Eating in Grenoble

Switzerland is an expensive country so we were glad to drive across to Grenoble for two days. In stark contrast to the working culture in Europe where the border between work and play is clearly delineated, the parents had arranged a business meeting there during our vacation.

We arrived in Grenoble, hungry and on a Sunday, to mostly closed shutters. Thankfully, some restaurants and shops along the main tourist street were opened for the day. So we popped into an eatery across the Notre Dame for a hearty meal and some wine.

Baked potatoes with salmon

Beef!

As compared to where we came from, we ate really well in France as food was more affordable. We stocked up on fresh strawberries and cherries, crusty bread and yummy cheese. Ahhh...such indulgences are hard to replicate back home. And even if we manage to, eating such fresh produce is pricey and unsustainable in Singapore.

There was a bakery near the city centre that I ran into on three different occasions (over a period of just two days!) to grab some freshly baked bread and tarts. Grenoble is famous for the production of walnuts and the tarte aux noix (walnut tart) was divine! 

Breakfast from our spree at the supermarket

Tarte au citron, tarte aux poires, the most amazing tarte aux noix and a chocolate cake 

Our last meal before heading back across the border was at a creperie. While we were not in Brittany, where the humble crepe originated from, it was a great meal. I loved the buttered apples and salted caramel crepe, which we had for dessert. My sister who is an extremely picky eater loved the meal and kept asking for crepes over the next few days!

Hamburger steak galette

Buttered apples and salted caramel. Oh, be still my heart!

Family vacations

Family vacations are great times to reconnect with the ones that are near and dear. Despite living together in crowded little Singapore, I tend to spend less quality time with my family. 

Mayhaps it is because the introvert in me craves for private moments. There have been times when I desperately desire to move out and be on my own but there is always a feeling of homesickness that pervades the soul during long periods abroad. 

Our time driving around Switzerland and France, sharing moments over food was a dream. It doesn't hurt that the country is gorgeous (despite the hefty price tags). 

Fête de la Musique weekend in Geneva

I had the good fortune of escaping the haze situation in Singapore for slightly more than a week when we flew to Europe for my brother's graduation. Despite the butt numbing-ly long flight times in between my blanketed-in-haze country and Europe, I would choose to return to that part of the world in a heartbeat. I fell in love with the continent, the gorgeous landscape and fresh smell of grass in the air, and the culture and architecture when I first went over for French immersion in Montpellier, and then for a semester exchange programme in Leeds during my undergraduate days.

We were lucky that our arrival in Geneva coincided with Fete de la Musique (or the Festival of Music) weekend. Although fatigue was kicking in as we battled the effects of a red eye flight filled with moody babies, we joined the throngs enjoying music at every corner in the old town. It was a nostalgic experience as the last time I was in Europe during the festival was 5 years ago in Montpellier! Ahh, such memories.

These guys were really popular!

A little violinist came out to play

Strings playing in a cathedral

On a completely unrelated note, I have started using items usually found in the kitchen on my hair. I have had enough of expensive products that contain chemicals and have turned to using coconut oil and apple cider vinegar on my scalp, and to restore vibrancy to my increasingly brittle hair. And it is working! I love how soft my hair feels after using those ingredients.

On MOOCs

I learnt about MOOCs early on when Coursera rolled out its test courses. It was an exciting experience and I  feverishly signed up for and participated in multiple courses. Naturally, I could not finish all that I had started as I was also juggling work, night classes and my social life. Disappointingly, I have only fully completed one course, Fantasy and Science Fiction. And by fully completing, I mean that I watched all the video lectures, read all the required texts, completed all the assignments on time and participated weekly in forums. (I do admit that some courses that I signed up for were too difficult for my mind that was too accustomed to arts and humanities, and I was not putting any effort into understanding the concepts).

Ever since the end of that class, I have been slacking off learning online and have instead fed my mind with shows series chosen had smart, witty dialogues, and great plots, I missed the aspect of learning and discovering new perspectives. 

The mind numbing activity of loading one's mind passively with drama became dulling so I started lining up books to read again. In between work and home, I have been scurrying to the library in an attempt to enrich my mind. But I missed learning from people and being part of a community.

Coursera recently posted a blog entry about an autistic boy. His loving father shared how MOOCs provided him with an safe space for learning and made him more confident. I liked the part where the boy describes the courses as "not impossible". That should be my outlook in learning and in life. 

The internet has transformed the world and I feel extremely lucky that I can tap on this free platform for university level courses from universities around the world. And I will take full advantage of this. Previously, I took the quick approach to learning online and had a tendency to speed through classes, But I will do it differently this time, and slowly savour the entire learning process, absorbing the knowledge that the lecturers freely share.

The food adventure continues...

Seafood is one of my great loves in life. Whenever I go for an international buffet, I can usually be found in line for the offerings from the sea. I could eat those things forever!

Before flying to Ho Chi Minh City, I stumbled upon a seafood dinner tour and wanted to sign my friend and I up for it. Unfortunately, they were fully booked that weekend. So, we decided to have our own seafood feast!

Google proved to be really helpful in throwing out dining suggestions and we found ourselves near the backpackers' area for dinner.

And eat we did! We ordered to our heart's content and devoured the available shellfish. Such decadence is not wallet friendly in Singapore and seafood is not often available in so many cooking styles (steamed with lemongrass, stir-fried with a unique peanut sauce, etc). So we pointed with wild abandon at the menu and savoured the lovely morsels that were placed carefully on our table.

Cockles cooked with garlic

Snails

Squid

Clams with lovely peanut toppings

We left quietly content but our food adventure was not to end yet. The next day, we went in search for French food for lunch. Unluckily, Sunday turned out to be a day of rest for most of the restaurants in the French quarter.

Eagle-eyed and ever on the look out for good food, YL spotted a French creperie along the street that was open for business and it turned out to be a really great place for lunch (and shelter from the heat).

At La Creperie

My order with anchovies and olives

YL's squid crepe

Living it up in Saigon

The punishing heat beat down upon our backs as we walked through District 1 in Saigon. Armed with a sketchy map of the area and an umbrella that we shamelessly borrowed from the hotel, we trooped out into the hot sun. We left Singapore to escape reality and the dreariness of work, but could not leave the oppressive Southeast Asian heat behind (well, not unless we ventured a little bit further away from the equator).

The only plans we had were dinner plans so we went about aimlessly and sought shelter in the first museum that we came across, which was the Ho Chi Minh City Museum. It was housed in a colonial building much like the National Museum back home.

Ho Chi Minh City Museum

We left after viewing the exhibits for food at a nearby French bakery. The pastries were dreamily beautiful and made me long for a cafe of my own. We then hopped to another cafe for coffee and desserts at a place near the Opera House. L'usine was tricky to find, but was a charming hideout from the punishing heat. 

At L'usine

Coffee, cupcakes and good conversation

My stomach was never in want during the entire trip. Shortly after this, we joined the crowd buying noodles at a corner street stall and shared a bowl of steaming goodness. Ahh, this is the life.

At the bustling street stall 

I live for random, spontaneous moments

A job that is only good to pay the bills can be soul crushing. One yearns for escape when caught in such a place.

For me, escape comes in the form of trips abroad, however short-lived and temporal they might be (that is, until the day when my other plan can be put into action). So when YL suggested a weekend trip to Ho Chi Minh city, I jumped at the opportunity without a second thought.

We lived a weekend of reckless hedonism where we made multiple stops for food and drink without any consideration in the world. And oh boy, was the food at every corner stall good! Travelling with YL was refreshing. Her willingness to be fully immersed in a foreign culture and to splurge on tastes that were local to our chosen destination were a refreshing take to my own brand of travel - maximising returns with little investment.

As with all Southeast Asian countries, street food in Ho Chi Minh was a wonderful explosion of tastes. We started out with a traditional bowl of pho and then, we allowed our stomachs to lead the way through the city.

A good warm bowl of pho to begin with

Walking through the Ben Thanh market in search for food.

Favourite shellfish and squid!

First up, a pipping hot bowl of prawn/crab noodles

Vietnamese spring rolls

Some gooey breakfast food

Vietnamese pancake!

Colourful glasses of goodness to wash our hearty breakfast down

We lived like kings, we felt invincible.