Saturday, January 31, 2015
It's named after Amstel river
I took this photo in Amsterdam, Holland. Amstel beer was actually my first beer in Athens, Greece, but the beer was originally from Amsterdam, Holland and it was named after Amstel river. It is often said that you learn something new everyday, and I think it hits the right nail on the head. Better late than never. Anyway, I drank Amstel beer quite a lot of times in Athens, Greece, but I didn't drink any in Amsterdam, Holland. In Amsterdam, I was really addicted to Heineken and didn't have any opportunities to drink Amstel. It's also a good beer, though.
Friday, January 30, 2015
The clock tower of Lucerne Town Hall
The photo shows the beautiful clock tower of Lucerne Town Hall in Lucerne, Switzerland. I saw lots and lots of clocks and watches in Lucerne (of course, I was in Switzerland!), but this one was my favorite. I visited Lucerne in a tour organized by a New Zealander travel agency Contiki. Our hotel was on the top of Mount Pilatus. To stay at the hotel, we needed to commute by gondolas. With that, we had to put some belongings in a normal-sized bag and left big suitcases in a coach. We couldn't get back to the coach for a couple of nights. Unfortunately, one of my fellow tour mates forgot to take a battery charger of a camera and had lost a lot of opportunities to take photos in Lucerne. That's too bad.
One-point perspective drawing
I took this photo in Tel Aviv, Israel. The graffiti art reminded me of the world-famous mural painting because it was drawn in one-point perspective drawing. In this case, the face of Albert Einstein gets all passersby's attention among all. Back then, I was on the way to Jaffa. When tourists say 'Jaffa' most of them mean the oldest part of Tel Aviv Jaffa. The lay of the land of Jaffa is like a labyrinth. To be honest at that moment I was ready to enjoy getting lost a little bit there, but before that I took a photo of a piece of graffiti art. I wonder how long it would take to draw this type of huge graffiti art in one-point perspective drawing.
Freddo faces
I bought a pack of chocolate 'Freddo faces' on Halloween night in London, England, the United Kingdom. Each chocolate is shaped in a wide variety of frogs' face. It seemed like a kid-friendly snack. Even though I'm being an adult for a long time, it was fun eating a lot of different poses of frogs' faces and find out something funny from a sea of frogs. Speaking of chocolate, one of my English acquaintances is a real chocoholic. She loves dunking chocolate biscuits in English tea. She said to be careful with my timing, otherwise the chocolate biscuit might break.
Thursday, January 29, 2015
A sneak preview of a mansion of someone famous
I took this photo in Beverly Hills, California, the United States of America. Back then, I flew into LAX around 10 p.m., so plans on my first day in Los Angeles were almost nothing, you can imagine. However, my hotel's receptionist showed me an interesting brochure of city tours. Then, I decided to join a tour named LA city tour - Movie star homes and beaches - on the second day of my arrival. I took this photo during the tour. In Beverly Hills, I could catch sneak previews of gorgeous mansions of celebrities through the bus windows. The problem is there were so many mansions of celebrities in Beverly Hills, and I can't remember who lives there. I should have jotted it down on hindsight.
The night view of the Ponte Luís I
The photo shows the night view of the Ponte Luís I. I took this photo at the bottom of the bridge in Porto overlooking Vila Nova de Gaia. The Ponte Luís I is a metallic bridge in Porto, Portugal that crosses over the Douro River and connects Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia. The Porto Metro runs on the upper deck of the bridge, and cars run on the lower deck. Passersby are able to walk on both deck. The twilight view and the night view from the upper deck of the bridge was just amazing. Not only that, but viewing the bridge itself was so enjoyable. I loved the shape of the bridge very much.
The beach is hidden deep inside of a jungle
I took this photo in Unawatuna, Sri Lanka. There are a couple of well-hidden beaches in Rumassala Sanctuaries Jungle in Unawatuna, and they are locally called "Jungle Beach". The nickname "Jungle Beach" is self-explanatory. Beaches are off the beaten path, but remember there are two beaches and the first beach is getting popular more and more nowadays. I mean the first beach is not like a secluded beach anymore like it used to be. The second beach is located right behind the rocky area and is more hard to get, so it still looked like a secluded beach. My last visit to "Jungle Beach"was in February 2014. I don't know what is going on after that.
Yummy-looking submarine sandwich place
I took this photo in Antwerp, Belgium. After having a lunch break at a Belgian cafe restaurant, I walked around the city and took a lot of photos. During that, I found this yummy-looking submarine sandwich place in the street. There were so many mouth-watering photos of submarine sandwiches on top of that there was a human-sized model of a submarine sandwich. The human-sized submarine sandwich looked very cute, and looked like a doll. I love this sense of decoration. It catches passersby's attention, plus it indicates there is a submarine sandwich place.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Cocktail Car
The photo shows a Cocktail Car. You'll see this type of cars a lot in Pattaya, Thailand. You can't miss them on Pattaya Sai 1 (a.k.a. Pattaya Beach Road) and Pattaya Sai 2, or on a Soi near Soi Buakhao. The point is a Cocktail Car will turn into an open air cocktail bar after 5 p.m.. Each Cocktail Car is a vehicle like the photo shows, so it's movable, of course. First of all, staff will drive the car to their business spot, then prepare several tables and more chairs around the car. After that, they will play music, turn flashy lights, and then some, then a bartender will wait drinkers at the bar. I took this photo on the Beach Road near Montien Pattaya.
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Is it a bar or a pub?
I took this photo in Zagreb, Croatia. There were a lot of tables outside of a cafe bar and chairs were decorated in winter mode. They look lovely, don't they? Speaking of a bar, one of my English acquaintances told me something interesting recently. I asked him what the differences between a bar and a pub were. He said if someone talked to him about a bar, he could imagine that the bar was a fancy place to drink alcohol drinks. If someone talked to him about a pub, he could imagine that the pub was not a fancy place. He also said "But, there's a bar in a pub, right?" Right. How confusing.
Monday, January 26, 2015
Kartoffelpuffer
The photo shows Kartoffelpuffer. It's kind of like German potato pancakes. I bought some of them from a happy bubbly expert vendor at Christmas Markets in Frankfurt, Germany and had them with tasty apple sauce. To be honest, before I got there, I didn't have any idea what Kartoffelpuffer was, but it looked like my favorite hash browns, also I saw a lot of people who were eating Kartoffelpuffer, so I tried. Without knowing anything, before googling on the Internet, I just went with my gut feeling. In the result, Kartoffelpuffer became my favorite German food and I miss them right now.
Let's have another round
I took this photo in Vientiane, Laos. There were dozens of Beer Lao on the sidewalk. From my experience, Beer Lao is a little too hard to find outside Laos, but is a very good beer. It tastes like magical under the sizzling sun in Laos. It's often said that April and May are the hottest months in Laos, and I think it's right. I took this photo at the end of May. When I was walking around the city, the "feels like" temperature was around 40 degrees C or so. I'm not talking about exact temperature in Celsius, but I mean it was boiling outside. With that, I needed more Beer Lao one after another.
Sunday, January 25, 2015
A frosty morning
I took this photo in Zagreb, Croatia in a frosty morning. On the following morning of my arrival was literally a frosty morning. The ground was covered with frost like the photo shows and it was freezing cold. The tip of my nose and toes became numb in freezing Zagreb. But, huge Christmas Markets were held in the heart of the city and the cheerful atmosphere warm me up quickly. I had a glass of tasty Kuhano Vino and I became a fan of it immediately. Kuhano Vino is like a Croatian Mulled Wine. The local women told me that it's a special drink for the Christmas season. I was lucky I could be there during the season of Kuhano Vino.
It's an interesting question
I took this photo in the city of Luxembourg, Luxembourg when I was taking a stroll around the area where the city hall of Luxembourg was. One of the very beautiful areas of the city of Luxembourg. I've been traveling a lot, and I'm frequently asked about the most interesting place I've traveled to. The word "interesting" has a lot of meaning, so I have many possible answers. The city of Luxembourg has really interesting geography. I enjoyed to walk around so-called the upper town and the lower town.
An anecdote about Heroes' Square
I took this photo at Heroes' Square (Hungarian: Hősök Tere) in Budapest, Hungary. One of my Hungarian acquaintances told me nice stories and anecdotes about Heroe's Square before my trip. Long time ago, ancient people who were originally from Yellow Mountains hit the road to Europe. They were rinding horses and were killing a lot of people and arrived in Central Europe. Some of them went to North, and some of them stayed there. At the beginning of the arrival, they were seven small tribes, but one day they decided to unite. They cut their wrist a little bit, and dropped their blood into a Grail of wine and drank it one after another. According to my acquaintance, it was the very first story of Hungary. I love all his stories and anecdotes about Hungary.
Saturday, January 24, 2015
Budweiser Budvar Imported Dark Lager
I took this photo at a very nice bar in Green Gold Club in Zagreb, Croatia. I found a pretty rare beer on the menu and ordered it. The beer was a bottle of Budweiser Budvar Imported Dark Lager, and was originally from the city named České Budějovice (German: Budweis) in the Czech Republic. Later on I learned that the city of České Budějovice is famous for brewing beer and Budweiser Budvar brewery is the largest brewery there. That is why Budweiser Budvar Imported Dark Lager is a real good beer. Cheers for that. I love it. The problem is I've never found the same beer again after that.
Friday, January 23, 2015
Beira Gare: Best if you are in Lisbon, Portugal
The photo shows my favorite restaurant Beira Gare in Lisbon, Portugal. I personally believe that Beira Gare is the best Portuguese restaurant in Lisbon. I've visited there several times and I was always really happy to have authentic Portuguese cuisine there. Beira Gare is located right in front of the Rossio Railway Station. The restaurant is large, and is always so so crowded by the locals plus tourists who already know how good this place is. There's a bar in the restaurant, so after having yummy dinner, I love to move to the bar to have glasses of draft beer, also to give up a table for another foodies. I love the bubbly atmosphere as well.
A foggy freezing morning in Amsterdam, Holland
I took this photo in Amsterdam, Holland. It was a foggy freezing morning and I was walking along Prinsengracht (a.k.a. Prince's Canal). My hotel and Anne Frank House are located along Prinsengracht. When I was going to visit Anne Frank House, the area was almost empty like the photo shows, but when I arrived at Anne Frank House people were already lined to get entrance tickets. The 17th-century canal ring area of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Prinsengracht is the forth of the main canals in Amsterdam, and is the longest.
Heater stand
I took this photo in Milan, Italy. After visiting Santa Maria Delle Grazie to see the world-famous mural painting of the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, I had lunch at a crowded restaurant. I was glad that I could squeeze myself in to one of the outside tables of the restaurant. Since it was in January and Milan was cold outside, the outside tables of the restaurant were in a tent-ish cover and there were heater stands. Luckily, my table was right under a heater stand and I felt really warm. I took a photo of the heater stand for my memory.
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Harsher-than-expected experience
I took this photo through a car window in Kathmandu, Nepal. When I was on the way to my hotel from the airport, I learned that cars with a black colored number plate plus white letters on it were cabs. Was it late too know? But, I guess it was better late than never in many ways. Kathmandu was totally different from my imagination, expectation, and everything. I've been to 29 countries so far, but I've never experienced so much culture shock other than Kathmandu, Nepal. Long story short, I've experienced one culture shock after another. My jaw went to the ground and was never back on.
The ceiling of King's Cross Railway Station
The photo shows the ceiling of King's Cross Railway Station in London, England. Isn't it beautiful? I went to visit Harry Potter's site, but the station itself was truly worth seeing. It was the Halloween day in 2013 and it was raining. I started my day at my hotel's breakfast buffet and visited a couple of places in the city. One of my destination was King's Cross Railway Station. The other one was the British museum. After that, I went back to Paddington to find a table at my favorite pub as usual. I'm a big fan of English pub grub.
I'm sure of a warm-hearted welcome
I took this photo in Ljubljana, Slovenia. There was this cute restaurant in the street. When I found this place, I already had lunch at a pretty nice Slovenian hot dog place in the Christmas Market, so unfortunately I didn't go inside of this cute place. The building looked very cute and I loved the color of the wall and the roof. By the way, I've met a lot of people from a lot of different countries, but now I realized that I haven't met Slovenian people outside of Slovenia. All of the Slovenians who I've met in Ljubljana were very nice, friendly, helpful, warm-hearted kind of people.
Chili Con Carne combo plate
The photo shows Chili Con Carne combo plate that I had in Amsterdam, Holland. There were lots and lots of restaurants and bars in Amsterdam and I could eat any food from all over the world. That day, I was in the mood for something spicy, and also I wanted to eat some rice. Then, I found a Mexican place with friendly staff near Leiden Square and had Mexican lunch there. A guy who worked at the bar was really hardworking and friendly. It was so much fun to be there, and I lost track of time. When I realized, I've already drunk four bottles of Corona Extra. The good times were killing me, as always.
Livraria Lello Irmão
The photo shows exterior of Livraria Lello Irmão in Porto, Portugal. This is a bookstore in Porto, Portugal. Livraria Lello Irmão is simply called Livraria Lello and is famous for its stunning interior, plus it's known as one of the best bookstores in the world. I was ready to take a lot of photos of famous interior, but there were signs that ask visitors to not take photos. It was probably for books and their cover, but I didn't take any photos inside of the bookstore. I still remember the stunning staircase, stained-glass ceiling, bookshelves and its position and so on. You have to see it to believe it.
What's on your agenda?
The photo shows a push-button for traffic signal in Zagreb, Croatia. Crossing a street in a foreign country is sort of an agenda for short-term travelers. For me it's very thrilling sometimes. The locals know the ropes of course, so on my arrival day and its following day usually I tend to follow-up a local just to cross a street. Sorry, I was not your stalker I just wanted to cross the street. By the way, the point where the photo shows was an area that a 20-minute walk from Zagreb Main Station. Only a few people walk around there, and was kind of quiet.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
A mirror image of the huge Euro Symbol
I took this photo in Frankfurt, Germany. There's a huge Euro Symbol at the bottom of Eurotower and it's lit up at night, but I realized that it looked a little odd when I saw it from behind. I think that's just because we all know the pretty famous Euro symbol how it looks like, so its mirror image looks a little too funny. Anyway, I took a photo of the huge Euro Symbol from many different angles. Yep, I had time to do that. After that, I went to a crowded pub near the station and had a pint of Black and Tan, a pint of Guinness, and an awesome stew. Black and Tan is a type of beer cocktail that is a mixture of lager and stout. My favorite one.
Belgium and the Netherlands are in the Schengen Area
The photo shows a station sign of Antwerpen Centraal in Antwerp, Belgium. I went to visit Belgium from the Netherlands and went back to the Netherlands on the same day. Belgium and the Netherlands are in the Schengen Area which means passengers are able to move in and out without passport control or any other immigration step at the borders. Then I thought I got an entry stamp on my passport at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, the Netherlands, but I didn't get any entry stamps or something on my passport from Belgium. So I took this photo for my own memory instead of a passport stamp.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Jungle Curry: แกงป่าหมู
The photo shows แกงป่าหมู (Pronunciation: Kaeng pa moo). แกงป่า is often translated as Jungle Curry in English term, and it's served with your choice of meat. In this case, I chose pork, so the name of this food is แกงป่าหมู. I must add that หมู means pork in English. I personally believe that แกงป่า is the most spicy curry in the world. One of my English acquaintances told me that Vindaloo curry from Goa, India was the spiciest curry that he has ever eaten, so I tried to eat Vindaloo in London, England and Frankfurt, Germany, but they weren't spicy enough for me. Just my two cents, but แกงป่า (Jungle Curry) is by far the spiciest. I've been using a cropped image from this photo too long, so I'm gonna change it later.
It's sort of like a tongue twister
I took this photo in Luxembourg city, Luxembourg. I found this beautiful building when I was walking around the city without maps, so to be honest I didn't know what this building was and I had to ask Mr. Google to find out about it. According to Google result, it was a bank building. What a gorgeous exterior. I really love to see this kind of all European architecture. I have no idea how to pronounce the name of the bank Spuerkeess, though. Speaking of hard to pronounce word, one of my American acquaintances said that he can't pronounce Sri Lanka. Is it that hard?
Monday, January 19, 2015
A six-pack of Ožujsko and a bottle of water
I took this photo in Zagreb, Croatia. My hostel was a little far away from the heart of the city. When I went the city center, this cafe was my own landmark. I mean the cafe was located right on my turn left point, and I needed to remember there, so I took a photo of the cafe just in case. The advertisements shows bottles of Ožujsko which is a Croatian lager beer. A good one. On my day of arrival, I bought a six-pack of Ožujsko and a bottle of drinking water at a super market nearby, then had dinner at a traditional restaurant of my hostel.
Sunday, January 18, 2015
The most beautiful McDonald's I've ever seen
I took this photo in Porto, Portugal. When I first saw this place, I couldn't believe it was McDonald's, and did a double take. Yes, it was. It was definitely McDonald's, but it looked really fancy. The photo shows a golden logo and an eagle right above the entrance. There are a lot of nice delicious restaurants in Porto, but I'd say this McDonald's is also a must-see. I didn't have a meal there, but I passed through in front of this McDonald's many times during my time in Porto and always thought it was very beautiful place to see.
Saturday, January 17, 2015
Sleep in a fetal position
I took this photo in London, England, the United Kingdom. Compare to a lot of hotels that I've stayed in Thailand, my hotel room in London was very very tiny and the bed was like this. I stayed there as a solo-traveller, so I was okay, but I was wondering the bed had enough size for two people or not. A couple or a woman + a woman are probably fine, but how about a man + a man? I'm not sure. By the way, I've heard that someone's comfortable sleeping position tells someone's personality. If so, what is my personality? Sometimes or maybe all the time I sleep in a fetal position and I love to use a body pillow as well.
Thursday, January 15, 2015
See you later alligator. In a while crocodile.
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Pattaya Soi 8
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Can I have a pint of Guinness, please?
Monday, January 12, 2015
ข้าวต้มปลา
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Teddy Bear Museum Pattaya
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Art in Paradise Pattaya
Friday, January 9, 2015
Good guys go to heaven bad guys go to Pattaya
Thursday, January 8, 2015
It's free, help yourself
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
ปีกไก่ทอดนำ้ปลา
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
ข้าวเหนียวมะม่วง
Monday, January 5, 2015
A Matryoshka doll is showing menus
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Laugh one's head off
Tourist busses are a step ahead of me
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Name your poison baby
Friday, January 2, 2015
It's breakfast time
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Happy New Year 2015; สวัสดีปีใหม่ 2558
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