Chocolates, Snow & Fondue (III) - Dec 2016

Never did I realise beforehand that the store - Freitag originates from Swiss. Frankly, I dun have any stuff of Freitag and I didn't know it has been a brand for a while. The brand was special to my wife as she bought her brother a bag on first pay-day. There were a few big flagship stores in Zurich, and we went to the one - quite an unique one - "stacked containers". 

The store was located not far from HBF and the train ride was about 10 minutes or less. An easy walk from the station and you get a very good view of Zurich on the top of the containers. So amazing icon here, and how the store organise the bags and clothes is also amazing.  Carefully stacked in paper boxes and 100% on its recycle concept.  Frankly, I also didn't know the bags were made of materials from truck's canvas.  

Now, my wife got excited and tried on almost all bags, wallets while I walked up and down searching for suitable bags for use.  According to my wife, "black" coloured types of Freitag bags are quite rare so I was on "lookout" for them too.  My wife said I was "quite easily influenced" by her and her brother - if they decided to buy something uniquely from a country, I might also want to get mine too.  She got a black wallet for her brother after much consideration and what apps with him.  For me, I found something "cool"   and handy too - a cardholder. Really was influenced to a certain extent by her, I think. 

Well, the trip to Freitag wasn't the end yet. My wife wanted to get the "perfect" bag for her daily  walk and we decided to visit other stores. Yup, and we went to a few major ones like "The Gloss" stall, some were quite "ulu".  In fact, we went back to the "stacked containers" twice in search for the "perfect bag". Hmm, I believe that  I have not seen so many different types of bags (same brand) during my trip and this was one record.  

Looking for something that she likes is important and I have the patience for her.  While she was looking and posing with the potential bag, I did my research into places to visit or makan places.  Fortunately, there were seats to rest our tired legs.  She was quite focused in searching for the bag and I was quite amazed that she wasn't showing signs of tiredness. It's good to see her having something to buy.  And me too. My wife likes to comment that I usually buy stuff for all my loved ones during overseas trip and none for myself. 

By the way, Freitag means "Friday". A word that amuses me during this trip, and I kept "reminding" my wife about it. I like Fridays.  

Chocolates, Snow & Fondue (II) - Dec 2015

Christmas Market @ Zurich

Christmas Market @ Zurich - The thought of going Christmas Markets already excites me as I started to source for good markets to go.  The mood, the songs, the partying and the whole atmosphere really impress me a lot when we went Munich the last round.  I like eating junk food there and drinking mulled wine.  Not a good drinker and my wife usually has to help me finish the wine.  


There were quite a few big ones and some claimed to be traditional ones.  As this round we were earlier than Santa Claus, so we could pick and choose which ones to go. Our schedule however was tight so we could not afford to see ALL markets.  The one at Zurich HBF was okay and normal and the only attraction to us was the spectacular Christmas Tree from Swarovski.  We took some pictures with the tree when the market was still closed. Haha, more space and angle to choose from.  The rest of the stalls were normal, selling food and even chinese food.

I like the one at Opera House best.  It was the first one that we went. Besides a German Toy Wooden House (we bought a toy for our own Christmas Tree), the market was huge. There was also ice activities for kids. 

  
It was interesting to have the Opera House as the background for the market - something old something tradition. We spent some time here taking quick panning shots and amazed at the circular patterns formed and captured in our SD card.  I didn't even notice them until my wife told me. My eye for details not as instinctive now.  

Something caught our attention was an entourage of Santa Claus - both males and females. They were made up of old uncles and aunties riding on motorbikes - still as fit! Dunno why I am usually more sporty when travelling and took a picture of a tall old Santa with his favourite bike. Say Cheese.  Wonder what motivate them?



As we were in Switzerland, the Christmas Markets were also full of chocolates.  Initially, the chocolates looked so "soapy" like the lush soaps that my wife were eyeing back in London.  I am still a bit confused and puzzled over the similarity in colour.  For me, I was looking not for the chocolates at market but some traditional chocolates outlets or shops. I "forced" my wife to take pictures with the chocolates even though we didn't buy any.  She was sporting this time round. 



One thing that we would do in Christmas Markets is to drink mulled wine, and if possible collect the cup. Most shops were selling the wine (hot ones) in paper cups, and we finally found one with the festive cups.  About 6 Swiss Franc for the drink and cup (if you like it, no need to return cup).


This time round, we didn't collect the cup after some drinking and deliberation. We have two from Munich and this one will be three. Too bad we were very practical people who started and agreed that we dun really have much use for the cups back homie. Haha. 

Another thing is to eat hot steamy junk food. Sausage is one of them.  Frankly, they were not the best and marche may have better ones, but the mood needs to be there. Eating junk food - usually we were given a paper plate - rectangular ones - and we would hold them in our hands and share. With people surrounding us while we stood and ate - the christmas mood was hanging in the air.

Christmas markets - we visited several others along our excursions.  Got one stall selling little red shoes and this reminded me of my wife's father who without fail got her a pair of red shoes (same design but different sizes) every year.  The other was a shop that sold cute little tortoises.  It was chanced upon by my wife. Very cute.

Well Well, we so like Christmas Marketing. 

Chocolates, Snow & Fondue (I) - Dec 2015

Cable Car to Flumserberg

Zurich in early Dec wasnt snowing yet but the temperature was cool. We have planned to try skiing on the Swiss Alps and I did some research online trying to see which ski resort would be good for novice skiing. A lot of forum pointed to this Flumberg, and it is one of the nearest skiiing resort from Zurich (90 mins away). Reaching the mountains require cable car or gondola or chairlifts - and it was a struggle to decide which mode to use based on the available means of transport at the resort.  

We took train and cable car up to Flumserberg (About 1400m above). It was low peak season and it was a nice ride up - though I was a bit tensed up in cable car - thank God there was no need for chairlifts.  My wife was happily walking around, and standing here and there in the cable car taking photos, commenting how nice and high the mountains were. The aerial view changed - from small wooden huts which looked so beautifully in harmony with green pasture to snow capped mountains. Brave girl.

Flumserberg

There were some skiing activites at Flumserberg. What caught our attention was a big tentage with "Toblerone" chocolate - didnt get any toblerone to eat though. The info centre staff said "no tracks suitable for beginners" much to the relief of my wife. Honestly speaking, my wife was happy to hear that as it was quite expensive to ski - Rental plus ski pass etc cost more than CHF150++.

We trekked a bit around the area looking for photo spots, and we have our signature shots there too. Wanted to shout "Ricola" like the ads, but didnt do so to disturb the peaceful atmosphere. At least we saw snow and threw some snow balls - swiss snow experience or else our snow hat and gloves a bit under-utilised. Go switzerland should have snowing experience - I always associate Switzerland with snow capped mountains.  Even in hotels, there was a special skiing channel showing skiing activities at the alps. Skiing is part and parcel of Swiss people, I believe.

Ski Lessons

We saw some children learning to ski. As we were not skiing, we sat along the side of the path looking at these children learning to ski. I rem describing about my experiences skiing in Korea and how to walk and stop and change direction in skiing.  My dear mentioned that we dun wan to "malu" in front of the professional and it was ex to do so - Swiss Franc is more dear than Euro and may not worth it for beginners like us.

We saw a strange-looking snow man - we were too lazy to build one though as the depth of snow wasnt really thick enough.  The snow were not as fine as hokkaido snow too. Being in different snowy places, we seemed to be our own experts in different "grades" of snow. Hey, do you want to build a snowman? Well, I choose Hokkaido fine snow now.

海味的味道 － 香港岛 Jun 2015

Ibis Hotel - Harbour View

It was the second time that we decided to stay at the opposite side of Kowloon i.e. Hong Kong Island. This time, we stayed at the Island throughout as my wife mentioned that our trip was all focused on the island itself. Good plan, really. Quite excited too as it was our second trip to eat and see what we didn't manage to squeeze in our last trip. 

We stayed at Ibis Hotel. Got a harbour view room and read that we need to make sure the windows were not tinted. Got a short story about the room - first room was too hot with the aircon full blast, and decided to change room. Fortunately, we did and the second room was really cool with air con. Not a good service from Ibis initially though the room was clean and overall ok. 

Our hotel location was right next to "dried seafood street". We didn't realise it was next to our favourite dried seafood shop. So near and yet so far the last round trying to find the shop.  The view was good but we felt that we loved the YMCA view better. Not sure why. The YMCA view has lots of fond memories. Also could see the lights at 8pm I guess. 

We woke up earlier one day to explore the streets. My wife liked the smell of the dried seafood. Once we smelled the smell, we knew we were near the hotel haha - this was how we recognise our hotel when we "tram" back. Like a snoopy? Haha. The early morning saw shopkeepers preparing the seafood. Workers shifting baskets of stuff in and out. Policemen patrolling the street just like typical TVB shows. 

I read that some shops had purposely put their seafood out on the roads to dry and this affected the traffic flow. Interesting habit but would it affect the seafood that we were buying? 

We really saw some seafoods out in the streets doing suntan. Caught one such photo of a group of abalone. Wonder how it taste like when dried. My wife likes this photo as it is a pattern of abalone. Hmm, I used to play with patterns in my photo taking. But I didn't practise much nowadays. For me, I treasure the experiences in touring, and it doesn't matter if I didn't manage to capture it on my EOS 7D.

As it was Summer Days, it was really hot walking out the street. Couldn't bear the heat and have to go back bathe after a short walk. It was really hotter than Singapore. My wife didn't like to travel during summers, but I usually "forced" her to do so. This time, I lost my brown itinerary book - the Muji Book - and I was still trying to find it even till now. Glimpse of hope or it has been recycled?

Night Harbour View, IBIS Hotel

One night, I happened to be more energetic. While my wife was reading and surfing, I decided to play with my camera and night view. It has been a long time since I did so. Trying to trace the track of ships - some from cheung chau, some from macau - oh, forgot to mention Ibis is near to the HK-Macau Ferry terminal. A tram bus stop away only and it is a plus point for Ibis. 

I probably stayed at the windows trying to capture the view for about an hour? Playing with 7D and remembering the basics. It has been a long time. My passion for photography has not been as strong as before. It was however an enjoyable night photography in a way, hiding in the harbour view room with air con. Streets were quiet but there were still cars moving. Hong Kong Island was relatively quiet at night as compared to Kowloon. 

Quiet Hong Kong Island. Good night, Island. Good night, Ibis. 

影帝的故乡 － 南丫岛 Apr 2015

南丫岛 

Lamma Island - it has been one of my to-do lists in Hong Kong for a while. However, we ended up going to Chang Cheau Island usually. This time, we were in a way "forced" to go Lamma Island as there were long long queues going to Chang Cheau Island due to the super super LWE in Hong Kong. 

Read from Internet that it was the hometown of 发哥. Interestingly, there are boats going to two different points of the island.  People usually travel from Ying Shue Wan to Sok Kwu Wan.  According to guidebook, there is a very famous seafood restaurant known as Rainbow Restaurant at Sok Kwu Wan. Due to ferry schedule and super long queue for Ying Shue Wan, we did the other way - Going to Sok Kwu Wan first. 

Rainbow Restaurant

Similar to TVB, we saw water tanks here and there at the rows of seafood restaurants. Rainbow was there too but it was still early and hence we decided not to feast first. It was a mistake - a costly one for us when we decided to eat at another restaurant at Ying Shue Wan. 

碗仔糕

We got some instant noodles and chicken wings at 茶餐厅, and also tried the granny's 碗仔糕。We like to eat such HK's version of chee kueh - though it is sweet. Our first try was at Chang Cheau Island, and this kueh is usually made of red beans - sweet taste. Very traditional way of enjoying HK's sweet goodies.  

Open-Air Seating 

It was quite a hot day and we wondered if we were going to trek. It supposed to be an hour trek up and down.  Thinking that since we were here already, we did our trek anyway. 

The trek started along the street with many vendors sending local goodies and souvenirs.  A stall selling sauce caught my dear's attention - we bought one bottle and not sure when we would be using it. I rem we got one dry fish sauce in Venice, and we didn't use it. I actually thought the sauce quite strange-looking but we bought it as my dear seemed to like it.  This time, the sauce dun have "dried fish" in it - more presentable and not sure if we are going to use it. First souvenir at Lamma Island. 

Walking straight past the stall landed us around a parade square facing a temple. Many island visitors make it their second stop, I supposed. It seems to be very historical building and not forgetting it was "Tomb Sweep" festival, many would go temple I suppose.  People living on island like Chang Cheau Island and even Macau have these temples for sea-faring villagers. 

Chinese Temple 

We took some photos at the parade square as it has a good background view of the sea and mountains. The temperature seemed to be rising as it was around late morning and noon. As not well prepared, we still have a bottle of water for the trek.  We wondered why no boats from one point to the other point? 

There were some houses along the trek up - looked like typical old houses but still clean.  We chanced upon a tree known to be the perfect habitat for silkworm. Initially, we didn't know and we heard from visitors that the leaves were 桑叶 . What interests us were the "blue-berry" looking fruits - purple coloured ones and my dear wanted to put one into her mouth. Did a quick check and realised they were 桑果 and the english name is "mulberry". My dear said it is good to have me around so that I can stop her from trying "risky" stuff - we weren't sure if the fruit was edible. Not one visitors put them into their mouths - so better to play safe.  Didn't know the fruit is known as mulberry! Did we chance upon them in Germany Berlin too?

农妇

Moving further up - we passed by a cave and a small beach. The cave should have bats so we didn't venture in. Some foreigners were swimming and playing at the small beach and here was where my dear was "splashed" with water by a wet doggy.  My dear said the owner still joked that she was afraid of doggy.  

A elderly farmer was doing some serious farming. There was a series of colourful eggs tied to a rope - some visitors assumed that they were easter eggs (It was Easter LWE as well). I thought the eggs were "scarecrows" effect instead? It is quite refreshing to eat the crops that you grow. Really organic like what my dear say. We were already quite overjoyed when we ate our homegrown limes. Haha. We thought the auntie would say something to us as we stood there observing her for a while - we would be friendly and more sociable when we were overseas. Or at least for me as I am usually quite quiet.

My dear told me that there would be a very famous bead curd stall operating along the trail. Definitely must try try then - so whenever we spotted some stalls - we would double check if it was the stall. However, they were either selling drinks or pineapples (cold one which they put in freezer). Still no sign of the bead curd when we reached somewhere like a resting point - a pavilion. From the pavilion, you could also see three tall chimneys which some trekkers said "三柱香”。 The path from the pavilion was easier and downslope.  It took about another 30 mins and we finally reached ground "floor" and a very very busy beach.  

We were greeted by a bean curd stall and we tried the hot bean curd though we were sweating and hot. The seller said his bean curd 不冷不热。 Nothing special. After the short rest, we slowly strolled out to the pier and OOPS! A queue for "Ah Por" 豆腐花！ The queue was besides a drain and okay, got to try. Besides the smell, there were big mozzies and my only miserable insect repellent patch seemed to be ineffective. My dear however was waiting for me at another corner seat and I was worried if she was "attacked" by the commando mozzies or not. Bought two bowls after about 20mins queue - already gotten more than two big bites. It was nice and the taste was difficult to describe. Grumpy me due to the bites, I didn't take pics of the bean curd. 

On the way to the pier to find makan, my dear was very lovely and bought some "special oil" from a street vendor for me to apply. Sensing my impatience, she quickly ran over to me and apply the oil on the big bites.   Soothing on the skin, warming in the heart.  

Special Entry by Dear: We didn't do enough research and we went to a seafood restaurant which supposed to be very famous at Ying Shue Wan. We had sought to know something was not quite right when they refused to show us the menu and instead, forced us to pick the live seafood. They also separated us (wife to sit at table and husband to pick the live seafood). Turned out the husband didn't get to pick the live seafood at all. They merely asked him to pick the type of seafood and asked him to go back to sit. Thereafter they asked us to confirm if we were okay with the prices. We "picked" urine prawns and they chose 2 sets of pairs of the urine prawns for me. One pair was the jumbo size and the other pair was the "normal" size. Again, they only allowed one (the wife) of us to go and see what they chose for us. Shocked at the exorbitant prices, we settled on the "normal" size. This pair of urine prawns, one small bunch of bamboo clams and one plate of normal stir-fry vegetables cost us around SGD$170! Luckily we didn't order "big fish big meat". Else goodness know how much. Subsequently we read some reviews and realised this place had v bad reviews, even among locals. 

Guess my wife and I still prefer small and cozy version of seafood. Simple and easy to order menu. Not sure if we would go back Lamma to try other stalls. But this experience taught us not to order by "fish tank" and by "weight". 

山泉水和西洋菜的童话 － 荃湾川龙村 Apr 2015

Dragon Stream Village - according to our magazine guidebook - it is one of the oldest village in Hong Kong. (Yup, such thing interests us). With a very tight schedule, we decided to visit it as one of our new experiences in HK - sacrificing known places that we intended to visit.  It was not a long way to reach the village (about 20 mins from TST to 荃湾, then 小巴 to village).

川龙村

We got a bit confused trying to find the bus stop and bus, and walked to a wet market area asking around. One auntie told us the "locations" of taking the small bus and gosh, it was long long queue with police maintaining lane discipline. We were looking for bus 80 and it was luckily not so long queue - apparently, it was tomb sweeping holidays and many of these buses go to "mountains" - 行山。Surprisingly, the street to take the bus was called 川龙 street. Looked like the 元朗。The journey up was okay, and we sat right in front behind the driver - he was playing some Canto Oldies - dunno if my dear was listening though.  About another 20 mins ride, we reached at 川龙村。 

饮茶

彩龙茶楼

The first thing that we saw was this teahouse 彩龙茶楼 - it supposes to be very good and famous. Really look like those TVB shows? We went to explore how to order our tea and food - my dear dear was the advanced party and she went looking around.  We managed to find a round table - and I waited for a while for her to come back with "report". She told me tea has to DIY - hmm - I would go try as I dun wan to sit there waiting for my dear to serve me - not my style.  She brought back some glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaves and dim sum.  Okay, my turn.  Acting like a local. 

The kitchen and ordering area was at basement. It was really very noisy and buzz with people - I "monkey see monkey do" - went to wash the teapot with steaming water. - I washed a few round to kill germs. There were a row of tea leaves. And I use the scoop to put some tea leaves in (I think I choose 普洱) and pour in the hot steaming water. I then poured out the first pour and then fill the pot with hot water and proceeding up to level 1 where we were seated. I then made a few trips to get chopsticks, cups and dim sum - thinking what to take at times. Quite nice. Quite an experience - a Hong Kong local experience.  One family (the mama, daughter and likely future son-in-law) sat with us 搭台。 My dear said the mama asked how come we knew the place. I guessed we were likely the only tourists there that day. Hee Hee. While we were about 75% full, my dear gave me the "go ahead" to go get some dim sum I liked - okay, I went to choose char skew bun and chee cheong fun (kosong one) with peanut and sweet sauce.  My dear dear gave big rolling eyes and yes, we could not finish. Too full with all the "white stuff" of the same types - she said - should mix with variety - may be all were of flour? We didn't try the 豆腐花 － it seemed to be very famous too cos of the clear mountain spring water. Gotta try next round. 

我们的点心茶水 － Round 1

After the breakfast Dim Sum, we went around taking photos of the teahouse and people in action. As we were already in the village, I got a feeling that we would be doing some walkabout. My dear dear told me the vegetables that were placed on the plates were 西洋菜 － hmm, another famous thing of this village. Should have tried it too though I dun like the vegetable.  

Walking Osaka History - May14

Osaka Castle

We have seen some posters about Osaka Castle in Osaka and just like Castles in Europe, I usually tried to visit one if I knew there was one in the city we travelled.  The Fukuoka Castle was rather small and under restoration, and we went to Osaka Castle with "slight" reluctance.  The ride to the Castle was smooth, passing by an suburban train station with "daiso"equivalent and the favourable Jap Cake and Sweet shop we liked at Vivo. We saw a couple carrying a huge luggage. They have difficulty depositing it in lockers at the station and they went to the station master for assistance. Not sure if they could leave it there or not. 

The walk to Osaka Castle was serene. We passed by a park and decided to munch our cheese cake. Well, this fabio brand cheese cake appeared to be very famous and  I queued blindly to buy. My dear said the cake was as big as her face and we finished it before going to the Castle. 

It was an interesting castle. It talked about a great conqueror in Osaka. A sad thing was the empire didn't survive after his death and there were warlords attacking his descendants and subjects all over. A painting illustrated the different points of attack and it was there that I spent more time understanding the history. My dear said it was the first time that I spent more time than her in a castle. 

http://www.osakacastle.net/english/history/index.html

We stayed quite near Shinsaibashi - a very long stretch of shopping streets. There was a Daimaru which attracted my dear flocking there. When she spent her time in Daimaru, I would walk around the streets. I saw one Sushi shop - a quite traditional looking one - and wanted to try. First day, we were too late as it closed. On the second day, we purposely visited it and tried. 

本福寿司 

Wow, the feel of Tokyo Sushi Market and the Hokkaido Sushi Market came back. It was juicy again. One thing very different was the "cake-like" sushis. I found it very innovative and nice. We were served by two taiwanese students and they were pursuing studies in Osaka. If I rem correctly, one of them wanted to open bakery once graduated. This cute little sushi shop is very easy to spot and quite near Daimairu.  

http://w3.shinsaibashi.or.jp/tenpodb/profile_e.php?tenpono=48

有点感动。

Coming to Osaka means to see the big "Glico" guy. I have seen it many times on lonely planet and posters. Gotta find it. 

Initially, we walked by the river side trying to trace the road to Dotonbori. There were crossings here and there with long stretches of shopping streets. Very colourful and noisy. We were distracted by the octopus balls - many of them and decided to join one queue to try. "So So" only. Becos of the queue, we have unintentionally detoured and ended up back to the other end of our Shinsaibashi shopping street. Well, my wife went back to Daimaru. For me, I went to find a camera shop to complete a mission. Then, I decided to try my luck to go find the "Glico" guy. It was actually a short 10 minutes walk from Daimaru and I knew I have reached when  I caught a glimpse of the "loud" and "large" lights.  As I wanted to share the surprise moment with my wife, I decided to bring her and watched the "Glico" guy with her. Wanted to surprise her so she just followed blur blur with me.

At last, the "Glico" guy. In a way, it ended our trip in Osaka - like a finishing line and we have just reached the line - this leg of journey. We decided not to rush for early flight tomorrow so we checked out to Airport Hotel to rest. It was a smart move and it was our first tactical move.