Hello! Welcome to bonnevivante.
My name is Jean and I started this blog to keep a photo diary of my two favorite things: food and travel – food cooked in a cramped kitchen with not enough counter space, food eaten in foreign countries, and a lot of food eaten in Los Angeles – home sweet home.
I have two rules when it comes to eating:
1. Eat well, mostly vegetables.
2. When traveling, try everything once.
Food = therapy.
“Let food be thy medicine.” – Hippocrates
Travel + food = Paradise.
Past trips: London, Paris, Rome, Venice, Milan, Naples, Florence, Switzerland, NYC, Boston, Atlanta, Orlando, Hawaii, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Cancun, Mexico, Hong Kong, Macau, Seoul, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Guilin, Shenzhen, Taipei, Singapore (1 | 2 | 3), Bali, Bangkok, and Phuket, Moscow & Saint Petersburg.
Current Trips booked: Los Cabos, Mexico!
Trips to be planned: Greece, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Vietnam, Tibet, Cambodia, Alaska, Czech Republic, Portugal, Morocco, Dubai, Scandinavia, Amsterdam, Peru, everywhere!
I love getting on a plane and finding myself jet-lagged and confused in a new country. Try everything. Touch everything. If you have the resources to get out of where you’re from, get your cushy tushy off the couch and go somewhere. If you don’t have kids or you have parents you can foist the kids off onto for a few weeks, book a cheap plane ticket right now. You’re a struggling student? Get a part-time job, internship, sign up for Habitat for Humanity, pull a loan. Whatever it takes. Study abroad! Who cares if it’s not the ideal vacation tourist spot or people don’t speak English? Just go. It’ll be an adventure. It’ll be an experience. You’re not going to regret it. Unless you eat at a random McDonald’s. Then you’ll definitely regret it.
“Do we really want to travel in hermetically sealed popemobiles through the rural provinces of France, Mexico and the Far East, eating only in Hard Rock Cafes and McDonalds? Or do we want to eat without fear, tearing into the local stew, the humble taqueria’s mystery meat, the sincerely offered gift of a lightly grilled fish head? I know what I want. I want it all.
I want to try everything once.”
Anthony Bourdain
had fun drooling over the korean food
@0@
i must try everything when i go there :D
definitely! it’s an amazing travel destination.
Dear Jean,
I just read your post on Bon Vivante and am writing to say that while you are beautiful and charming and I like your writing style, I am disappointed that you seem so uncaring regarding the issue of shark fin soup. I understand that you are young and have a desire to “try everything once,” and in many ways, that is an adventurous and admirable point of view. But please know that our attitudes and behaviors do have an affect on others in ways large and small. The killing of sharks for their fins is not only cruel and inhumane, but the practice is out of control and endangering the very existence of these animals … which are vital to the health of our very oceans, and thus, human life. I would urge you to please rethink your view and consider the affect of your attitude and behavior in the wider world … it DOES make a difference, and one enlightened person has the power to enlighten others. Have you heard of the independent film, “Sharkwater?” See if you can find it, perhaps on youtube or through file sharing. You may be surprised at what you will learn.
Jean, I wish you love and light, and may good fortune attend all your endeavors.
Sincerely, Lydia Cypher, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
please leave this comment on your site and not remove the ones you dont like
i really think you should give a little more thought before eating sharks fin soup it such a waste of a animal just so rich people can feel more important paying for a very expensive soup
regards
Mr Fin
I understand both point of views. I myself made a conscious decision to stop eating shark fin in 1990′s even if it is served at weddings and it is a big thing in the Asian Culture. I even went one step further to stop buying animal/ocean products. Only thing I cant do is be a vegetarian but still trying. I love my steak too much. But remember, it only starts with 1. Good luck and all the best.
PS. Does anyone know that Birds Nest are actually bleach white and dried before it is packed and sold. Original colour was either black or grey. So you are eating a bleach product.
Your recipes are amazing and the photos are incredible! I can’t wait to keep following your blog!
Thanks! I haven’t been able to update too much recently because of some crazy exams, but hopefully I’ll get back into the swing of things soon. :)
dear jean,
fuck sharks…..eat whatever, whenever and as much as you can. Just be sure that you take pictures and blog it.
Hi, since I enjoy your site and blog posts, I have nominated you for the One Lovely Blog Award. If you’d like to read and repost the award, here’s the link: http://perisspiceladle.com/2012/05/16/the-power-of-three-liebster-award-versatile-blogger-award-and-one-lovely-blog-award/
Look forward to reading more of your posts.
Peri.
Thanks Peri! That is awesome :)
I’ll have to repost the award when I have some downtime
do you have a youtube account? i would love to watch your cooking videos if you have any
nope! i’ve never made any videos – don’t have the technology for it
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