Thursday, May 31, 2007
the independent traveller
ola from madrid! day one of being the lonely traveller went well, and im back in the hostel relatively early since it´s not that safe to be wandering around the streets by myself late at night. i walked for 7 straight hours all around the city and my socks were stinky when i took them off after getting back. eww. it´s been an adventure all the way from LA to London to here - klutzy me didn´t fail to mess up somehow, but it all worked out in the end cos im in the hostel in one piece. phew! my backpack and haversack make me look like a pregnant hunchback, and im sure im going to build mega deltoids by the end of this trip but makes me feel more authentic. haha. typing on the spanish keyboard is kinda hard cos the symbols are not in the places im used to them being. ive been cheapo today and didnt go to any of the sites that required an entrance fee. and my meals were 3euros and under. woohoo. i feel proud of myself. =P im in good company of bear and my camera and that has kept me pretty occupied, on top of planning the rest of my trip that is. ive got 2 nights of accommodation in madrid and 3 more in valencia but nothing else after that. im hoping i can find a place to stay for one more night in madrid cos i want to go watch a real madrid game and visit the market on sunday.
time´s up on the free internet. laters!
Labels: travel
2:30 PM
Saturday, March 10, 2007
no,la!
if new york is the big apple, then new orleans is the big easy.
a gumbo (we say melting pot, they say gumbo) of french and spanish cultures, it feels like im in a different country when in new orleans. in the heart of the city are jazz bars topped off with hurricanes and hand grenades, voodoo shops and haunted houses, french balconies, mardi gras beads, and of course the creole and cajun food (gumbo, jambalaya, po-boys, alligator, etouffe - we love them all!).
coined the big easy because it's such a laid back place. the french quarters is (possibly) the only place in the US where the cops won't arrest you if you're caught walking around with a beer. they have cocktails-to-go. how ridiculous is that. buskers line the streets showing off their tricks -- mimes, tarot card readings, card tricks and good ol' tunes that make u tap your feet.
beyond the city lie above-ground cemeteries, sprawling plantations and murky swamps. the dead aren't buried because new orleans is below sea level and whenever the ground floods grandpa and grandma will come floating down the street. the swamps had been changed by the hurricane, but the swamp creatures that had been washed away had found their way back - the heron, the alligator and the riverrats. a pity the alligators weren't in the mood for marshmallows yet.
the food: carribean jerk chicken po-boy, beignets and cafe au lait at cafe du monde, the bubbagump shrimp co., house brew at the crescent city brewery
(i never remembered to take photos of the new orleans food because i was always too eager to gobble it down...)
the street scenes: buskers, cafe du monde, french balconies with mardigras decorations, the french market, bourbon street, buskers
the architecture: st paul's cathedral, our hotel, the above-ground cemeteries, a ghostly building, new orlean's city skyline
the environs: the swamps, bridge across the mississippi, the famous natchez, rss new orleans, crooked street lamp along st. charles
the people: at frank's (where they had reallly good gumbo), along bourbon street with huge ass beers to go!
sarah, stephanie, budi and me
Labels: travel
9:24 AM
Monday, February 05, 2007
the big apple
good friends, good food. good times.
arrived in new york thursday night/friday morning after a 6half hour bus ride. starlight express was pretty good - free
bagels, coffee and chocolate on the bus, and even a clean bathroom too. wowee, it rocks compared to greyhound. but anyway, i digress.
i got in so late that cherie and auntie were both asleep already. oops! we went for supper across the road at some korean restaurant and had
fried dumplings on the house (cos i wanted to eat some but it came in 11s and i didnt want to eat so many, so i asked if i cld share it with the waiter haha),
noodle soup and more
dumplings in beef broth.
breakfast at the hotel consisted of a toasted
cinnamon raisin bagel, tea, and 10 pieces of cornflakes for which i got scolded by the breakfast man because it was after ten o'clock.
headed to greenwich with the goal of finding magnolia, the pretty pretty cupcake bakery. cherie and auntie got caught up shopping and we never really made it their. had lunch at au bon pain - 2 kinds of soup:
wild mushroom soup and
broccoli cheddar, with
rosemary breadsticks;
chicken caesar salad; 2
rice bowls. i was stufffffeeeedd.
after more shopping and a random make-over thingy at bloomingdales, we searched for a bakery/restaurant that the sales manager at some store had recommended us to go.
butternut squash soup,
ham and smoked mozzarella sandwich with arugula and pesto, and an
apple almond tart. i picked at it (well not really, i ate a considerable amount) because i was meeting chris for dinner.
dinner was at penang (singaporean food, hoorah!). had
roti chenai,
chicken rice,
braised pork with yam and
chinchow. i reckon nonya was better, but oh well, anything is better than nothing.
then we went on a hunt for magnolia. it was SO difficult to find. i learnt that you can send a text message to 'google' and it will text u back with the search details. coolness! went back to chris', split a
red velvet cupcake, and then went back to the hotel with 4 more in hand.
day two, cherie went shopping and so i decided to hang around by myself. had another
cupcake for lunch, did a little bit of reading and then took a nap. finally headed out to ICP to catch cartier-bresson's exhibit. unfortunately i didn't have much time because i took so long to get out of the hotel and had to rush through his photographs. what a waste.
met up with mich and we went to the city bakery where they were having a hot chocolate festival. we shared a
caramel hot chocolate with home-made marshmallows and a
chocolate lemon tart. ooh. yumminess and sinfulness but such goodness.
after tea was dinner (haha all i did was eat! gosh!). had planned to go to the pearl oyster bar but changed our minds and had dinner at A.O.C. instead. on the table were
mussels in white wine broth,
a bread basket with vinegar and olive oil and
escargos with garlic and basil. i ordered a
salad with filo pastry and goat cheese served on spinach, which was nothing like i expected it to be, and hence stared at it for a good minute trying to figure out what it was when it was served.
post dinner was at coldstone creamery, and then magnolia (again, since cherie hadnt been there). i got myself a
banana pudding which was oh-so-delicious. like everything else i had been eating.
got up late on sunday. had one and a half
cupcakes and a slice of
toast for breakfast. then had lunch with uncle's business partner at lily's.
charsiew horfun,
shrimp horfun, 3 types of
roast meat,
sushi,
sashimi,
dumplings,
fried rice,
lo mein,
charsiew wanton mee... and more. it was a day of rude waiters - at lily's, at serendipity, and at the place where we eventually had dessert. serendipity was a pretty place, and the frozen hot chocolate looked so good, but the waiter was rude (and gay, according to uncle wally), and i had to catch the bus, so we gave it a miss.
i dont remember the name of the last place we went to, but we had
caramel apple pie with tahitian vanilla icecream,
warm vahlrona chocolate cake with a liquid center and a
creme brulee cheesecake. "not really just" keep on eating. haha.
it was great seeing cherie again. and her parents were really generous and more than took care of me. i came back with a huge box of chuqianyiding mee, milo, curry paste, fishballs, mantou and more. i think i have enough food for a month!
Labels: travel, weekends
7:50 AM
Friday, January 05, 2007
washington dc
the washington monument and lincoln memorial
Labels: foto, travel
10:51 AM
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
winter holiday
The semester ended and the holiday began before I knew it. After pulling a twenty-fourer in the library on Friday night, the only thing I had energy for for the rest of Saturday was to sleep. But I couldn’t afford the luxury of a long nap. Laundry, fako Jap dinner with the leftovers for the boys who so kindly stayed up the entire night with me (miso soup with tofu and fishballs, cold buckwheat soba, dumplings and cabbage with scrambled egg) and packing. Not in the best state of mind, I packed too much unnecessary stuff and not enough warm clothes… and so I found myself dragging my gianormous suitcase up and down the stairs in the metro stations of DC and Boston. BOO, and still having to borrow a jacket from maps.
So anyway,
Washington DC:
By the time we got in it was dark and I was ravenous. We shared two sandwiches and a tub of ice cream for dinner, and then headed back for an early night. Day two in DC, orange pekoe tea and chicken stromboli from Dean and Deluca started off our day (plus veryyummy cookies too). We then spent the entire day at the Smithsonian – the art museum, the Washington monument, Lincoln memorial and the White House. It was nice bringing Shel around because it made me look at DC through new eyes and got me excited about the things that I had seen before. We got some really good pictures of the reflecting pool at sunset. Dinner at Tombs in Georgetown, topped with warm brownies and cold vanilla ice cream even on a too full belly. But the best part of the day was meeting up with my long lost friend – Audrey, who I haven’t seen or talked to in 6 years (or maybe 7?). Insane that we finally see each other again half way across the world after so long!
Boston:
Got up not-so-bright (cos the sun hadn’t risen yet) and early to catch a flight to Boston. It was a PAIN in the butt dragging my stupid suitcase around and I wanted to throw it away SO BADLY. Checked in to HI-Boston before setting off to explore the quaint city that Boston is! I loved it – the Victorian architecture juxtaposed against the harsh edges of the modern skyscrapers, big fancy stores and cute little shops, Boston Common, the red line that we could never follow, daunting but oh-so-gorgeous Harvard, clam chowder in a bread bowl, hot tea on a cold afternoon… ooh. Stale bagels and tea was our breakfast staple, free courtesy of HI. We had lunch one day at the oldest oyster bar in town, and while the corn bread and chowder tasted great, the burger and the service was less than average. I got so mad at the discriminating waitress that I couldn’t enjoy the food. On our third day we visited Salem, MA where witches and spells are abound. Unfortunately, it was off peak season and most things were closed. Weird, because there was something unspoken but spooky about the place, and the females all looked like they could possibly be witches. I love Boston for its richness in culture, its intellect and its character. So many institutes of learning are located there – Harvard, MIT, Boston College, Berkelee College of Music etc., giving the place a sense of austerity and sacredness.
Labels: travel
1:06 PM
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
big plans
i was talking to my turkish friend that day, and now im inspired to go travel the mediterranean - italy, greece, turkey, egypt at the very least, and spain, france, israel, and morroco if possible. heck, and everything else.
Labels: travel
4:28 PM
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
fall break
where we stayed
cooking dinner
dinner at midnight
fooooood
on horse back
rolling hills
the appalachian mountains
don't have any pictures of the gauley river, where we rafted, because we didnt pass by a lookout point where we could stop, and we couldnt bring our cameras with us to the river. it would have made a really pretty picture though.
Labels: travel
10:34 PM
Monday, October 09, 2006
on a road trip without a map
last minute decisions, no planning. we rented a car, jumped in, and headed off. five hours instead of three. winding roads. detours. colours of the fall - green, yellow, orange and red. loft cabin. barbeque. budi and his corn. charlie, real or imaginary?. stuffed silly. budi and his cat. late night conversations. scrambled eggs and fried eggs. nutella. horseback riding. gorgeous scenery. my prissy horse betty. vineyards. dr emmet brown at walmart and his fried chicken. outlet shopping!. funny tshirts. getting lost. getting lost somemore. head banging. three hours instead of one. dinner at midnight. budi and his corn. having to drive to take a shower. boys taking longer than girls. smores by the bonfire at two in the morning. marshmallow in my hair. chocolate toe nail polish. stuffed silly. white water rafting. rescue mission. class 5 rapids. jumping off the raft. budi the sexiest asian.
best fall break ever.
Labels: travel
10:33 AM
