Argentina

Books
- El Martin Fierro - José Hernandez
- The Aleph - José Luis Borges
- Saving the Americas: The Dangerous Decline of Latin America and What The U.S. Must Do (Cuentos Chinos) - Andrés Oppenheimer

Movies
- Nine Queens (Nueve Reinas)
- The Son of the Bride (El Hijo de la Novia)
- A Boyfriend for My Wife (Un Novio para mi Mujer)

Drinks
- Malbec Wine - it is stronger than Merlot and smoother than Cabernet Sauvignon.
- Clericó - it's a mixture of white wine with fruits (ie. bananas, apples, orange juice, strawberries, grapes, pears and peachs)
- Fernet with Coke - I don't like this drink… but lots of Argentinians do. Fernet is an Italian digestive.

Dishes
- Empanadas - wraps made by folding a dough or bread patty around the stuffing. They could contain: ham, cheese, meet, onions, etc.
- Locro - hearty thick stew. The defining ingredients are corn, some form of meat (usually beef, but sometimes chorizo), & vegetables.
- Asado en Cruz - technique for cooking a lamb on a cross.

Restaurants
- Happening - great meat (Buenos Aires)
- Osaka - Peruvian-Japanese food (Buenos Aires)
- Los Amigos - homemade food in a VERY local place (Buenos Aires)

Bars & Night Clubs
- Million - Bar in an old house to have some drinks (Buenos Aires)
- Crobar - Night Club (Buenos Aires)
- Café Tortoni - the most famous coffeehouse in Argentina (Buenos Aires)

Places
- Buenos Aires
- Iguazu Falls (Misones)
- Perito Moreno Glacier (Santa Cruz)
- The Seven Lakes (Rio Negro)
- Purmamarca and Tilcara (Jujuy)
- Talampaya (San Juan)
- Mar del Plata and Pinamar (Buenos Aires)

Australia

Movies
- Chopper
- The Castle
- Kenny

Drinks
- VB
- Toohey Extra Dry
- Carlton Draught

Dishes
- BBQ - Any type of meat
- Try some Kangaroo, or Crocodile
- Pavlova - It's a desert

Restaurants
- Doyles Seafood Restaurant (Sydney)
- Sydney Fish Market at Piermont (Sydney)
- Revolving Restaurant at the top of Sydney Tower $$ (Sydney)

Bars & Night Clubs
- Home (Darling Harbour, Sydney)
- Pubs in the Rocks area of Sydney
- Opera Bar (Sydney)
- Ivy (Sydney)
- Bungalow 8 (Sydney)

Places
- Ularu
- Sydney Opera House
- Blue Mountains
- Whitsundays
- Wine Glass Bay (Tasmania)

PS.- Thanks Phil!

Chile

Books
- Twenty Poems of Love and a Song of Despair - Pablo Neruda
- The House of the Spirits - Isabel Allende
- Papelucho (Children stories but great approach to the Chlean culture) - Marcela Paz

Movies
- El Chacotero Sentimental
- Machuca
- Kiltro (great low budget film; our own version of Kill Bill)

Drinks
- Pisco Sour (Pisco and Lime)
- Piscola (Pisco and coke, our national drink, sublime!)
- Fanschop! (popular mix of beer and Fanta (orange soft drink)

Dishes
- Pastel de Choclo (corn and meat cake)
- Curanto (Mix of potatoes, fish, vegetables, seafood). Absolutely marvellous!
- Chupe de mariscos (Mix of seafood prepared with bread and cheese)

Restaurants
- Liguria Providencia. Great place to eat Chilean food and also have some drinks. It's always packed. (Santiago)
- Mercado Central. Any restaurant in our local Fish Market will provide the most fresh and tasty seafood ever. (Santiago, Valparaíso and San Antonio)
- Juan y Medio: outside the city of Rancagua: my best on Chilean food, especially meats and non fish dishes. (Rancagua)

Bars & Night Clubs
- La Feria. Underground techno music club. It's where the best DJ's play.
- Zanzibar: great pub in Santiago, near the river. The best cocktail drinks and ambient.
- Bellavista Neighborhood, lot's of cool places.

Places
- The Central Coast. Rent a car and drive from Papudo to Valparaíso. Beaches are beatiful and there's a lot of small towns to visit. Stay in small hotels in Zapallar, Maitencillo or Valparaíso. Avoid Viña del Mar, it's just a big city.
- Our Atacama Dessert. Stay in San Pedro de Atacama, it's a nice little town with great places to stay and eat. Take tours to see the gaciers, the valley of the Moon and the archeological sites.
- Pucón. In the mid south, climate is rain forest type. It's a town focused on outdoor tourism. Try to go in spring. It's just beside the lake that rests below the Villarrica volcano. You could stay weeks there trekking, fishing, doing rafting, sailing, skiing in winter, and just renting a car and visiting the landscape
- Puerto Varas and Puerto Montt. It's our south region. Rain forests. It's landscape is beautiful. Lot's of volcanoes, lodges with Spa's, fishing trips, great food. You can rent a car and visit Bariloche, in Argentina.
- Carretera Austral: the southern highway. It's a 4x4 trail 1,240 kms long. It is way south, lots of rain, try to go in summer. The idea is to camp, look at the hundreds of little lakes, explore the nature. There's fishing, rafting and just the pleasure to be far away, deep in nature with no one else around.
- Torres del Paine. Located in the extreme south of Chile, in the southern tip of the continent, looking to Antartica. It's the final high mountains of the Andean range around of which there's an impressive show of glaciars and thick ice. It's a scenary hardly matched anywhere else. Tourism is environmentally friendly, just wooden made lodges or camping. There's a trail that people take that's easy going and mind blowing.
- Isla de Pascua. I leave it at last because it's expensive to get there. I've been told it's a nice Polynesean island. Great surf, you'll find the Moais and the best of it is the people. They are great fun.

PS.- Thanks Phillip!

England

Books
- Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson (written by an American but very reflective of English life)
- Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
- Fever Pitch - Nick Hornby
- The English - Jeremy Paxman
- Tales of a Small Island - Bill Bryson
- Fear Factory - Nick Hornsby

Movies
- Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
- This is England
- The Great Escape
- Italian Job
- Dambusters

Drinks
- Lager (mostly european like Stella or Australian like Fosters)
- Real Ale (served room tempreature and flat has stupid names like Old Withered Hens Cock)
- Tea (normally milky, with two sugars)
- Bitter (real beer) - served warm, flat and hand-pulled from the barrel
- Gin and tonic - bit old-fashioned now but gin was invented in London

Dishes
- Sunday roast with all the trimming: yorkshire puddings, spuds, carrots, greens and loads of gravy
- Fish n chips, served in newspaper with lots of salt and vinegar
- Jellied eels. Gross, but an east London classic
- Curry (I kid you not)
- Pie and Mash (meat pie with mash potatoes and gravy)
- Roast Dinner (roast meat, roast potatoes, veg, gravy, yorkshire puddings)

Restaurants
- Godots (Chingford, London)
- Any curry house down Brick Lane (London)
- The Ivy - traditional English restaurant to spot celebs (London)
- The Cow - small Notting Hill pub serving pints of prawns, oysters and of course Guinness (London)
- The Fat Duck - voted the best restaurant in the world, highly experimental food! (Bray, Berkshire)

Bars & Night Clubs
- Fabric (London)
- The End (London)
- Camden Place (London)
- Three Colts Pub (Buckhurst Hill, Essex)
- Y Club (Chelmsford)

Places
- London
- Manchester
- Bath
- Southend
- The Lake District
- Cornwall
- Cambridge
- The Cotswolds
- Football at Wembley
- Rugby at Twickenham
- Tennis at Wimbledon
- Notting Hill Carnival
- A West End Musical
- Shakespeare at the RSC

PS.- Thanks Geoff & Brad!

France

Books
- A woman's life (Une Vie) - Guy de Maupassant
- The crusads through Arabs eyes - Amin Maalouf
- La Cliente - Pierre Assouline
- 20000 Lieues sous les mers - Jules Verne
- La nuit des temps - Rene Barjavel
- Les fleurs du mal - Maurice Dantec

Movies
- Subway (one of the first Luc Besson's movies)
- Nikita (another Luc Besson movie)
- Leon - The professionnal (one more Luc Besson movie)
- Doberman
- Darwin's nightmare (Le cauchemar de Darwin) - these documentary is controversed, for some good reasons, but is still really worth)
- French Fried Vacation 2 (Les bronzés font du ski) - a cult comedy in France

Drinks
- Kir (white wine + fruit cream)
- Monbazillac (my favourite wine: sugared white)
- Cacolac (chocolate milk)
- Red and White Wine
- Pastis

Dishes
- Crepes (french pancakes)
- Chouquettes (cream-less cream puffs, sprinkled with large granulated sugar - ask in Bakery)
- Piperade (basque country dish - made of onion, tomatoes, green peper, eggs)
- Magret de Canard, sauce aux fruits rouges (thinly cut roast duck served with a red fruit sauce)
- Cuisse de Canard Confit (Confied duck leg)
- Foie Gras (Stuffed Liver)

Restaurants
- Le pain quotidien (for the brunch) - Place du marché, Paris 1
- Le Coffee Parisien (if you are missing real tasty cheesburger) - Paris 6, Paris 16
- Café of the Great Mosque of Paris (best place to have a mint tea with oriental pastries) - Paris 5
- La Tour d'Argent (Paris)
- Le Grand Vefour (Paris)
- Laurent (Paris)

Bars & Night Clubs
- Buddha Bar (lounge with a giant buddha inside) - Paris 8
- La Fleche d'Or (rock and electro concert place) - Paris 20
- Batofar (bar/concert/exhibitions/nightclub on a river boat) - Paris 13
- Le Breguet
- Le Chat Noir
- Le Tryptique

Places
- Paris
- Napoleon III appartments inside the Louvre Museum (Paris)
- Basque Country (St Jean de Luz old fishery town, biarritz surfing beaches, beautiful mountains…)
- Chateau de Versailles
- Bonifacio (Corsica)
- Mont St Michel (Normandy)
- Chateau de Chambord (Vallée de la Loire)
- St Paul de Vence (Provence)
- Nice
- Marseilles
- Burgandy
- French Riviera
- Nimes

PS.- Thanks Prisca & Max!

Germany

Books
- Faust I (Johann Wolfgang Goethe)
- Perfume - Das Parfum - (Patrick Sueskind)
- The Reader - Der Vorleser - (Bernhard Schlink)

Movies
- The Edukators (Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei)
- The lives of others (Das Leben der Anderen)
- Rabbit without ears (KeinOhrHasen)

Drinks
- Weizen - white beer (e.g. Paulaner, Erdinger)
- Rieslingschorle - Riesling with sparkling water (2/3 to 1/3 in a half liter glass)
- Jaegermeister Red Bull

Dishes
- Spätzle - special kind of pasta mainly made in the south of Germany
- Maultaschen - pasta dough wraped around a mixture of miced beef, spinach, egg and a soaked
- Sauerkraut

Restaurants
- Grill Royal (Berlin)
- Borchards (Berlin)
- Surf 'n Turf (Frankfurt)
- Have the best bratwursts in the marketplatz of Bremen

Bars & Night Clubs
- Jays (Dusseldorf)
- P1 (Munich)
- Weekend (Berlin)

Places
- Brandenburger Tor, Reichstag, etc. (Berlin)
- Fish market at 5 am after a big night out (Hamburg)
- Oktoberfest (Munich)
- Heidelberg
- Cologne (cathedral)
- Rothenburg ob der Tauber

PS.- Thanks Matthias!

India

Books
- Maximum City (Suketu Metha)
- Liberty or Death (Patrick French)
- Midnight's Children (Salman Rushdie)
- Discovery of India (Jawahar Lal Nehru)
- Train to Pakistan - Agony of a village torn apart by partition (Kushwant Singh)
- In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India (Edward Luce)

Movies
- Lagaan
- Bandit Queen
- 15 Park Avenue
- Rang De Basanti (2004) - An intense film about the youth of today's India
- Sholey(1975) - Mother of all indian masala movies- comedy, tragedy, action romance and singing around trees all packed in 1 blockbuster
- Do Bigha Zameen(1953)- About a poor farmer's struggle to keep his farm land from being taken away by money lender

Drinks
- Masala Chai - Milk Tea with indian twist
- Bhang ki Thandai - Intoxicating cool drink served during Holi festival
- Lassi - A refreshing cool drink basically processed derivative of milk

Dishes
- Kasturi Kebab (Chicken Kebab with various spices and an egg batter)
- Dal Makhani (Black lentils cooked with desi ghee and other awesome spices)
- Masala Dosa
- Daal Bati (Dumpling of wheat flour served with lentils)
- Makke ki Roti Saro ka Saag (Maize Flat bread with Spinach)
- Mave ki Kachori (Sweet Surprise)

Restaurants
- Swagat(Delhi)
- Bukhara (Delhi)
- Khan Chacha's Kebab Corner (Delhi)
- Delhi Haath - A consortium of all indian cusines (Delhi)
- Choki Dhani - A buffet in village setting with music and dance performances (Jaipur)
- Road side Dhaba - Authentic India with stomach churing recepies (Found along all Highways)

Bars & Night Life
- Elevate (Delhi)
- Q-Bar (Delhi)
- Shalom (Delhi)

Places
- Delhi
- Mumbai (The contemperory India with best pubs discs and whole lot of places to explore in vicinity)
- Kolkata
- Bangalore
- Jaipur (Pink city is best of India's traditional culture with its forts, palaces and colors all around)
- Hyderabad
- Pondicherry
- Udaipur (The Lake city famous for bollywood style wedding but is a whole heritage joy ride)
- Kerela (The mix of sensuality and nature and the best of hospitality)
- Sikkim (The best of himalayas with its monastories and pagodas and the montains)
- Jaiselmer (The city of golden fort in the mid of dessart hosts one of the best new year parties)
- Goa (The beaches at its best in India)

PS.- Thanks Rishi and Nirvikar!

Nigeria

Books
- Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe)
- The Man Died (Wole Soyinka)
- The Gods are not to Blame (Ola Rotimi)

Movies
- Saworide
- Thunderbolt: Magun
- Oleku

Drinks
- Local Gin (only for the strong hearted)
- Gulder lager beer (real strong beer, matured and thick)
- Shekpe (very corrosive, again not for the faint hearted but very cheap.gin mixed with roots.)

Dishes
- Eba and Okro soup (eba is a staple in nigeria.flour like, made with hot water and rolled into balls, then dipped into okro soup, the smoothest soup ever.popularly called draw soup)
- Pounded Yam and Edikanikong soup (the yam is pounded to look like eba.yam is a tuber, eba is cassava.the yam is first boiled.edikainkong is the richest soup made dfrom very green vegetables and mixed with plenty of beef and stock fish.)
- Eba and fresh fish soup (fresh fish soup is just like the name says.)

Restaurants
- Margrets (continental like setting but serving the richest of local delicacies. Owned by a friend. Mention my name and you might have a discount) - Port Harcourt
- Iya (local, vey local resturant. Ran by some old ladies for years. The food is irresistable) - opposite U.I in Ibadan
- Jevinik (just like margret) - Lagos

Bars & Night Life
- Papas (very good music, relatively young crowd.) - Lagos
- Illusions (the best club in the east according to those who should know) - Port Harcourt
- Jay Jay 10 (trendiest nite club and bar) - Lagos

Places
- Abuja
- Calabar
- Jos
- Lagos
- Obudu Cattle Ranch

Music
- African Queen (Tuface)
- Never Far Away (Lagbaja)
- Konko Below (Lagbaja)
- 97 (Femi Kuti)
- Gongo Aso (9ice)
- Bibanke (Asa)
- Safe (M.I.)

PS.- Thanks Kelichi!

Peru

Books
- Un Mundo Para Julius - A world for Julius - (Alfredo Bryce Echenique)
- La Palabra del Mudo - Word of mude - (Julio Ramon Ribeyro)
- El Mundo es Ancho y Ajeno (Ciro Alegria)

Movies
- Tinta roja - Red ink
- Doble juego - Double Game

Drinks
- Pisco Sour (made of pisco - grape liquor-, lime juice, special sweetener , egg and ice)
- Agarrobina (made of Algarrobina liquor, milk, sweet milk, egg and ice)
- Machu Picchu (made of pisco, orange juice, granadina juice, mint cream and ice)

Dishes
- Choritos a la Chalaca (seafood + onions+ chile+ tomatoes+ lime juice)
- Papa Rellena (smashed potatoes filled with a meat stew, then fried)
- Picarones (Dessert made of pumpkin)

Restaurants
- La Red. Best dish: Picante de mariscos. Hot stewed seafood (Lima)
- El Grifo. Best dish: Fetucini in huancaina sauce with beef (Lima)
- La bodega de la Tratoria. Dessert: "5 leches" (5 milks) (Lima)

Bars & Night Clubs
- La Noche de Barranco (Lima)
- Ayahuasca (Lima)
- La Posada del Angel (Lima)

Places
- Cuzco. Machupicchu! Archeological site.
- Arequipa. Colca Canyon. Wonderful landscapes in the highlands. See the condor fly just 20 m away
- Amazonas. Kuelap. Archeological site
- Ica. Nazca lines, Paracas natural reserve and don’t miss sandboard in the dunes
- Iquitos. Jungle!!! Navigate in Amazonas river
- Puno. Lago Titicaca, highest navigable lake in the world
- Puerto Maldonado. Manu national park

PS.- Thanks Carla!

Sri Lanka

Drinks
- Lion Lager, lion stout is actually very good.
- Arrack - this shit is potent like crazy man. I love it. It can be made from coconut as well… its nut.

Dishes
- Curry Curry Curry. There is also a preparation called "deviled". So you can have like devilled chicken or beef. Its AWESOME!
- Kothu roti

Restaurants
- Chinese Dragon
- Flower Drum
- 88
- Waadiya Sea Side Restaurant
- Banana Leaf Biriyani.
- Pilawoos (amazing 24 hour road side restaurant)

Bars & Night Clubs
- Bue Elephant
- The gallary
- H20

Places
- Colombo
- Kandy
- Nuwareliya
- Down south - Galle, Benthota, Hikkaduwa - all amazing beach resorts.

PS.- Thanks Ram!

South Africa

Books
- Life and Times of Michael K (J.M. Coetzee)
- House Gun (Nadine Godimer)
- Disgrace (J.M. Coetzee)

Movies
- Jeruselema
- Tsotsi
- Amandla; a four part revolution

Drinks
- Castle Lager
- Umkomboti

Dishes
- Pap and meat

Restaurants
- Cape Town Fish Market resturant (Cape Town & Pretoria)
- Wandies Resturant (Jo'burg)

Bars & Night Clubs
- Cool Runnings (Pretoria)
- Newscafe (Midrand & Pretoria)

Places
- Cape Town
- Durban

Music
- Pata Pata (Miriam Makeba)
- Stemela (Hugh Masekela)
- Weekend special (Brenda Fassie)
- The Clap Song (Skwatta Kamp)
- Ndihanbanawe (Mafikizolo)
- Mowbray Kamp (FreshlyGround)
- Zithande (FreshlyGround)

PS.- Thanks Kelichi!!

United States of America

Books:
- Gates of fire (Steven Pressfield)
- A River Runs Through It (Norman Maclean)
- A Salty Piece of Land (Jimmy Buffett)
- The Secret Life of Bees.
- The Namesake.

*NY Times' Bestseller List - best source for finding good reads according to your favorite genre.

Movies:
- Braveheart.
- Last of the Mohicans.
- Caddyshack.
- Top Gun.
- Supersize Me.
- Superbad.
- National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

Drinks:
- Budweiser.
- Scotch rocks.
- Kettle One and Soda.
- Microbrew: When in the Rockies, beer is king. Try Fat Tire when in Denver.
- Wine: Pinot Noir from Oregon or Washington State; Cabernets, Merlots, Pinot Grigios, abound at boutique wineries throughout Napa/Sonoma, or sparkling wines from Chandon when in N. California.

Dishes
- Waffle House Chicken and Eggs, scrambled, with the Hashbrowns - Scattered, smothered, and covered and well done.
- Mexican… pretty much all of it.
- Sushi - spicy tuna/salmon rolls, toro sashimi.
- Beef Burger (ordered best in the mid-west US): with cheese, bacon, onions, the works. Fudrucker's is famous for them.
- Hot Dogs (ordered best at the ballpark): enjoy one during the 7th inning stretch of the baseball game!

Restautants
- Peter Luger's.
- Gramercy Tavern.
- Waffle House.
- Gino's East Pizzeria (Chicago)
- Gary Denko (San Francisco)
- Sensi (Wynn, Las Vegas)

Bars & Night Clubs
- Prefer local pubs.
- Microbreweries.
- The Clift Hotel (San Francisco)
- Tao (NY o Las Vegas)

Places
- Yellowstone National Park, NW
- Augusta.
- Key Largo, FL
- New York, NY: Empire State bldg, Statue of Liberty
- San Francisco, CA: Golden Gate Bridge, Cable Car ride
- Chicago, IL: Sears Tower, Architecture cruise on Chicago River
- Washington, D.C.: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Capitol Hill
- Los Angeles, CA: Sunset Blvd, Beverly Hills, Hollywood everything
- Las Vegas, NV: The gondola at the Venitian, shops at Caesars, Cirque du Soleil shows, cheesy churches for quickie weddings!
- Austin, TX: South by southwest festival: major music extravaganza

PS.- Thanks Jen & Hunter!