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Thursday, 26 July 2012

Turning Twenty Two [Birthday]

Let's be honest. Age is going to be an issue from this year onwards. I am getting old and moving further away from the number 'one'. Being an unromantic person I am, celebrations never come to me as big things. It's more like another day to create an excuse for people to get together, which is a good thing.

I have grown a year older. But still seemed to be full of nonsensical rubbish in my head.

We had an earlier celebration as 17th fell on a weekday. Many thanks to those who brought me to Plan B. When I am back in Malaysia, I become the laziest person ever. I didn't bring my camera out and also thanks to myself for losing my iPhone, there are no pictures from me on that day. Plan B makes me miss London even more. The city has the best range of food ever. Nonetheless, English breakfast sets comes best when you eat them in England. Duh! After a whole month of traveling, my taste buds are also a little spoilt with food. However, when it comes to daily consumption of food, my mind says - anything edible, don't hurt the brain cells. Getting a little out of the topic, I like roti canai, like how a fat boy loves hamburgers hoho.

The durian ice was awesome though. I always have the weakness for desserts.

Many thanks to the driver who drove all the way to Malacca to get me a Nadeje cake. No pictures again. Sigh. Big hug for you. No one else in this world will do that for me.

Last but not least, many thanks to mommy for buying me another leather bag.

Hopefully, I can clear some of the rubbish in my head and become a little wiser before I turn 23. Adios.

French Food [France Part 3]

Some of the food that we have eaten in France. 

The first restaurant is in Antibes, owned by an old couple and the menu doesn't have a single word of English. We got the gentleman sitting at the table next to us to translate certain words for us and we ordered! The food was yumzeh! Love the savoury crepe. The salmon sandwich was good too. 

Also, you often see people walking with dogs in Southern France. Such a relaxing life. 






This is the meal that we had while waiting to take the train in Paris. Knowing that a meal in Paris would cost us a lot and we weren't that hungry, with the fact that we refused to eat Mcd, we ordered a main course with a starter. Starter was yumzeeeeh! Smoked salmon. No idea how unhealthy smoked food can be though. 



Antibes with Yachts [France Part 3]

On the second day in Nice, we decided to take the train to the ever famous Cannes. However, the villa recommended us the route, Nice - Antibes - Cannes. The best thing about having a railpass is we can go to places we want to go and not queue up to buy tickets at certain routes.

Antibes is amazing with lots of yachts. I don't remember if there is any time before this that I have seen so many yachts ever in my life. Dreaming of having a yacht in the future if I can be that rich! LOL. It is also a less touristy place compared to Nice and Cannes but definitely worth visiting.




Oddly, we also found a store selling fishes nearby.


Continued walking and we arrived at a Mediterranean market.




This is the stall selling Socca, written on the board as a nicoise specialty and we gave it a go. It is made of chickpea flour, olive oil, water and salt. The taste wasn't what we thought of. It tastes a bit salty and well, how flour tastes like.



We also met this Taiwanese lady who moved here long ago with her husband. Through the conversation, she told us that she prefers Taiwan with the varieties of food and all but over the time she has got accustomed with the life in Antibes. On top of that, she speaks fluent French. It is amazing how one can move out of the comfort zone after being put in a completely different place. For me, I would think her life is quite good. According to her, there are less tourists around here. The peak season with tourists would be summer and at other times when she goes back to Taiwan, the shop will be shut. 

We also walked along the seaside.




Walking Around Nice and Villefranche [France Part 2]

It's 1.40am midnight and I just gave up rolling on the bed after an hour and forty minutes. Having nothing to occupy my mind has made me into a night owl sleeping at wee hours in the morning and waking up in the afternoon. Not to forget, the sore throat and red eyes I have gotten. 

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Upon arriving in Nice, we went around the city using tram and also took a bus to the nearby beach - Villefranche. We also stumbled upon a wedding in the cathedral while strolling around Villefranche area.





A random photo of men fishing!






It was a cloudy day, therefore, all the photos didn't turn out as pretty as the view is.



Monday, 23 July 2012

Burger & Lobster [London]

As the name goes (Burger & Lobster), the restaurant only serves burger, lobster and lobster roll. The restaurant does not accept reservation in advance, hence, the only thing you can do is to go at odd timing or queue up for a table. There were only two of us during this visit. The lady kindly offered us to sit at the bar. The restaurant serves cocktail as well. Right in front of us we watched the bartenders mixing the drinks. 

Both of us picked the grilled lobster that comes with two types of dip (we both had garlic & butter), fries and salad as side dishes. The meal is very reasonable. A lobster was given for each serving. What's more the location is at the prime area - Mayfair. 

We also ordered a dessert since it was my last dinner in London before I left to be back in M. 







Friday, 13 July 2012

Savouring Nicoise Food [France Part 1]

After a long journey, getting from Bruges to Brussels to Lille to Paris and then finally, we arrived in Nice. Southern France is known to be expensive and also a good place for beaches and summer holiday. Upon arriving, we met 2 Taiwanese girls while waiting for the pick up service from ville. Both of them are exchange students in Czech Republic. The ville that we stayed in is a cool place with many young adults. There is also a common place with sofa. Breakfast cereals go up to 10 different types, filled in the similar way as how M&M's are filled in their stores. Computers are free to be used as well. People here are really helpful. The owner will go around explaining what to see around Nice and how to get around other cities. Thanks to all the information provided by the ville, we went around Southern France very easily and extended our stay here.

After washing up, we met up with the 2 girls to eat in a restaurant they found online, called La Mama. The restaurant serves delicious local food. We had seafood pizza, nice salad (I rarely love salad but this is really yum) and a pot of mussels. The good point about having more people is to not overstuff ourselves! Lord, my extra 3 kilos after a month of holiday. 





The number of ice cream flavours in Southern France goes up to a hundred. Awesome! All kinds of biscuit flavours to chocolate to fruity flavours. Pretty Amazed.



The Venice of the North - Bruges [Belgium Part 2]

I have a huge tendency to not get the spelling of Bruges right.

Bruges is a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO. Along with canal-based northern cities, such as Amsterdam, it is sometimes referred to as "The Venice of the North".

We only had a short time in Bruges due to the train schedule. Fyi, Bruges is an hour train ride from Brussels. If someone is to visit Belgium, I would advise to go to Bruges. Our plan was to get to Nice, France on time and we didn't know we would love Bruges that much! I wouldn't mind visiting this city again in the future. 

The city itself is a great example of Medieval settlement as seen from the architectures. 

There are lots of horses and carriages to bring the tourists around considered how tiny that city is. 




Summer time and the flowers are blooming beautifully.

The cathedral.


Walking around the city.



The Markt, also known as market square. Could've taken a better photo. Postcards of the Markt are really nice. Love this place. There are lots of little shops around.


People sitting and drinking coffee by the canal. Happy, hot, sunny summer day.