Category Archives: outside the US

Back in Halifax; more eating and drinking

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I’m not going to list out all my Halifax eating adventures like I did before. Because it’s insanely cold and I’m a sissy, I’m not doing as much roaming and grazing this trip. During the week I’m mostly just going to Paper Chase and Wooden Monkey because they’re close to my home base, and reliably awesome. But weekends allow for wandering farther afield.

Here are some highlights:

1. Mojito (aka Cotton Candy Martini) at CUT Steakhouse. The liquid was poured over this giant glob of cotton candy, for a sweet, kind of nondescript concoction, but the concept was fun.

Cotton Candy Martini

2. Dinner at Jane’s on the Common, featuring local ingredients. Jane’s is closing at the end of the year *sob* but Jane will continue operating from a kiosk on Gottingen, next door to her daughter’s new restaurant. Go while you can! I had a lovely veggie curry (with Brussels sprouts) plus Digby scallops and Mr. HP enjoyed mussels from PEI with local Sweet William’s sausage.

halifax-janesmussels

halifax-janescurry

3. Burritos in Canada cannot possibly be great. Average, sure–it’s hard to screw up a burrito–but nothing to get excited about. Right? Wrong. Craving burritos despite the distance from Mexico, we tried Burrito Jax and were very pleased. With available ingredients like sweet potatoes and cranberry salsa, they’re not your standard burritos. I got a burrito bowl, with all the fixins over lettuce, and almost felt healthy. Almost.

Burrito Jax

4. A hint about The Fireside restaurant. We went to the bar there for a pre-dinner drink because we wanted to sit by a fireplace and forget about the freezing weather. The bar has a silly little electric fireplace, and we laughed, and had our drink by the “fireside” and got up to leave, and that’s when we saw the REAL (gas) fireplace in the room behind the bar. So, go there, have a fancy drink, and sit by the actual fireplace in the back room.

Yes, it’s cold outside, but there’s eating and drinking to be done. Put on a hat and scarf and explore your town!

Working Girls: Thoughts on Elephant Tourism

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The highlight of my recent trip to Cambodia and Laos was playing with elephants at Elephant Village, near Luang Prabang, Laos. The camp is a sanctuary for elephants rescued from the logging industry, funded by tourists’ dollars. The girls seemed well fed– while we were there they all had a constant supply of food–clean, and relaxed, and the camp has a live-in vet and onsite hospital. Taking tourists for rides in exchange for food, care, protection is a much better situation for the elephants than backbreaking labor in the logging industry. I chose Elephant Village specifically because it is a sanctuary for “retired” logging elephants and felt good about spending my money there.

Elephant Village

But there is a dark side to elephant tourism in Asia. Not all elephant camps are peaceful havens for rescued log haulers, and not all elephant shows employ willing elephant performers: many buy young elephants that were captured in the wild and beaten to break their spirit in order to become tourist attractions. Read this article about the elephant tourism industry in Thailand if you want more horrifying details about the “breaking in” process. Some elephants are forced to do tricks such as ride tricycles and throw footballs, which may seem innocuous, until you consider how they are trained to do these things, and the conditions they live in as street performers. This article examines the different types of elephant tourism (trekking, begging, painting/shows, temple elephants, and safaris) and details the abuses often involved in each.

Elephant Village

Back to Laos. Elephant use in the logging industry in Laos is on the decline, leaving more and more elephants jobless and available to the highest bidder, or simply abandoned to starve in the wild. Sanctuary organizations such as Elephant Village give the discarded animals medical care, food, and protection, and allow them to form herds and families.

Elephant Village

Please do your research before patronizing an elephant tourism outfit to be sure the elephants are well cared for, and find out where they came from. My experience with the Elephant Village elephants was amazing, and I encourage you to meet and spend time with an elephant, but do it responsibly.

Foundations protecting Asian elephants:

Siem Reap driver extraordinaire: Mono

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Three days in Siem Reap. So many things to see; how to decide where to go and what to do? The most important decision we made was hiring Mono to be our driver. He had been recommended by a friend, so I emailed him several weeks out to get on his calendar. He picked us up at the airport when we arrived in Siem Reap and delivered us to our hotel while quizzing us on our sightseeing goals. We had general ideas about what we wanted to do but needed guidance, and Mono came up with a suggested itinerary of morning and afternoon activities for our three days. When we opted to chill out at the pool one afternoon instead of visiting a temple, he reprioritized and shuffled the schedule for us, no problem.

Mono shows us the map

Mono suggesting a temple-visiting plan

Here’s what we ended up with:

Day 1

Morning: Angkor Wat

Afternoon: Ta Prohm, Angkor Thom

Day 2

Morning: Banteay Srei, stopping to shoot machine guns on the way back to town

Afternoon: relax at hotel

Day 3

Morning: Tonle Sap boat trip

Afternoon: airport

Mono sharing Khmer food

Mono introducing us to Khmer food

[If you're interested, Ta Prohm was our favorite temple complex, and we were blown away by the Tonle Sap boat trip.] Mono was unfailingly cheerful, amazingly knowledgeable about the history of the temples, enthusiastic about local Khmer customs, crafts, and food, and very importantly: speaks English well. His rates are extremely reasonable. I highly recommend hiring Mono if you are planning a trip to Siem Reap and the Angkor region. Contact him via email: monotopbanana@yahoo.com.

[Here's a second opinion, similar to mine: http://www.worldwinder.com/2011/08/02/siem-reap-tour-guide-mono-man/]

Homegrown Foods: Local, organic food in Hong Kong

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I’m in Hong Kong, on the last leg of my Asia trip. At dinner at Linguini Fini last night, a dear friend told me the last time she had been at the restaurant was for a harvest dinner put on by Homegrown Foods. Linguini Fini partners with Homegrown Foods for locally sourced organic and natural food, including hormone-free meats and eggs.

Homegrown Foods provides natural, seasonal, local food to businesses and individuals in the Hong Kong area, from family farms in the New Territories region of Hong Kong, and neighbor China. The farms are inspected periodically to ensure quality of food and sustainability of farming practices. Homegrown Foods offers a CSA-type subscription delivery service, and also a la carte groceries.

Homegrown Foods is an asset to the citizens of Hong Kong, but also to the entire region, as they teach the value of sustainable farming to the Chinese farmers they’re partnering with. If you live in Hong Kong, check them out!

 

Thinking HP thoughts on vacation

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In Cambodia, we saw a man bind a pig’s legs and tie him, on his back, to a small trailer behind his motorbike. Presumably, if you need to take your pig to market, and your vehicle is a motorbike, this is how you do it; but the pig was terrified and his shrieks haunted us. Two days later, when visiting a floating village, we saw a floating pig pen. The pigs lived crammed together on a wooden raft. Again, what are the villagers’ options? If you live on a boat, and need meat, what else can you do but build a crate that floats and fill it with meat animals?

In Laos, later in the trip, we were reflecting on the pig experiences, and the sights of all the other barnyard animals running around willy-nilly in both countries, and food animal welfare in the third world in general. Mr. HP observed:

Only rich societies can afford to care about this shit.

Agree? Disagree? Please debate.

More vacation posts to come. So much food for thought. <groan>

 

 

Week 3 in Halifax

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Day 8, Tuesday

Dreary morning at Paper Chase working, staring out the window, working, and anticipating a lunch meeting at Wooden Monkey. In case you forgot, it is “…where the menu is based on organic, macrobiotic, and locally grown fresh ingredients,” and it’s delicious. Just around the corner from the Monkey is a new patisserie, Le French Fix. The buttery aroma that hits you when you walk in is overpowering, and coerced us to order a [tiny] pastry we weren’t planning on. Le French Fix Patisserie

Delicious. Not really a sit-down-and-hang-out kinda place, though.

Day 9, Wednesday, Halloween

Branching out! Tried Second Cup on Spring Garden for morning coffee. I’d been admiring its window seats as people-watching perches, and the coffee and internet were perfectly adequate. My view (yes, that’s a Starbucks in the background):

Second Cup Coffee

I was nervous after reading a review about the questionable bathroom odors, but fortunately did not have the same experience as that poor soul. It poured all morning with no signs of stopping, so I postponed plans for a food adventure, and instead got a salad and some groceries from Pete’s and trekked home in the rain.

Rainy Halifax

I had two Halloween goals: 1) go out after dinner and do some people-watching; and 2) drink a Propeller Pumpkin Ale. Pumpkin beers are hit or miss for me, and more often miss than hit, but tis the season–and the Propeller brewery is just down the street in Halifax. It took 3 stops to find the elusive ale, and was it worth the anticipation and happy-discovery dance? ……….eh. Didn’t really dig it. It tasted like a hoppy-ish ale with some pumpkin pie spice mixed in. No real pumpkin flavor, just the spices to represent the pumpkin.

Propeller Pumpkin Ale

Day 10, Thursday

What did you do this morning before breakfast? Oh, yeah, well I just went surfing. No big deal. !!! Before coming here, I would not have guessed Halifax had a surf culture, but then I saw the surf shops, and heard tales of year-round surfing made possible by thick neoprene. This morning I had the opportunity to check out the blue crush at the point break at Cow Bay, a popular spot a short drive from Halifax. It was a great time, and thanks to the hooded wetsuit, gloves, and boots, I wasn’t cold at all.

Coffee time at Just Us! on Spring Garden. Much cooler setting than Barrington, in a historic house with lots of small tables scattered around. I had another Bliss Ball for a snack. This one was more honey-y than the last, less bitter. Yum.

Just Us Coffee Spring Garden

Fancy dinner at Chives! So, so good, but kinda heavy food, and lots of it = we were hurting after. Starting with those amazing biscuits, we ate our way through all sorts of local, seasonal vegetables, meat, and seafood. My top two favorite bites were actually 1) sauteed local greens, and 2) a local pickled yellow beet. Chives has won many awards for its creative, responsible cuisine, and glowing reviews are all over the internets.

Day 11, Friday

Heading home to Charlottesville! Can’t wait to get home.

A Few Thoughts on and Pictures of Halifax Architecture

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A note about these seemingly off-topic posts: While this blog is dedicated to helping to educate consumers about meat and animal products, and making people more aware of the treatment of the livestock and poultry whose meat, eggs, and dairy they consume, a natural extension of that mission is to promote eating local produce and other foods, and support restaurants that source ingredients from local farmers. Continuing in the sustainable lifestyle vein, we also encourage shopping locally for any goods, not just food, and being an engaged citizen in the community. These travel posts, while not directly related to livestock welfare, are relevant to the theme of participating in and supporting one’s local community. And putting them together spurs us to get out and explore new places!

My first impression of Halifax was that it was not the quaint seaside town I expected. There are many buildings that lack charm or personality–I was told by a friend that there is no city architectural review board, and that developers are allowed to raze historic buildings willy-nilly and replace them with whatever design they want, without regard to aesthetics. I don’t know if that’s true, but it’s believable enough.

The more I walk around town, however, the more I am starting to spot really interesting architecture hiding in plain sight. Now that I know it’s lurking everywhere, I notice the cool stuff more and the drab stuff less. Here’s a little photo tour of some buildings that grabbed my attention. [Note: I know nothing about architecture or art. This is purely my uneducated, personal opinion about what I like.]

Week 2 Part II in Halifax. Road trip!

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Day 4, Friday

Random musings while walking to my trusty internet connection at Paper Chase for morning meetings:

I’ll spare you yet another picture of my view from my desk at PC, where I had multiple Skype meetings with nary an internet hiccup. Lunch: Friday is the International Market at the Halifax Seaport Farmer’s Market. Legit cool thing, or marketing ploy aimed at the cruise ship crowd? I’m on the case. And… it didn’t really seem any different from the last time I was there, which was not a Friday, except busier, due to the two cruise ships docked outside. Except for the enormous pumpkin, which will be carved [alas, I misread... just on display through] Sunday as part of the Pumpkin Crazy Pumpkin Festival. Pumpkin Crazy Pumpkin Festival

The sign says, “Please refrain from climbing the pumpkin.” Ha! Also amusing: tourists photographing the Samuel Cunard statue in front of the cruise ship. Samuel Cunard

It was incredibly gorgeous outside, so I strolled down the waterfront people watching and targeting Pete’s ToGoGo for a salad and maybe some soup. [I really wanted to stop at a waterfront cafe and have a glass of wine on the patio.] Halifax waterfront

Note to future self: Pete’s ToGoGo is open until 4, but at 3 they break down their salad and soup stations. My sunshine-slowed stroll made me too late for a salad. Plan C: the Nomad Gourmet truck parks on Argyle at lunch… but he was gone. [I really wanted to stop at an Argyle restaurant and have a glass of beer on the patio.] Plan D: leftovers at home. Woe is me. So how did I alleviate my sorrows? Oh yes: Steve-O-Reno's Eight Balls

As fabulous as last time I indulged. Dinner: Tried Brooklyn Warehouse, which won Best Restaurant in the Coast Best Of Halifax awards. Their motto: Eat Local. Shop Local. Visit a Farm. My kind of place! Brooklyn Warehouse

Loved the dark, chill ambiance (they also won Best Atmosphere), and all in my party agreed that the food was delicious, if a bit heavy. We were stuffed when we left, but not too full to stop for a drink on the way home at Jane’s on the Common. Sadly [sarcasm], Jane’s only lets you drink if you’re eating too, so we got desserts, which were fabulous (as were the fancy cocktails). So sad they’re closing at the end of the year.

Day 5, Saturday

All participants of last night’s dinner outing had baaad stomach problems overnight and into the next day. The only thing we all ate in common was the tuna tartare dish at Brooklyn Warehouse. We called to let them know there might be something wrong with the dish, and to see if anyone else had reported similar problems (the person who answered thought not), but, oddly, the manager did not deem our problems worthy of a return phone call. Harrumph. Unthwarted, we bundled our sour stomachs into our trusty weekend rental car and hit the road for Lunenburg, a UNESCO World Heritage Site about an hour and a half from Halifax, as the crow flies. We took the less-direct Lighthouse Route along the coast, stopping a few times. Peggy’s Cove: Peggy's Cove

Chester Basin, where we had lunch at Seaside Shanty, enjoying local seafood, local Propeller sodas (good for stomach ailments, no?), and a bay view: Seaside Shanty

Mahone Bay, with the fantastic Jo-Ann’s Deli and Market with coffee and amazing cookies, which we partook of; and a deli, prepared foods case, and packaged local food products. Here we began the weekend’s cookie theme, and here is where the winning cookie was consumed: oatmeal coconut. Mahone Bay

And finally, Lunenburg. The weather was ideal and we spent hours wandering the quaint little fishing town and drinking and eating. Recommended Lunenburg establishments: Mariner King Inn, Laughing Whale Coffee–words of wisdom from their site:

Food that is produced locally, or at least processed locally (e.g., coffee) is fresher, arrives with a much lower carbon footprint (due to less fuel burned in transportation) and keeps more money in the local economy. Our current centralized industrial food system is organized to make cheap food and maximize corporate profits – often with little regard for the social, environmental and health consequences for workers, consumers, livestock or the land itself.

…the Knot Pub, and Fleur de Sel, a top-notch, award winning restaurant that focuses on local ingredients and seafood.

Day 6, Sunday

Most of the restaurants and shops we visited were wrapping up for the season, so we were lucky to get to the coast when we did. Reluctant to end our vacation, upon return to Halifax, we got coffee and cookies from Julien’s Patisserie in the Hydrostone Market, which was participating in City Harvest by giving discounts on mochas for checking in on social media sites. After enjoying our treats on a bench in the sunshine, we stopped into Lady Luck Boutique where  Mr. HP bought me two awesome, unique, locally-made necklaces for my birthday!

Hydrostone Market

Continuing on our let’s-not-end-vacation kick: a beer at the Henry House, a visit to the Seaport Farmer’s Market to see the Jack-o-lanterns (but we were a half hour early and nothing was lit up yet for the pumpkin walk), and dinner from Fid’s back-door takeout–part of City Harvest.

Fid Resto Back-Door Takeout

Great weekend of eating and shopping local!

Week 2 Part A in Halifax. (Spoiler: more eating)

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Day 1, Tuesday

Worked for several hours from my office-away-from-the-office, Paper Chase. Can you tell I kind of like that place? My view:

I worked and stared out the window and drank coffee and worked and got lunch: a curry veggie burger with a side of bean salad. It’s a nice combo–the beans are zesty and bright, and the burger is hearty with a subtle curry flavor–but huge and I’m stuffed. Best part: it came on a heart-shaped bun.

I picked up a flyer at Paper Chase for a local festival called City Harvest, happening this weekend. I love local festivals and this one sounds incredible, but we’re getting out of town this weekend to see some of the surrounding countryside. I’m still benefiting from the festival though: I’ve noted a few of the participating restaurants for future checking-out (examples: here and here).

Dinner at my favorite. Can you guess?

Rice bowl, add scallops, at the funky Monkey. So good.

Day 2, Wednesday

Branched out and tried a new coffeeshop for my morning meetings.

Just Us! Coffeehouse won Silver in the Best Coffee (Regular) category [and Bronze in Best Coffee (Espresso-Based), but I'm a regular coffee kinda gal] in The Coast’s Best Of Halifax awards. Just Us! specializes in fair-trade coffee, tea, sugar, and chocolate, and they sell local prepared foods alongside their cafe sandwiches and pastries. In the pastry case were a few Bliss Balls (similar in concept to my dear Eight Balls, but with different ingredients) that I suspect I will go back and try later. It’s a very popular (read: loud) place, and I prefer Paper Chase for these reasons:

  1. It’s quieter
  2. Wifi is stronger (my Skype connection at Just Us! was lousy so I had to leave)
  3. Menu is bigger
  4. View is better

Just Us! would be great for a workday coffee catchup with a friend, if you work in a downtown office; it just wasn’t ideal for my Skype meetings. Good to try new places though.

Lunch: salad from Pete’s, since I had to go grocery shopping anyway. And I love a big salad. Checked out the chicken selection, and was disappointed to see that Pete’s only carries chicken that is only labelled as grain-fed, which I assume means it is not pastured, free-range, cage-free, etc, as those descriptors would also be on the label. Dear Pete, please stock free range chicken. At least the non-happy chicken meat is local.

Day 3, Thursday

Started the day with a nice long run along the harbour and through Point Pleasant Park and was treated to a lovely sunrise over the water, and stunning fall foliage in the park–the one time I don’t have a camera with me. When looking for a link to the waterfront boardwalk for the previous sentence, I came upon a site listing trails in the Halifax area, and decided to check out the Halifax Urban Greenway on my way to coffee. Walked through Dalhousie University on the way. The central buildings are very pretty.

The Greenway wasn’t that interesting, just a paved multi-use trail along a road (I was hoping for water views), but it’s part of a worthy initiative–to connect urban trails and create a network for commuting and recreation.

Halifax Urban Greenway

I had a pleasant stroll through a quiet, leafy neighborhood in an area of town I hadn’t previously visited. For coffee-and-meetings time, I chose The Wired Monk, because it won Best Wifi Spot in The Coast‘s Best of Halifax awards, and I needed good wifi after yesterday at Just Us!. I settled down with a coffee in a comfy chair and proceeded to fight with the internet for a half hour before giving up and leaving. Maybe the wifi was having a rough day, but I fail to see how they won Best Wifi Spot. My connection kept dropping, and when I was connected, it was too weak to allow me to log onto the VPN at my office back home. Very frustrating. At least it’s in a neat house, on a block of neat houses:

Wired Monk Halifax

Afternoon snack: remember the Bliss Balls at Just Us!? Well I got one, and took it down to the harbour for some sunshine.

Bliss Ball from Just Us! Coffee

Bliss Balls are locally made from oats, tahini, honey, pumpkin seeds, and dried cranberries. While the size of the Bliss Ball was more manageable than the Eight Ball‘s, I have to give the flavor prize to Steve-O-Reno’s. The Bliss Ball was tasty, but with a slightly bitter aftertaste; I’m sure it’s less calorie-dense, though, being oat-based rather than dried fruit-based.

Evening snack: Stepping out of Tom’s Little Havana after an after-dinner drink or two, I noticed that Sweet Jane’s was still open, and the alcohol and my sweet tooth ganged up on me. The store is packed with fun gifts and all sorts of candy. I chose a locally-made salted almond caramel:

Lucy Lu's Caramel

Lucy Lu Sea Salt Caramels are also sold at the Seaport Farmer’s Market. It was everything I look for in a salted caramel; my only complaint is that the wax paper wrapper was stuck to the caramel, and eventually I had to give up trying to peel it off and just eat it off. The sacrifices I make for dessert.

I am rambling more than I expected, so I’m splitting this week into two posts. More to come!

(Mostly Eating) Adventures in Halifax: Week 1

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(Why do I eat so much when I visit Halifax?)

Day 1

Lunch at Bubba Ray’s because a football game required us to be at a sports bar. It was a fantastic sports bar as far as watching a game goes, but my nachos were subpar.

Dinner at Fid (motto: Local By Nature). Had the Farmers Market Inspiration again, in all its giant bento box glory. Took another crappy phone picture of it.

Fid Resto

Now that I compare pictures, I see that the dish is very similar to what I got last time, but that’s ok because it was delicious. This time I managed to stop eating and take home leftovers instead of hurting myself.

Day 2

Lunch at organic, locally-focused The Wooden Monkey. Had the rice bowl, add scallops. It was incredible. Spouse declared it the best restaurant in Halifax (he got the roast chicken and pesto sandwich, sub apple salad).

Dinner at home: grilled Nova Scotia salmon and veggies from Pete’s Frootique, which specializes in local produce. Pete’s is sort of like the Halifax Whole Foods, but it’s a small independent chain. The Halifax store has a gluten-free cafe and made-to-order breakfast wraps and salads.

Day 3

Ran through Point Pleasant Park to burn some of these restaurant calories. On the way I passed the Inglis Street Urban Garden at Inglis Street Elementary School. Lucky kids!

Inglis Street Urban Garden

 Day 4

Coffee at Steve-O-Reno’s. It was chilly and sprinkly so I did not lounge on the porch.

Steve-O-Reno's

I had been told this was the best coffee in town, and I can report that it is pretty darn tasty–and very popular with the on-the-way-to-work crowd. They carry gluten-free goodies; I plan to return for an Eight Ball (nuts, fruit, coconut ground up and formed into a large ball).

Lunch from Pete’s ToGoGo (yes, that Pete): West African Peanut Soup and a custom salad. With a little adventure thrown in, trying to find it from Hollis St.

Pete's ToGoGo

The soup is much like my dearly beloved Spicy Senagalese Peanut Tofu from Rev Soup (sans tofu) and hit the spot on a dreary day. The salad packs a lot of ingredients into a small box. This would totally be my lunch spot if I worked downtown.

Day 5

Coffee at my office-away-from-the-office, Paper Chase. Great place to work and caffeinate and stare out the window.

Since it was a pretty day, for lunch I ferried over to Dartmouth for some highly-recommended fish and chips at Evan’s.

Fish and chips at Evan's

It was tasty, but I’m not used to that much fried all at once. One’s plate of food is not supposed to be a single color. Enjoyed the ferry ride and its views:

Halifax from the ferry

Because I was on a nutritional roll, when I got back to Halifax I wanted dessert. I stopped at World Tea House and got an oatcake (more brown food) but my favorite goody in the case was a shortbread cookie with an icing WTH, which filled me with glee until I realized it was the initials of the cafe’s name.

Dinner: back to the Monkey. I got the veggie stirfry, add scallops, which was tasty but not as good as that rice bowl. Oh that rice bowl. I tried a Nova Scotian hard cider, Stutz, and was pleasantly surprised. So I had a second bottle.

Stutz Cider

Day 6

I went back to Steve-O-Reno’s for that Eight Ball I spied on Day 4. It was amazing. Dates, almonds, cranberries, flax seeds. Cashews too, I think? And it was huge.

Steve-O-Reno's Eight Ball

The Eight Ball was my fuel for a long walk to the Hydrostone neighborhood, via The Grainery Food Co-op, which I had read about while researching Halifax CSAs and other local food resources. It was smaller than I expected (I was picturing something more like the fabulous Crozet Natural Foods Co-op, which, oddly, has no online presence. It’s not gone, is it? I haven’t been to downtown Crozet in several years), but did have some local grains and dried fruits, and a bulletin board full of local food info.

Walked down the cute strip of shops at Hydrostone Market,

Hydrostone Market

resisted the pastries at the patisserie, visited some of the neighborhood’s interesting little boulevards and hiked back home.

Dinner was at Jane’s on the Common. I did not take my usual crappy phone picture of my meal because I inhaled it and there was no time for pictures. I got a veggie rice bowl, add scallops, similar to my favorite Monkey meal, but this had a sweet green curry sauce. It was great. Jane’s ingredients come from local farms when possible, and the space is cozy and comfortable. Unfortunately, the restaurant is closing at the end of the year, so get there while you still can. I know I’ll be back.