Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott are the husband-and-wife storytelling and photography team behind Uncornered Market. They travel deep and off-beat, aiming to connect the world through people, food and adventure. Six years and 75 countries later, they are still going...and still married. Read more…
How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization
Author: Franklin Foer
Who knew you could learn so much about globalization, economics and politics from soccer? Great read.
Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
Author: Julia Cameron
One possible path to re-discovering the creativity you never knew you had.
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, New Edition
Author: Jared Diamond
An admirable crack at explaining why the world is the way it is by way of an anthropological macro-history. This book probably comes up the most in conversation as we travel.
The Cathedral Within: Transforming Your Life by Giving Something Back
Author: Bill Shore
Inspiring profiles of social entrepreneurs and projects we all can learn from and hopefully replicate to give back to community.
Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation
Author: John Carlin
Although the storyline is built around the South African rugby team and the 1995 World Cup, this book is more about Nelson Mandela and how he was able to unite a divided country. Inspiring.
Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Capetown
Author: Paul Theroux
The author re-visits Africa and re-assesses the place he once knew... and judges it once and for all. Well written, poignant observations of the thumbprints left by career politicians, aid workers, and everyday people.
Outliers: The Story of Success
Author: Malcolm Gladwell
A look at the internal and external factors of how extraordinary people got to be, well, extraordinary. One of those books that challenges assumptions and makes you think differently.
Shantaram: A Novel
Author: Gregory David Roberts
Administering first aid in a Bombay slum, selling fake passports and running guns to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan. Technically a novel, but closely linked to the Author's own experiences. Fantastic read.
Autumn days. The sun pulls up short. The light bends. The days shorten. We exchange the coming of winter for the changing of the leaves.
Today, in the midst of Mother Nature’s machinations, a double rainbow appeared outside the window overlooking the Church of St. Teresa in Vilnius, Lithuania. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Europe, Lithuania, Photography by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
5 Comments | 29 September 2008
Xinjiang Cuisine (Uighur Cuisine) – Not-So-Chinese Food
We begin our Chinese food series in the same place we entered China: in the city of Kashgar in China’s western frontier province of Xinjiang. Like the native Uighur people and their culture, food in Xinjiang province resembles Central Asian and Turkic cuisine more than stereotypical Chinese food. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: China, Food, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
9 Comments | 25 September 2008
When we talk to people about our travels in China, we sense their fear.
No, not political or economic fear:
Didn’t you have trouble with the language? How about the food? Chinese food in China is terrible, isn’t it? Don’t they eat a lot of dog?”
All fair questions and sentiments, particularly if you’ve never been to China. We have a real story to tell about food in China. Armed with frighteningly limited Mandarin language skills and a sincere disinterest in dining on dog or innards, we managed to eat like kings on a pauper’s pence during the three months we traveled across China.
Continue Reading »
Filed Under: China, Food by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
11 Comments | 23 September 2008
Welcome to the view inside the Shanghai Maglev (magnetic levitation) train once it reaches its maximum speed of 431 kilometers per hour. No typo there – that’s 268 miles per hour for the conversionally challenged. The trip from the center of Shanghai to the airport takes a cool 8 minutes and costs an even cooler 50 Y ($7.00).
Wonder what 260+ mph looks like in full motion? Check out the short video below and experience the Shanghai Maglev train from the comfort of your own home. This is modern Chinese development at its best. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: China, Travel, Videos by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
No Comments | 21 September 2008
In zoos all over the world, crowds battle to catch a peek of one of the world’s most recognizable and rarest animals, the giant panda. During our visit to the Chendgu Panda Breeding Research Center, tourists were so few that the pandas actually invited us to join them and granted us an interview. Here’s what Jing-Jing, their spokesperson, had to say: Continue Reading »
Filed Under: China, Humor, Travel by: Daniel Noll
8 Comments | 19 September 2008
drumroll…us. OK, so the award is only virtual, but it’s always nice to be noticed.
Karen from Rambling Spoon passed the Brillante Weblog Award to us earlier in the week. As the Asia correspondent for Gourmet magazine, Karen knows a thing or two about food. Her blog conveys the wonderful intersection of food and travel, something we understand well.
Similar to a chain letter (meme in blog-speak), the award stipulates that winners pass the award on to seven other blogs. While there’s no threat of doomsday if we don’t, I thought I’d use the opportunity to highlight a few blogs I’ve been reading recently. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Blogging by: Audrey Scott
7 Comments | 19 September 2008
Friendly people, delicious food, green parks, active temples – even pandas. Why Chendgu doesn’t get more coverage in the tourist press, we don’t know. It quickly became our favorite big city (population over 10 million) in China. Although Chengdu is not stocked with high-profile tourist sights like Beijing and Xi’an, to quote another tourist: “There’s something that just feels right about the place.”
We arrived in Chengdu, the capital of China’s Sichuan province, in early June 2008, not long after the devastating May 12th earthquake. Many questioned our judgment to visit so soon, but guest houses assured us the city was safe. Our flight there from Nepal via Tibet carried around 20 passengers. It was clear most people were staying away. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: China, Travel by: Audrey Scott
2 Comments | 17 September 2008
On Friday, I had my first recording gig in Vilnius, Lithuania. I played “a typical American woman abroad” in a local radio advertisement.
“So what does a typical American woman abroad sound like?” you ask. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Europe, Lithuania, Perspectives by: Audrey Scott
6 Comments | 15 September 2008
Some instincts are universal. That virtually all parents want a better life for their children is one of them. Our journey continually bears this out irrespective of the cultural and socioeconomic context of the regions we visit.
But in China, something extraordinary has happened. Two decades of economic growth, an exceptional cultural emphasis on family, and the one-child policy have all conspired to yield a generation of only children accustomed to the full focus of their family’s emotional and financial resources. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: China, Perspectives by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
11 Comments | 13 September 2008
Once you get past the mounds of chili-marinated chicken feet and the rows of village dogmeat vendors, Chinese food in China is terrific.
Regional Chinese cuisines and ethnic minority specialties deliver a diversity of flavors and texture. The vast array of peppers, spices and sauces ensure that taste buds rarely grow tired. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: China, Food, Photography by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
3 Comments | 11 September 2008
