Travel Bug

This day is actually more exciting since we could spend some time packing.
We started off the day with our "last meal", so went to a breakfast yum cha to send us off on your journey. I don't think I can look at yum cha quite the same way again in Sydney.
Yes, there was more stuff to try, so about an hour after yum cha, we had to eat again, this time at a "Canton" style noodle house.
The good thing about going through America is that you can take more than the 40kg restrictions for all other continents, so we were able to lug our stuff back to Sydney, the bad thing, the added security of going to America. There's a special system for going to America, and once you pass the checkout, that's it. We were going to get our receipts stamped to claim our GST back, but unbeknown to us, there was NO CUSTOMS when going to America - and nobody even bothered to tell us, I had to ask repeated people who finally told us it was too late anyway. What a load of croc.
Slokky lost some important receipts (yeah, my fault for trusting him with it, but I didn't want to make a fool out of him in front of his relatives). I guess it doesn't matter now that we can't claim any of it back anyway.
The plane was the most uncomfortable yet. The air hostess, old, ugly, slow but very friendly... I don't know which I prefer. To find out more, read the review.

Food

Yum cha.
Lunch at Noodle house:
- wonton soup
- pigs trotter noodles
- beef tendons noodles
- another beef parts noodles
- HK style coffee and tea
Sweet boiled eggs.
Puffed pastry with vanilla ice-cream.
Air Canada snacks 1:
- sun snacks
- clamato extra spicy
- iced tea
Air Canada dinner:
- roll
- ice cream
- salad with balsalmic vinegar
- chicken with risoni
- red wine
Air Canada snacks 2:
- roll
- pineapple cake
- pasta and vegetable salad with ham and cheese
Air Canada snacks 3:
- oatmeal biscuit
- apple and orange juice

Day 63 25/5/06 - Canada

Richmond -> Vancouver -> Richmond

Highlight

The sun came out so we decided to go to UBC. There was a graduation on so we went along and took photos, and got free muffins along with the grads.
A really really boring day, we didn't do anything. I'm actually playing web sudoku again... Only one more day to go.
Our last dinner, and suitably a feast. We met up with Slokky's aunty's friends, and had a king crab set menu. There are grand plans to try all the stuff we didn't have time to tomorrow...

Food

Taro bread.
Salmon and corn pie.
Chocolate cookie.
Poppyseed muffin.
Blueberry muffin.
Thai pizza.
Chocolate ice-cream bar.
Shanghai dinner:
- 3 kinds of cold cuts
- steamed king crab with garlic
- oyster mushrooms with bok choi
- pork shank with vegetables
- fried fish in sweet and sour sauce
- hand-pulled noodles in crab sauce
- red bean puff pastry balls

Day 62 24/5/06 - Canada

Richmond -> Vancouver -> Richmond

Highlight

Slokky got his nostalgia trip today. We had to go to a Hong Kong tea house for bfast so he can relive his childhood. For those uninitiated, a HK tea house serves things like doll noodles, macaroni, spam, butter rolls, white bread sandwiches with no crust, "Western" style food like spaghetti for breakfast. I've never liked tea house food. Why pay so much money for food you can make yourself really easily? This breakfast was pretty similar, the food was pretty ordinary, so the nostalgic value was very high.
We spent most of the day either driving or being stuck in traffic. Time really has slowed in Vancouver. I think I probably could've packed what we've been doing in 3 days into 1 day.
We took Fay for his exam today. It turns out he had some fibre stuck in his ear that's why he's been shaking his head a lot and causing bleeding. The bleeding has now stopped, but now he seems to have diarrhea. He also has to change his diet completely (no more oranges!) because he's developing kidney stones. It's not easy being a pet owner.
We toured Stanley Park, and spent 3 hours looking for a mermaid that Slokky's grandma mentioned was beautiful. We didn't find it in the end.
We also toured Downtown, Canada Place, Science World, Gastown, and Queen Elizabeth Town. Nothing much worth mentioning, since it was raining plus it costs a lot of money to park, so we didn't walk around much. We did manage to have lunch at an IGA. The food was actually good!
Our 2nd last dinner, went to a Vegetarian place. Half the fun of eating Chinese vegetarian is the way they make "meat" out of everything vegetarian, especially tofu!

Food

Hong Kong tea house breakfast:
- pineapple bun with a huge slab of butter
- curry beef doll noodles
- fried eggs and sausage
- HK style tea
Juicy lollies.
Spinach strudel.
Butter layered roll.
Apple turnover.
Raspberry croissant.
Danish biscuits.
Chinese vegetarian restaurant dinner:
- mixed entree
- "chicken" and "goose" cold cuts
- spinach and egg soup
- fried "fish"
- vegetables with oyster mushrooms
- fried rice with "beef"
- red bean mochi

Day 61 23/5/06 - Canada

Richmond

Highlight

Because of rain, our Whistler trip is cancelled. Instead, it's chores day, which included fixing a computer, getting haircuts, and the highlight of Slokky's grandma's Canada, a visit to Costco.
Costco is a wholesale warehouse with anything and everything you want to buy, groceries, clothes, pharmacy, computers, furniture, outdoor equipment... I didn't find the stuff that cheap as you have to buy in bulk. What I did find interesting though was the amount of people there, on a school day at that, and all of them buying a huge trolleys worth of clothing...
Poor Fay has been sick so we took him to the vet. He has to go back tomorrow for more tests.
After a home-cooked dinner, we went to see The Da Vinci Code. It's much cheaper to see a movie in Canada than in Oz, except they don't have half priced Tuesdays. The verdict on the movie? The actors were good, but it definitely is not as exciting if you know the story. Probably not worth seeing at the cinemas.

Food

Congee with lots of goodies and pita chips.
Taste test at Costco.
French fries.
Godiva Chocolate ice-cream bar.
Puff pastry with vanilla ice-cream.
Chinese BBQ pork, duck and crispy pork.
Tomato fish stew and pita chips.
Mixed vegetables and mushrooms.

Day 60 22/5/06 - Canada

Richmond -> Vancouver -> Richmond

Highlight

Today is our outing day with the "Ah Po", Slokky's grandma and her school mate Betty. The two of them have been friends for years, and they are so cute together. They always go out, using their senior pass, and take public transport everywhere. Today we experienced a typical day in the life of senior citizens in British Columbia.
- Catching a bus then the sky train out to the Metropolis Metrotown shopping centre to find a toilet.
- From Metrotown, catch another bus to North Burnaby for yum cha. As it was a public holiday, it was really really crowded. I don't know what they were thinking, but they made us stand next to a table to wait, while the old people still haven't left. We ended up standing there for 10 minutes waiting for the people to leave (who were really taking their time), trying to dodge other people and yum cha carts. It wasn't pleasant, and we had to share a table as well. And because of the amount of people, they ran out of teapots, and the food were either cold or unavailable, a very disappointing experience.
- After yum cha, and another toilet stop, it was time to hop on yet another bus, for Chinatown. The activities here involved the grandmas introducing Slokky to all the shopkeepers in Chinatown and Slokky's grandma stocking up on 42 preserved eggs.
- After the walk of about 5 shops in Chinatown, it was time to hop on yet another bus for a very long and bumpy ride to Simon Fraser University. Unfortunately, it was raining really hard and it was really foggy, so we couldn't see any views, so we took a quick tour of the campus (it was uglier than UNSW can you believe?) and caught the bus back down, this time to Downtown.
- Downtown. Toilet time. The grandmas sure knows where to find toilets. We went straight to the Hyatt hotel, and I have to admit, their toilets are pretty nice.
- Our outing over, it was time for the 2 bus rides (taking over an hour, including waiting time)home. All in all I can say we fulfilled the grandmas' wishes of getting the most value out of our $8 all-day pass.
All our activities seem to involve watching TV and eating, so the next exciting episode today, if you don't count all the Chinese dramas on TV, was for dinner at Aberdeen centre again. Tonight was a very quiet night. The Chinese tea house was charming, they had great tea and pretty decent food. Even though we've eaten a lot of Chinese, we haven't eaten the same thing twice yet, I'm quite impressed.

Food

Chicken pie.
Fish soup with biscuits.
Chocolate chip cookie.
Yum cha:
- fried prawns
- prawn dumplings
- prawn pie
- prawn and corn dumplings
- lotus seed parcel
- fried taro ball
- chives and prawn dumplings
- chives and prawn parcels
Almond biscotti.
Chinese tea house dinner:
- spring rolls
- beef rolls
- vegetables with beef
- chicken in tea flavoured sauce
- deep fried prawns salad

Day 59 21/5/06 - Canada

Richmond -> Steveston -> Richmond

Highlight

Attended a Cantonese mass service, brings back memories of primary school. Slokky's grandma eagerly showing off Slokky and his girlfriend to her friends.
Steveston - the fisherman's wharf of Vancouver, also done up very nicely, with seaside cafes, bars, quirky shops... like any other seaside town really. We bought some fish on fishing boats parked on the harbour, and went to Pago, the famous fish & chips place to eat, yup, fish & chips.
Spent time at Slokky's relative's house, walked Faye, looked at Slokky's old photos (btw, he was actually cute when he was young, wonder what happened...).
Found out Kinder got engaged...and moving to Strathfield, along with Yuen (no Kinder didn't propose to Yuen, he actually proposed to his gf). We really must be getting old, even Kinder has got in the act.

Food

Chicken pie.
Cheesecake.
Fish & Chips. (11.98)
Clam chowder.(3.98)
Cooked cola & lemon.
Black sesame soup.
Steamed crabs.
Chicken soup.
Steamed fish with ginger and shallots.
Fried asparagus.
Strawberries.

Day 58 20/5/06 - Canada

Richmond -> Capilano -> Grouse Mountain -> Richmond

Highlight

Trying the first of what is supposed to be many yum cha experiences. Yet again, the Asian food here beats Oz hands down. I'm going to find it hard to eat Asian in Sydney now... at least I can still drink coffee and eat fruit...
Capilano is famous for its suspension bridge, which was in existence since the late 1800s. It's been a tourist attraction for a long time. The actual bridge is very long, and very rocky. There were heaps and heaps of scared people trying to walk across it, which is really funny, but apart from that, the whole park and rainforest area is pretty boring. Slokky's aunty told us a story of how a woman actually threw her child over the bridge a couple of years back though, so now they have guards watching the bridge at all times.
Grouse Mountain is a mountain on the edge of Vancouver. You take a cable car up to the top. The top was really beautiful, but cold, really cold. In winter you can actually ski there, and not all the ice has melted yet. There is supposed to be a fine view of Vancouver from the top, but unfortunately for us, it was too foggy to see. We did see one grizzly bear in the "Bear Habitat", as well as watching the "World famous lumberjack show", which was very very funny.
I got sick from the cold after that, so the rest of the day passed by in agony. I did manage to go out to dinner though, see, food comes first. This time we went to another Asian place. I am sad to report that the food wasn't as good as previous Asian, but it was still pretty darn good.
I'm starting to catch up on my Asian TV, in the past few days I've watched about 6 or 7 different "dramas". All I can say is that people get amnesia a lot...

Food

Morning yum cha:
- prawn dumplings
- crab dumplings
- pork dumplings
- rice noodles wrapped fried bread
- pork and sausage rice
- fried yam and scallops
- cake with sticky rice
- fried yam cakes
- mango and coconut cakes
Chinese dinner:
- winter melon soup
- Hainanese chicken + rice
- garlic fried veges
- tofu with mushrooms and chicken pieces
- curry beef briskets
- dessert soup
strawberries and orange

Day 57 19/5/06 - Canada

Richmond -> White Rock -> Granville Island -> Richmond

Highlight

The pampering starts again now that we're back at Slokky's relatives' place. Breakfast this morning was 3 different things, including fresh baked egg tarts(!), with another 3 things available for lunch. Since Slokky is "way too skinny" now he has to eat twice as much too.
The sun was missing this morning when we visited White Rock, which is famous for... yup, a white rock. This area reminds me of Brigton Le Sands, except the houses around seem richer and there are no high rises. According to Aunty Teresa, the whole area has been done up since they last visited. There's now a pretty nice seaside walk, but they don't allow dogs anymore, and of course all parking is metered. We didn't find it particularly interesting, and the white rock? Well... the rock is certainly white, if you don't look too closely, you can't see the graffiti people have added. I was really disappointed, it was just a rock that got transported to the seaside and man painted white. I can't believe I travelled all that way to see that...
Granville Island is much more interesting, it's a little island in the middle of the city. The whole island is famous for its arts and crafts, and it has a very reputable arts school there too. We browsed through several shops as well as the public markets, selling the usual food and arts items.
An amazing sight, we went the Asian shopping mall area in Richmond, and no wonder they call it Hongcouver there. Asian shopping malls are everywhere!! We passed by at least 5, and apparently there are many more. I have no idea how they can support that many malls, but there are a lot of Asians...We went to the Aberdeen Mall, which is about the size of a mid-sized Westfields, and it has all these shops you can find in HK. We found all the cool stuff we got from Japan (darn!) and for a cheaper price too (darn!). The most exciting shop was the franchise of the Daiso chain, just like the 100 Yen shops. As well as Jap, there are the quirky Asian food stores, Taiwanese dried goods, Honkie clothes, bubble tea... anything an Asian will ever need really, plus more! Now is it cheaper to fly to Japan or Canada??
Slokky made me mad today because he did his look at the computer and ignore everything else thing, and he also forgot to bring the camera not, this being maybe the 10th time he's forgotten on this holiday.

Food

Chicken soup.
Sticky rice.
Egg tarts.
Vegetable dumplings.
Dumplings in soup.
Pigs parts and eggs in vinegar.
Taste testing at Granville Island.
Singaporian/Indo/Thai restaurant dinner:
- Mixed satays
- Indo spring rolls
- Curry clam soup
- Indo style vegetables
- Coconut baked rice
- deep fried pork
- Malaysian roti with curry sauce

Day 56 18/5/06 - Canada

Duncan -> Chemainus -> Nanaimo -> Vancouver -> Richmond

Highlight

Chemainus is home to the "World Famous Murals", meaning there are murals all around the towns, on walls and buildings. We were there at the same time as some Chinese tourist group, who all insisted on posing in front of the murals one by one and taking a photo of themselves. We were waiting for them to finish before we took some photos, but gave up waiting after 15 minutes. There is also a great walk past unique houses to the sea.
Nanaimo is "Harbour City", we went for a walk along the harbour foreshore, where there are the fish & chips and fresh seafood shops right on the water, apparently much like Fishermans Wharf in Vancouver.
Another lunch stop at the chain store, I'm beginning to think I might be able to try them all... this time at Dairy Queen for burgers and fries. I only had a little bit of the food, but the verdict is... way too salty and no taste... I guess I still don't like fast food.
Vacation over, back to Vancouver on the BC Ferry, while listening to more stories about Slokky's childhood. A favourite: Slokky got picked on by a girl in kindergarden in HK, who used to pinch his thighs and steal his hankies. However, as soon as he moved to Oz, all the girls at school loved him. They used to pick up stuff he dropped all the time.
Went to our 1st all-you-can-eat Japanese tonight. As you can imagine, it's very popular with the Asian set. It's pretty good, you actually order from the menu what you want and they make it fresh. Canadians sure like their sashimi cut really really thick. And the verdict? It's good, especially for a all-you-can-eat kinda place, but nowhere near as good as Japan.

Food

Dark chocolate bun (1).
Almond Croissant (2).
Maple and cranberry biscuit.
Chocolate chip and nuts biscuits.
Pretzel roll.
Multi-grain roll.
Chilli dog.
Mixed bag of cheese snacks.
All you can eat Japanese: sushi, sashimi, salad, BBQ, tempura, grills, noodles (which of course nobody actually eats) and dessert.

Day 55 17/5/06 - Canada

Victoria -> Oak Bay -> Shawnigan Lake -> Cowichan Bay -> Duncan

Highlight

Oak Bay is a really expensive area with really huge and beautiful houses.
Our 2nd visit to Tim Hortons, this time for bagels and more donuts, for breakfast!
We stopped off at a glass blowing place near Shawnigan Lake, so now we've managed to visit one in every country we've visited. The owner was very friendly (and talkative) and introduced us to all her products, with their specialty being oil lamps. They also have a really cute blind dog.
Cowichan Bay, a really laid back area, with some quirky shops and a great organic bread shop.
Along the drive from Shawnigan Lake to Duncan, is the so-called wine route. There are about 7 wineries in the area. We visited the Cherry Tree winery, but the wine was not that great.
We also paid a visit to Merridale Ciderhouse, and tasted lots and lots of ciders :). Their bistro was fantastic, overlooking their apple trees (albeit with no apples).
The "totem" city Duncan, is really a very very small town with a few totem poles. Remarkably for such a small place, it's crammed with giant shopping malls, chain stores and eateries. We visited our first Safeway, Wal-Mart, Superstore... which, btw, are kinda all like kmart, except they all seem to have a Maccas or Subway or Starbucks inside the store.
Another Travelodge. Well I can give them marks for consistency. This one looks almost exactly the same as the one yesterday, except that there is no pool
Dinner at chain store No 2, White Spot. It was better than I expected, but not great, and definitely better than yesterday...
Pay TV in Canada is kinda interesting. We watched the American Iron Chef, which is nowhere near as good as the Jap version. Apparently the Jap chairman is the uncle of the American chairman. We were also unfortunate (or fortunate if you're a guy) enough to watch Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. I don't get it... as a comedy it's not funny, unless you laugh because the plot? (what plot?) is so dumb... as an action film there's not much sequences... as a porn film there's not enough naked people...

Food

Blueberry bagel.
Maple Dip donut + dutchie.
Maple + peaches and cream ice-cream. (4.8)
Lunch at La Pammeraie Bistro located at Merridale Ciderhouse:
- Pork and apple crepe (8)
- Apple and onion tart (8)
- Chicken somerset (13)
- Chicken and apple pizza
White Spot dinner:
- Canada AAA Sirloin Steak - Served with roast potatoes & seasonal vegetables. Half pound. (15.99)
- Monty Mushroom - Our 1/4 lb. burger with Jack cheese & sauted mushrooms. (8.99)
- Mountain Madness - A mountain of cream puffs piled high with fresh whipped cream, swirls of butterscotch & triple thick hot fudge sauce. It's beyond belief! (5.49)
- White Spot Cheesecake - Our very own recipe, rich & creamy. A wonderful White Spot tradition. (4.29) With strawberry topping. (.99)

Day 54 16/5/06 - Canada

Richmond -> Tsawwassen -> Swartz Bay -> Victoria

Highlight

Catching the BC Ferry from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay. It's kinda like a cruise ship, except there's no sleeping rooms, casinos, and there are cars!
The non Asian food here is pretty terrible, it's no wonder Americans and Canadians, especially the non Asians, are so fat. Some of the stuff they have available in the shops and in the supermarket should not be consumed by human beings.
Our 1st stop was Butchart Gardens, one of the most beautiful gardens in Canada, and one of the best I've seen. It's especially popular with the oldies. Tulips were in full bloom, making it especially beautiful.
We toured Victoria harbour (not as nice as ours) and their parliament house (heaps nicer than ours).
Our 1st Travelodge, with huge beds, cable TV, an indoor pool and gym.
Having to eat junk food for lunch because Faye the dog can't go to any food establishments. Having to eat the worst fish & chips I've ever tasted for dinner. Thanks Slokky for your choice.

Food

Soft bread with taro.
Boiled potatoes.
Cheese popcorn.
Snack mix with pretzels, sun chip, cheetoes and corn chips.
Fish and Chips.
Clam chowder with biscuits.
Onion rings.
Chicken strips with BBQ sauce.
Coleslaw.
Tim Hortons donuts:
- maple glazed
- blueberry
- Boston cream
- carrot cake
- double choc
- honey glazed

Day 53 15/5/06 - Germany, Canada

Wurzburg -> Frankfurt -> Vancouver

Highlight

Getting served a really good buffet breakfast, which the owners prepared early especially for us. They also had freshly brewed coffee we felt obliged to drink.
Getting stuck in peak hour traffic is the same everywhere. Trucks overtaking trucks can cause traffic jams for kms.
Getting almost strip-searched at airport security, and the cold wordless way of German airport staff.
Meeting cool and interesting people on the plane. She was a flight attendant with Air Canada in the 60s and 70s, and was going home with her son. She speaks fluent German, and was trying to score a free upgrade to 1st class. However, I have doubts about people who laugh at Rumours has it.
The really cute not to mention extremely charming flight stewart Alex.
Trying to waste 10 hours is very hard, especially when they show movies I've already seen and I can't see the screen.
Vancouver is a lot like Sydney, but with much less people and a lot more Asians!
Staying at Slokky's relatives and getting pampered with loads of food (yup, because of the time difference, we ate 5 meals today) , hearing embarrassing stories about his childhood. One gem to share for today: Slokky didn't stop drinking from a bottle until he was 7 years old!!!

Food

Hotel buffet breakfast:
- cold cuts
- cheeses including quark
- liver sausage
- jams, 5 liver spreads, Nutella, honey
- breads including brioche, pumpkinickel...etc
- museli with fried fruit and yoghurt
- coffee
- banana
Lufthansa airline meal 1:
- apple juice
- vegetable pasta
- beef with rice and peas
- salad
- chocolate cream cake
- camerbert and bread roll
Lufthansa snack:
- Twix bar
- tea
Lufthansa airline meal 2:
- Baked feta with vegetables
- pork with potatoes and beans
- chocolate pudding
- bread roll
- beer
Black forest cake.
Chicken soup.
Taiwanese dinner:
- black sesame bubble tea
- bean sprouts with garlic
- pork stomach in garlic
- pork hot pot
- deep fried pork
- beans with pork
- seafood noodles

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Day 52 14/5/06 - Germany

Augsburg -> Donauworth -> Nordlingen ->Dinkelsbuhl ->Feuchwangen -> Rothenburg o.d.t. -> Wurzburg

Highlight

Driving through this section of the Romantic Road is a lot like driving through Tuscany, but with better roads and less tourists.
Each town has medieval walls and towers, a central gothic style church, cafes and horse-drawn carriage.
Lucky for us, the rain died down.
My favourite town is Rothenburg o.d.t (even though it was very touristy) because of the quirky shops, including the Christmas shops and the fantastic views of the countryside. You can walk along the old city fortifications as well.
The look on Slokky's face when we climbed up the 'Daniel' tower at Nordlingen. The view from the top was good too.
Trying heaps and heaps of different cakes at heaps and heaps of different cafes.
Residence at Wurzburg is an UNESO heritage listed building. The landscaped garden was absolutely stunning.
Taking a really long walk up the hill to the fortress at Wurzburg. more wonderful views of the several churches, buildings with huge roofs.
My G&M (Gin and Mango!) tastes really good, unfortunately I learnt too late to replace water with gin, as it was our very last night in Europe.
Our hotel was great, we stayed in a German style attic, but it meant climbing a lot of stairs with our luggage.

Food

Bread with sauce.
Apple juice.
Grean and Black dark 70% cacao (1.25).
Apple tart (1).
Strawberry jelly cake (1).
rhubarb cake (1.25).
Cream filled cake (1.75).
Cheesecake (1.1).
Chocolate cream layered sponge with marzipan (2.2).
Spinach strudel (2.2).
Rice crackers.
Mango and gin 5.9% alcoholic drink (.63).
Black sesame rice balls.

Day 51 13/5/06 - Germany

Munich -> Fussen -> Augsburg

Highlight

Driving down the "Romantic Road" in our hired Mercedes. Actually we didn't feel so special driving a Merc at all since everyone else was either in a merc, a BMW or an Audi :(. Along the way, there are great views of the Alps and lakes, it was really beautiful, especially when the sun made an appearance.
We toured two castles associated with the famous King Ludwig II. Schloss Neuschwanstein is the one everyone is familiar with, the one the Disneyland castle is based upon. It was huge and very very extravagant. What is surprising is that it is only 1/3 completed! The other is Schloss Hohenschwangau, the castle of Ludwig's parents. It's much less extravagant, but also much less crowded with tourists, making for a pleasant tour, unlike that of Neuschwanstein (hehe try pronouncing that one quickly).
Slokky really wanted to try a currywrust so we got one at a restaurant with an outside stall. We should know better than to eat at touristy and expensive places, they have never been good experiences. Well, now we know a currywrust is just a wrust where you put your own curry powder on it. The bun was dry and they made you pay for sauce (a cardinal sin in Germany when you are buying wrust!).
Dinner at another Bib Gourmande. The water was still expensive, but at least the portions were more generous, and I think actually tastes better than yesterday as it was much less pretentious. Our waiter was very friendly not to mention German efficient.
It was Saturday, so time to go supermarket hunting for water. Like Italy, all the shops close on Sundays. We found Norma, but unfortunately, it is just like Aldi, but with even less stuff, and no natural mineral water, so we had to make do with juice.

Food

Bread with sauce and oil.
Ritter Sports Fig (.69).
Sarotti Marzipan (.49).
Sarotti chocolate mousse (.49).
Currywurst with bread roll (2.7).
White asparagus soup (3.5).
Deer with cranberry stuffed pear and potato dumplings (14.5).
Roast pork in beer sauce and cabbage salad (8.95).
Beer 0.33L (2.3).

Day 50 12/5/06 - Germany

Munich

Highlight

Schloss Nymphenburg - a very grand palace situated very close to Munich. Unfortunately, the huge crowd of very noisy tourists ruined the experience.
It was a beautiful day to walk through the numerous gardens: the landscaped garden that is part of Schloss Nymphenburg, and Englischer Garten - with a huge beer hall right in the centre.
Going to the "world cup final" Alliance stadium, which looks like a giant car tyre. Two teams, FC Bayen Munich (red) and 1826 (blue) play here. The outside of the stadium changes colour according to the team that is playing.
Dinner at another Bib Gourmande. Eating in Germany is very expensive, you won't find mains for under 10 Euros, and you're looking at 20 Euros for a better restaurant. Oh, and they charge a LOT, for water. We were charged 5.5 Euros for 1.5L of water, it's actually cheaper drinking beer. I'm sad to report that even though the price is higher, the quality is not as good as Italy, and the meat doesn't have the meaty taste like Oz meat. It's asparagus season, which means you see asparagus everywhere, street stores, farms, restaurants... The Germans certainly have good English, but when I think that I spent more money eating in this restaurant than I do eating at Est or Claudes, I just can't enjoy myself.

Food

Bread with peach jam, sauce, olive oil, liver sausage, pate spread, pork sausage.
Ritter Sport Figs (.69).
Birthday cake with cream and kirche (2.55).
Apple juice.
Ritter Sport Peanut crunch (.69)
Bread with olive oil.
Asparagus with hollandaise sauce (12.9).
Venison in wine reduction (22.5).
Black pork cutlet (23.5).

Day 49 11/5/06 - England, Germany

London -> Munich

Highlight

We weren't that lucky this time, so no upgrades on Lufthansa. The seat is the same as business, but the food is much much worst, consisting of only a roll... at least it tasted ok.
Munich is much less dirty than Frankfurt, and the public transport system is actually good!
The hotel is nice but is situated in the red light district. We didn't have time to make use of any of the "facilities" though.
There are loads of good chocolates in Germany, even a cheap supermarket brand tastes really good! Afterall, Kinder surprise and Ferrero Rocher, as well as Milka is from there, and that's just the common ones we've heard of. European chocolates are so much less sweet and much more chocolaty than Australian chocolates.
Maybe we were visiting the tourist area, but there really are beer halls everywhere, and they all seem to be filled with people...
The town centre is very pretty, with stylish houses and beautiful flowers, but somehow knowing that everything was new and rebuilt after WWII, so somehow the surreal feeling is lost.
Visiting the very touristy beer hall Hofbrauhaus am Platzl. For those who don't know, this place is filled with long tables, and lots of them, and encourages people to eat and drink to excess. There are "traditional" German dances, songs and performances, and lots and lots of audience participation. The food is served buffet style, "traditional" German fare. It was ok for a buffet. The beer was huge, but the atmosphere wins hands down, especially because we had a huge group of Brazilians and Spanish. I got picked to do a special bell-ringing performance, which involved shaking a little bell vigorously when my number is called.
Trying to drink 1L of beer is really really difficult, especially when you're trying to cram a lot of food in at a buffet filled with meet and potatoes. I could only manage to finish half, but so many people had at least 3 or 4.

Food

Grissini, biscuits, pretzel snacks.
Japanese pasty cakes.
Lufthansa roll with cheese and lettuce.
Taste test bread and meat at Viktualienmarkt.
Green & Black hazelnut and raisin chocolate bar (1.25).
Mens Porky.
Saroti butter nougat bar (.49).
Beer hall buffet:
- pretzels, rye and white rolls
- roast pork
- pork terrain
- 3 types of sausages
- grilled fish
- roast chicken
- veal schinzel
- mash potatoes
- penne in tomato sauce
- potato dumplings
- sauerkraut
- beetroot
- cold cuts
- salads:
  - potato
  - carrot
  - cabbage
  - mixed leaves
  - tomatoes
- apple strudel with vanilla cream and raspberry sauce
- apple

Monday, June 12, 2006

Thursday, May 25, 2006

The Ratings System

Australia

Canada

Germany

United Arab Emirates

UK

The Ratings System

Audi

Fiat

Holden

Mercedes

Toyota

Volkswagen

The Ratings System

Australia

Canada

Germany

Italy

Japan

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Richmond -> Honolulu -> Sydney

Highlight

Food

Richmond -> Vancouver -> Richmond

Highlight

Food

Richmond -> Vancouver -> Richmond

Highlight

Food

Richmond

Highlight

Food

Richmond -> Vancouver -> Richmond

Highlight

Food

Richmond -> Steveston -> Richmond

Highlight

Food

Richmond -> Capilano -> Grouse Mountain -> Richmond

Highlight

Food

Richmond -> White Rock -> Granville Island -> Richmond

Highlight

Food

Duncan -> Chemainus -> Nanaimo -> Vancouver -> Richmond

Highlight

Food

Victoria -> Oak Bay -> Shawnigan Lake -> Cowichan Bay -> Duncan

Highlight

Food

Richmond -> Tsawwassen -> Swartz Bay -> Victoria

Highlight

Food

Wurzburg -> Frankfurt -> Vancouver

Highlight

Food

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Augsburg -> Donauworth -> Nordlingen ->Dinkelsbuhl ->Feuchwangen -> Rothenburg o.d.t. -> Wurzburg

Highlight

Food

Munich -> Fussen -> Augsburg

Highlight

Food

Munich

Highlight

Food

London -> Munich

Highlight

Food