Delighted to write about my new favorite restaurant for ECS Nepal. This place has the most amazing (and affordable) Tibetan and Bhutanese food – read all about it here. Writing about food just makes me happy 🙂
Archive for the ‘ECS Nepal’ Category
Sajana Shrestha’s short film premieres at KIMFF
in documentaries, earthquake, ECS Nepal, KIMFF, Uncategorized
Last week I opened a copy of My Republica, a Nepali newspaper that I rarely read, to see a face I knew staring back at me.
In the days when I freelanced for ECS Media, before I started as editor at ECS Nepal, I wrote a lot of food reviews for their entertainment weekly (now bi-monthly) paper, Friday! and usually I was a team with one of two different but both very competent photographers.
Now I discovered that, unbeknownst to me, one of them–Sajana Shrestha–has also ventured into filmmaking. Her short film I Can premiered at this year’s Kathmandu Mountain Film Festival (KIMFF) and I was just so excited for her!
I went to see it on the 15th (last Friday) and I was really impressed – promise I’m not just saying that because I know her. It’s a seven-minute short film that tells the story of a young man who was affected by the 2015 earthquake here in Nepal and the lasting changes it has brought about his life. I really don’t want to say more than that and give it away. Despite its short length, I was surprised by how much was packed into it and its unexpectedly optimistic message.
The full article can be found here, because I know it’s hard to read from the picture above. The film itself has only just premiered but I think eventually it will go up online and when it does, I will add a link to this post.
Sajana is now working on a new film about burn victims and is passionate about telling people’s stories. I believe she’ll go far and I’m so proud to know her.
Learning something new every day…
in Ayurveda, ECS Nepal, published, writing
This month’s issue is all about local methods of traditional healing, Ayurveda, herbal remedies and related issues.
Do you know what Ayurveda is? Well, I didn’t either – till I read this: Ayurveda: A Beginner’s Overview
Still not sure I get it completely, but 🙂
And I loved the travel piece by Jeremy Vestal about his trip to Jumla: Go West! Adventure Awaits!
The articles I personally enjoyed working on most were Nepali Medicine Man – which was just amazing, to see something that to me was right out of the past so fully alive today – and Wonders out of Waste, about two awesome sisters who run a paper recycling business.
Good-bye winter
in daily life, ECS Nepal, Food, Nepali dishes, restaurants, thukpa, Tibetan cooking, wintertime
Most days since I became a regular here at ECS, I’ve either brought a sandwich or followed a group of coworkers to their favourite lunch spot, a local joint around the corner. However, not long ago a large rodent ran through there, inches from my feet. Fortunately I did not see it, but it has been enough to put me off returning there since. I’m well aware that many eateries in Nepal often play unwitting hosts to small creatures of all sorts, but what made this different was the fact that this place seemed to tolerant of or possibly even catering to the animal’s presence. And it was running from the direction of the kitchen, so…
This might seem a strange way to begin a post about delicious food, and yet. Feeling a little disloyal, the next time I wanted lunch I let the group go on without me and headed out on my own to a place across the street from our offices, where I’ve seen some of the staff eating before. It’s only marginally more upscale than the place favoured by most of my colleagues, but not by much. With chilly days still very much with us, I ordered one of my favourite winter dishes, a chicken thukpa. Thukpa is a thick soup of noodles and vegetables, served in a spicy broth, with or without your choice of meat or egg. It has its roots in Tibet, though the incarnations generally served nowadays in the valley’s small restaurants have evolved into a unique local variant.
Well, this version was delicious, and I was back again and again. A few days ago I opted for the slightly pricier ‘mixed’ thukpa, which has everything–veggies, eggs, and several kinds of meat. Heaven!
Yesterday–literally from one day to the next–warm, spring weather flooded the valley. Usually the change is more gradual, but this year the cold had lingered much later than usual, so the sudden change was all the more noticeable. Someone here at work said that the warm weather was triggered by the hailstorm we had a few days ago – everyone has a weather theory here!
All that to say, my thukpa eating days are pretty much over, unless we get another cold spell. So today, despite the heat, I ordered a last bowl of mixed thukpa anyway, the one you see here. It was delicious, another reminder, if I needed one, of why I love cold days best.
Whatever you’re eating as you read this, I hope it’s as tasty.
On newstands now ;)
in ECS Nepal, published, trekking, What to do in Kathmandu, writing
News
in ECS Nepal, Food, published, writing
In early January I was offered the position of editor at ECS Nepal, the magazine I have contributed to for years as a freelance writer. It was a big surprise, but a good one. So far it’s been a crazy, hectic whirlwind of learning, hard work, and fun.
February’s magazine (above) is a special food issue, the first with my name on the masthead. It’s pretty funny it turned out that way, since food is the topic I’ve written about most for them over the years. The great group of people I work with did so much to make it happen on time in challenging circumstances and with a new editor taking over halfway through the process–I’m thrilled and honoured to be on the team.