There was a time when I was convinced I would become a professional food and cooking writer. I had a food blog through my teenage years, and read lots of classic food writing – M.F.K Fisher, in particular – and figured it was my destined path in life. This all changed at age 18, when […]
Author: Faine Greenwood
The Weirdness of Haw Par Villa – Singapore
Singapore is not a place renowned for its eccentricity, its exoticism. This gleaming, modern city where everybody is above average (or would like to be) takes great pains to be pleasant – and pleasant, as most of us are aware, is the direct enemy of the funky, exotic, and surreal. So it is a great […]
The Joy of Padang Food – Singapore
“What the hell is Padang food?” you may ask yourself one day, if you happen to be looking for lunch in Singapore, Indonesia, or Malaysia. “Does this have something to do with Penang?” Ah, you fool, it has jack-all to do with a charming city in Malaysia, but in fact describes a style of cuisine […]
Some Things I Approve Of in Chiang Mai – Sausage, Khao Soi, Night Markets
Khao Soi Khao soi is my favorite noodle dish in Asia, and that’s really saying quite a lot, considering the dizzying biodiversity of noodle soups in this region of the world. Thought to be of Burmese origin, the dish has been modified in Northern Thailand, and is, I think, superior to the original. The essential […]
No Real People – Comic
I always think this when somebody makes this comment at a bar. Part of another comic, expressing what I think is a common 20-something sentiment.
Flying the Drone at Wat Umong in Chiang Mai
Wat Umong is definitely my favorite temple in Chiang Mai. Set a bit outside of the center of town in a lush forest, the 700-year-old Buddhist temple attracts relatively few tourists and has a delightfully jewel-like, slightly eccentric character – commemorative stupas overgrown with greenery, a curious worship area dug into an underground tunnel, and […]
An Ode to the Museum of World Insects and Natural Wonders in Chiang Mai
I have been entranced by the Museum of World Insects and Natural Wonders in Chiang Mai since I first set foot in the place four years ago, drawn in by a terse Lonely Planet entry, and a large wire-frame statues of mosquitoes and dragonflies stuck to the top of the brick building it sits in. […]
Anti-Vietnam Protests in Phnom Penh, Cambodia – Oct 6th
Protests against a Vietnamese officials statement about the historical ownership of Kampuchea Krom – what is now Southern Vietnam – continued into a third day on Monday, as members of various groups allied against the Vietnamese presence in Cambodia gathered outside the Vietnamese Embassy on Monivong Boulevard. By my estimation, around 100 people were at […]
Anti-Vietnamese Protests in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Anti Vietnamese sentiment has been part of Cambodian culture for an exceedingly long time, and has only been on the rise since the hotly contested 2013 elections, in which the opposition CNRP party made animosity towards the Vietnamese, and their supposed colonial desires, a central tenet of its platform. Spearheaded by Khmer Krom minority groups, […]
Flying a Drone at Olympic Stadium – Cambodia
Phnom Penh’s Olympic stadium is saddled with a bit of a misnomer. Begun in 1963, the earthworks-heavy structure was crafted by revered Khmer architect Vann Molyvann, and was originally intended to host the 1963 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games. Politics got in the way, but the stadium and its 50,000 person capacity persist to this day. […]