Eating My Way Through Mandeville, Jamaica

‘Rona has turned many travel blogs into food and lifestyle blogs, and Adventures from Elle is no different. I’m actually fine with that though. It’s been fun exploring other topics on my blog and sharing a bit more about myself, plus I like to think that the Earth is rejuvenating herself during our time indoors. With that said here’s a follow up to last week’s Eating My Way Through Kingston. If you missed that post, please go back and read it. 🙂

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle25 Comments

Eating My Way Through Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston is home to Jamaica’s finest dining scene, and you can get food from many of the world’s most distinct cuisines— Indian, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Middle Eastern, West African, Greek, French and of course, Jamaican cuisine. I try to eat in much more than I dine out because it’s cheaper, healthier and I like knowing what ingredients went into my food. I also enjoy cooking even if I don’t get the time to do so as often as I’d like. That being said, once in a while I love dining out! Something about having food made for me by someone who makes a living from cooking and in a different ambiance from my humble abode gets me excited. I often find myself going back to old favourites– those places which have never let me down– but trying new places can be fun too. Here’s a list of my favourite restaurants in Kingston. Pressed for time? Check out this tour instead.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle22 Comments

From My Quarantine Kitchen to Yours

My social media has been blowing up with pictures of delicious dishes, pastries and ‘quarantinis’ which everyone has been whipping up in the kitchen since being forced into self-quarantine as many countries have been encouraging or even forcing upon their citizens in a bid to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. There are many reasons for this I’ve theorized. Our favourite restaurants are closed, and those which are still open are only taking orders for takeout or delivery with restricted opening hours. People often cite lack of time as an excuse for why we dine out or purchase fast food, and well– many of us now have lots of extra time on our hands.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle25 Comments

How to Travel During A Pandemic

Now, now, you didn’t really think an essential worker who’s preaching “flatten the curve” would come here posting about how to travel during a pandemic, did you? Of course not. That would be wholly irresponsible of me, but I’m glad I have your attention. It’s business as usual for me everyday as I already spoke about in my previous post from the #covidchronicles. However, I’m aware that’s not the same for many of you who are staying safe at home everyday. Staying home has infected a lot of people with a serious case of wanderlust as I keep seeing a tonne of throwbacks and people lamenting having to cancel their travel plans on my social media feeds. In response, several corporate entities have made their content free as an incentive to provide home entertainment and encourage people to remain indoors.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle19 Comments

CoVid Chronicles: An Essential Worker’s Perspective

Here’s part 2 of my Covid-19 chronicles. Catch part 1 here.

I completed medical school last June so I’ve been a doctor in a Jamaican public hospital for 9 months now and counting. During that time I’ve seen a lot and gained a world of experience. When this current strain of coronavirus emerged, it sounded surreal BUT we all knew it was a matter of time before our country and region would be affected too given how highly virulent this pathogen is and how closely connected our world has become through the 21st century’s ease of travel. Subsequently, Jamaica recorded its first case on March 10. Every day since, or rather every hour, there’s something new. One minute it’s a public attraction closing its doors, the next it’s a restaurant, a factory, the schools, offices, then finally the country’s airports on March 21. At the time of publishing this post, the number of confirmed cases is at 26 and our nation has recorded 1 death.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle23 Comments

CoVid Chronicles: Staying Fine During Quarantine

Many people are stuck at home for days at a time during this pandemic and the biggest worry among the food-secure minority of the world is whether or not they’ll get fat from eating their quarantine snacks too quickly, and worse, the fact that their gymnasiums to battle the bulge are closed until further notice. Locally, the Jamaica Moves campaign has taken to social media with info-graphics and live streams replacing workout classes and people are still encouraged to go for solo runs in their communities once of course it’s safe to do so. Healthy meals, snacks and fresh produce can be delivered to your house once you can afford the delivery fees or order in large enough batches to get these fees waived. That being said, many people aren’t so vocal about the elephant in the room– maintaining your mental health while life as we know it is disrupted.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle30 Comments

Peter Tosh Museum, Saint Andrew

Peter Tosh is a platinum-selling Grammy award winning artiste and is one of the most talented reggae musicians to emerge from Jamaica. He got his claim to fame from the Wailers, a trio which also consisted of Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer. Peter Tosh was born in 1944 in Westmoreland, Jamaica’s most western parish and his life was brought to a brutal abrupt end in 1987 after a home break-in and robbery-turned-murder. Tosh had a rough start with an unstable family background, shuffled around from relative to relative based on circumstances but his musical talent emerged early despite the upheavals. Tosh is a self-taught guitarist and keyboardist who got his first real taste of music and performing when he moved to Trench Town as a teenager and met his fellow band-mates in the early 1960s. He taught them how to play, and they dabbled in ska and rocksteady before finding their calling in reggae, infusing their tunes with spiritual and political messages from their newfound conversion to the Rastafari faith.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle12 Comments

Jamaica Rum Festival 2020: Recap & Highlights

Time sure flies when you’re having rum, I mean, fun. 2019 was the inaugural staging of the Jamaica Rum Festival and social media would not let me live it down that I missed it! The pictures looked epic and even my friends and colleagues were speaking about it for days. Thus, I eagerly anticipated the second staging, knowing that the event would be here to stay given all the success it had in its first showcasing and I was not left disappointed. The Caribbean produces some of the world’s best rums and our history is intricately intertwined with the spirit. Rum production dates back from the 17th century on plantations where my enslaved African ancestors toiled to produce this lovely liquor from sugarcane and its by-product molasses, and rum became the region’s chief export product after muscovado sugar.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle30 Comments

The Art Exhibit in Kingston You Need to See: ‘Jamaica, Jamaica’

‘Jamaica, Jamaica!: How Jamaican Music Conquered the World‘ is the latest art exhibit being shown at the National Gallery of Jamaica. It opened on February 2 and closes on June 28, 2020. It’s one of the most exciting exhibits ever launched by this gallery and was aptly opened in February, locally observed as Reggae Month. This exhibit was previously shown at Philharmonie de Paris in 2017 and titled “The General” after the 1985 hit song by artiste Brigadier. Renamed Jamaica, Jamaica! after gracing local shores, this exhibit documents how the tiny Caribbean island of Jamaica was able to become a global musical force to be reckoned with. The capital city of Kingston and venue of the exhibition is recognized as the birthplace of six distinct musical genres which led to Kingston being designated official UNESCO creative city status in 2015.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle15 Comments

Konoko Falls, Saint Ann

Konoko Falls is a tourist attraction nestled in the hilly outskirts of popular resort town Ocho Rios. The Arawakan word for rainforest, konoko, lends its name to this 600-feet cascading waterfall and garden, formerly known as the Mahoe Falls and Coyaba Gardens; coyaba is also an Arawakan word meaning heaven. Both names are fitting, even more so given that Taino artefacts have been found here, suggesting that the area was once a settlement.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle22 Comments