Category Archives: Travel

my travel stories

Malaysian edition: Culinary delights in Kuala Lumpur

Posted in Chinese/Asian, Food, Travel by

My long absence can be explained by a last minute decision to head to Kuala Lumpur for a friend’s wedding. There was the Perth wedding and a week after that a bunch of friends and I indulged ourselves in culinary heaven for the couple’s second round of celebrations in Malaysia.

I love weddings, to say the least, and even more so when it is held overseas because the celebration keeps on going long after the couple has gone on their honeymoon. And that is exactly what happened in KL.

As soon as we landed and checked into the hotel, food was the main thing on the agenda. Really, Bukit Bintang is the place to be! Great hotels everywhere and just walking distance to all the places we wanted to go to. I learned from the hairdresser I went to that the place we have been dining at for a selection of hawker food is the best in town. What a relief to hear that from a local. This place is called Lot 10 – more like the food court of a shopping mall called Lot 10. Anyhow, you can find all sorts of things you want to eat there! They are cheap and delicious.

A sample of treats we had at Lot 10, a cleaner venue for hawker food:

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But no trip to KL is complete without sampling the food found in Jalan Alor, a popular street for dinner or supper or just a place to hang out after a big night out. Though some shops serve the same kinds of food the trick is to find the shop that sells the best dish.

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And this guy made the night complete…or was it early morning? Turkish ice cream in 3 flavours – vanilla, chocolate, and durian.

Great food for about a third of the prices in Perth!

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October’12 in a nutshell

Posted in Photography, Travel by

October has been a very busy month! All the stress and preparations from the previous 9 months all culminated in October…

My cousin finally walked down the aisle…now they tell me I’m next. Haha. We threw her a hen’s night 1 week before the big day.

a more, um, artistic photo of penis straws from my cousin’s hens night.

And I made my first wedding cake! A present for the couple.

And so after the wedding a lot of us young ones made it to the Philippines for another round of celebrations. It really does looks island-y from above!

One of our stops was Boracay – famed for white sand beaches..

 

Philippine Edition: An ode to mangoes

Posted in Coffee & Desserts, Drinks, Filipino, Food, Travel by

Cut up some green mangoes and add onions, tomatoes, pork crackling to turn it into a refreshingly sour salad then top it off with shrimp paste

if fruit shakes have awards…mango shakes would win the best fruit shake ever award

can’t get enough of these shakes!

Even unripe/green mango shakes are just as great! It’s really sour but works up your appetite!

This might be the only place where you can get California Maki with mangoes in it. And no, it’s not weird at all when you’re in the Philippines. In fact, a California Maki here without that tiny piece of mango is not a California Maki :)

Mangoes are a great accompaniment to desserts too like milk pudding

mango ice cream anyone?

The Philippines’ most famous export…probably. Dried mangoes – so you can give them out to everyone you know…

There is nothing like Philippine mangoes!! Mabuhay!

*Dried mango photo source http://www.sweetsweetmangos.com/dried_mangoes/7D_Dried_Mangoes_5Pack180.html

August’12 in a nutshell

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How is it the end of August already? Feels like the year just started…and now shops are stocking up on Christmas decorations already. It’s crazy how time flies. But anyhow, I squeezed in a little holiday to Sydney in the midst of all my studying, working, and other things that I should be doing. It was a good 4-day break.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sydney Opera House

Three Sisters at the Blue Mountains

Of course I managed to get my hands on some Zumbarons and other sweets and they survived the plane ride!

And no trip to Sydney is complete without me bringing home some Krispy Kreme doughnuts for my doughnut deprived friends/colleagues/family. I brought back 4 dozens of doughnuts. Holy cow, everyone was staring as I walked through the aisle on the plane.

Exploring Perth 3: Perth Cultural Centre

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A sudden interest in the “Fringe World Festival: Amusements for the Masses“, happening on 29th January to 19th of February in Perth, has led me to discover a personally unchartered territory in the city.  Various activities I wanted to attend during the festival are happening in Perth Cultural Centre and I had no idea where it is. I have decided to leave it until the day of the events to find out where this venue is but, as luck would have it, I found the cultural centre by accident.

There is a free public bus in the city centre that goes ’round and ’round the same route and there is a stop called “museum”. Years of taking this bus I’ve always made a mental note to check out what lies in “museum”  but it was always put it off for something less intriguing like shopping. Alas, I actually got off the bus on this hot and sun-glaring day and started walking towards what looked like an old building. Behold! Standing next to it is the Western Australian Museum; and that, my friend, was the beginning of my hip happening intellectually stimulating day in Downtown Perth. I was only in the city for a haircut and I got side tracked (not that I’m complaining).

A major part of the reason of wanting to visit the WA Museum was to check out the “Extraordinary Stories from the British Museum” temporary exhibition. I have seen the ad for this since last year but I procrastinated until now to check it out. Well the other reason was to cool myself down with free airconditioning. Going in I didn’t really know what to expect. I thought only 1 exhitbition ran at a time but I was wrong. There’s an exhibit of animals as well and it took a few turns before I found the British Museum exhibit thanks to the helpful staff on site. The exhibit itself was fairly small. A few artefacts here and there from various Commonwealth countries ranging from millions of years ago to the recent years. It was an educational experience overall and here are some of the things that stood out for me.

The first statue of Buddha – it’s remarkably different from the gold Buddha statues I am accustomed to when I see them in temples.

Coca-cola coffin – apparently, a coffin serves as an indication of the kind of life lived by the deceased person.

Handgun stool – a chair made of guns to symbolise the end of war and conflict. After taking back or confiscating all the guns art was formed because people did not know what to do with all the extra guns.

***

Still in the same precinct, I saw the State Library. Do you know when was the last time I was in a library? Two years ago studying for final exams before graduating. Wow. I didn’t realise how long it has been until I typed up those words. The university library used to be my home and I loved every minute I spent with books.

I am quite impressed with how modern looking the State Library is. It looks scholarly (as in it feels very inviting for a study session) and has sufficient air conditiong on a hot summer day. I didn’t check out the collection of books they had but it looks like it has quite a large collection. It has 2 floors and even a play area for toddlers. I’m not quite sure how to become a member as well and that is my task for the next few weeks; to join the library and actually borrow books.

***

Then I continued walking around the cultural centre and found the Art Gallery of Western Australia. This place reminded me so much of my time in New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Sure it’s smaller than MoMA and the exhibits are completely different but what I liked about the Art Gallery of Western Australia is the space. It is definitely not as crowded as MoMA or any other given galleries and museums in New York for that matter and it’s a good thing because you get to concentrate on what you’re looking at. The couch they have in the middle of the galleries where you can sit and observe an artwork? Yes, you can actually get a seat. Another great thing about the Art Gallery of WA was it’s exhibit featuring local artists. I’ll be honest and say that I do not know any famous local artists. Looking at the artworks I begin to appreciate them based on what I see and not by who I know. It was most certainly a different experience to seeing Van Gogh’s Starry Night (in hindsight, Van Gogh was really the only reason why I wanted to visit MoMA). Here at the Art Gallery of WA, I knew none of the artists so I took my time looking at each single artwork and there were quite a few impressive ones. It was amazing to see how different shades of red can convey such powerful emotions.

***

I walked along the cultural centre to see if there are any more surprises that I could come across. Well, it turned out that the biggest surprise of all was the location of the cultural centre. It is right next to our equivalent of New York’s Grand Central station. For the past few years I literally spend 6 days a week at this station and it wasn’t until this day that I discovered that the exit I have never taken led to Perth Cultural Centre. Lesson learned: never be a stranger to your own city.

Exploring Perth 2: Perth Hills

Posted in Adventures, Perth, Travel by

Thanks to a car breakdown incident, I have discovered a new place in Perth. It’s not new per se but it’s unchartered enough that it brings me all kinds of excitement whenever I pay it a visit. Of all the years I have lived in Perth, I have not once set foot in this part of town; a town called Kalamunda, part of what is otherwise known as the Perth Hills.

Left crippled without a car, I decided to ask the company I work for, after being fed up with public transportation, if we had any spare vehicle that I may borrow while my car is being fixed. Luckily, there were quite a few spares! A colleague and I drove up to Kalamunda to pick up the spare vehicle – it’s also safe to say that I can now cross out driving a pick up truck from my bucket list – and it was the conversation I had with her during the ride that sparked my interest in exploring Perth Hills. The drive up made me realise that Kalamunda is not that inaccessible from where I live (as I previously thought); about 30 minutes from home and 15 minutes from the office by car without traffic jams.

My quest to look for a decent cupcake shop in Perth made me trek my first official visit to Kalamunda. That visit was enough to make me want to come back for more. I was pressed for time then so I only took about half an hour or so to stroll around. The shopping area, located along Haynes Street and its surrounds, is not that big but also not that small. It is small enough that it has a very close-knit community feel to it yet big enough to provide you with whatever you need (supermarkets, Bunnings, cafes, restaurants, shopping…).

One Sunday, after much Googling about Perth Hills, I went to the Kalamunda Farmer’s Market. This market is open until 12pm every Sunday so Auntie C and I rushed off after an early breakfast to get there before it closes. Big mistake regarding that breakfast. There was so much to eat at the markets that we should’ve just eaten breakfast there! A few cafes were open and there was also a creperie stall. Being full would not stop us from eating more anyway; it would just make us extremely full and skip lunch altogether. A few of the things you’ll find at the market are:

  • specialty bread
  • fresh fruits and veg
  • seafood
  • olives/olive products
  • crepes
  • plants for sale
  • honey
  • macarons

So after a stoll on a fine spring day, we decided to cool down with some homemade ice ceam at Collodel. This is one of the best homemade ice creams I have had in  a while. It was smooth and not too sweet. Just perfectly divine. I had the creme caramel flavour and it was yum yum yum.

Since we were already in the area, Auntie C and I headed out to Gooseberry Hill; a neighbouring suburb that is like a 2-minute drive. The main reason for going there was to go to this French cafe and patisserie called Le Croissant du Moulin. It is tucked away in a very small village shopping centre along Railway Road that I missed it while cruising down the street. Thankfully there was a round-about nearby. All the cakes looked enticing that I really really want to buy them all. Okay, we limited ourselves to just 3 (because we didn’t have enough cash left). Two words for the sweets – tres delicieux! I have concluded by now that Perth Hills houses some of the city’s best kept food secrets.

On the way home, we drove through the scenic zig zag drive that is worth a visit too. I never knew Perth had a scenic, let alone a zig zag, drive. It is a sight of the city from a different point of view.

That’s half a Sunday well spent.

I love you New York. Will you marry me? Part 3

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The last 2 full days of our trip to NYC were full on. As you may recall I went back to the hotel quite early the night before (but didn’t sleep til late anyways) so I started my 3rd day in the city that never sleeps super early, as in 6am, with only a few hours of sleep. Why? Because I wanted to watch The Today Show to see the people who have been keeping me company in the mornings. That, and also for my 15 seconds of fame. This was one of those days when I am very thankful for staying in such a convenient hotel. Nobody wanted to accompany me to the show so I went by myself and I had to walk in the dark because I had to be at Rockefeller Center before everybody else to get a good spot. I got there around 6:45am. It wasn’t full yet but there were only a few spots left where you can lean on the railings. Being shorter that almost everyone at the set I really did need to be in front. Let me tell you this - the experience of watching the show on TV is completely different to actaully being on the set and wanting to be on TV. When you watch it on TV it seems like so much fun. Of course it’s only fun on the set when they actually get to your corner. You have to know where the hosts stand so you can greet/shake hand/chat/take photos with them at the first instance; otherwise it’s gonna be a long wait. It didn’t take me long to realise that I would be at the set for quite some time. I was at the opposite end of where the hosts first did their recordings and all that. Then they vanished back into the studio; and then come out again each time going to a corner other than mine. Because of that a group of frustrated middle aged ladies left 15 minutes before Jennifer Garner came out. I’m glad that I stayed back – for a further 3 hours. It became less crowded towards the end as the audience has started leaving once they get their screen time and autographs. Although it was getting frustrating towards the middle of the show it ended well. I got to see the hosts (except for Matt Lauer), Jennifer Garner, Deidre Hall and someone else from Days of Our Lives, whom I don’t even know), took some photos, and got on TV. Wow, what a great start to the day.

After being starstruck and all I met up with K and V and we ventured off to the Museum of Natural History. K and I were really excited at first because we thought that this was where they filmed Night at the Museum. We found out some time later that the movie was a scam. All but two of the “history pieces” they featured were nowhere to be found. Only Rexie and Dum Dum were there. Even though we were disappointed in that regard we still had a great time there, me specially. Out of all the museums in New York that I went to the Museum of Natural History has got to be my favourite. The other museums are too artsy fartsy for my uncultured brain to comprehend. But anyway, we spent a good deal of time looking at the frozen animals on display and I even had a free admission to a show about stars held inside a planitarium that gave me nothing but headache. Yeah, 2 things that make me feel sick: non linear spaces and 3D shows. It was an informative show but I found that there was too much information to digest for half an hour.

After all that brain stimulation, we decided it was time to go for a stroll in Central Park. This park has the same feel as Vancouver’s Stanley Park on a smaller scale. We didn’t really spend much time here other than sitting on a park bench eating lunch and going to see the small castle up in the park somewhere.

Much of what’s left in the afternoon was spent in what I’d call a photographer’s heaven. V brought us to B&H Photography and I almost went crazy. I’m not a pro photographer of any sort but I love checking out cameras and their gadgets. If only I had the whole day to spend there. Well, I almost did damage to my credit card but the guy at the counter convinced me that I do not need a new camera no matter how much I wanted to upgrade. He had a point. I left empty handed but we came back the next day because we just couldn’t get enough of cameras. By we I meant me and V. K was rather indifferent but she did buy me a pink/white polaroid camera as an advanced birthday present.

MP met up with us for dinner at Chipotle after her class and us girls had a girls’ night out. V bought us tickets for Colbie Caillait’s show and it was well worth it. I wasn’t a huge fan of hers before the show but I’m beginning to become a convert now. She is such a good performer and a great singer – sounded exactly like the CDs. Now that was a fun and relaxing way to end the night.

Onto the next day…

I woke up earlier than everybody else, as usual, even though we all went to bed at the same time after our midnight trip to the Empire State Building. No lines during midnight. Hurrah!

So onto this day, with my CityPass, I decided to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I know nothing about art and ditto for this museum so I didn’t know beforehand what to expect. My only goal was to use all the ticket passes in my CityPass. Well, it’s safe to say that the Met is a huge ass museum full of art and artifacts that I absolutely do not get. Rather than being an avenue for those who truly understand art and all its glory I think this is one of those many museums that is really just a tourist trap (okay, I’ll admit it. I am one of those tourists). A clear sign of this are the many flags displayed at the info desk indicating which languages the museum tours are offered in. It’s also always so crowded that it becomes less enjoyable because I prefer quiet (really, I prefer dead silent) museums where you can just sit in one of the benches and drift away into fantasyland. Not in New York museums. I quickly rushed through the whole building that is so confusing it’s almost like a maze hoping to have enough time before lunch to visit the Guggenheim (also because of the CityPass). I ended up not going though and strolled around Upper East Side instead then met K and V for lunch at the Shake Shack. This place has the most amazing burgers. The shakes are not so good but the burgers are so tasty I don’t know why people would eat a MacDonald’s burger. Oh right, I do know why. It’s because it’s too pricey for such a small albeit filling burger. I suppose you get what you pay for. The burger bun is way too good too; it’s not the usual white bread bun but is a butter bun, as in it tastes like butter and is yellow in colour. Very similar to Asian bread if you know what I’m talking about.

The next adventure was at the Financial District. We got there very late in the afternoon so it was not busy anymore which is a good thing because you don’t get shoved by rushing business people for walking slowly. K wanted to take a picture with the stock market bull (more like the bull’s testicles for good luck apparently) so we searched for it only to find out it was barricaded. We can still go in and take a picture but there are guards around and there was a line. The jumping photo is now a no-go so we just stood stoically beside the bull and hurried out so other people can go in.

While waiting for MP to finish her class we dropped by some pier to catch a glimpse of the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a spectacular view at night with all the lights lit up. The cool breeze from the river that night did not hurt either. V wanted to have dinner at Hagi so we took a much rather expensive cab ride back to Midtown. There were more of us this time so we were able to sample more Hagi food and a pitcher of Sapporo beer. I really cannot stress enough how amazing the food is at Hagi. Twice I’ve been here; twice the amazement.

And so the night ended.

Before any of us knew it, it was time to say goodbye to my love, New York City. But not before squeezing in a trip to the Museum of Modern Art, for me anyway. While the rest of the gang were busy getting pissed the night before, after the dinner, I managed to crash and sleep like a log. My body is really just wired for an earlier bedtime and not being able to withstand alcohol. The rest of the gang were still sleeping when I left to line up for tickets. As with the other museums, I went there because it’s a cliche. All I wanted to see was Van Gogh’s Starry Night but it made me realise that I really like Monet’s works too. Maybe a little more research and preparation beforehand would have me appreciate art more. I have had a bad expeirience with an art class in Uni before so maybe that’s why the museums just do not have that impact on me. But let’s not ruin what’s left of that little impact it has on me by talking about a certain professor; that’s not the memory I’d like to think of before I wave goodbye to New York.

I love you New York. Will you marry me? Part 2

Posted in Adventures, Travel by

Despite continuous rain and thunderstorm weather forecasts New York has been really good to us. It wasn’t exactly always sunny with blue and cloudless skies; rather it was cloudy with imminent rain. But, hey, I’d take cloudy over rain any time when I am travelling. What better way to spend this non raining day than to pay Miss Liberty a visit. The whole gang (me, K, MP and V) have decided the day before to do something else but, given the sunny day, I convinced them that today was the perfect day to go to Liberty Island. It’s bad enough that I get seasick but what’s worse is riding in a ferry when it’s raining. I just always have this vision that the ferry will capsize at any stage during the trip due to roaring waves and the ferry filling up with rainwater. This really is an irrational fear of mine.

Anyway back to our journey to Liberty Island.

We always hear people warning us that the line for the ferry to the island is super long and in order to avoid this you should get there earlier than everybody else. Of course that didn’t happen. We have been sleeping later and waking up even later so we arrived at Battery Park around 11am-ish. Yes the line was indeed long but not as crazy long as I expected. And then, as luck would have it, a new line opened up and we were able to jump the queue. We got into the security screening area in no time and boarded the ferry onto Liberty Island. Once there I scuffled hurrily to get a good spot for taking photos. It was quite a challenge to take a photo of us and the whole Misss Liberty all in one frame but we managed. Hurrah! Aside from this there wasn’t much else to do in Liberty Island. You could go to the other side, though, for a view of NYC from the other side.

After much shopping at the gift shop where I ended up buying a replica of the Statue of Liberty (which I later had to jam into my suitcase), we took the next ferry out of the island and back into Manhattan but not before getting off at Ellis Island by mistake. You should’ve seen the confused look on our faces because Ellis Island certainly did not look anything like the port where we originally boarded the ferry.

Between the heat, hunger and indecisiveness of where to go in the afternoon, we landed in Greenwich Village somehow.  And let me tell you I sure don’t mind spending the whole day in this part of Manhattan. First up was a late lunch at A Salt and Battery for some fish and chips. M, our friend from Toronto, has recommended this place and he was right. Almost everything is deep fried to perfection – very crispy on the outside and steaming hot and soft fish on the inside – except of course those sides like mashed peas and coleslaw. The onion rings were pretty good too.

MP claims that she knows this area better than other parts of Manhattan because she comes here frequently. She then took us to her favourite bookstore by Marc Jacobs called Bookmarc. It is a quaint little shop that is overcorwded. Bookwise there isn’t a lot of variety so I guess it’s for a selected clientele only. I also found the Marc Jacobs trinkets to be too expensive. While the rest of the gang were inside the store, obviously getting tricked by marketing into buying stuff, I waited outside perplexed by the massive crowd going in and out of Magnolia Bakery just across the bookstore. That bakery is way overrated in my opinion. What’s so good about a tasteless cupcake and sugar whipped frosting? The cupcakes don’t even look that appetising, to be honest. I was already forewarned by 2 people that this bakery is not worth a try but, given the hype, I thought why not? It’s either I prove my friends wrong or I prove them right. Turns out they were right. Not worth my $3.50.

I did find better cupcakes though inside the Chelsea Markets. Those belong to Elenis. Elenis specialises in cookies but they also make cupcakes. They were not superb but are far better than Magnolia’s. And what’s even better is that those cupcakes go on sale during the last trading hour of the day. Half price cupcakes baby. Needless to say I ate more than I should have. I love markets and this market here just takes it to a new level. Unlike the ones I go to in Perth, Chelsea Markets is in an actual building with more stores and more variety other than just fresh produce and quirky things. We stayed there until we got our cupcake fix.

Later that night I met up with a friend from Uni all the way from 2004. She suggested we go to Sake Bar Hagi near my hotel so I knew exactly where it was. Not a bad choice. In fact, a great choice. I don’t usually like Japanese food but I’m starting to rethink this after eating at Hagi. It’s a tapas style Japanese restaurant and everything we had was simply divine.

I went home earlier than usual that night in preparation for something that I had planned for the next day.

I love you New York. Will you marry me?

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No one could have said it better than Chandler Bing when he exclaimed, and I quote, “New York is AWESOME”! To say that I heart New York is an understatement. What’s a deeper level of love? Adore? Nevermind what that word is; the bottom line is that out of all the cities I’ve been to on this trip, New York is my favourite. The lights, the sounds, the smell and the people – what’s there to hate? We had a mere 4 full days to spend in this city so we knew every single day was to be maximised as much as possible. In hindsight, we should have kept New York to 5 full days as originally planned. But no matter how tight the days were I think we did a pretty good job squeezing most of the things that need to be done in New York in 4 full days.

Welcome to NY. As soon as we landed K and I made our way to the hotel, checked in, waited for a friend then headed off to dinner at Sapporo in Midtown. It was a good Japanese dinner, also evidenced by the number of people waiting to be seated. You may have read how I love the Miso Katsu from Taka’s in Perth so I was all excited to see this item on the menu in Sapporo. The verdict? Taka’s wins. The miso sauce at Sapporo tasted more soy sauce-y than miso but the chicken was good. And just to make us even fuller, we shared a plate of gyoza that was very delicious!

Since our hotel is located in a very convenient location (we stayed in Midtown) there was no problem with us getting around Manhattan. The first destination of the night was Times Square; and I thought Dundas Square in Toronto was cool enough. Times Square in Manhattan is just unbelievable – larger than life lights and ads in an overly crowded space. Now that feels just like New York. Even late at night with the rain the city is still bustling with people. Seriously, where do all these people come from? I have already almost forgotten what it’s like to live in a busy city and by the end of my first night in New York I have concluded that I should move and live there permanently.

Top of the Rock & All That Jazz. I woke up earlier than usual the next day so that I can fit in as many things as I can. I left K behind  because she was feeling unwell and wanted to rest so I went ahead to Rockefeller Center and went up the Top of the Rock to see some foggy views of New York City. The line wasn’t long at all. I guess going there solo made it easier to squeeze into lines. A cloudless sky would have made the view more fantastic but, given that the weather forecast was thunderstorm, I am just glad that there was not a single drop of rain that day. As I made my way out of Rockefeller Center I stopped by the NBC Experience store and got dragged in to joining the NBC Sutdio Tour. I have already decided not to do the tour the day before but I just had to go and ask the guy at the counter what time the next tour was. He said it was in half an hour and I had time to spare so I just joined it anyway for $20. It was pretty cool touring the sets of Dr. Oz’s show and Saturday Night Live. They were actually preparing the stage and sets of SNL’s season premier (the one with Alec Baldwin as host) when we visited so that was indeed very awesome.

After that I went strolling around 5th Avenue. No I did not go shopping because I cannot afford anything there.

Afternoon came and I met up with K again and another friend, MP, who lives in New York. We dub her as a fake New Yorker because, even though she lives in New York, she hasn’t been around as much as we thought. It turned out to be that we were giving her the tour around the city. We grabbed a quick lunch and headed on to Broadway to watch Chicago starring Kara DioGuardi. It wasn’t until MP told us that I realised she was in American Idol before. I was more surprised to find out that Best Buy Theater is merely a small theatre unlike that of Burswood Theatre. Well, there are tons of plays going on at the same time in various theatres every single day in New York so I really shouldn’t be surprised with the size of the venue. Unlike Perth where plays and musicals are on for only short seasons we need a bigger space to accommodate everyone. In New York, just pop by the theatre and sometimes you can score cheaper tickets on the same day. Another thing I found unusual was that almost everyone who went to the theatre was every casual. Everyone except me, K and MP. It’s a habit of ours to dress up a bit whenever we go to the theatre so we brought something dressy and high heels for this show only to find out that New Yorkers are very casual when it comes to this. Jeans and flip flops to the theatre? Oh well.

SoHo shopping. We went back to the hotel to change into more comfortable clothes after the show. On the way we met a stranger, V, who popped by New York to see his girlfriend. V is K’s boyfriend, by the way, and you just can’t imagine my reaction. Even more so for MP. I haven’t had that “confused” look in a long time. Anyway, MP took us to the subway station and showed us how to ride one. The subway map looks exhausting, seriously. I didn’t even bother learning how to ride the subway and just went with the flow. MP says we take N-Q-R we take N-Q-R; easy peasy. We wound up in SoHo for a little shopping – a little only because if we went all out it would take the whole night! For me SoHo is way too crowded on a weekend. Everywhere you turn you bump into someone. It is a great place for shopping though. Just about every store is in SoHo.

Chinatown, NY-sytle. Feeling hungry after that little shopping, we decided that we want Chinese food because, first, we haven’t had a lot of decent Chinese food for this whole trip, and, second, Chinatown was very close by. By that I meant walking distance from SoHo. Wow. New York’s Chinatown is huge and, you’ve guessed it, very China-like. Here are my justifications (and guide for an awesome Chinatown) why NY’s Chinatown is superb.

  • The chaos – There is chaos amongst the streets and people. Vendors trying to get customers and customers trying to get a bargain. People shouting here and there. Fake stuff for sale. It’s almost impossible to breathe and walk without tripping in Chinatown.
  • The smell – The smell is…garbage. When you walk the streets of Hong Kong and smell something funny you’d know for sure you are in a Chinese town. Same thing goes for NY’s Chinatown because it smells like the streets of Hong Kong – garbage. Big black rubbish bags tied up and piled high on the streets. There is stench everywhere.
  • The bakeries – Chinese bakeries are different from Western bakeries and seeing those Asian bakeries reminds me of home. The bread is different, the cakes are different, and there are other Asian treats like sesame balls that I love. Well, there’s pretty much bubble tea in almost all the bakeries too.
  • The signs – These signs and shop names include the words golden, century, horse, lucky, dragon and Mr someone’s-last-name or the number 8 and are in red or yellow or gold colour.
  • The people – do I really need to elaborate this one?
  • The food – “Authentic” Chinese food everywhere. A lot of them claim to be authentic but, really, only a few are worth trying. A guide to which restaurants are good is the number of Asian people dining there. The number of Asian people should outweigh the number of Western people. No, I’m not trying to be racist but that’s how you’d really know which Chinese restaurants are good.

Based on the above, New York’s Chinatown is 4.5/5. Yay. We originally wanted to have dinner at this Peking Duck restaurant but it was very full and we had to wait for another 40 minutes or so for a table. Well our tummies were not up for that so we went to the restaurant across it, a Shanghai restaurant whose name I can’t remember. The xiao long baos, pan-fried dumplings and hot and sour soup were very good. Other dishes we had were a little off taste-wise. They were sweeter than saltier and I find that strange. Like a soy sauce based dish is sweeter that saltier.

Remembering 9/11. After dinner, which finished late, we walked around Chinatown still looking for dessert. Most shops were already closed by then so we thought we’d head off to the financial district while it’s not crowded at night. We passed by the 9/11 memorial but sadly it was all fenced out due to construction. We needed a ticket to actually see the memorial and offices were already closed. Plus, they only allow a certain number people to go in and see the memorial. I really wanted to see the memorial so I walked around here and there, up and down, and finally found a spot where one could see a glimpse of the memorial.

Stay tuned. New York City and I are getting married soon. :)

So wait, Quebec is in Canada?

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Six years of studying French and 6 sentences later…this is how my ability to speak French culminated: getting in and around Montreal and Quebec City. I knew that Quebec is the French speaking state of Canada; in fact I almost came here years ago for an exchange program at McGill University. I just did not anticipate the extent to which the Quebecois spoke French. It was surreal. It was almost as if I was in Paris. I heard more people speak French than English and when they did speak English it was with a French accent. I find this strange yet amusing at the same time. How on earth is this state still a part of Canada is all that I could think of. Quebec was certainly très très different from the likes of Vancouver and Toronto. Whilst I really enjoyed the old century feel to both Vieux-Montreal and Vieux-Quebec my admiration for Quebec would remain only at that tourist type of affection. If you ask me to live there I would probably hesitate.

So here is a run down of what went on in Quebec. Let’s start with Montreal.

Arrival by VIA Rail Canada. This was the only leg of our trip that wasn’t by plane. The ride from Toronto was only 5 hours and the price was cheaper than travelling by plane so we thought why not give VIA Rail a go. The train looked so much more worn out than the pictures on the website which was disappointing. But that wasn’t much big of a deal because once you’re tired no matter how bumpy the ride was you will get a good night’s sleep – which is exactly what happened to me. I slept like a baby on board the train, after checking out the view of course. They were only corn fields so I thought I could give that a pass. If the view were of mountains and lakes I would’ve stayed up.

Hiking up Mont Royal. They said high up Mont Royal gives the best view of Montreal. People who said that sure were right. It was a little but confusing getting to the peak of the park because our map was not of great help. But after asking around en français K and I managed to find our destination. Although the sky was gloomy when we got there the view was still spectacular. There wasn’t as many tourists as I thought there would be so there was ample space for everyone to enjoy the view. Even locals come here to unwind and enjoy the view.

L’Oratoire St Joseph. M, our friend from Toronto, gave us a list of places to visit in Montreal and this the Oratory of Saint Joseph was on top of his list. It was not a far trek from Mont Royal once you figure out which bus to take. Ask the locals if you need to – this was exactly how we got there. Now to get inside the church is a long trek. There were 3 flights of stairs and it was a very humid day so by the time K and I got there we were roasted. The oratory looks magnificent from the outside because it stands tall amongst everything else but I found it to be a bit too commercialised. If you are scared of scary things like ghosts I’d suggest you don’t go to the 4th floor. That was where I got the biggest shock of my life thinking I saw the “ghost” of Father Andre but that which turned out to be just an amazingly lifelike replica of him. It is super human like it’s creepy. It was a miracle I didn’t have nightmares that night.

Shopping & Dining at Saint Denis Street. M told us that Saint Denis Street was like Toronto’s Yorkville with boutique shops and chic places to eat. After much debate as to when we should do our shopping, we went to St Denis Street after visiting the L’Oratoire Saint Joseph, first, to get some bagels from St Viateur Bagels, then go shopping. Of course plans don’t usually happens the way they are supposed to. We went shopping straight away and did some damage. I must say that this is a pretty good place to shop. There are cafes and restaurants everywhere so after a tiring shopping spree you can find just about everything you want to eat in this street. K remembered a restaurant from Anthony Bordain’s show called Au Pied de Cochon (see below) so we had dinner there.

Dinner at Au Pied de Cochon. This restaurant is insanely packed on a Monday night. It’s just a little off St Denis Street and a little hard to find because there are no obvious indicators which tells you that this is Au Pied de Cochon. The whole street is full of restaurants but this and one other restaurant are the only places that you have to wait, or make reservations to get in. We were lucky enough to get seats at the bar area where you can watch the chefs cook. The bar was a bit too high for me so all I could see was this chef making mashed potatoes and I swear that the 2 hours we were there he did not cook much else but mashed potatoes. Anyway, we had a tuna tartare sushi style to start then a foie gras tart and then a duck maigret with mushroom sauce to finish. The tuna tartare was amazing! Explosion of flavours in every bite and the fish was very fresh. The foie gras was very tasty and buttery. It came with a pastry base and mashed potatoes in the middle with a ring of foie gras around the mashed potatoes. I loved it so much. K is weak and couldn’t finish her half because it was too rich for her. You know that feeling when you eat too much butter by itself that you just want to yak it out afterwards? Yeah that was what she felt about the foie gras. I guess there’s only so much foie gras one can eat, huh? As for me, I polished off my plate. Yes I’m a pig like that. Then we waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. It took the duck more than half an hour after we finished the foie gras to come out. I don’t know what took so long but when we asked the waitress to check on our order all she said was “it’s coming soon” without even asking the kitchen. And so we waited even more. Finally it came out and it was nothing but mediocre. The first bite was good but the rest after that was just not good enough. The duck breast was so rubbery even a streak knife couldn’t cut through it. I had to chew like mad so I can swallow it.

Let me just say this – food-wise, I think Au Pied de Cochon is worth trying. If you are expecting to be treated like a god or goddess, don’t get your hopes up because their customer service is as shitty as shit can be (for lack of better words to describe it). Service was rude and slow and it was almost impossible to flag down a waiter.

Au Pied de Cochon on Urbanspoon

Dessert at Rockaberry. M’s girlfriend, who is a Montreal native, recommended Rockaberry to us just in case we needed something sweet after dinner. Well she wasn’t kidding when she told us they had a lot of pies. So many pies to choose from I couldn’t decide which one to get. There are over 12 pie flavours some with chocolate, fruit, or both. I ended up getting a Banana Split with Chocolate which I ate whilst watching trashy TV shows back in the hotel room. Overall taste was good but a little too sweet and the cake underneath was dry.

Notre Dame Basilica. K has been bugging me to go to Notre Dame Basilica even before our trip. I was indifferent because I do not appreciate church structures. I mean those century old churches are beautiful and all but that is all I can appreciate. I can probably appreciate more the historical significance behind the structures than the architectural style because I know nothing about architecture. But I once I stepped into the basilica I must admit that I was awestruck. Oh my. The interior was just amazing with intricate details, statues and colour. I haven’t been to any of the churches in Europe so I don’t know how this Notre Dame in Montreal compares. It was just wow.

Chinatown. Is it weird that I feel at home in Chinatown? If I’m craving for some soup then this is probably the best place to get it because I love Chinese/Asian soup. M advised that the Vietnamese food in Chinatown is close to authentic because of the large Vietnamese population in Montreal. I think it was Pho Saigon that we went into and I had one of the best lunches I’ve had for this trip. The pork chop was very fragrant and sweet and the pho soup with lemon leaf was the best way to warm up your tummy. I still dream about the pork chop.

Vieux-Montreal. Old Montreal is probably the reason why people visit Montreal. Old walls and structures with cobblestones and French speaking make you feel all the more like you are in Paris. It was a good change to see this area because it was nothing like Downtown. Loaded with tourists though. I wonder how many locals actually walk through the streets of Vieux Montreal? We stopped by this maple products gift shop to do our souvenir shopping and met the friendliest person ever in Canada. He was the owner of the shop and he sure knows how to take care of his customers. He made recommendations, gave us samples and really talked to us. He knew I love maple syrup so he spoilt me by giving me tasting of just about everything I wanted to taste and also some stuff he force fed me.

And we’re off to Quebec City.

Quebec City was not actually part of our planned itinerary but everyone we met, M and some other strangers and fellow tourists, told us that if they only had a day to spend in Quebec they would rather spend it in Quebec City. We did have a day to spare in Montreal so we made an off the plan decision and took a 3-hour train ride from Montreal to Quebec City. We left early morning and came back to Montreal with VIA Rail’s last train departure.

With about 5-6 hours in Quebec City, the only place we actually spent time in was Vieux-Quebec. Where else would we go? Okay, M and the strangers were right – Quebec City is indeed more beautiful than Montreal. I think the area of Vieux-Quebec is bigger than Vieux-Montreal so there was much more to see. It’s a bit more walk uphill and downhill compared to Montreal but it is worth it.

At Niagara Falls we meet again

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Today, an old friend and I met again after 13 years. This is the same friend whose brother took us around Toronto as previously mentioned. It was a good feeling to see old friends after such a long time. It brings back childhood memories and the funnily stupid things that we used to do.

It was an hour or so drive from our point of origin to Niagara and that gave us enough time to catch up with each other. All that chatting made the trek seem much shorter. I had an impression that Niagara Falls is one giant waterfall where you can hear roaring waters miles away from the actual falls. I’m a little surprised to see that the actual falls were not as I expected. They seem smaller and not as scary as I thought they would be. Maybe it was because of where we were standing; or perhaps it was just high expectations. But that doesn’t mean that I did not have a great time at the falls. Big or small, I am always left awestruck by mother nature. I think the falls would’ve been better if the surrounding areas were more in sync with nature. I just feel that the town of Niagara is much too commercialised with casinos and Vegas-style strips and shops. Around the falls were railings to prevent accidents (although some people still choose to ignore warning signs and climb the railings), which I understand completely – safety first. My only point is that if the area were more like how Banff National Park is set up visitors would probably have a much better view of the falls. I accept that no 2 things are alike so I just try to appreciate however way Niagara Falls is meant to be enjoyed.

So there were 6 of us who went to the Falls. We had a great time running around chasing rainbows and getting showered in mist. In essence, it is always raining in the Falls area? I guess that’s part of the fun. We did not do any of those Maid of the Mist boat tour, nor the Journey Behind the Falls tours, nor the Helicopter tours. Instead, we stayed on ground armed with our cameras trying to get that perfect shot of the Falls. Let me tell ya, that was very hard to do with all the mist and people and railings and other obstructions but I am quite happy with the photos I managed to take.

After the Falls, we decided to pay Niagara-on-the-Lake a visit. Good decision. Niagara-on-the-Lake is such a picturesque town – quaint, peaceful, and unique with all its boutique shops. Even the Starbucks there blends in with the setting. We walked around the town snapping photos of the beautiful houses.

En route to Niagara-on-the-Lake we passed by a very unique stall; something I’ve never seen before – a stall that sells Grape Pie. Yes, like apple pies but with grapes. The lady told us that the grapes come from the vineyards but are not wine grapes although the grapes do have a wine taste. It was a shortcrust pastry base with grape filling topped with crumble. Oh my God it was so good. They also have grape jam for sale. These grapes come and go with the season so these pies are not available all year round. We bought 2 boxes of 9 and polished off 1 box in the car. Guess we were lucky to have visited Niagara at this time of the year.

Sleepless in Toronto

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Toronto is awesome. Toronto is cool. What’s even better is having locals show you around the city and beyond. And that only means that sleep is minimal in Toronto – not that I’m complaining because we got to see a lot of places and things and shops in and out of Toronto in like 24 hours.

Now, rewind to a day before we met the locals. We are exactly halfway through our holidays and fatigue has finally caught up with us. K and I started the day too late seeing as nobody heard the alarm and we overslept until about noon. So we opted to have a rather relaxing day by heading to Streetsville in Mississsauga and we both had an impulse haircut. I got more that a haircut. I now have highlights too. Yep, I went halfway around the world to find the “new” me. The hairdressers at Salon Bardot were really cool. They were friendly and they know their stuff so I was very much happy with my semi new hair. No regrets with that. Well that took the whole afternoon essentially leaving us with just enough time for dinner before calling it a night. With our hair all done nicely K suggested we go somewhere where we can have drinks for dinner. We ended up in West 50 across the hotel (just in case we get too pissed and can’t make it home anymore, kidding) and had a heavy dinner. This place has about or over 100 taps of beer! The bar is really cool and the waitstaff really know their beers so go check it out. Alcohol made me sleep like a log.

The next day was a full day ahead. My friend’s (from grade school, or middle school, or however its called) brother, M, came to pick us up and off we go sightseeing in and around Toronto. We went all the way to Scarborough, east of Toronto, for dim sum and it’s a good place for chinese food because Scarborough has a massive Asian community. We went to this restaurant called Ginger and Onion Cuisine. What on earth is a ginger and onion cuisine?? But it was a good lunch. We’ve been having a lot of potatoes and burgers that Chinese food never tasted so good. This was only the second time we’ve had Chinese food for this whole trip and it was definitely a better experience than the one we had in San Francisco. After lunch was a short stroll at Pacific Mall near the restaurant. Walk into the mall and it feels like you are in China.

Then we went Downtown. My friend gave us a list of places to visit so I passed it on to her brother and we pretty much covered everything on the list in a day. We are that efficient! Let’s see…CN Tower, Waterfront, Chinatown, Dundas Square, Queen St West, Distillery District, Old City Hall, St Lawrence Market, Art Gallery of Ontario. I think that was it. In between all these places we took the subway, bus, and streetcar all in 1 day. Good job, eh? I’ll be honest and say that we didn’t actually go into all the places like the CN Tower and the Art Gallery. It’s more like we walk past them and admired them from the outside. After that rip off experience with the Vancouver Lookout I really do not feel like paying about $30, as I’ve been told, just to see the views. It was pretty late when we finally settled to have dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe in Yonge Street. It felt like we were in Manhattan’s Times Square. I got a souvenir glass for keeps with my mocktail. Oh great, that’s another space gone in my luggage. I hope it makes it back home in 1 piece.

The day after was a more relaxed day. Or so I thought. M came to pick us up again and we went to Cora’s for brunch. This is one cool breakfast/lunch spot serving all meals with fresh fruits. I realised that I haven’t had much fruit the whole time I was away from home that I literally ate way too much fruits. I had a fruit cocktail to begin with and then I ordered a crepe with fruits and custard that looked small on the menu’s photos. It turned out to be 1 massive piece of crepe with chunky pieces of fruits. I can hardly breathe after all that fruit but I left healthier (overlooking the fact that it came with custard and cream).

It was already 3pm when we finished our brunch. Who knew that time flew so fast? The agenda for the rest of the day was to go to Toronto Island. So we took a ferry from Waterfront and got to the island within 10 minutes. This island is like Vancouver’s Stanley Park but on a much smaller scale. It’s a great place for picnics, biking, strolling and relaxing. M found out that the lighthouse somewhere in the island is the oldest stone building in either Canada or Ontario, I can’t remember which, so he made us walk all the way there to see the haunted lighthouse, as he calls it. We finally made it there and the lighthouse was a mere small structure. I was expecting a far more majestic structure but I guess this little one is impressive in its own way too. Legend has it that the first lighthouse keeper went missing and a body was found near the lighthouse sometime after. We had a great time trying to peek through the keyhole to see if we could see an eyeball on the other end.

We headed back to Toronto for a fancy dinner at Biff’s Bistro. Food was great! But dessert was disappointing. You can get a 3 course prix fixe dinner for around $35 and the serving was substantial. The mushroom soup was phenomenal, as we all agreed, and the fish I had was good too. K had the duck confit and it was delicious but the one I had in San Francisco was better. Biff’s duck confit came with duck livers though and I really enjoyed munching on that. After dinner M took us to Yorkville, comparable to New York’s 5th Avenue, and this was already about 11pm. We spent the night checking out the condos and houses in the area simply because they were so beautiful, and pricey if I may add.

It was about 2:30pm when we finally got back to the hotel and I don’t even know how I managed to wake up the next day.

Domesticated in Calgary

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Calgary and I got acquainted for a mere 10 minutes. After arriving via the Brewster bus from Banff K and I checked into our hotel and rushed out the door to look for the train to meet a friend. I find it strange that the train line in Downtown Calgary is not underground. It was like a line for streetcars and the train station was right there along the sidewalk. And referring to Destination X West or East, North or South was very confusing too. I am helpless with directions and I am spoilt with the simplicity of Perth’s public transportation so Canadian public transportation is just all too confusing for me.

Close to an hour later in a very stuffy train, we reached the end of the train line and met K’s friend. We had dinner with the friend’s family with 2 years’ worth of catching up for them and me meeting new people. Before calling it a night the family offered their house for us to stay and that was the start of our 1 day domesticated life in Calgary, outside Downtown of course. We got to see what life is like for a typical Canadian family on a regular day. Well, it wasn’t all too different from how we live in Perth; it was just a little busier.

Up early in the morning to get the kids ready for school; drop the hubby off at the train station; drop the kids off at school; do errands and house chores; pick up kids from school; cook for dinner; tuck in kids for bedtime; and before you know it the same routine starts all over again. This is exactly what we did for our 1 day stay in Calgary. The amazing part was that we went to Costco! Big volumes for cheap prices is where it’s at. We don’t have Costco in Perth so do forgive my excitement over a they-have-everything-in-it warehouse type of store. Whilst shopping at Costco K and I volunteered to cook dinner for the family as a thank you for showing us around and taking us in to their home. Having a home-cooked meal and resting your head on a non hotel pillow never felt so good.

Menu for the night -

*Chicken with red wine stew
*Leftovers
*Chocolate Lava cake
*Oreo Cheesecake

- way too full as usual.

After having such good luck with warm and sunny weather since Vancouver, Calgary decided to change things up and gave us chilly to freezing weather. I was hoping to see snow because I have never seen snow, ever; but I think 99.99% of Canadians would kill me for wishing to see snow at this time of the year.

What’s the tourist-y place I visited in Calgary, you may ask? The Olympic Park. And that was it.