5 Favorite Travel sites I visit

Radisson Blu Zurich Airport

Radisson Blu Malmö

When I travel I like to do a little bit of research of places to visit that I may be interested so I'm not overwhelmed. These are 5 of my favorite sites

Yelp <-- Add me on Yelp! :-)

I've been a fairly active Yelp-er for a number of years now (since November 2007) and I use this to review and find places to eat (and other businesses but mostly restaurants and bars have the most reviews). There are some drawbacks to this site though... Not all places have many ratings or active users especially if Yelp just launched in that city. That being said, Yelp is growing globally so there are active users of the site around the globe. 

Pinterest <-- Follow me on Pinterest

Pinterest boards are inspiration boards. Sometimes the pictures and linked blog posts about travel are so captivating that you can't help but click on the picture to find out more. I've been chasing the Northern Lights for a while now and Pinterest was where I first saw beautiful pictures of it. (I've finally managed to see a short fuzzy glimpse of Aurora Borealis briefly once on a trip to Northern Finland) I'm still hoping to catch a clearer view of the dancing green lights later this year. I am also a fan of the packing lists that show up on Pinterest frequently as it always fascinates me what people pack in their bags for a trip. 

Afar.com

Though I admit, I am not as active on the site as I am on the other two above but I do look at this site for more travel tips and things-to-do. You can save each Highlight onto a list and it can be a good inspiration to plan out your trip. That is what I tend to do with this website. The pictures and contributors are regular users of the site and journalists for the magazine as well as travel locals. So it is a good mix of people recommending different things. This site also has a lot of lists that will give you even more ideas on what to do.

TripAdvisor 

This website is very popular amongst travelers. I tend to use this to read up on hotel reviews because this is the most popular site for hotel reviews. I rarely use this to look up for things to do or restaurant reviews because the sites above already give me a more visuals. I prefer a website to have more user pictures and less advertisements so I can make an informed decision. Nevertheless, it is a popular site and there are a lot of reviews.

Instagram <--Follow me 

More visual travel inspiration. I follow quite a number of travel instagram accounts and foodie instagram accounts so my feed is always luring me with wanderlust ;-) I like pictures so a social media channel that is mostly visual really appeals to me. #travel #wanderlust

Some other sites that I use are Internations (I ask members for recommendations on the forum boards for specific locations), SANDEMAN's  (They give free walking tours in cities throughout Europe), Airbnb (If I stay in a location for longer than a week, I tend to prefer renting a studio).
I am also a Star Alliance frequent flyer member,  OneWorld member, AccorHotels member, Marriot rewards, Spg, First Hotels, the travel section of American Express, and CitizenM to book flights and hotels. I think being a member of a number of hotel and airline loyalty programs leads to upgrades, discounts, etc. 

Weekend getaways

Sometimes life really needs that little break. Since moving to Europe in 2015, I've travelled to many places whether for a weekend getaway, day trip, a few days, or a week. It has been exciting to travel to Stockholm, Berlin, Amsterdam, Oulu, Prague, Barcelona, Dresden, Innsbruck, Zurich, Geneva, Vevey, Zermatt, and the little random towns. 

Leukerbad Therme, Switzerland May 2015

Sometimes one needs to recharge but doesn't have too much time to take off from work. Weekend getaways are perfect. Day trips, weekend trips, 1/2 day trips.

When I lived in NYC, I would take ski trips up to Vermont using a bus that would pick up at 4 a.m. in Manhattan and then arrive at the mountain by 9 a.m. We'd ski all day then the bus would take us back at around 4 pm followed by Korean bbq or a nice big bowl of Japanese ramen in the city for apres ski. Those were great memories.

Okemo mountain resort, VT

In Singapore, I didn't really take weekends or day trips away. I worked during the weekend so I saved up my vacations to coincide with school holidays and flew further away to recharge. Those jaunts to the UK, Europe, Chiang Mai, Malacca, Bali, Hong Kong, really added up and I had a gold frequent flyer status. The perks of fast track and lounge access alleviated the stress of airports and waiting around for flights.

Chiang Mai, Thailand Dec 2012

Zermatt ski holiday, Switzerland Dec 2013

London, UK July 2013

Copenhagen, Denmark Dec 2013

Berlin for Christmas, Germany Dec 2013

Milano, Italy July 2014

Nasi goreng and Bakmi goreng recipe

Nasi Goreng

Bakmi goreng - this one was so close to my Grandmother's version! I was so happy!

In light of the attacks this morning in Jakarta, I was going to write a depressing blog post about worrying about my family and friends in Jakarta but instead I've decided to dedicate this post to my memories of growing up in Jakarta as a child. 

The smell of nasi goreng or bakmi goreng would waft all through the kitchen onto the dining table. I remember distinctly those aromatic smells coming from the kitchen whenever my grandmother cooked. She was the best! She made such good food that when she was alive I didn't really appreciate it fully because I was such a brat. (I only wanted to eat "restaurant" quality food) - hahaha a picky eater. I'm still a picky eater and being one today is much more tolerable because if food is crap then I won't eat. Therefore no wasted calories ;-)

I like to cook these days and its become quite the stress reliever to come home after a long day and clean veggies, chop onions and garlic, marinate meat, etc. Homemade food tastes really good and I eat less because my nose and sight has been satiated during the process of making it. Leftovers are fantastic for the next few days when I don't have time to cook. 

I used to be terrible at cooking (weren't we all terrible at one point!?) and my father still jokes about my weird "nasi goreng" to this day. hehe... 

Nasi Goreng is a national Indonesian dish that is usually served with condiments like acar (pickles), satay (chicken or beef skewers), kroepok (shrimp crackers), and a sunny side up egg on top with fried shallots. 

When I cook, I don't like to measure things exactly especially if its a dish I've made and did so many trial-and-error experiments with ingredients and sauces. I cook things in accordance "to taste". (Probably why baking and making recipes that have to be exact drives me insane!)

My last semester at hospitality school, we had a class with a guest chef who was very animated and passionate about cooking. He used to work in airline catering for a long time as a consultant. He devised a very simple method of measuring out every ingredient when the head chefs would come in to create the recipes so that each recipe will spurn a dish that would taste exactly the same each time regardless of who was making it. Genius! 

During this class, he asked two students to volunteer to be head chefs with a team for the kitchen brigade. I volunteered. I had to device a recipe and write it all out. Guess what I made?! Yep, Nasi Goreng. 

This is my recipe.

Used Net weight	Unit	Item
162	g	Sunflower Oil
3	pcs	Eggs (scrambled)
408	g	Shrimps
566	g	Onions (chopped & diced)
466	g	Carrots
250	g	Peas
206	g	Green Beans
200	g	Sambal
165	g	Sweet Soy sauce
180	g	Soy Sauce
800	g	Rice, cooked
5	pcs	Whole Eggs (sunny side up)
86	g	Fried Shallots

Preparation process
1	In a small mixing bowl, mix the eggs
2	Put oil into the pan (72g)
3	Add egg (scrambled). 1 min.
4	Add chopped onions
5	Add shrimps
6	Stir fry everything for 5 min.
7	Add oil (58g). Add chopped carrots (466g). Stir fry for 3 min.
8	Add peas (250g). Stir fry 2 min.
9	Add green beans (206g). Stir fry 2 min.
10	Add sambal (100g). Mix well. 30 sec.
11	Add sweet soy sauce (165 g) Mix well. 30 sec.
12	Add sambal (100g). Mix well. 30 sec.
13	Add soy sauce (180g) Mix well. 2 min.
14	Add rice (800 g). Mix well. 6 min.
15	In a separate pan, fry sunny side up eggs.
16	Plate rice. Topped with Sunny side up egg.
17	Garnish with Fried Shallots

You can also substitute rice with egg noodles to make Bakmi Goreng

My knife set :-) 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone!

How was the holiday season this time around for you? It seems like every holiday season is blending in to the ones from the past. (Or am I just getting old and tired of the season?!) I spent Christmas Eve on a train from Brussels to Schipol airport. It was delayed because some crazy idiot decides to feel suicidal and walk on the train tracks (or that person could also be high on drugs) so the train was stalled and delayed for at least 45 minutes. Thank goodness my flight was the next morning. 

Note to self: do not take the train to Schipol on the day of a flight

By the time I got to the airport hotel, I was tired. I like the Citizen M hotels because of their huge beds, free movies, mood lighting, and breakfast! Ok, enough endorsing my personal views for now since I'm interning at a fairly large hotel company but didn't stay at one of our properties (feeling the guilt!). I will try and utilise my employee discount though when I travel to some locations where accommodation is ridiculously expensive. 

I flew on Christmas day to Singapore. Arrived the next day. Then the jet lag ensued... Sigh. There seems to be a problem flying east when it comes to jet lag. 

Where did you spend NYE? I had dinner with family then went to my friends' place and hung out with her and her cute cat. Very different from last year's NYE.

Had a nice little week in Singapore and saw my family and some friends. I am glad to get back to Brussels though to really begin some work. My first couple weeks were not very intense as it was the holiday season and copious meetings, conference, dinners. 

Goodbyes and Hellos

Beautiful Switzerland

School trip to Vevey

I miss these beautiful sunsets

Foggy fall day

How can you not fall in love with the Swiss Alps?

Hidden beauty

The past 6 months flew by with much gusto and fanfare!

It was stressful, hectic, crazy, and filled with interviews, job searching, event management, studying, rehearsing, planning, searching, etc.. an emotional roller coaster to say the least. 

My last semester of my hospitality postgraduate academics is finally done. Its been a couple weeks and I miss my classmates, teachers, and friends in the mountains. They were like family to me. 

I started my internship last week in a new city and new country. Its always a bit anxious to start in a new location. Starting fresh. I am weary and cautious about meeting new people the older I get. Perhaps it is the notion that I don't know if I want to get too attached as I don't know how long I'll be here. Or it could simply be that I've become more introverted as I get older. 

As a Adult Third Culture Kid, I think I am not the only one to feel attachment anxiety when it comes to meeting new people. 

Hellos and Goodbyes this year. 2015 has been a year of learning. I'm curious to see what 2016 brings to me.

New Blog!

Starting the ball rolling on this one... Its been on my list of to-do this year.

On the train to Valencia 

Valencia