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22 June 2011

The Hungarian capital Budapest has a long, proud history. Once one of the crown jewels of the Austria-Hungary empire, it underwent some tough times post World Wars I and II. In recent years the country has been undergoing a transformation however, with grand old buildings, monuments and streets being restored and an vibrant underground bar scene that rivals the best anywhere else in the world emerging. If you’re only in Budapest for a few days, then my Budapest Travel Guide will take you on a photographic tour of what to expect.

I had been to Budapest before, but in the spring. It was a lot colder this time and I was over there to visit a friend, who lived just out of the city centre, in an area full of communist era buildings. The green and blue painted one won an award for being refurbished with modern amenities. It’s a good example of what can be done with some of these monolithic buildings to make them relevant today.

I really like the city, and there is a real contrast between the beauty of the past, the communist influence of the more recent past, and the familiar signs of a city moving towards the future.

Budapest is full of grand coffee houses from the days of the Austria-Hungary Empire. A lot have been restored to their former glory relatively recently and are quite amazing.

A Photographic Tour Of Aix En Provence

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Paul

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22 June 2011

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Aix En Provence is a small town about 45 minutes by train from Marseilles. I went there for a day and although touristy, it was very charming and definitely worth a day trip. Very different from Marseilles. Come with me on a photographic tour of this charming, beautiful small French city steeped in history and arts.

If you ever find yourself in this part of the world you really should take the time out to visit Aix En Provence. I think you’ll agree by looking at the photos that there’s a charm in this city that’s well worth discovering.

The Lisbon Weekend Travel Guide

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Paul

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18 June 2011

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One of the joys about living in London is the ability to pop over to any number of European destinations for just a weekend. A lot of people have asked me how I managed to cram so much into a weekend, so for my Lisbon trip I thought I’d write up a Lisbon weekend travel guide.

Lisbon was a city which I’d heard good things about, and this Portuguese city not disappoint. The city has an amazing nightlife about it. Stylish and modern bars share laneways with hole in the wall places that look like they’ve been there for 50 years, with the same guy serving drinks for 50 years! The streets and laneways are full of people street drinking (you can just buy a drink from a bar and walk outside), yet there isn’t any trouble going on and everyone is having a good time. There is a mutual respect that is lacking in many cities – respect for the owners of the venues and respect for your fellow night owls.

The young people on nights out were really friendly and everyone kept telling us that we had to come back during the summer, when it’s supposed to be even more fun. I also bumped into quite a few Brazilians. Because of the historical links between the two countries, there are quite a few Brazilians that come to Portugal to study and work, in the same way that there are lots of Australians doing their stints in England.

I had a great time in Lisbon, and can’t wait to go back. The whole city has a really funky, ”cool” vibe, and new mixes with old seamlessly.

I was really impressed by the street art scene in Lisbon. There is a lot of good and interesting street art around.

The Santa Justa Lift was built between 1900 and 1902, and was designed by Raul Ponsard, and apprentice of Gustave Eiffel. It is 45 meters tall and there are amazing views of the city to be had from the top.

There is quite an extensive tram network in Lisbon. Some of them look quite run down. On a night out I was posing in front of one for a photo, assuming that it was out of order… until the driver honked his horn and started the engine!

Random stuff like this – alfresco just set up on some stairs along a narrow walkway, occurs all over the place.

Belem is a riverside district of Lisbon and there can be found the best egg tarts ever. Pasteis de Belem has a reputation for being the best, but after trying them I was amazed at just how much better they are than any of the others I had tried in the city.

The Belem Tower is a UNESCO World Heritage site, due to its important during the ”Age of Discoveries”, when Portugal was a colonising power. It served as both a gateway to Lisbon, and as a defensive tower and was completed in 1521.

The 25th of April Bridge is probably quite familiar to most of you. This is because it was built by the American Bridge Company, and is based on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, completion being in 1966.

Kuala Lumpur: 5 – 7 April 2011

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Paul

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31 May 2011

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In April, on the way back to London, I finally got a chance to visit Kuala Lumpur. I’d been meaning to go for years when I lived back in Perth but always ended up returning to Singapore or Hong Kong. Malaysia Airlines was offering the best price from Perth to London this time, so I finally made the visit happen. KL reminds me a lot of Singapore. In some ways, it seems like what Singapore might have been like before it decided that it was going to rebrand itself as the ”Monte Carlo of Asia”. A bit grimier, a bit cheaper, but also a bit more ”real” than Singapore. Overall, they are both great places and both have their pros and cons.

Street food is a huge deal in Malaysia. In KL, there are little stalls like this on both main streets and little side streets, selling all kinds of delicacies.

This street was amazing. The entire street was just lined with Hawker stalls.

Snowflake is a chain of Taiwanese dessert shops. This was a frozen flavoured ice with sago balls and sea amber jelly. It tasted so good.

Shopping is another pass-time of Malaysians. There are huge malls with every international brand imaginable all over the city.

Hokkien char mee is a dish of thick yellow noodles braised in thick dark soy sauce with pork, squid, fish cake and cabbage as the main ingredients and cubes of pork fat fried until crispy.

It’s certainly not the healthiest of dishes, but tastes absolutely amazing.

I also had some lightly dusted and fried prawns.

Yut Kee is a great example of a traditional Malaysian Kopitam. It’s been around for over 80 and is an institution amongst locals in KL. I got the ”chicken chop” and a roti, and some Malaysian style iced coffee. It serves, cheap, great quality comfort food. Unfortunately the lease runs out this year and the place might be forced to move elsewhere. In Malaysia in general, the traditional Kopitam is giving way to the ”trendier” European style cafes. As I’ve said many times on this blog, progress is a good thing, but invariably has its downside in the loss of certain local traditions.

This is the ”little India” district of KL. It was full of shop upon shop selling all kinds of fabrics and traditional Indian clothing.

The National Mosque of Malaysia.

This is the old central train station of KL. It’s a grand building, and currently the government is looking at ways of using it once more.

Chinatown was a bit too touristy for me, and although there were certainly interesting spots in the area, overall it wasn’t my favourite part of the city. It was generally far too aimed at the western tourist trade.

The Petronas towers. The tallest buildings in the world when completed in 1998 until surpassed by Taipai 101 in 2004. They are very unique towers and every bit as amazing in person as I had expected.

Pelita Nasi Kandar is a chain of Nasi Kandar restaurants in Malaysia. Nasi Kandar is a meal of steamed rice, served with a variety of curries and side dishes of the eater’s choice. It was very affordable (as was all of the food I had in KL) and very good (as was everything else I ate in KL too!)

Restoran Wong Poh is in Petaling Jaya on the side of a motorway (about half an hour train out of KL) and I was recommended it by a friend who had been a few weeks earlier for the butter crab. It was the first time I’d ever tackled a whole crab like this before so things got a bit messy! The crab was amazing, and the butter sauce, mixed with the crab juices, poured over the rice was absolutely divine. Well worth the trip out of KL.

Another dessert from Snowflake. This one had taro balls and grass jelly. It was good, but not as good as the other one.

Hong Kong. Asia’s World City? Hard To Argue.

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Paul

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23 April 2011

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Hong Kong. Asia’s World City? Hard To Argue.

Two years since I was last there, and I returned to what is still probably my favourite city in the world. I’ve been to Hong Kong 6 times now, and feel very comfortable with the city. Hong Kong didn’t disappoint, and was just as exciting, vibrant and stimulating as always.

The Causeway Bay district is one of my favourite districts in Hong Kong. It is always super busy and is full of contrasts. High end luxury shopping shares streets with alleyway vendors selling cheap bowls of noodles. At night, the lights are so intense in some areas that you don’t even realise nightfall has come.

Lan Kwai Fong is one of the main nightspots in Hong Kong. It might be full of tourists (especially so this weekend as the Rubgy 7s were on), but it’s still great fun.

The Po Fook Memorial Hall, is a great place to relax and clear your mind. A lot of people mistake this with the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery (Man Fat Tsz), including me! If you want that, you have to keep walking up the mountain for about another 20 minutes.

Mong Kok is another one of my favourite districts in the city. It’s one of the most densely populated areas in the world, and is intense and exciting. You can find great street food here, and it’s a sports/casual shoe and electronics mecca.

The Tian Tan Buddha is very big, and is certainly worth seeing, however it’s not what it used to be. When I first went to Hong Kong ten years ago, it was isolated and you had to spend close to an hour on a bus to get to it from the train station. It was very peaceful. Today, you take a cable car from the train station to a fake ”traditional village” and walk amongst hordes of tourists who are drinking their Starbucks that they got from the ”village”. A very disappointing development to what was such a tranquil place.

The Po Lin monastery is only a few minutes from the Buddha and is, in my mind, the real reason to come out here. A lot of the tourists just avoid it and you can walk through most of it. It’s much more of a ”real” experience.

Hong Kong doesn’t exactly do suburbia.

Tsim Sha Tsui is a great district with lots of interesting shops and places to eat. One thing I have noticed over the past ten years is that the area is starting to become more gentrified. Some of the independent places have given way to international brands and chains. I’m all for progress, but in a city like Hong Kong where there are so many areas that have their unique character, it would be a shame to see them make way for yet another mall of luxury shopping brand, the likes of which can already be found all over the city.

I finally got to check out Victoria Peak at night. After not being able to capture the shots I wanted this night, I decided to by a tripod a week later. I can’t wait to use it!

To have a look at some of the amazing food that I ate on this trip, click here.

Hong Kong Food Tour

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Paul

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23 April 2011

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Hong Kong has a wealth of choices when it comes to food. From simple, cheap noodle houses to to some of the best Michelin starred restaurants in the world, there is something for every pallet and every budget. Below is a small sample of some of the great food on offer in Hong Kong from one of my trips there.

Prices range from cheap $, to medium/affordable $$, to expensive $$$.

L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon $$$
15 Queen’s Rd West, Central
(http://www.robuchon.hk/)

On my first night, I had dinner at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, and as to be expected, it was very good. Joel Robuchon been doing this concept in a few cities for a while now (the first L’Atelier opened in Paris in 2003), and the casual vibe and open kitchen really do make for a great atmosphere and is, to my mind, the way fine dining should be. Great food and excellent service without pretension and stuffiness. The photo that I took of the menu turned out blurry so I can’t remember exactly what everything was – you’ll have to excuse the poor descriptions!

The bread was nice, and the green tea bread was not actually that unexpected. In Asia they seem to find a way to do a green tea version of every kind of food. In this case it worked.

This was some kind of savoury custard.

Prawns and asparagus with a raspberry kind of jam.

Escargot and a honey risotto.

A fois gras soup.

Scallops

Pork belly with his signature mashed potatoes which are obscenely indulgent and creamy. A bowl of the mashed potatoes was also served but the photo I took came out very blurry.

Cheese board.

Tiramisu and a custard tart with raspberry and a macaron.

Petit fours.

Lei Garden Restaurant $$
Various Locations
(http://www.leigarden.hk/eng/)

The branch that we visited was on the 10th floor of Times Square shopping mall. Unlike most western countries, in Asia good food can be found even in shopping malls. Despite being a chain, the food was very good, although overpriced for what it was. We only got a few small dishes, but they do offer a full menu with many more options.

First, a pallet cleanser was served. It was slightly sweet, with notes of ginger.

Tripe, when prepared properly, is a brilliant thing to eat. Just the right level of chewiness and a great texture

I can’t recall what these were. Some kind of fried dumping type things.

Fragrant bamboo rice steamed in palm leaves.

I cannot recall what this was.

Tung Po $$
2/F Java Road Municipal Services Building, North Point

I had heard about Tungo Po before, both through word of mouth and on the Hong Kong episode of “No Reservations”. One of my friends had been in Hong Kong a few weeks earlier and it was one of his favourite dining experiences ever, so I knew I had to go. It’s away from the tourist areas, in a municipal services building, above a fish market. A world away from Joel Robuchon, and proof that sometimes the simple things are best. The owner Robbie has a reputation as being somewhat of a character but he was not working this night. The food was great, and we were back there two days later.

Two days later, and Robbie was there and made sure we had a night that we wouldn’t forget. We walked in and were seated, and asked for Robbie. The waiter shouted across the room to Robbie, and he shouted back that he’d be there in a moment. A few minutes later, a round of beers appeared at our table. “We didn’t order these” we said “There are on Robbie” we were told.

When Robbie came past, we had a bit of a chat then he asked us what we’d like to eat. We told him that we were happy to eat whatever he thought was good. Genuinely excited by this, Robbie asked a few basic questions just to ensure we didn’t get anything that we knew we wouldn’t like, then he put together an amazing selection of food for us. He drunk beer and ate bits and pieces with us, and after he’d had a few more drinks put on some 90s rap music and started dancing. Robbie’s son Wayne and one of the staff “Chicken” were also getting in on the fun as the night continued. The night only got crazier as it went on. Robbie is seriously passionate about his food and living life, and the night was one of the most unique, awesome dining experiences that I’ve ever had.

Robbie, sharing a beer with us. Yes, you drink beer out of bowls at Tung Po.

Maxim’s Palace $$
Various Locations
(http://www.maxims.com.hk/en/)

Maxim’s is a very popular chain of Dim Sum restaurants in Hong Kong and China. I’ve known about it for a while but the lines have always turned me off. We were number 830 on the top row something and, as you can see from the screen in the photo before, we had a long wait ahead of us. It was well worth it – I’d recommend getting your number, then going to do something else for an hour and coming back. Nobody in there spoke English, and there were no other white people in there – always a good sign when in Asia looking for food! The carts come past, and as we didn’t know what anything was, we had a look and if we liked, we took. You get your card ticked and at the end, you go and pay. It was great.

Mos Burger $
Various Locations
(http://mosburger-hk.com/)

Mos Burger is a Japanese Burger chain with outlets in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia. They offer burgers, but with a distinctly Japanese twist. A visit to Mos is always a must for me whenever I’m in a city that has them.

As well as regular burgers, Mos also offers burger with rice instead of bread buns. This one had a teriyaki beef filling.

The Saku Saku burger has a crispy chicken fillet crunch cabbage and Japanese mayo. Another favourite of mine.

Mong Kong is one of my favourite parts of Hong Kong. There’s a lot on offer here – shopping markets, sports gear and electronics. The street food scene in Mong Kok is one of the best that I’ve seen anywhere – there is a lot on offer.

The octopus balls, tripe and squid were all amazing. The bright orange intestines on a stick, not so much!

If you’ve been to any of these places, or have any great recommendations of your own, I’d love to hear what you think below.

Marseille: 1 – 3 March 2011

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6 March 2011

4

Last week I decided to visit Marseille, and really didn’t know much about the city, other than it was a relatively big city in the south of France. The fact that it isn’t particularly a touristy town appealed to me, and I was keen to discover what it was all about. I left Marseille very happy with the visit, and would certainly recommend the city to anyone looking for a more ”real” experience that offers contrasts and something different than the typical touristic holiday in Southern France afforded by a city like say Nice (which coincidently I also like very much).

I stayed near Vieux Port, and was grateful to see some sun after 2 particularly grey weeks in London.

Every morning there is a fish market at the port, where all the fishers sell their catches from the morning.

The streets in the main shopping area of the city reminded me of photos of San Francisco with their peaks and troughs.

Cours Julien is a very cool part of the city. It’s very gritty and urban, and I loved it.

Heading up the major thoroughfare of La Canebière, and past the Eglise Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, is the Musée d’Histoire de Marseille, which is housed in a very cool building that offers amazing views of the city.

Just away from Vieux Port, in the 6th Arrondissement, are markets that have been set up amongst some of the small side streets that twist and turn around the entire city. Lots of immigrants from Northern Africa are here selling all kinds of products and delicacies from their homelands, along with plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and seafood. One second I was smelling seafood, the next it was Moroccan spices.

South of Vieux Port is, from what I could tell a different vibe from where I had explored the day before. I headed towards the Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde, which offers truly amazing panoramic views of the entire city and the ocean. Unfortunately the day was very overcast and misty.

After this, I headed down and along Rue Paradis which was clearly in more of a higher end area as was evident by the kinds of boutiques and wares on offer. I wandered off onto some side streets after a while and walked through and area with some big houses and the like, before coming out onto Avenue Du Prado.

It turns out that Avenue Du Prado is quite a long street, and I must have missed the portion which I assume must contain high end shopping given the nearby areas I had been walking through. When I reached the street, it was the final stretch before hitting the beach at Prado Plage. This section of the street is home to lots of offices of international companies, often housed in grand old mansions, with newer office developments also littered along the street.

I went for quite a long walk along the coast from Prado Plage to Le Pharo.

Le Pharo is home to Palais du Pharo, which was constructed in 1858 during Napoleon’s rule, and overlooks Vieux Port.

Dublin: 28 – 29 January 2011

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Paul

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5 February 2011

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Dublin was a city that I had always wanted to visit for a long time, but had never got around to visiting, I suppose because there always seemed to be more ”exotic” destinations to travel to in Europe. Spurred on by an advertisement I saw on the tube on the way to work on day, I booked myself a very cheap flight and a few weeks later here I was, ready to spend a whirlwind weekend seeing what Dublin was all about.

This was also my first real opportunity to try out my new 45-200mm lens – perfect for capturing the vibe of a city at street level (in theory!)

St Stephen’s Green is a small park towards the northern end of one of Dublin’s main shopping streets, Grafton Street.

Crossing O’Connell Bridge over the river Liffey, you get to O’Connell Street. This is Dublin’s ”main” street, and is one of the widest streets in Europe. The street was practically destroyed during the fights for independence and the following civil war, with many of the buildings today being from the 1920s.

West of O’Connell street are a variety of shops, bars and cafes, ranging from higher end establishments, through to markets and real arts type places. It is quite a diverse area.

The River Liffey, heading down towards the docks. This area has seen a lot of change over the past 10 years, and is now home to many office developments, apartment blocks and the like.

The Samuel Beckett Bridge, in the shape of a harp, is the newest bridge to span the Liffey, and opened in December 2009.

Trinity College was founded in 1592, and is known for housing the Book of Kells, a gospel book created by Celtic monks around 800AD with some very ornate lettering and artwork

Exploring the area west of Grafton Street, which is home to a lot of clubs, bars and restaurants.

Heading west along the Liffey to the Guinness Storehouse.

It is true what people say. Guinness really does taste different in Ireland. I never thought I liked Guinness, but I downed a few pints over the weekend and really enjoyed them. It must be the water!

Singapore Food Tour

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2 December 2010

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I decided to stop over for a few days in Singapore on the way back to London from Perth, and dived into the amazing food offerings. Singapore truly is one of the ”food” cities of the world, with such a variety of great food ranging from cheap and tasty hawker meals through to fine dining and everything in between.

The first night was a nine course dinner at three-Michelin star chef Santi Santamaria’s new restaurant “Santi” at Marina Bay Sands. This was seriously amazing food.

Update Mar 2012. Shortly after the untimely death of Santi Santamaria, Santi in Singapore closed down, with his family deciding to focus on the Spanish restaurants. Condolences to Santi’s family.

Santi’s version of potato chips which came out while deciding which menu option to choose. It came with an interesting and tasty aioli.

There was a selection of 6 or 7 different breads that they brought out. my favourite was the olive focaccia which is the one in this photo.

I cannot remember exactly what the appetiser was. The fish was tuna.

Octopus salad with baby beetroot, yoghurt and white truffles.

Tomato salad with oyster escabeche, roasted peppers and iberico ham.

Chestnut cream soup with egg confit and chanterelle mushrooms. My favourite dish of the night.

Artichoke and cauliflower rice with crustaceans and cava butter.

Market fish (tonight it was snapper) with calcots, Japanese corn and red wine sauce.

Roasted baby lamb with crosnes and truffle sauce.

Roasted pigeon with crosnes and truffle sauce. There was also a third choice of suckling pig.

A strawberry sorbet for pre-dessert

Persimmon pastilla with grue de cacao ice cream.

Bread Talk is a chain that sells all kinds of breads. You grab a tray and choose what you want from the large selection.

Yams.

Mushroom Dumpling

Unagi and egg on rice.

Udon noodles.

Chicken on rice with an interesting mayo topping.

A hawker stall in Chinatown.

Dried noodles with beef.

Wet noodles with fish.

Honeymoon Dessert sells all kinds of tasty Asian desserts.

Coconut and red bean pudding.

Basil nut jelly balls with green tea ice cream and something else.

Mango dumplings.

Watermelon and I can’t remember what the white stuff was.

Mos Burger is a Japanese Burger chain. I am hooked on it!

The one in the middle, with a bun made of rice instead of bread, was the best.

Roast duck pancakes.

Hainanese chicken rice.

Pork ribs and dry noodles.

More chicken rice but this time from the Chinatown Complex hawker’s centre.

Beef balls and noodles.

Perth CBD: 16 November 2010

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18 November 2010

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I had some time to spare after my walk down Beaufort Street so decided to take photos of parts of the CBD that I didn’t manage to cover the day before.

Perth Railway station was built between 1883-84 and continues to serve as the city’s primary and largest railway station.

The retail/office space around the Wesley Church was revamped just over a year ago.

The building is unfortunately going to be used for office space above the retail on street level. A shame, as it is perfect for a bar/restaurant.

The Art Deco Gledden building was constructed between 1937-38, inspired by developments in New York City and Chicago at the time.

Heading west along Hay Street.

Shafto Lane has always been activated to an extent, but the focus is becoming more dining/drinking related, which has added an extra layer of vibrancy to the lane.