Lagardère Travel Retail opens as master concessionaire at Karratha Airport

Published: 30/11/15

Source: ©The Moodie Report

By Dermot Davitt

The retailer was awarded the food service and travel essentials master concession, with the first stores opening in October

AUSTRALIA. Lagardère Travel Retail has opened its first stores as master concessionaire at Western Australia's Karratha Airport. The opening, in 470sq m of space, grows the company's footprint in the region and is part of a A$35 million development of the airport.

The travel retailer, which was awarded the food service and travel essentials master concession, has opened a Link Karratha store and a combined food service outlet featuring a café, bar and Eagle Boys Pizza outlet.

The Link Karratha store continues the rollout of the concept within Australian airports, and the dining operation is a strategic step for the travel retailer as it seeks to become an alternative player in food service within the region.

The Link store has been tailored specifically for Karratha Airport, said the company, and features an extensive technology and accessories offer, including casual surf wear, apparel, beauty and travel essentials. The range is designed to appeal to the growing Fly-in, Fly-out (FIFO) and Visiting Friends & Relatives (VFR) passenger mix. Link recreates the traditional books, news and convenience offer as a comprehensive travel essentials offer, it added.

The dining offer extends Lagardère Travel Retail Pacific network as it aims to become a key regional player in food service

Lagardère Travel Retail Pacific CEO Matthieu Mercier said: "We are thrilled to be operating these stores at Karratha Airport, Western Australia's second busiest airport and Australia's busiest airport for helicopter traffic.

"The award of the master concession is enormously rewarding, and we are delighted to have now successfully opened these stores within such a progressive regional airport. Considering the remoteness of the location, the process from tender to involvement with space allocation and build was seamless."

The combined café, bar and grill is the first of its kind in the region operated by Lagardère Travel Retail. Lagardère Travel Retail's expansion of its supply agreement with Eagle Boys Group has enabled a wider range of bar and snacking products to reach Karratha through the restaurant brand's national supply chain.

Karratha Airport General Manager Mitchell Cameron said: "The City of Karratha is delighted to have Lagardère Travel Ret ail as our concession partner at Karratha Airport. We wanted to provide a depth of offering that is not typical in regional ports; we engaged early with Lagardère Travel Retail working together to provide the travelling public with a seamless and wide range of products and food & beverage options. The stores have been a pivotal part of the redevelopment of Karratha Airport and in demonstrating what can be achieved with good planning and an open partnership."

The contemporary fit-out also brings a strong Sense of Place that reflects Karratha and the Pilbara region, said Lagardère Travel Retail.

The store design and branding aims to convey a Sense of Place

Source: Lagardère Travel Retail opens as master concessionaire at Karratha Airport

World Food Championships: Ease of airline travel, sliders, and timeshare living

When flying cross-country out of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), it is best to book the first flight out. Yes, it means waking up pretty much in the middle of the night to get to the airport. But you'll be happy when you arrive at your destination and it is still light outside. Be sure to check your departure airport's website for the latest TSA information.

Sunrise in El Segundo as the plane soars over LAX.

Chelsea Madren aka OC Food Diva

Travel tip: Southwest Airlines counters open at 5 AM at LAX. There is no use getting there any earlier than that as you will have to wait in the walkways and there are not many benches or seats to sit on.

In Terminal 1, there are not many choices for breakfast this early in the morning. Starbucks will be your best bet. They have a counter right outside of the security checkpoint. They have a selection of breakfast sandwiches, oatmeal, bakery items, coffees, water, juices, etc. Sausage, Egg, and Cheese sandwich, chocolate croissant, and a bottle of Fuji water were packed and ready for munching on the plane.

As the plane soared above El Segundo, the sun started to peek over the Sierra Nevada Mountains for a beautiful sunrise. Early morning flights also tend to be less crowded. Everyone had their own row of seats to either stretch out for a nap or spread out and work until the next stop in Nashville. First order of business was breakfast. The Sausage, Egg, and Cheese sandwich was still warm and served on an English muffin. It provided the protein-packed savory flavor to contrast the bubbly, sweet Seagram's Ginger Ale. On the longer flights, Southwest also has a great selection of snacks of Nabisco Ritz Snack Mix, Lorna Doone Shortbread Cookie Crisps, and Ritz Cheese Cracker Sandwiches.

After a quick refueling and loading of passengers on in Nashville, it was a full flight to Orlando. The crew on this Southwest flight were a pleasure and kept the passengers chuckling with their humorous announcements. Orlando International Airport (MCO) is a very easy airport to maneuver through whether it is your destination or if you are connecting to another flight. Easy to read signs and monorail system will get you where you need to go in no time.

Travel tip: If you are renting a car, rental car shuttle pick-ups are one-level down from baggage claim.

With just snacks on the plane, you might be a little hungry. Krystal might be what you're craving. They are a fast food joint serving sliders galore. Bacon Cheese Krystal starts with 100% USDA beef, Smithfield bacon, American cheese, diced onion, mustard, and dill pickle atop their signature square bun. They are slider sized so you can easily order more than one if you are famished. Their French fries are okay. Rating: 4/5

Check-in time! Orlando has many hotels and timeshares to choose from. Parc Soleil by Hilton Grand Vacation Club should be on your list. It is situated away from the theme parks yet is close enough to be only a short drive away in the car. This timeshare is resort-like with main pool complex, children's playground, on-site restaurant & bar, tennis & basketball courts, walking/jogging path, Parc Lake with fountains, charcoal grills, fitness center, marketplace (to pick up food & other essentials), and activity center. You can also plan on-site recreational activities (some are complimentary and others have a small fee) like arts & crafts, ping pong tournaments, trivia, bingo, ice cream socials, wine tastings, movies under the stars, beer tastings, video games challenges, dance classes, karoke, live music, and more.

As with many timeshares, there are different room sizes to choose from based on how many people are in your group. 1 Bedroom King Suite with Sofa Bed is spacious for a couple and even for a family of four. The kitchen is an open concept with full size refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave, oven with range, washer/dryer (in closet) and dining room table. The living room is spacious with ample lighting, chairs, sofa bed, and plasma TV. A long balcony has an entrance from the living room with lounge and table with chairs – great for a sunrise breakfast or a romantic dinner with views of Epcot Center and Magic Kingdom in the distance. Fireworks from both parks are viewable from the balcony. The bedroom is separated by French doors from the living room. It has a comfortable king bed with ceiling fan, lounge chair, and plasma TV. The bathroom is also very spacious with glass enclosed shower, beautiful porcelain tub with a faucet that pours from the ceiling, and vanity for two. The only weird thing about the layout is the toilet. It is situated in its own room between the bathroom and the kitchen.

When staying at a timeshare for more than a couple of days, it is wise to find the nearest grocery store to pick up provisions like beverages, snacks, and food to prepare if staying in during meal times. Publix is a fantastic chain grocery store in Florida and carries everything that you might need to make your stay more comfortable. A competition at the World Food Championships called for a special trip for fresh vegetables, herbs, and ingredients for a filet mignon entrée. Chips, ice cream, and libations also found their way into the cart as well.

After a long flight in and grocery shopping, you might want to leave the cooking to someone else. Café Soleil is the on-site restaurant in the main pool complex. They are open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily.

Savings Tip: Upon check-in, you may receive coupons for complimentary drinks (draft beers, house wine, or non-alcoholic daiquiris or coladas) with entrée purchases. Don't forget to use them.

Non-alcoholic Pina Coladas are a refreshing way to start your dinner experience. They are creamy and tropically sweet. A great beginning to your resort stay! Rating: 4.5/5

Tandoori Spiced Chicken served with white rice, curry dusted vegetables, and yogurt dill sauce. The chicken is flavorful and tender. The curry spiced vegetables pairs well with the chicken giving it savory, zingy, and herbaceous flavor. The presentation of the dish could be better, maybe swiping the dill sauce on the plate and placing the chicken on top or serving the dill sauce in a side ramekin for dipping. Saffron basmati rice would have been better than just white rice. Rating: 4/5

NY Strip Estilo Gaucho is served with garlic mashed potatoes and topped with grilled scallions and chimichurri sauce. The steak was grilled to a perfect rare. NY steak tends to be a bit chewier than most cuts of beef. Skirt steak would have been a better cut to use especially to pair with chimichurri sauce. The buttery marbling would balance perfectly with the acidic chimichurri. Instead of scallions, cebollin (Mexican green onions) would have been better with the bigger bulb at the end. The grill would caramelize it for a sweet and zingy flavor. Chimichurri would also be better in a ramekin for presentation and for dipping the bites of steak. The garlic mashed was pretty good, creamy and flavor, but could use just a bit more garlic. Rating: 4/5

Caramel Lava Chocolate Turtle Cake Á La Mode is a warm, rich dark chocolate cake oozing with a decadent caramel center, garnished with pecans, caramel, and topped with vanilla ice cream. Order this if you have a light dinner as it is very heavy but very decadent. The chocolate cake is dense like a rich brownie. The caramel and nuts add luscious and crunchy texture. As the ice cream melts, it turns into a makeshift crème anglais and counteracts the heaviness of the cake. Rating: 4.5/5

With tummies full, a restful night's sleep ahead. At daybreak, the first day of Food Fight Write will be the start of the World Food Championships in Celebration, FL.

Source: World Food Championships: Ease of airline travel, sliders, and timeshare living

Canada's top 10 food festivals and foodie experiences

'Come with warm clothes and an appetite' … the Roots, Rants and Roars festival in Newfoundland

The world's second-biggest country covers 9,984,670 sq km, and all that space holds not only a huge diversity of landscape, but also a wealth of ingredients, from popular favourites (hello, maple syrup) to lesser-known treats such as bison meat and bakeapples, amber-coloured berries similar to blackberries. But Canada has barely been discovered as a culinary destination, so here are 10 food experiences to give you a taste.

Roots, Rants and Roars festival, Elliston, Newfoundland

This three-day festival is the best way to experience the rowdy culinary culture of the island known as "The Rock". Its main draw is The Food Hike, a three-mile walk along a rugged shore, with stops at food stalls for dishes such as saucy braised lamb with pickled rutabaga, and meaty baked beans with bread and pork fat honey butter – all prepared by popular chefs such as Mark Gray of Brookyln Warehouse in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Amanda Ray of Biff's Bistro in Toronto. Elliston's famous root cellars (store rooms dug into hillsides for preserving vegetables over winter before refrigeration) make it look like part of The Shire, and visitors can also catch some of Newfoundland's best musicians. Come with warm clothes and an appetite – Newfoundlanders know how to party at any time, in any weather.• 18-20 September 2016, tickets from C$80 (£40), rootsrantsroars.ca

The biggest lobster roll, New Brunswick Lobster roll at Saint John Alehouse

There's no avoiding these large crustaceans on the east coast. Stacks of wooden lobster traps line the roads, hand-painted signs on restaurants advertise lobster dinners, and everyone has an opinion about where to get the best lobster roll. These are usually hot dog buns, filled with lobster meat, mayonnaise, lemon juice and green onion. The most luxurious version is at Saint John Ale House in New Brunswick, where they stuff meat from an entire lobster into a buttery wedge of grilled white bread and top it with house-made lobster roe aioli. It's a "go big or go home" situation, and you're going to want to go big.

Game, and Arctic apple fritters, Manitoba

About 40% of Canada's land mass is inside the Arctic Circle, largely undiscovered by tourism. The vast frozen tundra can be explored by taking a VIA Rail train from Winnipeg or a flight (there are no roads) to the small community of Churchill, in northern Manitoba. Days can be spent on the ice looking at polar bears, evenings in Churchill restaurants that serve all kinds of tasty Arctic fish and game, including muskox, caribou and Arctic char. For dessert, Gypsy's Bakery is a local institution that has been baking up a storm here for over 25 years. Nothing warms chilled bones like its fresh apple fritters.

Chinese food in Richmond, British Columbia Squid at Richmond night market. Photograph: Alamy

Richmond claims to have the best Asian food outside Asia, thanks to its huge influx of immigrants, particularly from China. There are barbecue joints with burnished red ducks hanging in the window; hot pots full of fermented tofu and spicy broth; tiny food courts serving dumplings and hand-pulled noodles; massive dim sum restaurants; endless varieties of the beloved xiao long bao (soup dumplings); and locally caught sea urchin, geoduck, crab, fish, and spot prawns. I'd recommend Fisherman's Terrace Seafood Restaurant, with dim sum from C$15-25pp if you go in a group.• More details at 365daysofdining.com, tourismrichmond.com

Spruce tips in Tofino and Vancouver Tofino Brewing's Spruce Tree Ale

People have been foraging spruce tips – the new buds that appear each spring on spruce tree branches – for years for use in everything from cookies to homemade mayonnaise. Freshly harvested, the bright green tips have a citrussy flavour, tender texture, and smell like the woods. But they have recently become a sought-after ingredient. Brewers use them in speciality beers (try Spruce Tree Ale at Tofino Brewing), bartenders boil them into syrups, and chefs have even been churning them into ice-cream – Earnest does a spruce bud flavour.

Croissant crawl, Montreal Mamie Clafoutis's Oh mon dieu chocolate croissant

If you hate exercising, perhaps it's because you've never paired it with croissants. Montreal has an abundance of patisseries, perfect for exploring on a rented Bixi Bike (stations throughout the city). Favourites include Oh mon dieu, a croissant heavy with chocolate ganache from Mamie Clafoutis, and Patrice Patissier's choux à la crème, a pillowy pastry with chocolate cream and caramelised bananas. It's a fun way to see the city and burn calories while you accumulate them.

Bi-coastal bivalves, Toronto Rodneys Oyster House Photograph: Rodneys

Oysters thrive in deep, cold, coastal waters, and both Canada's eastern and western shores are home to some of the best in the world. They feed by filtering algae, plankton, and other minerals from the water, taking on different characteristics depending on where they're grown, from Colville Bay and Raspberry Point on Prince Edward Island in the Atlantic to Fanny Bay on Vancouver Island in the Pacific. Rodney's Oyster House in Toronto always has a good selection.

Yukon cinnamon buns Cinnamon buns at Braeburn Lodge

The Yukon, in Canada's far north-west, is the place to head for northern lights – and cinnamon buns. The territory's population is tiny, but a great many of its people seem to be making (and eating) them. The biggest and most famous are made at Braeburn Lodge, a modest inn between Whitehorse and Dawson City. Every day, the owner – who looks like Santa Claus in biker gear – bakes buns the size of dinner plates. It's been a tradition here since 1952: the buns cost C$10 each, are big enough for three, and really, really tasty.

Gourmet kayaking, British Columbia

Few activities are more Canadian than a kayaking trip with a stop for lunch in a forest teeming with bald eagles, foxes and bears. West Coast Expeditions has multi-day sea kayaking trips from Spring Island that combine adventure with good food. Meals (all provided) feature sustainably caught salmon and halibut and locally foraged ingredients, such as sea rocket and bull kelp.• July to September, from C$1,899pp (around £950) for a four-day trip, westcoastexpeditions.com

Food festive in Toronto An Asian food festival in downtown Toronto. Photograph: Alamy

in summer. There are Asian night markets and food truck rallies, as well as more recent arrivals dedicated to everything from ribs, pintxos, noodles, barbecue, curry, and vegan cuisine, to lesser-known street eats like Sri Lankan kottu roti. These events are sociable, and a great excuse to check out areas of Toronto not mentioned in many guidebooks.• Details at spotlighttoronto.com (year-round, tickets from $10) and eventbrite.co.uk

Lindsay Anderson and Dana VanVeller blog at edibleroadtrip.com

Source: Canada's top 10 food festivals and foodie experiences

Thanksgiving food and travel in the snow

POCATELLO, Idaho -

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas on this heavily snowy Thanksgiving Day. After many vehicle accidents have been reported by Idaho State Police on the highways, what are the plans for people on travel and the traditions of the holiday?

Less traffic is shuffling in and out of town during the day today, as department stores have geared up for the storm of Black Friday tonight. 

Idaho Transportation Department's John Paul Culligan says whatever the event may be, they're ready to clean up the roads, making it safer for drivers where ever they go.

Source: Thanksgiving food and travel in the snow

Why you must eat Vietnamese food in Honolulu

You know about Kona coffee grown on the volcanic slopes of Hawaii's Big Island and about those impossibly sweet pineapples, but on Saturday mornings in eastern Honolulu, the KCC Farmers Market gets rowdy with people after all sorts of other things.

There are fresh abalone still alive in the shells and spiky deep-water shrimp to eat whole, yakitori-style, hot off the grill. Culinary students from Kapiolani Community College sell suckling pig meat inside buns baked with taro root starch. OnoPops has wands of vanilla ice cream frosted over with passion fruit sorbet and swirls of pureed strawberries and goat cheese sweetened with cane juice.

 A grilled chicken French dip sandwich from the Pig and the Lady, served at the KCC Farmers Market. Photo: Tejal Rao/Bloomberg

But the most densely filled and dedicated line is the one for the Pig and the Lady, a Vietnamese food stall operating inside a cloud of grilled chicken smoke and anise-scented steam that rolls off a stock pot in the center of the kitchen.

"It's really quiet today because of the rain," says co-owner Alex Le, as he ladles broth over noodles, though the line hasn't let up since 7:30 a.m., when the first customer of the day ducked under the tarp and ordered the special, a thoroughly delicious, turmeric-stained brisket curry with carrots and tomatoes.

Chef and co-owner Andrew Le, a 32-year-old first-generation Hawaiian, started the Pig and the Lady as an occasional pop-up back in 2011 and later became a vendor at the city's farmers markets. Two years ago, Le opened a restaurant in an industrial space in Honolulu's Chinatown where he gets deeper into Vietnamese cooking, beyond pho and spring rolls, into lesser-known noodle soups from the south of the country, regional dishes from along the Cambodian border, and Chinese-influenced Vietnamese food.

Now Le is at work on the menu for a second restaurant in town, as well as a partnership with Hawaiian Airlines that will involve serving plane-friendly versions of Le's cooking to first-class passengers next year. On the second floor of Le's Chinatown restaurant, a lab-like kitchen built to teach cooking classes and host other chefs' popups is nearly ready.

From left to right: Brothers Andrew and Alex Le of the Pig and the Lady in Honolulu. Source: The Pig and the Lady/Craig Fujii 

Dip the sandwich into the broth, and the bread drinks up the liquid, turning dumpling soft

A hybrid soup-inspired sandwich is partly responsible for Le's growing fame. To be precise, a sandwich that integrates the flavors of pho into a kind of French dip. This may sound silly until you actually taste it: Le's sandwich is a crusty baguette stuffed with spiced, cured brisket, cooked so it's tender and falling apart, with a pile of mung bean sprouts smoked up in a hot wok and a rough paste of Thai basil. It's delicious just like that, but on the side is a bowl of meaty pho broth with a float of fresh herbs. Dip the sandwich into the broth, and the bread drinks up the liquid, turning dumpling soft. The beef is licked with umami and aromatics. Everything gets exponentially better.

The Pig and the Lady's business plans might be ambitious, but the staff is also closely-knit and packed with friends and family. Teri Le, who is married to Andrew, runs the office on the second floor of the restaurant. Alex Le, his older brother, is responsible for the popular traveling kitchen at the farmers markets. Lawrence Ho, who worked in finance in Hong Kong for a decade and is now a partner at the restaurant, met Le when he was a kid growing up in Honolulu.

The eggs for the market sandwiches are soft-boiled at a very low temperature for an hour, then warmed in a wok to order. Photo: Tejal Rao/Bloomberg

"When we were young, we always went to Andrew's house," says Ho, pulling up a chair outside the office. "Because he had a pool, but mostly because his mom cooked amazing food."

Andrew's mother is Loan Le, known to everyone as Mama Le. She was born in Hanoi, the youngest of 13 children, and later married a man from central Vietnam who worked as an English translator during the Vietnam War. The young couple left as refugees in the 1970s and landed in Hawaii, where Loan taught herself how to cook every single thing she missed from home and quietly dreamed of opening a restaurant.

After culinary school and years in a French kitchen, Andrew Le wanted to start making Vietnamese food seriously, and he turned to Loan for instruction. But he was still experimenting, figuring out how to synthesize all his influences, and he wanted to do crazy stuff, like put bacon and eggs into pho.

"You're going to embarrass the Vietnamese community," Loan warned him when he first pitched her that French dip sandwich idea. "You're going to shame the family!" The two butted heads over change in the same way that every first generation kid butts heads with his parents, but they loved working together (the company is named after the pair: Andrew's the pig; Loan's the lady). As praise came in from diners, Andrew learned to trust his new ideas, and Loan learned to like them.

 (Left) Octopus rigatoni, one of Andrew Le's more unusual Vietnamese-inspired creations. (Right) Loan Le, also known as Mama Le, poses in the middle with the whole Pig and the Lady crew. Source: @Pigandlady/Instagram

A year later, while on a cooking hiatus in Vietnam to visit her family, Loan Le suffered a stroke. By the time the Le family got back home to Honolulu, Loan didn't have the energy she did before, and she didn't remember all the things she'd taught Andrew about traditional Vietnamese cooking.

It was Andrew's turn to remember—and to teach Loan how to cook again. "We started small," Andrew explains. You hold an onion. You get used to peeling it. Then you chop it, fry it, add sugar and fish sauce. "Before you know it, you have a dish," Andrew says, sitting in the restaurant after his shift. Dish by dish, one onion at a time, Andrew brought his mother back toward the classic Vietnamese dishes she loved. Loan now has a folding chair permanently set up in the prep room, for the days when she comes in to check up on the kitchen.

Andrew's own cooking changed in the meantime. It became more focused and, in some cases, more traditional. "That's when we started the farmers market stall," Andrew explains, "And we made all the food my mother cooked for us." Sure, you can still find the French dip-style sandwich and the bacon-infused pho, and there's an extravagant bowl of snails coated in bone marrow and fried betel leaves at the restaurant, which you can spread on hot slices of grilled baguette. But alongside these composites are things that Andrew says he won't touch, such as the Cha Ca La Vong, a famous dish from a Hanoi restaurant by the same name.

Andrew Le's Cha Ca La Vong, a dish of turmeric-marinated catfish with herbs and rice noodles, served here with rice noodles on betel leaves and later topped with peanuts and herbs. Photo: Tejal Rao/Bloomberg

To make it, Andrew marinates catfish with fermented rice paste, turmeric, ginger, and shrimp paste, which stains it a gorgeous neon yellow and lends it a soft edge of sourness. The fish is served with an ostentatious amount of dill and herbs over fresh rice noodles. And it's delicious like that, the way it's been eaten for more than a hundred years, the way it's now served at the Pig and the Lady.

But you can find it other ways there, too: Andrew stuffs the La Vong-style catfish in a sandwich with local tomatoes and pickles and calls it a Po' Boy. And he recently piled small pieces of it on fresh, shining betel leaves with noodles to make a tasty little cocktail snack.

"Sometimes you have to keep it hard-core traditional," he says. And you know what this means: Rest of the times, you don't.

Source: Why you must eat Vietnamese food in Honolulu

Bangkok’s best street food: a guide to dishes and districts

The world of Thai street food can be an exciting, if occasionally bewildering, place. Bangkok can provide intrepid diners with hours of culinary exploration, but that's provided they know where to go. Here is a guide to the best neighbourhoods for food-on-the-go in the Thai capital.

Chinatown

No exploration of Bangkok's street food is complete without a trip to Chinatown (referred to among locals as Yaowarat), which is considered the birthplace of street food in Thailand and remains a prime foodie destination. And any discussion of Thai street food must also include a mention of satay – meat that is threaded on a bamboo stick, grilled over an open flame and served with peanut sauce and an ajad of cucumber, shallots and chillies in sugar syrup. Although it sounds simple enough, satay is hard to make memorable. This is where Jay Eng (105 Charoen Krung Road, on the pavement opposite the Chao Por Heng Jia shrine) comes in: tender, coconut milk-kissed meat with a hint of char, alongside a sauce full of nutty flavour.

Chinatown. Photograph: Alamy

Related: The foodie traveller … finds the perfect pad thai in Bangkok

The origins of the popular sweet snack lod chong Singapore are murky. Some say the green-coloured squiggles, made of sticky rice flour, are modelled after the Chinese-inspired dish popular in Singapore – hence the name. Others say the treats, which come floating in a glass of sweet, iced coconut milk with a scattering of cubed jackfruit, was first sold in front of a shopfront bearing the word "Singapore". Whatever its origins, Lod Chong Singapore (Charoen Krung Road, across from Sirirama Hospital), named after its only dish, was one of the first vendors to sell it in Bangkok.

Thai-style sukiyaki – a wok-fried melange of glass noodles, egg and seafood with a chilli sauce liberally laced with pickled garlic – has never been a photogenic dish. Yet it remains one of Thailand's most popular street foods. Elvis Suki (200/37 Soi Yodsae) is among the most enduring purveyors of this dish, and also offers a great grilled scallop with garlic butter and grilled seabass stuffed with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and coriander.

Old Town

Bangkok's Old Town – also known as Banglamphu, after the lamphu trees that once lined the area's many canals – is a treasure trove of old-style Thai street food specialities that are hard to find elsewhere. Here, the most famous vendors have been around for decades, nourished by several generations' of culinary know-how.

Fish stir fry from Khao Gaeng Rattana. Photograph: Chawadee Nualkhair

Khao gang (curry rice) is a fixture on Bangkok'sstreets. A popular breakfast and lunch option for diners on the go, curry rice is a selection of curries and stir-fries, any combination of which can be piled on to a plate of rice. The best of these vendors, such as Khao Gaeng Rattana (Nang Loeng Market) inspire an almost cult-like following of people happy to sample whatever the vendor has decided to cook that day. In Rattana's case, those popular dishes include gang kiew waan gai (green chicken curry) and gang som goong (sour curry with shrimp).

Considered one of Bangkok's best street food cooks, Jay Fai (327 Mahachai Road) is also one of the city's most expensive: her tom yum talay (spicy lemongrass soup with seafood) can cost as much as 1,500 baht (£28). Although many local gourmets bemoan her sky-high prices, few contest her skill with the wok. This self-taught cook specialises in stir-fried noodle dishes, but perhaps her most popular is guay tiew pad kee mow (also known as "drunken noodles", or noodles fried with lots of chillies, said to be popular with partygoers out on the town).

Nuttaporn Ice Cream. Photograph: Chawadee Nualkhair

Handmade ice-cream is not a typical street food dish in Bangkok, but Nuttaporn Ice Cream (94 Phraeng Phuton Square, off of Tanao Road) has had plenty of practice making it from scratch – 60 years to be exact. Although the coconut milk flavour (kati) is its most famous, Nuttaporn also offers mango (mamuang), chocolate, coffee, and Thai iced tea (cha yen), alongside toppings such as roasted peanut, corn kernels, lotus seeds, red beans, shredded coconut, sweetened plum seeds, and coconut sticky rice.

Sukhumvit

Although this area (named after the traffic-packed road that runs through it) is now an upscale neighbourhood full of expats, Starbucks and sushi bars, Sukhumvit still bears testament to the fact that, wherever money is, good food of all types will follow. Of all the chicken noodle vendors in Bangkok, Guaythiew Pik Gai Sainampung (392/20 Sukhumvit Road between Sois 18 and 20) stands out for its cleanliness, charmingly cluttered decor, and delicious soup noodle menu. The speciality of the house, after which this old-fashioned shophouse is named, is guaythiew pik gai, a soup noodle dish in which your choice of sen mee (rice vermicelli), sen yai (thick rice noodles), or giem ee (Chinese-style handrolled noodles) is doused in a long-simmering chicken broth and topped with chopped peanuts, julienned green beans and chicken wings that have braised overnight.

People eat at a street food stall on Sukhumvit Soi 38. Photograph: Alamy

Related: Top 10 budget hotels, hostels and apartments in Bangkok

Hainanese-style chicken rice (khao mun gai) – steamed or boiled thigh or breast meat plopped atop a mound of rice greased with chicken fat – is an iconic Thai street food dish. Locals get their fix with a morning stop at Tang Meng Noodle (corner of Sukhumvit Soi 49) which, despite its name, is actually prized for its succulent chicken and tangy, garlicky dipping sauce. Other standouts on the extensive menu are the guaythiew yen ta fo (soup noodles in fermented tofu broth) and pad krapao moo (rice topped with minced pork stir-fried with chillies and holy basil).

Food from Isaan (in Thailand's north-east) is the most popularamong Thais, thanks to its simplicity and searing spiciness. Get a fix of the "holy trinity" of grilled chicken (gai yang), sticky rice (khao niew) and grated vegetable salad (som tum) at Nomjit Gai Yang (corner of Ekamai Soi 18), one of the neighbourhood's most longstanding and well-regarded vendors of Isaan cuisine.

Silom and Sathorn

Silom and Sathorn roads, considered Bangkok's central business district, are chockablock with spots for a quick bite, few of them gourmet destinations. But a handful of stalls offer tasty traditional favourites that will demand little of your time and even less of your pocket.

Khao soy at Khao Soy Silom 3. Photograph: Chawadee Nualkhair

Khao soy (curried egg noodles) is probably northern Thailand's most famous dish: it's a mix of Chinese-style noodles, central Thailand-inflected coconut milk curry, and braised beef or chicken. One of the few vendors to offer it in the capital, Khao Soy Silom Soi 3 (Silom Soi 3, Soi Pipat) presents diners with a nice bowl of flat egg noodles swimming in a gently flavoured coconut broth liberally garnished with deep-fried noodles, green onions, raw shallots and a wedge of fresh lime.

Related: Bangkok in three days: holiday itinerary

The roadside favourite of ped thun (braised duck) betrays Thai street food's Chinese origins. A slab of juicy duck meat is cut and served with plain white rice, a piquant chilli sauce meant to cut through the fattiness of the meat, and a clear broth of either duck bones or pork, flavoured with a slice of bitter melon. The shophouse vendor Hong Aharn Boon Ek (33/16 St Louis Soi 3) serves an exemplary version of this dish, unadorned by distractions such as noodles or curry.

Although not officially in the Silom/Sathorn area, longtime favourite Bamee Gua (82 Lang Suan Road, +662 251 6020) sits on a popular street at the edge of Lumpini Park, a stone's throw away from the central business district. Its speciality is betrayed by this shophouse's name: bamee, or Chinese-style egg noodles, either served with a mix of pork, chicken, squid, fish meatballs and dumplings (bamee asawin), or pan-fried and topped with shredded ham and chicken (ee-mee, available on Tuesdays, Thursdays and weekends).

Saphan Lueng

The Yellow Bridge neighbourhood has long been known among Bangkokians as a street food highlight. Packed with aharn tham sung (made-to-order) stalls manned by skilful wok cooks, noodle vendors, dessert carts and the occasional porridge shop, Saphan Lueng rivals Chinatown, but without all the tourists.

Boiled blood cockles from Jay Sri. Photograph: Chawadee Nualkhair

Rice porridge gets little love from many tourists, but it remains a major "food group" among Thai street food aficionados. Thai-style porridge – which leaves the rice grains intact – is the main draw at the confusingly marked Khao Thom Pla Saphan Lueng (506/2-3, Soi Pranakares, fronted by a sign that reads Viroon Ice Cream in Thai). You can choose oyster (hoi nangrom) or pork kidney, but the most popular option is the seabass (pla krapong).

Boiled blood cockles (hoi klang) are probably not the first thing you think of when you consider of Thai street food. Yet the unassuming vendor Jay Sri (Soi Pra Nakares) has managed to stick around for decades, thanks to the freshness of her cockles and the hot-sour deliciousness of the chilli dipping sauce. A spicy-tart salad of water mimosa (yum pak krachade, reminiscent of raw asparagus) is another local favourite.

The dessert kanom pang sankaya (steamed bread with coconut custard dipping sauce) is one of Thailand's favourite roadside treats, but finding a vendor that stands out is difficult. Sangkaya Bread by Chai (506/1 Soi Pranakares) is probably helped by his proximity to the fish porridge shophouse, but his consistently creamy sangkaya sauce also helps.

Chawadee Nualkhair blogs at bangkokglutton.com

Source: Bangkok's best street food: a guide to dishes and districts

Food Not on Track ?

HYDERABAD: Out of the 13 million passengers who travel by 14,300 trains everyday across the country, a minimum of fifty percent of them depend on the food served in trains.

Though most of them complain about the unhygienic and tasteless food served, some are left with no option but to purchase it. Keeping this in view, the Indian Railways has tied up with Hello Curries last week to provide healthy meals to travelers on a daily basis. Hello Curry is designed in an easy-to-manage package which is sure to help the passenger face no problem.

What is to be noticed is that the Indian Railways has tied-up with a number of such fast food outlets earlier but passengers claim that there has been no improvement in the quality of food served in trains. In a train scene sequence in Shankar's blockbuster film, Aprichitudu, the hero addresses the food quality served in trains. Such is the seriousness of the issue.

A lot of passengers also say that the food canteens setup in the railway stations do not provide better food to the travelers, thus leaving the passengers in helpless condition.

In July this year, railways also tied up with KFC but even on a smaller scale, no improvement has been observed. Also, in a bid to improve hygiene, the Indian Railways announced the collection of feedback from the public to best connect with the passengers.

With such programs being announced quite a few times in the last few years, do you think there has been a positive shift in the quality of food served in the trains?

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Source: Food Not on Track ?

Taste Matters: Greek food can travel

MOUTH-WATERING: Nick Filippou will have you eating out of his hand with his family recipes.

''Greek cuisine often doesn't travel well? Oh really?" a Greek friend challenged me over the weekend.

"Well, you're clearly eating at the wrong places!" he said, inviting me to dinner at the home of a veteran on the Greek catering scene, who is in such demand across the city that he's catering for the Greek Orthodox church, private parties, corporate functions and soccer clubs.

The enticement came after last week's Rick Stein interview, in which I commented that many Greek restaurants aren't doing the classic cuisine any favours in the country.

In Joburg at least, there's a dearth of decent Greek restaurants (and no Lebanese any longer, after the sad demise of Beirut in Parkmore and the cheerless transformation of another well-established restaurant in Rivonia, which has finally succumbed to offering "cabaret" shows, which must go down a treat alongside those R50k bottles of Chateau Petrus 1996).

I've known a few fabulous Greek restaurants – one in Port Elizabeth, which later reopened as Maria's in Cape Town, and the other, Lemonia, in Hout Bay (closed) – but the best Greek food I have had has not been restaurant food.

At both those establishments, they served good, honest food.

They made their own Greek yoghurt – strained deliciously creamy and thick – featured dishes that were not commonly found on "Greek" menus elsewhere, and took pride in doing as much as possible in-house.

They weren't "upmarket" but knew Greek cuisine intimately.

Their kleftiko was slow-roasted, but not to the point it became dry and crumbly.

"It was rich, garlicky, lemony, and succulent. Each used their own regional recipe, adding their own twist to the "stolen lamb" dish.

You wouldn't find an oily old potato in their kitchen, nor bland dips, soggy pastries or stale olives.

And vegetables were often the best parts of their menus.

On Sundays, they braaied baby chickens and lamb souvla (big kebabs) over coals as a treat for guests. They made their own pitas.

Desserts were always a highlight, so you never had an excuse not to finish with a sweet. Such attention is increasingly rare in most parts of the world.

Up north, the only Greek restaurant I have ever raved about has been Prosopa, but it's not in Joburg, so you have to factor in a trip to Pretoria.

Turns out, you needn't travel outside of Jozi for a Greek feast – either secure an invite to one of Nick Filippou's events or book him yourself.

Filippou's Legato Catering has provided for the big Greek shows at Sun City. Now, he's based primarily in Joburg in Dowerglen, Edenvale, feeding groups from 20 to thousands with souvla, youvetsi (a lamb-kritharaki dish), whole grilled fish, roast pork, zesty dips, salads, breads and delicious Greek sweets.

He bases his recipes on quality fresh produce and builds on that, using time-tested family recipes. It's simple, honest food, prepared skilfully, which is the best kind. He's a consummate professional – knows his product, knows his customers and, importantly, loves his food.

But whatever the feast, you don't have to endure Zorba the Greek and plate-breaking – not unless you really want it.

For more information call 083 377 5634,  or go here

Related Stories

Source: Taste Matters: Greek food can travel

AI to offer seamless travel to San Francisco from Bengaluru

New Delhi: Air India today said it would offer seamless travel to its customers flying to San Francisco from Bengaluru via its Delhi flight despite change in the aircraft as passengers would be allowed to complete all custom and immigration formalities at the originating airport itself for their onward journey.

The airline is scheduled to commence a direct flight service to the Silicon Valley from the national capital from December 2.

Air India has already announced that the new flight will be operated by the wide-body Boeing 777-200LR aircraft.

Air India would offer seamless travel between Silicon Valley of East (Bengaluru) to San Francisco (Silicon Valley of West) via Delhi and passengers travelling to San Francisco will undergo all custom and immigration formalities at Bengaluru airport itself for their onward journey, the airline said in a release.

According to the airline, the flight AI-173 from Bengaluru to Delhi will depart on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from Bengaluru at 2115 hours with a A321 aircraft.

The flight will arrive in Delhi at 2345 hours. Flight AI-173 to San Francisco will leave Delhi on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 0235 hours and will be operated with B777-200LR aircraft, it said.

This flight will arrive into San Francisco at 0700 hours (local time) on the same day, Air India said adding the return flight will depart at 1030 hours and arrive at Delhi next day (Thursdays, Saturdays and Mondays) and at 1620 hours it will depart for Bengaluru with A321 plane to arrive at 1745 hours.

Passengers will have huge benefits travelling to San Francisco as they will undergo immigration and customs at their boarding point itself and can have comfortable journey further, according to the release.

Passengers can enjoy non-stop entertainment, specially chosen food and best of the comfort on this one of the world's longest flights, it added.

AI expects passengers from other Indian cities -- Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Ahmedabad and Pune -- as well will have seamless connections to the flight from Delhi.  

Source: AI to offer seamless travel to San Francisco from Bengaluru

Viv Richards: Antigua's beaches, rum and street food are its real treasures

You only have to look at our cricket grounds to see we are a vibrant island. When foreign cricket fans tour the West Indies, they have more of a party here than on other islands. The noise and atmosphere at the old Recreation Ground was legendary, as was our most famous fan, a cross-dressing local character called Gravy, who would get the whole crowd going by writhing and swinging from the rafters.

Me and a bunch of guys meet every day and "hold parliament" just behind the Rec. We discuss all the problems on the island and put the world to rights while having lunch from the street food shacks.

Sir Viv Richards. Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

I love those street food shacks. You can find them everywhere, serving pepperpot (a one-pot slow-cooked dish), stewed fish, steamed fish, "goat water" (which is like a soup and can be spicy), and bull foot soup – that's very potent. I love all that Caribbean cuisine. For something more fancy, I head to Le Bistro on the eastern side of the island, a classic French restaurant.

Shack attack … a trader's stall, Market Street, St John's, Antigua. Photograph: Alamy

Antigua has 365 beaches, one for each day of the year, which I think is rather unique for such a small island. My favourite is Fort James, which has real history: the fort was built by the British in the 18th century, the old cannons are still in place, and there's a great view of the surrounding harbour. And Pigeon Point, on the south of the island, is one of the most picturesque beaches you can imagine on any island.

Playing a Test in front of my home crowd at the Rec was the greatest feeling of my career. It was the first time I felt pressure on me to perform, because I wanted to do so well. And I scored the fastest-ever Test century there, in 1986 … against England (ha!).

My old friend Ian Botham comes to visit. And no, we don't call each other "sir" … he's still Beefy to me! He loves to go big-game fishing. I have a friend who runs a boat and we go out from Halcyon Cove fishing for marlin – and anything else Ian can get to bite.

The West Indies team I played for in the 1970s and 80s was truly blessed to have so many brilliant individuals in one group. We had many great fast bowlers but the deadliest was my fellow Antiguan Andy Roberts. He put so many batsmen out of commission. He broke Sadiq Mohammad and David Hookes' jaws, Majid Khan's cheekbone and both Colin Cowdrey and Ian Botham lost a few teeth facing Andy. I was always pleased he was on my side.

When I moved to England, at 19, I had a rude awakening. I knew it would be chilly but when I saw leaves falling off the trees I thought someone had dropped a nuclear something! But I came to love the West Country and playing for Somerset. It was just as chilled and quiet as where I came from. It was a home away from home.

Viv Richards, possibly the greatest batsman of all time, dispatches an England bowler for four in 1984. Photograph: Adrian, Murrell/Allsport

The sand in Barbuda, Antigua's sister island, is actually pink and feels like salt between your toes. If the beaches on Antigua are good, you should see Barbuda. It's a unique island – Codrington Lagoon is one of the largest lagoons in the world. It's more high-end than Antigua, with boutique hotels, and a lot of celebrities stay there. Princess Diana used to visit the K-Club hotel every year to get away from the paparazzi, and Robert De Niro is going to redevelop and reopen the place in the next year or so.

I'm not a guy who goes to nightclubs, I prefer to hit the beach bars where you can enjoy a drink on the sand with a nice evening breeze. I go to Millers by the Sea on Fort James and OJ's on Crabbe Hill beach, which does great seafood.

Antigua is known for its big hotels, but I urge visitors to venture out – to the little rum shops that produce some of the best rums in the world, try the spicy food, and see a different side of the island.

View over the turquoise waters of Barbuda. Photograph: Alamy

Some of our food is very special. Barbuda produces some of the best lobster on Earth, and Antigua's black pineapple is the sweetest pineapple you'll ever taste.

A secret place on Antigua that not many tourists visit is Rendezvous beach. The route is pretty rough and you'll need a 4WD, but once there it's a good place to relax in your birthday suit!

• Sir Vivian Richards is a tourism ambassador for his native Antigua. For further information on the island visit visitantiguabarbuda.com

Source: Viv Richards: Antigua's beaches, rum and street food are its real treasures

Top five street food tours in India

By Rashmi Hemrajani

Indian spices and curries are loved across the world. Each region has a rich and diverse culinary taste. In the North India, we see more of Amristari, Punjabi dishes, the West is full of Gujarati, Rajasthani thalis, which brings out sweet as well as salty tastes in a single dish, South India is known for its delicious rasam, chutneys and dosas, and let's not forget spicy Chettinad curries (a speciality in restaurants in the Gulf), East India comprising West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha offers Momos, Thukpa (a clear soup), Tomato Achaar, Machcher Jhol, Jhaal-Muri (a spicy snack made with puffed rice and mustard oil) and desserts such as Sandesh and Rosogulla. Also rice and pork are their staples. So pack up and head to taste India!

Region: Streets of Delhi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Chennai and Mumbai

- Old Delhi Bazaar Walk: Old Delhi is famous for the diversity of food. Savouries, snacks, biscuits, sweets, paneer, spices, vegetables and fruits - all of this and more is available in Old Delhi. Many vendors have been in the same business for multiple generations and have built reputations on the basis of specialty dishes. Start the gastronomical tour at Chawri Bazaar Metro Station, and walk through the Sitaram Bazaar area. Then head towards the popular Khari Baoli spice market. This is Asia's largest wholesale market selling all kinds of spices and nuts; it is also a wholesale market for food products like rice and tea. From Khari Baoli, hop on a cycle rickshaw to visit the Sees Ganj Gurudwara. With prior permission, you can also participate in the cooking of the langar. After Sees Ganj, walk through Chandni Chowk area, to visit Paranthe Wali Galli and end the trail with delicious jalebi.

- Kolkata: Known as the cultural capital of India, Kolkata is a heaven for foodies. Head to Vivekananda Park as there are several puchkawallahs. Among other Kolkata street food, the papri chat, dum aloo puchkas and dahi puchkas here are to die for. Rotis stuffed with generous amounts of chicken kheema or broken cutlets, onions and eggs, this is the speciality of Anadi Cabin - Mughlai Parathas located on Jawaharlal Nehru Road. Another famous must-visit is Kalika Mukhorochok Telebhaja on College Street. Here you can get all kinds of fries from brinjal fries to fried fish, egg chops to mutton chops and more. However, it is advisable to reach here before 7pm, as post that the options available are limited.

- Lucknow: The food culture in Lucknow is diverse and rich, much like the history of the city. The city is known for its kormas, kaliya, nahari-kulchas, zarda, sheermal, roomali rotis, warqi parathas and above all kebabs-of different types. Head to Tundey Kebabi, Dastarkhwan and NaushiJaan, to try some delicious kebabs. The kebabs are made out of minced meat which is popular in Lucknow. Another must-try is Handi Chicken, which is cooked in an earthen pot over coal in a one-meter-deep hole. And Lucknowi cuisine is incomplete without some lip smacking chaat. Along pavements, you'll be allured by snacks such as dahivada, papdi, ghugni, aloo dum, bhujia, onion, chutneys and the mouth-watering pani-batasha (in five different flavours).

- Chennai: For idlis and dosas, head to Anna Nagar. You could also try parottas, made with egg and meat along with a dose of spicy sauce called salna, served with onion raita, are extremely popular in Chennai. Other parottas that make an equally delightful snack are the Chilli and Egg Parottas.

- Mumbai: The city of dreams has its fair share of street fare. Head to Khau Galli near Marine Lines and Church gate railway stations, Juhu Beach and Mohammed Ali Road to try egg bhurji, vada pav, chicken chilly and many such delicacies.

Source: Top five street food tours in India

Travel deals: Escape Travel London package deal

By Julietta Jameson Nov. 18, 2015, 3:57 p.m.

This package bundles up accommodation and activities in one of the world's great cities, London.

Travel deals: Escape Travel London package deal

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LONDON CALLING

This package bundles up accommodation and activities in one of the world's great cities, London. You get four nights at the five-star The Royal Horseguards in a Deluxe Room, with 2pm checkout, English breakfast daily, and 20 per cent discount on food and beverage in the hotel.

The package also includes a London Eye Standard Ticket with interactive capsule guides and entry to the 4D cinema experience, a ticket to Phantom of the Opera and London Showboat Dinner Cruise with welcome drink, four course set menu dinner and half-bottle of wine.

The Royal Horseguards is a refurbished Victorian property on the River Thames near the London Eye.

The price is from $1286 a person twin share. Valid for sale until December 31 for travel January 17 – March 21. Phone 1300 799 783 and quote deal code 3806546. See www.escapetravel.com.au

The story Travel deals: Escape Travel London package deal first appeared on The Sydney Morning Herald.

Source: Travel deals: Escape Travel London package deal

Heritage tourism: Using travel to explore roots and culture

Kristi Eaton, Associated Press 1:57 p.m. EST November 16, 2015

Michelle Robin La, rear left, visited the Citadel in Hue, Vietnam, with her husband, Luong La, and their three children in 2007. The family was taking part in a heritage trip to Vietnam, where Luong La grew up. Michelle Robin La via AP(Photo: Michelle Robin La)

Luong La's family fled the communist regime in Vietnam in 1979. Now a father of three living in Santa Barbara, California, he and his wife decided they wanted to spend one of their family vacations bringing the kids back to his native country to learn about it.

So they spent a month on a heritage tourism trip to the Southeast Asian country to visit not just traditional tourist sites but also the places where he had grown up in the Mekong Delta.

"My husband thought that by seeing the places he had grown up in, the kids would have a better understanding of him," said Luong's wife, Michelle Robin La. "My husband's extended family keeps their heritage alive in America with food, language and celebrations like the Lunar New Year. By traveling in Vietnam for a month, we immersed the kids in the place these traditions came from."

Their family trip to Vietnam is an example of heritage tourism, which The National Trust for Historic Preservation defines as traveling to experience a place, artifacts and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present.

Heritage tourism sites can be as varied as a revitalized downtown or a Civil War trail. "For a number of years, the idea was to build interstates and get people to where they're going, and then people gradually began to realize they were missing out on something — authentic experiences," said Carolyn Brackett with The National Trust for Historic Preservation's Cultural Heritage Program. "And that's a word that we hear over and over, that people want a feeling of authenticity, meaning they want a sense of place."

As travelers became more interested in authentic experiences, communities and officials are taking notice, asking what they can do to share their story, Brackett said.

A 2013 national survey conducted by Mandala Research showed that 76 percent of all leisure travelers in the U.S. will take part in some sort of cultural or heritage activity while they are traveling, Brackett said. That translates to 130 million people.

Tourism boards and sites are taking note. In Oklahoma, the state's Tourism and Recreation Department has released a guide and web portal about the state's African-American history and heritage sites. The Texas Historical Commission has released a free 100-page guide showcasing the state's Hispanic heritage sites.

Aside from well-known destinations like the Alamo, the Texas guide, which is organized by geographic regions and was released in May, includes off-the-beaten path sites as well, said Chris Florance, spokesman for the Texas Historical Commission.

"The Hispanic cultures have left their imprint on the state for 500 years, and it has impacted almost every aspect of Texas culture — certainly our history, architecture, music. It's just such a vital and important part of our history and where we are today and where we're going as a state," he said.

The commission has also released a mobile app so visitors can access thematic tours, including one focused on African-American heritage sites in Texas.

"There's an enormous interest in heritage tourism. It's a really important part of Texas' tourist economy," he said, adding that an economic impact study found that about 10 percent of travel in Texas is related to cultural heritage.

Maresa Thompson has taken several trips based around cultural heritage, most notably a trip to Ireland and England to see stone formations and other ancient sites. Thompson's ancestors were Queen Victoria's Irish bodyguards, she said, and she describes herself as being more interested in museums, history and culture than in other types of sightseeing. Thompson's grandfather emigrated from Czechoslovakia, and she next hopes to take a trip to the region to learn more about that part of her family's heritage.

"All travel enriches your life, but the contrived travel — the Vegas and the Disneyland and all of that — just doesn't appeal to me as much as it does really thinking I have ancestors or people in my lineage who came and possibly could have stayed here before," said Thompson, who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is the creative director for Heritage Hotels & Resorts, a group of hotels that showcase New Mexico's history, art and culture. "I think it's just a deeper, holistic experience for travel."

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Source: Heritage tourism: Using travel to explore roots and culture

Sculpture reflects Penang as food haven

GEORGE TOWN - What could be a better way to portray Penang as a food paradise than a giant sculpture of chopsticks and a spoon?

Made from wood, foam and broken mirrors, the 1.68m spoon and 3.96m chopsticks are now floating off the Tan Jetty in Weld Quay.

Kuala Lumpur-based artist Louise Low took two weeks, working from 9am to 9pm each day, to produce the artwork.

"Recycled broken mirrors were glued to the wood and foam using the mirror glue," she said yesterday.

"My artwork titled All Walks of Life portrays Penang as a food paradise.

"Various shapes of mirrors symbolise the people. They reflect interesting images in all different angles.

"The integration of the sculpture and the sea is to reflect all the different people on this island; they learn from each other - like that of the mirrors that absorb light and reflect it beautifully."

Low, 31, said "all those little bits and pieces made Penang wholesome".

"I aspire to infuse the pos itive aspects of life to society - like artworks that depict determination, perseverance and optimism," she said.

The creation was unveiled in conjunction with the Urban Xchange (UX) Festival organised by Hin Bus Depot.

The 30kg sculpture, installed on a 50kg platform on Tuesday, will be on display for at least two months.

Admission is free.

The lights will be on from 7pm to 10pm daily for those wanting to view the artwork at night.

For details, visit www.urban xchange2015.com or check out ­facebook.com/Urban-Xchange2015 and facebook.com/hinbusdepot.

Source: Sculpture reflects Penang as food haven

Affordable ways to ski in Europe’s most glamorous resorts

St Moritz glitz … but even Switzerland's most glamorous resort has reasonably priced accommodation. Photograph: Arno Balzarini/AP

Accommodation prices are for seven nights' half board in January, unless stated otherwise

St Moritz, Switzerland

Where The ski world has no rival to this resort for the rich and famous. It is set around the shores of a beautiful lake that – when frozen – hosts sports such as golf, cricket, show-jumping and horse-racing. The skiing isn't bad either. To save money, stay in a small, family-run place rather than one of the landmark hotels.

Ski The resort's Hotel & Ski Pass deal costs from £138pp for six days. There is 350km of piste.

Learn Bär Snowsports Engadin for lessons with a minimum four people, £139pp for five half-days.

Eat The Sonne is a rustic place with Swiss and Italian dishes at reasonable prices.

Book St Moritz Youth Hostel has beds in a four-bed dorm from £28 per night or rooms for two from £77.

Courchevel, France Photograph: Peter Turnley

Where To make a stay in the Gallic alternative to St Moritz more affordable, you'd normally be advised to steer clear of glittering 1850 and pick one of the lower villages, but I've found an exception. If you're driving from the UK stop for the basics in one of the valley supermarkets, and for a meal that won't require a second mortgage, take the bus down to Courchevel Moriond or Le Praz.

Ski £205pp for a six-day area pass; 600km ski area.

Learn £170pp for six days with New Generation.

Eat L'Alambic in Moriond (+33 4 79 01 18 93) for Savoyard dishes.

Book Les Chalets du Forum in Courchevel 1850, from £347pp for seven nights' self-catering (five sharing), including Eurotunnel crossings, with Ski Collection.

Chamonix, France Photograph: Image Broker/Rex Features

Where This is the big mountain of skiing, somewhere to aspire to when you have the necessary proficiency and nerve to do justice to the incredible ski area. Stock up with food en route at Annemasse or Sallanches.

Ski £206pp for six days, 110km ski area.

Learn from £96pp for three short half-days, with Evolution 2.

Eat Simple but tasty pizzas and pasta at Le Caveau.

Book Chalet Chosalet, from £438pp for seven nights' self-catering, with Butler & Lloyd. Travel not included; fly via Geneva. Or the Chamonix Lodge Hostel has beds for €28.50 per night in a four-bed room, and from €33.25pp in a double.

Val d'Isère, France Photograph: Alamy

Where This is an expensive resort – up there with the Three Valleys. To trim the fat off a trip here, stay in the unfashionable suburb of La Daille, or opt for all-inclusive accommodation.

Ski Lift pass included, 300km ski area.

Book Lessons and food are included in a stay at UCPA's large chalet, via Action Outdoors (£548pp full-board in multi-share rooms including equipment rental). It sleeps 250, has an in-house nightclub and is three minutes' walk from the town centre. Travel not included – fly to Grenoble, Lyon, Chambéry or Geneva.

St Anton, Austria Photograph: Alamy

Where One of Austria's top resorts, in terms of skiing terrain and popularity, so it's more costly than the smaller Tyrolean villages. However, your money will go further in Austria than in most of the other mainstream skiing countries.

Ski £180pp for six days, 440km ski area.

Learn Ski School Arlberg, £175 for five half-days.

Eat Der Grieswirt has good-value traditional Austrian fare.

Book Chalet Rathia sleeps 20, so it is geared up to accommodate more than one group of guests. From £598pp with Alpine Elements, including flights to Friedrichshafen and transfers. Discounts for groups of six or more.

Verbier, Switzerland Photograph: Paul Almasy/Corbis

Where This is a favourite of international celebrities who, unlike St Moritz regulars, can ski like a dream. Prices suit a demanding clientele, so opt for accommodation on the resort's peripheries. In the Verbier Village quarter, the architecture of ancient chalets and barns makes it feel local rather than touristy.

Ski £142pp for three days, 410km ski area.

Learn Warren Smith Ski Academy, from £429pp for a five-day course, group max eight, including warm-up exercises, video analysis and biomechanics.

Eat Tbar under the Central Hotel for live music and delicious food.

Book Hôtel Les Touristes is the oldest hotel in town, and is next door to a local cheesemaker. From £692 per room a week B&B, excluding travel; fly to Geneva.

Zermatt, Switzerland Photograph: Alamy

Where People come here for the mix of challenging skiing, fantastic food, and some of the most beautiful scenery in the Alps. Choose accommodation slightly out of the centre and be prepared to walk.

Ski £251pp for six days, 350km ski area.

Learn Summit Ski & Snowboard, £63pp per morning, with 20% off for three or more slots.

Eat GramPi's for great pizzas, pasta and wine. At lunchtime, ski to Cervinia in Italy, for gorgeous food at a fraction of Swiss prices.

Book Three-star Hotel Adonis from £699pp with Crystal, including flights to Geneva and transfers.

Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy Photograph: Getty Images

Where Two hours from Venice is a resort with a history – it hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics and has starred in many a Hollywood film, including The Pink Panther, For Your Eyes Only and Cliffhanger. The high street has enticing restaurants and wine bars.

Ski From £180pp for six days, 140km ski area.

Learn Cortina Ski School from £204pp for six half-days.

Eat Owners of Ristorante Pizzeria Il Ponte have guarded their dough recipe for 20 years; they also bake pizzas from soya-based dough.

Book Chalet Hotel Parc Victoria on the main street, from £469pp, including flights to Innsbruck and transfers, with Inghams.

Méribel, France Photograph: Nick Daly/Stone/Getty Images

Where Not quite as expensive as neighbouring Courchevel, this chalet-style resort is actually a collection of hamlets spread around the mountainside. Buy most of your week's food at the hypermarket in Moûtiers before you start your ascent to the resort.

Ski £206pp for six days, 600km ski area.

Learn £170pp for six days, with New Generation £171pp for 6 days.

Eat Cookie's Club for burgers and salads.

Book Residence Le Peillon with P&V, from £470 for a studio for four, for seven nights. Travel not included; fly to Grenoble, Lyon, Chambéry or Geneva.

Baqueira Beret, Spain Photograph: Alamy

Where The country's premier resort is a favourite of the Spanish royals and has some very posh hotels indeed. However, you can stay here relatively cheaply, and eating out is extremely good value.

Ski £167pp for six days, 120km ski area.

Learn from £150pp for five days, with BB Ski School.

Eat Try one of the many tapas bars, including Eth Paèr in the valley at Vielha.

Book Chalet Hotel Salana, from £545pp, including return flights to Toulouse and transfers, via Ski Miquel.

• Felice Hardy is co-editor of the ski information website welove2ski.com

Source: Affordable ways to ski in Europe's most glamorous resorts

Man filmed climbing Disney pyramid during Epcot Food & Wine Festival

A tourist climbed the Mesoamerican pyramid at Epcot's Mexico Pavilion in Orlando. (Disney)

A video recently posted to YouTube shows a man scaling the steps of a Mesoamerican pyramid at the Mexico Pavilion of Disney World's Epcot World Showcase in Orlando.

The video was filmed by Robert Leininger, who runs the Disney parks blog remainseatedplease.com, and was visiting Orlando during the 20th annual Epcot Food & Wine Festival.

"We were finishing up our night at Epcot and it was about five minutes before closing," Leininger, who was visiting the park with his girlfriend, told the Orlando Sentinel.

"I heard one of the guys in the group make a comment about climbing the temple. My girlfriend was in line getting a cheesecake and I got out of line in case he was going to do something."

The man who ended up climbing the pyramid was reportedly in a group of people all wearing matching T-shirts. Climbing the steps is strictly prohibited by the park but Leininger says the man, who appeared to be drunk, successfully reached the top of the pyramid and climbed down a different side to avoid getting caught. Another woman from the man's alleged group of friends tried to follow suit but a security guard thwarted her attempt.

Leininger says he saw the man walking around the park later in the evening. Epcot's Food & Wine Festival runs through Nov. 16.

Source: Man filmed climbing Disney pyramid during Epcot Food & Wine Festival

Double whammy: Drought, Rand to drive food prices higher

By Dane McDonald

Cape Town – South African consumers should brace themselves for a double blow on food prices from the countrywide drought and continued rand weakness, Grain SA warned.

While South Africa was still recovering from a R12bn loss in maize production from last year, it is in the grip of a drought which could see it become a net importer of the crop for the first time in seven years, Grain SA CEO Jannie de Villiers told Fin24 on Wednesday.

This could translate into a significant increase in maize and ultimately food prices. He said the February 2015 drought caused a 70% increase in the price of white maize which translated into a 14% increase in mealie meal prices.

"There is already consumer resistance in the consumption volume … it is going very badly with poor people in the country," he said.

Read also: SARB Governor Kganyago: We won't defend the Rand, it's pointless

South Africa's poor are the primary consumers of mealie meal as a staple food.

De Villiers also said so far the price of yellow maize has increased by 60%.

Yellow maize is used for animal feed and its price has a direct impact on the prices of poultry, red meat and dairy products.

De Villiers cited price increases for eggs (10%), chicken (6%), and beef (4% to 5%) and said consumers could experience much higher prices if it doesn't rain in the next 3 to 4 months.

"Maize meal could increase by another 15% and most of the other products will reach double figures, but it is difficult to estimate," he said.

He also cautioned on an expected increase in wheat prices, which could impact the price of bread.

Read also: SA turns to Mexico for maize as drought bites output

"The bread price is linked to wheat … we are always short of wheat," De Villiers told Fin24.

South Africa was a net importer of wheat and was affected by the rand exchange rate, according to De Villiers.

"The depreciation of the rand is the key issue," he said.

Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that South African wheat prices advanced to a record as a weaker rand made imports of the cereal more costly. Wheat for delivery in December gained 0.8% to R4 427 ($311) a metric ton by midday on the South African Futures Exchange in Johannesburg, the highest closing level since trading started in November 1997.

At the same time the rand fell to a record low of R14.3827/$.

Fin24

Source: Double whammy: Drought, Rand to drive food prices higher

Digging into Mexico’s culinary diversity

Travelers to Mexico are digging into something different. While Mexico will always and forever be a favorite getaway for slathering on the sunscreen and soaking up the rays, there has been a significant spike in travel to Mexico for food travel.

Mexican food is one of the most popular cuisines in America, but most Americans are ordering Tex-Mex favorites like quesadillas, burritos and the ubiquitous chips and guac. While these certainly are favorites for a reason, cuisine in Mexico goes so much deeper.

Mexico is one of the top gastronomy destinations in the world; in fact, three restaurants in Mexico were recognized this year at the World's 50 Best Restaurants awards held in London. Mexico ranked fourth on the global list of most awarded countries, tied with Italy and Peru and behind only the U.S., Spain and France. The three restaurants, all in Mexico City, were Pujol, Quintonil and Biko.

This recognition is only a recent reflection of a culinary scene that has been exploding over the last few years as chefs take the kaleidoscopic landscape of Mexican cuisine and elevate it to the next level.

In August 2014, President Enrique Pena Nieto launched a policy to promote national gastronomy in order to draw attention to the importance of Mexican cuisine in the culture and as an element of travel. As part of that effort, he noted the creation of the "Ven a Comer" brand, which highlights the areas of regional Mexican cuisine, threads together each level of the culinary industry in Mexico and establishes national gastronomy as part of Mexico's cultural heritage (venacomer.com.mx).

"We are absolutely seeing a trend towards culinary travel," said Zachary Rabinor, director general and CEO of Journey Mexico (www.journeymexico.com). "In fact, while most people don't travel exclusively to Mexico as part of a cooking or foodie tour, our guests are more and more interested in gastronomy and culinary experiences, from street food taco tours to haute cuisine with Michelin Star chefs."

Each region in Mexico is known for a specific style of cooking way beyond what typical menus at all-inclusive resorts label as "Mexican food." But there are specific destinations in Mexico that are renowned for "foodie" travel.

Mexico City should be a foodie's first stop when exploring the diversity of Mexico. Known as the Distrito Federal, or DF, to the locals, he capital runs the culinary spectrum from street tacos to fine dining in some of the world's top restaurants. In fact, Mexico City will host the 50 Best Restaurants in Latin America ceremony in 2016, reflecting the diversity and vibrancy of the city and country's cuisine.

More than 50 regional cuisines from all over Mexico can be found in the capital. Begin the day with a street food tour, snacking on local favorites from places like Puebla, Oaxaca and Veracruz. Explore open-air markets and food stalls where you can find tortas, corn equites and traditional tlayudas.

On a recent visit to Mexico City, I arranged for a customized tour of Mexico's street food with Journey Mexico. The half-day walking tour took me through neighborhoods like San Angel, Coyoacan and the bustling Mercado de San Juan. The day started with piping-hot churros dunked in chocolate or dulce de leche. This was followed with street quesadillas, stuffed plump with cheese and huitlacoche (a type of edible corn fungus that is much more delicious than it sounds). We also tucked into street pork tacos and tackled a torta that weighed more than four pounds stuffed with egg, pork, cheese, chicken, chorizo and about a dozen other heart-stopping ingredients.

For something more refined, hit the streets of trendy neighborhoods like Polanco, Roma and Condesa to dine in elegant restaurants with lengthy wine, tequila and mezcal lists. One of the newest and best in Polanco is Chapulin (http://www.chapulin.rest/), found at the InterContinental Presidente. This restaurant prides itself on serving back-to-the-street Mexican food but in a trendy and chic setting. The menu doesn't shy away from real deal Mexican food and includes local items like chicatanas (ants) and, as the name suggests, chapulines (grasshoppers).

For those who want to stick to familiar foods, the menu also has popular items like chochinita pibil, tacos and mole. The beverage list boasts classic Mexican favorites like tequila, mezcal and the now-trendy pulque, which is a fermented drink that dates back to pre-Hispanic times.

Mexico City's Roma neighborhood is up-and-coming among artists, fashionistas, culture vultures and the ubiquitous hipsters. For foodies in Roma, the spot to visit is Mercado Roma (http://mercadoroma.com/), a large indoor market with several vendors selling everything from charcuterie to tacos, sandwiches and gourmet coffee. Free WiFi pulls young professionals in from the neighborhood who sit at the picnic tables in the back. Upstairs you will find a rooftop beer garden, which is a popular spot for happy hour and into the evening.


If your clients are heading to Mexico City, companies to consider that offer foodie tours are Journey Mexico, Mexican Food Tours (www.mexicanfoodtours.com), Eat Mexico (www.eatmexico.com), and Sabores Mexico Food Tours (saboresmexicofoodtours.com).

To see the other regions of Mexico that are known for their cuisine, visit http://www.visitmexico.com/en/cuisine.

Source: Digging into Mexico's culinary diversity

GlobeQuest Travel Club Invites Travelers to Attend the Flavors of Cabo Food Festival

GlobeQuest Travel Club knows that the 10th Annual Sabor a Cabo – The Flavors of Cabo food festival is not to be missed this December.

CABO SAN LUCAS, MEXICO (PRWEB) November 10, 2015

GlobeQuest Travel Club is excited for the upcoming Sabor a Cabo – The Flavors of Cabo food festival. This annual gathering of the best chefs from the region, nation, and world, celebrates just one thing: delicious food and the enjoyment of eating it. The festival is set to begin on December 5th, so now is a great time to begin planning a 2015 winter vacation to Cabo San Lucas's beautiful luxury Casa Dorada Resort. Situated right on Medano Beach, the resort is the prime location to enjoy both the festival and all of Cabo San Lucas's natural beauty.

At The Flavors of Cabo, GlobeQuest Travel Club knows that travelers will enjoy the rich regional cuisine that they will experience there. Every year something new is added to the event giving it added value for returning visitors. Whether it is new visiting chefs, new dishes from favorite chefs, or new music, it is always a surprise for returning guests to discover.

The annual festival began in 2005 and is organized by CANIRAC, the national chamber of the restaurant industry in Mexico. GlobeQuest Travel Club points out that this is an excellent opportunity to not only sample some of the region's finest delicacies, but also a great way to support the local economy and charities which provide so much for many who are in dire need of aid. This year's tenth annual Sabor a Cabo – The Flavors of Cabo event is set to be no different.

The festival is not only for food, but for music as well. After a day of sampling treats, GlobeQuest Travel Club recommends that travelers head to the numerous live music events scattered across the festival for an opportunity to dance, and more importantly, work off some of that delicious food from earlier in the day. In 2014, the festival saw over 2,000 attendees and over 50 world-class chefs cooking food around the clock.

"Sabor a Cabo offers guests, visitors and residents alike an opportunity to experience the very best in gastronomy and wine offered anywhere in all of Mexico," said Carmen Carbajal, President of CANIRAC. "[Travelers] truly enjoy the Sabor a Cabo due to their great appreciation for great food and wine along with co-existence of quality."

This year look to GlobeQuest Travel Club and Casa Dorada Resort to plan a trip to Cabo San Lucas to attend the 10th Annual Sabor a Cabo – The Flavors of Cabo food festival.

The GlobeQuest Travel Club was designed for the modern traveler and provides a wide variety of luxurious vacation destinations along with several world-class leisure benefits. With the GlobeQuest memberships, unforgettable vacation experiences can be planned over the phone with a live Vacation Expert or just the click of a button on the member-only GlobeQuest website. GlobeQuest makes building travel experiences easy and enjoyable by providing everything needed to Travel Your Way. GlobeQuest was founded by Grupo Questro and GBS International. Since 1985, Grupo Questro has mastered the development of ecologically responsible, world-class hospitality projects that set the standard for their class. Established in 2002, GBS International supports Grupo Questro by providing personalized resort management and customer care functions.

For more information about Los Cabos and GlobeQuest visit http://www.globequesttravelclub.com.

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memberservices(at)globequesttravelclub(dot)com

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/GlobeQuest/TravelClub/prweb13030155.htm

Source: GlobeQuest Travel Club Invites Travelers to Attend the Flavors of Cabo Food Festival

Dave Anderson's Forest Journal: Everything bears need is in the forests

 

It was troubling to learn recently about a family of black bears — the mother sow with four cubs dubbed the "Jackson Five" — that were likely compromised by people intentionally feeding them. Eventually, the mother bear began breaking into homes in and around Jackson before she was legally shot by a hunter.

Bears find food and stay wild and safe in forests, not in neighborhoods and backyards.

Renowned black bear expert Ben Kilham is author of "Among The Bears: Raising Orphaned Cubs in the Wild."

He operates New Hampshire's only licensed orphan bear cub rehabilitation center. Kilham has cared for and released about 130 bear cubs in the past 30 years. It will likely become his job to care for the orphaned Jackson bear cubs and to keep them wild until they can be released next spring.

I visited Kilham recently to learn about black bears' relationship to forests, their preferred habitat.

"Bears are fundamentally forest animals," Kilham explains. Forests provide bears with food, concealment and travel corridors which connect suburbs to rural areas. Even narrow strips of woods provide safe travel lanes for bears. Forested edges of suburban housing and commercial businesses allow bears to connect larger blocks of adjacent forestland where food is plentiful and risks are minimal.

Kilham said that female black bears occupy a core home range averaging three to eight square miles. Males inhabit expanded ranges up to 200 square miles. Males are wide-ranging, traversing matriarchal territories of several different familial clans of females with cubs or mature offspring and their cubs.

Kilham emphasizes that bears prioritize natural food resources by quality, quantity and the inherent risks associated with obtaining calories. Bears essentially calculate profit and risk. Kilham said that black oil sunflower seeds in backyard birdfeeders are of such high calorie content compared to natural foods that the "profit" of rai ding backyard birdfeeders becomes worth the risk of crossing busy roads and encountering people or domestic dogs in suburban settings.

Unlike the "Jackson Five," wild bears living in deep forest are less likely to become nuisances by posing threats to homes, people or domestic animals. Natural foods and responsible human behavior prevent human-bear conflicts and help to keep wild bears free.

Kilham said "85 percent of bears' natural diet comprises vegetation. The other 15 percent is animal protein, with 90 to 95 percent of that consisting of insects."

Ants, termites, wasps and their larvae are an underappreciated component of bear diets. Kilham fitted one orphan female bear named "Yoda" with a radio-telemetry collar for long-term study. In early autumn, Kilham observed Yoda sniffing out and digging-up ground hornet nests. Kilham recorded Yoda feeding at the rate of 12 to 16 hornet nests per hour. Kilham has followed a current study bear named "Squirti e" for a decade. Kilham says it's not uncommon for Squirtie to excavate 40 to 60 hornet nests per day while foraging in the forest. In autumn, ground hornet nests are packed with nutritious grubs — fat-rich and protein-laden larvae destined to be adult hornets. The hornet stings do not deter bears digging up nests. In a similar profit-to-risk calculation, hornet grub calories are worth adult hornet stings.

Analysis of bear scats reveals wide-ranging travel. Kilham finds oak acorn scats deposited in forested swamps. Conversely, he finds wetland sedges including "nodding sedge" in bear scat deposited in oak forests.

In summer, fruits and berries provide carbohydrates and insects — particularly ants and termites in rotting stumps and fallen rotting logs. Summer fruits include raspberries, blueberries, choke cherries and pin cherries. By August, forests provide fat-rich ripe beechnuts and beaked hazelnuts. When beechnut crops are sparse, farmlands lure bears to swe et corn, apples or pasture grasses with inherent risks when leaving the shelter of the woods.

From September to leaf-off in November, oaks provide acorns. Acorns and beechnuts are the most important annual natural foods for bears. When acorn crops were plentiful in 2014 and again in 2015, bears remained in remote locations, unless habituated to unnatural food sources like dumpster trash, birdfeeders, chicken coops, pet food or intentional feeding.

When natural food becomes scarce in late November, bears have already built up sufficient fat reserves. With the leaves fallen from maples and birch and with oak and beech leaves soon to fall, bears remain closer to preferred dens. With leaves off, bears lose concealment, becoming more visible and vulnerable. Kilham relates how before and after leaf-on season, bears remain in conifer thickets by day and are more nocturnal when foraging.

When the ground freezes and leaves are off in December, it's generally safe to re-hang winter birdfeeders because bears are in dens. Bears select a primary den with alternate options nearby. Fallen logs, logging slash, brush piles and thick cover beneath softwood saplings provide good den sites. Kilham says expectant females (bred last June) are the earliest to enter dens. They're followed by sows with first-year cubs. Males remain active, searching for food in early winter months if food remains plentiful and snow doesn't hinder travel.

Warm temperatures this autumn may delay denning activity. But when the curtain of leaves falls and acorns become scarce, bears re-enter dens regardless of temperatures. Lack of food and concealment are the more important limiting factors. The risks of remaining active aren't worth diminished food rewards.

New Hampshire bear populations have increased and remain stable with hunting seasons managed by the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game. Suburbs are risky places for bears. Forests are ideal. Trees provide plentifu l foods. After logging, sunny patches regenerate fruiting berries and brushy thickets for concealment.

You remember the old cliché: "Does a bear (do anything) in the woods?"

In fact, bears do everything in the woods.

Naturalist Dave Anderson is director of education for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. His column appears once a month in the New Hampshire Sunday News. Email him at danderson@forestsociety.org or through the Forest Society Web site: forestsociety.org.

Source: Dave Anderson's Forest Journal: Everything bears need is in the forests

Swachh Bharat cess to make food, travel, phone bills costlier from 15 November

Widows hold brooms as they participate in a cleanliness drive organised by non-governmental organisation Sulabh International on the eve of the 146th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, in New Delhi, India, October 1, 2015.Reuters

Air travel, mobile telephone services, bills, eating in restaurants and other services will become costlier from 15 November, as the government is set to impose a 0.5% cess on all "taxable services" to fund its Swachh Bharat mission.

The Swachh Bharat cess is additional tax levied over and above 14% service tax. The government is expected to generate nearly Rs 400 crore during the remaining months of the current fiscal from the cess.

"Swachh Bharat Cess is not another tax but a step towards involving each and every citizen in making contribution to Swachh Bharat," NDTV Profit reported, citing a statement by the finance ministry.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had proposed to impose a Swachh Bharat cess of up to 2% in the budget for the financial year 2015-16 "on all or certain services, if need arises".

"Swachh Bharat cess is not another tax but a step towards involving each and every citizen in making contribution to Swachh Bharat. The proceeds from this cess will be exclusively used for Swachh Bharat initiatives," the statement added.

In a recent report submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a high-level panel of 10 chief ministers, formed to ascertain the financial needs of the Swachh Bharat mission, had proposed the central government to bear 75% of the overall cost of the mission.

The high-level NITI Ayog chief ministers' panel on Swachh Bharat, headed by Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, had suggested that the remaining cost would be borne by the states.

The finance ministry statement said that "there is a fair share of cleanliness concerns" in India, as the country is vast and has a population of over 120 crore. 

Article Published: November 7, 2015 13:25 IST

Source: Swachh Bharat cess to make food, travel, phone bills costlier from 15 November