By Jae-Ha Kim
Tribune Media Services
May 7, 2013
Like Amy Farrah Fowler — the character she plays on “The Big Bang Theory” — Mayim Bialik has a Ph.D. in neuroscience. Unlike Fowler, Bialik, 37, leads a well-rounded life that includes camping with her family and friends — something she prefers to more traditional traveling.
Bialik’s breakout role came at age 13 in the film “Beaches.” A couple years later, she starred in the sitcom “Blossom.” Fans may follow her on Twitter, or read her posts on her Facebook fan page.
Q. Many people first saw you in “Beaches.” What are some of your favorite beaches?
A. Let’s see, here in Los Angeles, I love Malibu since it’s the most serene and clean of the closer beaches. Hamoa Beach in Hana, Maui, tops my list for best beach ever. And Hana’s Black Sand Beach (in Maui) is also so stunning and unforgettable.
Q. If Amy Farrah Fowler and Sheldon Cooper (her genius boyfriend on “The Big Bang Theory”) were to get married and go on a honeymoon, which destination do you think would suit both their needs?
A. Probably Stockholm, home of the Nobel Prize, maybe, or somewhere with lots of trains, since Sheldon loves trains.
Q. What are your favorite vacation destinations?
A. New York and Jerusalem are tied for my favorite city, but I tend to do more family and friends hanging out when I go there, so I don’t know if it feels like a vacation so much. In New York, I eat at as many vegan restaurants as I can. In Jerusalem, I recommend doing everything the tour books tell you to! I don’t tend to go on fancy vacations at all when I’m planning it or paying, but I love camping in the Angeles Crest Forest above Los Angeles and I also love the Julian area inland from San Diego.
Q. When was your first time camping?
A. I must have been about seven or so when I went camping with some families from the synagogue I grew up at.
Q. Which camping trip was the most memorable?
A. Taking my sons camping has been a really fun adventure, since we have done it every year since my first son was born. My boys are now four and seven. I took my older son camping for the first time when he was about six months old with all of our closest friends, and he was the only baby. So everyone gave him lots of attention and I even got to relax a little! We just put lots of pads and blankets down in the tent and he was super happy and he slept really soundly in between breastfeeding every few hours.
Q. What are a few things that every camper should bring with them?
A. Besides a tent and pads or sleeping bags? A simple propane stove is great for boiling water and heating up food. A sturdy cooler is very important; a tarp for underneath your tent so that you can wipe your feet before going into the tent; a set of camping dishes and utensils. I use a set of old metal plates I got in a thrift store, and it sure beats wasting paper goods for the whole trip; a camping chair that you love. This will be important for hanging out, sitting around a campfire and overall feeling comfy.
Q. What was the first trip you took as a child? And did you love it, or not so much?
A. I traveled to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to visit my grandparents when I was quite young. It’s probably the first trip I really remember. I loved it. My mom helped me keep a journal, which I still have, of all the things we did every day: Broward Mall, the bagel store with my great aunts, the movie theater. It was a great first trip and the condominium where my grandparents lived had a pool and shuffle board, and my grandparents taught me to play cards. Good times!
Q. What are your favorite hotels?
A. I love 6 Columbus in Manhattan. It’s my favorite nonpretentious boutique hotel. It has a stellar Japanese restaurant off the lobby and a rooftop bar. The decor is really fun and everyone who works there is super nice.
Q. Where would you like to go that you have never been to before?
A. I have never been to Central or Eastern Europe and I really want to go. My mom’s parents are from the Czech/Hungary border (Muncach) and Suvalk (Poland), and my dad’s mom was from Warsaw. I’d love to go and see where they grew up, and obviously, the trip would involve touring sights critical during the Holocaust, which would make it kind of a heavy trip emotionally.
Q. When you go away, what are some of your must-have items?
A. Lavender essential oil to calm down when I get scared about being in an airplane, ear plugs, my iPod Nano and some vegan sweets as comfort food, if I get scared about being in an airplane!
Q. What would be your dream/fantasy trip?
A. I have never gone to a beach-type resort and just hung out. No plans, no appointments; I’ve been on “mom duty” for so long that it’s just never happened. I think it might have to happen this summer, though!
Q. What is your guilty pleasure when you’re on the road?
A. Sometimes I don’t buy Internet on the airplane and I just relax and read and listen to music; no business, no emails, just fun! I’m a naughty girl, right!?
Q. What kind of research do you do before you go away on a trip?
A. I like history, and wherever I go that’s new, I find out if there’s a museum of Jewish history. I’ve been to Jewish museums in major cities in Greece, Italy, France, and even Spain!
Q. What is your worst vacation memory?
A. We took two boats to get to a small island in Greece called Schinoussa. We had reserved a hotel for two nights and it took many hours to get there. We climbed the steep mountain that was the island to find out our room had been given away to people who offered the hotel cash for it. We had no other hotel we could stay in, because there was a “Traditional Night” festival that evening and every hotel was booked. Someone offered us a ratty mattress on their rooftop, which we declined. We ended up making a sad fort out of beach chairs on the cold chilly beach and as I cried myself to sleep, we heard a band start playing. … “Traditional Night” took place behind the hedges near the beach we were trying to sleep on and went on until 6 a.m., so all of the people who booked the hotel rooms were partying on the beach while we tried to sleep. Needless to say, we forged our tickets back on the boat for the next day and headed back to the mainland.
Q. What are your favorite restaurants?
A. In Los Angeles, Real Food Daily and Doomies Vegan Home Cooking. Crossroads which is Tal Ronnen’s new place just opened and I went last night and had my mind blown! In New York, I like Candle 79, Cafe Blossom, Soy and Sake and Dun-Well Donuts (Brooklyn), which win awards left and right for best artisan doughnuts, which happen to be vegan!!
© 2013 JAE-HA KIM
DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
I’ll let my son know for future reference.
Great question.