{"id":5344,"date":"2017-12-31T16:55:32","date_gmt":"2017-12-31T16:55:32","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2019-06-28T14:53:53","modified_gmt":"2019-06-28T14:53:53","slug":"happy-new-years-reflections-on-2017s-less-important-happenings-html-d1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laughfrodisiac.com\/2017\/12\/31\/happy-new-years-reflections-on-2017s-less-important-happenings-html-d1\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy New Years! Reflections on 2017’s Less Important Happenings!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u200bHappy New Year, almost! Remember this time last year when amazing celebrities kept dying and Trump got elected so people were like \u2018thank god 2016 is over!\u2019 not realizing that the former would keep happening and the latter would beget so much worse awfulness because he\u2019d actually be in POWER in 2017?! Yeah it\u2019s been quite a year. I\u2019m not sure if America will ever recover from the assaults against the foundations of democracy and governance but we have to try. So the most important thing to look forward to in 2018 \u2013 and work with every fiber of your being to bring about \u2013 is a big giant blue wave of votes in November. And if you\u2019re not in America, you still have to work on your own country. I mean even Sweden with all their amazing health- and babycare is full of Nazis so DO NOT REST! Anyway, it\u2019s not all terror and anxiety and sleepless nights and high blood pressure and fear and guilt and despair and hopelessness. Well it is under the cheeto, but we have to distract ourselves every once in a while from the gloom! What follows is a hodgepodge of my favorite such distractions from this past year, in the fields of travel, food, and entertainment, because that\u2019s who I am and that\u2019s what I care about. Also this is a good way to catch up on all the blog posts you didn\u2019t read! And maybe I\u2019ll give a few hopes for 2018, who knows we\u2019ll see.<\/div>\n
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i feel like this sums up 2017 too, the vibe you know? like wtf is happening up is down<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
TRAVEL YAYS<\/span><\/strong><\/u><\/div>\n
Best Travel Day<\/strong><\/em>
\nIssyk-Kul and Fairytale Canyon, Kyrgyzstan<\/a><\/span><\/strong>
\nI had a lot of fun days this past year, mostly because we traveled SO MUCH. But one in particular comes to mind. Day 4 of our tour through Kyrgyzstan was my favorite because fun things just kept coming at us! We made our favorite piece of art; we explored the amazing Fairytale Canyon; we went swimming in Issyk-Kul lake; we had a nice time in a guest house; I got to shower and pee indoors. Great success! Click on the link to read all about it and see all the\u00a0 many pictures! (Obviously I\u2019m not counting days where I sat on a couch with my doggie or played with my nephew that wouldn\u2019t be fair to the others.)<\/p>\n

Most amazing sights<\/strong><\/em>
\n3. The Alhambra in Granada<\/a>.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/a>It was hot as balls and took days to see (not days) but it was so worth it. What an amazing place.<\/p>\n

2. Honestly I\u2019m forgetting a lot \u2013 we saw A LOT of shit this summer \u2013 so what immediately comes to mind is the Monte Palace Tropical Gardens<\/strong><\/span><\/a> in Funchal, Madeira. I was so surprised at how much I loved this place and how peaceful it felt. It\u2019s not as famous or as recommended as the other Botanical Gardens in town, but it\u2019s 100x better \u2013 and so much bigger! You could get lost in there for a whole day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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1.\u00a0Was there any doubt? Obviously it\u2019s the Spectacular Wall of China<\/strong><\/span>,<\/a> which is what I call the Great Wall. It more than lives up to expectations and is completely mind-blowing. I am so lucky I got to see it!<\/div>\n
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Favorite surprising place
\n<\/strong><\/em>\u200bNanxun<\/strong> <\/span><\/a>was such a surprise! We stopped at this little-known (and little) water town outside Shanghai because we wanted to see a water town and heard this was nice. I didn\u2019t expect to completely adore this gorgeous place! I mean we know I like water but this water town was on a whole other level. Amazing!<\/p>\n

Favorite hotel
\n<\/strong><\/em>Come on! Is there any question? I wuv you Fraser Suites Chengdu<\/strong><\/span>!<\/a> I wuv you!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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FOOD YAYS<\/span><\/strong><\/u><\/div>\n
Best meal
\n<\/strong><\/em>The best thing I ate, Savory Edition, was my dinner\u00a0at Jujubeetree Vegetarian Lifestyle<\/strong><\/span> in Chengdu<\/a>. This is where I ordered a dish that sounded super gross and still have no idea how or why that happened, but it was some otherworldly magic that made me do it because it was the best dish oh my goddd and the best meal in all of China, which has the best food in all the world (at least where I went this past year) and now I want Sichuan food.<\/p>\n

Best dessert
\n<\/strong><\/em>Oh man, the tahini milkshake from Goldie<\/a><\/strong><\/span>in Philadelphia is insaaaaaane! It is like liquid halva (but not too liquid \u2013 they know real milkshakes need to be thick!). It\u2019s so amazing that I tried to recreate it, and I did a decent job which you can find the recipe for at the above link. I\u2019m also fo sho making it tonight to ring in the new year!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

ENTERTAINMENT YAYS<\/span><\/strong><\/u><\/div>\n
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\u00a0Most fun at the theatre in London
\n<\/strong><\/em>“How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”<\/a><\/strong><\/span>
\nThis tiny little production at Wilton\u2019s Music Hall \u2013 not exactly the West End \u2013 put on one of the best productions of the year, mostly because of its attention to detail and its milking of every single possible drop of humor from the script. It was hilarious and so well done.<\/p>\n

Most fun at the theatre in New York<\/strong><\/em>
\n\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>“Once On This Island”<\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/a>I can\u2019t believe I knew so little about Once On This Island before seeing the new Broadway revival, but I am in deep now. It was so delightful and I was enraptured, on the edge of my seat and forgetting everything except what was going on in the sand pit in front of me. This glorious show deserves a long run\u2026and with my main man Norm Lewis joining the cast soon, it deserves repeat visits! I cannot wait for the cast album. I imagine my 2018 will be spent listening to it nonstop.<\/p>\n

Funniest Things of 2017<\/strong><\/em>
\n3. I’m a terrible person I know and I still crack up at all the tee shirts I saw in China, and so many of the signs, especially the fake New Balances that don\u2019t know what they want to be. Loves it! (at end of post)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0“The Good Place” Season 2
\nI had NO IDEA how they would move on from that killer ending of season 1, just really no idea, so it\u2019s good I\u2019m not writing for this show because they moved on and it\u2019s even better than it was before. Such geniuses! Every episode has like five quotes that have become permanent fixtures of my daily speech, and if I wanted to keep typing with my arms that end in stupid sticks, I would say more, especially because I have no idea what\u2019s going on but everyone is talking and I think I should too. But nothing beats this product of the genius of all geniuses, Megan Amram, as she shared all her ideas for the ever-changing food places in the neighborhood. CAMEMBERT-BIE LET\u2019S GO PARTY????? HAHHHHHHHH!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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1. “Big Mouth” on Netflix
\nWho would have thought this disgustingly raunchy cartoon about kids going through puberty would be the funniest thing ever? Oh it\u2019s from Nick Kroll? And has Maya Rudolph and John Mulaney and JASON MANTZOUKAS?? Yeah, it\u2019s the funniest thing ever. So gross, so inappropriate, and so f-ing genius. Below is my favorite song, courtesy of the goddess among us mortals, Maya Rudolph.<\/div>\n
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