Singular Magazine is running a four-part series I wrote on ethnic neighborhoods in Los Angeles. The second stop is Koreatown, where high-tech billboards and dense high rises collide with soothing tea houses (my favorite is Hwa Sun Ji Tea & Coffee) and mineral spas specializing in ancient healing arts.  The timing of this piece is [...]

Calling all travelers! I’ve joined the blogging ranks of The Diary of the Purple Passport, a travelogue devoted to the most fun, unique, and elegant spots around the world. It was started by gals-about-the-globe Emily Chang and Jennifer Garcia-Alonso, best friends and travel companions since high school. Their taste-making online travel guide The Purple Passport [...]

You’re in a place where exotic smells waft from sidewalk cafes.  All around you, signs are scrawled in foreign scripts and people speak in unfamiliar languages.  Food-market bins are crammed with piquant spices and unusual produce.  Colorful curios line the shelves of neighborhood boutiques.  Surely, you’re very far from home.  Or, you’ve just stumbled into [...]