“Anywhere except Chinese food,” Jake told me as we made dinner plans. A tourism industry veteran, Jake was traveling for business and staying in the heart of Chinese-American culture in Southern California: San Gabriel. If you’ve heard of gentrification, imagine Chinification. Nearly every restaurant, café, store, establishment, etc, was created by and for the Chinese […]

LA is a massive city. Less of a city, it’s simply a massive area. I live and work in Pasadena, and while Santa Monica is an easy 30 minute drive with no traffic, this time can double, triple, or even quadruple based on traffic. So I take my trips out to Santa Monica very seriously. […]

15 degrees. I hadn’t experienced cold weather in quite some time. This was a fact I was proud of. But at the same time, something about the sharp, bitter air was exciting. It was fun being a tourist in this climate. CES followed by the Detroit Auto Show. 2 of the biggest respective industry events […]

Rachel really wanted to go to Mexico City for her birthday. So did I, but work seemed to impede on the planning process. Not for Rachel though. “Let’s just leave Saturday and come back Sunday,” she said in her most logically persuasive voice. Flights had us arriving at 4pm Saturday and departing 4pm Sunday. Once […]