packing hiking clothes and sneakers along with your bathing suit and towel. The view was beautiful. Bonus: I made a few new friends on the tour because I went solo. My friend didn’t want to wake up at 7am to join the tour.

My friend and I stayed in 2 different hotels during our time in Oaxaca. The first few nights we stayed at Grana B&B, which is very quaint and quiet and the staff is so accommodating. We had a suite with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, which was nice. Breakfast was included and is made to order and it was delicious. I don’t normally love yogurt but the yogurt was really good! Yogurt anywhere outside of the U.S. is really good, in my opinion. The location was central. We also stayed one night at Hotel Los Amantes, which has the most beautiful rooftop views. Great for sunset drinks and the food was pretty good as well. It’s made up of 2 buildings across from eachother in a central location not far from Grana B&B, with 2 rooftop restaurants, and a small bar downstairs. We stayed in the Cuishe room with 2 queen beds. While the room was nice, the hotel in general is a little loud because of the atrium and rooftop restaurants. But it was convenient to be able to just run upstairs for a cocktail or snack. Breakfast was included there as well and it was pretty good also.

The people of Oaxaca were so welcoming, nice, and helpful. The tourists we befriended were also so friendly. I loved Oaxaca and would definitely visit again! They have direct flights from Los Angeles to Oaxaca on Mexican airlines. I have to say that the best part for me was the food because as you know, I love food! They use grasshopper in a lot of dishes but it’s unrecognizeable. I’m not a huge fan of mole even though it’s a popular dish in this region. Though I did discover that I am a huge fan of chicharron, Oaxacan cheese, and mezcal cocktails. I love their fresh corn tortilla and chips and salsa. I regret that I didn’t get a chance to have churros or hot chocolate while I was in Oaxaca and Mexico City. Check out my Instagram to see all the yummy food I ate!

I can’t wait to see more of Mexico. I want to visit Guadalajara, the town of Tequila, San Miguel, Matzalan, and maybe Puerto Escondido next. This vacation was such a nice reset. I felt like I was fully able to unplug from work and the stresses of life. It has been such a long time since I’ve been on a week long trip that did not involve any sort of work. Weekend road trips don’t count because you get those days off anyways. I’m already looking forward to another vacay. It has been hard for me to focus on work after returning from such a good trip. Plus, we’re right smack in the middle of the holidays. All I want to do is curl up on the couch and watch Christmas movies. This year is flying by too fast. And my post-vacay blues are setting in. I need to plan my next adventure soon. What’s next on your travel list?

Eating My Way Through Cambodia

Recapping my adventure in Cambodia for my last blog post was not easy to do. I had so much to share and I didn’t even get to share with you all the food I ate! I had watermelon juice almost everyday, binged on noodle soup and rice porridge for breakfast, ate the freshest fruit in Cambodia (dragon fruit, coconuts, mango), devoured chicken skewers with lime pepper sauce, ordered green mango salad every chance I got, drank fruity martinis, and had the best crabs of my life.

The best thing I ate on my trip would have to be the crabs I had at Kimly Restaurant in Kep on the coast. It was made with fresh green peppercorn grown in the Kampot region of Cambodia. It’s a little messy to eat but it’s so delicious! You can’t get this anywhere else unless you are growing your own peppercorn. The crabs are fried with the peppercorn straight on the sprig, unlike the peppercorn we are used to seeing which has been boiled and dried. I visited La Plantation to get a personal tour of a pepper plantation. It was really interesting learning about how peppercorn is grown.

I stayed in Kep for only 1 night but went to Kimly for crabs twice during my stay. I’ve had these crabs before, 7 years ago when I was last in Cambodia and it’s still just as good as I remembered. There is also a little shack on Rabbit Island (an island off the coast of Kep that I visited last time) that serves delicious crabs as well.

At the beginning of my Cambodia trip, I took a cooking class where I learned how to make fish amok. This is one of the most popular dishes among tourists. But it’s not something that I’ve grown up eating. My mother has never made this for me. I didn’t even know what it was until I visited Cambodia for the first or second time 13 years ago. I’ve tried making this dish myself a couple times in Los Angeles, but I never thought it tasted quite right and wondered if maybe I was doing it wrong. However, after taking the cooking class and trying the dish at several restaurants around Cambodia, I think that it is simply not a dish that I like all that much. I originally wanted to include this dish in my cookbook but I think I need to leave it out because my heart just isn’t in it…yet.

Noodle soup and rice porridge are 2 of my favorite Cambodian comfort foods. I ate them almost everyday at restaurants and also at my cousin’s house in Phnom Penh. After having eaten that much of it at so many different locations around Cambodia, I have to say that I think my version of it is pretty good, if not better. This trip has definitely boosted my confidence in my own cooking, which makes me feel that all the work I put into the last year has been worth it :)

During my trip, I found myself really enjoying chicken skewers with lime-pepper sauce. It’s a sauce I don’t make very often because I grew up having my mom’s preferred sauce—sweet fish sauce. But in Cambodia, lime-pepper sauce was often served with grilled meats and was so delicious. I’m going to try making this sauce more.

As I ate my way through Cambodia, I was inspired by all the food I ate, the wet markets, the street food vendors, and the dishes I saw on restaurant menus. I will definitely be adding some more recipes to my cookbook and can’t wait to start cooking again!

My Cambodia Adventure

This past November, I celebrated the anniversary of my birth on a month-long solo trip to Cambodia. It was one of the most incredible journeys! I went on a vegan yoga retreat, biked through the countryside, explored ancient temples, took a cooking class and learned how to make fish amok, visited my family in Phnom Penh, had the most amazing crabs in Kep, toured a pepper plantation, traveled to the top of the Bokor Mountain in Kampot, drove through fields of sugar cane and rice paddies on the back of a motorbike, ate my favorite Cambodian noodle soup and rice porridge just about everyday, drank watermelon juice at least once a day, glamped on the Mekong River, saw the most beautiful sunsets, went on several boat cruises, got the best massages, traveled through the roughs seas to get to the beautiful Koh Rong Island where they filmed Survivor, and rode a horse for the first time ever.

I did a lot! And I’m so happy that I did it all. I had been planning to return to Cambodia ever since I had started my cookbook passion project, but I didn’t know exactly when that trip was going to happen or what it was going to look like until two months before I actually embarked on the trip. I had already finished creating almost 60 recipes and I finally felt ready to return to the country that inspired my passion project. Even though I was excited, I also felt nervous and a little scared. Nervous about traveling solo again. Nervous that I might feel lonely. Nervous that I might not enjoy the trip. Nervous that my trip would feel too long and that I would get bored. In the end, I loved everything about this trip and I am so grateful that I was able to make it all happen.

My first day in Cambodia started with a 5 day yoga retreat at Hariharalaya in a traditional Cambodian farming village outside Siem Reap. Our phones were taken away from us and locked up, we were put on a vegan and gluten free diet with no alcohol or caffeine all week, and we were even assigned a day of silence. At first, I thought this was going to be really tough (and it was! Lol), but this was exactly what my body needed after a crazy busy last month. I took on a new fashion client and two new brand partnerships during the one month leading up to my trip. I worked nonstop including every weekend and then my body broke down and I got sick just before my flight out. At Hariharalaya, I was nursed back to health and forced to be still after being on the constant go for basically all of October. I meditated and practiced yoga daily, read books, journal-ed every night, rode bikes through the countryside, napped for hours in a hammock, hula-hooped (I’m not bad!), played ping pong (so fun!), practiced ukelele (I’m pretty bad! Ha!), and woke up to the sounds of roosters or monks chanting in the distance. My body leaned into the opportunity to be still for a moment in order to reset and recharge and it felt so good!

In addition to yoga, we were blessed by monks that visited the retreat, got to speak with a former monk about his journey and transition, had a Cambodian band from the local village play for us, and we learned traditional Cambodian dancing. While I loved my experience at the retreat, I had two favorite moments: 1.) The day the monks walked into our retreat holding a smart phone out, blasting music upon their arrival and departure. This happened on our day of silence, after we had been deprived of our phones all week! The monks had smart phones and we didn’t! This made me smile. 2.) On the last day of our retreat, which also happened to be my birthday, we had one last yoga and meditation session. As the session was coming to a close, we were told to stand up. All of the sudden a song by Lauryn Hill started playing and we were instructed to dance. And so we danced. And we laughed…a lot. After a week of challenging our bodies, our stomachs, and our minds, who knew that dancing would be exactly what we needed. It was such a fun and silly way to end the retreat and begin my birthday celebration.

In the last few years, it has become an annual tradition for me to go on a yoga retreat—mostly because I was feeling lost or because I needed to escape. This time was different. I’m so happy and grateful that I got to celebrate my birthday in Cambodia. The yoga retreat was only the beginning of my adventure in Cambodia and was such a wonderful transition into my new year of life. If you haven’t been on a solo-trip before (this is my 4th), I highly recommend it. It is the best way to learn about yourself as well as challenge yourself, self-reflect, nourish your soul, and push your boundaries.

My birthday celebration continued in Siem Reap. I took a cooking class in town and stayed at Templation (part of the Maads Hotel group), where I stayed at the most beautiful private villa. I had breakfast served to me in my pool! Staying here felt like I was staying in my own private oasis in the jungle. The service was amazing. I had the opportunity to meet their award-winning Cambodian Chef Tim Pheak. The staff was so friendly and accommodating. They even surprised me with a delicious birthday cake and sang to me! And a special person back home had wine delivered to my room with a sweet note.

After being deprived of some indulgences the week prior during the yoga retreat, I felt a little gluttonous, sitting in my luxurious hotel bed, eating leftover birthday cake and drinking wine. But I was happy and completely content because I had such a good birthday. It was probably the best birthday ever. Is it possible to enjoy yourself that much alone? Yes, it is. Even though I had the opportunity to celebrate with some new friends from the yoga retreat at Pub Street, I chose to stay in. My birthday started with yoga and dancing, continued with a cooking class, and ended with wine and cake in bed. It was perfect.

The next day, I woke up early to visit the ancient temples in Siem Reap. I have visited several times before, but it never gets old for me. Each time I visit, I am in awe of the beauty and the history. This time, I wanted to make sure I captured that beauty. Many people hire photographers for engagements, weddings, babies, and family photos. As far as I know, I am not getting married or having a baby anytime soon and I also don’t know what the future holds for me. So I decided, why not celebrate single me? Plus, it’s hard to take photos of yourself when you’re traveling solo. I splurged and hired local Khmer photographer Josepp to take some shots of me at the temples. It was fun to pretend to be a model for a couple of hours.

After Siem Reap, I flew down to Phnom Penh to spend some time with my family, eat local food, shop at the souvenir markets, and relax. Tourism has really grown in Cambodia and there are so many options to choose from for accommodations. I stayed at a few different hotels that are also part of the Maads Hotel group. I first stayed at The Penh House: Jungle Addition. This hotel is centrally located in the bustling city with beautiful rooftops views, yet you still feel like you’re in nature in the charming Jungle Addition. I also got a chance to stay at their sister location down the street, The Pavilion, which offers large, spacious suites and 2 hotel pools. A complimentary sunset boat cruise, a massage, and a few other perks are included with your stay here. I was so impressed with all of the accommodations and the attentive and friendly service provided at all of the Maads Hotel locations.

However, my most memorable stay was at the The Floatation, an eco-friendly glamping site that floats on the Mekong River and is only accessible by boat. The Floatation is also part of the Maads Hotel group. It’s connected to a restaurant bar with a small staff that caters solely to you. It’s definitely very romantic and even though I stayed here alone, I really enjoyed the entire experience—the boat ride, watching the sunset from my private patio, and my delicious Khmer dinner. If you’re interested in this experience, you should book this place fast because there is only 1 room available!

Next, I took a 5 hour bus ride to Kep on the coast of Cambodia. I had been to Kep before and I just had to come back for the crabs at Kimly Restaurant. They make the most delicious fried crabs with fresh green Kampot peppers on the sprig. It had been 7 years since I last had them and I had to have them again! The beach in Kep was beautiful as well but I mostly came for the crabs :P Since I had been to Kep before and visited Rabbit Island, I only spent one night here before leaving the next day for Kampot.

Kampot is a sleepy riverside town in the mountains about a 45 minute ride from Kep. I had never been before and it had been on my list for awhile. I visited the Bokor Mountain, which is part of a national park and home to pagodas, an abandoned palace, and a waterfall. The swirling clouds, elevation, and history all made this visit so magical.

From Kampot, I also visited La Plantation, which is a pepper plantation. Kampot is known for their pepper, which make tasty seafood dishes such as the crabs I had in Kep. I didn’t realize that most of the pepper plantations were closer to Kep. Had I known, I probably would have taken the time to visit more than one because I enjoyed it so much! The drive alone on the back of a motor bike through fields of sugar cane and rice paddies was beautiful! On the way to La Plantation are breathtaking views of Secret Lake in the middle of the countryside with the mountain backdrop. It was so interesting learning about the different types of peppercorn—green, red, dark red, white, and black. My favorite is the fresh green peppercorn but you can only take it home dried, otherwise it will spoil.

I really enjoyed the tour of the Bokor Mountain and the pepper plantation, but I was exhausted! It was a long day of activities! I needed some down time relax at my hotel, Sabay Beach Resort. The resort is a little bit away from the main town, but that was exactly what I liked about it. It’s right on the riverfront with beautiful views of the sunset behind the mountains. I spent a day at the Nibi Spa, a spa on the riverfront that involves you getting picked up by a small private boat. I had never been picked up by boat for a spa day before! I had an amazing massage there that put me right to sleep. It was just what I had needed after a busy day of touristy activities.

From Kampot, I took a 4-hour bus ride to Sihanoukville to catch a 1-hour ferry ride to Koh Rong Island, where a season of Survivor had been filmed. Another long day of travel. The boat ride there was really rough and I was a little scared, but I think the most beautiful islands are sometimes the ones that are a little harder to get to. I stayed at Sok San Beach resort, which is away from the party area of the island. It was so nice to have only 1 mission during my stay: relax on the white sand beaches, bathe in the warm blue sea, and drink cocktails. But I did take a break from relaxing to ride a horse for the first time ever! Koh Rong Island was a very different experience from the rest of my trip but it was also such a nice complement to my adventure.

Instead of taking another long bus ride, I decided to fly back to Phnom Penh for my last 3 days in Cambodia. I stayed at The Aquarius Hotel, an urban and hipster hotel with an incredible rooftop infinity pool and view. Something about the style of this hotel resonated with me and reminded me of home. I loved the industrial decor, the raw light-bulb lighting, the bespoke art, and the upbeat messages with Khmer translation that hung on tapestries in the rooms.

Traveling is always rough on my body, but it was all worth it. I got over 70 mosquito bites (so itchy), at least 50 sand fly bites, 4 allergy attacks, and 2 bloody noses after healing from a sore throat and cold when I arrived in Cambodia. Even still, I try to find my comforts wherever I go to help w the transition. This includes taking time out to rest at my hotel and not feeling guilty about it, eating comfort foods that sooth my belly and soul (for me, that's noodle soup and bolognese. You can find decent versions of bolognese on any western menu almost anywhere in the world lol), drinking fresh fruit and green juices, getting massages, using face-mask sheets to hydrate my dry skin, napping, meditating with my Insight Timer app, and sometimes taking melanin when I have trouble sleeping.

Even though I left Cambodia, the adventure is not over. There’s so much more to see and I will definitely be coming back. This time, I’m not going to let so many years pass by again before I do.

P.S. Thank you for reading this lengthy post! I did so much during this trip and I didn’t want to leave anything out. I have so many pictures and I wish I could share them all with you! I will have to dedicate my next blog post to just the food that I ate in Cambodia. Stay tuned…