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Misa Shikuma •

48 Hours in Budapest

Bisected by the Danube River, austere and gentrified Buda was unified with the more bohemian Pest in 1873, becoming the economic, political and cultural capital that it is today. The city is divided into numbered districts, bringing to mind the Hunger Games when people refer to different neighborhoods. The main exception is the Jewish Quarter, which everyone calls just that. Like Poland, Hungary has a fraught history when it comes to World War II and the Holocaust - both nations were occupied by...
Misa Shikuma •

Male Privilege in the Kitchen

I'll be the first to say up front that, going on four years spent in professional kitchens, I'm still relatively green in the restaurant industry. That said, based on personal experience and anecdotes from friends and co-workers, I feel comfortable making a few generalizations about the biz:1. Bakeries tend to be female-dominated.2. Restaurant pastry teams are more evenly split along gender lines.3. The head chefs in both scenarios are typically male.4. Savory programs are predominantly male.  5...
Misa Shikuma •

Kitchen Life

This is the most 'traditional' kitchen I've ever worked with, in the sense that it conforms to many of the stereotypes people have about fine dining restaurants. For the past week we started at 10 am, working until the last table was finished. For reference, the tasting menu plus pre-dinner canapés and post-dinner petit fours comprise an approximately 3-4 hour experience for the guest, and the last seating is at 9 pm. On weekdays that translates to us missing the last subway trains and taking ta...
Misa Shikuma •

The Bedside Dispatches

[Repost from June 16, 2015]Around Thanksgiving of last year, my grandmother decided to stop taking all of her medications. Between the diabetes, the blood thinners, the Parkinson’s, and God knows what else she didn’t divulge to us grandkids, she had been taking some fifteen to twenty pills a day. It was a Big Deal; a decision with untold consequences for her and the rest of the family.Had she lived 560 miles north, in Oregon, perhaps she would have opted for assisted suicide. But in California,...
Misa Shikuma •

Tales From the Inca Trail, Part 3

On the third day we had a 4 am wake-up call (a throwback to my days as a baker) with a planned departure at 4:30, but in the night one of our group had come down with a nasty stomach bug. The guide went tent to tent asking for medicine, and I gladly parted with my small bottle of Immodium tablets that I, thankfully, hadn't needed.At dinner the night before, our guide had gone over the plan for day three many times, breaking it down into sections: up from the campsite to the ruins of a lookout po...
Misa Shikuma •

Tales from the Inca Trail, Part 2

Ascending from the campsite, the path was steeper and completely exposed to the elements, which included alternating bursts of intense sunlight and misty rain. Recall the most difficult, burning leg exercise you've ever done in your life and imagine that lasting for hours. Oh yeah, and with a thirty pound pack on your back! Squinting ahead, we could just make out the nipple on so-called Dead Woman's Pass (by a stretch of the imagination it resembles the profile of a woman lying on her back), whi...
Misa Shikuma •

Tales from the Inca Trail, Part 1

After several hours of trekking in the hot sun, we reached the campsite designated for lunch. The crew applauded each one of us as we entered the site. They had erected a large mess tent with folding tables and stools, where we sat and were presented with a three course meal followed by hot tea. Satisfied and slightly sleepy, our guide granted us "siesta" time before departing for the site where we would make camp for the night. I sprawled onto the grass, gratefully removing my shoes and wool so...
Misa Shikuma •

In Pursuit of the Stars

On October 21st, Michelin released its list of restaurants that had earned the coveted star rating for 2016. Despite having maintained one star for the past several years, the restaurant where I work was nowhere to be found. Confusion amongst us cooks was rampant, especially since - just a few days earlier - the executive chef had brandished the unmarked black envelope containing the red invitation to the gala celebration and lifted a toast to all our hard work. But, alas, we found out the hard...
Misa Shikuma •

JKT

"What do you think of Jakarta so far?"I've been here for almost a week now, but I'm still no closer to being able to answer that question than I was when the city first enveloped me in its warm, sweaty hug after disembarking my delayed flight from Tokyo. The only thing I know for certain is that I must tread carefully when I answer.My friends graciously pick me up despite the late hour and take me back to the three-bedroom apartment we are sharing. We pause at a traffic light near the Fairmont H...
Misa Shikuma •

The Homecoming Myth

Despite my pedigree (parents who met through the Asian student union at Cal; a great uncle whose name is on the San Francisco Chinatown branch library for contributions he made to Chinese American studies), I never really - never truly - embraced the Asian American identity until I went to Asia. No, not just went to Asia but actually spent considerable time there. Previous visits were a whirlwind of sightseeing, getting stuffed with local delicacies and going out at night, but this time was diff...
Misa Shikuma •

10 Types of People You Might Encounter at a Hostel

Real post coming soon. Currently under time/data limitations with this internet connection. To paraphrase a local:  the lack of free wifi in Auckland is frankly kind of embarrassing for a first world country. 10. (Valencia) Japanese girls.These model tourists are already asleep by the time you get home from the pub crawl and gone by the time you wake up extremely hungover. It's probably best that way such that they're not around to judge when you pull the trash can a little closer to your bed.9....