Monthly Archives: October 2013

What do you think of when you hear Sydney? Personally, it’s usually, “P Sherman 42 Wallaby Way Sydney,” that and fantastic sea food.

Either way, we’re taking a look at the city down under this time, and surprisingly the history and culture of Sydney was much more interesting than I had originally thought.

State capitol of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia,  Sydney is home to more than 4,500,000 cosmopolitan and international residents. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural hub of Australia.

Originally inhabited by aboriginals, Sydney did not have any contact with the western world until the 1770’s. Later colonized by the British to gain control over the Southern tip of Asia, Sydney became the first British colony in Australia conquered by Captain Phillip in 1788.

The city of Sydney is entirely surrounded by National Parks and beautiful seasides, including my personal favorite beach in Australia, the Bondi Coast.
Sydney is a cultural hub of activities within the city itself. From the famous “failed” opera house (the design wasn’t how the architect had wanted) to a world famous harbor side, there seems to be an amazing variety of things to do in the city. In fact, it is ranked the 2nd best city in the world in the 2013 AnholtGfK City Brands Index, consistently being a high-ranking city in terms of quality of life.

When it comes to food, Sydney has high regards for it’s brilliant seafood and “Barbie.” From the interesting local cuisine of it’s indigenous origins to the melting pot of  tasty eats from it’s diverse cultural make up, the food in Sydney looks and sounds incredible. Where else in the world can you find “Bush-Food” and roasted kangaroos to  fresh pacifica seafood and…Marmite…
I’ll include an annotation to a short video of a famous australian chef Guy Turland as he shares the city of Australia and prepares a Sydney-esque seafood platter.

Click the picture to go to the video.

All in all, very interesting, and beautiful city. It’s no wonder people regard the Sydney as the crown jewel of Aussie Aussie Aussie. (oy oy oy)

Next time, we go north.

One of the most popular destinations for tourists in Italy, Almalfi Coast offers exactly what you would look for in a getaway to Europe. Lush landscapes, perfect Mediterranean ocean view, and best of all the best sea food Italy has to offer.

Since I’ve never gone here, I wouldn’t considered this a “travel guide,” more like research fascination.

Almalfi COAST, is off of the COAST of Italy, kind of a duh moment. Almalfi is the name of the sea nymph that fell in love with Hercules, visitors often go to the coast to pay homage to the beauty of the nymph. This kind of makes sense, the first pictures I found online were beautiful sea scape portraits with the gorgeous Italian homes lining the cliffside, the coast is truly a place of amazing beauty. Almalfi has a rich history within Italy, beginning as a Roman refuge against barbarians, it later grew in to one of the most important port cities in Italy.

But in the more recent years, Almalfi’s place in Italy has been a profitable tourist trap. Deemed by UNESCO “an outstanding example of a Mediterranean landscape, with exceptional cultural and natural scenic values,” the coast was awarded a coveted spot on the World Heritage list in 1997. It’s the sort of luxurious place that begs its guests to sit in the comfort of an  lounge-chair facing a panoramic view of the ocean, while sipping on authentic home-grown Italian wine.

One of the fun facts I learned about Almalfi was how it was one of the coasts that was it was one of the primary allied beachheads invaded during the Invasion of Italy during WWII. Random interesting facts like these is what I love about the idea of traveling the world, there is a history in every location, you just have to know where to look.

The other thing that I want to focus on during our “stay” at Almalfi is the gorgeous seafood prepared here. Along with fresh marine life and authentic Italian cuisine, Almalfi is famous for it’s production of lemons. I’ve always loved Italian food but the thought of authentic Italian cuisine along with  some of the best seafood I’ve ever seen is making me salivate as I type. Seriously, look at some of these photos. Not that I don’t “LOVE” our dorm food, but this doesn’t seem very fair.

Click on the fish to see a youtube video of one of my favorite chef, Gennaro Contaldo, cooking on the cliffside of Almalfi.

The incredible history, breath-taking views and extraordinary seafood of Almalfi Coast can beckon travelers from anywhere around the world. You can be sure that this gorgeous Italian hideout has already been added to my bucket list of locations I want to visit around the world.

Incorporated as  borough on August 29th, 1896, State College PA was originally founded to be the accompanying borough of the formal Farmers’ High School of Pennsylvania. A classic example of a college town, State College relies  economically on Penn State University.

“Happy Valley” actually has quite a rich culture outside of being a social hangout for PSU students. Starting from a residential population of and a student population of 110, State College is now home to more than 104,00o people. The streets, as you can probably tell already from living here, is always bustling with people going shopping or hanging out with friends. Best of all, State College is extremely safe, which is one of the reasons my parents even decided to send me here. In fact, it’s voted the third safest college town in America.

I really have not been here long but now is a good time as any to share all that I have found about State College.

The food is great! If you know where to look. Not so good if you are just on a night crawl with some friends and looking to grab a cheap bite, though we do have plenty of stores for that too. That being said, let me just share all the great cuisines that I have tasted so far. 
College Ave offers the famous Waffle House, which if you haven’t gone yet, why the heck not? Behind the Waffle house is Chipotle which is always the right answer, not matter what your looking for. A little down the block is the Corner Restaurant  if your looking to impress a date that’s definitely a safe bet. Moving out of College Avenue, other notable mentions are Chen’s Mongolian Buffet and Nihao Chinese Buffet. Both these places offer great food at a cheap price, though it might be more than a little walk to get there. If you do have a car though, they’re both definitely worth the trip.

On the social end of things, there’s a reason why Penn State is the 9th party school in America, we know how to have a good time. Any night between Friday and Sunday, heck any night of the week you can pretty much always find a part around  frat row. But if that’s not really your scene then there’s plenty of places to socialize outside of campus. THe shopping is endless between all the different shops on College Avenue alone, which might explain why there’s exactly $1.56 in my bank account right now. If you smoke than I would recommend chronic town a little college ave, there’s great music even if you’re not into hookah. No matter what kind of social even you’re looking for from bowling to laser tag, I am more than positive State College will have everything you need.

There is actually quite a lot more to this  over 100 year old town that I live in. It’s more than just a small college town PSU students go to have a good time, it has a rich history and provides for the students of PSU more than we really realize. I’m starting to realize how blessed I am to have such a great community to surround myself in. 

Next time, we finally take to the globe :D.