Bizarre Food: Grasshoppers and More | Cambodia


The last time I posted about bizarre food was tarantula in Cambodia. You would think that would be extent of our strange eats, but there was even more! We asked our tuk-tuk driver, MJ, to take us somewhere we could eat something strange in Siem Reap. He said he knew of a place that we could eat crickets. We couldn't turn down the opportunity and asked him to take us there!


When we arrived to the nondescript corner of a random street, we saw the piles of items lined up on the sidewalk. There wasn't a person in sight and understandably so. I think tourists are not on the search for strange eats like this. There were crickets, grasshoppers, beetles and even dried snake. I think any creepy thing you could think of was cooked and ready to eat!


Initially, we only wanted to try the grasshoppers, but we decided to be adventurous and order a variety. I mean, might as well, you never know when you'll have the chance again. I will say that for a moment I freaked out. I was holding the bag of bugs and I looked down. For a split second, I imagined them all alive and slithering about. I quickly got over it and we dug into that bag o' bugs.

Surprisingly, they weren't bad. It's not my favorite thing in the world, but it's definitley worth trying. I was most keen on the crickets and grasshoppers, but could've passed on the snake and beetles. All I know is that if something happens and we run out of other protein sources, I could survive on insects!

Antique Archaeology | Nashville, Tennessee


When Markus and I were living in Korea, we scoured the internet for interesting television shows. Through the encouragement of our dear friend Brittney, we watched an episode of American Pickers. It's a show about two guys that drive all over the country looking and "picking" for really strange and old items and paraphernalia. After that first episode, we were hooked and watched heaps of episodes. Every time we watched an episode, we dreamed of "picking" and visiting Mike Wolfe's Antique Archaeology in Iowa. We knew were were moving to Chicago and that it wasn't too far to drive.

While were driving around Nashiville, I remembered I read online that Wolfe opened a second store there. Thankfully, my dear cousin Joy was flexible and fit it into her packed itinerary. We had a great time exploring the store. The space was a lot smaller than I thought and it didn't have a lot of "picked" items. It was more geared toward fans of the show and I was a little disappointed. It's okay though, I was happy to be able take the detour and see some strange things.