Tackling five countries in one week is no easy feat, and I came back exhausted and with a sore throat, even though it was supposed to be my vacation. Still, I had a fabulous time and the weather was perfect (except for a couple of days of rain in Paris) – bright blue sky without a cloud in sight, lush green vegetation and blossoming spring flowers, warm sunshine with cool windy breezes, and a backdrop of quaint European houses; what more could you ask for? Okay, maybe more time to try all the food I wanted to…

Germany
As soon as I arrived in Frankfurt, I was whisked off to Loreley to cruise down the Rhine River. We had the whole boat to ourselves and as I ran up and down the decks with the wind blowing in my face, I worked up quite an appetite. There was a tiny snack bar on the boat and since I was in Germany, I decided to have sausages. I don’t know if it’s customary for German sausages to be so long but all the sausages I ate while I was in Germany were about a foot long! The crisp skin had a smoky flavor and the meat inside was very juicy.

While the sausage was nothing all that special although it was certainly better than some of the sausages I’ve had in Thailand, the sauerkraut was what surprised me. I was expecting the usual hot stewed sauerkraut but instead, they served raw chilled sauerkraut. This was new to me and as I bit into the crunchy pickled cabbage and carrot strands, I was reminded of the condiments that sometimes come with roasted duck in Thailand. To warm me up, I ordered hot chocolate and the steaming cup came topped with a huge dollop of whipped cream, which went down with the smooth sweetness of the drink like liquid gold (not that I’ve tasted liquid gold).

Netherlands
Hmm…what is Netherlands famous for except the windmills, tulips, porcelain, and big wooden shoes? Oh, and the very “colorful” life they lead, of course…but what I meant was, what famous foods are from Netherlands?? I suppose cheese and herring are some of them. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to taste the herring although I really wanted to – I heard it was supposed to be delicious and not at all fishy. I’m still beating myself up over it…I can’t believe I was too full to try it! Since when did I resist food??

The cheese I did taste, at a cheese stall before entering the Keukenhof. I’ve never seen so many different flavors of Gouda – ones with cumin seeds, black peppers, plain ones; they even had paprika flavored ones! But the one I fell in love with was Reypenaer cheese, a type of Gouda that has been aged for one year. Despite its faint sour and bitterness and the mysterious aftertaste that left you longing for more, it was extremely delicious and I couldn’t help but bring it back with me to Thailand, along with three other Gouda cheese rounds.

Unbeknownst to me, an amazing meal awaited me at Hotel Schiphol A4 in Amsterdam. If you happen to land at Schiphol Airport, I strongly urge you to sample their breakfast buffet, which is a grand treat! About five different types of oven-fresh breads are available (not including the sweet danish pastries), scrambled eggs, soft-boiled eggs with yolks running out, assorted cold cuts, glistening shiny smoked salmon, perfectly sliced cheeses, crispy bacon, plump little sausages, pâté and jams of all kinds…I’m sure you get the picture. It’s heaven for your belly! OH! And they had the most delicious chocolate muffin in the whole world! I don’t eat sweets so the fact that I’m saying this should be enough proof that it was really really good. The moist, soft muffin was like a fluffy pillow with hidden chunks of rich chocolate and it was not too sweet, which was perfect.

…to be continued

The best is yet to come so don’t forget to come back soon!

Categories: Travels
8 Comments »

*Not a restaurant review! 

Eating alone at home? Not a problem! Dining out alone however, is a totally different experience. On this fateful evening when M was having one of his “I’m sick” days and middle J was having an “I’m broke” one, I couldn’t be bothered to call anyone else to see if they would be up to dinner so I went with Greedy and Gluttony to Greyhound Café at Siam Center.

Entering the dimly lit restaurant, I had to tell the maître d’ twice that the table was for one and stick up my index finger to indicate that I intended to eat alone before he showed me to a little table. I knew exactly what I wanted to order, since that was what propelled me to come have a reclusive dinner in the first place.

It seemed to take forever before my food arrived and I wouldn’t complain if I were people-watching, but my view happened to consist of the drab car park. Waiting seemed to go on forever as my shiny, new beige UN-shoes (so-called because I would wear them to work should I ever get a job at United Nations) began to cut off the blood circulation in my feet. K was right, I should’ve gotten them one size bigger. Just as I was beginning to look desperate to all the couples seated around me, the plate of grilled salmon on a bed of salad leaves with anchovy dressing was set before me.

***Here, I’ll let you in on a little secret – I was actually going to order the grilled salmon and the spaghetti pla kem but then the darn salmon was listed under entrées and I didn’t want to look like a pig by ordering a pasta dish on top of an entrée.***

The dish was artfully presented and a delight to the eyes, but how they can call this dish an entrée is a mystery, as the grilled salmon was only big enough to feed a bulimic person with an extremely small appetite (or do I just eat too much?). I noted to myself that I can probably create a replica of this dish for way cheaper than what they were charging, as I begrudgingly surveyed the food in front of me. I picked up my knife and fork and tucked into the salad, graciously eating as not to appear too greedy. Despite the portion, the salmon was beautifully grilled – it still had a faint brighter shade of rosy pink in the middle to indicate that it wasn’t grilled too long and the meat was still juicy and moist. The red and yellow peppers were soft and left me wondering what they did to it. They weren’t roasted, as the skin was still intact and wasn’t oily or burnt. It crossed my mind that they might’ve boiled it but who in their right mind boils bell peppers?? Or was I missing out on something? Nevertheless, I happily ate it all.

Throughout the meal, I kept thinking I still really wanted to have the spaghetti pla kem too and Gluttony finally gave in halfway through my salad. A brief little smile played on the waitress’s face and she stole a glance at my remaining salad as I ordered the spaghetti pla kem, before the amusement was wiped off her face at the word “to go”. Ha! If her little smile meant she thought I was a pig before I said I wanted to take the spaghetti home, now she probably thought I was buying it for a significant other at home. Little did she know I got one over her and that there are non-existent husbands waiting at home, only the famous Gluttony.

I set a record today…I finished my salad in less than 20 minutes (hey, it’s my record, okay??). I ate it so fast it probably took longer to grill the fish. The ice cubes in my iced lemon tea didn’t even melt yet, which was a shame as Greyhound uses ice cubes made from lemon tea. As soon as I put down my knife and fork, the manager himself drifted by to clear up my plate. Service certainly was attentive – or was it the result of sympathy for the single occupancy?? As quickly as he was gone, he was back with a dessert menu. To kill time while my spaghetti was being grown in the kitchen, I flipped through the little booklet. I didn’t intend to eat any dessert, I was still in the course of finishing my main dish!

When the waitress set the to-go bag on the counter, I couldn’t wait to get out of there to wolf down the pasta in the comfort of my own home. I set another record – I got out of Siam before I even spent an hour there!

My overall take on dining out alone is, do it if you’re really craving some food and if you’ve got enough confidence because other diners will probably cast you pitying looks. Although I don’t have a problem dining alone, I still prefer human companions to my two imaginary ones.

Categories: Miscellaneous
6 Comments »