TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

Blondine and I succumb to our gastronomic desires on our first day in Madrid. We had late lunch at the Mercado de San Miguel . The gourmet market was packed, and I mean elbow to elbow PACKED while ordering during lunch period (12:00 – 16:00). It was a bit overwhelming for us because we visited the place in the morning and it was quite busy but the crowds were nowhere near the size as during lunch time. What I loved about this place is it’s like a walking tapas fast food utopia. We hopped from one delicious food stand to another with our wines in our hands and we ate as we went along. I pigged out big time. See the shameful proof below: For starters, we had grilled octopus on a toast and I had smoked salmon with almond on a toast as well. Blondine's other starter was a sardine (not in foto). Paired with fresh special sorlut oysters and a glass of chilled chardonnay. Blondine had another toast with ham on top as well (not in foto). Yours truly, the glutton. We walked t...

This gourmet market located beside Plaza Mayor is fairly new, recently renovated and re-opened in May 2009 replacing the old traditional marketplace. That is why I haven’t heard or seen anything about this foodie nirvana when I last visited the Spanish capital in 2006. The idea is like the La Boqueria Mercado in Barcelona . I was here as well a few years back and pretty much enjoyed the experience which was spent taking fotos of fruits, vegetables, gourmet food, fish and meat. The explosion of bright colours in this marketplace was breathtaking. There is a difference though between the two. The La Boqueria Mercado is more a combination of a wet and farmer’s market + culinary cafés whereas the Mercado de San Miguel is more focused on becoming the new fastfood-culinary-cultural-café of Madrid. Tapas everywhere. I haven’t really seen much of fresh fish and raw meat on sale here except for the ready-to-eat ones. And I would not be surprised if the Spaniards patterned the concept of ma...

The Spaniards will never ever become vegetarians. They love to adorn their restaurants and kitchens with real embalmed toro heads. Do you find it charming? A bull's head watching above your shoulders while you eat? The Italians are worse, they hung hairy swine’s heads in their delicatessen shops. Fortunately though not in their restaurants. Now that would be insane. I am sure many people will just be so grossed out. Um, why is it that pigs are more repelling than cows? PETA and Partij voor de Dieren (Animal Party) stay away here! Just to let you know, there are actually real people in the Netherlands that vote for the rights of the animals. They even have a political party here, and even more, they have 2 seats in the lower house and 1 seat in the senate. 1 seat is equivalent to 60,000 (up to 65,000) votes. I am not joking. I am still working on my Madrid photos but will soon post about food, and food and more food! Travel Period: June 2011 Destination: Madrid, Spain K...

Madrid’s coat of arms is a Bear sniffing the fruits of a strawberry tree. The statue is located at the intersection of Puerta del Sol, in the heart of Madrid, the capital of Spain. And I have two fotos of myself taken with this statue. The first one was in 2005 and the other one was in June, just two months ago. I have this odd feeling that the statue was moved, that it used to be standing right on the busy shopping street that intersects Puerto del Sol. Foto on the left was taken during winter, February 2005 and on the right during summer, June 2011. Judging from the pictures I do not think I have changed much in 6 years. For the history geeks, here is the history of the coat of arms (taken from Wikipedia) why Madrid City Council chose a bear sniffing fruits from a strawberry tree to use as its emblem: ‘When in 1212 took place the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa between Alfonso VIII of Castile and the Almohads, the council of Madrid sent a detachment in support of t...

On my last day in Sheffield, Queen Victoria made a special breakfast for me: Bagels, bacon and omelette. And endless conversations. In the afternoon they were invited to a Filipino children’s party so they tagged me along. It was the birthday of their friend’s daughter. The catering was done by a Filipino and food was mainly Filipino as well. I think my favourite there was the chicken lollipop. Queen Victoria and her hubby are quite social people in comparison to Dutchman and I. We on the other hand prefer to be at home when we/I are not travelling. I also like my own company. Then there is my demanding career that is my baby that is taking most of my time. Most days I am on the road, having face-to-face meetings with business partners so at the end of the day I feel like I’ve had a very hectic social/work life and the only thing I want is to do is retreat back into my cave at home. So yeah, I am not really a socializing type at all but I can be when its needed (like at work). ...