Archive for the 'Food' category
Grab yourself a Gelato and bring yourself a bottle of acqua minerale
Absolutely tasty and delicious! No doubt about the Italian Gelato! I absolutely fell in love with Italian acqua minerale. It is just so tasty. It did keep me drinking non stop. I could finish two bottles of two liters everyday. It was such a God’s gift under such exotic heat!!
Fell in love with pasta and sparkling water
Pasta is definitely fantastic here. The seafood pasta I had tonight was extremely delicious. I went in this local restaurant on Via del Corso without second thought. It looked decent and traditional. Most of people here were tourists but the atmosphere wasn’t so “tourists”.
The seafood was fresh in taste with strong flavour of pepper. The seasoning was very well used. The pasta was crunchy, and dry. It tasted great! The sparkling water was amazingly good. I found that the sparkling water here all tastes “something”. It is something to make you keep drinking and drinking. More I drink, more I feel thirsty, and the feeling is just great. I drank sparkling water for my entire trip, as long as I had time to sit down. I fell in love with pasta and sparkling water here indeed.
No commentsA great meal of the day!
Be honest, I lost the name card of the restaurant. It was the local restaurant in the residential area, which was introduced by the Segway tour guide. He said it is a very good restaurant with delicious tapas and Spanish cuisine, and somewhere not expensive.
It’s located in a residential area, actually around the government public estate residential area. It looks local and original in my eyes, at least, it is not a typical restaurant for tourists, which I don’t like.
Food was wonderful needless to say. They had variety of shell type of seafood for choice. I loved all of them. The Black squid ink Paella was fantastic though the ink totally dyed your teeth in black, you still couldn’t resist its fantastic taste. It was a really delicious meal of the day.
Black ink Paella
La Rambla and Mercat de La Boqueria
La Rambla is a pedestrian area filled with sprayed painted human statues stand motionless among the passing crowds; buskers croon crowd-pleasing classics; caricaturists deftly sketch faces; bustling stalls create an open-air market of bright bouquets and chattering parakeets; and round-the-clock kiosks sell everything from newspaper, flowers, leather goods to porn videos. 
Mercat de La Boqueria – Barcelona’s most famous food market is located on La Rambla. Shoppers are absolutely spoiled in this market for choice with hundreds of stalls selling everything from tomatoes, fresh fruit juice, candy, cheese to seafood, which you can eat by a tapas bar.
Enjoy all these fantastic photos! They certainly make you mouth water I guarantee.
Tapas and seafood
“You have to try tapas” My boss said to me before I went to Barcelona.
My boss was even more exciting than me when she heard that I was going to Spain. She is from Colombia, but in Spanish root. She was so glad that I had a chance to learn about Spanish culture, and to taste the REAL Spanish taste.
I love Tapas! It’s a snack or variety of appetizer in Spanish cuisine. There are many Tapas bars and restaurants in Barcelona. We went to a local one. It was a restaurant in 50s decoration. Very ordinary! I saw a man who drank a “bottle” of alcohol, was something I had never seen before. Look at the photos! It’s interesting! If any of you, who knows what it is, please do let me know. It’s still my puzzle!
Besides, please enjoy and imagine these tasty Tapas!! Seafood is the major ingredient of Spanish cuisine. It’s in all kind of dishes especially in Paella. Apart from the heavy salty taste, their seafood is so delicious. It’s the way they made it, it was fresh with varieties. I love them so much as I love seafood the most.
No commentsA Spanish omelet
I had Spanish Omelet for breakfast this morning by the Palau de la Musica Catalana. It was not expensive compared with many food on the menu, and it looked healthy and filling. It cost around Euro 3.20. It tasted good, but impossible to finish the whole piece by myself.
Tibidabo and Castell de Montjuic
After I left the museum, I passed by a tourist centre. I asked where else I could go in this area, and found there were many interesting places around where I can walk to. In fact, I only got a travel book about Top 10 of Barcelona, but indeed I didn’t have time and much patience to figure out all of them before I came here. The most easy thing I usually do is that I open a map, and ask the local where the best to go, and where the nearest I can go from where I am. I am lazy I know, but I love to ask around without hesitation.
There are many places you can browse around by walk easily. You can see more on foot. El Centre de la Vila-Port Olimpic was around the area, but I skipped it. It wasn’t my major interest.
I went to this area with all the Medieval buildings, where already transformed into a tourist shopping district. It was just around 15 minutes walk away from the museum. I had my beautiful LATE lunch here, and it was already 3pm. This is Paella, the well known Spanish seafood rice. I loved it though it was very salty.
I couldn’t figure out why all the food I had in Barcelona were all very salty. It’s not just salty, it is extremely salty. I guess this is the Spanish taste as I found the same taste when I had food in Miami. Most of people in Miami, who are in Spanish root. I am not surprise they share the same food culture as the food in Spain.
I spent two hours in this district, and was taking bus to get to Castell de Montjuic. I waited for 15 minutes, and one passed by but it didn’t stop. I got no idea why, and it was extremely hot at that moment. In the end, I went with a taxi. The taxi driver couldn’t find the correct road to get to the castle. The meter had already gone up to Euro 10. He realised that he couldn’t get to the correct direction. I saw a cable car station, and found it on my map. I could take a cable car up to the castle I realised. I asked him to stop. He was honest enough to charge me Euro 6, which was pretty fair I think. He couldn’t speak English, but it seems we could communicate well to certain extents. I found that more or less I could understand some Spanish though people of Barcelona do speak Catalan. (Mixture of French and Spanish) I am used to the language because of my Miami experiences. I got no problem to hear words such as Ole, Polo, sie…etc…
I went up to the castle, and saw the beautiful scene from the top. It was amazing. I saw a cruise ship by the sea. It’s like one of those in Miami port.
When I got down, I met two Americans in the cable car. We talked. I realised that I do sound like an American now. American actually asked me if I am from America. They found me having an American attitude. It’s pretty interesting. I don’t even have an American accent!!! LoL Once someone in H.K. even asked me if I was relocated to H.K. from the U.S. Oh My God! I just work for an American company. I don’t think I am an American no matter inside out.
I went back down to the bottom of hill by the cable car, and got back by metro. It was a pretty smooth journey for someone who hanged around herself the first time in her life for a total solo travel in a foreign country. I didn’t get lost, and I was pretty good in all the directions on roads. I was fine with the language without knowing proper local dialect, only picked up some from my American colleagues.
No commentsThe third day in Bangkok
I haven’t been to Thailand at all since 4.5 years ago. Bangkok changed a lot. It became a cosmopolitan city. It’s still great. I ever considered to move to Bangkok few years ago. This idea is still in my mind. Thailand is my comfort zone, a city of joy for me!
Tom Yum Kung noodle is always my favorite…..I found a street filled with casual food stores nearby my hotel. It was excellent around by such delicious food stores.
Black Friday
A day for Shopping!! Oh well, I already shopped enough in Miami, so I didn’t do much shopping in San Francisco. I didn’t find things particular bargain on Black Friday anyway.
We went to have a gorgeous seafood lunch in Swan Seafood Depot, which is a family run store located on Polk Street more than 30 years. It’s a well known place for raw oysters, and it’s unbelievable delicious.
We spent an hour for queue up….
Everyone sat by the counter with long queue behind their back. Many were so pleased to wait for hours and hours.
We had raw oysters and clams. Their clam chowder tasted strong flavour of clam. It’s very fresh.
The crab Louis salad is just too tasty to be true. I couldn’t resist their raw scallop.
We passed by China Town when we were in the cable car.
Lafayette
I quite love this town, Lafayette, where my cousin lives. It’s a small place with some country stores. There are many nice and small cafes around the area. I even found Trader Joes just right opposite my cousin’s house. I love this supermarket. They have so much to offer especially their organic juice, dark chocolate and pop corn!! I did quite a shopping in there for stuff I brought to Hong Kong.
