Update on Explosion at Salvador's

Just two weeks ago, we were in Kunming China with my brother Colin. We spent most of our free time hanging out at his cafe, Salvador's. On the morning of Christmas Eve, a Chinese terrorist planted a bomb with the apparent intention of exploding it remotely later that night when there would be a numerous ex-pats, tourists and students celebrating the holidays together. Luckily, the bomb detonated early, fatally injuring the bomber but nobody else. We are counting our blessings.

Click here to read the New York Times article about this event.

Click here to read our blog entry about our time at Salvador's.

The Temples of Angkor, Cambodia

Bike and Boat Trip Through the Mekong Delta

Hanoi and Halong Bay, Vietnam

3-Day Trek in Laos, near Luang Prabang

A Li's Wedding in Yunnan Mountains, Southwestern China

A Li is one of Colin's employees at Salvadore's. We were invited to spend three days participating in her wedding celebration.
To get there, we had to take a 5 hour bus to a 4-wheel drive truck to motorcycles which took us to the beginning of our walk to her family's house.All of the Salvadore's owners were there: Josh, Kris, Nalco and Colin.

Here is the groom and the bride.

Here is some of the family.
We ate like kings. When it was all over, they had fed 560 people.

Veggie Dumpling Recipe

The Veggie Dumplings at Hangzhou Pork Bun Shop were our favorite, so we got the recipe.
To make the dough for the skin, lay down 3 cups of flour in the center of your workspace. Create a crater in the middle, adding water and kneading for 15 minutes until the consistency is just right. Roll into small balls and flatten. Add filling, fold in half and pinch closed along the seam.

To make the filling, thinly slice carrots and zucchini. Cut small cubes of tofu and saute everything together, adding salt if necessary.

You can steam, boil, saute or deep fry the dumplings. So simple.

To make the dipping sauce, add black vinegar, soy sauce, sesame, chopped chili and green onions.

Back to Dali

With our new visas freshly stamped, we made our way back to Dali.

We stayed with Rongjie (above) at the Bird Bar.

Hong Kong

When we went to Tibet, all of our visas (including Colin's residency) were canceled. We were supposed to go to Thailand get new tourist visas. When protesters took over the airports in Bangkok we decided to go to Hong Kong instead.
We spent 3 nights in the city, but the highlight was staying at Sting's house in the mountains.

Dali, China

Of all of the places that we've been in China so far, Dali - in Yunnan Province - is the #1 place that I would recommend to anybody planning a trip to East Asia.
Dali is my brother Colin's home-away-from-home. It was the first place in China where he put down roots as well as the location choosen for his first Salvador's restaurant.

It is a beautiful mountain city with a physical environment and architecture that reminds me of the mythical Shangri-La. It has a number of ancient Buddhist pagodas that date back to when it was an independent kingdom. It also has a vibrant local culture which presents a mix of the 22 ethnic groups that share it as a home.

Colin has recently rennovated a century-old home inside the walls of the old city.

For a good adventure in Dali, one only needs to put on their walking shoes.

Kunming, China

Kunming is one of many cities in China with over 5 million people that most of us have never heard about.
Most important to us, it is where my brother Colin has lived for most of the past 7 years. It is also where his restaurant, Salvador's, is located.
Salvador's is famous for it's home-made organic ice cream and coffee as well as a well-stocked bar and lively late-night atmosphere.

The creative use of wood and glass create a relaxing and chilled-out environment, which is a treasure in this otherwise hectic and noisy part of the city.

The weather was perfect for sitting at the outside bar and enjoying a Brooklyn IPA (Seriously!! They have it!! The first non-lager beer that I'd had since leaving Europe!)

Colin's girlfriend, Aling, has a store in Kunming where she sells her handmade purses and bags. She is on the right in the picture below. Her sister is on the left.

Some of Colin's friends had us over for dinner at their incredible apartment in New Kunming. This dinner, which highlighted at least 5 varieties of wild mushrooms, will soon be added to our International Foodies Awards as the "#1 Homemade Meal".

Lhasa, Tibet

Expedition to Everest Base Camp, Tibet