Lamia's Belgian experiences

Wedding update - Looking for THE venue

2012-01-29T16:24:00.001+01:00

Over the past two weeks, we've been browsing different wedding websites to select potential venues for our wedding.
After checking availability, which seems not to be a problem given it’s in December and a Thursday, we’ve made appointments to visit most of them. Strangely, out of the 22 we were interested into, 9 didn’t bother to reply. Seems we will take our business elsewhere.
Three were clearly out of budget or too big or even not open after 11pm.
Leaving us with 10 venues to visit.
Friday we started with the Solvay library, which we loved.
Saturday we visited the Metropole hotel which ballroom turned out disappointing compare to the Art Deco lobby.
Later on we went to Chateau du Lac in Genval and Palais des Colonies in Tervuren, which both have potential.
Choosing a wedding venue is like looking for a new apartment, you need to have a feeling about the place to start with. Then you need to factor in things like cost, access, flexibility, contact, etc. which might change the ranking.
Next week we will visit another 5 venues and will select our short list. Let’s see what the other venues look like… and how they fit in the budget.

An ice breaker game that used to be a personality test

2012-01-28T15:36:00.002+01:00

In a recent brainstorming session, we started the day by a little ice breaker game.
Here it is:
Instructions:
- Draw the first image that comes up into your mind on each box.
- After each drawing describe it with an adjective
Given I've never been good at drawing, this little exercise stressed me more than anything else I could have started the day with.
Until we were told that it was a personality test, and that each drawing had a meaning.
Answers: from left to right 1st row boxes- 1. describes how you see yourself, 2. describes how others see you, from left to right 2nd row boxes- 1. describes your childhood, 2. describes your love life, from left to right 3rd row boxes- 1. describes your future, 2. descrbies your job.

I don't really believe in those type of tests , but I have to say, this one was pretty spot on, for most people in the room.
We did laugh a lot at our answers ;)

Europe... not quite

2012-01-24T07:07:00.001+01:00

He's German.
I'm French.
We live in Belgium.
One could have assumed that with the European Union, it would be easy to get married but no. The road to the city hall is paved with requests for documents that one has never heard of before. On top many of them are interlinked, i.e. the sequence has to be right or it won't work.
I guess paperwork is going to be our first wedding challenge. And I thought it would be the venue or the photographer...

Toqueur a oeuf

2012-01-23T06:48:00.002+01:00

A short video worth watching about eggs.
En Francais and Auf Deutsch (thanks Arte!). Sorry no English.

Karambolage - videos.arte.tv

Thanks Alice for sharing.

What I like about the UK…

2012-01-20T14:59:00.001+01:00

…Is that there is tea everywhere. The first thing people offer you to drink is tea, not coffee.

For the tea drinker that I am, it’s a huge difference.

Do not disturb

2012-01-14T14:25:00.001+01:00

We're looking for a venue and it's insane the number of venues out there.

Power of influence

2012-01-09T22:32:00.000+01:00

The first question asked after we announced we were engaged was: where and when.

After a whole month of thinking, we’ve decided for Belgium and for December 20, 2012.

The first date my sister suggested was December 20, 2012, because it makes 20.12.2012. We discarded the idea because we thought we would prefer a summer wedding.

BUT given everything has to be booked one year in advance and many people are coming from far away and December 21, 2012 might be the end of the world as we know it, the obvious choice was indeed 20.12.2012.

Now let the planning start for our winter wedding!

NY Carte postale

2012-01-08T18:56:00.000+01:00

Empire State Building and packed city

2012-01-03T18:47:00.000+01:00

Circle Line - Lower Manhattan East side

2012-01-02T18:23:00.000+01:00

Circle Line - Statue of Liberty

2012-01-02T18:15:00.000+01:00

Circle Line - Lower Manhattan West side

2012-01-02T15:44:00.000+01:00

Circle Line - Departure

2012-01-02T15:43:00.000+01:00

Happy new year!!!

2012-01-02T03:44:00.001+01:00

Let 2012 surprise you!

Sunset over Manhattan

2011-12-31T22:05:00.000+01:00

I've been told by you know who that I have to be choiceful in the pictures I keep.
The thing is that I'm not so good at making choices especially when I see a reason why to keep something, otherwise I would have less pairs of shoes or pictures of elephants :)

I can truly justify why I want to keep all the below pictures: the sky might be slightly different, the color of the light on the antenna changed, the sun moved, you name it.

Empire State building at sunset

2011-12-31T19:12:00.000+01:00

THE ball

2011-12-31T18:07:00.000+01:00

We did see it…

… digitally :)

The famous stair case of the MOMA

2011-12-31T17:11:00.000+01:00

Metropolitan Museum

2011-12-30T17:26:00.000+01:00

The Metropolitan museum is one of my favorite museums in the world. If I were living in New York, I would have an annual pass and come every other week to visit one section at a time. This museum is huge and it’s impossible to visit entirely in one day.

We started with a tour of the museum highlights. We were extremely lucky as only the two of us showed us at the meeting point and therefore had a private tour. I still cannot believe we had a guide just for us for one full hour. Not only did we get to ask all the questions we wanted, but also we saw more than in the standard tour as with only 2 people to move, it goes faster.

Here is a selection of my highlights, leaving aside the paintings.

Time Square

2011-12-29T20:45:00.000+01:00

The lights, the crowd,

The musicals, the crowd,

The shops, the crowd...

Brooklyn Bridge

2011-12-29T19:55:00.000+01:00

First glimpse at the Brooklyn Bridge from the pier below.

I was quite surprised by the pier area. Last time I was down here it was not really the place to be. Now it’s been cleaned up and revamped making it nice to walk along. If only it was warmer weather.

Unfortunately for us there were works on the bridge and big parts of it were covered. Still we walked it all the way to Brooklyn and back. Once again, this walk is much nicer in a warmer season. With the wind it felt very cold on the bridge.

Also first glimpse at the Empire State Building and the growing “twin” towers.

NY Financial district

2011-12-29T17:09:00.000+01:00

Let’s face it, there is not much to see in the Financial district, apart from people working there rushing from one building to the other. We still walked those legendary streets stopping at the Federal Hall and of course Wall street.

Interestingly, churches used to be the highest buildings built by humans. Clearly in Manhattan this does not apply. Look at this church and how small it seems between two skyscrapers. PS: unfortunately I was not successful in capturing the full impression on this picture but I hope it gives an idea.

Ground Zero

2011-12-29T16:37:00.000+01:00

To start our visit of New York, Wolfram picked lower Manhattan, and more specifically Ground Zero.

The apartment of my cousin is in the campus of Columbia University, right next to the subway station 116^th street on line 1, line whic happens to very conveniently cross the whole Manhattan from north to south. We quickly figured out how to get a metro card and started our journey all the way down to Rector street.

Founding Ground Zero was very easy as 1) a huge whole between all the skyscrapers is hard to miss, and 2) simply following the crowd will get you there in no time.

Visiting Ground Zero on the other hand requires preparation which we didn’t know. The 9/11 memorial will be inaugurated in Sept’12, until then it’s possible to visit the construction site and get a preview. It’s free BUT one should book online his ticket before coming. Of course we had no idea, so we looked at the site from behind the fence.

I guess we’ll have to come back when the memorial is finished as well as the two new towers. Until then, it’s just one of the most photographed construction sites.

Christmas lunch/dinner

2011-12-26T15:07:00.004+01:00

This year, we did improvise quite a bit in terms of food for Christmas dinner and lunch. But we managed to have our classics.
Consequence, the whole floor was perfumed by our turkey :)

Look at the beast!

No ice skating yet

2011-12-26T14:57:00.000+01:00

Lake is not ready, yet. Pity.

Diet Coke in French from Canada

2011-12-26T14:50:00.001+01:00

Diet Coke in French from Canada is not Coca-Cola Light like in France, it's Coke Diète. Truth be told, diète means indeed eating less so is probably closer from a translation point of view to the English diet. Still it's weird to see.

The Georgian Bay

2011-12-25T15:26:00.000+01:00

While Jean-Habib and Lisa were busy preparing the turkey, my parents and I drove to the top of the hill of Blue Mountain. Objective was to have a walk up there and enjoy the view on the Georgian bay, i.e. the great lakes.

After struggling to find the parking that was simply not well indicated leading to people passing it without realizing, we did park and got out of the car. It was windy, very windy, so windy I was happy to wear my “North Pole special” outfit.

Sadly there was not much to see as the weather was very cloudy by the time we got there. We could still guess the shadow of the lake far away but that was about it.

We walked a bit on top of the skiing trails, watching the few skiers fighting for the little snow available. It was almost surreal how the hill had snow but the plain and everywhere else not.

Despite the cold, it was nice to be outside, breathing (very) fresh air.

Now it’s time to go back and have a hot chocolate.

A Christmas away from home

2011-12-24T23:17:00.000+01:00

Traditionally my family meets at my parents for Christmas. There have been a few exceptions throughout the years. One of them was the first year I was in Belgium. This year is another one.

We all (except Wolfram) flew to Canada where my brother and Lisa now live. This year we’re spending Christmas in Blue Mountain, a ski resort. This year we are having a white Christmas. When you live in Brittany chances of a white Christmas are low, therefore whenever it happens we are all excited.

Obviously we have to adapt to being away from my parents’ home in the way we celebrate Christmas. This said, some elements are no miss so we figured something out:

- Christmas tree: Jean-Habib brought a small plastic one. Not as nice as a real one big one, but at least there is a tree.

- Small silver tree that decorates the TV since I can remember did come in a suitcase.

- Christmas cookies: couldn’t travel with them so we bought already made cookie dough and will bake them. We also bought Christmas M&M’s to set the mood.

- There will be turkey, Canadian one, but still turkey.

- There will be Koulibiac on the 24^th, with some adjustment to the recipe due to some ingredients hard to find but hopefully it will look (and taste?) like a Koulibiac.

- Joy brought a couple of small Christmas table cloths and other decoration elements to set the scene.

- There will be foie gras. Don’t ask how it made its way here.

- Tons of Christmas music is available thanks to CDs and iPhones.

- Puzzle was kindly provided by the locals

- Last but not least, we will be altogether which is the most important.

A walk through the village

2011-12-24T20:05:00.000+01:00

This afternoon, my dad and I dressed up warm and went for a walk in the village. Temperature was manageable as long as there was no wind. As soon as the wind was blowing, you could feel the cold all the way to your bones.

Bravely we walked through the village to see what’s out there. First lot’s of ski trails. There has not been much snow so far so the station is using heavily canon to make snow and have some of the slopes open. I cannot help thinking about the cost that must represent to have so many canons working. At the same time a day of skiing will cost you around 100 dollars including ski rental. Somewhere it must square financially.

Like I mentioned, we happen to have an apartment right at the bottom of the slopes. Which is nice as you can spend your afternoon by the chimney watching people skiing.

The village is quite small and from the look and content could have been a Disney village. Mostly village is made of hotels or other housing to rent, and the traditional “apres ski”: restaurants, bars, shops, aquatic center, etc.

Weider lodge, where we stay

Winter scenes

The artificial lake, frozen in this season

In the summer I guess you can nicely sit around and enjoy the sun. In the winter you quickly have a look and rush back inside for a hot chocolate.

I have to say I like this idea that you can simply go down the ski slope straight into the village and drop your skis in front of the shop or restaurant. It’s the first time I’ve seen a valet parking for ski.

Roughly after 30min outside we rushed back in with red noses. That was enough cold for the moment.

Blue Mountain first impressions

2011-12-23T17:33:00.000+01:00

My brother picked us up at the airport, us and the caravan of luggage we brought. My family is not known for travelling light.

We drove to Blue Mountain village where he booked us an apartment.

Not much snow while driving there. Seems it’s the warmest winter in Canada. Lucky us.

This said the apartment is right at the bottom of the sky domain. Literally speaking one could sky and walk directly into the apartment. I’ll take pictures tomorrow.

Note: this morning we woke up with snow. It started to snow sometime during the night. We might have our white Christmas after all.

Not much space

2011-12-22T17:30:00.000+01:00

When I arrived at my seat I discover that my space would be very limited. Not leg space, but width. The man sitting in the middle seat would have probably fit into 2 of them. When you see him it’s hard to believe he could squeeze himself into one economy seat. That’s probably why he was expanding on mine.

I’ve spend the whole 8 hours fighting for my space. While I did give up the arm rest from the beginning I was not willing to let go more space. This translated of 8 hours of bumping into his arm, but what else could I do.

Apart from that little annoyance, the flight went well. I watched movies, ate my low calorie meal and was starving most of the flight. I ordered a special meal so I get food before everybody else and I feel a bit special. The low calorie meal however is not enough and clearly it’s not credible to order a low calorie meal and ask for snacks later on. Next time I’ll pick another option. I heard the Kosher one is not bad.

5 hours to kill in Schipol airport

2011-12-22T12:30:00.000+01:00

Once again I have 5 hours to kill in Schipol airport.

Last time was on the way to Thailand and I was with Alice, i.e. I had good company and someone with a Platinum status to get me into the lounge.

This time I am all by myself. I started by finding the Internet corner with free internet. Slow but free internet is better than nothing.

I had a tea and a muffin for breakfast there.

I finished a few emails for work.

I finally finished working the pictures of the elephants from Thailand. With 3 millions of them at least, I never managed to go through all of them until now.

I watched a couple of episodes of CSI.

I browsed through the shops and bought myself a new trolley on sale. A month ago I had to say good bye to my red trolley. I had it since I started working. It was time as it was falling apart and louder than an aircraft taking off when rolling. I replace my red Delsey for a grey one. A bit smaller as the new rules on cabin luggage are smaller than 7 years ago but expandable. Don’t tell Wolfram as he thinks we have too many suitcases, which I would obviously challenge. Clearly one can never have enough bags.

I visited the newspaper shop pondering with the thought of buying wedding magazines.

I considered buying Gouda for my brother.

Despite all these activities, I was bored. Travelling alone might be acceptable on a business trip, but it is not fun on vacation.

Good news

2011-12-21T18:32:00.001+01:00

I started packing for the trip to Canada and of course the suitcase looks very full and potentially too heavy. Don't ask why, most of it stays in Canada.
I checked on the KLM website but found conflicting info i.e. 1 piece of 23kg or 2 pieces of 23kg.
To clarify I called their customer service and talked to probably the most polite and helpful person in a customer service in a while. Not only was he polite but on top he had good news. I can bring:
- 1 piece of 23kg checked-in
- 1 hand luggage of 12kg
- 1 laptop bag
- 1 handbag
Clearly those guys have no idea how much a woman can stretch the above.
But even better, thanks to my Silver status I can check in one extra bag! Being Silver is not like being Gold (sigh....) but it's better than nothing.
Suddenly packing is much easier.

Unfortunately he couldn't book me an emergency row seat as within 30 hours from the flight it has to be done at the airport. I'll ask for it tomorrow morning, when I get there, at 5am. Keep your fingers crossed.

Marshmallow World

2011-12-21T14:00:00.002+01:00

To keep the spirit up and get into Holidays mood.

Not good, not good at all.

2011-12-21T12:51:00.001+01:00

More information on the general strike on Thursday 22 December

The three big trade unions in Belgium are calling for a general 24-hour strike in the public sector from Wednesday 21 December 10 pm to Thursday 22 December 10 pm to protest against the pension reforms. As a result there will be no train or bus servicesfrom and to Brussels Airport. Passengers are advised to take the necessary precautions.

At this moment we do not know if or to what extent air traffic operations will be impacted. We will try to keep you informed as best we can. In any case, passengers due to depart on Thursday had best check the flight information as of Wednesday.

Let's just hope my flight to Amsterdam won't be cancelled, nor the train of my parents.

Christmas tree made in Beirut's new souk

2011-12-19T19:48:00.001+01:00

Office with view

2011-12-19T19:46:00.001+01:00

To make my colleagues back home jealous. This said with such a view and weather not sure I would ever feel like working :)

To make my brother jealous

2011-12-19T07:33:00.001+01:00

That's what I had for Breakfast this morning in Beirut with of course view on the sea.

Very early start for a Sunday

2011-12-18T05:41:00.001+01:00

Last night I received a SMS from Lufthansa. My flight to Frankfurt was cancelled. Ahhhh!
Only option is to take the earlier flight. In other word the 6am flight on a Sunday.
So here I am, it's 5:30am, I'm at the gate and had to observe the following. This flight is the first one out of Brussels today.
The second one goes to Amsterdam at 6:05am and that's the one I'll be taking on Thursday.
Clearly I need to better schedule my flights so I can at least be in the airport when shops are open.

First snow

2011-12-17T08:20:00.001+01:00

This year we’ve been lucky with the weather. It has not been so cold as last year at the same time. Until yesterday evening.

After almost a week of rain, last night it started to snow. Within a couple of hours the whole area was white.

Again snow makes everything beautiful and really set the mood for Christmas.

Now, snow in Belgium is nice but what about in Canada? My brother promised a white Christmas over there and it seems they are having the warmest winter ever… Here shows the global warming.

Three nights in a row

2011-12-16T07:00:00.002+01:00

It’s been raining heavily this week and for the past three nights, I couldn’t sleep because of the noise of the rain on the Velux.

Last night I ended up getting up and keep myself busy for a couple of hours until I would be so exhausted I had to lie down.

Still after three nights in a row without proper sleep I’m dead and wonder how I am going to survive today at work.

Can’t wait tomorrow morning so I can sleep longer.

Completed

2011-12-13T18:53:00.000+01:00

Finished, completed, the first puzzle of this Christmas season.
A lot of red but we managed. Even Wolfram helped.
Thanks Dad!

Next one, in Canada. Let's see what my brother bought.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

2011-12-09T09:19:00.001+01:00

Joy and I always loved this song, even more because we struggled making sense of the gifts.
Today I looked at the lyrics (now Joy we have no excuse to mix up the 12 gifts):

On the first day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
A partridge in a pear tree.

On the second day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the third day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the fourth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the fifth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the sixth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the seventh day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the eighth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the ninth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the tenth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the eleventh day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Eleven pipers piping,
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Twelve drummers drumming,
Eleven pipers piping,
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree!

and discovered that there is a meaning to each of the gift. Who said Christmas songs were just songs?

Religious symbolism of The Twelve Days of Christmas (The 12 Days of Christmas)

1 True Love refers to God
2 Turtle Doves refers to the Old and New Testaments
3 French Hens refers to Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues
4 Calling Birds refers to the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists
5 Golden Rings refers to the first Five Books of the Old Testament, the "Pentateuch", which gives the history of man's fall from grace.
6 Geese A-laying refers to the six days of creation
7 Swans A-swimming refers to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments
8 Maids A-milking refers to the eight beatitudes
9 Ladies Dancing refers to the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit
10 Lords A-leaping refers to the ten commandments
11 Pipers Piping refers to the eleven faithful apostles
12 Drummers Drumming refers to the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle's Creed

Joyeuse Saint Nicolas to everybody

2011-12-06T07:05:00.001+01:00

Mass production

2011-12-04T19:50:00.001+01:00

Of pains d'épices!
It's that time of the year when I bake the traditional pains d'épices for Christmas.
I just spent the whole afternoon baking.
Hopefully no one will check whether they are on spec. Given I poured the spices based on feeling, none of them is going to be the same.
Now minimum two weeks to wait before we can have a bite. Ideally three. Patience...

He asked...

2011-12-03T21:00:00.000+01:00

at the foot of our Christmas tree...

... and I said yes!
It was beautiful.

We have bought our tree

2011-12-03T14:57:00.001+01:00

I will concede its a bit early but given we're not around on Christmas day we decided to buy the tree early do we can enjoy it as much as possible.
In between two showers we walked to our landlord's trees and plants shop and bought our tree.
Bravely wolfram pushed it to the house. I have to say it was much easier this year as there was no snow like last year.

"All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey

2011-12-01T10:35:00.001+01:00

The original version from November 1994.

I didn't know that Mariah Carey was one of the two writers of this song not that there were 2 different videos. Seems there is a lot more to know about this song.

The 2011 version, with Justin Bieber.

No comment. Maybe just that she could be his mother...

And, yes it's December 1st today which means we can officially start listening to Christmas music!!!!!!!!!!

Something I could use

2011-11-28T14:36:00.001+01:00

The Marshmallow Challenge

2011-11-25T08:16:00.001+01:00

The task is simple: in eighteen minutes, teams must build the tallest free-standing structure out of 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string, and one marshmallow. The marshmallow needs to be on top.

How would you do it?

LOY KRATHONG

2011-11-20T22:21:00.000+01:00

"Loy Krathong is as old as Thai heritage and represents a close bond between Thai culture and water. The festival takes place on the full moon night of the twelfth lunar month when the water level is high and the climate is cooler. Participants ask water spirits to sail away their troubles in their krathongs, which are containers traditionally made from banana leaves and carrying offerings of incense, lotus flowers and small money."
We just happened to be around at the time of the November full moon and could witness the festival and people making offerings to the goddess of water: floating candles and flowers.
That night people lit light paper lanterns and send them to the sky. Like everybody else, we bought one, lit it up, waited until the air inside was hot enough...

... and successfully released it to the sky, as proven by the video from Alice: click here.

Similan Islands

2011-11-20T22:01:00.000+01:00

Heaven, I'm in heaven...

PS: the color of the water is real. No Photoshop, no tricks applied. The water was really turquoise and transparent. The sand was really white. Heaven on earth, I'm telling you.

A walk in the jungle around Chiang Mai

2011-11-20T21:48:00.000+01:00

Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep

2011-11-20T11:03:00.001+01:00

"Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep is a temple often referred to as "Doi Suthep" although this is actually the name of the mountain it is located on. The temple is located 15 km from the city of Chiang Mai and is a sacred site to many Thai people. From the temple impressive views of Chiang Mai can be seen and it remains a popular destination of foreign visitors."

Indeed the temple was on top of a hill which we reached via a red taxi shared with 8 people.
On top of being one of the most beautiful temples we've seen, it was also the first one we visited on a Sunday. We had the chance to witness people praying and making their offering to Buddha.
Please watch respectfully.

and listen here.

Wat Rong Khun (Chiang Rai)

2011-11-19T21:30:00.000+01:00

The white temple.

Yes another temple but one of a kind!

Thai Cooking Lesson

2011-11-19T13:30:00.000+01:00

First, learning about the ingredients. Very important is to smell them so we can decide whether we like them or not, and in case we can't find them back in Europe, we can figure out a substitute.
Lemongrass, ginger, Thai basilic, Thai coriander, etc.

Thai aubergine, long bean, onion, etc.

Follow the recipe and the instructions, and magically you get:

Tom Yam Soup with Shrimp

Chicken in coconut milk soup

Green curry chicken & Chicken with cashew nuts or with Chicken with Basil

Stir fried big noodles

and the legendary Pad Thai fried noodles (my favourite).

Look for an invitation for a Thai buffet in the coming months ... at your own risk :)

Visiting a market

2011-11-18T12:11:00.000+01:00

Some items we know, some are new, some are scary, but overall it makes you curious of what you can cook with all of these ingredients.

Thailand - Best of Food

2011-11-18T10:01:00.000+01:00

Quail eggs, served in a bowl made of banana leaves

Grilled fish & Satay chicken

Banana Chocolate Rotee, already pre-cut so you can eat it easily with a wooden stick while walking.

Watermelon juice & Pineapple juice (freshly blended)

Pineapple fried rice

Thai BBQ - Sea food

Offering

2011-11-17T07:55:00.001+01:00

Many symbolic offerings are made to Buddha. Typical material offerings involve simple objects such as a lit candle or oil lamp, burning incense, flowers, food, fruit, water or drinks.
It's actually impressive to see the beautiful offerings that can be created simply with flowers and banana leaves.

Hill tribe village

2011-11-17T07:01:00.001+01:00

or the human zoo...

Golden Triangle

2011-11-17T06:59:00.001+01:00

As already mentioned, there is not much to see apart from the 2 rivers merging.

Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort

2011-11-16T22:25:00.001+01:00

Also known as paradise.

When can I go back? I'm sure the swimming pool is missing me :)

Wat Chaimongkol (Chiang Mai)

2011-11-16T21:59:00.001+01:00

Simply because we haven't seen enough temples in one day... just one more and we close the day by a massage.

As the number of temples we visited increased, the passion for Buddha and other symbols decreased. It seems there are so many Buddhas one can see in a single day :)

Wat Chiang Mun (Chiang Mai)

2011-11-16T21:04:00.001+01:00

Wat Chiang Mun is the oldest temple in Chiangmai.

In this temple, a friendly Thai man explained to us the 8 Buddhas of the week. One for each day, except Wednesday when there are one Buddha for the morning and one for the afternoon. I still don’t know why but one can make an offering for each day of the week.

Wat Chiang Yuan

2011-11-16T20:51:00.001+01:00

Another temple with one novelty: a black Buddha.
After seeing so many Buddhas, we started to track the colors we saw: yellow/golden, white, red, green and now black.

This temple was not as well preserved / maintained that the others we've seen which translated into plants growing pretty much everywhere.

Wat Mornthean–Sri Poom, Chiang Mai

2011-11-15T06:59:00.001+01:00

Yep, another temple.

With more Nagas, but somehow looking funnier this time.

With more Buddha, but this time really big. So big I could sit in those hands.

Manneken Pis

2011-11-14T22:09:00.001+01:00

Where you would not expect it.

Wat Phrasingh Temple (Chiang Mai)

2011-11-14T07:56:00.001+01:00

This temple was clearly the biggest one we saw in Chiang Mai. The site contains several “houses”. Each of them had at least one Buddha inside (like the one lying down) but most actually contained several Buddhas: small, big, sitting, standing, etc. you name it.

Nagas (serpents or dragons) acting as guards.

One of them even had mural paintings all around. The sad part is that they are not protected at all and, of course, some people cannot help touching it.

The temple was also hosting a school. We arrived around lunch time and could see the “student” monks having lunch and later on walking back to their study room. Seeing so many boys dressed as monk got me wonder whether they would all become a monk one day. That would make a lot of monks. At the same time given the number of temples around, so many monks would be needed.

Dharma teachings

2011-11-14T06:55:00.001+01:00

These are some of the Dharma teachings (i.e. teaching from Buddha) that one can read while walking in the gardens of the temples. Kindly some have been translated into English.

I leave the interpretation of each of them to you.

Chiang Mai - Wat Phan On Temple

2011-11-13T19:15:00.001+01:00

The first temple we visited in Chiang Mai. Note that there are more than 350 temples in Chiang Mai. We visited maybe a dozen of them and that was plenty enough.
This one being the first one, we spent quality time exploring it and took a lot of pictures.

PS: if you donate enough to the temple, you can get your painting inside the temple. Anyone interested?

Strangely, throughout the day, we took less and less pictures in each temple. After a while we had figured out the standard arrangement of the buildings as well as the different types of Buddha existing.

Details that matter

2011-11-13T18:48:00.001+01:00

In Thailand, in most hotels, you will find your towels folded in the shape of elephant or rabbit.
Once again those little details make the difference in your stay. Especially when it’s changed from one day to the other, triggering curiosity and excitement when finding out the animal of the day.

Good instructions will always make the difference

2011-11-13T18:33:00.001+01:00

In a world where both types of toilets exist, it's important to have clear instructions.

Seen in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Similan islands

2011-11-12T15:39:00.001+01:00

Another early wake up followed by a bus ride followed this time by speed boat. Direction: Similan islands, a group of islands a bit north from Phuket.
After 1h40 cruise at full speed we reached the islands.
It's simply beautiful. Paradise island as you dream it. Sky is blue, sun is shining, water is turquoise, sand on the beach is white. Paradise I'm telling you.
The day was similar to a bus guided tour except this time you go from one island to the next one. On and off the boat. That's actually pretty cool. Each time you stop it's either to relax on the beach, go to a view point or snorkel. Hopping from one island to the other by boat is much more fun than by bus.
Snorkeling was not exceptional according to Alice, advanced scuba diver, but decent to the eyes of the novice (me!)
I had the chance to see a collection of fish that I usually see in an aquarium. I will have to look afterwards their names as apart from those Alice showed me, my knowledge in terms of fish species is very limited.
I really enjoyed behind there, watching them in their daily routine. Of course we found Nemo, or at least a couple of clown fish on top of their anemone.
While I enjoyed snorkeling, I have to say that the hassle of the equipment and the breathing are not my cup of tea. I see myself doing it every now and then. As much as it was magic to see the fish in their natural environment, it's too much effort for me.
By the way I've also seen a turtle. yep I was swimming right next to one. Of course the rule is to watch only and not touch not to disturb or damage. Sadly some tourists had to touch the turtle and even tried to feed it. Unbelievable!
No wonder the corals are dying.
Once again it was a long day. Once again it was worth it. I've seen landscape and fish to keep me dreaming until my next vacation :)

Rotee banana chocolate

2011-11-12T15:29:00.001+01:00

It's similar to a crepe with banana and chocolate sauce. The dough is different, thinner and more elastic mostly I would say.
One can buy it in a little stand on the street. It's made on demand and it's simply delicious. Of course it's at least 1500 calories a piece given all the oil and butter used to cook it, but we're on vacation. I'll get back to my diet when I'm back.

Same same but different

2011-11-12T15:25:00.001+01:00

Whoever has been to Asia will understand instantly the meaning of "same same but different".
For those who haven't been to Asia it is used by people to describe something they sell, to help you understand what it is. It's different because it's cheaper, less good quality, actually really different. For example, a fake Gucci bag is "same same" as a real Gucci bag but "different" because it's not a real one. Or, if you see the same T-shirt in a stand on the market it is indeed "same same" but will be "different" because it's better quality or cheaper.
Alice and I are to the eyes of Thai people "same same but different" simply because for them all westerns look the same. The same way we struggle to differentiate between Asian people.
It's so known from foreigners that they even made a T-shirt of it.

All by myself

2011-11-12T13:16:00.001+01:00

Alice left for a day of scuba diving today. This means I'm all by myself for the whole day.
I decided to start the day by some sport. The fitness center offered a free Pilates class which I thought could be nice.
Well that could have been a good idea if I had some sense of balance and some abdominal muscles. I beautifully demonstrated that I cannot hold any position longer than 30 seconds (target was at least 1 min) even more when it requires to use any belly muscle. Shame on me but at least there were only 2 of us suffering. In other words no witness :)
After this pretty pathetic start of the day I decided to get back to my comfort zone: the swimming pool. I spent the day swimming, reading, sleeping.... The standard vacation schedule if I may say :)
Note: I did change pool at mid day. With 3 available it would be a pity not to try them all.

Karon beach town

2011-11-12T13:14:00.001+01:00

The Hilton is located on the Karon beach. When the sun started to go down, we left the serenity of the resort to walk on the beach and explore the town further north.
The beach is nice although not exceptional. Like for most beaches in Asia, it's time to start collecting waste on a daily basis. It's sad to see so much garbage on the sand brought by the tide or left behind by non respectful tourists.
The town is small and full of restaurants, shops and everything you need to make a tourist happy in Thailand: travel agents to book tours, massage salons, and bars with hostesses. We witnessed the arrival of a group of men in a street full of bars and the Thai hostesses running to them trying to lure them in their respecting bar. I was chocked and disgusted especially when seeing the smile on the faces of the men. Clearly they came to Thailand for something else than the sun.

We had been told Phuket would be more expensive than Chiang Mai and indeed it is. People asked us 40 bath (that's the Thai currency) for a can of diet coke. So far the most expensive one was 20 bath a can and that was in a remote area. We said no and searched further. Seems the standard price in Phuket is 25 bath. Massages are also more expensive: 250 bath for 1 hour vs. 200. On top over here chances are higher that something extra will be offered, especially for men. Thus we decided to stick to women for masseuses and in visible area i.e. no room or back room. Just to be on the safe side.

The Internet is down

2011-11-12T13:09:00.001+01:00

On Sunday there was a thunderstorm before we arrived. I don't know what happened but the Hilton lost communication: phone, Internet and TV are down :(
2 days later it's still not fixed. While I miss the Internet to stay connected and update the blog, I guess a few days disconnected from the world won't hurt me.

Hilton Arcadia Phuket resort

2011-11-12T13:06:00.001+01:00

For the 2nd half of our trip in Thailand we're staying in Phuket in the south. Objective is very clear: enjoy the beach!
Pulling some magical strings Alice managed to get us extremely cheap rate for the Hilton resort. So cheap we couldn't resist to treat ourselves and stay there.
Last night or shall I say this morning we arrived at almost 3:30am, completed check in and went to bed. Later on after some good sleep we started to explore the resort.
The place is huge. 3 swimming pools on top of the beach. Our room has a garden view right on top of one of the swimming pool. This way I can go swimming in the morning and when Alice wakes up, she simply waves at me from the terrace. Isn't this cool?
Apart from exploring the resort, we spent most of the day by the swimming pool relaxing. Hotel is far from being full which is nice as the staff is even more dedicated to us. As usual service in Asia is outstanding. The difference is going to be tough when back in Europe.

Flight is delayed :(

2011-11-06T16:49:00.001+01:00

We received an SMS this afternoon informing that our flight was re-scheduled to one hour later. That's the smart way to manage delays.
Once we checked in we found out there was an extra one and a half hour delay :( this time it's officially a delay because they started the check in. As long as check in has not started they can reschedule the flight avoiding to have to compensate passengers.
This means we won't arrive in the hotel in Phuket before 3am. It's going to be a long day. Luckily tomorrow we can sleep at the beach.
Still it sucks to be stuck in an empty airport waiting for the last flight.

Taking it easy

2011-11-06T16:15:00.001+01:00

Today we decided to take it easy. We've been very busy so far and wanted to slow down the pace a bit.
This said we did take a red taxi car with 8 other people to go to Doi Suthep, a temple on top of the hill above Chiang Mai. The drive up was quite sportive and curvy but worth it. The temple was full of people coming to pray. It was a full immersion in Buddhist religious ways which we observed trying not to intrude.
After that we had lunch in the old city and a frappucino in the shade. Simply enjoying the hot sunny day...
Later on we went to Sunday market which was quite a trip with many many stands and as well many many people both tourists and locals. The big difference with the night bazaar is that Thai people come with their family for food, music and shopping. A complete different atmosphere.
One last crazy ride in tuk tuk to get back to the guest house and we were on our way to the airport.
Bye bye Chiang Mai!

It's raining ice inside

2011-11-06T03:06:00.001+01:00

Last night right in the middle of a massage there was a sound and suddenly it rained ice cubes. The air conditioning machine was obviously troubled.
I have to say Thailand is the last place on earth I was expecting to see ice falling from the sky or at least the ceiling :)

Relaxation

2011-11-06T03:00:00.001+01:00

6 days of vacation already gone.
And no less than 5 massages.
But at 5€ for an hour, I really don't see why I should not enjoy a daily massage.
I will come back to Europe with a body fully released of any tensions.

Well at least I will leave Thailand that way. Not sure after almost 24 hours of trip my body will still be tension free. Let's see.

Chiang Mai Night Bazar

2011-11-06T02:01:00.001+01:00

Like every night bazaar in Thailand or maybe even Asia, it's full of little stands selling almost everything from souvenirs, handicraft, clothing and fakes.
Strategy we agreed on was to take a first tour to assess the landscape i.e. see what's being sold. Then choose what we wanted and start bargaining.
It was good to some extent to renew with the bargaining tricks from China. Although it's not that easy to get the prices down in Thailand. At least not as low as we would like.
I bought some silk scarves, earrings in silver from one of the local tribes and a painting for the house. As usual I managed to buy something almost impossible to bring back but I couldn't resist.

A day of trekking

2011-11-06T01:58:00.001+01:00

Another organized tour but this time into the wild.
We spent 5 hours hiking in the jungle of Mae Tang in the near north of Chiang Mai.
We climbed all the way to the top of one of the hills, had lunch in front of a bat cave, went downhill to a tribe village and had a jump into a water fall.
This was a really good day (not as great as the elephants or the cooking though).
Of course the climbing was tough especially because we ended up doing it just before noon. Of course while I was sweating all the water of my body I wondered why do I keep paying for activities that are physically tough on me. I know why. Because afterwards I feel good about the effort and usually the view or the site is worth it. Still I suffered going up.
While the jungle was not as rich as in Mulu park in Borneo, we still got to see a bamboo forest, lots of banana trees, and quite some flowers. I was also surprised by the amount of land that was converted to farming. Clearly humans are taking over the land.

Thai cooking class

2011-11-04T11:48:00.001+01:00

This morning we were picked up at the guest house to go to the Thai Farm for a day of cooking.
As you may have noticed all tours start with a pick up at your hotel. And that's really nice vs. having to go to a meeting point. Here no stress, just get up, get ready and get in the car/van.
But let's get back to cooking.

Day started by a visit to a market where we were introduced to the different key ingredients of Thai cuisine. Fascinating as you can imagine.
Each of us got to pick from the menu what we wanted to cook.
Here is what I picked:
- green curry chicken
- Tom yam soup with shrimps
- stir fried chicken with cashew nuts
- pad Thai fried noodles (my all time favorite)
- mango with sticky rice
Each of us had the chance cook his/her own menu and of course to eat it all afterwards (or ask for a doggie bag).

The secret being Thai cuisine (same with other Asian I believe) is in the preparation. Where you spend time is on cutting, slicing, chopping, etc. before hand. The cooking itself is very quick.
The other major element is to get all the right ingredients which in Europe is not always the easiest. They use way more fresh herbs and spices than we do. Many Chinese supermarkets to visit I guess when i'm back.

While I feel full with everything I cooked and ate, I feel really happy to have learnt how to make some of my favorite that dishes. This was really a great day for me.
Can't wait to repeat at home!

A day trip to Chiang Rai and the Golden Triangle - Part 2

2011-11-03T18:53:00.001+01:00

After another 30min drive we reached the restaurant for lunch. It was about time. Being up since 6am everybody was tired and hungry. Lunch was nothing interesting especially because it was a Chinese buffet. A pity :(
Next step was Mae Sai with the border to Myanmar. We escaped again from the group to climb 207 steps to the temple uphill and see the border from the top. Much better than some more shopping or seeing the border from the other side of the bridge.
Back in the car we drove 40min to a "hill tribe village". I'm using quotes here because one tribe, the Karen, was really living them as we could see from the huts. The others were just coming along to sell their handicraft.
I was very uncomfortable the whole time in the village. On the one hand I felt like visiting a human zoo but on the other hand I knew those ladies were dressing up in their traditional costumes for us, the tourists, and were hoping we would buy what they made.
We did see some of the legendary long neck women. I hold one of their heavy necklaces. The 20+ rings they wear everyday since they are children weigh up to 15kg. Can you imagine spend your whole life wearing 15 extra kilos around your neck? Crazy isn't it?

Finally after seeing the long neck ladies, we started our journey back to Chiang Mai. 3h30min in the car :(

I'm telling you this is the last time I'm doing a group tour on/off from a bus. It's simply not my kind of thing.

A day trip to Chiang Rai and the Golden Triangle - Part 1

2011-11-03T18:26:00.001+01:00

Or the last time I will do a fully guided tour on/off a bus.
Another early wake up, another hotel pick up but this time to the very north of Thailand, the province of Chiang Rai.
Tour started by a little brief of the day ahead in the bus. I could feel the hair on my neck rising at so much baby sitting. But again, that was the best way to get to see what we wanted so I hold it together.
After 1h30 drive we arrive in a place to see the hot springs. This was highly disappointing as there were 2 springs or shall I say fountains releasing the hot water. Next to it were some small ponds where you can put your feet in and experience the temperature. And hot it was. 80-90C according to the guide. Hot enough to boil eggs which people do massively and then sell to tourists. You can imagine the business around those hot springs.
Another 1h drive and we arrived at the white temple Wat Rong Khun.
That temple is one of a kind. It's all white and covered with tiny mirrors reflecting the sun light.
It was designed and built by the artist Ajarn Chalermchai Kositpipat in 1997. The temple represents the purity of Buddhism vs. all human flaws like alcohol, terror or cigarettes.
The least I can say is that it's worth seeing because it's completely unexpected. It mixes tradition and modernism. The artist clearly painted or sculpted the challenges of humankind. It's in plain sight and there is no ambiguity when he points at alcohol as he uses a bottle of whiskey. What's even more surprising is the painting inside the temple representing all the things a human being needs to get rid of to reach nirvana shows marvel heroes like superman, spiderman or batman. Nokia cell phones and Michael Jackson are there too. A really really weird mix. The least I could say is that it was surrealist.
One more hour and a half drive and we reached the Golden Triangle. That's the area where Ruak river merges with the Mekong river. When standing there you can see Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. This area was famous for opium. Actually not this specific point where the rivers meet but the mountains around.
There is really not much to see but 2 rivers merging. The only thing worth mentioning is that Ruak river is green while the Mekong is brown.
At this stage we deviated from the group and chose not to do the boat trip (for which you have to pay extra of course). This boat trip takes you around the 2 no man's land islands in the middle of the river and then to Laos where you can get a fake visa to prove you've been to Laos. Thrilling, isn't it? We declined as between the two of us we have enough visas and if we want one from Laos, we'll plan some vacations there. By the way that might be a good destination for next year.
So while the others took the boat, we stayed in Thailand and had a drink with view.

Parami guesthouse

2011-11-03T00:40:00.001+01:00

For the next 4 days we will stay at the Parami guesthouse in Chiang Mai. Accommodation is basic but it's clean, there is air conditioning in the room and more importantly there is hot water for the shower. One can survive in tropical region without hot water only if outdoor temperature never drops below 30C. Below that water is too cold, at least for me.
My only wish would have been for thicker walls so we would not hear everything from next door and less noise from the street. But apart from that we're good.
And it has free wifi as you can see :)

Booked

2011-11-03T00:38:00.001+01:00

Apart from the elephant park we hadn't booked anything to keep us busy in Chiang Mai.
First thing we did when coming back in town was to go to a government approved tour operator and plan the rest of our stay.
Thursday will be a trip to the golden triangle. Let's see how this one goes as it's going to be the typical tourist tour which we usually avoid but that was the only way to get to some of the places we wanted to see.
Friday will be cooking class. I'm very much looking forward to that.
Saturday will be trekking in the jungle. Real trekking not the 1h trekking they tend to propose in most package. We actually struggled to find a tour without elephant riding. Honestly after we've heard the stories of the way elephants are treated in some of those places, there was no way we could ride an elephant without being 100% sure that they were well taken care of.
We have a full program ahead of us, of course all starting early in the morning :)

The gas bottle was empty

2011-11-02T17:03:00.001+01:00

This morning I was the first to go to the shower. I open the water, turned on the had heater and waited.
No hot water came.
It turned out the gas bottle was empty. Well no shower this morning :(

THE elephant park

2011-11-02T17:00:00.001+01:00

Thailand is famous for many things among which is the legendary white elephant. Behind the legend you find the Asian elephant that played a significant role in the economy of the country for example as mean of transportation or in logging.
Logging with elephant has been forbidden several years ago and now elephants are acting in circus, ridden by tourists or begging on the streets.
Concerned about bad treatments experienced by elephants, a Thai woman decided to create a sanctuary to shelter "retired" elephants and to protect some others. That's the place where we decided to spend 2 days.
A couple days to discover the elephants from Thailand.
We've been picked up at the hotel and after picking up some more people we left Chiang Mai for the park 60km north or so.
In the park we had the chance to watch the elephants eating, walking, interacting with each other. On top we were given the opportunity to feed them. Apparently they eat one tenth of their way each day. I let you picture the amount of banana and other grass that represent.
This was really the highlight of the day. While the first elephant couldn't care less about the banana I was offering, Dani was chasing me for more. She used her trump to ask more food from me. It's actually crazy to manage to interact so closely with them. For me elephants have always been animals from far away. And all of a sudden I'm feeding them, petting them and even bathing them (not completely but enough to make an impression on me).
Elephants are big, powerful, impressive yet gentle and agile. It's a fascinating mix.
Those 2 days have really been magic. I still can't believe I had this chance.

I do hope I managed to get decent pictures. There should be a few good ones in the 100s I took. In case you wonder I took more pictures of elephants than of the pink flamingoes back in August.
We'll see when I'm back. On top we have videos recorded by Alice on get brand new camera!

First Thai massage

2011-11-01T00:56:00.001+01:00

It hurt when applying pressure.
It cracked in several joints when stretching.
BUT I feel sooooo relaxed after.
AND I slept sooooo well. Not long enough because we have to leave at 8am to go to the elephant nature park. But since a while it's the first time I slept so 6 hours in one go.
They really know what they're doing :)

Not fair !!!!

2011-10-31T18:33:00.001+01:00

Today while visiting temple #3 or #4 (we've seen so many it's hard to keep track) I couldn't take a picture. I pushed the button but the autofocus would not work. No bipping, no photo :(
I switched off the camera and started it again. You never know with electrical devices sometimes they need a bit of a reset. That didn't work.
I checked that the button on the lens was on the autofocus position as sometimes when changing lens it can be moved. But it was on the right position.
I moved it to manual focus and could then take a picture. But once back on AF, nothing.
I started to get desperate. I changed the lens to check whether it works with the other 2 lenses and if does. In other words the autofocus of my standard basic lens seems to be broken.
That's bad on day 2 of vacation. It was too early to call for help (namely Wolfram). I managed the rest of the day with the zoom lens and the wide angle. Not ideal but at least I could take pictures.
When it was time for Europe to be operational, I only heard what I kind of knew. The autofocus is broken i.e. I need to buy a new lens :(
That sucks, really sucks and even more when this happens when I'm on vacation and need the camera everyday.
I wished the hundreds of Buddhas we've seen today could have brought good karma but apparently not :(

Friendliness of Thai people

2011-10-31T13:10:00.001+01:00

Each time we stop and open the map to decide where to go next, someone will offer advice. Thai people are very friendly and eager to help and advise you on what to do or where to go to experience their country.
Of course there are those trying to sell you something so we were initially suspicious and trying to limit those contacts. But quickly we discovered that some people genuinely want to help foreigners / tourists. So we listen to them and followed some of their recommendation.
It makes a visitor really welcome I have to say.

A day of temples

2011-10-31T12:57:00.001+01:00

First day in Chiang Mai and we decided to explore the old city and its numerous temples.
Thailand is full Buddhist temples and Chiang Mai probably has the highest concentration of them. We spent the day walking the streets of the old city exploring one temple after the other.
We've seen hundreds of Buddhas. Different sizes, positions, colors, materials, etc. there is for sure at least one Buddha that will suit your taste.
It's quite impressive to see all those temples and the richness they contain. None are locked as people respect the temples. Something we see less and less in Europe unfortunately.
People are also quite religious. In all the temples you can see Thai people making an offering to the monks or Buddha.

Interesting thought

2011-10-31T12:56:00.001+01:00

Sleeping late in the morning while on vacation.
Seems every time I'm on vacation I need to wake up before the sun to catch a plane, start a hike, drive to some highly visited area, etc.
It would be nice to take time to sleep, wake up when I'm not tired, have breakfast and start the day slowly.
Again just a thought as like they say: the future belongs to those who wake up early :)

Should we be worried?

2011-10-30T21:55:00.001+01:00

There was a shortcut in the lobby which triggered a little fire. It was quickly extinguished.
I was on the terrace witnessing the scene.
Alice was in the bedroom. Scathingly no alarm went on.
Should we be worried?

Spending a few hours in Kuala Lumpur

2011-10-30T21:54:00.001+01:00

We landed in KL around 3pm and our flight to Chiang Mai is only tomorrow morning. Thus we had an evening to spend in the city.
To occupy ourselves we creatively went to the nearby shopping center and found a massage salon. To give context, the last 2 hours of the flight were spent thinking about a good foot massage to release the tensions from the flight.
We enjoyed 45min of foot reflexology and 10min of neck and shoulder massage. The latter turned out painful. Seems I have some tenses muscles in need of relaxation.
Fully relaxed from the flight we went to Jalan Alor for dinner. We selected one of the restaurants on the street and treated ourselves with chicken satay, beans, lemon chicken and grilled chicken fish. No idea what species that fish was but it was prepared with cumin and was extremely good. That's one of the things I like in Asia: every now and then out of pure luck you get to discover fantastic dishes.
To conclude the day Alice went for leeches and I for mango ice cream.
If that's not a great way to start vacation :)

A very long first part of the trip

2011-10-30T14:11:00.001+01:00

Today is day 1 of vacation.
Of course it started pretty early as I had to get a few things in order before I leave but above all I had to pack.
Flight #1 was at 14:40 direction Amsterdam. When we booked we had 2 options. This flight with 5 hours in Amsterdam or a later one with a little less than 1h30. Given it's vacation and didn't want to risk anything we went for the earlier one. Truth is that the famous city hopper flight between Brussels and Amsterdam (30min flight) is very often late. Naturally today it was sharp on time. Murphy's law!
We started by trying to get seats on the emergency row to have more leg space. We were instructed to use the machines but it didn't work out so we queued at the counter. Of course the lady at the counter pushed back because for me to get a seat with more leg room I have to pay 30 euros and she was not equipped. Alice being platinum didn't have this issue and could be moved for free. So back to the machines. We tried 5 of them and after the 5th failure the lady attending the machines decided it was enough trying and moved me for free! Yeah!
That's a good way to get started.
Once this was done we still had 4 hours to kill which we occupied with a bit of shopping and relaxing in the lounge (thanks again to Alice's platinum status).
We eventually made it into the aircraft and after a disappointing dinner (I miss business class food and should have had food before hand) I was ready to face 10 hours of flight to fill in with movies. Which I did: super 8, transformers 3, ratatouille, Kung fu panda 2, ocean's eleven. Clearly the theme of this flight was movies with numbers in the title. I did save the latest Harry Potter for the return.
Despite so many movies it was a very long flight as I didn't manage to sleep at all :(