Overwhelmed
I’m slightly overwhelmed by the first days in Tokyo. The city is everything, and all at once. From my quiet, more residential neighborhood with its tiny streets without cars to the mega-pedestrian crossings of Shibuya, the mega-shopping streets to tiny pedestrian zones, shrines and parks, hanami parties, fertility festivals and Japanese weddings… I met up […] Read More
Hatches down for Lusi
The weather has been great yesterday, and I enjoyed a good time in Albert Park with a bunch of shirtless students from the nearly university, and my NZ travel guide. I also managed to get some Japanese Yen, as I realized it might be wise to have at least some local currency before heading north. […] Read More
Cooking lessons
More food. I got a private cooking class from Clinty, we did one of my favorites, raw Vietnamese Spring rolls. We went to an Asian market on K-road, and got provisions. I love those supermarkets. We had a couple of smaller ones in Brussels, but in Auckland with its huge Asian population, this is wonderland! […] Read More
New friends (and food)
I recently met up with Clint and his friend Nina in Grand Central in Ponsonby for an after-work beer. Ginger fusion, actually, something they had on the table and I joined in, not tasting the alcohol in it until it was too late…. Clint is a Pacific Islander through and through, coming from the biggest […] Read More
Waiheke
When I first heard about Waiheke Island I thought they were talking about Hawaii. Many names here, taken over from Māori, have a hawaiian ring to me. I only recently found out that they are indeed all related. Funnily, all those polynesian micro-islands in the pacific have been discovered and settled way before the two main […] Read More
Mr. & Mrs. Howell
On my last day in Melbourne I finally made it to the restaurant where Kate works: Mr. & Mrs. Howell. Mr. & Ms Howell is located on bustling Sydney Road in Brunswick, a lively neighborhood in the north of Melbourne, not unlike Fitzroy. It got its name from two characters from the US sitcom Gilligan’s Island. […] Read More
Muriel (…and then some art)
The sun is back – for a day. Still, I followed my usual routine of blogging, sorting pics and booking stuff in the morning in my corner Café, cute Forbes&Burton on the corner of, you guessed it, Forbes and Burton Streets. After that, a stroll through the parks towards the Art Gallery of New South […] Read More
Cruise visitor
Ingrid, who is working with me for the European Union, is a true Weltenbummler. I lost track of all the trips and cruises she has done. Caribbean, up north, Canada… And now, she’s boarding a cruise ship for a 17-day trip from Australia to New Zealand and back. She’ll be on one of the massive […] Read More
Salamanca Market
I love the markets. This one was recommended everywhere, and I expected a little local market, but it was indeed big, all along the Salamanca Market front and up the street along the park. Mostly local produce, berries, honey, vegetables, and local craft… Tasmania is big into wood, so there were lots of stands with […] Read More
Night food frenzy
Last night, Rajiv and I went to the Victoria Night Market. We had no idea what expected us. Only the part under the metal roof construction was open, but that was more than enough. One part housed a number of little craft stands… printed t-shirts, wood toys, old books, dresses, jewelry… one really cool place […] Read More