Through my lens

2011 Recap

Yen — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:06:03 +0000

Spring
It was definitely one of the most memorable season for me to date. My first trip to the States! And if I recalled the nightmare that I had at the airport, it definitely made it to my top ten list of worst travel experience. Lessons learned and forever etched in my heart. I had a rather lively discussion with a friend the other day about whether it’s better to plan your holiday all on yourself or you’d rather book a holiday through a travel agency. I won’t deny that it’s convenient to get my plane tickets and hotels all booked and organised without worrying about the all those tiny details but I still prefer to go through the painstaking ordeal of planning, researching and learning everything about the place that I want to go before embarking on the trip. The whole process somehow builds up the anticipation, the excitement of actually going on a holiday. So if you ask me whether I’d do it all over again, of course I would. I’m definitely wiser now .And I’m already planning for my next adventure for the coming spring!

Summer
There were lovely days which rendered us the opportunities to be out and about, visiting towns where vines climbed along walls, hung across balconies, crawled along lamp posts or hung crisscrossed across streets. I can still recall how the air was so thick and heavy with the heady aroma of ripened, luscious grapes, hanging enticingly just slightly out of my reach. Summer was a busy period. I was glad I could steal a prolonged weekend for some rest and sightseeing. It was a year of rekindling fond memories. Revisiting places that I have been to, almost too long ago. But seeing these places again, with a new mind and the company of a fine young man somehow put things in a different perspective. It was inviting and utterly refreshing.Hiking and wandering about the reserved forest of Rhineland Palatinate was wonderful. There were times when we found ourselves in the middle of the forest with only trees about us and the beaten path ahead of us. The whispering of trees, the rustling of leaves, the soft caress of summer breeze cleared the cobwebs in my all-too-jammed mind. Wish I could do this more often.Summer was also a time for some music at the lawn. Cocktails and fireworks late into the night. I had fun, grooving to the music of the 80′s. Ah, it was definitely my highlight of summer 2011.

Autumn
Somehow I didn’t realise that autumn has arrived. Autumn was however full of surprises. Warm and sunny until the end of October. I guess my parents got lucky. We went city hopping. From Berlin to Dresden. From Prague back to the West of Germany. A record for us, it was over 1000km by train!Berlin was still as hip as ever. Many years ago, I made a promise to myself that I’d one day definitely revisit Berlin. Revisit I did and with a proper camera to boot. It was spring back then and I forgot to bring my camera. To me, no other cities in Germany is more poignantly drenched in history than Berlin.Traces of history can be found all over the city to remind us of the sad reality that has plagued the city not too long ago. Writings of the Soviet soldiers that occupied Berlin could still be seen inside the house of parliament. Eating out was still considered cheap in Berlin for a metropolis. For less than 10Euros you can get an authentic yummy Japanese meal! However I couldn’t find that small Vietnamese restaurant which I thought was squeezed at corner of a row of nondescript shop houses which sells the best bowl of Vietnamese noodle soup anymore. Dresden was new to me. It was a city quite hyped about recently in Germany. Neat. Huge. Historic. Culturally rich. And overrated. We had a fine time exploring the city but I think Dresden was still somehow overshadowed by its other Eastern Europe counterparts. Prague for one. Prague’s unique image never fails to impress me. It was late autumn and the weather was already getting cold and rainy. But Prague was still very much alive with throngs of excited tourists and herds of teenagers on school excursions. But be careful though when roaming the streets of Prague. Its cleanliness almost parallels that of Paris’s! If you’ve heard of merde, then you’ll know what I mean. Try walking the streets of Prague in the rain and also avoid stepping on poo at the same time.Autumn is also a season for weddings. It was less than 5°C and I was still shivering inside my winter jacket, I saw this couple (with the bride wearing a bare back wedding gown) posing for a photograph in front of the cathedral at the Prague’s Castle, despite the cold. You can imagine the excitement of curious onlookers, including me!We’ve passed by at least three couples doing their wedding photo shooting around the old town of Prague. I’d say bravo to those couples, braving the sea of tourists, walking about with their wedding entourage with the brides all looking beautiful in their scanty wedding gowns, trying to look natural for the camera, despite the amused looks of bystanders.

Winter
I should be thankful for not ending up norther in Europe. There were places in Norway where the people never see sunlight throughout the whole of winter and here I am, all whiny and down with the blues.But December isn’t all that bad. With Christmas and the excitement of gift hunting for loved ones, it was really fun (ahem, I’m trying to sound convincing here). As the year is nearing its end, is it too cliche to be retrospective? I think it’s good to ask myself whether I’ve lived everyday of my 2011 like it’s the greatest day of my life? Well, life is not always like a walk in the park on a fine day. I’ve read somewhere that we should live every season as it passes, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign ourselves to the influences of each. I’m gonna remember this .

I’m all too ready for 2012 and wonder what the coming year has in store for me. Happy new year!

Christmas this year

Yen — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 09:56:16 +0000

I could rarely catch a glimpse of blue sky this winter. It poured viciously most of the days with fat, grey clouds in the sky. But sometimes when there was a day or two of blue sky for a change, I almost went crazy with relief. This is really bad. The way I let the gripping fingers of weather had a hold on me. A cup of mulled wine on a lovely winter day is really one of those comfort food that one should indulge. Oh, I wouldn’t miss out a visit to the Christmas markets on such a beautiful day.Whenever I visited a Christmas market, I loved to look at the kitschy, but lovely Christmas decorations above the stalls. They were always colourful and when the night approached, the lights were turned on, twinkling against the cold of the winter night. Cheerful and festive.Cheeky greetings on gingerbreads came in all shapes and sizes. However, it had never occurred to me to get one of these lovely gingerbread for myself. I think they are just too lovely to be eaten. But they do make a lovely gift. So, I’ve got my greeting cards sent, my gifts wrapped and my holidays have just started. Have a very merry, merry Xmas yourself.

The (not so) new found love

Yen — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 20:49:27 +0000

Before I came to Europe, I’ve never liked to eat cheese. I didn’t even like so much as a whiff of milk. However, my version of cheese back then was just slices of jelly-soft yellow-coloured so-called cheese wrapped in plastic. Little did I know that there is, say, a ‘huge world of cheese’ out there. One of the advantage of staying in Europe is that, the huge varieties of food you can find from all the different countries. In time, I find that the smell of cheese is almost bearable after all, well, almost.I didn’t know how it happened but it just happened. I’ve come to love the smell of slightly burned Valais Raclette from the raclette grill. Or I’d always find some space in my stomach after a meal for that cheese platter. Some of them might look mouldy and smell repugnant but they taste the best to me. And oh, not to forget the mouth-watering Gruyère and Fribourg vacherin used for fondue. Whenever we have cheese fondue, I’m banned from preparing the cheese because they disappear faster in my mouth before they were used for the fondue! You bet, I get to scrape the bottom of the caquelon for the layer of toasted cheese. Trust me, it’s the best part of the meal!Recently I discovered this cozy but chic Italian restaurant at a small town in Bavaria which offers a pricey meal of spaghetti served with Parmesan cheese. The price was however completely justified seeing that the cheese is freshly scraped from a Parmesan wheel aged for three years. And the spaghetti was of course mixed directly with the scraped cheese in the wheel! At the end of the meal, I was a very satisfied girl. I guess, love grows, and it can only get stronger, with time.

First attempt at home made noodle

Yen — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:52:21 +0000

I’ve been craving for a bowl of piping hot ban mien lately. There are plenty of noodle versions that one can use. In fact, I don’t really have any preference, I love it either way, be it pasta-like flat or spaghetti-like thin or I’ve come to develop a liking for the simpler version, the noodle is pinched directly from a rolled dough. Well, it is very convenient if you don’t have a pasta machine.My real problem with this version of ban mien is the soup base. I didn’t have anchovies at the time of making, I thought that by substituting it with chicken bones, it might, well, suffice. I was in for a big disappointment. The soup turned out to be quite bland and I gotta admit that ban mien won’t taste authentic without anchovies. Original recipe called for anchovies for the soup base as well as fried anchovies for the condiment and I had neither! But nevertheless, my palate was partially satisfied with the outcome of the pinched noodle, the hot minced chicken meat and spinach. Well, I just got myself a huge bag of anchovies all the way from home. My second bowl of ban mien is one the way.

Rain Oh Rain

Yen — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 12:09:55 +0000

Summer is supposed to be a time to be spent outdoors, with friends, music, and plenty of sunshine. At least it seemed to be at other parts of the world, except in Germany because instead of sunshine and warmth, the summer started off with rain, rain, and more rain. It was one of those days, when the sky opened up and poured mercilessly on us earthlings at a time when we were planning to have fun at an open air concert! However, the Germans being such good spot, weren’t at all deterred by the dismal weather outcome. The crowd turnout was surprisingly huge. Despite the rain, everyone seemed to be in a jolly good mood, dancing to the beat and singing along with music in their minds. I was amazed by the cheerful atmosphere of the crowd. Geared with umbrellas and raincoats, the sky can pour as it wished but it didn’t diminish the party spirits in our hearts.

Gloomy vs. Blue

Yen — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 19:50:14 +0000

Summer this year has been as unpredictable as April’s weather so far. There were days when the sweltering heat threatened to drown you with its mercilessly humid air. While some other days, it was stormy and gloomy, with huge gray clouds hanging in the sky, making everything look all dismal and kinda sad. With unpredictable elements like these, it makes outdoor photography all the more challenging. I’m no guru in photography but I definitely take mother nature into consideration when composing a snapshot. Well, who doesn’t love blue sky adorned by some harmless cottony clouds? It makes a great backdrop to any landscape and blue sky certainly lifts up the mood of a picture. When the sky is nice and friendly, especially when the clouds are aligned in such spectacular way, I try to emphasize the beauty of the sky as much as possible. I love the way the clouds above look so much like some crushed ice splashed haphazardly across a blue canvas, doesn’t it? I used to complain when I’m out and about, with my camera gears all ready but the sky decided not to play along when it turned all gray and gloomy. But someone once told me that sometimes, amazing pictures are made when the sky is covered up with clouds, blocking out the harsh sunlight.Huge rain clouds above look threatening but also add temperament to a picture. I was glad I didn’t put off my visit to an outdoor gardening show a couple of days ago when the weather forecast said that it was going to be very cloudy. The different shades of gray gives a touch of drama and I really like how the picture turns out.All said, I love it when the sky is blue. Period. But when it is not, that’s how mother nature teaches me to take up the challenge to try making beautiful pictures out of it.

Summer’s delight

Yen — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 17:59:40 +0000

I went for cherry harvesting the other day at a colleague’s place and I came back with a modest 2kg of cherries. We (actually I) finished most of them in just a couple of days. There’s this inner voice in me which reminds me come every spring/summer to make something yummy out of these seasonal fruits but up till now I so seldom come close to whipping up a cupcake, sorbet or anything close to complicated out of these lovely seasonal fruits. Well, honestly I seemed to be collecting more recipes for strawberry cupcakes than trying them out because I’d usually finish them up sooner than I have time to pick up my mixer. Ooops. And before I know it, the season has ended and I’d have to wait till next year for some fresh strawberries or cherries for those cute-looking little cupcakes.

Spring’s escapade at Lindau

Yen — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 19:07:44 +0000

Have I mentioned for the zillionth time that spring is my favorite season of the year? Actually I love all the seasons except, maybe winter. But now that spring is almost over (bawl!), I thought it might be an excellent idea to celebrate this year’s wonderful spring season by being outdoors, just us, our bikes, the wonderful sunshine under the amazingly blue sky. Germany has plenty of wonderful getaways and countless endearingly charming towns and one of them gem is Lindau. We wandered off during a prolonged weekend and headed towards Lindau in the south of Bavaria. The town has a beautiful half-island situated at Bodensee, or Lake Constance, a large lake bordered by Germany, Austria and Switzerland.The half-island itself is not that big. One can even circle the circumference of the island by foot in an hour or less. There are even steps and ladders all around the island leading you towards the clear waters of the lake! I like!! If you happened to be on the island, then take the opportunity to go up the lighthouse. From above, you get an amazing sight of the port of Lindau, as well as the gentle slopes of the Alps in Austria and Switzerland situated at the opposite side of the lake. We cycled and we walked. A satisfying Italian meal on a balmy spring evening on a wonderful island at Bodensee with an awe-inspiring view. I could have fallen in love. And in love I fell.

Walking Boston

Yen — Mon, 09 May 2011 18:22:08 +0000

I’ve read that Boston is a compact town, where most of the important sights around town are easily reachable on foot. True, provided that you have a pair of comfortable walking shoes (believe me, you’ll gotta need’em). Besides that, public transportation like the ‘T’, the local metro system, is superb. You can reach almost anywhere in town with the ‘T’. What brought me to Boston, I was asked a few times by some locals. Well, honestly, I don’t really know. I thought that perhaps I can try out its seafood and the famed New England Chowder. Aside from food, a breath of fresh air from the Atlantic Ocean might do me good before hitting NYC next. A very good idea indeed. That was too long an explanation I supposed, so I answered, just to look around .We were blessed with pleasant weather the first few days in Boston. Armed with a map and with Lonely Planet as our guide, we headed out to get to know Boston by walking The Freedom Trail. The trail leads us to various historic sites and monuments around town. The trail was surprisingly well marked (even on the road with red bricks!) so it’s difficult to get lost. One thing I’ve noticed though, at the corner of almost every two blocks, you’ll definitely find a Starbucks. I guess their business strategy is like, okay you can pass by the first one, even the second or third one but sooner or later, you’ll end up ordering your Latte in the fourth Starbucks! We came upon neat neighbourhoods throughout the route and one of these reminds me of Norway with its wooden colourful houses and cheery potted plants. Whereas some neighbourhoods around Bunker Hill have rows of townhouses made of red bricks, one of Boston’s trademark I guess. It was especially beautiful during sunset while walking past these houses, with sun rays glinting on their window panes and their walls shining a fiery red.To me, a visit to a new place won’t feel complete if I don’t catch a bird’s eye view of the place that I’ve gone all the way to visiting. There are a few places in Boston where you can catch the magnificent view of Boston from way high up. The Bunker Hill Monument offers a pleasant view enough, but I find the small cooped-up area at the top of the monument rather stuffy, especially when there are about ten people cramped in that small area with another group of people heading up the narrow, spiral staircase. Not a very good idea if you’re prone to claustrophobia but it has an advantage because the view up there is free, so we can’t complain much. Another excellent alternative would be the Prudential Center which is situated right in the middle of Boston. It offers an exceptional view of the town and you can even see MIT! The good thing about the Prudential Center viewing platform, the audio guide is provided free (the entrance is not free of charge though) and you can stay up there as long as you like so that you can enjoy and listen to the guide at your own pace. We did and bf almost got sunburned up there because it was a sunny, almost summer-like day with clear blue sky and the viewing platform is covered with transparent glasses and so you can imagine what a super greenhouse effect it produces. Nevertheless I really enjoyed my stay up there .What I like about Boston? The sights, the ocean, the seafood, the laid back local, the seafood (oh, have I mentioned it before? I guess I love seafood too much!) and everything that I was lucky enough to have the chance to encounter during my short stay!

Roaming the States!

Yen — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:51:13 +0000

My first twenty dollar bill, crisp and new, fresh from the ATM machine!
My adventures in the States were eye-opening indeed. However my trip didn’t start off well as planned. After checking for the hundredth time that I had everything covered, I didn’t realised that I was totally in for a surprise at the airport.

I was supposed to fly from Frankfurt to Boston by transiting in Montreal. I checked in online a day before departing and everything was confirmed and all was well (or so I thought). Then when we went up to the counter to drop off my baggage, the lady at the counter double checked our passports and told me straight in the face that I can’t fly. I thought she made a mistake and told her to recheck. Then her answer was again, no, I can’t fly to Montreal because I don’t have a ~~stupid~~ visa for Canada (What a joke!).

So we had to uncheck-in and had to seek for another alternative to travel to Boston because apparently bf has no problem transiting in Montreal, so the problem was ONLY me! But I did manage to rebook my ticket to Boston by transiting in Munich in the end (after almost panicking for an hour). So bf and I had to fly separately to Boston. He from Frankfurt to Montreal and then Boston whereas I was to fly all the way to Munich before taking off for Boston with me landing two hours later than him. I was told there was only one seat left for the flight from Munich to Boston. Was I lucky? YES! But still it was a stupid start to a memorable trip. Another lesson learned.