TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

While in Trinidad I had the opportunity to meet Oscar and I was humbly honoured to see a part of his world that he so cherishes. Oscar lives in the old centre of Trinidad. You can quickly recognise him pushing his hand cart or sitting on top of it as he peddles fresh fruits from corner to corner in Trinidad. However, Oscar is not just your quintessential fruit vendor. We first saw Oscar at the Plaza Mayor. He is super-duper friendly. He doesn’t speak English at all but I understand and speak a wee bit Spanish accompanied with the vital hand language of course, haha, so that made communication a bit easier. However, at Plaza Mayor we just smiled at Oscar and didn’t really engage in a talk with him. Later, he found us again sitting in a small park in front of the Church and Monastery of Saint Francis. He gave us a warm familiar smile. He then put down his wagon on the street, walked up to us and started a conversation. Interestingly, we managed to have a decent chat in my oh-so...

When we were nearing the end of our Cuban holiday road trip, Blondine asked me which city or town in Cuba that is my favourite. Without thinking twice I said, ‘Trinidad!’ Trinidad is a world of its own; it is in fact a museum in itself. The town is listed in UNESCO’s World Heritage Site and is a national treasure of Cuba. Every visitor who comes here will be blown away by her enticing age-old charm. Well, I was. Founded in 1514 by Spanish conquistador, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, this jewel of a place is a must see and visit when in Cuba. And unlike Havana Vieja that is speckled with buildings left to ruins, Trinidad on the other hand is an unblemished beauty. The old centre is restored to her former medieval colonial-times glory. I can’t explain the feeling when we walked in the old centre. Stepping on the cobble stone streets and being engulfed in a kaleidoscope of pastel-coloured buildings and houses safeguarded with wrought iron grills, some with wooden barrotes, on window...

When a restaurant has been awarded with ‘Lunch restaurant of the year’ and ‘Best open sandwiches’ in Denmark, one thing I know for sure—I have to get myself there! I’m more a lunch person than a dinner one so the desire to come here is compelling. So while in Copenhagen last April, I made sure to pay a visit at Aamanns for lunch and try their famous open sandwiches—the smorrebrod. I think this is haddock with dill, salmon roe, shallots and onions and crunchy tiny potato chips on Danish rye bread. However, I arrived late at Aamans Establissement/Restaurant and didn’t realise that their last order for lunch is only up to 14:30. It is quite puzzling actually. For a very popular lunch restaurant... er, why are they closing this early? Oh well, your guess is as good as mine. ‘You are late, we are already closed.’ Said the waiter. ‘But you can go to Aamanns Takeaway next door, it is open.’ The Aamanns restaurant is chicer of course and I would have preferred to eat here but ...

I’m recently in the mood to check out cool restaurants and bar cafes so in between my full-time work and part-time travelling, I will be doing this. Not on a weekly basis though because in real life I am a ‘home’ person. If I am not working or travelling, I am at home. I love and prefer being at home. I would rather be at home than going shopping, seriously. Anyway, last month I met up with girlfriend, Bru in Amsterdam for dinner. We first went to a bar called Canvas on Wibautstraat, however the crowd and the ambience of the bar was not my, well our, type so to speak, so we left. Bru had an idea—BAZAR, the North African-Middle Eastern restaurant located on Albert Cuypstraat, so we jumped in the car and drove to Bazar. Website: Bazar Amsterdam I actually came across this restaurant a while back, and noted it but just in my head, so yeah, I eventually forgot about it. Luckily we found parking nearby, which later costs me EUR24 just for the night. Parking is extremely expensi...

I have seen so many castles in my life already and because of this I am now quite picky when choosing a castle to visit. The Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen satisfied my quite high-standard castle expectations. Because the castle is small it is easy to see everything, no need to go through a labyrinth of rooms and hallways. The antechambers and ballrooms have exquisite details on its ceilings and walls. There’s a lot of old art here worthy indeed to be showcased to the public. Unfortunately the 2nd floor of the castle is closed due to ‘sickness’. Not sure what that means, but when I stood there in front of the closed door, I did sensed an unpleasant feeling. When I was in Copenhagen I was a bit sickly. I had fever and colds so I guess I was sensitive to anything unusual. I’ll shut up now and let the pictures do the talking. Travel Period: April 2012 Destination: Copenhagen, Denmark