Saturday, November 5, 2011

TRAVEL::EUROPE 2011::BRUGGE::PART II

And so the story continues...

The city center of Brugge (Dutch) or Bruges (French) is a popular World Heritage Site of UNESCO. So, do not be surprised that you run into loads of tourist when you visit this historical city center. We came here because of this little medieval town and its architecture. They have done such a good job in preserving this old town. Majority of the medieval architecture are still intact here.
aBRU_3216 aBRU_3336 aBRU_3442 You can practically walk to any part of this little town you like. The narrow cobble-stoned streets are cycling friendly and most of the locals here cycle around to run their chores because of the limited parking spaces within the old town. So, when you are walking on the street, you need to be careful not to step on on the horse dung and being hit by crossing cyclists. BRU_3686 BRU_3685

Let's talk about food...and of course beer.
On the first night here, as we arrived late, we had set dinner at the restaurant at the market square after searching for 30 minutes without any clues to dine. We paid 18.50 euros for each set. My set started with soup. Spare ribs, salad and fries as main course . It ended with two scoops of ice cream as dessert. Her set had smoked salmon as starter and stewed chicken as main course. 
The cheapest dine-in food we had here was beef stew with salads and chips which is just 10 euros. 
aBRU_3344  
The restaurant we went is located a few turns away from the market square. As you can see, the further you walk away from the square, the less you pay for the food. Sometime.
Belgium is famous of its beer. There is a wide variety of beer to choose from. We saw on a beer wall at a brewery here that Belgium has about 780 types of beer. A 0.5l of draught beer costs you about 5-6 euros. The price is also depends on the location of the restaurant and the type of beer. Personally, we like Leffe Dark and also white beer.
aBRU_3345 
Local weekend market is also something we are looking for when we arrived at a destination. The market gives us a glimpse of how the local lives and what they eat. Just ensure that it is the market which most of the local goes and not some tourist flea market. Every Saturday morning, there is a weekend market at one of the squares here. You can find wide variety of stuffs here, from clothes to raspberries. So, please stay over the weekend here if you can.
aBRU_3252 aBRU_3244 aBRU_3369

You can view the complete set of photos I took in Brugge here.

Read more...

Monday, October 24, 2011

TRAVEL::EUROPE 2011::BRUGGE::PART 1

We arrived at Brugge, Belgium, slightly before 8pm. Our flight from KL to Paris got 4 hours of serious delay. As a result, we missed the train from Paris to Lille Flandres. In order to continue with the journey instead of spending a night at Paris, we had no choice but to buy a new pair of tickets to Lille Flandres which cost us 113 euros. From Lille, we boarded another inter-city train to Brugge. The total train fare from Lille to Brugge is 33.60 euros for two.We tried to exchange the tickets for later time at Paris du Nord station but were told that the exchange can only take place 1 hour before the train departure time and it depends on the condition of the ticket we purchased.
The hotel we booked at Brugge is Hotel 't Keizershof. It is located at about 300 meters from the train station. It can be easily found on the left hand side on the way into the old town.
BRU_3510 aBRU_3228  
This hotel is run by a Belgian couple. There is no extra staffs in this hotel. The boss, Stefaan, would make the breakfast every morning for the guests and his wife is in charge of housekeeping. We booked a double room for 44 euros per night with breakfast included. No attached bathroom and no air-con inside the room. Inside the room, there is a wash basin though. The double room given to us is slightly small but nice and clean. We wish to have a bigger room but the space is sufficient for now.
aBRU_3282
This hotel is located about 15 minutes of walking from the old town center which is the market square. I found out that those hotels which are located nearer to the market square (probably 5 minutes of walking) would be charging 15-20 euros more per night.
BRU_3639  
One thing we like about this hotel is the breakfast. We were served with 7-8 types of bread and 6 types of jam and butter (mixed fruits jam, caramel jam, strawberry jam, cream cheese, Nutella and butter) every morning. Of course, the breakfast comes with coffee or tea too. Among the jams and butter, our favorite is the caramel jam. We bought two bottles for 3 euros each from Stefaan before checking out.
aBRU_3230 aBRU_3233 aBRU_3231 cafe-1  
OK. Today I can only write the first part of the story here. Next part, I would like to share with you about what I captured of this beautiful old town. Stay tuned!

Bed is calling...

Read more...

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Saturday Breakfast

We went back to Moontree 47 for breakfast again. Feel good to spend time together on Saturday over a simple breakfast. It is a good way to kick start the weekend!

Moontree 47
Moontree 47
ANY_3144
ANY_3146
Cheese Omellete.
ANY_3148
Soulavki.
ANY_3151

Read more...

Monday, June 20, 2011

Pictory selection

The photo I submitted to Pictory online showcase has been selected for publication.
The theme is Handmade.
I was really excited when I received the notification a day before that my photo is going to be published.
The title of the post has been modified by the editor to "Top Chef".

Mum, I am very proud of you!
mother-pictory

Read more...

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Two Breakfasts - Moontree47

Penang really needs more cafes of this sort. This cafe shows what real Penang is for the tourists. It is laid-back, original and yet exciting. Most of the furniture in this cafe are hand made by the owners to give the authentic sense. In my humble opinion, it is very well decorated, although none of furniture looks posh nor expensive. If I were a tourist to Penang, I would to stay in the rooms which this cafe will soon offer. 

It is a cool place to hang out and I will make a second visit soon.

This cafe is located at the middle section of Lebuh Muntri.

Untitled-5

I just love this pair of chairs here.The wooden chair gives a nice contrast to the black leather chair. It would be more interesting if the Marilyn Monroe picture could be hung at the center but, again, I am not sure if the picture would take away the attention of these chairs.
MNT_9739

The bacon sandwiches are good with reasonable price. Breakfast for two cost us RM26, including the milk and honey lemon.
Untitled-1

I can't resist to shoot this hand washing area. Just look at the white basin!
MNT_9771

Untitled-2

MNT_9786

Untitled-3

Untitled-4

Read more...

Friday, January 21, 2011

KL Eats

lunch at 品香美食小馆 at Sungai Buloh. We had 滑蛋河 and fish porridge. This restaurant, or rather kopitiam, is famous of porridge, especially fish porridge. You will long queue during public holiday and you need to wait for your number.  
KL1_9258

Fish porridge

KL1_9265

2nd day breakfast at one of coffee shops at USJ. As usual, I have wantan mee.
Wantan mee

2nd day lunch at Madam Kwan's at Mid Valley Shopping mall. This time, I did not have the popular Nasi Bojari. I ordered the cheaper Nasi Lemak.
KL1_9271

Nasi Lemak

3rd day breakfast at one of coffee shops at Taipan USJ.
KL1_9289

The Chee Cheong Fun here looks and tastes different from the one we have in Penang.
KL1_9290

Tai Po Mee. Don't know what that is. I simply ordered it to try. It tastes like the Pan mee to me.
KL1_9293

Read more...

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Pictory Submission - She does it with grace

Please read the caption which I submitted with this photo at below.
XMA_9448

My mother is such a good cook. I grew up knowing that for a fact. She is probably the best cook among all her 7 siblings. My tongue has the capability to taste the dishes which she cooked from the dishes which are not. She is also a keen learner. Recently, she learned how to bake cakes and pastries. In this photo, she is making a type of Malay pastries. She just does it with grace with her nimble hands.

Read more...

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

1-1-11

How did I welcome the first day of the year?
For me, it is nothing better than indulging myself in a honeycomb goldrush espreski and brownie with vanilla ice cream!

2011 is going to be awesome!

Caramel Nut Crunch espreski

No complaint on the espreski!
Caramel Nut Crunch espreski

However, the soft chocolate layer on top of the brownie was a little too thick. I still prefer the old brownie which Dome cafe used to serve. The brownie is best to be eaten with vanilla ice cream. Please request the restaurant to heat up the cake before serving.
Brownies with Vanilla ice cream

Read more...

Sunday, January 2, 2011

31-12-2010

I decided to get out of the bed a bit early on the very last day of the year to experience the streets of Penang. This little walk around is supposed to train my eyes also as a photographer. By going back to the same locations again and again, I need to observe more and try out different angles to look at things around the locations. Sometime I just want to go back to the basic to shoot something which every beginner would try to shoot when they first bought their camera. It makes me feel that I started to learn again and the only reason I am out there is to capture something interesting or beautiful. Even though I only managed to cover one whole street from the beginning till the end of street because of the time constraint, it really made me feel this is the best thing to do before wrapping up 2010. 

Goodbye 2010! It has been a blessed year!

Chew Jetty

Chew Jetty

Take a seat.

Morning walk

NY1_9619

NY1_9626

NY1_9628

Read more...

  © Free Blogger Templates Blogger Theme II by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP