Pages

The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” – G.K. Chesterton

Thursday 27 February 2014

B&B Carla, Pisa (Italy)

We usually stay at hotels when we travel, but we had such good experiences with bed & breakfast-style accommodations in Italy previously, that I wanted to do the same for our latest trip to Italy last summer. We were in Pisa for only one night, and we stayed at B&B Carla which I'd chosen based on the raving online reviews on both tripadvisor and hostelworld. And what a great choice it was! Carla and Mario were absolutely charming, super-friendly and very hospitable! They picked us up at the airport where we'd arrived from Paris, welcomed us into their gorgeous home and passionately explained their city. Mario even drove us to the main part of Pisa and picked us up again after dinner! The chauffeur service was unexpected and very much appreciated since I was 5 months pregnant travelling with a young child.

Spacious bed for hubby, myself and my expanding belly:

The boy had his own single bed (just visible to the right of the photo). On the table in front of the glass door were packaged breads, water bottles, glasses and teacups:

Lovely fan:

The beautiful Tuscan house is located in the suburbs, and the rooms were fabulously spacious. We were welcomed with biscuits and cakes in the room, and it was convenient having tea and coffee-making facilities in the room. There are four rooms available, but incidentally, we were the only guests in the house because Carla and Mario were closing their B&B services for the summer the next day. I was glad to have just made it in! We had a very comfortable sleep, and ate very well at breakfast the following morning. Though we were only 2 adults and 1 child eating breakfast, Carla provided a large spread for us including several kinds of cakes and biscuits, fresh fruits, salami and cheese. The highlight of breakfast was definitely the cakes and pastries and other baked goods that were sourced freshly made. Carla was also helpful in pointing out safe and unsafe foods for our allergic son. There was a lot of food, and Carla told me to pack some for the train ride to Cinque Terre.

The usual breakfast suspects, including cereals, yogurt, bread and spreads:

Biscuits, tarts, muffins and croissants:

It was truly a pleasure to stay in Carla's and Mario's beautiful home, and B&B Carla is the epitome of what a B&B should be!

B&B Carla
Via Agostino Bertani, 6
Sant'Ermete
56121 Pisa
Italy
Tel. +39 338 368 7405

Monday 24 February 2014

Wedding @ The Red Scooter, Melbourne (Australia)

And I'm back from our trip to Melbourne! The main purpose of the trip was for my younger sister's wedding, of which I had the privilege of being the maid-of-honour (more accurately 'matron-of-honour', but this title makes me feel old). And what a wedding it was! Unfortunately I have very little photos on my camera due to being highly occupied with bridesmaid's duties, but I did make it a priority to take photos of the food to share on my blog. I don't usually blog about wedding food, but this was perhaps the best wedding food I've had. My sister said they chose The Red Scooter based on the reviews for the food, but everything else was also excellent. The staff ensured that the event flowed smoothly from before the start of the ceremony to after we bid farewell to the newlyweds at the end of the night. The venue itself was gorgeous, a great choice for a contemporary-style wedding. I loved the black and red colour scheme, which tied in very nicely with the wedding colours of storm grey and dark red. The ceremony was held in a small hall, and both the cocktail and reception dinner were held upstairs. The following two photos of the venue were taken on the day before the wedding when we were at The Red Scooter for the rehearsal.

The room where the canapes were served. On the big day itself, the curtain was drawn (just where the blackboard is in the background) to give the illusion of a much smaller room...

... then when it was time for the guests to move on to the dinner, the curtain was drawn to reveal a beautiful dining area:

The pre-dinner canapes served after the ceremony were delicious, and we enjoyed seven different types including crispy lemon chicken, Peking duck pancakes and ceviche of scallops with guacamole (my fave!). Unfortunately I have no photos of the canapes, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

The wedding cake:

The bridal party table partially set (this shot was taken about 10 minutes before the ceremony began):

The girls from the bridal party were ushered up to the bridal suite located above the reception dining room, hidden from view, to freshen up before making our entrance for the reception dinner. After the guests were seated, they enjoyed viewing a heartwarming video of the newlyweds containing photos from their childhood to the present time:

Mixed leaf garden salad:

Roasted garlic rosemary potatoes:

Asiette main course with Roast Chicken (leg crusted with bay, lemon and sea salt, charred artichokes, dutch carrots and garlic dressing), Eye Fillet (with cabernet sauvignon jus and red onion jam), and Crisp Skin Salmon (with baby bok choy and a red capsicum dressing). The other bridesmaids loved the chicken, and I liked the salmon. The eye fillet was done a bit too rare for my liking, but the seasoning and accompaniments were so good that I ate it all:

The assorted sorbet in espresso glasses was what The Red Scooter called 'Roving Dessert'. Waitstaff went around with these desserts, and those who wanted it got one (or two or three). The exception was the bridal party table which sat empty during this time because we were busy going from table to table doing "yam seng" (drink to success), a fun traditional Chinese toast where each table would compete to give the loudest and longest (it's a tradition for our side of the family anyway). These sorbet glasses were placed on our tables so we didn't have to miss out on it:

A table was set up in the canapes area with a range of yummy desserts for the guests to help themselves to, and the venue called this 'Bakers Market'. These were so good!

Mini Apple Pies, served cold and dusted with cinnamon sugar. Assorted Macarons in the background:

Fresh Fruit Tarts, topped with lemon curd and fruit:

Mini Choc Tops:

The wedding cake, cut into neat pieces. Gluten-free layered chocolate and orange & almond cake with butter cream frosting. Very good for a gluten-free cake:

The plate I took for hubby who was on baby duty. Clockwise from top: mini apple pie, 'Paris Brest' (profiteroles filled with almond custard, whipped cream and dipped in chocolate), choc-orange macaron, fresh fruit tart, wedding cake, lemon meringue tartlets, and a mini choc top:

The food was beautifully presented and tasted delicious. The Red Scooter may not be cheap, but my sister and her husband got what they paid for! (My relatives were still talking about the food the next day.)

Kids on the dance floor. Yes, that is my 5-year-old burning up the dance floor. Hubby reckons it looks like our boy is doing the windmill when I showed him this photo. In fact, our boy had so much fun on the dance floor that he remained there for the next couple of hours, burning up all that pent-up energy from having to sit still, breaking only to drink water:

The Red Scooter
25 William St
Balaclava VIC 3183
Australia
Tel. +61 3 9527 6846

Thursday 13 February 2014

A short g'day!

Hello from Down Under! I'm in Melbourne at the moment for my younger sister's wedding, and I've been flat-out busy with since the weekend with packing and preparations for the trip, and then with matron-of-honour duties upon arrival two mornings ago. Will be back to regular schedule in a week's time!

Monday 10 February 2014

Elegant afternoon tea @ LE SALON DE THÉ de Joël Robuchon (Elements), Hong Kong

Our fave French chef Robuchon has opened his third LE SALON DE THÉ in Hong Kong in the mall downstairs. I had afternoon tea with a friend at the tea salon in The Landmark about a year ago, and wanted to share the experience with hubby, however the opportunity never came up. Last weekend was the Lunar New Year 4-day long weekend, and for the first time in 3.5 years, hubby took leave from work on a HK public holiday so that he could give me a hand with the kids. We had such a grand fun family time! On one of the days, time slipped by us, and we still hadn't had lunch by 2:30pm. The 5-year-old had his snacks so he was okay for late lunch, the 2-month-old had already drank her lunch, and I wasn't that hungry, but hubby was starving! Since afternoon tea would be served soon at 3pm, we decided to head back towards home and go to the new Salon de The for a small late lunch to tide us over until dinnertime.


The long queue for afternoon tea:

There was already a long queue waiting to enter the tea salon at 2:45pm, and we weren't seated until an hour later. We don't usually have the patience to wait that long to eat, but we spent a long time debating whether to stay or leave that we were at the front before we knew it. This would be a lovely place to enjoy afternoon tea at a leisurely pace, but we were in and out as soon as we were finished (thus the way it has to be when dining out with young children), that the next group in line behind us were still waiting for a table. The service at this tea salon was better than the one at The Landmark, and the food was of course nothing short of excellent.

The boulangerie for take-away or eat-in purchases:

The sleek black-and-red interior is signature of Robuchon, and this salon is more spacious than the one at The Landmark:

One of my favourite Robuchon restaurant design concept is the 'open' kitchen, and though this is not an open kitchen per se, there's a window where we could watch chefs work on the crepe hot plate. The chef on the left was incredibly shy considering his work in front of the window:

The teapots were heavy! These were round compared to the angular ones used at The Landmark:

Lemon ginger tea for me and passion mango tea for hubby, pictured with Devonshire clotted cream and homemade strawberry jam (with a lovely hint of rose flavour) for the scones:

Afternoon tea set for two:

Homemade daily scones - plain scones and chocolate cherry scones. Scones are my favourite item of any afternoon tea:

Sandwiches tier - buttery mini croissant, smoked salmon and salmon egg sandwich, Maine lobster and mango sandwich, vegetarian eggplant sandwich and French-style black truffle sandwich. All very dainty, and gone within seconds:

Pastries - raspberry eclair, lemon tart, a mille-feuille like piece, a macaron ganache (I believe it was lemon-flavoured), chocolate almond cake, homemade chocolate (with candied orange), and an Earl Grey cake. All delicious (and unfortunately most are not safe for nut allergy sufferers like our son):

Everything was impeccable, as to be expected. We would love to come back and try the lunch menu. I'm pretty happy that we now have a French restaurant so close by!

LE SALON DE THÉ de Joël Robuchon
Shop 1020B,
1st Floor Elements
1 Austin Road West
Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2351 6678

Thursday 6 February 2014

Italy 2013: Pisa

Italy holds a special place in our hearts, so we were excited to head there again to explore other regions. Our main destination in Italy was the beautiful Cinque Terre, and we decided to break up our train journey from Paris with an overnight stay in the little town of Pisa. We all know Pisa's most famous landmark is the Leaning Tower, and the Eiffel Tower-obsessed boy was excited to view another tower. Pisa is only a small town, and we could see all the worthwhile sights in one afternoon.

The famous Leaning Tower of Pisa:

The Pisa Cathedral (click on image for larger view):

The Pisa Baptistry opposite the Cathedral:

The Cathedral facade, shadowed by the Baptistry:

Part of the Piazza dei Miracoli with the Camposanto Monumentale (Monumental Cemetary) on the left and the Cathedral up ahead. The Baptistry is immediately to the right of this shot, and the Leaning Tower is behind the Cathedral. Click on image for larger view:

Hubby really wanted to stop by Galileo's birthplace:

Palazzo della Carovana, the main building of the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa that makes up part of the Pisa University System (click on image for larger view):

This Church of the Knights of Order of Saint Stephen is also part of the University:

Walking down the pedestrian street through town from Piazza dei Miracoli to the train station:

Crossing Ponte di Mezzo, the main bridge in Pisa:

The Arno River reminded me of the view from another Italian bridge:

Walking through a pedestrian street mall:

The walking tour of Pisa only took a few hours to complete. Stay tuned for more!