Jakarta : Ramadan in Grand Indonesia

The weekend was spent in Grand Indonesia, shopping and having Japanese pasta (Pasta Waraku outlet). As expected, the road was filled with cars. The last minute shoppers were hastily buying new clothes, cookies and goodies, in preparation for the Hari Raya (or Lebaran, as the locals in Indonesia call it).

 

The East mall was decorated with a Turkish taste and there was even a Turkish ice-cream stall there (which gave away free ice-cream. A cone of ice cream cost Rp 25 000 and you could choose from 3 flavours - strawberry, chocolate and vanilla. We had all 3 scopes in one cone, for free! :p). 
Just spend Rp300 000 and above in Grand Indonesia, you can either redeem a free Turkish ice-cream from Zahra stall or a picture with the camels (not real ones though). I will definitely go for the ice-cream!

Not an ice-cream lover, I had to give thumbs up (and even toes up, hahaha) to the Zahra Turkish ice-cream. At a quick glance, it looked like any ice-cream out there. But a bite of it will tell you, it isn't any other ice-cream.

The chewy and the smooth texture was the reason why I totally fell for it, on just the first bite! Flavour wise, it wasn't milky as what hubby anticipated. In fact, I didn't find it milky or creamy the way other ice-cream would have been.

We were told by the stall owner that he only sold Turkish ice-cream during the Ramadan month in Grand Indonesia.

I probably was the weirdo to some people. I took a picture of the toilet in the mall. Perhaps you would do the same if you saw it.

A child-themed toilet! Cute, isn't it?? I was waiting for an elderly man to exit from the gent before I started to snap away. He was already looking at me as though I was wearing a shoe on my head. Oh well.....

The next thing I discovered was totally insane! Maybe I was away from Asia for a while but there was a Magnum cafe in the mall! A huge one. It served nothing but only Magnum ice-creams. That outlet was heavily guarded by a number of security guards, mind you. I really wondered why.....

"Magnum Chocolate Experience" - ice-cream for lunch or dinner, perhaps?

I was too excited to share the Magnum chocolate experience that I almost forgotten to mention about Pasta Waraku. A rather famous fusion restaurant in Asia. It is a Japanese eatery outlet that served pasta and pizza.

There was a promotion for set meals. You could order a set of pasta (half-half pasta set which basically means you would have 2 small portion of pasta of your choice. Recommended if you are a pasta lover like I do) or a set of pizza-pasta combination (a set with a small portion of pizza - half of a small platter of pizza and pasta). The set meal included drinks, soup and salad. 

The pizza portion in the pizza-pasta combination set was a little pathetic. First, you could not choose the flavour of your choice. It was defaulted to Beef salami pizza. Secondly, each slice was only topped with a piece of salami and a slice of raw tomato. It didn't look that enticing :p

 Corn soup and salad with Japanese dressing. The corn soup was surprisingly loaded with corns, which made it a little too sweet for a savoury dish. I like the salad...to be precise, the dressing. It was refreshing with a gentle touch of sourness.

Pasta Aglio Oglio with chilli. It was marked as Chef recommendation in the menu. Well, it was all right but may not live up to the "Chef recommendation" status.

As we were starving, I didn't bother to take much pictures. Just took the two things that got served first.

Belgium : Brugge, city of chocolates, April 2010

It was right after Easter and hurray, yet another holiday! :)

Spring is indeed a good time to travel as it is already getting warmer and flowers are blooming and it is pleasant to be greeted with beds of colourful perky flowers.(Of course, minus the annoyingly random rain shower every now and then)

And....

Not to forget Belgian beers and Belgian chocolates are awaiting for spring party!

We arrived at Brugge from Brussels via intercity train.

I immediately fell in love with the city. Words couldn't quite express it. Experience it yourself :p

The self-guided city tour then began...

 

I absolutely love the landscape and the scenery. The reflection of the spring hues in the waters was a simple beauty.

We weren't in a mood for canal tour. Instead, we walked along the canal, which was equally satisfying. If you do not mind the queue and the wait, do take the canal tour.

Enough of canals. Moving to the city view.

 Brugge city hall.

Irresistibly cute soft toy bears :p

 Look, there is a bird in the cage. No. Not a live one, though.

Next, something interesting. Something beautiful. Something exceptionally quaint....and something edible!

Arggh...too many temptations. Too many choices!

No, these are not edible. These are for fun! Would love to bring them home :)

Whoa! There is also Little Mermaid here in Brugge!

It became rainy towards lunch. In fact, it was pouring. We found shelter in a cowboy-themed cafe. The soup was the star. It warmed us up from the dampness that soaked through our clothes.

After the rain had stopped, we continued exploring the city.

Then, we stumbled upon the finest Belgian chocolate. The world stood still for a split second. Who will resist Belgian chocolates? What's more, the finest Belgian chocolate. Yes, I had to repeat it twice. For the dramatic effect :p

The Netherlands : A Day trip in Amsterdam July 2010

This is one of the few trips that I travelled alone. Amsterdam was a transit leg for me to get back to Copenhagen from a business trip to Ghana during summer of 2010.

Without wanting to spend on accommodation but curious of the city that is famed for its right light district and cheese, I requested to have a later flight back to Copenhagen from Amsterdam.

Similar to most West or Central European countries, you will need to buy a separate train ticket should you want to board a train from the airport to the city central station.

As soon as I walked out from the train station, I bumped into a friendly tourist, who like me, travelled alone. He asked for my assistance to take a photo of him and in return, he took mine.

 Amsterdam Central Station

After thanking my photographer, my one day trip in Amsterdam begins. A blind to directions, I just walked towards places that looked interesting and occasionally stopping to look at direction guides available on the streets.

The air was crisp and misty. Perfect with the presence of Mr. Sun. 

 Yeah, it was just a motorbike. I find it cool though. So, I took a picture of it.

 De Nieuwe Kerk. Unfortunately the palace which was next to it was under construction.

 Madame Tussaud in the heart of Amsterdam.  

 

 Somehow, managed to find my way towards the canal.

 All the boats were beautifully decorated, awaiting for their guests. 

 Lovely combination of hues. The magical moment of summer.

 Yes,...another motorbike picture. This time, for  its cuteness :p

I kept walking without any directions till I reached this quiet place. There were windmills and all but knowing my eccentricity, you would have guessed I took a picture of something totally irrelevant (to the beauty of Amsterdam). It seemed to be a play area for kids...or at least that was my guess.

Now, in an attempt to be cultural, I marched on and queued like the rest of the tourists to enter into Rijksmuseum. It is a museum not to be missed if you are a culture and a painting lover.

Lastly, I shall end the post with a picture of a typical Dutch architecture. I love it, don't you? No, I didn't take any pictures of the Red Light District. Nothing interesting. Not during the day.