USA, here we come!!!!! We will be leaving tomorrow afternoon for our 5.5 week trip to the west coast of USA. We are renting a campervan and will be doing a road trip from Los Angeles inland to San Francisco and back down the coast to Los Angeles.
Our itinerary is Los Angeles- Palm Springs- Joshua Tree National Park- Grand Canyon- Lake Powell- Antelope Canyon- Bryce Canyon- Zion National Park- Snow Canyon- Valley of Fire- Las Vegas- Death Valley- Mono Lake- Yosemite National Park- San Francisco- Santa Cruz- Monterey Bay- Carmel- Big Sur- Morro Bay- Santa Barbara- Los Angeles.
Come and follow us here. I will try to update as often as possible :-)
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/zwergliazrael/1/tpod.html
Thursday, 10 September 2009
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
Outta Luck
So, after all that interviewing, I was hoping to have a job in the bag by now. Unfortunately, I ran out of luck. I was not offered either of the 2 roles in the city due to my "salary expectations". Oh well.... it is not really my problem if the headhunters send me for roles requiring 2 years experience, when I have 10!
As for the "lucky job", I have no idea what is going on with that company. I am not sure if they are playing some kind of game with me, or if they are purely amateurs.
Subsequent to our numerous emails and meetings, they have now informed me that they will need some time to go through the process of advertising the position and getting some candidates in for interviews. HUH??? Then why did they even bother giving me the heads-up and why did I waste my time having the meeting with them??? I don't understand this at all.
He also said that once they have the candidates in, they will contact me for an interview. I cannot see any good that could come out of yet another interview with me. I have seen them 4 times now, and one of those interviews lasted for 3.5 hours. I cannot imagine what else they could possibly learn about me.
I have a feeling that this is because there are 2 bosses at this firm, and the one whom I think is the driving force behind this role, is on holiday for the next two weeks. Perhaps this is the real reason for the stall-tactics.
Nevertheless, no job in the bag before I leave on holiday..... have to watch the purse strings! :-)
As for the "lucky job", I have no idea what is going on with that company. I am not sure if they are playing some kind of game with me, or if they are purely amateurs.
Subsequent to our numerous emails and meetings, they have now informed me that they will need some time to go through the process of advertising the position and getting some candidates in for interviews. HUH??? Then why did they even bother giving me the heads-up and why did I waste my time having the meeting with them??? I don't understand this at all.
He also said that once they have the candidates in, they will contact me for an interview. I cannot see any good that could come out of yet another interview with me. I have seen them 4 times now, and one of those interviews lasted for 3.5 hours. I cannot imagine what else they could possibly learn about me.
I have a feeling that this is because there are 2 bosses at this firm, and the one whom I think is the driving force behind this role, is on holiday for the next two weeks. Perhaps this is the real reason for the stall-tactics.
Nevertheless, no job in the bag before I leave on holiday..... have to watch the purse strings! :-)
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
Interview Frenzy
Last couple of weeks have been busy busy busy, all caught up in an interview frenzy (it rhymes)! It looks like the market is picking up and investment companies are hiring again. Perfect timing, if you ask me!
At this moment, I am in the midst of the process with 3 rather different companies, including the one I mentioned in my last post. The interviews have all gone quite well (in my opinion), and I like all 3 companies. I should know by this time next week, if I have a job in the bag.
It is certainly very exciting and encouraging to be invited for these interviews, and to be told by the prospective employers that they find my CV impressive. However, it would be totally devastating if not a single job from these 3 companies materialise.
I have also just realised that I would need a job offer, and the contract signed and sealed by Thursday next week as we are already leaving for our trip next Friday!!!! Oh how time flies!!!
At this moment, I am in the midst of the process with 3 rather different companies, including the one I mentioned in my last post. The interviews have all gone quite well (in my opinion), and I like all 3 companies. I should know by this time next week, if I have a job in the bag.
It is certainly very exciting and encouraging to be invited for these interviews, and to be told by the prospective employers that they find my CV impressive. However, it would be totally devastating if not a single job from these 3 companies materialise.
I have also just realised that I would need a job offer, and the contract signed and sealed by Thursday next week as we are already leaving for our trip next Friday!!!! Oh how time flies!!!
Friday, 21 August 2009
I just can't believe my luck!
Back in June, I interviewed a couple of times with a small trading house in Zug. I liked everything about the company - the people, the office, the environment, their philosophy, the casual dress-code and the role itself! To add the icing on the cake, one of the women there was actually allowed to bring her sheep dog to work, so it meant that I could play with the "company-dog" everyday!
I was subsequently offered the position and given a contract. Unfortunately, the timing was simply awful as the offer came just a couple of days after Azrael was made redundant. We were just beginning to think about plans for our break and I really was not ready to go back to work at that stage.
Being practical, I weighed the pros and cons. The terms of the contract were not bad, but I was really hoping for more, especially given the daily commute to Zug. I then decided that I would be happy to accept the position, as long as they could offer me an additional CHF 20K base salary.
I then set up a meeting with them and tried to negotiate the terms. Unfortunately, they just would not budge. I later wrote them a final email to explain that I could not accept the role on their proposed salary, and to ask them to reconsider. Alas, it turned out that there was no way they could offer me any more as that would put my earnings above that of my immediate boss. After some heavy consideration, I decided that I should not just "settle", and that I should strive for exactly what I want, and what I think I am worth. We then parted ways on a nice note, agreeing that they would keep my details on file and that they would keep me in mind should a more suitable role turn up.
Two weeks ago, I started my job hunt in earnest. As we will be going for a 5.5 week holiday in 3 weeks, I decided that it would be ideal if I could have a job in the bag now, all ready to start when we get back in October. This would also keep my unemployment counsellor happy, and leave me free for the holiday.
The job hunt is going quite well. I had quite a positive interview today and a couple of meetings with headhunters next week.
I could not believe my luck when I received an email from the company in Zug yesterday evening, asking if I would be interested in a new role which they are creating within their team. The role sounds really good and should be pretty challenging. They have already seen me 3-4 times, so they should already know me by now, and they should know if I would be suitable for the role. Most importantly, they know exactly how much $$$ I am after, so perhaps they are now more prepared to fork out. How exciting!!!
I will meet with them next week to find out more about the role, and we will see how it goes. I may not get the job after all, but I just feel so happy and satisfied with myself that I did not just settle! Perhaps that is also a trait which they found to be positive?
Will keep you posted.
I was subsequently offered the position and given a contract. Unfortunately, the timing was simply awful as the offer came just a couple of days after Azrael was made redundant. We were just beginning to think about plans for our break and I really was not ready to go back to work at that stage.
Being practical, I weighed the pros and cons. The terms of the contract were not bad, but I was really hoping for more, especially given the daily commute to Zug. I then decided that I would be happy to accept the position, as long as they could offer me an additional CHF 20K base salary.
I then set up a meeting with them and tried to negotiate the terms. Unfortunately, they just would not budge. I later wrote them a final email to explain that I could not accept the role on their proposed salary, and to ask them to reconsider. Alas, it turned out that there was no way they could offer me any more as that would put my earnings above that of my immediate boss. After some heavy consideration, I decided that I should not just "settle", and that I should strive for exactly what I want, and what I think I am worth. We then parted ways on a nice note, agreeing that they would keep my details on file and that they would keep me in mind should a more suitable role turn up.
Two weeks ago, I started my job hunt in earnest. As we will be going for a 5.5 week holiday in 3 weeks, I decided that it would be ideal if I could have a job in the bag now, all ready to start when we get back in October. This would also keep my unemployment counsellor happy, and leave me free for the holiday.
The job hunt is going quite well. I had quite a positive interview today and a couple of meetings with headhunters next week.
I could not believe my luck when I received an email from the company in Zug yesterday evening, asking if I would be interested in a new role which they are creating within their team. The role sounds really good and should be pretty challenging. They have already seen me 3-4 times, so they should already know me by now, and they should know if I would be suitable for the role. Most importantly, they know exactly how much $$$ I am after, so perhaps they are now more prepared to fork out. How exciting!!!
I will meet with them next week to find out more about the role, and we will see how it goes. I may not get the job after all, but I just feel so happy and satisfied with myself that I did not just settle! Perhaps that is also a trait which they found to be positive?
Will keep you posted.
Wednesday, 19 August 2009
Burning in Venice
We were in Venice for a long weekend from 14-17 August. Venice had been on our "to-visit" list for a long time and we were really looking forward to the trip. The weather forecast was also very positive, with sunshine, clear blue skies, 28 degrees temperature.
However, when we got there, it was clear that we'd done zero research on the best times of the year to visit Venice! It was HOT, HOT, HOT!!! It was more like 40 degrees than 30!!! And it was peak tourist season!
I am generally crowd-averse anyway, but I was really taken aback to find that most of Europe, half of USA and worst of all.... a quarter of China were there!!! I find the China tourists (note not "Chinese" but "China") most unbearable. They tend to be the nouveau-rich and they normally flock in bus loads on their "Europe-in-10-days" tours. They stand in the way of every photo, and they take up the whole street when they walk. It was particularly bad in Venice, as the alleyways are just oh-so-very narrow. Grrrrr......
As a result, we just quickly took a look at the major tourist sights and then ventured out to find the local stuff and to walk around where the locals live. Unfortunately, most of the bars and restaurants we wanted to go to were closed!!! Once again, due to our lack of research...... all the locals were on holiday!!!! So it turns out that we really were just amongst tourists!!!
Taking the Vaporetto (water-bus) was another experience in itself. They are not the newest, not the biggest, but they do work. Unfortunately, getting on one was pretty close to getting on a bus in India, where the people are all squashed in like sardines. It was stifling, even standing out in the open section, facing outside.
Nevertheless, despite the heat and the crowds, I found Venice incredibly fascinating. In this day and age, it is not easy to imagine a car-less city. It surprised me that people did not even resort to using bicycles around the city, but just got around by foot and water-bus. It is this very aspect that fascinates me, more so than the Piazza San Marco ever could!
It was very interesting to see the local traders wheel their goods around in a cart. More intriguing was the way they managed to push their trolley-carts up and down the steps of the oh-so-many bridges with such ease!
When we encountered the first couple of bridges, we wondered to ourselves, how a wheelchair-bound person would get around. "Logically", my answer was that a wheelchair-bound person would not live in Venice, but rather move out to the mainland. Strangely enough, in the 4 days we were there, we saw more wheelchairs than I'd ever seen in any other city before! Clearly, their aides had a method for pushing chairs up and down the steps.
I found myself imagining what it would be like when a 14 year old boy from Venice meets a boy from elsewhere.
Mainland-boy: "Oh I can't wait to turn 17 and get my driving licence. My dream is to have an Aston Martin/ Ferrari/ Porsche".
Venice-boy: "Huh? What's that? Why would you want that? My dream is to have a Blöhm & Voss yacht!
In spite of everything, I did have a great time. We were lucky to have a B&B in the Dorsoduro area, which is further away from Tourist-Central. There were lovely squares in our neighbourhood, where we could just get away from it all.
For the moment, I am totally Venice'd-Out, but I would really like to go again another time, perhaps in November, when it is cooler. Perhaps there would be less people then?
However, when we got there, it was clear that we'd done zero research on the best times of the year to visit Venice! It was HOT, HOT, HOT!!! It was more like 40 degrees than 30!!! And it was peak tourist season!
I am generally crowd-averse anyway, but I was really taken aback to find that most of Europe, half of USA and worst of all.... a quarter of China were there!!! I find the China tourists (note not "Chinese" but "China") most unbearable. They tend to be the nouveau-rich and they normally flock in bus loads on their "Europe-in-10-days" tours. They stand in the way of every photo, and they take up the whole street when they walk. It was particularly bad in Venice, as the alleyways are just oh-so-very narrow. Grrrrr......
As a result, we just quickly took a look at the major tourist sights and then ventured out to find the local stuff and to walk around where the locals live. Unfortunately, most of the bars and restaurants we wanted to go to were closed!!! Once again, due to our lack of research...... all the locals were on holiday!!!! So it turns out that we really were just amongst tourists!!!
Taking the Vaporetto (water-bus) was another experience in itself. They are not the newest, not the biggest, but they do work. Unfortunately, getting on one was pretty close to getting on a bus in India, where the people are all squashed in like sardines. It was stifling, even standing out in the open section, facing outside.
Nevertheless, despite the heat and the crowds, I found Venice incredibly fascinating. In this day and age, it is not easy to imagine a car-less city. It surprised me that people did not even resort to using bicycles around the city, but just got around by foot and water-bus. It is this very aspect that fascinates me, more so than the Piazza San Marco ever could!
It was very interesting to see the local traders wheel their goods around in a cart. More intriguing was the way they managed to push their trolley-carts up and down the steps of the oh-so-many bridges with such ease!
When we encountered the first couple of bridges, we wondered to ourselves, how a wheelchair-bound person would get around. "Logically", my answer was that a wheelchair-bound person would not live in Venice, but rather move out to the mainland. Strangely enough, in the 4 days we were there, we saw more wheelchairs than I'd ever seen in any other city before! Clearly, their aides had a method for pushing chairs up and down the steps.I found myself imagining what it would be like when a 14 year old boy from Venice meets a boy from elsewhere.
Mainland-boy: "Oh I can't wait to turn 17 and get my driving licence. My dream is to have an Aston Martin/ Ferrari/ Porsche".
Venice-boy: "Huh? What's that? Why would you want that? My dream is to have a Blöhm & Voss yacht!
In spite of everything, I did have a great time. We were lucky to have a B&B in the Dorsoduro area, which is further away from Tourist-Central. There were lovely squares in our neighbourhood, where we could just get away from it all.
For the moment, I am totally Venice'd-Out, but I would really like to go again another time, perhaps in November, when it is cooler. Perhaps there would be less people then?
Sunday, 9 August 2009
Magnificent Musical Fireworks @ Fêtes de Genève
This year, to escape the madness of the Street Parade in Zurich, we headed to Geneva to see the famous Musical Fireworks, which is regarded as one of the most impressive displays in Europe.
We arrived in Geneva early in the afternoon and had a chance to walk along the promenade on both sides of the lake, taking in the atmosphere and sampling the delicacies offered by the hundreds of stands. We finally settled on a spot at about 9pm with our wine and waited for the show to begin.
The spectacular display started promptly at 10pm, and boy was it worth wait AND the 6 hours travelling time! It was the most incredible fireworks display I have ever seen in my life and there is no way I can possibly begin to describe it. It was a "musical" fireworks show, so the fireworks had been choreographed to music, which had the theme 1001 Nights.
The show lasted for almost an hour, with various Pyrotechnic companies trying to out-do each other with their choreography. The fireworks were launched from 15 launch pads on the lake, so they were really coming from every which direction.
The display at the end of the second song was like the big finish in a "normal" fireworks. I could not believe that there would be more, and bigger, and better! I found a highlights video on YouTube, so check it out if you get the chance!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VY1nX9KYk8
Simply magical!
We arrived in Geneva early in the afternoon and had a chance to walk along the promenade on both sides of the lake, taking in the atmosphere and sampling the delicacies offered by the hundreds of stands. We finally settled on a spot at about 9pm with our wine and waited for the show to begin.
The spectacular display started promptly at 10pm, and boy was it worth wait AND the 6 hours travelling time! It was the most incredible fireworks display I have ever seen in my life and there is no way I can possibly begin to describe it. It was a "musical" fireworks show, so the fireworks had been choreographed to music, which had the theme 1001 Nights.
The show lasted for almost an hour, with various Pyrotechnic companies trying to out-do each other with their choreography. The fireworks were launched from 15 launch pads on the lake, so they were really coming from every which direction.
The display at the end of the second song was like the big finish in a "normal" fireworks. I could not believe that there would be more, and bigger, and better! I found a highlights video on YouTube, so check it out if you get the chance!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VY1nX9KYk8
Simply magical!
Hamburg Highlights
I found Hamburg to be a thoroughly enjoyable city. Not too big and not too small, perfect for a long weekend trip. Here are the highlights of our trip:
- Perfect weather all four days of our trip, scorching 26-34ºC during the days.
- Beautiful view of the city from our 22nd floor hotel room in the Planten und Blomen park.
- Walking tour of the Altstadt (Old Town). The Rathaus is a magnificent structure, made all the more impressive by the fact that it survived intact, through 7 days of bombing by the British and Americans during WWII.
- Azrael's birthday dinner at Doc Cheng's Restaurant at the Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten was one of the best meals I have ever had. The food was fantastic and the service was faultless. The only better meal I have had was at Jun Tanaka's Pearl Restaurant in London.
- Boat Tour around the Hamburg Harbour - who would have thought that a harbour could be so interesting! The ships, cranes, containers and warehouses along the river were a sight to behold. The sheer size of the ships and cranes were just unimaginable. Don't underestimate their size based on these photos!
- We did not manage to complete the entire Harbour Tour as they found a bomb in the Elbe and the river was closed off as they recovered the bomb.
- Roman Abramovich's mega-yacht is still being constructed and can be seen at the Blohm & Voss shipyard. It is gigantic (555ft long), complete with 2 helipads, military grade missile defence system and its own submarine! Won't he feel slightly lost in the yacht?
- Boat Tour around the Alster - Hamburg is probably the only city where one can tour the city from the water. The villas along the riverside were interesting, especially with detailed information from the tour guide.
- There is so much water around Hamburg that it is the city with the most bridges in the world. There are more bridges in Hamburg than London, Amsterdam and Venice combined!
- World Infamous Reeperbahn - it was quite disconcerting walking past rows of hookers. It is one of those really awkward moments, where you are just not quite sure where to look. Looking at them could illicit a "whatcha looking at, bitch" reaction, but totally avoiding them could result in a "ya think ya so much better than me, bitch?!" reaction. I was glad when we got past that street... and it wasn't even Herbertstrasse!
- Herbertstrasse is a street where there are prostitutes waiting behind windows, like in Amsterdam. The difference is that there are large gates on both ends of Herbertstrasse and women are "strongly discouraged" from entering the area. Apparently the prostitutes will react towards women, by spitting, jeering and throwing filled condoms at them. Azrael did not dare venture alone into the Herbertstrasse, but we did catch a glimpse inside from the upper deck of our open-top bus.
- The Hamburger DOM was also being held whilst we were there. It is just like a big beer fest and funfair in one. They had some really cool rides for the mere price of EUR 1.80!!! Unfortunately, we did not go on any as we were too stuffed from dinner. (I digress, but... the same EUR 1.80 rides cost between CHF 10-13 at the Geneva Festival in Switzerland!!! Can you believe that???)
- To escape from the madness of the Reeperbahn and St Pauli area, we found style, sophistication and tranquility at the Dedon Island bar at the East Hotel. Fabulous cocktails, something very special.
- The Speicherstadt (Warehouse District) is very pretty, with the old warehouse buildings from the 19th century still in use. They use the large "balconies" to lift their wares into the building.
- HafenCity is a new quarter in Hamburg, which is very similar to the Docklands in London. It is still being developed with beautiful modern apartments, offices and hotels. Due to the current lack of public transportation servicing the area, the property prices there are still considered reasonable. I saw an ad for a Philippe Starck designed large apartment for about €750K. A pretty good deal, me thinks.
- HafenCity is also home to the Hamburg Cruise Center, where the RMS Queen Mary 2, largest Ocean Liner in the world, came to dock on our last day in Hamburg. Words cannot describe the grandeur of it. It dwarfed all the buildings around the harbour. We were very lucky indeed that we got to meet her, as it was only a mere coincidence that she was there when we were.
- Another good meal we had was at the Schlacterbörse, which is next to the Meat Market (a real one). Once again, the service was impeccable and the food was wonderful. Unfortunately, this is one restaurant catering to Germans and their portions were just way, way, way too big.
- We adopted yet another 3 Kidz from Karstadt, and have named them Baxter, Woozy and Bubbles.
It was a fantastic trip and a visit to Hamburg is highly recommended. The only drawback about our whole trip is that we did not manage to take very many photos, as the sun was always in the way. But hey, we are definitely not complaining about the sun!
- Perfect weather all four days of our trip, scorching 26-34ºC during the days.
- Beautiful view of the city from our 22nd floor hotel room in the Planten und Blomen park.
- Walking tour of the Altstadt (Old Town). The Rathaus is a magnificent structure, made all the more impressive by the fact that it survived intact, through 7 days of bombing by the British and Americans during WWII.
- Azrael's birthday dinner at Doc Cheng's Restaurant at the Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten was one of the best meals I have ever had. The food was fantastic and the service was faultless. The only better meal I have had was at Jun Tanaka's Pearl Restaurant in London.
- Boat Tour around the Hamburg Harbour - who would have thought that a harbour could be so interesting! The ships, cranes, containers and warehouses along the river were a sight to behold. The sheer size of the ships and cranes were just unimaginable. Don't underestimate their size based on these photos!
- Roman Abramovich's mega-yacht is still being constructed and can be seen at the Blohm & Voss shipyard. It is gigantic (555ft long), complete with 2 helipads, military grade missile defence system and its own submarine! Won't he feel slightly lost in the yacht?
- Boat Tour around the Alster - Hamburg is probably the only city where one can tour the city from the water. The villas along the riverside were interesting, especially with detailed information from the tour guide.
- There is so much water around Hamburg that it is the city with the most bridges in the world. There are more bridges in Hamburg than London, Amsterdam and Venice combined!
- World Infamous Reeperbahn - it was quite disconcerting walking past rows of hookers. It is one of those really awkward moments, where you are just not quite sure where to look. Looking at them could illicit a "whatcha looking at, bitch" reaction, but totally avoiding them could result in a "ya think ya so much better than me, bitch?!" reaction. I was glad when we got past that street... and it wasn't even Herbertstrasse!
- Herbertstrasse is a street where there are prostitutes waiting behind windows, like in Amsterdam. The difference is that there are large gates on both ends of Herbertstrasse and women are "strongly discouraged" from entering the area. Apparently the prostitutes will react towards women, by spitting, jeering and throwing filled condoms at them. Azrael did not dare venture alone into the Herbertstrasse, but we did catch a glimpse inside from the upper deck of our open-top bus.
- The Hamburger DOM was also being held whilst we were there. It is just like a big beer fest and funfair in one. They had some really cool rides for the mere price of EUR 1.80!!! Unfortunately, we did not go on any as we were too stuffed from dinner. (I digress, but... the same EUR 1.80 rides cost between CHF 10-13 at the Geneva Festival in Switzerland!!! Can you believe that???)
- To escape from the madness of the Reeperbahn and St Pauli area, we found style, sophistication and tranquility at the Dedon Island bar at the East Hotel. Fabulous cocktails, something very special.
- The Speicherstadt (Warehouse District) is very pretty, with the old warehouse buildings from the 19th century still in use. They use the large "balconies" to lift their wares into the building.
- HafenCity is a new quarter in Hamburg, which is very similar to the Docklands in London. It is still being developed with beautiful modern apartments, offices and hotels. Due to the current lack of public transportation servicing the area, the property prices there are still considered reasonable. I saw an ad for a Philippe Starck designed large apartment for about €750K. A pretty good deal, me thinks.
- HafenCity is also home to the Hamburg Cruise Center, where the RMS Queen Mary 2, largest Ocean Liner in the world, came to dock on our last day in Hamburg. Words cannot describe the grandeur of it. It dwarfed all the buildings around the harbour. We were very lucky indeed that we got to meet her, as it was only a mere coincidence that she was there when we were.
- Another good meal we had was at the Schlacterbörse, which is next to the Meat Market (a real one). Once again, the service was impeccable and the food was wonderful. Unfortunately, this is one restaurant catering to Germans and their portions were just way, way, way too big.
- We adopted yet another 3 Kidz from Karstadt, and have named them Baxter, Woozy and Bubbles.
It was a fantastic trip and a visit to Hamburg is highly recommended. The only drawback about our whole trip is that we did not manage to take very many photos, as the sun was always in the way. But hey, we are definitely not complaining about the sun!
Tuesday, 4 August 2009
Azrael's Not-So-Surprise Birthday Present
Azrael and I are in Hamburg for his birthday!! It is a brilliant city, vibrant and full of life. We are certainly enjoying it thus far.
But first, of course no "surprise" birthday present comes without drama. I'd planned the trip to Hamburg as a surprise for his birthday. I'd booked the flights and hotel, got the travel guides, and even booked a table at a restaurant for his birthday dinner. This was no mean feat, seeing as we are both at home together most of the day!
I'd thought that it was a pretty well-kept secret, me having told only a handful of people about it.
Alas, the secret surprise was blown wide open a couple of days before, when Lufthansa sent Azrael an email detailing his travel itinerary. I still cannot believe how it all happened. I'd been so careful, ensuring that I registered only my contact details with the flight booking.
Who would have guessed that Lufthansa's frequent flyer programme would provide this "extra service"?! He'd received the email because I'd registered his frequent flyer number with the booking!
I am just grateful that Azrael decided to tell me straight away that he'd found out, rather than to keep quiet and play along! I cannot imagine how awful that would have been! Can you imagine if he would have decided to turn the game on me, and refuse to wake up early this morning???
Although I am still annoyed that my surprise was given away, in other ways I am glad that he knew in advance. This meant that he could at least pack his own suitcase without having to go through a mad rush!
But first, of course no "surprise" birthday present comes without drama. I'd planned the trip to Hamburg as a surprise for his birthday. I'd booked the flights and hotel, got the travel guides, and even booked a table at a restaurant for his birthday dinner. This was no mean feat, seeing as we are both at home together most of the day!
I'd thought that it was a pretty well-kept secret, me having told only a handful of people about it.
Alas, the secret surprise was blown wide open a couple of days before, when Lufthansa sent Azrael an email detailing his travel itinerary. I still cannot believe how it all happened. I'd been so careful, ensuring that I registered only my contact details with the flight booking.
Who would have guessed that Lufthansa's frequent flyer programme would provide this "extra service"?! He'd received the email because I'd registered his frequent flyer number with the booking!
I am just grateful that Azrael decided to tell me straight away that he'd found out, rather than to keep quiet and play along! I cannot imagine how awful that would have been! Can you imagine if he would have decided to turn the game on me, and refuse to wake up early this morning???
Although I am still annoyed that my surprise was given away, in other ways I am glad that he knew in advance. This meant that he could at least pack his own suitcase without having to go through a mad rush!
Monday, 3 August 2009
1 August Farm Brunch
1 August is Swiss National Day. I cannot think of any nation more patriotic than the Swiss. In the weeks coming up to 1 August, all the shops and supermarkets sell a variety of wares bearing the Swiss cross. Even hard-boiled eggs with the Swiss cross painted on!!!
To celebrate the National Day, the farmers across the country open their farms to the public by offering brunch. This is the one time in the year where the farmers serve food on their premises to the general public. This year, we went to participate in a farm in Uetikon, about 20 minutes from Zurich city.
The brunch was quite good. The food was pretty tasty, and hopefully the produce e.g. eggs, milk and cheese were fresh from the farm. For CHF30, the spread was not quite as lavish as something we would find at Imagine or Movie, but it was alright, considering that they used their local farm produce.
Strangely enough, there were more foreigners than Swissies at the brunch. English seemed to be the most common language spoken at the brunch. In fact, Azrael the Swiss did not know about this brunch event until I told him about it!
It was certainly an experience, enjoying brunch amidst the "perfume" of cow-dung and farm animals. Whilst I enjoyed the experience, I do not think I will be rushing back anytime soon :-)
To celebrate the National Day, the farmers across the country open their farms to the public by offering brunch. This is the one time in the year where the farmers serve food on their premises to the general public. This year, we went to participate in a farm in Uetikon, about 20 minutes from Zurich city.
The brunch was quite good. The food was pretty tasty, and hopefully the produce e.g. eggs, milk and cheese were fresh from the farm. For CHF30, the spread was not quite as lavish as something we would find at Imagine or Movie, but it was alright, considering that they used their local farm produce.
Strangely enough, there were more foreigners than Swissies at the brunch. English seemed to be the most common language spoken at the brunch. In fact, Azrael the Swiss did not know about this brunch event until I told him about it!
It was certainly an experience, enjoying brunch amidst the "perfume" of cow-dung and farm animals. Whilst I enjoyed the experience, I do not think I will be rushing back anytime soon :-)
Sunday, 19 July 2009
Back to the Blog
Wow! It has been forever since my last post. I have been doing so much, yet so little. Where does the time go??? In case you are wondering, no, I still do not have a job as yet. Here are my highlights of the last 4 months:
- Took a fabulous 6 week trip to Malaysia, Cambodia & Vietnam in April/May.
- Been attending German language school daily since the second week of May. German school is extremely time consuming, 4 hours in the morning, with a couple hours of homework every day. It certainly requires determination!
- Enjoying the summer days in Zurich - picnics, BBQs, sunbathing, swimming in the lake. Bliss!
- Fabulous long weekend in Ascona, basking in the southern sunshine.
- I have two balconies full of lovely plants, herbs and colourful flowers. My basil is flourishing this year!
- Enjoying the concert season - Stephan Eicher (local Swiss artist) and KODO (Japanese drummers) at Live At Sunset.
- Attended the Montreux Jazz Festival for the first time ever to see Babyface. Man... he was awesome!!!
- Started attending Kickpower classes at the gym. It's really fun!
- My boyfriend Azrael was made redundant last month (hurrah!), so we have just been hanging out and making the most of the summer.
- Took a fabulous 6 week trip to Malaysia, Cambodia & Vietnam in April/May.
- Been attending German language school daily since the second week of May. German school is extremely time consuming, 4 hours in the morning, with a couple hours of homework every day. It certainly requires determination!
- Enjoying the summer days in Zurich - picnics, BBQs, sunbathing, swimming in the lake. Bliss!
- Fabulous long weekend in Ascona, basking in the southern sunshine.
- I have two balconies full of lovely plants, herbs and colourful flowers. My basil is flourishing this year!
- Enjoying the concert season - Stephan Eicher (local Swiss artist) and KODO (Japanese drummers) at Live At Sunset.
- Attended the Montreux Jazz Festival for the first time ever to see Babyface. Man... he was awesome!!!
- Started attending Kickpower classes at the gym. It's really fun!
- My boyfriend Azrael was made redundant last month (hurrah!), so we have just been hanging out and making the most of the summer.
Friday, 13 March 2009
Books! Books! Books!
I love books! My relationship with books run so deep that I only really discovered the wonders of TV at the ripe old age of 22 or 23 when I settled in London and could no longer afford to buy books!
Of course, I later discovered the wonderful public libraries in London, but by then it was too late to change my exposure to The Box. Nevertheless, if I had to choose between TV and books, books would still be my number one choice.
Today I made yet another wonderful discovery..... a library!!! The Pestalozzi library is located about ½ minutes walk from our apartment. I have been meaning to check it out but never quite got around to it until today.
From the outside, it looked like a small little library which could not possibly offer much. I was pleased to find that there is a further section in the basement, including a whole section of English paperbacks. There is also a wide range of CDs and DVDs (including TV series) available to borrow. I was quite impressed. Granted, they are not the latest release books and DVDs but I really could not ask for more!
I also learned that there are 15 branches and of course membership entitles one to borrow items from all the branches. To add icing to the cake, I even got a reduction in the membership fee due to my status as an unemployed! The fee was only CHF 25 for the year (normal price is CHF 45... still a good price!), and one can borrow 25 items at a time. What a bargain!
Of course, I later discovered the wonderful public libraries in London, but by then it was too late to change my exposure to The Box. Nevertheless, if I had to choose between TV and books, books would still be my number one choice.
Today I made yet another wonderful discovery..... a library!!! The Pestalozzi library is located about ½ minutes walk from our apartment. I have been meaning to check it out but never quite got around to it until today.
From the outside, it looked like a small little library which could not possibly offer much. I was pleased to find that there is a further section in the basement, including a whole section of English paperbacks. There is also a wide range of CDs and DVDs (including TV series) available to borrow. I was quite impressed. Granted, they are not the latest release books and DVDs but I really could not ask for more!
I also learned that there are 15 branches and of course membership entitles one to borrow items from all the branches. To add icing to the cake, I even got a reduction in the membership fee due to my status as an unemployed! The fee was only CHF 25 for the year (normal price is CHF 45... still a good price!), and one can borrow 25 items at a time. What a bargain!
Lindenhof - my new favourite place in Zurich
Life brings many challenges, I face one today as I suffer some internal turmoil. Choosing to take some positive action, I decided to take a walk to clear my head.
It must be true that every cloud has a silver lining, that a positive always comes out of a negative. For I discovered a beautiful place in Zurich called the Lindenhof. It is nothing more than a simple, public open space, but it is situated at a vantage point by the river and affords extended views over the old town of Zurich.
I simply cannot believe that it has taken me three years to find this place! And honestly, the only thing that really led me here was the offer of free Wi-Fi!!
The trees are still bare but it is a mild day with the first hints of spring. Sitting here and watching the world go by below has a strangely calming effect and seems to be rather rejuvenating!
This is definitely my new “place” and I cannot wait for you to see it for yourself.
Sunday, 1 March 2009
We Made It!!! The End of the Alcohol Ban
Guess what? Today is the 1st of March and Azrael and I have successfully completed our Alcohol-Free February challenge!! WooooHooooo!!!!! What a success!!!
To celebrate, we will be going to a restaurant called Churrasco for a nice piece of Argentinian steak, accompanied by a wicked bottle of red wine.
Yippppeeeee!!!!
To celebrate, we will be going to a restaurant called Churrasco for a nice piece of Argentinian steak, accompanied by a wicked bottle of red wine.
Yippppeeeee!!!!
Skiing on a bright, sunny, warm day in Davos
It was the first signs of spring - bright sunshine, blue skies and a whopping 10 degrees forecasted for Zurich! It was definitely the perfect day for skiing!
Unfortunately, Azrael had a prior engagement, so I had to find a victim upon whom to impose myself. Lo and behold, it turned out that Hansel and Gretel were going to Davos for a ski weekend. I was quite pleased to discover that the journey from my home to Davos would take less than 2.5 hours, making it very manageable for a day trip.
I set off early to catch the 0737 "ski-express" train. The train was chokka, to the extent that some people had to stand all the way to Landquart, which is just over an hour away. Fortunately for me, I managed to snag myself a comfy "seat" at the top of the stairs, which is the widest part of the stairway. Changing at Landquart, the train to Davos was also quite busy, but there were certainly enough seats to go around. Unfortunately, I found myself surrounded by three extremely chatty Russian women who just would not stop talking and pointing in every which direction with their hands! AAARRRGGGHHH!!! Even my Ipod at full blast could not block out the racket.
Nevertheless, I got to Davos Dorf at 0950 to meet Gretel as planned. We made our way to her friends' apartment where I left my stuff, and headed to the ski lift.
It was an absolutely magnificent day to be in the mountains! Gorgeous sunshine and not a cloud in the sky.
We found a suitable blue slope and headed down. It was just the perfect day. The snow was flawless. Not too soft, not icy, just perfect. The pistes were wide and well-groomed and the crowd adequately dispersed.
After lunch we took the gondola up to theWeissfluhgipfel. At 2,844m, this is the highest point in the Davos ski area. One could tell that it is very high up as it was very windy up there. The view from there was simply breathtaking.
Us beginners did not ski down from there, but some adventurous snowboarders took advantage of the fantastic powder as you can see below......
I am sure you are waiting with baited breath for the dramatic part where I suffer yet another mishap in the snow. Unfortunately for you, but fortunately for me, there was none! Of course, I wiped out a couple of times, once losing my ski in the process, but it was not very dramatic.
I am certainly a much improved skier and even managed to go down a red slope in a calm, confident and controlled manner.
What can I say.... it was indeed just the perfect day.
Unfortunately, Azrael had a prior engagement, so I had to find a victim upon whom to impose myself. Lo and behold, it turned out that Hansel and Gretel were going to Davos for a ski weekend. I was quite pleased to discover that the journey from my home to Davos would take less than 2.5 hours, making it very manageable for a day trip.
I set off early to catch the 0737 "ski-express" train. The train was chokka, to the extent that some people had to stand all the way to Landquart, which is just over an hour away. Fortunately for me, I managed to snag myself a comfy "seat" at the top of the stairs, which is the widest part of the stairway. Changing at Landquart, the train to Davos was also quite busy, but there were certainly enough seats to go around. Unfortunately, I found myself surrounded by three extremely chatty Russian women who just would not stop talking and pointing in every which direction with their hands! AAARRRGGGHHH!!! Even my Ipod at full blast could not block out the racket.
Nevertheless, I got to Davos Dorf at 0950 to meet Gretel as planned. We made our way to her friends' apartment where I left my stuff, and headed to the ski lift.
It was an absolutely magnificent day to be in the mountains! Gorgeous sunshine and not a cloud in the sky.
We found a suitable blue slope and headed down. It was just the perfect day. The snow was flawless. Not too soft, not icy, just perfect. The pistes were wide and well-groomed and the crowd adequately dispersed.
After lunch we took the gondola up to theWeissfluhgipfel. At 2,844m, this is the highest point in the Davos ski area. One could tell that it is very high up as it was very windy up there. The view from there was simply breathtaking.
Us beginners did not ski down from there, but some adventurous snowboarders took advantage of the fantastic powder as you can see below......
I am sure you are waiting with baited breath for the dramatic part where I suffer yet another mishap in the snow. Unfortunately for you, but fortunately for me, there was none! Of course, I wiped out a couple of times, once losing my ski in the process, but it was not very dramatic.
I am certainly a much improved skier and even managed to go down a red slope in a calm, confident and controlled manner.
What can I say.... it was indeed just the perfect day.
Friday, 20 February 2009
Sledding down the Uetliberg
When Azrael and I went to the Uetliberg for dinner at the end of January, we discovered the existence of a sledding trail starting just by the Uetliberg train station.
I managed to buy a sled yesterday and we'd planned to test it out right away. Azrael called the "sled path hotline" and was told that the trail was open, there was snow, but to be careful as it was a little icy mid-trail.
It was my first time riding tandem on a sled, and actually only my second time on a sled, ever! Once we sorted out our sitting and driving positions, it was really great fun!!! Until we hit the icy patch.....
I was happily riding pillion, without a care in the world, when suddenly I noticed that Azrael was starting to use his hands to try to slow us down. It was then that I realised that we were slightly out of control and that I should also assist in trying to stop the sled! The patch was incredibly icy, and the next thing we knew, we had spun 180 degrees and were then travelling backwards down the icy patch. I decided to ditch the sled, and proceeded to "throw" myself off the sled.
I thought I would try to walk down, but the minute I stood up, I slipped on the ice and fell and was dragged a couple of meters down the slope!! Thankfully I did not slide down very far and managed to get some traction to steer myself to the side. Ouch! It hurts just thinking about it! Thankfully I have quite enough "cushioning" on my hips. Nevertheless, I am sure a big fat bruise will manifest itself by tomorrow.
On the ground, I turned to look for Azrael and watched in horror as I saw him continue to slide down sideways with his body on the sled. Thankfully he also managed to get some traction to steer himself to the side, away from the ice. How scary!
Not surprisingly, we caught up with a bunch of sledders walking and dragging their sleds along after that icy patch. Once we cleared that section, we got back on the sled and carried on.
It really was good fun, but the icy patches were just too scary. It took us about 40 minutes to get down the 3.1km trail. Given the icy conditions, we decided we would not have another go rightaway, but instead will save it for another day when the conditions are better.
Below is a pic of the sled-path, exactly where we wiped-out!
I managed to buy a sled yesterday and we'd planned to test it out right away. Azrael called the "sled path hotline" and was told that the trail was open, there was snow, but to be careful as it was a little icy mid-trail.
It was my first time riding tandem on a sled, and actually only my second time on a sled, ever! Once we sorted out our sitting and driving positions, it was really great fun!!! Until we hit the icy patch.....
I was happily riding pillion, without a care in the world, when suddenly I noticed that Azrael was starting to use his hands to try to slow us down. It was then that I realised that we were slightly out of control and that I should also assist in trying to stop the sled! The patch was incredibly icy, and the next thing we knew, we had spun 180 degrees and were then travelling backwards down the icy patch. I decided to ditch the sled, and proceeded to "throw" myself off the sled.
I thought I would try to walk down, but the minute I stood up, I slipped on the ice and fell and was dragged a couple of meters down the slope!! Thankfully I did not slide down very far and managed to get some traction to steer myself to the side. Ouch! It hurts just thinking about it! Thankfully I have quite enough "cushioning" on my hips. Nevertheless, I am sure a big fat bruise will manifest itself by tomorrow.
On the ground, I turned to look for Azrael and watched in horror as I saw him continue to slide down sideways with his body on the sled. Thankfully he also managed to get some traction to steer himself to the side, away from the ice. How scary!
Not surprisingly, we caught up with a bunch of sledders walking and dragging their sleds along after that icy patch. Once we cleared that section, we got back on the sled and carried on.
It really was good fun, but the icy patches were just too scary. It took us about 40 minutes to get down the 3.1km trail. Given the icy conditions, we decided we would not have another go rightaway, but instead will save it for another day when the conditions are better.
Below is a pic of the sled-path, exactly where we wiped-out!
Thursday, 19 February 2009
Back to school
The reason for the slight delay in my posts is that I started German school last Monday, 16th Feb. The first week can only be described as tough and challenging!
During my search for German schools, I had to take multiple German assessment tests as each school had their own set of tests. All the tests showed my proficiency at Level 2 beginner. However, I was placed in a Level 3 intermediate class at school. It did not bother me initially as I accepted it as a challenge and thought that I would be able to make up for all the Level 2 lessons in my own time.
Unfortunately, the first thing I learned on Monday morning was that we were going to have a Level 2 test that very Wednesday, my third day of school. I had a mighty task at hand as I had to revise and self-study the entire Level 1 and 2 syllabus within 2 days!!! I spent all of Monday and Tuesday doing nothing but studying. Unfortunately, I was still unable to complete the syllabus. Not surprisingly, I failed the test by 2%. Thankfully, I was allowed to progress since I was a new student and had only recently taken the entrance test.
Nevertheless, I will still need to go back and study all the material for Level 2, just to make sure that I will progress smoothly in my class. The last thing I want is to continue being the idiot who does not know which preposition to use in a sentence! Oh... and by the way, I only found out this week, what a "preposition" is!!!
During my search for German schools, I had to take multiple German assessment tests as each school had their own set of tests. All the tests showed my proficiency at Level 2 beginner. However, I was placed in a Level 3 intermediate class at school. It did not bother me initially as I accepted it as a challenge and thought that I would be able to make up for all the Level 2 lessons in my own time.
Unfortunately, the first thing I learned on Monday morning was that we were going to have a Level 2 test that very Wednesday, my third day of school. I had a mighty task at hand as I had to revise and self-study the entire Level 1 and 2 syllabus within 2 days!!! I spent all of Monday and Tuesday doing nothing but studying. Unfortunately, I was still unable to complete the syllabus. Not surprisingly, I failed the test by 2%. Thankfully, I was allowed to progress since I was a new student and had only recently taken the entrance test.
Nevertheless, I will still need to go back and study all the material for Level 2, just to make sure that I will progress smoothly in my class. The last thing I want is to continue being the idiot who does not know which preposition to use in a sentence! Oh... and by the way, I only found out this week, what a "preposition" is!!!
Valentines Weekend Pig-Out in Geneva
Most of you will know that I do not do Valentine's Day. It is not just because I do not have too many romantic bones in my body, but because I truly believe it to be nothing more than a cash-generating commercial event.
Nevertheless, Azrael and I wanted to do something for the weekend. Our initial plan was to go skiing during the day, and to go out for a meal in the evening. We had planned to have an Asian meal on Saturday night for two reasons. Firstly, the Thai restaurant we had in mind is not a place one would consider "romantic", hence we could expect to dine at normal prices, with the normal menu, without a reservation. Secondly, due to our Alcohol Ban, Asian food works best for us as we would not feel the need to order some wine to go with the meal.
As the weekend drew nearer, it seemed that skiing would be unlikely as the weather forecast was not promising. It was then that Azrael came up with the brilliant idea of popping over to Geneva.
Almost immediately, my mind started racing with all the dining possibilities!! My mom had told me about a Malaysian restaurant, Jeck's Place, which had been featured in the Malaysian newspapers and I was keen to check it out. Azrael on the other hand, needed to get his Dim Sum fix. The quest was on! I immediately got down to finding the best restaurants in Geneva.
We were all set, with restaurant reservations for Saturday tea (z'vieri), Saturday dinner and Sunday brunch.
It was only when Azrael sent me a link to the fancy hotel where we would be staying that it struck me that this was his idea of celebrating Valentine's Day! My old friend Ainelle wisely advised me that if he wants to make a gesture, just let him do it and accept graciously. So I did not make a fuss, graciously accepted and hoped that he would not buy me a Valentines Day present as I certainly was not going to get him one!
When we arrived in Geneva, we walked around the old town in search for a light lunch as we were saving ourselves for the z'vieri. I was hungry and starting to get grumpy when we stumbled upon a small farmers market. We saw a stall selling hand-sliced Serrano and Pata Negra ham and decided to have that with some bread.
We had our nice little lunch by the lake. It was delightful, but extremely cold! Hence our next stop was a cute little French tea-house cum patisserie, where we enjoyed pots of tea and shared a delicious chocolate-praline cake.
The old town of Geneva was very cute, quaint and reminded me of the quieter streets of Paris.
We then headed to our z'vieri appointment at a teeny-tiny Chinese tea house called Le Thé. It was in a very quiet part of town. It must have been the business district. The shop is so discreet that you would not notice it if you were not looking for it. They had tons of little Chinese tea sets and hundreds of variations of Chinese tea! Most importantly, they had homemade Dim Sum which were supposed to be good! We had a pot of tea each and tucked into some lovely dumplings. The food was pretty good. We were quite impressed.
Nevertheless, Azrael and I wanted to do something for the weekend. Our initial plan was to go skiing during the day, and to go out for a meal in the evening. We had planned to have an Asian meal on Saturday night for two reasons. Firstly, the Thai restaurant we had in mind is not a place one would consider "romantic", hence we could expect to dine at normal prices, with the normal menu, without a reservation. Secondly, due to our Alcohol Ban, Asian food works best for us as we would not feel the need to order some wine to go with the meal.
As the weekend drew nearer, it seemed that skiing would be unlikely as the weather forecast was not promising. It was then that Azrael came up with the brilliant idea of popping over to Geneva.
Almost immediately, my mind started racing with all the dining possibilities!! My mom had told me about a Malaysian restaurant, Jeck's Place, which had been featured in the Malaysian newspapers and I was keen to check it out. Azrael on the other hand, needed to get his Dim Sum fix. The quest was on! I immediately got down to finding the best restaurants in Geneva.
We were all set, with restaurant reservations for Saturday tea (z'vieri), Saturday dinner and Sunday brunch.
It was only when Azrael sent me a link to the fancy hotel where we would be staying that it struck me that this was his idea of celebrating Valentine's Day! My old friend Ainelle wisely advised me that if he wants to make a gesture, just let him do it and accept graciously. So I did not make a fuss, graciously accepted and hoped that he would not buy me a Valentines Day present as I certainly was not going to get him one!
When we arrived in Geneva, we walked around the old town in search for a light lunch as we were saving ourselves for the z'vieri. I was hungry and starting to get grumpy when we stumbled upon a small farmers market. We saw a stall selling hand-sliced Serrano and Pata Negra ham and decided to have that with some bread.
We had our nice little lunch by the lake. It was delightful, but extremely cold! Hence our next stop was a cute little French tea-house cum patisserie, where we enjoyed pots of tea and shared a delicious chocolate-praline cake.
The old town of Geneva was very cute, quaint and reminded me of the quieter streets of Paris.
We then headed to our z'vieri appointment at a teeny-tiny Chinese tea house called Le Thé. It was in a very quiet part of town. It must have been the business district. The shop is so discreet that you would not notice it if you were not looking for it. They had tons of little Chinese tea sets and hundreds of variations of Chinese tea! Most importantly, they had homemade Dim Sum which were supposed to be good! We had a pot of tea each and tucked into some lovely dumplings. The food was pretty good. We were quite impressed.
Later that evening, we went to Jeck's Place for dinner. The restaurant was packed and they even had to turn away some customers. We had an incredible meal there, and the kangkung belacan was the best I have ever had outside of Malaysia! It was that good!
After dinner, we made our way to Gab's Music Lounge, which is a new-ish jazz piano lounge. We were just lucky enough to nab two seats by the bar as we were very nearly turned away since we did not have a reservation! Doctor Gabs was the pianist and the party was just getting started when we arrived. We were impressed with the lounge as a whole and the pianist himself was just awesome. His repertoire encompasses jazz, swing, blues, boogie-woogie, but you name it, he plays it. And he sings too! We had a great time at the lounge, even if only with our overpriced fake fruit juice mocktails and Cola!
The next morning, we had only one mission at hand, which was to have a proper yum-cha Dim Sum brunch at Hung Wan, a popular Chinese restaurant just by the lake. I encountered some difficulty ordering the dishes as the Dim Sum "checklist" menu only came in French and Chinese, neither of which I can read! Thankfully, I managed to get a waitress who could help me out in Cantonese. Unfortunately, this meant we could only order the stuff we knew. There could have been many other interesting dishes on the menu.
The Dim Sum certainly did not disappoint, and the prices were very reasonable. They even refilled the teapot with hot water free of charge! What a rare find in Switzerland! I would definitely consider making an occasional day trip to Geneva for yum-cha, especially now that the train journey only takes 2 hours 45 minutes!
With our full bellies in tow, we headed for the train station to make an early-ish start back to Zurich.
I had a lovely weekend away with Azrael and I am making a note-to-self to do this more often. Since we have the GA, train travel does not cost us anything in Switzerland. Just a couple of hours on the train and we can find ourselves in a totally different city, where they speak a different language, have a different demographic of people and it feels like a whole different country out there.
Next stop...... Ascona.
P/s: Full review of the restaurants and photos will be posted shortly on http://spicyzwergli.wordpress.com
After dinner, we made our way to Gab's Music Lounge, which is a new-ish jazz piano lounge. We were just lucky enough to nab two seats by the bar as we were very nearly turned away since we did not have a reservation! Doctor Gabs was the pianist and the party was just getting started when we arrived. We were impressed with the lounge as a whole and the pianist himself was just awesome. His repertoire encompasses jazz, swing, blues, boogie-woogie, but you name it, he plays it. And he sings too! We had a great time at the lounge, even if only with our overpriced fake fruit juice mocktails and Cola!
The next morning, we had only one mission at hand, which was to have a proper yum-cha Dim Sum brunch at Hung Wan, a popular Chinese restaurant just by the lake. I encountered some difficulty ordering the dishes as the Dim Sum "checklist" menu only came in French and Chinese, neither of which I can read! Thankfully, I managed to get a waitress who could help me out in Cantonese. Unfortunately, this meant we could only order the stuff we knew. There could have been many other interesting dishes on the menu.
The Dim Sum certainly did not disappoint, and the prices were very reasonable. They even refilled the teapot with hot water free of charge! What a rare find in Switzerland! I would definitely consider making an occasional day trip to Geneva for yum-cha, especially now that the train journey only takes 2 hours 45 minutes!
With our full bellies in tow, we headed for the train station to make an early-ish start back to Zurich.
I had a lovely weekend away with Azrael and I am making a note-to-self to do this more often. Since we have the GA, train travel does not cost us anything in Switzerland. Just a couple of hours on the train and we can find ourselves in a totally different city, where they speak a different language, have a different demographic of people and it feels like a whole different country out there.
Next stop...... Ascona.
P/s: Full review of the restaurants and photos will be posted shortly on http://spicyzwergli.wordpress.com
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
Surviving Teetotal February
More about our Alcohol-Ban....
At the initiation of the Ban, I had made some silent rules. I call the rules "silent" because these rules should never have to come into play should everything go well. These are not so much rules, but penalties, in the event that either of us decided to break the Ban.
I thought up many variations of penalties, most of them based around Ban extensions. My first thought was to extend the Ban by a day, for every day we broke the Ban. However, there was a serious flaw in this penalty system, as it meant that we could drink everyday and be perpetually in a Banned state! Besides, breaking such a huge Ban requires heavier punishments. I then thought of various compositions, such as an extension of one week, or one month, for every day broken.
I finally settled on an extension of one day, for every single unit of alcohol consumed. This system seemed fair and apt. Having just one beer or just one glass of champagne should not carry the same penalty as having a whole bottle of wine! Besides, should we decide to break the Ban, having a blanket penalty system would only drive us to go all out since we were paying the price anyway!
Last weekend, Azrael and I took a quick jaunt to Geneva. More about the trip later, I just wanted to touch on the Ban in this post.
It was a chilly but bright and sunny Saturday afternoon when we arrived. It was the perfect day to sit by the lake and enjoy a glass of wine! We were clearly asking for it.... being on a weekend break in a beautiful pseudo-French city! Within an hour of our arrival in Geneva, we started negotiating with each other as to what the rules and penalties of the Ban were! We must have spent at least an hour discussing these! Finally, we settled that the rules and penalties would remain and agreed that it would not be soooooooo bad if we were to have just one drink, perhaps for apéro.
As we walked around the city, we passed by wine bar after wine bar. It was lunch time and everyone was having wine with their lunch. It all started to get a little bit too much when we walked into a tapas bar looking for food, only to find that it was a wine bar serving some tiny little tapas, like bread and olives to accompany the wine! By this time, we were absolutely convinced that the Ban would be broken by the end of the evening.
Miraculously, we got through the afternoon, and the all-important 6pm apéro hour unscathed! This was strongly aided by a visit to a French tea house after lunch, and a visit to a Chinese tea house for z'vieri.
Dinner time was not at all a problem as we had dinner in a Singaporean restaurant and certainly did not feel the need for wine as an accompaniment to the meal.
One would think that the most difficult part would be after dinner, when we headed off to a jazz bar. Au contraire, it did not pose much of a challenge. It started off with us ordering a couple of mocktails, which were followed by some Cola and San Bitter.
It is actually only the physical act of ordering a non-alcoholic drink that is challenging. I am of the opinion that once the drink is in hand, the actual drink itself makes very little difference.
So here we are, and I am very proud to announce that as of today, the 18th, we are still tee-total and going strong!
P/s: We dined with a group of 10 other people tonight and were very successful in graciously declining their offer of wine.
At the initiation of the Ban, I had made some silent rules. I call the rules "silent" because these rules should never have to come into play should everything go well. These are not so much rules, but penalties, in the event that either of us decided to break the Ban.
I thought up many variations of penalties, most of them based around Ban extensions. My first thought was to extend the Ban by a day, for every day we broke the Ban. However, there was a serious flaw in this penalty system, as it meant that we could drink everyday and be perpetually in a Banned state! Besides, breaking such a huge Ban requires heavier punishments. I then thought of various compositions, such as an extension of one week, or one month, for every day broken.
I finally settled on an extension of one day, for every single unit of alcohol consumed. This system seemed fair and apt. Having just one beer or just one glass of champagne should not carry the same penalty as having a whole bottle of wine! Besides, should we decide to break the Ban, having a blanket penalty system would only drive us to go all out since we were paying the price anyway!
Last weekend, Azrael and I took a quick jaunt to Geneva. More about the trip later, I just wanted to touch on the Ban in this post.
It was a chilly but bright and sunny Saturday afternoon when we arrived. It was the perfect day to sit by the lake and enjoy a glass of wine! We were clearly asking for it.... being on a weekend break in a beautiful pseudo-French city! Within an hour of our arrival in Geneva, we started negotiating with each other as to what the rules and penalties of the Ban were! We must have spent at least an hour discussing these! Finally, we settled that the rules and penalties would remain and agreed that it would not be soooooooo bad if we were to have just one drink, perhaps for apéro.
As we walked around the city, we passed by wine bar after wine bar. It was lunch time and everyone was having wine with their lunch. It all started to get a little bit too much when we walked into a tapas bar looking for food, only to find that it was a wine bar serving some tiny little tapas, like bread and olives to accompany the wine! By this time, we were absolutely convinced that the Ban would be broken by the end of the evening.
Miraculously, we got through the afternoon, and the all-important 6pm apéro hour unscathed! This was strongly aided by a visit to a French tea house after lunch, and a visit to a Chinese tea house for z'vieri.
Dinner time was not at all a problem as we had dinner in a Singaporean restaurant and certainly did not feel the need for wine as an accompaniment to the meal.
One would think that the most difficult part would be after dinner, when we headed off to a jazz bar. Au contraire, it did not pose much of a challenge. It started off with us ordering a couple of mocktails, which were followed by some Cola and San Bitter.
It is actually only the physical act of ordering a non-alcoholic drink that is challenging. I am of the opinion that once the drink is in hand, the actual drink itself makes very little difference.
So here we are, and I am very proud to announce that as of today, the 18th, we are still tee-total and going strong!
P/s: We dined with a group of 10 other people tonight and were very successful in graciously declining their offer of wine.
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Alcohol-Free February
After the over-indulgences of Christmas and New Year, we decided to have another go at having an alcohol-free February. We attempted this last year, but failed miserably. If I recall correctly, I only managed a week before caving!
At the time of planning, we'd already had a dinner party planned at our home on 6 February. We could not contemplate the idea of throwing a dinner party sans Prosecco for apéro and some delectable wine for dinner. Therefore, we agreed that we would create an exception and lift the ban for this dinner party.
I am doing well thus far. I thought it would be tough when I met a friend at a bar for dinner and drinks. She had a couple glasses of wine whilst I stuck with Cola Light. It was weird, but it wasn't too bad.
The only real "problem" I face is when I go out to bars. I seriously object to paying CHF 5 for a soft drink, when a beer costs only CHF 0.20 more, and a glass of wine may cost CHF 6.50. The mark-up for soft drinks in Switzerland is really incredulous!
As this is my only issue, I believe I will make it through February 2009 as a Teetotaler.
At the time of planning, we'd already had a dinner party planned at our home on 6 February. We could not contemplate the idea of throwing a dinner party sans Prosecco for apéro and some delectable wine for dinner. Therefore, we agreed that we would create an exception and lift the ban for this dinner party.
I am doing well thus far. I thought it would be tough when I met a friend at a bar for dinner and drinks. She had a couple glasses of wine whilst I stuck with Cola Light. It was weird, but it wasn't too bad.
The only real "problem" I face is when I go out to bars. I seriously object to paying CHF 5 for a soft drink, when a beer costs only CHF 0.20 more, and a glass of wine may cost CHF 6.50. The mark-up for soft drinks in Switzerland is really incredulous!
As this is my only issue, I believe I will make it through February 2009 as a Teetotaler.
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
Vietnam, here we come!
We'd been planning a trip to Vietnam to visit my cousin, Willet, who had moved to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). We have also had Angkor Wat on our list of places to visit, so last summer, we decided that we would incorporate the trip into our next pilgrimage to Malaysia, which is to take place over the Easter period in 2009. Although we had the dates blocked out, we had not made any bookings or travel arrangements as some extensive research needed to be done.
Planning the trip to Vietnam and Angkor became one of my projects to do during my time off. I spent a good part of the last 3 weeks painstakingly researching the destinations to create the ideal itinerary, and making travel arrangements, including flights and hotels.
To add to the challenge, my mom and aunt would be joining us for the first week, and my old friend, Feather and her husband would be joining us for the second week. I therefore had the task of coordinating the logistics of each couples' travel arrangements.
After weeks of research, reading travel guides, travel blogs, hotel reviews, destination reviews, travel forums, and whatever else I could find, I have more or less finalised the itinerary and travel arrangements.
Anyone who has ever planned a trip with me will know that I am stickler for the best quality hotel at the lowest price. I troll the internet like a hawk, making sure that I get the best deal available out there.
One thing I discovered about hotels in Vietnam is that the best deal to be had is the one made directly with the hotels. So the booking process involved many emails to and fro in order to finalise the reservations. Another interesting thing about hotels and travel agents in Vietnam is that most of them are available online to chat! This tool also proved to be invaluable during the booking process.
The final piece of the itinerary which I struggled with was the Halong Bay junk cruise. This is supposed to be the highlight of our trip as we planned to charter the entire junk, so that we could dictate the itinerary of our cruise, and just chill out without screaming kids on the boat.
Upon my initial search, it was looking like it would cost us upwards of USD 400 per person for a 3D/2N private cruise. Although Azrael and Feather and her husband had ok'd the cost, I still found this to be incredibly steep, so I continued the hunt for the perfect junk at the perfect price. I can now definitely call myself an expert in the Halong Bay private junk cruise department.
Bearing in mind what I'd learned from the hotel booking process, I proceeded to look for the owners of the boats I had shortlisted, and emailed them directly. If the hotel owners gave me the best deal, then surely the boat owners would be in the position to give me the best deal as well! Alas, I managed to secure the Lagoon Explorer for USD 350 per person, compared to USD 430 I was previously quoted.
Today, I had my biggest success yet. I had found another 2-cabin junk called the Petit White Dolphin which is pretty new. I managed to catch the the sales person to chat online and we discussed my requirements and she answered my many questions. I have just received a quote for USD 248 per person which we are definitely going to take!!! WOOOOHOOOOO!!! AND.... it is a much nicer boat than the Lagoon Explorer! You can check out the pics here http://baitulongjunk.com/photos/
I am so pleased with the final itinerary for the trip and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire process from the research, to the coordination, bookings and negotiations. Perhaps my true calling is to be a Travel Agent!
Planning the trip to Vietnam and Angkor became one of my projects to do during my time off. I spent a good part of the last 3 weeks painstakingly researching the destinations to create the ideal itinerary, and making travel arrangements, including flights and hotels.
To add to the challenge, my mom and aunt would be joining us for the first week, and my old friend, Feather and her husband would be joining us for the second week. I therefore had the task of coordinating the logistics of each couples' travel arrangements.
After weeks of research, reading travel guides, travel blogs, hotel reviews, destination reviews, travel forums, and whatever else I could find, I have more or less finalised the itinerary and travel arrangements.
Anyone who has ever planned a trip with me will know that I am stickler for the best quality hotel at the lowest price. I troll the internet like a hawk, making sure that I get the best deal available out there.
One thing I discovered about hotels in Vietnam is that the best deal to be had is the one made directly with the hotels. So the booking process involved many emails to and fro in order to finalise the reservations. Another interesting thing about hotels and travel agents in Vietnam is that most of them are available online to chat! This tool also proved to be invaluable during the booking process.
The final piece of the itinerary which I struggled with was the Halong Bay junk cruise. This is supposed to be the highlight of our trip as we planned to charter the entire junk, so that we could dictate the itinerary of our cruise, and just chill out without screaming kids on the boat.
Upon my initial search, it was looking like it would cost us upwards of USD 400 per person for a 3D/2N private cruise. Although Azrael and Feather and her husband had ok'd the cost, I still found this to be incredibly steep, so I continued the hunt for the perfect junk at the perfect price. I can now definitely call myself an expert in the Halong Bay private junk cruise department.
Bearing in mind what I'd learned from the hotel booking process, I proceeded to look for the owners of the boats I had shortlisted, and emailed them directly. If the hotel owners gave me the best deal, then surely the boat owners would be in the position to give me the best deal as well! Alas, I managed to secure the Lagoon Explorer for USD 350 per person, compared to USD 430 I was previously quoted.
Today, I had my biggest success yet. I had found another 2-cabin junk called the Petit White Dolphin which is pretty new. I managed to catch the the sales person to chat online and we discussed my requirements and she answered my many questions. I have just received a quote for USD 248 per person which we are definitely going to take!!! WOOOOHOOOOO!!! AND.... it is a much nicer boat than the Lagoon Explorer! You can check out the pics here http://baitulongjunk.com/photos/
I am so pleased with the final itinerary for the trip and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire process from the research, to the coordination, bookings and negotiations. Perhaps my true calling is to be a Travel Agent!
Monday, 2 February 2009
Lost in Laax
We went skiing with Sydney and her partner Syd last Sunday in Flims/Laax. As there were four of us, we decided to be lazy and booked a Mobility car for the trip. Definitely a good idea as the drive from Zurich to Flims was an impressive 1 hour 20 mins, compared to 2 hours 20 mins by public transport!
It was extremely cold, about -7, when we left Zürich about 8am, but we were full of hope for brilliant weather, especially when the sun starting to break through as we approached Chur. The signs at the ticket counter all indicated that it was perfect weather for skiing.
We started off pretty well. Sydney had convinced me that we were at the same level and that I would not be holding anyone back. We did a pretty good warm up on a nice and easy blue slope and I was ready to hone my new skills which I'd learned recently, during my private ski lesson at Oberiberg.
However, I still did not feel ready or confident enough to take on the red slopes. So whilst the others skied down a red slope from Crap Masegn to the intermittent gondola stop to Vorab, I decided to take the gondola directly.
From my birds-eye viewpoint, comfortably in the gondola, I could see them on the piste. I felt so nervous for Sydney as she looked like she was struggling at the top of the slope, whilst the boys had shot off! I was thinking to myself "How could the boys just leave her behind!?!?!?! She's just a beginner!!", and of course "Thank God I decided to take the gondola!". I continued watching them for as long as I could, switching views from the boys to Sydney and back. The next time I saw Sydney, I gasped in disbelief as I watched her tuck her poles under and crouch down low in a racing position to get down the slope to catch up with the boys. It was then that I realised that Sydney and I were most certainly not at the same level. She is a brave, fearless, dare-devil!
With that realisation in mind, we met up again at Vorab and decided to take the T-bar lift up to the top of the glacier, Vorab Gletscher. At 3018m, this is the highest point in the Flims/Laax resort. The slope coming down from the glacier is a nice blue slope, and we were told that the piste was really wide and pretty flat... just my kind of slope!
Just as we were a third of the way up the lift, a humongous gust of wind hit and the snow started pelting at us. Visibility decreased drastically and before long, we could only just about see two t-bars ahead of us. Everything was white and I could not see the contours of the ground!!! It was incredibly scary and I really wanted to just get off the lift. Unfortunately, we could not even make out the path of the lift, and could not determine if there was a safe break to ditch the t-bar. We had no choice but to grit our teeth and get to the top of the glacier. When we got there, our faces were covered in snow, complete with white eyebrows and white beard (for the men). I had never before felt so cold, ever in my entire life!
I then had to face the daunting prospect of skiing down the glacier with the wind hitting hard. Judging by the lift, I was sure the slope was pretty flat, but I was totally petrified as I just could not see! The fear, combined with appalling visibility, my slight altitude sickness and the snow hitting hard on my face, felt like I was drowning in a sea of snow.
After what felt like an age, I managed to pull myself together and told myself that there was only one way to get out of the situation, which was to ski down, come hell or high water. I managed to pluck up the courage to do so, but kept falling over at every turn. Thankfully, the snow was a deep powder, so the falling was not a problem at all. It was the getting up that proved to be a problem as I would fall so deep into the snow that I could hardly get any leverage to push myself back up. It also did not help that I could not see where we were going. I kept trying to look out for the sign-poles, but they would "disappear" in the fog/snow as soon as I spotted them.
The falling and getting back up continued for quite some time, until a man coming up on the T-bar lift spotted us and yelled at us in Swiss German to ski further away from the lift path. After getting up for the umpteenth time, I turned around and spotted Azrael climbing uphill. I was puzzled!! We were supposed to go down the glacier, not further up!!! It was then that the visibility cleared up for a second and I made out the piste!!! Azrael was climbing up towards the piste!! So this whole time, we had been skiing off-piste on a glacier in bad weather!!!! What a bunch of muppets!!! Is it any wonder that we were skiing in deep powder!?!?
Finally we managed to climb up to the piste and the man who had yelled at us came to join us. It turned out he was the SOS Piste Controller, and he was making the final checks on the glacier as they were closing it "due to bad weather". Uh-huh! No shit, Sherlock!! Although we were off-piste, I am glad we were close to the lift. He might not have found us otherwise.
Once we were on the piste, it was a pretty nice and flat path down the glacier. There were many piste-marker-poles, making it much easier to navigate. Having said that, I still could not see the contours of the ground either side of me. Not knowing how wide the piste was, I did not dare stray from the narrow path Azrael was making ahead of me. I did not dare to make any turns for fear that I might steer myself off-piste again. So you guessed it right.... I pretty much had to snow-plough all the way down! Ouch! My knees hurt just thinking about it!
After a well-deserved lunch break, I got a second wind and was up for doing some nice and easy blue slopes further down the mountain, where visibility was fine. We took the easy blue from Vorab to Scansinas. It turned out to be a pretty tiring blue as it was too flat (even for me!), so the boys sneaked in little bits of red along the way. I was psyched after this run and was looking forward to the next, so up we went again.
This time the boys were up for more of a challenge and chose a blue beginning to join up to two red slopes. I was rather apprehensive but was assured that it would be fine and that I was doing great. It started off pretty well but these guys were all skiing rather fast, so we decided to let Sydney and Syd go ahead, just to ease the pressure off me. I managed quite well with my slow and steady pace, until we got to a very steep drop. It must have been the intersection between piste 13 and 16 (I have to note this down for future reference so that I do not ever go there again!). In my mind, it seemed like a 70 degree slope, but I am sure Azrael will tell you that I am exaggerating. Nevertheless it was just too steep for me to manage.
Once again, I stood at the top of the slope and panicked for a good 10-15 minutes, considering all my options, although I knew there were none. Two kids approached the slope and gasped. I watched the 5-year-old boy tumble down the slope and the heard the 7-year-old girl scream all the way down. That did not help the nerves.
Finally I psyched myself up and attempted to slide down the slope. I was very focused. "Do not look downhill, do not look uphill, look only at the skis". I was doing pretty well, until my skis dug up too much snow and one ski got stuck. In the next instant, I was tumbling down the slope like a mini avalanche. When I came to a halt, my first reaction was to the snow that covered my face. It felt as though my face was frozen and the cold was simply indescribable. Azrael came right up and cleaned the snow from my face and I recovered soon after to continue skiing down. It was quite a spectacular fall but it certainly got me down that slope quickly!!
That was the last run for the day. After an eventful day of "drowning" in snow, snow-ploughing all the way down the glacier, a spectacular fall down the red slope, and using every muscle and joint in my body to keep up on the red slopes, I was shattered.
Do not get me wrong. I still do enjoy skiing, but I will most definitely be sticking to the blue slopes for now. There is simply no point pushing myself to do any more at this stage. There is no prize at the end of the slope, and I would like to just ENJOY the skiing.
P/S: For those of you who are interested, here is the link to the piste map for Laax. http://www.laax.ch/flash/index.php?l=de#/de/skigebiet/skigebiet_pisten_anlagen
It was extremely cold, about -7, when we left Zürich about 8am, but we were full of hope for brilliant weather, especially when the sun starting to break through as we approached Chur. The signs at the ticket counter all indicated that it was perfect weather for skiing.
We started off pretty well. Sydney had convinced me that we were at the same level and that I would not be holding anyone back. We did a pretty good warm up on a nice and easy blue slope and I was ready to hone my new skills which I'd learned recently, during my private ski lesson at Oberiberg.
However, I still did not feel ready or confident enough to take on the red slopes. So whilst the others skied down a red slope from Crap Masegn to the intermittent gondola stop to Vorab, I decided to take the gondola directly.
From my birds-eye viewpoint, comfortably in the gondola, I could see them on the piste. I felt so nervous for Sydney as she looked like she was struggling at the top of the slope, whilst the boys had shot off! I was thinking to myself "How could the boys just leave her behind!?!?!?! She's just a beginner!!", and of course "Thank God I decided to take the gondola!". I continued watching them for as long as I could, switching views from the boys to Sydney and back. The next time I saw Sydney, I gasped in disbelief as I watched her tuck her poles under and crouch down low in a racing position to get down the slope to catch up with the boys. It was then that I realised that Sydney and I were most certainly not at the same level. She is a brave, fearless, dare-devil!
With that realisation in mind, we met up again at Vorab and decided to take the T-bar lift up to the top of the glacier, Vorab Gletscher. At 3018m, this is the highest point in the Flims/Laax resort. The slope coming down from the glacier is a nice blue slope, and we were told that the piste was really wide and pretty flat... just my kind of slope!
Just as we were a third of the way up the lift, a humongous gust of wind hit and the snow started pelting at us. Visibility decreased drastically and before long, we could only just about see two t-bars ahead of us. Everything was white and I could not see the contours of the ground!!! It was incredibly scary and I really wanted to just get off the lift. Unfortunately, we could not even make out the path of the lift, and could not determine if there was a safe break to ditch the t-bar. We had no choice but to grit our teeth and get to the top of the glacier. When we got there, our faces were covered in snow, complete with white eyebrows and white beard (for the men). I had never before felt so cold, ever in my entire life!
I then had to face the daunting prospect of skiing down the glacier with the wind hitting hard. Judging by the lift, I was sure the slope was pretty flat, but I was totally petrified as I just could not see! The fear, combined with appalling visibility, my slight altitude sickness and the snow hitting hard on my face, felt like I was drowning in a sea of snow.
After what felt like an age, I managed to pull myself together and told myself that there was only one way to get out of the situation, which was to ski down, come hell or high water. I managed to pluck up the courage to do so, but kept falling over at every turn. Thankfully, the snow was a deep powder, so the falling was not a problem at all. It was the getting up that proved to be a problem as I would fall so deep into the snow that I could hardly get any leverage to push myself back up. It also did not help that I could not see where we were going. I kept trying to look out for the sign-poles, but they would "disappear" in the fog/snow as soon as I spotted them.
The falling and getting back up continued for quite some time, until a man coming up on the T-bar lift spotted us and yelled at us in Swiss German to ski further away from the lift path. After getting up for the umpteenth time, I turned around and spotted Azrael climbing uphill. I was puzzled!! We were supposed to go down the glacier, not further up!!! It was then that the visibility cleared up for a second and I made out the piste!!! Azrael was climbing up towards the piste!! So this whole time, we had been skiing off-piste on a glacier in bad weather!!!! What a bunch of muppets!!! Is it any wonder that we were skiing in deep powder!?!?
Finally we managed to climb up to the piste and the man who had yelled at us came to join us. It turned out he was the SOS Piste Controller, and he was making the final checks on the glacier as they were closing it "due to bad weather". Uh-huh! No shit, Sherlock!! Although we were off-piste, I am glad we were close to the lift. He might not have found us otherwise.
Once we were on the piste, it was a pretty nice and flat path down the glacier. There were many piste-marker-poles, making it much easier to navigate. Having said that, I still could not see the contours of the ground either side of me. Not knowing how wide the piste was, I did not dare stray from the narrow path Azrael was making ahead of me. I did not dare to make any turns for fear that I might steer myself off-piste again. So you guessed it right.... I pretty much had to snow-plough all the way down! Ouch! My knees hurt just thinking about it!
After a well-deserved lunch break, I got a second wind and was up for doing some nice and easy blue slopes further down the mountain, where visibility was fine. We took the easy blue from Vorab to Scansinas. It turned out to be a pretty tiring blue as it was too flat (even for me!), so the boys sneaked in little bits of red along the way. I was psyched after this run and was looking forward to the next, so up we went again.
This time the boys were up for more of a challenge and chose a blue beginning to join up to two red slopes. I was rather apprehensive but was assured that it would be fine and that I was doing great. It started off pretty well but these guys were all skiing rather fast, so we decided to let Sydney and Syd go ahead, just to ease the pressure off me. I managed quite well with my slow and steady pace, until we got to a very steep drop. It must have been the intersection between piste 13 and 16 (I have to note this down for future reference so that I do not ever go there again!). In my mind, it seemed like a 70 degree slope, but I am sure Azrael will tell you that I am exaggerating. Nevertheless it was just too steep for me to manage.
Once again, I stood at the top of the slope and panicked for a good 10-15 minutes, considering all my options, although I knew there were none. Two kids approached the slope and gasped. I watched the 5-year-old boy tumble down the slope and the heard the 7-year-old girl scream all the way down. That did not help the nerves.
Finally I psyched myself up and attempted to slide down the slope. I was very focused. "Do not look downhill, do not look uphill, look only at the skis". I was doing pretty well, until my skis dug up too much snow and one ski got stuck. In the next instant, I was tumbling down the slope like a mini avalanche. When I came to a halt, my first reaction was to the snow that covered my face. It felt as though my face was frozen and the cold was simply indescribable. Azrael came right up and cleaned the snow from my face and I recovered soon after to continue skiing down. It was quite a spectacular fall but it certainly got me down that slope quickly!!
That was the last run for the day. After an eventful day of "drowning" in snow, snow-ploughing all the way down the glacier, a spectacular fall down the red slope, and using every muscle and joint in my body to keep up on the red slopes, I was shattered.
Do not get me wrong. I still do enjoy skiing, but I will most definitely be sticking to the blue slopes for now. There is simply no point pushing myself to do any more at this stage. There is no prize at the end of the slope, and I would like to just ENJOY the skiing.
P/S: For those of you who are interested, here is the link to the piste map for Laax. http://www.laax.ch/flash/index.php?l=de#/de/skigebiet/skigebiet_pisten_anlagen
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Saving the memories - update on the hard disk
For those of you who are wondering what ever happened to my hard disk.....
I have spent the last couple of weeks endlessly trying to retrieve data from the drive. This arduous task caused me a major setback in terms of accomplishing all the mini-projects I'd set for myself.
Alas, I finally managed to retrieve some of my very old photos using a data recovery software called Get Data Back. It cost US$69 and worked a treat on the old photos. Unfortunately, the hard drive was too fried to be able to access anything further.
Thankfully, Azrael (a.k.a. my boyfriend) had copies of most of my photos from the last 3 or so years, which I have now copied over to my new hard drive.
Always one to learn the lesson well, I spent all of today burning copies of all the photos to CDs and DVDs. It sounds like such a simple task but yet it is one of the most time-consuming! I am astounded that it has taken me approximately 8 hours to copy 3 years worth of photos.
The hard drive "project" is now officially completed and is no longer on my list of priorities. One of these days, I would like to take it apart and hook it up to a desktop to try and recover some of the lost photos. But for now, I am more than happy and thankful for what I have managed to retrieve.
I have spent the last couple of weeks endlessly trying to retrieve data from the drive. This arduous task caused me a major setback in terms of accomplishing all the mini-projects I'd set for myself.
Alas, I finally managed to retrieve some of my very old photos using a data recovery software called Get Data Back. It cost US$69 and worked a treat on the old photos. Unfortunately, the hard drive was too fried to be able to access anything further.
Thankfully, Azrael (a.k.a. my boyfriend) had copies of most of my photos from the last 3 or so years, which I have now copied over to my new hard drive.
Always one to learn the lesson well, I spent all of today burning copies of all the photos to CDs and DVDs. It sounds like such a simple task but yet it is one of the most time-consuming! I am astounded that it has taken me approximately 8 hours to copy 3 years worth of photos.
The hard drive "project" is now officially completed and is no longer on my list of priorities. One of these days, I would like to take it apart and hook it up to a desktop to try and recover some of the lost photos. But for now, I am more than happy and thankful for what I have managed to retrieve.
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Cooking up a storm for CNY reunion dinner
I had invited 7 guests for the CNY reunion dinner at our apartment last Sunday, and my next task was to cook up a proper, decent meal for 9!
Groceries and ingredients were purchased on Saturday, and I then spent all of Sunday cooking and preparing food; from the moment I got out of bed at 9am until we sat down to eat at 6pm! What an accomplishment!
The highlight of the afternoon was the fish. I’d purchased a beautiful, fat Dorade Royal (Sea Bream) from the Migros. As my German is not quite up to scratch, and this was the first time I’d purchased a whole fish from the supermarket counter, I did not realise that the fish was intact. Thankfully, my other half pointed this out to me (else my steamed fish dish would have been a disaster!!). I then proceeded to gut and clean the fish, for the first time in my life!!! As I’d never done this before, I enlisted the expert help of Professor Google and friends. It really was not as bad I expected and I certainly would not mind doing this again. It is a far more pleasant experience than gutting and cleaning a whole chicken!
The final menu for this lavish meal was as follows:
Apero:
- Indonesian Perkedel (courtesy of
Main meal:
- Pork with prosperity vegetable “fatt choy” (courtesy of Puchong)
- Indonesian chicken curry (courtesy of
- Steamed sea bream Chinese style with ginger and spring onions
- Prawns with garlic, chilli and coriander
- Egg tofu with minced meat and Chinese mushrooms
- “Richi Special” with diced pork – Thai stir-fry dish similar to Pad Krapow
- Malaysian beef rending
- Braised duck (purchased from Lian Hua asian grocery store)
- Roast meats – “char siew” and “siew yuk” (purchased and frozen from my recent trip to
- Kangkung a.k.a. Morning Glory or Water Spinach, stir-fried with garlic and chilli
- Pak Choy stir-fried with garlic and oyster sauce
- Steamed jasmine rice
Dessert:
- Rosewater cheesecake with fresh strawberry glaze (courtesy of
- Rambutans (courtesy of
-
http://spicyzwergli.wordpress.com/2009/01/28/chinese-new-year-eve-reunion-dinner/
Sunday, 25 January 2009
Gong Hei Fatt Choy - Happy Chinese New Year!
Gong Xi Fa Cai! Gong Hei Fatt Choy! Xin Nien Quai Le! Here's wishing you a happy and prosperous year of the Ox!
The Chinese culture is one of the oldest in the world, having been in existence for thousands of years. Although many native Chinese have long since left
It is therefore unfortunate that the younger generation Chinese in many westernised Asian countries are simply uninterested in learning and embracing the Chinese culture. As these Asian countries look to the West, the young, MTV generation look up to and admire western pop and celebrity culture. These tweens consider it highly “uncool” to embrace Chinese traditions.
If this continues, it would hardly be surprising if the next generations of Chinese abroad (outside of
Having lived in
It was very different in
Determined not to let go of my Chinese roots, I decided to throw a CNY eve reunion dinner party for my Chinese friends.
CNY eve is actually the most important day of the CNY celebrations. Back in those days, when the world was larger and travelling was less convenient, families were only reunited once a year for CNY. Therefore, traditionally, everyone would return home from all corners of the world to have a reunion dinner with their family. This was the one time in the year when the whole family would eat together.
Given that my Chinese friends do not have family here either, it only seemed apt that we embrace each other as family to have a reunion dinner together.
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Bargain blitz visit to London
I spent Monday and Tuesday on a blitz business-trip-style visit to London in a quest to nab myself a netbook at a "bargain" price. With the Sterling at a record low, the price difference between the UK and Switzerland would pay for the entire trip! Obviously, the trip would have to be done on a tight budget all the way.
I scoured the high street electrical shops, all the tech shops on Tottenham Court Road, and even tried to negotiate with the sales assistant in Selfridges! Finally I settled on a beauty of a netbook, a white Samsung NC10 for the handsome price of GBP 299 including VAT. After filling out some forms for a VAT refund, the total price paid was GBP 270 (CHF 429). The price of the equivalent machine in Switzerland is CHF 599. Success!!!
During my 34 hour stint in London, I also managed to get my eyebrows done at the Estee Lauder Brow Bar, catch up with some friends for lunch, dinner and drinks and squeeze in a little shopping. Last but not least, I managed to takeaway a whole host of treats from Chinatown - 2 types of Malaysian char kuey teow, Nasi Goreng Kampung, roast duck, roast pork and char siew.
The cost breakdown of my trip was:
Easyjet flight Basel to Gatwick = CHF 40
Ryanair flight Stansted to Basel = CHF 40
1 night at Easyhotel = CHF 40
Total cost = CHF 120
Total saved on netbook = CHF 170 (Wicked!)
It was one of the most tiring trips I have ever made, but as I share the yummy food with my loved ones here, and think of my friends whom I managed to see in London, I think it was well worth it.
I scoured the high street electrical shops, all the tech shops on Tottenham Court Road, and even tried to negotiate with the sales assistant in Selfridges! Finally I settled on a beauty of a netbook, a white Samsung NC10 for the handsome price of GBP 299 including VAT. After filling out some forms for a VAT refund, the total price paid was GBP 270 (CHF 429). The price of the equivalent machine in Switzerland is CHF 599. Success!!!
During my 34 hour stint in London, I also managed to get my eyebrows done at the Estee Lauder Brow Bar, catch up with some friends for lunch, dinner and drinks and squeeze in a little shopping. Last but not least, I managed to takeaway a whole host of treats from Chinatown - 2 types of Malaysian char kuey teow, Nasi Goreng Kampung, roast duck, roast pork and char siew.
The cost breakdown of my trip was:
Easyjet flight Basel to Gatwick = CHF 40
Ryanair flight Stansted to Basel = CHF 40
1 night at Easyhotel = CHF 40
Total cost = CHF 120
Total saved on netbook = CHF 170 (Wicked!)
It was one of the most tiring trips I have ever made, but as I share the yummy food with my loved ones here, and think of my friends whom I managed to see in London, I think it was well worth it.
Thursday, 15 January 2009
Could this really be a "fresh start"?
Now that I have the introduction to the blog down pat, I was planning to put up some pictures to decorate the blog. So I switched on the external hard disk drive as always, and.... nothing happened!! My computer would not recognize the drive! Darn!!!
I have no idea what happened, it could be due to me accidentally cutting the power yesterday. I spent all day trying the fix the disk to no avail. I have one last hope, which is to take the drive apart and run it on a desktop PC. This will be my scheduled task for Sunday.
So here I sit, taking stock of the contents of the hard drive. I know, I know, I should have made backups! Incidentally, as Sod (or Murphy or whatever you want to call him) would have it, backing up my hard drives to CDs/DVDs is one of the tasks I have on my to-do list for this month!
Whilst there are 230GBs of stuff on the drive that I want salvaged, the most important folder, which I cannot bear to do without, is my folder of photos, which contains my collection of photos dating back from 2001! I am not sure how I will cope if these are irrecoverable. It would be as if 8 years of documented memories were just erased!
I know I wanted a fresh start.... but this is definitely much more than I bargained for.
I have no idea what happened, it could be due to me accidentally cutting the power yesterday. I spent all day trying the fix the disk to no avail. I have one last hope, which is to take the drive apart and run it on a desktop PC. This will be my scheduled task for Sunday.
So here I sit, taking stock of the contents of the hard drive. I know, I know, I should have made backups! Incidentally, as Sod (or Murphy or whatever you want to call him) would have it, backing up my hard drives to CDs/DVDs is one of the tasks I have on my to-do list for this month!
Whilst there are 230GBs of stuff on the drive that I want salvaged, the most important folder, which I cannot bear to do without, is my folder of photos, which contains my collection of photos dating back from 2001! I am not sure how I will cope if these are irrecoverable. It would be as if 8 years of documented memories were just erased!
I know I wanted a fresh start.... but this is definitely much more than I bargained for.
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