some food on the second day

second day now in paris, 30 may 2011. what fine weather we had!!

this is gonna be about food only while i am waiting for my mamee kari berapi ready. well, some hot food is comforting for the stomach eh. they don't usually eat hot breakfast like what we have in malaysia. breakfast is mostly pastry and hot beverage.

so yesterday, well, today is 31 may 2011 tuesday, i made them follow me all the way to one of the restaurants i found on the internet which has good review. so here we were for breakfast:

terminus nord restaurant, just opposite gare d' nord. i think the place has been in paris for a long long time since the end of 1800s.

we should stay here for either lunch or dinner as well i think. i have a list of restaurants to go but sometimes it is kinda hard to find their locations although the names of the streets are given as well. you should check out the map of paris and look at the kaleidoscopic streets on it. your eyes will see things!
we ordered the set breakfast with a choice of hot beverage, fresh orange juice, and 2 pieces of pastry. the strawberry jam was heavenly!!! so good!!!
huge and flaky croissant! went so well with the butter, well i like mine salty.
this is kinda hard but when i tasted the strawberry jam, all was forgotten.

we visited galerie lafayette yesterday but i got nothing there. however, half my wallet is emptied when i reached printemps and that was where everyone shopped as well.
i think lafayette is soo soo soo over-rated. the crowd there was huge and the lines outside the boutiques were silly.
however, once you go over printemps, the amosphere is so much better and i think the boutiques here as bigger and have a bigger selection of bags too. yup! bags!!! that was what we got. mine? hahah.....wait lah.....i will reveal it. in fact, i have already used it yesterday!

have anyone tried macarons? people you have to try this in paris eh? well, i did, and i bought mine from laduree which has a small outlet in printemps right at the entrance. do i like it? errr..... it is only ok. maybe there is a lot of work put in to create this fine rounded cookie but i dun find it delicious wor. there is no melt in the month kind of sensation. and everyone found them kinda sweet unless you take those fruity flavoured one. hmm....i think my love with macarons end here.
passion fruit, citron and stratacella flavours.

said to be one of the best ice-creams in paris. well, it is really good.we chose to sit at the restaurant. very rich in all the fruity flavours we chose.

my quite miserable looking lunch from lafeyette gourmet section. but the sauce was good. not bad....13 euro!!!

found this japanese pastry shop in lafeyette gourmet section too...heard it was featured on discovery food channel.
ok, it was not supposed to be looking like this, but i had it packed and walked around the mall with me, hence when i reached the hotel, it turned out this way but still yummy.

still 29 may 2011...here on the blog

let's continue walking around paris on day 1. yup, walking is the activity of the day.

we reached the place de la concorde where the obelisk from the luxor temple in egypt is located. the obelisk is located between two fountains in the middle of a roundabout.
the obelisk with hieroglyphics carved on it.

look straight down the street from the obelisk, you have the arche de triomphe on avenue champ elysees. this photo was taken during sunset......and guess what is the time for sunset?? if my memory serves me right, it should be after 8p.m. when this was taken.
i have only seen night yesterday when i came out of moulin rouge's theatre and that was at 11p.m. the other days, i had retired at the hotel before the sun even set.

now to some makan....this was dinner on the first day. we passed a bistro cum restaurant called la source on the way to pont d' alexandre 3 and saw the food served to the customers eating at the sidewalk tempting, hence we decided to stop.
however, the food was kinda disappointing. it was just plain ;( i guess the rich indian lunch earlier still lingered in our mind and we still could not forget how good it tasted.
roast chicken
salad
hard bread
dessert: chocolate mousse, cream cheese, caramel custard and fruit salad.
but the beer was good, this beer.

ok...the time now is 7.10a.m. in paris, i am going to go and get a kettle to boil some water to have my breakfast of instant noodle. gonna take the train later to versailles. the weather is only 12C outside. the maximum will be 18C and the mininum 8C ;(
it is going to be wet as well. so i am gonna get all prepared for the weather with my malaysian umbrella ;)

till then.

around sunny paris on day 1

gonna get ready for moulin rouge after this, but am trying to make use of the time.

so i am posting some photos taken yesterday when we went to eiffel tower after having that indian lunch.

nope, i did not go up the tower. the queue was kinda long because it was sunday and the weather was damn good. so all parisians came out in drove to bask in the sun.

am planning to go up if time permits. time is not enuf!!!

view of the tower from trocadero, you just have to cross the short bridge to reach the base of the tower.
our mode of transport in paris of course. it is kinda weird buying tickets here. it is cheaper to buy in a pack of 10 and each ticket can be used one way only. but of course, they also sell day tickets. but we did not get it since by the time we left the hotel to go sight-seeing, it was already more than 3p.m. and we only planned to go one place and walk around and then come back to the hotel. so we bought a pack of 10, and now we still have extra 2 tickets. (there are 4 of us this trip)
hmmm...how many statues are there here?? ;P
did not change into any dress or skirt lah. i only took off another shirt and voila, i also basked in the sun like the parisians but of course with my new hat on.
a military building facing the eiffel tower. dun ask me its proper name, i have no time to google it now and give more details haha
street performers around eiffel and of course, lots and lots of vendors, mostly indians and blacks selling replica of eiffel.
another angle from the bottom of the tower.
a carousel nearby.
pont du alexandre 3, one of the most beautiful bridges in paris. we walked all the way there. it was hot and dry, but what the heck.


les invalides, napoleon's grave. but we did not go in. the dome was gilded in gold. so magnificent under the bright sunlight


ok, gtg now. time to put on the jacket and check out some cabaret dancers. the sky is still soo soo bright. but today it is slightly windy and cloudy. tomorrow's weather is expected to be wet ;( i am going to versailles to see the palace. hope the forecast is wrong. haha....
tata till next round

little india in paris

bonjour again from paris. i am still in the hotel now and the local time is 7.50a.m.
just woke up and can't wait to blog again. i love writing on this macbook air. so thin and light.
ahhahaha...damn, i am so in love with this.
going out at 8.30am. for breakfast. wanna try some french pastry.

did not get a good night's sleep last night. i think i went to sleep too late. past midnight here. never mind....i am gonna have fun. the weather today is going to warm!!!! yippee! time to get burnt ...okok tanned.

ok the photos below are not in proper order yeah. no time to really arrange everything tidily. here are a little bit more of yesterday's arrival in paris.

the air france flight was all right and we took the train to gare du nord, the station near our hotel. it is eurostar main station too. however, there was a slight delay from the airport because they closed the train terminal where i was at because of suspected luggage. so we had to take the airport shuttle to another terminal to board the train. french policemen are machos!!! so fit in their dark blue uniform hahaha.

and when i arrived at gare du nord station, another handsome parisian helped me. this time in the shape of an air attendance from air france who had just landed from san francisco. he saw me not knowing where to turn once i got off the escalator and offered to help. so kind. he brought us all the way to the right exit to our road turning into our hotel. wahhaha....encounter with french gentlemen in uniforms!!!

our hotel is only 1 minute walk from the metro and train station. woohoo!! so convenient. it is no high-class area, but very 'black' area. you can smell india here! haha....not the black you imagine when u get here, but it feels like home away from home. there are many asian markets here and we even bought mangoes from india to eat. so i dun think i will miss home these few days.

the receptionists at my hotel, hotel faubourg are also very friendly and helpful. phew!
my hotel is kinda quaint. the building is old, but the interior has been renovated. the lift is ancient and sooo soo small! the staircase is also old but the room is clean. i am satisfied. it is a good 3-star hotel.

sorry have to start with the picture of the toilet first. told you the photos arrangement is messed up. very big for paris i think.


view from the balcony.


staircase leading to the rooms. i am on 2nd floor, the other room is on 3rd.


claustrophobic lift. can only fit one luggage and one person. i refused to go in. rather walked and lugged that piece of luggage. call it extra exercise


the place where the two men are facing each other, that is our hotel. next door, an asian supermarket.


my room. cosy and spacious for a 3-star.



my first meal!! indian!! stomachs were so hungry tat this was the first place we found few doors away and zoomed!!! eat eat eat!!! the best indian food we had had. can't find this in malaysia!

cheese naan...more like roti canai but still good.


nasi briyani. out of this world! enough spices!!! wa wa woom!

tika masala. succulent and juicy.

masala thosai. i am not a fan but they say it is good.

ok, time to go for my breakfast now. gonna paint the city in green...hahah..green dress!! woohoo! shopping! eiffel tower, seine river cruise. louvre!!

p/s: the post will come one day later ya....tonight will have a late one. gonna catch moulin rouge at 9p.m.

love and peace for 2 weeks

bonjour from paris!
my roommate is already sleeping and frankly i dunno what time it is now. i think it is past midnight or almost midnight now. the watch is not beside me, hence i am lost.

it has been a tiring day indeed. woke up at 5a.m. to catch our flight to paris. thank god the weather in paris is much warmer that what i encountered in heathrow.
brrrr....it was cold. it reminded me of the weather when i first reached london on 9 sept 1999 as a student. it was that cold. and to make it worse, it drizzled. wet and cold and miserable.

anyway, just gonna share a few photos i took...nothing really ;P
have to keep the suspense a bit lah hahahaa....

my choice of accessories for the trip. love and peace for two weeks. like???

my choice of breakfast at klia before we boarded the flight on saturday morning at old town kopitiam. it is the first time i tried their breakfast. yummy. love the toast.

as for the food on the plane, lousy. they ran out of chicken for my first meal and i had to eat fish. the second meal i took steak and it was as tough as leather. did i get my sleep? well, i watched 4 movies on the flight that is about 12 hours. so what do you think?
i was only falling asleep as the place was touching down at heathrow around 4p.m. london time when the captain announced that we were going to land ;( add hours and that was our sleeping time....zzzzz
luckily i managed to catch my sleep at ibis heathrow. no sightseeing or whatsoever. straight to the hotel and bathe and sleep.



the very simple room at ibis. you are just given the bare necessities. you even have to pay to watch tv!! so i have no idea who won the champions league but i figured it was barcelona as i saw a few fans wearing its jersey at the airport and in paris. and then i finally managed to catch a glimpse of lionel messi wearing a jersey on the front page of the newspaper as i passed a newsagent while making my way to pont dun alexandre 3.

ok better stop now. my stomach is growling. it is breakfast time in malaysia. better grab a banana before i sleep.

and oh, wait and hear what i have to say about my first meal in paris. you don't believe what i had! hope i can blog again tomorrow. had some problem earlier logging into the network.
i am writing this on a macbook air. woohoo!!! will introduce this handsome to you later. noo....it is not mine. gosh, i so want one!!!

check the countdown bar!! few more hours to go!!!

hahaha
so have i finished packing? so so lah...my luggage allowance is only 20kg on MAS, i most probably will not exceed lah. gosh, if i exceed, how am i going to shop in paris?? dump my clothes into hand carry (5kg) and my shopping stuff into the suitcase. hahaha

i am kinda tired because i did not sleep well yesterday. was i too excited? dun think so, maybe i was busy packing before i slept and had no rest before trying to sleep. well, maybe i will get some sound sleep tonight, albeit only a few hours long since i will have to wake up at 5a.m.
yup, i should be heading to the airport before 6.30a.m. to catch my 10.05 a.m. flight. i have already checked-in online, so i can arrive later.

talking about online check-in, is it a better alternative than going slightly earlier to the airport to check-in? the seats given to me are not good. initially i got row 52 (!!!) but i managed to change to 32. then i checked in for my other travelmates, and they both got row 52, there were no other available seats for them in front anymore. do you think so many people have actually checked-in or do they block the seats for those who will be checking-in at the airport?

i remember last year when i flew to shanghai. my colleague and her husband were on the same flight too. i checked in at the airport, and they did online check-in. my seat was row 16, theirs was row 30. or maybe because i was travelling alone and they were together?

well, too late now, i have already checked in and printed the boarding passes. so i hope the flight is not full and there will be extra seats.

so this morning i started with yummy breakfast from carmen. love it.
dried wantan noodles. i don't mind having the same thing for dinner too. i think my aunt in germany will be salivating seeing the photo. her favourite ;P dun worry, you will be coming back soon. i don't think noodles will be in my diet for 2 weeks, well not if you count spaghetti. i wonder what kind of food i will be trying. hope they will be good whatever the price. haiz...dun convert.

my snack bag for the trip?? again, this is from carmen who hates packing. wow! i am touched. i still remember when we went to yogyakarta, her dad had to do her packing and her dad did the snack packing too. so i guess she had learnt something from her dad huh. thank you so much. although i dun take nesvita, i am sure someone at home will take it. she even included plasters and a tiny bottle of siang pure oil so i don't have to bring the big bottle. how convenient. i will definitely not go hungry on the plane and the second day.

well, tomorrow night should find me at ibis hotel, heathrow. i am not sure whether we will be going to london yet. arriving at a 4p.m. will do rain check, literally. the weather is still kinda cold there and wet. maximum 20c, minimum 11c. brrrrrr.....

on sunday it is off to paris via air france from heathrow in the morning. estimated arrival time in paris is 10a.m. i guess it will be noon by the time i reach central paris. hope to find the weather there sunnier. well, if you check the weather forecast, it is. acoomodation will be hotel faubourg, near gare du nord. i am not asking for much, i only need clean and quiet place to rest.

ok, got to go now. time to take out the check list and start ticking what i have put into my bag. hope to log in and update when i am in europe. ...if i am not too tired by the end of the day. have a good holiday everyone!

stop 'coughing'!!!!

in the midst of all my worries due to the icelandic volcanic ash spewing in europe, there comes a little sparkle in the form of the cat without a mouth.

i heard the news about the volcano this morning on my way to work, and my worry began. haiz.....why must the volcano decide to 'cough' as i am preparing to fly to london??? why?????

i can still remember the chaos caused last year by another volcano spewing ash from iceland too.....eyjafjalljokull......no, that is not a curse from my mouth, that is the name of the volcano.

this time around the name is simpler to pronounce, it is 'grimsvotn'. please please please, dun let it close the airspace in england and france. the latest news is they have closed the airspace in scotland. i am so tensed!!!

well, the sparkle.....hello kitty tee all the way from hong kong.

got it from mienyin who just came back. she always got me something in her overseas trip. appreciated very much. but the thing is, no matter how cute the tee is, or how much sparkle it has, am i going to wear it? can you see me going out in this tee??
frankly, i can't. what will ppl think seeing a thirty-odd-year-old walking out in a hello kitty tee? is this woman still living in her childhood???

well, i hope to have the courage to wear it one day so it will not go to waste. but right now, it is going into my collection.

oh, what to pack???

all righty, packing time. after reading this post, you might think this woman is crazy to pack this way. please feel free to give your opinions. i need someone to knock some senses into me before i go overdrive with the packing.

so this is the luggage bag i am bringing. dun ask me the height and weight. i duno, but it is big enuf lah. be holding a hand carry too to put in jacket lah, stole lah, bottle lah, snacks lah, book lah, miscellaneous.

ready to see the clothes i am or thinking of bringing??

let's start with the jackets. just checked the weather in paris and london. on the day i am arriving, it is forecast that the highest is 19C and the lowest is 11C. i have no idea what it feels like when the mercury stops at 15C. chilly to the bone or just a light breeze kinda feeling?
from the left, that red one is kinda thick and heavy, then the nike windbreaker, a green cotton jacket and the denim jacket. both the green and blue are 3/4 sleeves. i am thinking of leaving the thick red one behind. too many jackets already. if i am cold, i will be wearing layers lah and throw on the pashmina stole. can??

taaaa-dddaaaaaaa!!!!! can you count how many dresses there are in the photo???
black one, 2 denim, my favourite purple dress, green rose print, plain red dress and my vintage green dress. crazy?? ok....i know there are 7 there! what if i take out one???? which one will you take out??
i think i am taking out the 3rd one that is in denim. the cloth is kinda thin and limp. not enough structure. can can??
i wanna be photographed in dresses! don't you think travel photographs look kinda boring when the person being photographed is always in long pants and shirts? so now i am vain huh?

and with so many dresses, this woman still needs tee-shirts??? is this your reaction? when i looked at the photo it was loh. have decided to take out miss marc tee (far left). not bringing many pairs of bottom to match with the shirt. i do need some tops right?

bringing a skirt...or two so i can wear the tee shirts i am bringing ;)
my wool kilt skirt which i got many many years ago in germany. am thinking of throwing in the denim skirt i wore to klcc the other day. throw in??? kilt or denim or both???

a pair of jeans, a pair of denim shorts and a pair of capri pants....oh, i am also going onboard in my black true religion jeans. am i bringing too many pairs??? are you thinking whether this woman is going for a holiday trip or fashion show?? shall i take out one pair??

my leggings and socks. well, the grey seem kinda dull but they will definitely go with lots of colours and will keep my legs warm.

two pieces of stoles. a red pashmina which i got from nepal and a batik print from yogyakarta. one for breezy day another for chilly day.....if only the weather can be predicted correctly.

shoes....i have narrowed down to 3 pairs from my collection. hahaha....not planning to bring sandals because i hate to get my feet cold. and of course you do know that when the feet is cold, the whole body will shiver next. and also, i will be visiting clarks, who knows what nice sandals they will have there. ;P
so so so.....which pairs shall i bring? definitely more than 1 pair. mom saw the collage, and she said bring all 3. hahaha...shall i listen to her??

well, if you are concerned about the space in the luggage, fret not. i have got 2 compressive bags from universal traveller and the big one is really huge. can just put all clothes inside and press the air out. i am more worried about the weight that i will be lugging.
going should not be a problem. flying from heathrow to paris, i have about 20kg allowance and coming back to kl on airasia at the end of the trip, i bought 30kg. anyway, i dun think my bag can fill more than 30kg even if i want to.

the last time i went to shanghai, the bag was almost full and it weighed 25kg. but this time i have the compressive bags hor...hmmh....fingers crossed.

so do you feel my headache?? the above does not include other small items i have to bring. umbrella, book, toiletries, socks, camera, etc. i think i will leave bringing medicine with my travel partners. i dun usually bring them. touch wood. one is saying she wanna bring hair dryer.

well, i hope the places i am staying in will have sufficient facilities and are clean. will share the places i am going to leave my footprints in and a hair or two in the next post.