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Jess Esa

Jess is the creator and editor of Books and Bao. They're passionate about the world, its literature, food, culture, and people. She enjoys sharing her travel tips with others and capturing those perfect moments.

Hiraeth is a uniquely Welsh word that encompasses familiar feelings of nostalgia and homesickness: a longing to return to the comforts of home. And, while there are arguments to be made that no word is ‘untranslatable’, hiraeth nevertheless speaks to the love and community so intrinsically stitched into Welsh culture. Books and Bao is run …

Read More about Hiraeth Gift Boxes: Luxury Welsh Products for Your Home

Book subscription boxes are everywhere these days, and almost all of them have something about them that speaks to a certain kind of reader. Some focus on a genre; others lean into our romantic adoration of books. Secondhand Bookshelf does something entirely novel (pun intended) and unique. Aside from a treat for yourself, they also …

Read More about Secondhand Bookshelf: The Bookbox Making a Difference

While many may associate Busan with Haeundae beach, delectable fish cake, and Haedong Yonggungsa temple, there just so happens to be another spot in Busan no less amazing than these aforementioned spots! That is Bosudong Book Street.  While many things in Korea focus on the newest, the latest, the most luxurious, the name brand, and …

Read More about Bosudong Book Street (Busan): A Place for Bookworms

Arid Dreams, the much-anticipated collection by Duanwad Pinwana, is, remarkably, (outside of academia), her first time being published in English internationally. That is, along with her novel Bright – released at the same time as this collection. After reading these stories, I’m so grateful to Mui Poopoksakul for translating so elegantly and beautifully, and for …

Read More about Arid Dreams by Duanwad Pimwana BOOK REVIEW

Oslo has a lot to be proud of! The city won the European Green Capital in 2019 and it made the National Geographic Traveller (UK)’s Cool List 2019. Oslo is one of those cities that you’re not entirely sure what you’re going to get up to then the city unfurls before you and you realise …

Read More about 20 Unique Things to Do In Oslo (A Culture Guide)

There were so many reasons to wearing face masks even before this pandemic nightmare. It’s hygienic if you’re sick, a face mask for pollution can protect from airborne particles (like my favourite Vog Mask which saved me during yellow dust season in Korea). It’ll stop you touching your face which is one of the most …

Read More about 12 Cute Face Masks (& Mask Patterns) for Safe Travel

 A rich, milky, thick cup of tea, filled with dark spheres of squishy, chewy pearls. That is bubble tea! You may have wondered, while you chew the chewy dark bubbles found at the bottom of the sweet and slightly bitter black milk tea, who came up with this one? While stories of type and variety …

Read More about The History of Bubble Tea (+How to Make it at Home)

Australia is one of the great literary nations on Earth. Its hipster capital, Melbourne, is a UNESCO City of Literature — hosting literary festivals and being home to the stunning State Library of Victoria. That means there are plenty of places to pick up second-hang books in Australia. Why Buy Second-Hand Books in Australia? Some …

Read More about 10 Great Places to Buy Second-Hand Books in Australia

Japan is home to many wondrously spiritual and moving events. Experiences like Fushimi-Inari Shrine and its snake-like avenue of torii gates and Mount Fuji, in any season, with Autumn and Spring as the king and queen times to visit are sure to leave an impact. Certainly, the Japanese Tea Ceremony or Way of Tea known …

Read More about Japanese Tea Ceremony: Everything You Need To Know

Bristol is known as the hipster city of Britain for a very good reason: its enormous and eccentric arts and culture scene. The Bristol bookshops are unique and varied; Bristol street art is famous across the UK (Banksy started here, after all). Then there’s the Bristol theatre scene and all the fantastic talks and lectures …

Read More about 8 Unique Things to Do in Bristol (UK)