Food Princess Reports

It finally feels like China to me, whew!

2011-05-03T05:08:00.008-05:00

This morning’s first challenge was to find the train station, then the platform and my seat. Luckily the characters on my ticket included English numbers. What a difference from 19 years ago when nothing was in English. I sat in the 2^nd class and the train was clean, comfortable and fast. The 45-minute ride went quickly.

Arriving at the train station in Hangzhou, I now needed to find bus Y17. Thank goodness there was a sign pointing to where the buses were in English, but after I followed it upstairs, I still wandered around for a half hour to find the right bus, as there was no order to where which bus was located.

I almost gave up, but perseverance paid off and I found it. The hostel had sent me directions, which is how I knew to take Y17, but only sent me the stop name in English. Luckily someone understood what I was saying and I found out it was four stops away. I got off the bus, a bit hesitant that I was in the correct place and reread the directions. They said the hostel was down an alley way across from a hotel. I looked up and down the street and it was lined with trees. Not a building in sight. So I started walking in a direction, apparently the correct direction, because I saw the sign for the hotel, looked across the street and saw the alley. The second success of the day!

I dropped off my luggage and proceeded to explore the lake. Despite a light drizzle, the scenery was just as promised, it looked like a Chinese painting. I got a chance to climb the Leifeng Pagoda next to the lake and learned about the legend of the White Snake. I also finally made it my first monastery this trip, saw some interesting Buddhas and

was lucky enough to be there in the afternoon when the monks were chanting.

Things I am learning about China:

Traveling is going to be easier then it was, but still challenging.
My Chinese roommates always want to share some food with me, usually sweets. I need to start carrying some sweets with me.
Men in Shanghai and adjoining areas carry their girlfriend's or wife's purses.

Toilet training is very different here, once babies start walking, they wear split pants, that is there is an opening in their pants, so they can squat and toilet when needed.
Chinese people have dogs as pets, they are no longer just for eating.
As China makes their national attractions more tourist friendly they are doing it right, the pagoda I visited, had elevators and escalators, as well as music piped in discreetly on the grounds.

It’s the Little Things

2011-05-02T05:35:00.001-05:00

I am out of here on Tuesday. In order to do that I needed to buy a train ticket, that meant finding the place that sells tickets, communicating with the ticket seller and buying one. Of course I could have paid the front desk 35RM to do it for me, but that’s the cost of a good meal. The man at the front desk gave me a piece of paper, written in Chinese, which had written on it where I was going and the date I was traveling as well as directions to the office.

Off I went and I only passed the ticket office once. In my defense the sign was in Chinese. Once I realized that I had gone too far, discovering another classic looking building along the way, I doubled back and found the office. Within minutes I left with a ticket for the date and time I wanted. Triumph!

Next up was to find a place to eat. I looked into a number of restaurants, but they all looked too hooky or upscale to me. I passed a pizza place, Thai food, Indonesian food, Japanese food, Hong Kong style food, and beef in a noodle place, none of them where that interesting’ As I started back on my way to the hostel, I spied a restaurant across the street and saw fire coming from a table. That looked interesting and I crossed the street to take a closer look.

Peering into the window of the place I saw little open air stoves on each table filled with burning charcoal and people grilling skewers filled with stuff like yakatori. I ventured in, got a table, hoped for an English menu but was willing to make do with walking around the restaurant and pointing out what I wanted. They produced a menu where someone has translated some of items; I was given another menu to check off the food I wanted to order. I scanned through the menu, doing my best to pick out the food I thought was correct and ordered a dozen skewers and a beer.

Most of what I got was what I thought I ordered. I started to cook the skewered meat. Shortly thereafter the owner came over and showed me how to season it as well, he ended up cooking most of the meal for me. The meal was wonderful, I had vegetables, tofu, chicken, fish, lamb, beef, kidney and banana. The cost : 28RM or less than $5!

I was walking back to the hostel, feeling like the canary that swallowed the mouse trying to make sense if the meal was Japanese or a local specialty when I passed one of the hawker places and saw that they made the skewers and also had a ton of shellfish for sale. Tomorrow night is my last night here; do I go back to the same place or try the other one? Or do I eat even more upscale? Or eat in another neighborhood? These are good decisions to have to make.

I am having a hard time uploading, therefore the pictures will come later. I have already taken over 800!

Shanghai – “A Soulless City”

2011-05-01T04:20:00.009-05:00

Traveling for two days on and off airplanes tends to leave me disoriented and exhausted. This time was no different.

None the less the trip here was filled with its own exciting adventures. I flew business class, which on International destinations is the way to go. Or as I say, there are times when a “princess” should travel like one.

The trip began on an auspicious note with Continental’s concierge presenting me a belated birthday card and a gift of 3,000 air miles.

Next to me on the plane was a twenty-something lady just flying to London for a few days to see the royal wedding (her boyfriend works for the airline.) She was beyond excitement at getting to see this event, as I say, good for her.

Continental’s airline food is still a bit sub-par compared with other airline's international offerings and as impressive as their flat sleeper seats are, my next flight would have better ones. The flight attendants are still terrific, I hope it stays that way.

In London, I switched over to Virgin Airlines. Their Upper Class lounge puts the others I have been in to shame. The spacious and airy lounge, had an extensive menu, table service, fully stocked bar, library, game room, and spa. I enjoyed my complimentary 15-minute massage, lots of bubbly, some great food, but best of all, the steam shower.

After a five-hour layover, I headed to my plane. Virgin Air’s Upper Class with its really flat seats looked like a ghost town. While we had a full crew, there were about ten passengers in all in our section. The flight attendants were practically tripping over each other, helping us out. They told me that this was highly unusual as the flights usually go out pretty full, but it was the Prince's wedding the next day, I assume people wanted to stay in town.

I met my neighbor, not an easy feat as no seat looked at each other and out out that she was politically consultant working out of Beijing, Marge and I hit it off and she invited me to join her for cocktails Saturday night. By the way, the flight attendant made up my bed, on a plane no less, which included a cozy down comforter and two pillows. I was so tired I never made it to changing into my complimentary pjs.

First impressions:

Shanghai is an urban and sophisticated city.
I was surprised the driver had American music playing on the radio.
Driving along the freeway, the high rise apartment buildings alongside the road reminded me of Queens, New York.

I see little that resembles my experiences in other Asian cities or from visiting China 20 years ago. There is little evidence of the gray, grittiness I recalled, but a city filled with blooming flowers, with women in high heels (with their men carrying their purses, what’s with that?), men in designer clothes, and not a bit of litter on the streets. Nor do I see any remnants of any religion in sight, except for a local Buddhist temple. There are Chinese/ English signs everywhere, making it somewhat easier to get around, or least to try to figure out where one is. The metro system, is clean and efficient and the announcements about stops in both Chinese and English. By the way, all children here learn to speak English in school these days, or so I have been told.

Comment: If China can transform itself like this in two decades, there is hope for the American school system as well, don’t you think?

Le Tour Traveler’s Inn, where I am staying, is a big hostel. I am in a four person dorm with a shared bathroom down the hall. It is one of the cleanest hostels I have ever seen and there are ample toilets, showers, and hot water. My bed consists of wooded slats with a half-inch mattress and I am grateful I am in the bottom bunk. The staff is friendly enough and while I have spied a few travelers around my age, mainly I see eye candy in their early twenties. I just want to shake them, and tell them that those looks fade if you don’t take care of yourself, but it is really none of my business. I hear there is some hard partying going on upstairs on the roof, but it is quiet and peaceful on the ground floor, where I am staying.

I have mainly eaten street food since I got here, such as dumplings stuffed with soup and meat, buns with vegetables or ground pork and these delightful snacks on sticks made of tofu, fish, and or meat. Today I had some lousy congee for breakfast and some passable beef soup. The food has been similar to what I eat in Asiatown in Houston. If I have the energy, I’ll try to go upscale tonight

I visited the Jung’An Temple, which was originally built in 247AD but was destroyed in 1851 and like most of Shanghai, destroyed some more during the Cultural Revolution. Its current incarnation lacks some heart and soul and the Buddha, although lovely, did little to move me. Where are the monks or the nuns, I have grown so accustom to seeing in Asia? Where are the gongs and the bells actually ringing, rather than being items on display? Certainly not around the Shanghai I have seen. I visited the temple’s nearby park and saw beautifully landscaped gardens. I enjoyed listening to a group of adults singing their hearts out.

I walked down Nanjung Rd heading towards the Bund and found the People’s Park, also beautifully landscaped. I continued walk along Nanjung making my first purchase a bright yellow plastic watch for 35RM or a little less than $6, bargained down from 130RM, I still think I paid too much.

Yesterday I returned to the People’s Park and met some Chinese tourists. We went to a tea ceremony. Fortunately since it was in Chinese, one of the men translated for me. It was interesting, but cost around $45, which I think was very expensive. After all my room is only about $10 a night. In the afternoon I toured the Shanghai Museum. It is four stories full of Chinese artifacts, that goes through an extensive history of China through, stone, bronze, textile, money and calligraphy.

Last night I met up with Marge, from whom I stole the soulless description in the title and a friend of hers from the Beijing Embassy for cocktails. We ate canapés and I drank martinis in a restored art deco cocktail lounge, complete with a Chinese woman singing. What fun! I hope to meet up with her again in Beijing.

I am not disappointed in Shanghai, just a bit confused. This town is quite Westernized and if the majority of faces were not Asian and the predominant language Chinese, I would think that I was in some urban American city.

Today I have spent planning the next leg of my trip and catching up on things, laundry, writing, etc. I am trying to upload pictures as well for you to see. I better get this post up before I run into more things to say.

--My connection to the internet for uploading is not that good, so hopefully the pictures with explanations will be up on Flickr soon: China 2011 Week 1.

A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. - Laozi

2011-04-23T21:12:00.011-05:00

I sure hope Laozi knew what he was talking about because my plans are kind of sketchy right now.

Welcome armchair travelers: fasten your seat-belts because this is going to be another one of my great adventures and you will have a front row view of what is going on. I look forward to you joining me for the next weeks, as I document my adventures traveling through China by myself on a budget.

Wednesday begins my next travel adventure. To say that I am excited, is an understatement, I am ECSTATIC.

This time I am off to China. It is massive country, obviously, one with which I am struggling on getting a handle of where I am headed once I get there. So far I have had some good advice, let’s see what transpires once I am there and start heading from Shanghai towards Chengdu.

The Preparations

Flights

I am booked: Houston to London to Shanghai and return the middle of June Beijing-Vancouver-Phoenix-Houston. On the way out I fly Continental, then Virgin Air.

I arrive in Shanghai on Friday after a layover in London. A special shout out goes to Continental Airlines for telling me in my itinerary that I was arriving in London and Shanghai on Thursday, when in fact I arrive in Shanghai on Friday, therefore messing up my reservations for accommodations in Shanghai. On the other hand, fortunately, I was able to cash in my Continental frequent flyer mile enabling me to fly business class, most likely my last brush with luxury. But one never knows?

Packing

The packing ritual has begun. At this point I have pretty much packed the large backpack, the day pack is next.

I think I will be taking:

2 pairs of travelers pants
Skirt
Long sleeve shirt
3 camisoles
2 short sleeve button down shirts
Black t-shirt
Hoodie
Windbreaker/rain jacket
Black scarf
Long underwear
Pareo (doubles as a sheet, makeshift towel and cover-up)
Sunhat
3 bras
4 panties
2 sets of socks
2 sets of pajamas
Umbrella
Day hikers
Chaco sandals
12 packages of tissues
Toilet paper
Converters for electrical plugs, 1 Euro, 2 Chinese, 1 American 3 prong to 2 prong
Charger that works with Kindle and Blackberry
Headlamp
Bike lock
Duck tape
Pens, paperclip[p, rubber bands
Plastic bags
Metal chop sticks and spoon
Pocket knife
Business cards
Suntan lotion
Deet
Med kit:

o Cipro

o Malaria

o Ibuprofen

o Acetaminophen

o Jet Lag herbal medicine

o Anti- diarrhea medicine

o Pepto-Bismol

o Cough drops

o Earplugs

o 2 disposable syringes and alcohol wipes

o Band aids

o Antihistamine

o Decongestant

o Anti-itch cream

o Benadryl creme

o Mosquito coil

o Baggies

o Cortisone creme

Money belt
China Guidebook
Kindle
DLSR camera with 2 lenses
Mini laptop
Back-up drive
Extra batteries for Blackberry, camera and headlamp
2 Books on history of China
Deck of cards
Compass
Toiletries

o Hairbrush

o Comb

o Deodorant

o Soap

o Shampoo

o Razor

o Dental floss

o Toothbrush

o Tooth paste

o Night guard

o Eyeshades

o Earplugs

Wash cloth
Eyeglass case
Copies of all credit cards and passport
Eyeglass prescription
Passport with Chinese visa
2 credit cards and 2 ATM cards
Drivers license
$150 in cash
Small diary

There may be a few adjustments, some technology additions and hopefully I can eliminate some clothes and maybe some stuff in the med kit, because it feels like I am taking a lot.

Accommodations

In Shanghai, I am staying at Le Tour Traveler's Rest Youth Hostel for around $11 a night in a 6 bed female dorm room. I have made arrangements for the hostel in Shanghai to pick me up at the airport. Past experience has taught me that after traveling for two days, I am usually a bit disoriented and I would rather skip the challenge of finding my hostel.

Look for my next post after Wednesday. I will be available on Skype as well as email: Cyberprincess713.

Watch This Spot: Traveling to China this Spring

2011-04-08T09:02:00.004-05:00

In three weeks, I will begin my trip to Mainland China. Yes I will be backpacking, staying in hostels and traveling by myself.

Stay tune.

It’s Quiet Around Here

2009-12-12T16:52:00.003-06:00

In case you didn’t know, I have a writing gig with 29-95 .com. I have been writing up a storm over there. Go catch my latest posts: http://www.29-95.com/users/foodprincess.

It’s pretty exciting being a professional writer. Another one crossed off my bucket list. At this rate I will have to start adding more things.

Life is pretty darn good.

The Day That Cocktails Really Caught My Eye

2009-10-04T09:24:00.009-05:00

Please note that I plan to be writing for a Houston on-line publication shortly. Quite frankly I was embarrassed that while I have been actively twittering my dining experiences, I had not written in this blog since traveling this summer. I choose to write about Anvil as my bridge article because there is so much similarity between my experiences at Anvil and those traveling.

The other day someone asked me what my passion about food and travel have in common. I would say it is simply this; I enjoy history, tradition, architecture, innovation, beauty, and being around people who enjoy it. There is no food or drink establishment in Houston that captures these feelings more than Anvil.

A visit to Anvil can be a place one where you go to meet friends or a chance to leave the outside world behind and be transformed. When I walk in Anvil, I want to be wearing my little black dress, pearls, gloves, high heals, and a pill box hat. I love sitting at the bar and sipping my drink out of the antique cocktail glasses, watching the bartenders mix the various libations, gazing around the room at the other patrons, and giggling with my friends.

Do you know that they serve over 100 different types of cocktails?

Anvil does it with such flair that one feels transported back in time to another place. For me, it is a little bar in a hotel in Lucerne, Switzerland. The drink was a Brandy Alexander and my mother told me that this was a drink a girl could order and say to her date she could only drink one because it was so rich. I loved the taste of the drink, the twilight colored light in the bar and the beautiful glass. It is a drink I will never forget.

For me a cocktail is about the total experience, the taste and everything that surrounds it.

Currently, I would identify myself as a martini drinker. In retrospect, that became my drink of choice because I enjoyed the total experience, that of watching the preparation and then sipping my drink out of long steam glasses with a wide mouth. Drinking out of martini glasses enables me to elegantly raise the drink to lips, fill my nostrils with a large bouquet of the citrus (if it is made with a lime), then tip the glass back and fill my mouth with a refreshing cool liquid.

Therefore it is not surprising that I keep on returning to Anvil. When I order a cocktail there, each drink has a history, is crafted by knowledgeable bartenders, and served in vintage stemware.

Anvil’s New Cocktail Menu

On Thursday Anvil unveiled their new fall cocktail menu. Arriving close to opening time, I was greeted by several of my friends in the food industry, including one of the newest foodie power couples: Ecky Prabanto and David Buehrer co-owners and baristas at Tuscany Coffee in Greenway Plaza Randy Rucker of Tenacity as well as other associated local personalities.

I got a chance to take a sip of several of the new cocktails that my friends were busy sampling, it was the Pliny's Tonic that blew me away. I ordered the drink. Bobby Heugel the chief mastermind behind Anvil told me the cocktail is named after the first century philosopher and naturalist, Pliny the Elder who wrote about medicinal uses for cucumbers. The blueprint: gin, lime juice, turbinado syrup, cucumber slices, mint leaves and tincture of habanero/serrano/thai chile or a complex journey in one glass. At first sip the drink tastes sweet, then it tastes tart, and finishes spicy. I was falling in love and it was just a cocktail.

The other cocktail I enjoyed last Thursday was the Balmoral, named after Queen Victoria’s Balmoral Castle in Scotland. The Balmoral at Anvil is a mixture of Old Town Gin, Dolin Blanco Vermouth, and lavender-vanilla bitters. The drink was on the sweeter side and for those of you who like a boozy tasting drink without any tartness (no citrus), this is one for you to try.

On the Food Side

There are several cheese and charcuterie options, I have not tasted their newer choices.

Thursday I had a few nibbles of the Campari popcorn (made with sea salt, olive oil and dehydrated Campari) which was tasty. They have also added sweet potato beignets made by Plinio Sandalio, whose far from pedestrian dessert creations can be tasted at Textile in the Heights. Bobby tells me there are more food choices to come.

For now, I frequently head over for a couple of quick burgers and fries at Little Bigs on Montrose on the way home.

Bon Jour!

2009-07-14T09:22:00.001-05:00

OMG, I know it seems forever since I wrote. I came back from Romania on July 1 and left again on July 3 to drive to Virginia. After driving 36 hours with catnaps along the way, at rest stops and all night gas stations I arrived in Vienna. I wanted to get there in time to see my favorite baseball All Star, my nephew play his town’s one of the play off games.

What a game that was… they decimated the other team. On Thursday the won the town’s championship game for the 9-10 year old range. I was very glad I got to see his victory. I also got to see my other sister, her husband and children (who where there to cheer my nephew on to victory.) This week it is on to the state championship games.

I spent week at my sister’s that included my other nephew’s birthday party at the Air and Space Museum, which included a good meal at Gladstone Inn (to be documented later in some detail with pictures), I drove up to Jersey to continue my vacation with my BFF, D.

D. and I left yesterday for Canada. We made it to about an hour and a half outside of Quebec City and will arrive there shortly. I am even using some of my French, which is amusing? or comical? I believe this is the furthest north I will be going this summer in North America.

Can you believe I am on my seventh week of vacation?

My Living in a State of Mindfulness

2009-06-30T11:12:00.001-05:00

Disclaimer: This is my “new age” post.

I have just spent a month living mainly in the state of now. I did not worry much further in the future than where am I sleeping tonight, what will I do today, or when will I eat. I accepted what the situation was at the time and then acted accordantly. At times I did just what I always advise people, breathe and never felt the taffy pull of anxiety stretch my available energy to it most depleted state.

It has been a total decompression, a real holiday, as it should be, away from the pressures of my normal cares and responsibilities.

There has been plenty of room to empty my head of useless thoughts and focus in on what is important. I have cleared my mind of the seemingly endless chatter and have been able to make decisions quickly because there has been little to no anxiety in my life.

Once again I have seen the beauty of the world. The grandparent playing with a child, the unbridled joy of connecting with strangers for a meal, or sharing a travel story, or even sharing experiences together for a short time, and the kindness of a stranger when I am lost or confused, helping me see the way.

I am experiencing a strong state of gratitude. Thankful for the life I have, the friends and family I cherish, the numerous opportunities that avail themselves to me, and the connections I have made with people along the way.

It is if I have been dancing with wild abandonment and have experienced such pure joy.

This trip has affirmed for me, that I can live amongst people of different cultures and find the commonality that exists between us.

It is not always easy not knowing what lies ahead. But I never lost confidence that something new and exciting was just around the corner.

As I sit here trying to add more of the descriptive posts to my blog, I wanted to share with you my personal feelings.

No trip is complete for me without the connections, to the people and places. I fell in love with the beauty of many places I have visited and shared them at the moment via Twitter and latter at times via Facebook.

I expect this trip will sustain me throughout the year. That at times when I get upset or anxious about what is going on, I recall the attitude that helped me realize I was never never really lost, just experiencing another adventure. That I continue to expect the best from people and they in turn react in kind.

My attitude on this trip has left me open to meeting special people, seeing incredible sights, connecting with history, and learning to forgive myself and other people for things that they we are not responsible for doing.

I hope you enjoyed the travel too and found something about it that resonated with you as well.

The Final Train Ride (for this trip)

2009-06-28T11:28:00.001-05:00

I just left Brasov and I am on the train to Bucharest. I am taking the train because I heard the views are spectacular. I am being diverted from this experience by

Getting on the wrong car (I am on train 347 not car 347, you can see how I could get confused?) and
A mental challenged and drooling teenager, who also gawks temporarily sitting down across from me.

But now Minnie is all plugged in and I have a windows seat facing the right direction, with my new fav snack “Gusto” (fried corn puffs no additives, all natural, blah, blah, blah) and water to sustain me.

Sighisoara: Bring Your Garlic

My first introduction to Transylvania.

I really enjoyed my stay there. Nathan’s Villa was well kept and the people who stayed there amicable. When it wasn’t raining, I enjoyed sitting outside underneath the arboretum, drinking my a Siva beer and reading or working on my computer.

The town was fairly easy to navigate. I enjoyed running around the small Saxon city, which is birthplace of Vlad Tepes, Count Dracula, shopping at the local markets, meeting people, and visiting various buiildings

My favorite activity there was when I went to mass. The Romanian Orthodox Church service was very interesting. The service was filled with chanting and priest going in and out of a room in front, where he would open and close the doors while praying. Then at the end, the priest took loaves of bread and put candles in them, then he blew them out, but the bread in a bowl and covered it with oil, after that people came and took Holy Communion and left with bags of bread.

I made friends with a few people at Nathan’s Villa. First Neil, a British fellow now living in Sighisoara (he became night manager during our visit) via Berlin. An intelligent, interesting, and kind fellow, he seems a bit lost as to where to place himself in the world. If you ask me, he made a good decision staying on in Sighisoara, he might just decide what he should do next. The, Alison, a sweet young lady from outside of Mexico city – we will be spending more time together in Brasov.

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I liked the small town, easy pace of Sighisoara and even though there wasn’t a lot to see and do, I could have stayed a few more days (most people stay a day or so), after three days it was time to head to Brasov.

A Small Note About Romanian Food

Sausage, cabbage, meat, polenta, and potatoes, it’s fine but no where as good as the food in other countries I have been visiting. I mostly ate what I call the backpacker meal: ramen noodles, fresh vegetables, meat and egg. Backpackers eat a lot of pasta and ramen noodles when cooking in the hostels, we just do.

The Ride Between Sighisoara and Braşov

Getting off the small jitney bus at the rest stop between Sighisoara and Braşov was an experience in and of itself. Just take a look at some of the rest stop pictures. Do check out what they sell at the store, stuff for yo9ur car, weapons, snacks, trinkets….

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Bathing in Budapest

2009-06-27T13:54:00.003-05:00

I thought I would have so much time to write during this trip, but instead I have been so busy trying to see and do everything. Of course I have been active on tweeter and Facebook, so you may have been getting snippets of my experiences.

Dorm Living

First off, I decided to forgo trying to get private rooms, since in most places I would have to share a toilet and shower anyway, I needed to start embracing dorm living. They are also about a third to a half of the price of single rooms if I can get them.

This has not been without its comical and noteworthy incidents.

Living in a dorm environment one gets an education in the latest of fashion for young men’s underwear and sleeping attire. It was in Budapest, that I woke up and saw the young man next me wearing super hero underwear. Another day one of my dorm mates spent the whole day in his superhero lounge pants. But most of the time the boys (yes I am hanging out with people who are young enough to be my children and some of them is more comfortable with the fact than others) wore the traditional backpacking dark y fronts. The girls normally sleep in t-shirts and both sexes sometimes barely managed to make to their beds normally sleeping in their day clothes till the late hours of the morning.

People party hard and rarely do you see someone headed to the dorm prior to midnight or waking before nineish unless they have to catch an early bus or train. All in all at Goat Hostel, the people were pretty courteous. The staff was very friendly and did a great job of keeping the place clean.

Budda and Pest

I enjoyed Budapest, once again the architecture took center stage of my attention to this city.

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The outdoor sculptures, the ornate cravings on the buildings, the mosaics, on the streets or the M1 the oldest metro line in the city built in the 19th century, were like eye candy to me. Yes, once again, I walked and walked, and then walked some more dazzled by what I found every time I looked ahead or around the corner.

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I also enjoyed the baths and managed to go three times, twice to Gellert Baths and once Szechenyi Furdo. I liked them both for different reasons, Szechenyi has a more local feel and Gellert was more upscale. At Szechenyi I even took a water exercise class in Hungarian. They both had numerous hot spring and normal temperature pools, steam rooms, saunas, etc.

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Dinner on the Town

My favorite meal was the one with tasting menu I ate at Olimpia which I live tweeted. It was a memorable and (I think was) 10 courses with wine pairings.

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Unexpected Connections

I am pretty open to meeting people. I was able to meet up with an artist friend of a friend of mine, who was very helpful to me. In trying to connect with her I met the owner of a gallery that had just finished showing her work.

M. the gallery owner invited me to come in on Thursday to see some of the photographs of the artists he represents. I saw some very interesting work of Eastern European photographers. Then M. asked me if he could show me some of the night life. I ended up spending the next two nights with him and a photographer from New York. God bless M., putting up with two New Yorkers for two evenings in a row.

The first night we went to the park, drank beer and listened to music. The second night was the Night of the Museums. Which is very cool, all the museums stay open until 2 a.m. and they have shuttle buses running between them.

We went to the a couple of museums. I loved the first show we saw. It was an incredible contemporary art show at the Műcsarnok. The picture to the left was taken by S. of all three of us.

Whew – I think that gives you a snippet of Budapest. Let’s see if I can start writing more about Romania tomorrow.

Some Budapest Pictures Posted to Facebook

2009-06-24T07:02:00.001-05:00

Pictures on Facebook

No More Overnight Trains with Robbers

2009-06-22T10:49:00.001-05:00

I am sure I have your attention now.

Yes, someone actually tried to rob me on the train from Budapest to Sighisoara. But tried is the operative word here.

It was a weird evening. First I couldn’t find my ticket. Then I found I had it in my day pack. Next I read the date 21.06 as the time instead of 23.13 which was the actual departure time, leaving me plenty of time to hang around the train station with no apparent waiting room. Hanging out at train station in the middle the night is not fun, it is spooky.

When I boarded the train, there was an anxious young Romanian woman, who spoke excellent English, already in the cabin, she had been traveling from Vienna. She was very nervous about the train. I remarked that we only had one lock on the door instead of the three I have become accustomed to on this trip. She said she had noticed that also and was concerned as well.

We reassure each other that the rumors regarding train travel are extravagated and go to sleep. Next thing I know (an hour or so later) all the lights are on in our cabin. Still half asleep I ask my roommate what is going on and she tells me someone unlocked the door and tried to enter and she shoved him out. She was working on a way to barricade our door.

I have to tell you, that I sort of did not believe her. After all she was so anxious before we left Budapest, I just chalked it up to a bad dream. Then when the Hungarian immigration people boarded she went out to talk to our neighbors. It turns out that everyone had a similar story, except two people where robbed and one of the woman’s purses was found in the WC.

Apparently I wasn’t that concerned and fell asleep again, only to woken up by Romanian immigration. For those of you following me on twitter, you know I tweeted about it. Somehow I still managed to go back to sleep, the bed was very comfortable and woke up in time to wash up before arriving.

Perhaps I was not as unaffected as I would like to think. I lost the key to my locker two times within twenty minutes this afternoon.

Bottom line, I went to the markets and bought food, made a nice lunch and went to sleep.

Now I am drinking this genuine Transylvanian beer: Silva only 7% alcohol (hiccup), typing and chatting with my French roommate underneath the arboretum in the back of the hostel.

I am glad to be out of a big city. The birds are chirping, I can hear not just the hum of the cars, but the clopping of the horses hooves as the carts go by.

Making Polish Popcorn – Part I

2009-06-18T00:00:00.000-05:00

I could bore you with more stories of all the places I have seen in Poland.

Like listening to bored street musicians.

Or visiting a church.

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Or running around Old Town, with the largest town square in Europe.

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Or going to Oswiecim to see Auschwitz-Birkenau

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to be continued…

Update from Budapest

2009-06-17T01:13:00.003-05:00

Besides the fact that I am behind with my writing, I have been having trouble uploading my blog entries with LiveWriter from this hostel. I will continue to write. Look for my tweets on the right hand side.

Budapest is another wonderful city. I am enjoying running around and relaxing. The Goat Hostel is very clean and the people are friendly. I am in a seven bed dorm, but last night it was just Tony and I. Tony is a sweet young man from Spain. People are generally considerate and it is fairly quiet.

More Prague Pictures

2009-06-13T14:26:00.001-05:00

For those of you who are not one of my Facebook friends, here is a link to the the pictures I just posted: http://tinyurl.com/nfhljj.

Things are going great in Krakow. I have been all over city, to Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim, the Salt mines, and Zakopane.

Prague ----> Krakow: Terror on the Train?

2009-06-09T15:50:00.001-05:00

Eugenie and Jirca seemed especially concerned about my safety on the train to Krakow. So I place all my credit cards, passport, and money in a money belt and tied it to my waist.

Eugenie told me to never take my eyes off my luggage, so I got out my bicycle lock that I carry for situations like this iI order to be able to secure my packs to something so they couldn’t be grabbed and thrown out the window.

Between you and I, I was humoring them, I did not really think they was any great danger. Then I got on the train… it was only after I got that I began to realize I was not being overly cautious but sensible.

First the conductor comes by and tells us to always keep our money on us, to lock all three (3!) locks on the door and be careful answering the door. Then my roommate, a female for a change, tells me she was robbed on the way to Prague on the train. I then read in my guidebook to be cautious on the train and that people have reported being gassed and robbed on the train. Good lord – I should have looked into this before I left.

I did some other mistakes, the biggest, I ate a big dinner with lots of liquid before I left. I know better and I normally do not drink or eat dinner before a night bus or train when I do not have a private toilet.

I went to sleep as usual, it comes to be three in the morning and my bladder is screaming. I do not know what to do. I am frightened to go outside and use the toilet. I realize I have only two choices I can wake my roommate and hope it is not dangerous to leave the cabin or use a cup and the sink. I’ll let you decide how I handled it.

Another mistake I made was choosing the top bunk. I thought it would be fun to be up high and if my roommate needed to go to the toilet, I wouldn’t be distributed. What I hadn’t thought of was, that if three beds fit in one compartment, how much head room would there actually be? We did not have anyone in the middle bed, but the top bunk was so close to the stop of the compartment that I could not sit up in bed. At least my roommate let me sit on her bed until I was ready to go to sleep.

Did I mention my roommate was from Ukraine? She had come to Prague for a convention. I was lucky she was so sweet, Her snoring did not even bother me, which most likely is due to the fact that the noise of the train drowned her out.

This experience did not sour me, I still love traveling by train. For my next trip, I will follow the no liquid no dinner rules and book the lowest berth. Since I know the score, I will be prepared with my money belt and be really to secure my luggage with the bicycle lock I carry around just for this purpose. Who knows, maybe next trip, I’ll get lucky and have a compartment just to myself?

Arriving in Krakow

All of sudden it was 6:30 a.m. Monday morning and we were pulling into the train station in Krakow. I was a bit bleary eyes but managed to get my stuff off the train and to the tram to get to the hostel. I arrived at the Elephant on the Moon hostel during breakfast and they fed me well, cereal, bread, jam, honey, ham, pate, cheese, yogurt, fruit, and lots of hot coffee. I knew I was going to like this place. No nickel and diming here. Of course I could have breakfast and I got to take a hot shower also! My room the newest one in the hostel the “Hippie Room” was ready by 10:30 and I was off to explore the town. Below are some pictures of the hostel and my room.

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Dorm Living and Other Things

2009-06-07T03:17:00.001-05:00

Confusion

Sometimes one just feels like a horse’s ass. I misunderstood about the plans for today. When Eugenie wrote me that we were going to the King Pageant, a Czech Beer Restaurant, and then to the Castle Křivoklát, I did not realize that we were not going to Jirca and Eugenie’s country home and I had checked out of the hostel.

There would be no problem with the change in plans except there was no single accommodations available. It turns out I was fortunate to get the last available bed in the hostel, the top bunk in a six bed mixed-sex dorm. To say I was not organized for this arrangement almost goes with out saying. Incidentally the dorm room is costing about $16 a night versus $44 for my other room.

Living Outside my Comfort Zone

See my bunk on top. Conditions are very tight.There are five women and one man staying in the room. How does that work for the guy who happens to have the bunk below me?

My locker is next to someone else’s bed, but I was able to score the chair across from the bunk and some hooks. I hope my eyeshades and ear plugs help me sleep tonight because tomorrow night I get to sleep on a train with another bunch of strangers.

The good news is one of my roommates is a lovely Taiwanese girl, I will talk about a little later on. But I am glad this is only for one night, it should be interesting.

After all, part of traveling is going outside my comfort zone and coping, right? Well here is one of those times.

Postscript: This blog never posted last night so I can tell you it was fine sleeping in the dorm. In fact there was something comforting about being with other people and sleeping.

FYI, this is the Breakfast / TV room. See Minnie on the right in the back? This is where I am writing this post, then I will go upstairs two flights to the dorm area and connect to WIFI. It doesn’t work in the basement because the walls are to thick.

People I Have Met at the Hostel U Melounu

I stay in hostels because it is a great place to met people. At Hostel U Melounu I have met a few interesting people.

The first couple of days there was Rose, JoAnn, and her daughter. They were from Australia. Rose and JoAnn have been best friends since before JoAnn’s daughter was born. They were traveling with JoAnn’s daughter to celebrate her 21st birthday. They I liked them and sorry we didn’t get to do anything together in town.

I sort of met my Japanese apartment mates. They were strange. This morning at breakfast they brought their luggage down to the tiny breakfast room, everyone was tripping over it. They also left a bunch of things in their room (which incidentally was twice the size of mine, with two chairs, it was much nicer, which is not a complaint but an observation, as I would rather be in my old room than the dorm.)

Last night I met two lovely Taiwanese college students on their way to France to study French. We spoke in a mixture of English and French as we somehow managed to cook dinner together in this tiny kitchen and ate together two flights down in the Breakfast / TV room.

I met a bunch of different college and post college men, one from Germany, another from China, and a couple of Mexican boys who had just graduated from UT (small world.)

I also struck up a transitory friendship with a Czech sculpture who lives in Ottawa. She turned me on to the Museum Kampa, the wonderful contemporary art museum here. When I told her how much I liked it, it turned out she had never been.

Today

By the way while the King’s Pageant was fun and Castle Křivoklát well worth the trip. It is about 45 minutes outside of town. The Czech restaurant was very good and I enjoyed my mushroom soup and duck.

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Jirca and Eugenie also took me to visit one of their friend’s weekend homes so I could see what one was like. I need to research this a bit on the internet to understand what these week-end country homes are all about.

I am quite fortunate, Jirca and Eugenie have been wonderful to me. Tomorrow night I will dinner at their house and then off to Krakow.

Weather

2009-06-05T23:15:00.001-05:00

Prague

43°F Current: Clear Humidity: 83%

Sat
57° | 50°

Sun
66° | 50°

The weather has ranged from warmish to down right cold (maybe that is why I was dreaming about snow last night?) As you can see, I believe I am at the tail end of the cold Spring weather. All I can say is that I keep moving and that helps me stay warm. Of course the Spring sun also helps, when it is not covered by grayish threatening looking clouds.

Thank goodness, as yesterday I wore a cashmere scarf, my hoodie, and windbreaker to stay warm. As you may be able to see in the picture, I was looking stuffed into my clothes, but warm.

Looking ahead to Krakow, the weather picture looks highly likely I will be retiring the cashmere scarf and long sleeve t-shirts and only be dealing with some light drizzles:

Krakow

Mon
75° | 50°

Tue
80° | 55°.

Moving Past the Beginning of My Travels: The Dreams

2009-06-05T15:43:00.001-05:00

The last few nights I have been having the dreams. The dreams that help free me of the anxieties and worries I carry around with me on a daily basis. They only occur if I am traveling for an extended period of time because it usually takes a few days for them to begin and about a week for them to end. I have to have a space, more holiday time, where I can move on to for the next phase.

The dreams are full of emotion, they are erotic, frightening, exciting, sad, violent, and so on. I think of them as if my brain was split open and every raw and primal thought and feeling were slithering out like snakes. When the dreams are over, a renewed sense of confidence settles in and I start to really live in the here and now.

Already I am beginning to measure my days not in the amount of things that get done, but in the quality of what I am accomplishing. The soreness in my shoulders is dissipating. My tasks appear simpler now and I can truly begin to see more because it is less about feeding my demons.

Chores, Ticket, Walking, and Rest

2009-06-04T16:25:00.000-05:00

I promised myself I would visit a bunch of galleries and then catch up on all my blogging and personal chores. I started the morning doing the laundry – was getting desperate, hand wash is on the agenda for tomorrow.

Trip to the International Train Station

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I finally got out to the train station and bough a ticket on the overnight train to Krakow for Sunday evening, I took the top berth in a triple sleeper car. Sunday evening I am off to a new city with new adventures and new currency, how exciting I love trains and being able to spend the night sleeping on one is such a treat, as well as saving money on a night in a hostel.

Speaking of nights in hostels, these prices are higher than I expected, I have almost given up on the idea of a private bathroom.

Lunch Time

From the train station off I went to find the Prague House of Photography which has moved there location. As I started towards what I thought was their new one, I spied a place to eat lunch.It appealed to me because:

It was crowded with Czech speaking people,
Had a reasonable set menu, and
Did not take credit cards (a sure sign they weren’t courting the tourist trade.)

For lunch I ate:

Grilovana veprova krkovicka- grilled pork neck, cabbage & carrot salad & fries with Krusovice, dark beer. It was all delicious and it had vegetables, cabbage and carrots in a vinaigrette dressing besides the usual potatoes on the plate.

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A Little Bit of Wandering

I then visited a couple of galleries I literally ran into looking for the new location of the House of Photography. I especially liked this work from Karl Karner, a Viennese artist. Click on his name to see some more of his work and the descriptions.

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Then I got tired and cold, so I decided to come back to the hostel and read. Something I promised I would make time to do on vacation and I had not gotten started yet.

Back at the Hostel

When I arrived at the hostel the housekeeper had a package for me, my insulated lunch pail and some other items. I hugged her and only took the cooler thanking her for her other gifts but they were not necessary. Now that is a great ending to the story of the missing (not stolen) lunch pail. Whenever I use it, I will always remember the lesson that I learned when I discovered it was gone.

Hopefully tomorrow I will catch up on writing about my visit to the Jewish section of town. It was a very moving experience. Not just because of the annihilation of almost the entire Jewish population, but of the great scholars that lived here and have contributed to the Jewish culture and the rest of the world in the arts and sciences.

Looks like a fuse is blown and I am on battery power. It is time to stop writing and go to sleep. Hopefully the weather will be warmer then they are predicting. These temperatures in the 60’s feel cold to a someone from Houston this time of year.

Understanding Culture and Some Embarrassing Events

2009-06-04T04:01:00.001-05:00

I like to think that I am a conscientious traveler and I am sensitive to other cultures, especially the one I am visiting. That is the way of the traveler is it not? For some reason, there are certain people who have not read the rule book, can you imagine that?

On Kissing Czech Men – Just Shake Hands

I have made one little faux pas on the trip when I kissed a Czech man on the cheeks. I learned this by the hard way. When I met Igor’s friends Eugenie and her husband, I naturally went to kiss and embrace her, no problem there, but apparently one only shakes hands with the man. Sorry George, I been traveling in countries were a kiss is not only appropriate but expected. It is my mistake for not reading my guidebook a bit better.

I decided I better brush up on my Czech manners quickly as to not embarrass anyone else. I now know that I need to pick up flowers to take to their home on Friday evening where I will be going for dinner. Which incidentally, I am very excited to be invited to a local home. It even gets better, I have been invited to their country home on Saturday.

Yesterday I had a bit of a shock when I went to the refrigerator and found that all my food and my insulated lunch sack was gone. I was shocked and angry. In all these years of backpacking nothing had been taken before. It made me very angry and I kept telling myself that it everything is missing because of a misunderstanding.

The conversation with myself was much easier than the believing. I saw this incident as a lesson, was it a lesson about letting go? A lesson about still having trust even when confronted with a situation like this? Or was it learning that I should assume the best, that it was a misunderstanding, rather than the worst,someone took it?

I was having the worst time dealing with this situation, I preferred my preprogrammed response: anger, rather than than assuming the best. After all I lost a total of about $5 worth of stuff and that was not of any great consequence in the end.

I even had trouble sleeping, I was tossing around my emotions and wanting to let go, trying to assume the best, and feeling in my heart of hearts that an explanation would come in the morning. I now was sure this my chance to learn this lesson.

This morning the Ukrainian housekeeper came to speak to me, in Ukrainian (another language I do not speak) with the note I had written and left by the refrigerator asking if anyone accidently took my bag with the food. While I did not understanding her words, I understood what she was basically saying, that she had taken the food and bag and that is was a mistake. I hugged her and told her it was alright. We then walked up to the front desk, as I wanted to understand exactly what she was saying. They also do not speak Ukrainian, but what happened was the owner asked her to clean out another refrigerator and she misunderstood and cleaned out the communal one. I think she has my bag at home and will bring it in tomorrow. Eureka, I was right it was a misunderstanding, no one had taken anything. I hope I have learned my lesson, as I do not relish going through this unnecessary angst ever again.

Sharing Space with Strangers

Next cultural issue - I am staying in what they call an apartment, basically two doubles with a shared bathroom. Not a bad setup if I have to share a bathroom. Last night I noticed a new couple had moved in, but did not see them. This morning I hear lots of Japanese conversation outside my door and plenty of coming and going. I thought the Japanese are quiet people. Hey ladies I am trying to sleep in here, have you no respect? Then when I wake up to use the toilet all the doors are wide open to the outside and I am minimally clad and freezing. I saw them later and tried to explain about locking the front door but when I came back from breakfast it was closed but not locked. At least there is a key to my room and I can lock my door. I also had to clear my things out of the bathroom because my razor was open and my toothbrush was moved – you don’t think they were shaving with my razor do you?

I Need to Learn to Have More Patience When People Show How Ignorant They Are – Especially Americans

You may be American, but do not speak for all Americans, thank you. This morning I had a nice chat in the breakfast room with several other people about museums to visit. One person, an American said that Kafka is not well known in the United States. Kafka and his family lived here, his sisters perished in a concentration camp, he survived. They have a Kafka museum in Prague which is how his name came up. Apparently this American never had to read Kafka in school and had never heard of his before, strange?

Bottom Line on Cultural Observations

All of this is part of the experience of traveling, it is not just the sightseeing and drinking in the external culture. It is part of being human and living amongst strangers.

Today

This morning I am doing my laundry. Then it is off to the train station to buy my ticket to Krakow, to take the night train on Sunday. In Krakow, I was unable to book a single ensuite, therefore I will have a single with a shared bath. Today I hope to hit a museum and or some galleries. I need to figure that all out soon.

And so the trip begins….

2009-06-03T16:30:00.000-05:00

My First Day Traveling

My trip was uneventful, except for the fact that I hardly slept, which was mainly due to the excitement of going aboard for FOUR whole weeks. Every time I get off an overseas flight and leave the bosom of my American compatriots I suddenly realize that it is not true that the world revolves around everything American (okay it partially does but that isn’t my point today, so I’ll skip it.)

When I got to Prague, I started to hear a variety of languages, of course Czech,as well as other Slavic languages, French, Italian, German, and British and Australian English. I have tell you that despite a few Czech words that have seeped into the English language, I know and understand little to nothing about this language. That is okay, but I suddenly realize that I am about to spend an extended time not in an English centered world. It’s okay, really it’s okay, I will get by. At least I better adjust, because this whole thing can be a bit disorienting at times. <---initial adjustment jitters.

Hostel

Hostel U Melounu, the placet I found on the internet is working out just fine. It is in a centrally located neighborhood, near several hospitals and a medical university, so it is a bit outside the noise of the main tourist area. It is clean and the people are friendly. I have a lovely courtyard outside my room.

Prague

Prague is an unexpected surprise. I have fallen in love with this city.

First of all the

– a mixture of a thousand or so years of history, one finds buildings that are from the Medieval, styles to Art Deco and Noveau. I understand that Prague was not bombed like many of the Western European cities, which adds to the abundance of so many buildings. Since I am very good at wandering and getting lost, I have spent hours wandering the streets looking at the many well preserved facades and styles of buildings.

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The city is full of green areas, lots of parks and walking areas. The public transportation is excellent and the streets all well marked. It is also quite clean.

My first stop was Hradcany Castle (Prague Castle) which has been updated many times over the years. After touring parts of the castle, I took a leisurely walk through the beautiful grounds and got the first of many views of the city from higher ground.

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Afterwards I had my first lunch in Prague, beef and potatoes with beer.

My New Friend

Before I left Houston I let everyone I could think of know I was headed here. I hoping to be given some names of people to look up. My fiend Igor skypes me the day before I am leaving, he has a friend in Prague would I like to meet her. Of course I did.

Eugenie is a darling woman. My second night here, she and her husband George picked me at the hostel and off we went to tour Prague. We walked for hours! The only problem was I didn’t take my camera. I have gone back to many of the places they took me. Besides walking through a pretty park, we walked along the Charles Bridge, including the Old Town Bridge Tower and many statues along the way, saw the canals along side the bridge(think mini Venice), the high water marks from when the city last flooded in 2002, the John Lennon Wall, Old Town Square, the infamous Clock, a Jesuit Monastery, the Dancing building ( I had already stumbled on this one earlier), Memorial for the Victims of Communism and more. Her English is much better than my Czech, but we still struggle a little to communicate – no problem with that, her warmth is infectious.

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I better stop as it is getting late. I know I have two more days to cover.

Fasten Your Seatbelt, I Am Off on Another Overseas Adventure and You Are Invited – This Time: Eastern Europe

2009-05-28T10:18:00.003-05:00

When I was in Florence in May, I kept thinking I need to keep going east and see the Europe where my ancestors lived.

Two of my grandmothers were second generation Americans, but their families came from Eastern Europe and my grandfathers came from Poland/Russia and Romania.

After a not too lengthy thought process, I decided it was time to go this June, just prior to the summer tourist season. Other reasons:

The dollar was fairly strong,
I could book the flight portion with frequent flyer miles,
The weather should be decent, and
I can end my trip at the beach.

Who can argue with that logic?

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I leave Saturday afternoon, yes, next week at this time, I will be exploring the Czech Republic. I also plan to visit Poland, Hungary, and Romania.

Using frequent flyer miles to fly back and forth would help keep the costs down. At the time I made my flight reservations I was unable to book what Continental Airlines calls the SaverPass for 25,000 in economy for the outbound flight, but could book BusinessFirst for 50,000 (same mileage that Easypass in coach would have been.) Therefore, I am flying Business/First out on Continental to Paris and Air France, First Class to Prague and then on the way back, I will be flying coach from Bucharest to Paris and then to Houston both on Air France.

Preparations

Reservations

Where to stay? After some internet research I choose Hostel U Melounu http://www.hostelumelounu.cz/en/, it looks pretty nice in the pictures. I am paying 850 CZK for an apartment, two single rooms sharing a bathroom. Breakfast, wifi, common kitchen, and a courtyard to use, are all included in price.

Packing

I am almost packed. FYI my list which my be cut down before I leave but not added to:

2 pairs of pants green and beige ( one long that can be rolled up, the other capri)
1 skirt
2 short sleeve button down tops, white & blue
1 t-shirt
2 long sleeve tops, green and black
1 blue spaghetti strap sport top ( to be layered)
4 pairs panties
3 bras
2 pairs socks
3 pairs of shoes: day hikers, Chaco sandals, flip flops for shower &walking indoors
1 2 piece bathing suit
1 sarong - use as robe,towel, & blanket
1 super absorbent towel
water goggles
suntan lotion
bug repellent
mini first aid kit
wind breaker with hood
1 red zip up hoodie
1 umbrella
toiletries & some make-up
1 pair of sunshades to put over my glasses
1 “Minnie” HP Mini laptop, 2.5 pounds
Accessories for “Minnie”, device to load pictures, mouse, cable for Blackberry data transfer, headphones
1 laundry kit; stopper, detergent, clothes line
Electrical adapters for Europe
Guidebook and 4 reading books to e left there when finished
2 cameras, digital Fuji SLR and small Cannon digital,
Battery recharger
Flight, pension, & money exchange rate info.
photocopies of my passport, atm cards, and CCs
Blackberry
Little notebook
Post-it tabs
Travel pillow
Credit and Charge cards
Pens
Money belt
Passport

All this gets packed in either the backpack or daypack.

Following Me

Follow me on my blog, where you will see my twitter stream. Additionally you can follow me on Twitter directly:

http://twitter.com/FoodPrincess.

Houston is Rocking When It Comes To Food

2009-04-11T17:47:00.005-05:00

Nothing makes me prouder of the Houston Food scene than to see local chefs whom I admire get recognition. In a world where empty calories meant no fat, and an unlimited supply of cash, I would be dinning out much more often. But I am not. I still have developed a fondness for several of the restaurants and more importantly the innovative and daring chefs in town.

Recent notable news:

Chef Randy Rucker gets his due in a wonderful article by Alison Cook in the Chronicle about his cooking at Rainbow Lodge. She rated the restaurant four stars, I rate Randy’s cooking inspired. He is creating wonderful food at a restaurant with beautiful surroundings. If you go during the day, be sure to check out Randy's vegetable garden.
Chef Bryan Caswell is named one of the top 10 best chefs of 2009, an award given to those chefs whom Food & Wine Magazine thinks are the most promising in the country (we knew that.) Bryan is co-owner and chef at Reef. This man really knows his stuff and is doing things to fish that makes you dream about his cooking. Don’t take my word for it, go form your own opinion. (As an aside this is where I am choosing to have one of my many birthday celebrations, but I am also planning to celebrate at Rainbow Lodge.)
- Check-out his newest “fast-food” restaurant Little Bigs for sliders, fries, shakes, and wine. It has had some growing pains, but things are straightening out. I love the fries and the juicy beef and crispy chicken sliders. As an added bonus, you can often see someone from the Houston Foodie Community chowing down there.
Most recently, Frank Bruni of The New York Times wrote a glowing article about the food at Feast. Yes Mr. Bruni and all of NYC, we do eat more than steak and Tex-Mex here, next time you visit let me know, I’ll show you. Before I move on two more things of note,:
- Feast has a very reasonable prix fixe meal $12.95 for two courses (I always have leftovers) or for $15.95 dessert is added.
- Secondly RUMOR has it that Food & Wine Magazine is about to name Feast one of the top 50 restaurants in the country. Bring it on….
Alas I did not get a chance to try his molecular food at Max’s Wine Dive but I heard from our very own Cleverly that Chef Michael dei Maggi is moving on to somewhere else in Houston, but where? Meanwhile, do check out Houston Foodie’s excellent write-up of the molecular meal he had there, as we are sure to see Michael back on the local food scene again shortly.

Quick One

2009-03-23T07:56:00.000-05:00

I am home after a wonderful vacation and back at school. It should be an interesting day.....

So Much To Do and Very Little Time: Exhaustion Was Settling In

2009-03-20T13:13:00.002-05:00

I don’t like running around day after day. Look at this picture of me at breakfast, I look like road kill.

But despite the fact, that I would rather have spent the day doing any of the following:

Visiting the countryside

Visiting a winery

Swimming

Hiking anywhere away from the city

Reading a book

Drinking Lemoncillo

Having a massage

I carried on and picked a couple of more things to see in Florence.

First of all, I had promised myself I would go back to see the inside of the Jewish Synagogue. So off I went.

The Sephardic style building was constructed in the 19th century. It barely survived WWII, when the Nazis used the building as a garage. It an exquisite building, worthy of Florence. It also houses a small museum and a memorial to the Jews of Florence who lost their lives during Nazi occupation of Italy.

Today the Jewish community stands at around 860 people, the synagogue is way too large for such a small community, but they continue to maintain it. I was planning to return for Shabbat services tonight, but between the bitter cold and my exhaustion, I decided to stay nearby the pensione.

After a satisfying visit, I then walked over to the Museo del Bargello, an unexpected gem and a befitting choice for my final formal stop. This is Florence’s oldest public building and it was once used to sentence and met out justice to the people of Florence.

The building is also home to a comprehensive collection of Tuscan Renaissance sculpture including; Donatello’s David, works by Michelangelo, Baccio, and Cellini. Within the walls are housed here collections of porcelain, metal works, jewelry, Islamic artifacts, and more.

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I think tonight I will try the famous Tuscan Beef Florentine, although I would be just as happy to skip dinner entirely. However, I did take a nap, so that should help.

Tomorrow I return to Milan. I have already taken around 1,200 pictures, which I plan to edit a bit and then upload in Houston.

As for packing, I brought exactly the right things. Although I never wore my nice shirt or used any makeup. What was I thinking???? I have some problems with the Blackberry’s software, but that can be remedied when I return to Houston. Minnie, my new HP mini computer is a gem, I am so glad I purchased her before I left.

If I don’t post again before I return, I hope you enjoyed visiting Florence with me. I know I may have missed a spot or two on the tourist trail, but I had other experiences that made up for missing a few of the top 10 or so sites.

Good Food in Town and Great Food in Siena

2009-03-19T13:06:00.001-05:00

Wednesday night I had a decent meal at a local Tratorria. I ordered off the Tuscan menu. I started with pasta with mushrooms, followed by veal scaloppini in a basil tomato sauce, and ended with panna cotta with a chocolate sauce. The food was fresh, hot, and tasty.

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This morning I got up at 6:30, had breakfast and caught the 8:10 bus to Siena. I choose Siena because JP, D., and J. had all recommended this town as a fun day trip.

While Florence is more fluid feeling, Siena is more concrete. At least that is how I would sum it up. It is also a Unesco World Heritage Site.

I planned to mainly wander around the winding streets, looking at the beautiful gothic architecture and enjoying a less intense type day. I am feeling a bit over stimulated by all the paintings and sculptures I have been seeing.

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I visited El Cambino, the city center, where the square looks like a huge basin. I also visited the Duomo. The catherdral is considered one of Italy’s greatest Gothic churches, they began building it, in the 12th century and have continued to add to as recently as the last century. Most of the outside sculptures are replicas, the originals have moved moved to protect them from acid rain.

It was a worthwhile visit as I was awed by the marble floors. There are also beautiful sculptures of saints, frescos, and other incredible cravings to feast one’s eyes on.

I have been puzzled by the what looks like a strong “oriental” influence on the outside architecture of the some of the churches I am seeing. They look a bit like mosques from the outside. I overheard an explanation about this today. Just as Church’s iconography has depicted, the Virgin Mary, the apostles, and Jesus in likenesses and situations that resemble the indigenous cultures, the churches were designed to be inviting to the faithful from Arab countries, as the Church was extending its influence in that area of the world.

I skipped the rest of the museums and decided to go back and eat at a restaurant that was a bit over my budget, but looked interesting. On the way there I passed a street fair, where I bought olives and freshly made candy to eat later.

What Can I Say About Lunch?

Now I know what it is like to be among the rich and famous. I was the only one in the restaurant for lunch. Apparently they do the majority of their business at dinner time.

Rather than choose myself, I let the chef choose what I should eat> Despite being the only customer, the service was outstanding. American restaurants could learn from these Europeans ones. I dinned for almost two hours and I never made made to feel I had to hurry.

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The name of the restaurant was Tre Cristi www.trecristi.com. I started with an amuse bouche of octopus and shrimp on a deconstructed costini, toasted crumbs of bread, bathed in olive oil with fresh tomatoes. My first course was a melt in your mouth, shell in all, whole shrimp on a sweet potato puree. The second course was grouper, homemade black squid ink pasta. cheese, and a basil tomato sauce. Which was a sensational melody of tastes, but to much food by the end. I accompanied all this with a sparkling Pinot Noir. Dessert was a simple apple, with orange undertones sorbet. Of course no meal is complete without the finale a cup of espresso. This restaurant was more of an example of then Mediterranean style of cooking then Tuscan.

I Walked and Walked and Walked and Saw and Saw

2009-03-18T16:19:00.001-05:00

Technorati Tags: Travel,Italy

During the last two days, I have toured by foot, four of Florence’s top hits:

Ponte Vecchio – Bridge built in the 14th century, on the other side of the river, the road is lined with shops selling silver and gold. It is the only bridge in Florence that the Nazis did not destroy.

Palzzo Pitti – It was the official residence of Florence’s rulers until 1919. It was built for the Pitti family, rivals of the Medici family. The grounds include; a silver museum, galleries, Royal Apartments', porcelain museum, costume museum, gardens, statues, and fountains. I enjoyed this place because it offered a variety of things to look at and gave me a balance between the paintings, sculptures, artifacts, and nature.
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Uffizi Gallery - with a staggering amount of well know art, including art from the Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque, and Neoclassical schools, as well as pieces of art from ancient Italy and Tuscany. Most of this was collected by the Medici family. <--- this was the most crowded place I have been. I bought the ticket a day in advance and still had to wait online to get in. It was teaming with tour groups, most of whom did not speak English (much to my disappointment, so ease dropping on say the Japanese speaking group was not helpful.)
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Palazzo Vecchio – a collection of ornate apartments with spectacular floors and painted ceilings. Built by none other than the Medici family. I loved this place because it was nearly empty and I could really look at the floors, walls and ceilings. Needless to say, I was getting tired, there I was standing in front of it, a bit confused because a statue of David is suppose to be standing in front of it and it was all covered up for repair.

I forgot to eat both days, but luckly today I packed a snack. Which I greedily ate in the Piazza della Signoria.

On the way back to the pensione, I stopped in a jewelry shop, Parsjfal www.patrickwandael.com. The man, Patrick Wandael was making exquisite jewelry from aluminum and rubber. I saw pieces like this at the MOMA this summer. So here in lies my down fall, I purchased a few of the pieces. Now I will be able to proudly wear my souvenirs from the trip.

Exhausted I returned to the pensione, grabbed my laundry and did the wash.

Here I am kicking the machine that ate three of my euros.

I had a great dinner, but I’ll write about it another time.

Thank God I No Longer Have Vertigo

2009-03-16T16:22:00.002-05:00

Have I ever told you that once upon a time I had vertigo? Perhaps not?

When I climbed anything high my heart would beat so fast and my legs would start to turn to rubber. I would have to use all my strength to focus on something besides the height, it would leave me near tears and sapped of strength. It never stopped me from traveling, but it made scaling anything high a challenge and sometimes an impossibility. I remember feeling this way when I was around three years old. It petrified me that I could not climb down.

But I am fortunate, because I no longer have the vertigo. Yes, that are some trace memories and I wince when climbing anything with some height expecting the familiar surge through my body, but it does not come.

How might you ask? First I realized it was anxiety related. Then during the last period of being between jobs (some people call it unemployed), I worked really hard on identifying my anxieties and facing them. It mostly worked. At least traveling it a lot easier.

Why do I bring it up at this point? Because today I visited the Duomo and I walked up the narrow path to the top of the dome, all 463 steep steps. I watched people turn around, and I thought that if I still had vertigo that coming down would have taken a herculean effort.

Instead I was rewarded with a gorgeous panoramic view of Firenze (Florence.) After I toured the church and climbed to the top of the dome, I visited the museum. There I saw many wonderful artifacts, including Michelangelo’s Pieta. I learned that artists created things for the church to keep the masses coming to church. Can you image this relief of children dancing with its colorful and sparkling mosaics, glittering Disney-like in a church lit only with candles?

I stopped for lunch at a trattoria near the dome. I choose it, because people were queued outside. I ordered a veal stew Tuscan style and beans with tomato and garlic. I was seated at a table with three strangers. The meal was alright, the experience, as they say, priceless.

Next stop was the Basillica di Santa Croce. I was actually looking for the synagogue, when I stumbled on this church with the Star of David on top. To bad I can’t share the story about what the six pointed star symbolizes, because I am pretty sure it has nothing to do with Judaism.

This church is famous for the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo, as well as beautiful frescos.

Are you getting tired yet? Because I was after hours and hours of walking. Next trick was finding my way back to the pensione, which I did.

Pictures from Day 1 Post 1

2009-03-16T03:56:00.001-05:00

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Florence in the Morning

2009-03-16T03:42:00.001-05:00

When my alarm went off at 7 this morning, I saw that it was only 1 a.m. in Houston. While I had slept fairly well, a few glasses of Chanti before bed helped, I was still a bit tired. At 7:30ish, I heard loud noises on the stairs up to the breakfast room and my bladder started asking for relief, I threw on some clothes and headed begrudgingly out the door of my room.

Upstairs in the breakfast room, I found that the herd of elephants was a loud family of…who else but, Americans. I smiled at them and went to say Buongiorno, but they were engrossed in their own morning dramas.

Buffet style breakfast is served in a narrow roof top room that overlooks some of neighboring buildings. Today is clear and the view, well not spectacular, is certainly one of an authentic Italian city.

Still a bit groggy from the time change, I proceeded to get a cappuccino (of which I will eventually have consumed three this morning.) I also picked up a plain yogurt, two rolls, a sweet and plain one, Nutella (in homage to my HouCHie friends who had an extensive conversation regarding the merits of Nutella just last week), and an apple. As people walked in, each one greeted me with a smile and Buongiorno.

On my way to get my second cappuccino, I passed a couple of men and overheard one said to the other in Italian, what a beautiful woman I am, I immediately noticed that my back got straighter and a wider smile appeared on my lips. It didn’t feel lascivious at all, but rather a matter of fact. Hear that American men, it is really that simple to make us feel good?

As I leisurely ate my breakfast with enthusiasm (“I am here, I am here”), I surveyed the view out the window. When I looked out at some trees, they appeared to be bent like women posing in a sexy ways for photographs. I promised pictures of breakfast, the rooftops, and the trees before I leave. This morning it took all my energy to get out of bed, up the stairs, and start getting some fuel in my body.

Enough of this – it is time to get these files uploaded and plan out my day.

Long Day’s Journey To Florence

2009-03-16T03:39:00.001-05:00

I am exhausted and rightfully so – I woke up Saturday morning in Houston at 5 :30 a.m.and arrived at my pensione in Florence at about 1 p.m. on Sunday (minus six hours difference, made it 7 a.m. in Houston.)

To say I felt a bit disoriented when I left Hotel Fiorita, my pensione to tour the city, would be an understatement. I got lost, found my way again and then wandered some more. Basically Sunday was “take it easy day”, in order to give my body and soul a chance to rest. I went to a outdoor flea market, filled with antiques and junk. I strolled through a fort and an exhibition on Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions. More in town, I went to the outdoor market and discovered lots of leather and woven goods, but nothing I had to have. I ate silky smooth, bursting with flavor gelato. Then I picnicked on prosciutto, a cheese made of 50% gorgonzola and 50% marscopne, Chianti wine, fresh bread, and fruit.

I made it through the first crisis of the trip – a shower. My room is small, but I have stayed in smaller. In it is a sink and shower and the private toilet is in the hall. When I woke up from my nap, I decided to shower, the only problem was I could only get cold water. The water was frigid and I was debated if I should just do a sponge bath and forget it for tonight, when I realized I could get hot water out of the sink…duh, I needed to moved the handle in the shower in the other direction. I also used this strange contraption, which is a hairdryer.

Tomorrow I start my touring in earnest. Tonight, I go to sleep with freshly washed hair and body, and a belly full of simple but good food and wine. I am happy.

Somewhere Over @ the Rainbow Lodge

2009-03-12T21:07:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Alison Cook gave the Rainbow Lodge 4 stars in her review in the Houston Chronicle. I have eaten at RL twice since Randy Rucker became chef this fall. Apparently despite my enthusiastic feeling about the food, I have yet to review it on my blog. This has been a terrible oversight on my part.

Between you and I, I was so excite about Alison’s review that after I read it, I jumped in the car and drove the few minutes it takes to get to the restaurant from my house, just to give Randy a hug.

I first met Randy this past summer, when the was doing the Tenacity diners. Here are links to my reviews: http://tinyurl.com/create.php and http://tinyurl.com/b22r7y.

I immediately fell in love with his innovative preparation of food. Randy has a knack for delicately balancing the flavor of the food with an extraordinary eye towards presentation. As Alison said: “There is real brilliance now in his immaculate raw seafood dishes,…”. I couldn’t even find the vocabulary to describe the wonderful fish dish I had a couple of weeks ago there, but Alison found the words.

Eventually I will go back, sit down for the full tasting menu and write a review. But for now, I recommend you read Alison’s article. If you enjoy well prepared, interesting food, and have been waiting to go out for that special meal, this is the place to go. The setting is beautiful, slightly rustic and with a backyard that sits on a ravine of sorts, but don't go for the just the beauty of the restaurant, go for a knock your socks off experience and one of the best meals you will have in Houston. Let’s support our local chef Randy Rucker, who deserves the praises he is receiving.

Location: Rainbow Lodge 2011 Ella, 713-861-8666

Two Days and Counting Down

2009-03-12T18:32:00.003-05:00

Western Europe

I felt a bit under the weather today, so I didn’t make it in to work. I did however sleep until almost 11 - OMG!

After a hearty breakfast around noon it was off to packing and napping.

What will I take a eight day holiday in Europe during the end of the winter?

2 pairs of pants (no jeans) dark green and black
1 button down shirt , slightly dressy
4 tops, 3 black, one green
4 pairs of panties
3 bras
1 pair of day hikers
1 pair of black Mary Janes
3 pairs of socks for day hikes and 2 blacks for black Mary Janes
1 sarong (use as robe)
1 pair of long underwear to wear as PJs
2 scarves, black & pink
1 hat
1 black fleece jacket
1 wind breaker with hood
1 umbrella
toiletries & make-up
1 pair of sunshades to put over my glasses
1 HP Mini laptop, 2.5 pounds
Accessories for “Minnie”, device to load pictures, mouse, cable for Blackberry data transfer, headphones
1 laundry kit; stopper, wash, clothes line
Electrical adapters for Europe and Italy (pension says it has both)
Guidebook and reading book
2 cameras, digital Fuji SLR and small Cannon digital
Flight, pension, & money exchange rate info.
photocopies of my passport and CCs
Blackberry
Datebook
Little notebook
Post-it tabs
Travel pillow
Credit and Charge cards
Pens
Money belt
Passport
Euros

All this gets packed in either the backpack and daypack. The backpack feels pretty reasonable, the daypack is bit overloaded, but still zips up.

Florence or Firenze Italy

What have I done to prepare myself for a trip to a city that has had wide cultural impact on Europe and the rest of the word? Unfortunately not much. All I have been able to do is speak with a few people, who all say that Florence is one of their favorite cities, and glance through my guidebook.

Florence is the regional capital of Tuscany and the epicenter of what was Renaissance Italy. It is home to the famous Medic family who supported some pretty famous artists such as Botticelli, Da Vinci, and Michelangelo. Beyond the artists are many churches, buildings and breath taking scenery, which I will become more acquainted with during my over 24-hour journey to get there. Lonely Planet has nice overview.

Italy is currently 6 hours ahead of CST. The EU doesn’t switch to DST until the end of March, so it will be lighter in the morning than here. I prefer that, as I I like to get up early when I travel and see things when it isn’t too crowded. My research does indicate that I am definitely traveling during the off season. Therefore I am not expecting many crowds along the way.

Did I Mention Over a 24-Hour Trip to Get There?

Super Shuttle is due to pick me up at around 7:45 a.m. on Saturday morning. My first of three flights leaves Houston at 10:10 a.m., arriving in Cleveland at 1:45 p.m. Then it is off to Newark, where my international flight to Milan leaves at 6:55 p.m., arriving in Milan at around 7 a.m., then off to the train station to catch a train to Florence, arriving some time in the afternoon. I am looking forward to the travel time, to adjust from a working gal, to a my holiday mode. Once in Florence, I will there through Saturday, going back to Milan and then leaving for the states on Sunday morning (only two flights on the way home.)

Arrivederci – Off to Italy Next Weekend

2009-03-08T22:27:00.004-05:00

Italy

While I normally write about food, or food related adventures, I have decided to use this blog to write about my upcoming week long holiday to Italy. I am sure there will be posts about food as well. The Food Princess Reports blog also has a feed from Twitter on the right hand side and I plan to use Twitter to micro blog to on the road.

Getting Ready

The preparation for a trip that is only a weeklong always seems to take longer than the trip itself. Not only do I have to prepare for the trip, but I have to put everything in order at home as well.

Yesterday I washed all my clothes, got the backpack out of the attic, and pulled out my travel gear. I made a initial list of what I was taking and returned some of the things that were not needed for a trip to Europe back to the closet.

I searched and searched for my Euros, I found the coins but none of the paper money. I am sure the paper money will show up either right before I leave or right after I return. The good news is that I did find about €19 in change.

Today, I sorted through some more stuff, including a disturbing pile of bills and miscellaneous papers that had built up several inches tall by the front door. It took me a little over an hour, but almost everything from that pile has either been shredded, thrown away, or filed.

I printed out the my travel information, including the itinerary from Continental Airlines, and confirmation from the hotel in Florence. I am flying into Milano (Milan in Italian) then taking a train to Firenze (Florence in Italian), where I plan to spend the week.

Checking Out the Pensione

This evening I decided to also look at the hotel’s web site to see if they had directions on how to get to the Hotel Fiorita from the train station. By the way, don’t you think that the pictures of Hotel Fiorita look pretty impressive? The amenities do not look bad either, except one thing… “Some rooms also have modem sockets.”

Oh no, I had assumed (bad thing to do when traveling outside the country) that since Italy was in Europe that the plugs would be the same Type C like most of Europe. A little research turned up, that they made be, but this one line indicates that Italy and this hotel also uses the three prong type plug Type L . Looks like I will have to travel with both. I see a short trip is in store to Little India to buy another Type L plug (I have one already) tomorrow on the way home.

By the way, I booked my single room with a private bathroom, shower and sink in the room and toilet in the hall for €39 a night below the prices they are quoting on their web site. I used a third party site that I found out about on Lonely Planet’s on-line forum Thorn Tree (one of my favorite sites to use when researching a destination.)

Getting Minnie Ready For the Trip as Well

The other thing I worked on this weekend in preparation for leaving the country was getting my New HP Mini or “Minnie” ready for the trip. That meant loading software, checking out the links, and getting all additional hardware together. I heart Minnie, 2.5 pounds and packed with power. Yes, I also paid less than the price on the website, HP has lots of deals going on.

I think that’s all folks, at least for tonight.

Buonasera

Houston HouCHie Meetup @ Beaver's with Fearless Critic Robin Goldstein

2009-02-01T16:41:00.022-06:00

Hot off the presses: Yesterday I found out that Jonathan Jones is now one of the owners of Beaver's ! Congratulations JJ your influence on the menu is certainly apparent.

Robin Goldstein, author of the ““Fearless Critic” series of restaurant review books that are refreshing reads about restaurants because of their candidness in the reviews of them, swung by Houston and invited some of the Houston Chowhounds to join him at lunch.

Fellow HousCHies and food bloggers included Jenny, imneverfull, Robert, Food in Housto n, Ruthie, Great Food Houston, Misha, tasty bits, and Jay Francis, Food Explorer.

The purpose of the get together was to eat good food and give Robin input for the 2nd edition of the the Houston version of the Fearless Critic.

We met up at Beavers on Decatur off Sawyer in the Sixth Ward, for an A+ meal. JJ really can really cook good some good and satisfying food.

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Houston; I almost wish we had been able to eat outside on the peaceful porch. Upon arrival we started with some of Beaver’s signature cocktails. At JJ’s recommendation I had the Belt Strap. The drink was made up of Cruzan Black Strap Rum, Southern Star Pine Belt Ale and lemon juice. I would never have tried this drink on my own. The drink is a complex meld of flavors, that I found not only easy to drink, but satisfying.

For appetizers, we had the homemade chips with smoky tomato-habanero salsa, queso dip (Redneck Cheddar & Real Ale Brown), fried batter dipped pickles, stuffed pepperoncini (pepperoncini, cream cheese, and smoked pork), and barbecue chicken. I loved the queso dip, which tasted really good as a dipping sauce for the fried pickles (my first time eating fried pickles and they were surprisingly good.) The stuffed pepperoncinis were crispy, gooey and smoky tasting.

Next Course Was The Fish

First came two different types of oysters, one kind from Florida, the other from the Gulf. JJ told us we had to eat them without any sauces, dressing, etc. This was an eye opener, I found both of them too briny tasting. On the other hand the fried oysters on tortilla chips we ate later tasted much better.

This was followed by a fish dish. I know the fish was

good, moist, chewy and nicely

spiced. Certainly a dish I had not tried before and look forward to eating again. The vegetarian tamales (which I had ordered only a week before when I was there) are a hit with me, they are "meaty" enough tasting to satisfy many carnivorous skewed palates.

After that - can you believe there was more?

We had a sampling of all the smoked barbecue; chicken, brisket, home-made Berkshire pork sausage

, and Bershire Country Rib sausage. All served with the "ring of fire barbecue sauce". The barbecue has improved dramatically. While the quality of the meat is top notch, I still prefer other barbecue styles in Houston.

All this was accompanied by some very special wines that Robin shared with us. Including a Bulgarian red wine and an outstanding French dessert wine.

It was a very good meal. I enjoyed every dish we had and I recommend you get down to Beaver's as soon as you can, even if you have been there before. JJ is not just leaving his mark, his is stamping on all the food and Beaver's is the better for it.

Beaver's 2310 Decatur Street, Sawyer @ Washington Avenue, Houston, TX 77007
(713) 864-2328

It’s Working

2009-01-31T10:59:00.002-06:00

I Have Returned to Eating Consciously

I am painstakingly recording everything; my food intake, exercise, and weekly weigh in on a site called: Calorie Count. Now I can not fool myself in thinking that I ate less than I did or ate all the rights things.

I even ate out at Empire Café on Wednesday night with friends. I ordered a small Nutty Chicken Pizza with grilled chicken, cashews, spinach, mushrooms, marinara sauce, and mozzarella cheese on a whole wheat crust. Which incidentally was delicious, even with all the toppings, the flavors nicely married together, the crust was still crisp and the cashews gave it a nice crunch.

Instead of eating the whole or even a half of the pizza, I ate a third. This was plenty of food for me. We were celebrating a friend’s birthday that night and I took a small bite out of each of the three cakes slices we were sharing. Restraint works.

Exercise – Must be part of my daily practice

I am recording my daily exercise as well. The recording is happening, the practice is not. This is a work in progress; I am a work in progress.

I do well with exercising on the weekend but during the week, meh? I am now trying to incorporate some exercise into my classroom teaching. After all it benefits the children and keeps my stress level down as well.

In the mornings, I need to get out of bed earlier and work with weights, do sit-ups and push-ups.

When I go shopping, I am parking further away so I can walk longer to the store. This is better than nothing right?

I feel confident that I will improve on this front and start to go to exercise class at night also.

Bottom Line

I lost about 5 pounds this week. Great results for week 1, wouldn’t you agree?

Moving Forward

I am going out to eat brunch today and I plan to write that up later. Time to go back to writing about my food experiences, maybe even post a few of the low fat, low calorie dishes I created this past week, all eaten in moderation.

Food I Made this Weekend: Kolaches and Mushroom Barley Soup

2009-01-25T23:09:00.003-06:00

An Intervention About Food with Myself

2009-01-24T23:40:00.007-06:00

It is sobering to see how much becoming friends with fellow foodies has been a catalyst to gaining weight. In fact it has resulted in my gaining twenty pounds since the end of my vacation when I meet up in person with some of my fellow Houston Chowhounds. I would not trade these new friends in, in order to lose weight, but I have to figure out a better way to share my passion for good food with them besides over indulging.

Let me make something very clear from the start - they are not fault. It is I, who knows that keeping my weight in check requires some vigilance on my part and certainly portion control. I know that making an exception with my eating habits just this one time has led to a succession of exceptions. It is just that they are so much fun to be with, to talk about food with, to get their recommendations about places to eat and then to eat there and share my experiences, and so on, and so on, and so on. Besides that fatty foods taste better and eating to much refined sugar leads to craving even more sugar. I had to stop and figure something out, or I could buy some new clothes in a larger size.

It is my obsession with eating flavorful and interesting food that has gotten me in trouble. When it tastes good, I just want to eat and eat. So I have, ate and ate. In fact I apparently increased my sugar intake dramatically without even realizing it.

It is also my lack of exercise that has contributed to my weight gain. I have not paid any attention to exercising. In the summer I would swim or do NIA almost every day. As soon as September rolled around, I stopped swimming. I stopped doing NIA except on the weekends and even then maybe only once. I fooled myself into thinking that it would be alright. My clothes got tighter and I pretended not to notice.

Between you and me, I even pretended to be watching what I was eating. Pretended to myself? But I wasn’t watching anything. I was eating three squares a day and snacking.

While I continued to eat lots of whole grain foods and fruit, I was eating lots of fatty and sweet foods as well.

How do I know this? I put myself on a 1600-2000 calorie a day diet a few days ago. I found program on the Internet called Calorie Counter. Calorie Counter is a great way to track what I am actually eating as I enter in everything on-line that I eat. The program is especially helpful for people who eat processed foods, as much of that information is already loaded into the system. Since I do not use much processed food, I do the best I can to put in all the ingredients I use to make a dish to get an accurate view of what I am eating. The program also rates the healthiness of the food.

In top of that, I am entering in my daily exercise. It is sobering to see what I am doing versus ignoring what I was not doing. The first day, I was so over the top, I decided to throw out that data.

After a few days I am getting the hang of using the program and I am already tweaking my habits, eating and exercise wise, to try to lose at least 15 pounds in the next few months. I know I will be successful with this program, because it shows me what I am and I am not doing well.

Does this mean the end of my food adventures? No way! I have not stopped eating or cooking. In fact, I will be cooking more as I need to have fresh, healthy food on-hand to eat, so I can get slimmer.

Please join me on this voyage, I need all the help and support I can get.

Word Clouds...

2009-01-14T22:39:00.003-06:00

I thought it was interesting when I was visiting she eats' web site and I saw her attractive word cloud made in an application called Wordle. Wordle takes the most prominent words in a page of text, in this case, “Food Princess Reports” and generates a graphic. So I made my own. Now you go try it.

Going to South Africa without Leaving Houston: Out of Africa

2009-01-04T17:32:00.009-06:00

A short twenty minute drive took me from the city out to the suburbs of Sugarland to visit a new South African restaurant called: Out of Africa.

On Sundays they have a Mimosa Brunch that features many of the items found on the regular menu as well as eggs, sausage and bacon.

On the outside, one can tell nothing abut what the resturnat will be like inside as it is in one of those ubiquitous looking strip malls that are found all over the United States. So it is a pleasant surprise to step into the dining room as see the room with a tasteful African feel.

I came with fellow Chowhounds Dorothy and jodycakes. We sat outside on the deck, next to the water, and for a few moments I felt transported from Houston to somewhere else. (Okay there was little humidity today.) For brunch they have a jazz pianist in the dining room and a speaker had been placed outside so we could enjoy the music there as well. The buffet was spread out in a room off the main dining room and easily accessible by those of us outside and well as the dinners inside.

Overall I found the food flavorful, with some Indian overtones, which included spices and chutneys. Some of the food was a bit spicy hot but not all of it. The breads I tasted, a biscuit and flour based corn muffin were delicious.

The best dish I had, which fellow lamb lover, Dorothy agreed with me about, was the Lamb Sosaties with Brandied Apricots. It consisted of skewers of lamb with plump dried apricots in between the lamb pieces. The meat was cooked perfectly, no easy feat with a buffet, charred on the outside and rare on the inside and not overly spiced, giving the brandied apricot a chance to offset the taste of the meat without overwhelming it.

Another main dish I really enjoyed was Bobotie, which looked like Sheppard’s Pie but tasted nothing like it. According to the restaurant’s web site, it is made of “minced lamb and beef spiced with raisins, apples, almonds and curry and baked with a custard topping.” I learned from the web site that I should have had it over the yellow rice with the mango sambol. (To bad the dishes did not have directions.) I liked the way the dish unfolded in my mouth, beginning with biting down on the slightly firm custard on top and then through the chopped meats as the flavors did a dance on my tongue.

I tried the Boerewors, a South African Sausage, which had an off taste to me. Both fellow Houston Chowhounds, jodycakes and Dorothy said it tasted like blood sausage, so perhaps I wouldn’t like that either.

Another one side I tasted, that I did not like was Ouma's Green Bean Mash, which was a tasteless combination of potatoes and overcooked green beans. Although I did not enjoy it, it reminded me of Southern style comfort food. Perhaps this dish may be better suited to another person’s taste or childhood memories.

My favorite side dish was the Pap and Trainsmash which was corn bread (Pap) that had the consistency of a thick porridge with a very tasty tomato and onion sauce (Trainmash) that I spooned on top.

Since I had overindulged just a couple of days ago at another brunch, I did not feel like tasting anything else. (Yes, call me a wimp, it is alright.) The dishes I did not try included a pork, chicken, and fish dish, as well as a pasta salad and a couple other salads.

I did leave a little room for dessert. I had a nice piece of a brandy pudding and a milk tart. Nothing left any great impressions.

Service was attentive and gracious, the atmosphere was warm and genuine (the owner came by and chatted with us) and the price, $19.95 for this buffet and unlimited Mimosas was reasonable.

Overall I have mixed feelings. I see this as a destination restaurant. I found the cooking and taste of the food a novelty, but not compelling enough that I am thinking about when I will be taking my friends out to Sugarland to the restaurant, or even when can I go back and try more dishes. I believe the South African food I ate at Out of Africa boils down to being comfort food. The food is interesting in a novelty sort of way, flavorful, and well prepared but not inexpensive, close by, or interesting enough for me to drive out to on any regular basis. Let’s face it - with all the variety that exists in Houston, this one just doesn’t strike my fancy.

Should you go to the restaurant? Yes by all means, go and experience South African food for yourself, it is worth at least one visit, the brunch has a huge variety of foods and was a great way to spent an early Sunday afternoon.

Out of Africa: 14019 Southwest Freeway #204, Sugar Land, TX 77478 281.277.2691

Feasting at Feast: Lunch the Day After New Year’s

2009-01-03T18:46:00.007-06:00

I realize that if I do not make some of my entries brief, I will never get to them done. One of my New Year’s resolutions is if I do not have time to write an in-depth review to just post a brief descriptionand some pictures on the blog.

I have reviewed Feast on Lower Westheimer twice already, please refer to the index on the right. Alison Cook put Feast on her list of the top new restaurants in 2008 http://tinyurl.com/a5mhga. I couldn’t agree more.

Originally I had wanted to visit Randy Rucker at Rainbow Lodge, because (1) I am a big fan of Randy’s cooking and (2) I never wrote up a review of my first visit there when I had the chef’s tasting menu (which was wonderful.) I’m never full had just written up the restaurant complete with great photos http://tinyurl.com/99sru9 . But they were closed, due to the holidays.

So Feast with its reasonably priced two course lunch for $12.95, was a worthy second choice. Once I was in the rustic feeling dining room, being waiting on by Meagan, I knew I was in for a treat.

During my visit Feast inadvertently also had some entertainment for me to watch. The couple directly in my view could not keep their hands off of each other. It was quite steamy between the two of them. I know this sounds naughty, but I think they were married and not to each other. I have pictures, but I think I'll just refrain from posting them, just in case I am right.

For my first course I had the “French Fish Soup with Rouille and Croutons”, which I think had mustard rather than rouille, and also had a mild white cheese. The delightful aroma of the soup immediately perked me up, this was going to be a great year in food. I added the cheese, mustard and croutons into the soup. Needless to say, I did not leave a drop of soup and I would have licked the bowl had I been home. This could have been enough for lunch for me, but there was more.

My main course was “Steak Pot Pie with Cauliflower Cheese”. As a child I never enjoyed pot pies, as they always were a mush of vegetables and flavorless meat. This could not be further from the description of the pot pie at Feast. The brown sauce inside the pie was rich with the flavor of the meat and carrots, as well as other spices; I could have eaten that dish without the meat and have satisfied my meat cravings.

I do not know how they did it, but the steak was not dried out or tasteless. A forkful of the crust, with a baking soda overtone dipped in the brown sauce was a delight on the palate. The cauliflower on the side was a roasted piece of cauliflower with just a dusting of cheese and worked well as an accompaniment to the pot pie. I really struggled to finish the dish, but succeeded, which is a testament to how much I enjoyed it.

LOL - it looks like this did not turn out so brief.

Happy New Year and thank you for following my food adventures this past year!

Feast: 219 Westheimer Road, Houston, TX 77006 713.529.7788

Eleven Madison Park in the Big Apple

2009-01-02T14:53:00.001-06:00

It was a beautiful New York Winter day. Despite having to change my reservations, not once, but three times, I had finally made it to Eleven Madison Park. EMP is known for the food but also for the breathtaking art deco interior.

A fellow Houston Chowhound, Justin had told anonymouseater that this was the place to eat in NYC. Anonymouseater in his review of EMP wrote that "Quite simply, EMP was the best meal of my life."

As I did not do the tasting menu, I can not judge anonymouseater’s experience in relationship with mine, except to say to you, that this was one of the best meals I have ever had. The service was top notch, the food, elegantly presented and cooked perfectly, and the art deco surroundings exquisite.

In all my excitement, I had never really paid attention to where the restaurant was situated. It was in one of my favorite NYC places, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Building, which use to be on my walking tours of that area of NYC when I lived there. The park across the street, Madison Square Park, where nickel bag drug dealers use to ply their trade when I worked on 5th Avenue in my early twenties are long gone and have been replaced by an assortment of people enjoying an attractive urban park.

Of course all these thoughts flew in and out of my brain quickly because my destination was the restaurant Eleven Madison Park and I was finally there.

As I walked through the doors, I was captivated by the high ceilings and art deco detail. We were promptly seated, with the adjoining tables empty for the majority of the meal. The light poured in from the ceiling to floor windows. With the attention our table received from the staff, I felt like a member of the privileged class for a couple of hours.

At this point you may be wondering if I am going to get to the food. Your patience is appreciated, this was fine dining and one should savor every drop of the experience, wouldn't you agree?

As I looked through the extremely well priced lunch menu, I knew that it would be a remote chance that I could taste my dining companions food as well, so I needed

to order carefully. My choices would not disappoint me until dessert (and even that would be a minimal disruption to my over all positive experience.)

The presentation of the food was outstanding. As a starter I ordered the "Parsnip Velouté with Sweetbreads and White Truffle Oil". Crispy fried sweetbreads sat in a buttery parsnip soup with overtones of lemon. I drank a glass of Claude Genet Champagne, which suited the dish just fine.

My main course was Braised Oxtail, with a layer of mashed potatoes on top, accompanied by brussel sprouts with mushrooms. Each bite of the oxtail, oozed with flavor and was a wonderful combination of textures. The accompanying brussel sprouts had enough bite in them to go well with the other textures and a mellow flavor that worked with with the oxtail. I had a lovely Rhone Valley Wine from Saint Joseph to accompany this course.

For dessert I had a Soufflé with Tahitian Vanilla and Passion Fruit, that I enjoyed but found the citrus sauce a little bit over the top, taking away from the taste of the perfectly cooked soufflé.

I was scheduled to go to Jean-Georges, but I did not feel well the next day, so this has to suffice for my over the top NYC dining experience. I was not disappointed.

Sauté World Bistro: Where Are They Going with their Food?

2008-12-17T21:02:00.006-06:00

I was thrilled when I got the invitation to attend a free sampling dinner for food bloggers at the two-month old Sauté Bistro. I have drank excellent free-trade tea and eaten at their first Houston restaurant, Té. Therefore I was looking forward to eating at one of similar ilk with a more expanded menu.

The place is pretty, built originally as a house and added on to over the years, it left its domestic heritage behind and has been used as a restaurant for a while. The venue, albeit a bit noisy where we sat in the front room, is charming.

On a frigid Tuesday evening, about twelve of us bloggers gathered to try Sauté‘s menu and a few new dishes which the restaurant choose for us. As I entered, I was greeted warmly by one of the owners, Kevin Lacobie and we were later joined by his wife, co-owner Connie Lacobie. The chef, Garry Hollie, who comes from New Orleans, presented and explained each course.

I wanted to love this restaurant for many reasons, most notably the graciousness of the owners, their philosophy of using local ingredients and the comfortable interior of the building. The location on Richmond near Kirby and next to Blue Fish and the Hobbit seems like a place that would get a decent amount of traffic.

First of all the place was fairly empty. A scene I am starting to notice more and more as I dine out during the week. Perhaps Houston is finally feeling the consequences of the current economic slide and people are starting to eat out less. If this is so, it is now a more difficult time for new restaurants to survive.

At Sauté the eclectic menu features dishes influenced by a variety of food cultures including; Asia, the Mediterranean, Europe, Mexico, South America and the United States.

But instead of feeling like I was on a journey through variety of world cuisines, I felt like I was sampling a hodgepodge of highly or not spiced foods. There was not one dish, beyond the Mexican chocolate cake, that married the flavors of a particular cuisine seamlessly with all the ingredients. Additionally the menu we sampled was heavy on spice, protein and starch – where were the vegetables?

Please keep in mind that as guests of the restaurant, the menu was chosen for us. I personally would not have picked the mix of dishes we had for a group like ours and this may had been one of the fatal flaw of the evening.

We began with an aperitif, a “Teatini” called Aloha Sunrise Waikiki, made with tea, tequila, orange juice, and simple sugar. It was yummy, with a good balance of flavors that were not overpowering. This drink worked.

During our meal we tasted two reasonably priced wines one a Casa Nostra, a French Rosé ($32) and a Ca ‘del Santo, Italian Pinto Grigio ($28). They both paired nicely with the food, but we could have used a wine bucket to keep them cooler.

Our first course was a current menu item, the spicy chicken pastelitos with salsa verde and sweet chili sauce on the side. The pastelitos tasted mainly of pastry and spices, I could hardly make out the flavor of the meat and if there were any other ingredients stuffed inside.

Next we were presented with two small pieces of bread with melted gorgonzola cheese and honey drizzled on it. I found it tasty but too sweet. It was curious to me why we received them as a separate course, as a piece of the bread shows up later as an accompaniment to a pasta dish and no bread was ever served during the meal.

I truly disliked the cold Crab Salad with Crispy Wonton. The crab meat tasted fishy, the melted Parmesan cheese was cold on the top of the crab meat mixture and it was served in a fried wonton. The taste of the crabmeat was more similar to canned crabmeat than fresh, perhaps it was old?

The chef’s love affair with fried food continued, I was willing to say stop – none of the fried foods I had so far were worth the extra calories frying adds, but no we were continuing. Voila, the cheese steak eggrolls.

I found them soggy. I could hardly taste the mushrooms or make out the flavor of the cheese. It is served with a cheese dipping sauce on the side and had the flavor of the kind of sauce one expects on Fettuccine Alfredo.

At this point, I am getting hungry. I have not finished a course yet and I thinking when are we are getting a green salad or a vegetable dish to balance the protein and carbohydrate heavy meal we have been consuming. Perhaps I should be eating the leafy green vegetable under the eggrolls? But I choose to drink a little more wine, which is fruit, is it not?

The Creole Pasta had one piece each of shrimp and crawfish. The dish comes with a somewhat over the top peppery cream sauce. That overly sweet bread with cheese and honey has returned, sitting on the rim of the bowl.

Now I am starting to think what kind of vegetables do I have at home and will I have the energy to cook them? I pray silently to myself, asking the gods of food to provide us with some sort of vegetable or salad for the next course.

But no, what comes next is a real surprise, Alligator Piccata with Forbidden Rice , a Cajun-Chinese fusion dish. I taste lemon, as I should, but the dish is garnished with lime. The picatta breading is cooked perfectly. Tell me, what was the point of using alligator when it did not add anything special to the dish? Tasting a bit more, I could tell that the picatta was a little to salty for me and the rice is bland. Some of the plates around me have capers on them; my plate looked like it had one, although the rest may have ducked under the rice.

The dessert choices were more of a hit with me. The Banana Layer Cake with fresh fruit was decent.

I really enjoyed the Mexican Spice Cake.

My advice is simple; do what you do best. Té on Fairview works well. Ask yourself why?

The menu at Sauté is all over the place. I could not really click with the what the meaning of world bistro theme was in any positive light. The owners and or chef of Sauté need to figure out who their clientèle is and cater to them.

Furthermore, upon reflection, Sauté left me confused. Confused as to what the intention of calling the restaurant a "World Bistro" really meant? Confused as to who are the target customers? Confused about the meaning of the web tag line: Dining Drinks Dancing?

I want to support restaurants that are committed to using local fresh foods, and local chefs who are taking a chance but at this point I am not ready to support Sauté.

Asia Market - Sometimes You Need to Find the Right Things to Order

2008-12-10T19:52:00.012-06:00

At Bedford on Monday, Elizabeth and Bao said that they loved Asia Market in the Heights and thought I should give it another chance.

Despite the fact that I am over a month behind in writing anything about restaurants, I wanted to tell you right away that I picked up some great Thai food this evening. As I drove to Asia Market in a surreal (because it is Houston) snow storm (okay light flurries but real snow), I thought this is crazy, but I was driven to go.

I ordered everything medium Thai spicy, which was very much to my liking. I had the Aythaya Pad Thai with tofu, dried shrimp, and chicken. The menu said there were fresh shrimp in the dish, but I never found them, Perhaps they are in the leftovers? Pad Thai use to be my bellwether when it came to measuring up the quality of Thai food, but over the years I have had such lousy, overly sweet Pad Thai, I gave up up on this notion. Asia Market's version of Pad Thai has restored my faith. It was perfectly cooked and a flavorful blend of spices meat,

By the way Aythaya or Ayutthaya was a Thai Kingdom from the 14th - 18th centuries. It incorporated many of the Shan states, including parts of modern day Thailand, Myamar, Laos, Yunnan provence in China, Cambodia, and Malayasia.

For the second course, I had the Kang Ped Nor Mai, a red curry with just enough after burn to tickle my palate. It was a flavorful mixture which included eggplant, bamboo shoots and pork. Next time I need to order the sticky rice instead of the white rice, as I enjoy the consistency of sticky rice for a change and I do nto make it at home.

For the last course I had Som Tum, a spicy shredded papaya salad with tomatoes, dried shrimp and whole peanuts. Tum rhymes with yum and I think it may be a synonym for this dish!

To drink, I decided I did not want tea and instead had my new favorite soda: DRY Lavender. With it's subdued sweetness and slight effervescence, it works very nicely with spicy Asian food.

Once again I over ordered, as I think I have enough left over for at least two more meals.

Less Ambitious

2008-12-01T19:36:00.003-06:00

I give up, I'll never catch up with the restaurants I have been to in the last month. Although, I will try to write something brief soon.

There is just too much going on and not enough time. I am glad to complain about that, rather than being bored!

Life is Delicious, But I Have Been Very Busy

2008-11-21T06:45:00.002-06:00

My apologies that I have not written in such a long time. I have a few outstanding meals that I need to write-up. Including a seven course meal by an weekend only local Chef and blogger, who cooked up an exciting array of delectable treats a few weeks ago, my first visit to Rainbow Lodge with Chef Randy Rucker at the helm, and a fantastic chowdown and fundraiser at Himialya put together by Chef Kaiser Lashkara.

I suspect you will not hear form me until Thanksgiving next week.

Pig Roast at Feast: The Story of Deux Petits Cochons Joined by a Bunch of Houston Chowhounds

2008-10-18T15:03:00.006-05:00

Last night I had the pleasure of dining with my Houston Chowhound friends at Feast. There were about thirty of us at four different tables in the private rooms upstairs. We were fortunate to have a cool Houston evening to accompany the festivities and we were able to hang out on the balcony as well.

We gathered to celebrate the birthday of fellow HouCHie JavaPeg. What a celebration we had, sampling, or should I say stuffing ourselves with food from Feast.

Feast: 219 Westheimer Road, Houston, TX 77006 713.529.7788

Menu

Canapés:

(top to bottom) Pork Back Fat, Chicken Liver with Gherkins, Welsh Rabbit or Rarebit,Sweetbreads with Horseradish and Sweet Potatoes

First Course:

Baked Scallops

Salad:

Garden Salad (not pictured) and Pork Cheek Salad with Dandelion Greens and Pork Fat Croutons

Mains:

Roast Pig and Braised Lamb Shanks

Side Dishes:

Brussel Sprouts, Carrots, Kale with Anchovies, Mashed Potatoes and Stuffing

Dessert:

Peach and Date Crumble with Vanilla Custard

Quick Critique -

I like the slightly spicy Welsh Rabbit (no rabbit in it) or Rarebit, loved the Chicken Liver, the sweetbreads were overpowered by the horseradish and so difficult to eat that I saw one go flying across the room and Pork Fat - very different and tasty.

The baked scallops in a cheesy béchamel sauce served on scallop shells were delicious, but could have been a bit warmer (despite the fact that I went back for seconds and thirds.)

The garden salad was fresh and crisp but slightly underdressed.

The pork salad was outrageous, crunchy from the pork and earthy from the greens.

The roast pig was moist and delicious. We had a lot of fun eating through the head, I got to eat one of the ears and some of the check, other were diving in for parts unknown to me as edible in the past (let’s leave it at that.)

The lamb shank was a winner, spiced with mace and juniper and so delicate the meat fell off the bone.

The side dishes were wonderful. We all were raving over the brussel sprouts and the kale with anchovies. The stuffing and mashed potatoes were also good, just not the center of attention at my table. The carrots were pretty and cooked simply.

By the time the dessert of Peach and Date Crumble with Vanilla Custard came around, I could hardly eat another bite. Despite the fact that I was disappointed it was not a chocolate dessert, I loved the warm, fruity and not to sweet taste of the cobbler, the way the flavors blended together, as well as the silky texture of the dessert.

The service was excellent and of course the company, it can not get much better.

Now I am forced to go eat the leftovers, sorry you can not join me in my second feast in two days.