USA – Sarahlynn Pablo, Writer

August 30, 2014December 1, 2017

Lake Michigan and Labor Day Weekend

Chicago emptied out some over Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Large rollerbags and their owners fill aisles of the Blue and Orange Lines. Some restaurants and independently-owned stores close for the long weekend or take a proper, well-deserved week away. The highways are even more congested than usual — to Rockford, to Wisconsin, to Indiana, to Iowa, to any place not-Chicago.

Those of us who remain, however, enjoy the last sweet breath of summertime — Labor Day Weekend. Continue reading “Lake Michigan and Labor Day Weekend”

February 27, 2014October 4, 2014

Three Reasons to Stop at the Airport Tourist Information Desk. Travel Hack Thursday.

Many international airports have tourist and visitor information desk on its premises. I honestly never thought about stopping there until my recent trip to Puerto Rico showed me how helpful they can be. All for free. Continue reading “Three Reasons to Stop at the Airport Tourist Information Desk. Travel Hack Thursday.”

January 31, 2014January 31, 2014

Lechon: Roasted Pig Magic in Guavate, Cayey, Puerto Rico. Food Porn Friday.

We stole away from Vieques as swiftly as possible that morning. In a short time, we’d grown to love it so much: the quiet, the mountains, the wild horses, the bioluminescent bay.

An hour’s ferry ride brought us back to our rented Charlie Car on the main island. My girlfriend’s iPad guided us south around El Yunque National Rainforest to Guavate in Cayey (same US mainland cellular carriers!). Mountains of roasted pig magic await! Lechon, ho! Where else would three Pinays visiting Puerto Rico for the first time go? Continue reading “Lechon: Roasted Pig Magic in Guavate, Cayey, Puerto Rico. Food Porn Friday.”

January 17, 2014January 19, 2014

Vegas is for Adults: Fine Dining at Joël Robuchon

Author’s note: I dedicate this post to Marissa, friend and faithful reader of this blog. Her response to the reader poll asked me to include more food porn. Here ya go, baby. I aim to please (my readers, especially).

“This is why we do not let children in here”

— Yann, one of Joël Robuchon’s waitstaff, as my dinner companion and I struggled to contain our effusive glee, that reached crescendo as the second dessert phase glided to a soft stop aside our table — a cornucopia of sweet trifles atop a wheeled Louis XIV style cart — , shaking ever so gently the chocolate sculpture and twisting the heads of the chocolate lollipops in their holder.

I’m not sure if Yann was kidding, but if he wasn’t, I can think of one reason that they do not allow children in here. Joël Robuchon, the Las Vegas fine dining institution led by the Chef of the Century of the same name, elicits responses from sensible adults with escrow accounts and PPOs a la Meg Ryan’s character in the classic film, When Harry Met Sally (1989). Except we’re totally NOT FAKING IT. Definitely not a place for children. Continue reading “Vegas is for Adults: Fine Dining at Joël Robuchon”