English Channel - Crossing via the tunnel bellow it.

"Do you think someday we will ever be able to travel to outer space?"

"Where is outer space?"

"Out there."

"You mean away from earth?  Are we not already in space, Digi? On a big ship. Earth."





"Ouuww, mum."

Crossing the English Channel

On this part of the road trip, somehow we don't have a single photo to show. Our last photo was of Sven (of Gent) and the next photo showed street of Paddington. I thought we had some photos that shows the French customs officers at the border. Perhaps we were too stupefied as we hauled our luggage through customs.   I was sure I took photos as we entered the tunnel, of vehicles and bridges. Or was it what I saw from our bus window looked like photos? Have you ever had this feeling, that you think you have done all that you set to do and found yourself waking up from a dream? Poe illustrates it so well in "A dream within a dream."

So how did we crossed the English Channel Tunnel? Ahh, everyone got on their buses, lined up like you are about to board a ferry, but this one we were boarding a train. Once on your train flat form you can check around, go to the loo, etc. As time to depart neared, everyone got back on their seat. And off we go, speeding on a train, crossing the channel. In  35 minutes. I had to stop thinking I was bellow the sea. Digi, he was just too excited to see London.



Happy E day everyone.
Alternative Foodie

Couchsurfers get together in Gent

I'm so tempted to say, C is for cookie! Yeah. Our cookie stock is going down fast. But I've planned for C to be for couchsurfing. It is the best thing that happened since 2008. It has made it possible for us to meet wonderful travelers from all over the world. And in turn we get to visit some of them. And had brought us to take a detour to Belgium. So on the last weekend of February 2011, we made our way to Gent.

The City of Gent welcomed us, two Malaysians (Joey, who then was in Antwerp working as an Au Pair, and I) and an American (Digital) with its cold wintry rain. With Olivier and James (a friend of Olivier, and our driver for the day) in the lead, we trudged street to street, one ornate building to the next, and catching up with Sven (Olivier and Sven came to Kuala Lumpur in 2008, and stayed with us as our first couchsurfer guests). It was like being in a reality TV to see Sven again, as we had not been as communicative apart as we had with Olivier. There was a lot to catch up with Sven. After two coffee houses, and the rain not getting any better, Sven suggested we all should just help him and his girlfriend Efrata cook dinner. We all said, yes yes!!! In a couchsurfing spirit. We knew good food was coming.

Pretty maid statue in front of a restaurant.

Moi in new pair of rubber shoes, Digi and Joey
(Photo was taken by Olivier)

Our host Sven getting the  sauces ready.

Chicken, East meet West style.

Joey, Moi, Digi and Olivier about to begin our
dinner - noodle and chicken.

There were many places that I purposely did not include in our Belgium trip this time. No Waterloo or a cross to the Netherlands. Although it was meant to get Digital to visit another country, and three great cities, the main pull was meeting up (again) with Olivier, Sven and Minny. To also had the opportunity to catch up with a fellow Malaysian (Joey) in a far away land was really nice too. Antwerp, Brussels and Gent have so much to offer to travelers, but having great friends and meeting them make these cities memorable.

Till we meet again,
Alternative Foodie

Brussels: A day trip

On the third day of our Antwerp stay we followed Olivier to Brussels. He was attending a business convention. From the parking lot next to where Olivier's business convention took place, we walked to the Atomium. A giant structure representing an iron crystal, magnified 165 billion times. Well, this was built way ahead of string theory of course. In fact it was built the year I was born. I wonder if there is a structure resembling the string theory too. Anyhow, we did not take a look inside the Atomium. I'm sure there are exhibition panel explaining all about its history, as well the Expo58, but for a traveler on a budget we just went around admiring the Atomium from the ground. Having enough of it, we walked to Heizel metro station and took a metro train straight to the University of Brussels Campus, on the South West of the city.

The Erasmus station is right in the campus ground, no more change to a tram  ride as of the mid 90s, the year I did a post-grad in Statistic and Epidemiology at the university. I wanted to show Digital my school, so we walked around, and toured the lecture halls, took a look at my old classroom and met some of the current students then. The campus looked cold and grey in the late of February. Hoping for some color and activity, we headed back to the city, this time to the Grand Place. Grand Place looked just like how I remembered it. Light streaming out of shops' windows. Chocolate, chocolate and chocolate everywhere. We bought some and eat them while walking around.

What I enjoyed most of Brussels is its Lilliputian feel. A map with a route, all within walking distance.  From Manneken Pis statue, to the Grand Place,  to the Central Station. We were to meet Minny of Luxembourg in Brussels, and waited for her arrival by train at the Central Station. The last time we met up with Minniy was in Las Vegas, at another get together in 2006.

Walking towards the Grand Place

The Grand Place

Happy Digi ... looking at what was ahead of him

Our happy food - Ice cream, waffles and chocolate

From the Central Station, we walked back to the Grand Place for a more close-up sightseeing. By this time Digi had a good idea of the places in and around the Grand Place. Hungry again, we decided for a lunch at La Rose Blance Restaurant, right at  the Grand Place itself. A really nice restaurant with a big fireplace right in the dining room area that warmed us straight away. Minny ordered beef tartare. Wow, I was excited and took a spoonful of it. It was OK but I had too much preconception of beef tartare courtesy of Mr Bean's famous beef tartare antic in my head to truly enjoy it. Some other time maybe. As for Digi, he made a good choice of a baked fish with lemon sauce, and I had a steak, medium. Meanwhile we cheered Minny on her brave lunch.

Central Station, Brussels

Yea - we caught up with Minny.

O la la beef tartare

After lunch we walked away from the Grand Place toward South. Minny was looking for a book shop that she remembered from an earlier visit. We came across a demonstration supporting the Arab Spring (that was going on at the time), it was for Libya then. Minny, Digi and I stopped and watched the demonstrators for awhile then continued on with our walk. At that time a new history had just begun and I remembered hoping, please something good  be out of all this. As we now know, it was really only the beginning.

Arab Spring in Brussels

Underground City, Brussels

And my shoes, one of them gave up. They were my daily walking shoes, not new and I thought not too old. We had walked the street of Paris, three days; a day full of Antwerp, and almost at the end of our day in Brussels. And before that, Kuala Lumpur of course. My shoe sole just got separated from the top part, except a little on the back that was still attached. I theorized it could be caused by the sudden weather change, hot and humid (relatively dry) to cold and wet. I was forced to buy a new pair of shoes. So as Minny and Digi browsed the books at a bookshop, I run (err I meant to say shuffled) to a shopping mall nearby and quickly bought my new walking shoes for 29 Euros. It was just a simple pair of rubber and canvas shoes. They would do.

After we said our goodbye to Minny at the Central Station, we took another Metro train to Heizel, and walked back to the Atomium, to where Olivier was waiting for us, and ferried us back to our Antwerp base camp.

That was one big day of Brussels we had.
Alternative Foodie

Antwerp: Our Belgian base camp.

April 1st, 2013. Today is the beginning of the A to Z April challenge for 2013. Arlee Bird, bravo to you, what you have started is now a worldwide phenon! So here we are with our 1st post for the A-Z April Challenge, 2013. Ours will begin with a road trip tale, that started in February 2011 when we left Kuala Lumpur and headed  to the USA, via Paris and London. Midway, we took a detour to Belgium, to couchsurf with our couchsurfer buddy Olivier.

Paris to Antwerp

Brussels on our way to Antwerp, at dusk

After a two nights stay in Paris we left for Antwerp. With luggage and backpacks ready, we walked to Anver train station, a 15 minutes walk from the Residence Albert Hotel, of Montmartre where we stayed for the three days two nights duration. There was only one train change from Anver to Gallieni, at Pere Lachaise By 10 am we boarded a Euroline bus at Gallieni Station itself, to Antwerp.

Digi slept part of the way, and I watched the scenery most of the time. We tried to guess at which point that we had entered Belgium. I told Digi, Belgium would have two languages on their signage. However, I forgot to note about it. Probably because we are so used to multiple languages signage. Anyway, we had a stop somewhere between Paris and Brussels, and had a lunch of granola bars, bread, cheese and juices. Then at sunset, we had another stop, this time in the center of Brussels. We stretched our feet and also got some more bread and cheese, as well some fruits and vegetables from a convenience store, nearby. I was looking forward for a home cooked meal. But Olivier beat us to it, ingredient wise. He had filled his pantry with essential Asian foods - rice, noodles, soy sauce, hot sauce; and some unique Belgian's treats - waffles, chocolate sauce and biscuit spread. He even had a wok.

Catching snow flakes

Antwerp

Video game shop

For our 1st Antwerp dinner, I cooked some rice in a pot and then fried it in the wok. "Hehh," Oliveir said, "Cook everything in the wok, rice and all, that is what the wok for." "Alright boss. Will do that next time." I scratched my head and tested my brain. Let see, oil in the wok, add mince onions, garlic and ginger, followed by rice, and enough water - cook the rice. Add vegies, soy sauce, hot sauce. Mix everything up. Walla!! We should get it all in the wok. Thankfully breakfast the next day, was a much simpler fare,  cereals, milk and chocolate sauce.

Market Square, Antwerp

After breakfast Olivier gave us a briefing on all the necessary route and transportation required from his place to the city center. Then he went to work and left us to our own way. Digital and I took a bus and a train, but stopped short on the other side of the Schelde river. To go to the city center we had to cross this river. For fun we took the pedestrian channel - a tube like half circular channel that run below the river bed.  Digital thought it was fun to race through the channel to the other side. NOT me. I felt claustrophobic, and my knees are not for running! Phew. Was I glad to surface safely and be on top of terra again.

Antwerp Market Square looked very similar to Brussels Grand Place.  As shopping was the furthest from our minds, we only window shopped - diamonds, and video games too.We bought some chocolates though. Heh, that we did not plan to resist. Not at all.

Although it was the end of February, it was still cold. Digital said, "Perhaps there will be snow." And boy, he got snow flakes falling on him while walking the street of Antwerp. The snow melted even before they touch the ground. But it was still snow. "Whoopie!!" The first ever snow in Digital's life. It was so cool.

On the 2nd day of Antwerp, we slept in, and did our laundry. Also cooked more rice and more chicken. It was like we never had enough rice and chicken. And the waffles, yup, we eat plenty of them, with chocolate sauce, all from Olivier's pantry. Darn excellent base camp his place was.

Alternative Foodie