Joey the Cat is America’s best skeeball player so we’re delighted to present his skee-tastic new San Francisco experience. If you don’t know skeeball by name, you’ll recognise it from your childhood - it’s a classic arcade game where you roll balls up a ramp and hopefully into holes. As well as being at the top of his game, Joey runs a skeeball business, renting out beautiful machines to individuals and companies all over the Bay Area. We chatted to Joey to discover how exactly he became a skeeball whizz…

How did you first discover skeeball?
“As a child I played skeeball at Chuck E. Cheese’s with my father. But it wasn’t until I moved to San Francisco a few years ago that I rediscovered the game and started playing competitively. I renewed my love for the game. Getting my first skeeball machine was a pivotal moment in my career. I now have ten machines and I rent them out.”

What do people find so appealing about skeeball?
“Well it’s a classic boardwalk game that many people have happy memories of playing as kids. It’s what’s known as a ‘redemption’ arcade game, which rewards players with tokens that can be exchanged for prizes.”

On your YouTube video, you get the ball in the same hole every time. It’s incredible. Do you have a natural talent?
“Some people have good hand-eye coordination and some people don’t. You need to be able to maintain a high level of control and make real-time decisions about what you’re doing. But mostly it comes down to practice and studying the game. It’s only after many hours of playing skeeball that it clicks. I probably did over 5,000 hours of playing to reach this level. The first time I entered the nationals I went out in the third round so I worked even harder at my game and won the tournament the next year.”

How competitive is skeeball in San Francisco?
“I play in a league called Brewskee-Ball, which is the first ever competitive skeeball league. They’re all over the country now but in San Francisco we have around 500 players, and around 125 active players each skeeson, our word for a season. There are tournaments at the end of each skeeson and then an annual national tournament, which I won as part of the San Francisco team.”

And does competitive skeeball get tense?
“It can certainly get heated and emotional. There’s some psyching out of opponents and when games go down to the wire it can get very tense. But it never gets physical!”

What can people expect from your Vayable skeeball experience?
“We’ll start at my apartment for a session of Skeeball 101. I’ll show you some skeeball paraphernalia, my national championship, and then we’ll practice on my personal machine. We’ll play about 15 games before we venture out into the city. We’ll go to some bars and music venues where people play skeeball and experience the game in different environments. We’ll try different machines, have some drinks, and maybe hustle people for games.”

Do you ever hustle people into playing you at skeeball? It’s not as if you’re going to lose…
“Ha ha, no, I don’t do that. Unless somebody is acting particularly confidently…”

Jemaa el-Fnaa, the biggest and busiest city square in Africa, provides one of the most thrilling street food experiences in the world. When you’re over the thrill that you’ve walked straight into Arabian Nights - complete with camels, monkeys, storytellers, fortune-tellers and other clichés - you can sit back and enjoy the pure theater of eating out in Marrakech.

To the uninitiated, eating in ‘The Square’ can feel like negotiating an assault course. The stalls employ overzealous young men to lure in potential customers - and tourists are easy prey. But once you’ve found the sweet spot between being cautious and relaxing and having fun - it takes a while - you can begin to focus on the people around you. It’s a people-watching spectacular: the balletic motions of the man chopping sheep’s heads, kids fighting over the last snail in the bowl, the barely concealed tension between neighboring stalls.

Escargot stall number two comes highly recommended. The snails were a culinary inheritance from the French, of course, and here they are buttery, juicy and utterly delicious. Those with more conservative tastes needn’t worry. There are many stalls selling couscous and tagines, and excellent vegetarian versions of both dishes.

Tagine is the most famous of Moroccan dishes. I found this meatball tagine meters from the main square at a cheap restaurant called Borj El Koutoubia. A good tagine finds the perfect balance of sweetness and savoriness.

But it’s not all street food. There’s some excellent mid-range and high-end food in Marrakech. My favourite Moroccan dish is pastilla, a flaky pastry filled with pigeon meat and loads of cinnamon, nutmeg, almonds, ginger and cloves. There are also several excellent French and Italian restaurants in the New City.

In a place that can sometimes feel a little overwhelming (getting lost in the Medina was a half-hourly occurrence for me), it’s great to have a local show you round. Aziz offers Vayable experiences throughout Morocco and for his Private Marrakech Tour he can tailor a tour based around your specifications. Tell him you want to eat simple Morrocan food and be prepared to be dazzled.

Thanks to Simo, we can also now offer cooking classes in Marrakech. The four-hour lessons will tell you everything you need to know about how to create Moorish masterpieces from the relative comfort of your home. Snails and sheeps’ heads not mandatory!

There is no better place to feel the holiday spirit than Fifth Avenue, and yet Fifth Avenue is always in season. Joy, an artist who has been featured in the New York Times for her work, has been enamored with the avenue for as long as she can remember. Beginning at the pinnacle of luxury, at the world famous Plaza, Joy shared the lively history of the hotel. We then entered the lobby to trace the steps of Eloise, the famous fictional child resident. Visiting her portrait and the shop downstairs replete with Eloise dolls, life size wardrobe options for children, and a tea room for the true Eloise experience, it is clear this is the most fun way to see the Plaza.

We continued outside the Plaza to the Paris theatre, the locale for many a movie premiere. Joy knew the stories of celebrity jealousy and anger that caused a few scenes, sharing them in detail.

The next stop on the avenue was the department store, Bergdorf Goodman, the store that will ruin you for all other department stores. Joy described the artistry behind the decorations such as the white branch covered chandelier or white feather draped display.

Yet a visit to Fifth Avenue cannot be complete without seeing Tiffany’s, the place “where nothing bad ever happens” according to Holly Golightly. Listening to the history of the Tiffany’s empire and the store’s crown jewel, the yellow diamond, that is over 250 carats, you understand where the true magic of the store originates.

Joy enthusiastically continues the tour through the other highlights of Fifth Avenue proclaiming, “If we don’t have it, you don’t need it.” The tour ends at the bottom ofManhattan where Joy shares some of the most shocking history of the city. If you want the full Fifth Avenue experience from Eloise to the sordid celebrity tales to department store heaven, book this experience with Joy!

Paule doesn’t need a script or a schedule. She knows Québec City inside-out and creates informal, flexible and highly personalised local experiences in her charming hometown. Today, we’re both in a freewheeling mood so we’ll brave the rain, take a walk, check out the sights, and see where we end up.

It doesn’t take first-time visitors long to realise there’s something unique about Québec City. A big part of this uniqueness, of course, is the Frenchness; the novelty of being so close to the US border and finding people who can barely speak English. But it’s not just language that sets Québec City apart. It’s the only fortified city in the US and Canada, and the walls have a powerful Europeanizing effect. Paule took me to the Plains of Abraham where in the eighteenth century the French battled the British for control of eastern Canada. The British victory resulted in the demise of New France, but the French language has never left this corner of the continent.

It’s not exactly a challenging walk down the hill from the Plains of Abraham, yet we felt we had done enough exercise to earn our first snack of the day. Paule was in the mood for something typically Canadian and introduced me to the Beavertail from Queues de Castor, an indulgently unhealthy piece of fried dough covered in chocolate, cream and syrup. At least the resulting sugar rush had a positive impact - it powered us towards our next meal.

Québec City is famed for its tourtière (meat pies) and Le Buffet de L’Antiquaire has a reputation for cooking up the best pies in the city. This is serious Québécois comfort food, although after half a Beavertail and half a meat pie, I wondered if our plans to eat poutine - Québec’s ‘national dish’ of fries, curd cheese and gravy - were a bit optimistic.

After overdoing things on the pie front we explored the charming backstreets of the Old Town. It felt like we’d entered a French village.

As we followed the old walls, Paule told me about the city’s rich history. But rain was pouring thick and fast. We needed a warm place to retreat to. Did Paule know any well-hidden bars?

Of course she did. At Temps Partiel, a grungy bar in the Saint-Jean-Baptiste district of the city, I’d hoped for a typically Québécois cocktail but had to settle for something that’s found across Canada. The Bloody Caesar is a Bloody Mary made with Clamato, a watered-down tomato juice made with clams. It’s fair to say that Canada’s national cocktail isn’t for everyone…

With time running out, we decided we needed more food as a matter of urgency. Casse-Croûte Pierrot is one of those off-the-beaten-track places you’d never find without the help of a local such as Paule. It’s in Lower Québec, a taxi ride from the Old City, and Paule’s friend Karine joined us for the feast. We scoffed our way through two piles of French fries, cheese, meat and gravy.

I can’t recommend visiting Québec City highly enough. And when you’re there, look up Paule for a unique insight into this beautiful town.

“My old man used to take me to Manhattan Chinatown when I was a child,” says Joe, a food writer and editor, and yet another amazing Vayable foodie in New York. “I recall being not quite tall enough to look through the windows of the Cantonese roast meat shops where they hack up roasted pigs and ducks. Those experiences helped trigger my interest in Asian food, but it was living in Queens that really expanded my horizons.”

Joe is an authority on the Asian food scene in Queens, the most ethnically diverse urban area in the world. His three tours on Vayable don’t only cover three distinct areas of Queens; they cover three distinct areas of Asia. There’s the Nepali and Tibetan cuisine around Jackson Heights, the south-east Asian food in Elmhurst, and the Chinese and Korean culture of Flushing. ”Jackson Heights is really exciting at the moment,” Joe says. “In the past five to ten years there’s been a big influx of folks from Nepal and Tibet. There’s all sorts of little hidden restaurants tucked away at the back of cell phone shops.

Flushing is also a foodie paradise. “I’d say it’s New York’s most interesting Chinatown,” Joe says. “There’s been an influx of people from Dongbei in north-east China”. Ten years ago, practically nobody in New York had heard of Dongbei food. Now this hearty, fiery cuisine is available from several Flushing restaurants.

Indonesian food remains one of Asia’s most underrated cuisines. Joe recommends the OK Indo Store in Elmhurst, a mom and pop place where the food is cheap and very authentic. ”It’s all about the thrill of discovery, like finding a Tibetan restaurant in a cell phone shop,” says Joe, who’s become an expert on Asian food without ever having been to Asia. “A lot of these places are tucked away; secret restaurants you have to really search hard for. The great thing about Queens is that you can be a global explorer without having to leave your neighborhood.”
Joe is about to launch a new food blog. Keep your eyes on http://www.chopsticksandmarrow.com.

This is a guest post by Janny, one of our ambassadors in Shanghai who recently went on a trip to Europe! She went on Esther’s Old Rome Walking Tour and reports back here.

On the first day of my trip to Rome, I had the chance to meet Esther and explore the oldest area of the city. It was a wonderful experience with not only amazing history but also tasty local food.

The tour starts at Area Sacra, an easy-to-find starting point with many buses and metro stations nearby. It is located in the ancient Campus Martius, which has its origins in the Republican epoch starting from the 4th century BC. Following Esther, we walked through a hidden lane and arrived at the Jewish Quarter, where we found the marvellous Tortoise Fountain in a little square in front of Palazzo Mattei and Palazzo Costaguti.

Rome has Europe’s oldest surviving Jewish community and occupies a unique place in the history of the Diaspora. Jewish life in Rome was not easy - the walls of the ghetto separated Jews from the rest of society. They had no property rights, were only allowed to trade second-hand objects, and could not employ Christian staff. Outside the ghetto they had to wear the ‘Jewish sign’ to be easily recognized: men had to wear a yellow patch on their hats, women wore a yellow hankerchief (usually worn by prostitutes).

After learning about the fascinating history of the Jews in Rome, Esther and I crossed the first stone bridge in the city and arrived on Tiber Island. The Isola Tiberina has always been a mysterious place, shrouded in legend, surrounded by the river and linked inseparably to the origins of Rome. It was supposed to have arisen over an ancient ship, whose shape it still maintains. It’s unusual shape was further accentuated by the Romans, who enhanced the legend by building a stone prow and stern on it, giving it the shape of a warship, with the obelisk in the centre of the island like a ship’s mast!

At the end of the tour, we arrived at Trastevere. It is a picturesque medieval area located on the west bank of the Tiber. The area escaped the grand developments which changed the face of central Rome, and is a charming place to wander, eat and relax. Esther took me to a wonderful local food place and ordered some fantastic food for me to try. It was the perfect way to end the tour and rest our legs.

Over the course of two hours, we were able to see so many different places that showcase Italy’s rich heritage and culture in a very small corner of an amazing country. I ate where locals dined and travelled how locals travel. It was a huge experience crammed into a short period. I highly recommend this tour to anyone wanting to see Rome.

I’ve always liked the idea of myself as a nomad, an itchy-footed wanderluster who can get by anywhere. Since I finished school I’ve spent half my life overseas, not because I want to escape my hometown, but because I’m greedy. One life is not enough for me. I want several versions of my life, in several countries.

To create the sense I have a new life somewhere, I try to embrace the concept of slow travel. It’s about exploring beyond tourist hotspots, engaging with individuals and communities, and having a positive impact wherever I go. And as I’ve slowed down my traveling, I’ve reached a conclusion. I’m not a nomad, a person who can handle rootlessness. Instead, I crave connections, communities and friends. I don’t want to drift across continents or float through countries. I want to leave a mark and I want places and people to leave marks on me. I want to be at home every time I reach a new town.

It’s contradictory that while I regularly change my environment, I crave routine, the feeling of an ordinary life lived somewhere else. Even if I’m in a city for just a week, I like to go to the same coffee shop each morning, catch the commuter train downtown each day, go to a pub where - if I stayed a few weeks longer - the barman might know my name and how I take my favourite drink. I guess I’m like most travelers. I’m on a serach for authenticity. But surely it’s only an illusion of authenticity? Doesn’t it take months and years to be able to call somewhere home?

Vayable helps me travel the way I want to travel: as a participant, not an observer; as an adventurer, not a follower; as a human being who wants to connect with other human beings. When I go on traditional tours in big groups with unenthusiastic guides, I feel my role as a tourist is reinforced and amplified. Vayable experiences help create the illusion that I’m temporarily a local, that I’m hanging out with a friend. It feels meaningful and genuine.

And after hosting and joining several Vayable experiences, I’m not sure this feeling of authenticity is illusory. Vayable guides and customers have cooked me dinner, bought me beers, and offered me beds to sleep in. It’s true that the internet is changing the way we travel. It’s blurring the line between local and global, hosts and tourists, ‘us’ and ‘them’. The way I travel now, I don’t need to create several versions of my life. I can have one life, experienced authentically in many different places.

When Ryan promises Nashville’s diviest dive bars, he’s not lying. Just look at Dino’s, our first stop, where Ryan looked surprisingly cheery for a man who’s just found out he’s not allowed to pack heat.

Nashvillians are possibly the friendliest people on earth and Ryan - who doesn’t really carry a firearm, by the way - is no exception. He’s spent much of his twenties traveling in Asia and he loves the concept of Vayable. His tour isn’t full of facts and stats, history and trivia. It’s simply a fun night out with a great guy who knows where to go, who’ll also give you the lowdown on Nashville life over two-dollar beers.

There are faux-dives everywhere. Places where management has spent big on perfecting that worn-in look. But it cannot be faked. Dive bars are places where gourmet snacks, craft beers, credit cards, wireless internet and music from the 21st century don’t exist. Dino’s is over 100 years old and one suspects little has changed here in the past century.

This is a spot untouched by gentrification, hipsters or a taste for contemporary furnishing. Best of all, the burgers are amazing.

Yet compared to Santa’s, the second stop on Ryan’s dive bar crawl, Dino’s is Buckingham Palace.

Santa’s Pub is a large trailer covered in Christmas decorations. Inside is the most gloriously divey dive I’ve ever seen. It’s run by Santa - yes, he has a big white beard and delivers presents at Christmas - a native of Nashville who has hundreds of great stories to entertain you with. He only opened his bar last year but it’s already earned cult status among those in the know. Country legends and rock icons can often be found at the bar, and Mumford & Sons played a secret show here on their last US tour. While Grammy winners occasionally perform karaoke here, my version of ‘Man of Constant Sorrow’ was a tuneless disaster. Ryan insisted it wasn’t that bad. What a generous host!

After posing with Santa, who’s promising one heck of a party on Christmas Day, we went to another three bars, all of which were bona fide dives. I don’t want to give away all Ryan’s backstreet bar secrets here, so you’ll just have to book the tour.