There are no Swedish fish in Sweden?

I had a great experience couchsurfing in Zurich.

Hannes, my couchsurfing host, is a musician (now a software engineer). He was helping friends with an Zurich guild activity that day I arrived, and I got to learn all about the guild system that is alive and well, even if these days, it´s just a social club, not related to their occupations.

I got to help out making bottles into instruments, seeing grown men learn to play a song in 30 minutes, in a historic and scenic part of Zurich.

Afterwards, I tagged along to a lovely BBQ, meeting a bunch of lovely people, former Swiss boy scouts. Learned the differences between the system, explained couch surfing, ate some seriously delicious meringues with double cream on it, and watch a swiss movie in the backyard.

While there, I also got to meet Eva, Hannes room mate, and fellow couchsurfer. We had a great lazy Sunday morning vegging and talking on roof with great cappuccinos made from Hannes' very serious expresso machine. Oh yes, I got raccoon eyes again. It was in the mid 20's (celcius) and sunny all the days I was in Switzerland.

I also got to meet Melissa (a fellow couch surfer) and her friend Jaynie from Corvallis. We had a great time walking around Zurich, the promenade, and having dinner.

On Monday, I stocked up on Ovalmaltine (Ovaltine to the rest of the world) products...that means 15 (yes 15!!) bars of chocolate, 1 bag of the ovalmaltine, and 1 jar of ovalmaltine spread (for myself), in addition to a few other bars of chocolate. My backpack's content is now 50% chocolate!

I head off to Basel on Tuesday, as I had a flight to Stockholm to catch that afternoon. It is a short 1 hr ride from Zurich to Basel. I spend a few hrs exploring Basel, the old town center is actually quite nice, I wish I had more time to explore. The Euroairport is a mere 20 minutes from the hauptbahnhof.

The Ryanair flight to Stockholm was uneventful. I found my hotel easily. Met up with my friend Elisa.

I spend today exploring Stockholm with her, visiting various museums. Tomorrow, more museums and more Stockholm!

Things to note:
* They don´t sell Swedish fish in Stockholm
* I saw the bat mobile near the hotel this afternoon
* I saw them filming something (not sure what) near the hotel

I will post photo if/when I get to an internet terminal with an USB port.

On the way to Zurich

I love NYC!

I have been lounging around, eating good food (Billy's Cupcake, Japanese Grill, Ippudo Ramen, New York Pizza). But it was hot and humid for the last 2 days. It's always my luck to land in the middle of heatwave in NYC!

I am flying out this afternoon for Zurich, and wouldn't you know it, NYC is absolutely gorgeous with cool autumn weather!

Anticipating cold weather (cold for me, as I have been spoiled by bay area weather), I stole (technically borrowed) the alpaca hat that I knitted for my brother last winter.

Next stop Zurich Switzerland.

NYC - Ming Tsai at Prosperity Dumpling

I had a fairly uneventful flight from San Jose to Newark (via Dallas Fort Worth). It's been years since I went into Manhattan from New Jersey. Much has changed on that side of the river. It's now all condos.

Today I went to dim sum with my brother in Chinatown. As usual, I accompanied him on the task of restocking his freezer. This means stopping by Eldridge Street and going to buy frozen dumplings.

So we go to Prosperity Dumpling (46 Eldridge St), where for $1.25, you can get 5 steamed or fried dumplings. They also sell wonton soup, hot and sour soup, and other food for super low prices.

This shop is very popular with the local kids (there is school across the street), and NYC foodies. As we were leaving, there were other customers who bought dumplings to go. It was 3 asians, a man and two women. One of the women had a large professional camera. It's not unusual to see foodies take picture of their food, but it was when the men said "This is so good!" regarding the fried dumplings, that I realized. It was Ming Tsai, the celebrity chef from Simply Ming on PBS!

Update: this is what it was for

http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2009/09/ming_tsai_picks_his_favorite_downtown_dumpling.html?e=grubstreet--20090929

Ready. Set. Go.

A friend told me, bad things happens in 3's. If so, does having windows on your one and only computer crash, loosing all data count? The computer is fine, I just had to re-install windows, but my data are all gone. I sure hope it counts...the good vibes needs to start happening NOW!

All my major trip bookings are done. I am even checked in for my flights from Basel to Stockholm and Stockholm to Paris. Packing is mostly complete, just did my last load of laundry, it's in a pile on my couch, awaiting processing.

Almost all perishables gone from my fridge. What to do with napa cabbage, one tomato & one red pepper? Baked cookies, to be distributed tomorrow, and some to bring to my brother in NYC.

Trip Stats:

Total cost of air/train/hotel: $1956.34
Approx cost per night: $67.46

My destinations:
NYC
Zurich
Stockholm
Paris
London
Norwich

Trip Bookings almost done.

I have been procrastinating finishing the booking for my trip..but alas, I am almost done, except for the accommodation for my first night in Stockholm. Cost has been kept very low thanks to flying Ryanair (which I will no doubt regret later), booking train tickets early (eurostar, trainline), priceline (for London) and generous Couchsurfers (crossing fingers).

Stockholm is probably my most expensive destination, but I am sharing accommodation cost for 2 nights with the high school friend I am meeting up with. I also got a good deal at the Nordic Sea Hotel (known for the Absolut Vodka Ice Bar) for one night in a single express room for SEK 490 ... a fantastic deal.

The cost so far:

Total Airfare/Train Cost: $1254.98 (that includes the fare to europe and to NYC)
Total Accommodation Cost: $600.83 (still need to book one night in Stockholm)

Home made pizza..sort of...

Decided to attempt to clean out my fridge & freezer a bit before my trip, so I made pizza from a some frozen steaks (from Costco), frozen garlic naan (Trader Joe's), cheese, mushroom. I did end up buying sauce, tomato and sweet peppers at the farmer's market.

Gathering the stuff I need for hitting the road

It has been over 16 months since my last trip overseas... that trip was easy. Just two stops, Tokyo and Hong Kong. That is the longest between big trips since 2000.

Every day I am remembering things I need to find and bring with me.

Plug adapter for my electronic goods. I am packing light, won't be bringing my laptop. But I do need the plugs to recharge the batteries for my camera and mp3 player. I need to check my phone's charger is dual voltage...hope I can take advantage of the WiFi on it to keep in touch while I am away.

Also need to bring the mini tripod...though when was the last time I really used it...to bring or not to bring?

New blog, new adventures....

Welcome to Baguette & Nutella, named after my favorite breakfast combination.


I am about to embark on some new adventures: traveling, no doubt lot's of food, maybe a change in career. I am not sure what is around the corner, but come what may...hopefully I will learn something new, about the world, and myself.