Saturday, December 31, 2011

Brussels, Belgium





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Spending just one day in Brugges to explore its charm and beauty is definitely not enough. Brugges was a last-minute plan (if you can call it a "plan" at all!), and how I wish I had spent a few more days there to really take in all it had to offer. But as a traveller, I know there's always a "next trip", God willing.

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Downtown Brussels...

From Brugges, we took the train back into Brussels, and checked straight into the Novotel Tour Noire, which was right in the city centre. That was to be our "home" for the next two nights in Brussels...

... which gave us two full days to explore bustling, "blistering barnacles" Brussels (that's how Haddock would've put it anyway! LOL!). Calling Brussels "awesome" is an understatement: its people were very friendly, there was niceties in the air, and have I told you they are famous for Belgian waffle? It's something to die for!


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Yummylicious Liege Waffle! How did they make something so simple, yet tasting so delicious?

I was never a big fan of waffles, since those that I have had were either too soft, or tasted more like pancakes... until, of course, I tried the authentic Belgian waffles in Brugges and Brussels. Native waffles here are softer in the inside with crystallized beet sugar, and a crunchy, crispy exterior structure.They have two types of waffles, I have tried both of them with different toppings: fruits, cream, chocolate ganache, peanut butter, etc. but the plain ones, like the one above, were my favorite!


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So far, I love Lowy's waffles the most, over other street shops'...

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And this greeted me the second I entered Lowy... Ohh, love the smell of fresh breads!


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Toppings you wish you had all the time in the world for...


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Lucikly, the shop was just a few meters from our hotel.


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I love the spacious room, and most importantly, the view out the bathroom window...

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As usual I took lots of pictures. Let's see some of them...

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Halal roasted pheasant and crispy fries, that's so yummy! And the staff at this restaurant were so kind, too... One of them warned us not to leave our cameras on the table while enjoying our meal. In Brussles, you will simply get robbed of whatever you leave on the table!

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The Manneken Piss! We were lucky because our hotel was just a few blocks away, which allowed us to be there very early, before the tourist crowd. We practically had the whole place to ourselves!

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Just love the morning rays...

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The Grand Place

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Probably the most stunning sight in Brussels is the Atomium... Best to see it at night when they lit it up with small dotty lights, making it look like a futuristic Christmas tree...

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As if themed to the grand monument itself, everything around it seemed round in shape...

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These are two of the earliest Godiva boutiques in the Grand Place area. Open since 1926...


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Brussels being Brussels, the whole city smells of chocolate!

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And what's the best way to sum up Brussels as a Belgian chocolate city? A Manneken Pis chocolate "fountain"!

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United Colors of Benetton?

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Pedal power... No wonder the city's air is still breatheable... *tengok apa tu bro? LOL

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Where there are pastries and sweet-little-somethings, there's bound to be... macarons!

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Paul Macaron? I only enjoy Paul in Paris, but Pierre Ledent's macarons are a must when in Brussels, just like Pierre Herme if you happen to be in Paris...

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McDs in Belgium serve Segafredo coffee and Douwe Egberts espresso... I am impressed!

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And their McD's interior is the classiest of all McD's I've visited.

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Hey, that's Tintin!

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On the way back to Paris, we had Greek mezze platter for lunch in the train. We bought them from a grocery shop in Brussels, and the fresh pink salad tasted exactly like what we had in Mykonos!

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Some chocolates from Brugges and Brussels, too while we enjoy the scenery from Brussels to Paris.



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Looking at the vast Belgian plains, my mind wandered off to the many more things we were going to do in Paris...

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Wednesday, December 21, 2011

JEALOUS?





London
Buckingham Palace


I blog about food, travel and beautiful places that fascinate me endlessly... However, initially unbeknownst to me, it has stirred envy in some people. I mean, they have actually said mean things about me, and got very jealous in negative ways.

Just last evening, as I was browsing through my travel pics to select some as requested by an European-based travel magazine, the pic you saw above caught my attention. So I thought it would be fun to share it on FaceBook. What was supposed to be a fun activity soon blown into an ugly scene - a so-called acquaintance who claimed to work for a local TV station made a personal attack on me, in public! Not just that, he went on to brag about his so-called "successful" life as a glamourous glitterati of local showbiz...

Seriously, I find it not only childish, it even scathes the image of both broadcast journalism, as well as that of the TV station he works for. That is just so pathetic, & I'm not going to feel sorry for his under-achieving career.

Anyway, on a lighter note, before I posted the "controversial" Buckingham Palace pose on FaceBook, I had posted these pictures below... However, I had not mentioned here that I am actually already home in Malaysia since last month.

Recovering from a fever, being home-bound on medical leave yesterday had made me feeling worse than the fever itself... Not wanting to bow to it, I decided to work it out in my small kitchen. Being occupied in the kitchen gave me much cheering up, and I ended up feeling great and happy with what I came up with! Yummmm....


Calamar
Squid Spaghetti, with lots of garlic and Parmesan cheese for my lunch...



Mud Cake
Chocolate Mud Cake with Starbucks' double espresso sauce, for tea time...



Salmon
And my favorite Grilled Salmon with Baked Potatoes and Mango Salad, for dinner!


Hhmmm... how I wish I could update my blog more frequently!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

BBC Good Food





stillwahdi.blogspot.com


Do you remember my Baked Turkey entry? It's being featured in the latest edition of BBC GoodFood magazine!

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Hahaha... Looks like even my army of toys are curious about it!


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You can find it on page 11, but there's a minor mistake where they addressed me as a "her" rather than the obvious! LOL!


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They have been so kind to send me this interesting book as a token of acknowledgement. As an ardent traveler,
I really love reading it!


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Thanks, BBC! Well, what are you waiting for? Go and get a copy of the mag. lol!

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