Tapas Garlic Mushrooms

I took this photo at a very nice bar in Barcelona, Spain on La Rambla. The photo shows one of the most popular Spanish tapas: Garlic Mushrooms. Tapas are a wide variety of Spanish appetizers. First, I ordered a cold beer and Shrimp tapas. Then, I had a tasty Valencian Paella. It tasted like a heaven. After that, I enjoyed a huge glass of Sangria and a Garlic Mushrooms. It may sound an erratic behavior to have tapas before and after Paella, but I think to each his own. One of my Australian acquaintances has a sweet tooth and she orders a dessert as an appetizer.

What is it called?

The photo shows a unique vehicle in Lisbon, Portugal. I took this photo from Restauradores Square. I didn't have enough time in Lisbon, I mean I just had only a couple of nights in Lisbon, so it was only opportunity that I've seen this unique shape of vehicle in Lisbon. It seemed like a lot different from normal trams, but something looked like a tram. I'm not sure what is it called, but anyway, I knew I couldn't take a nice photo of it, but I liked the shape of the vehicle, so I bought a beautiful postcard and sent it by myself. The photos on the postcard are the vehicle, Padrão dos Descobrimentos (a.k.a. Monument to the Discoveries) and somewhere breathtaking place in Lisbon. A very nice postcard. I still have it. Thinking back now, sending a postcard by myself sounds a bit ridiculous, but at that moment, I was totally serious.

I think we've met somewhere before

I took this photo in Buddha Park, Vientiane, Laos. The park is also known as Wat Xieng Khuan in Lao. Wat means temple in English, but the park is not a temple. It's a place where you can see a hundred of sculptures of Hinduism and Buddhism. A very quiet and interesting place. Vientiane is the capital of Laos, but compare to many other Asian metropolises, there weren't so many people. I've ran into the same European tourist in different places such as Lao National Museum, a restaurant nearby my hotel as if. We made small talk about it.

How it reminds me of fabulous Greece

I took this photo in my hotel room in Athens, Greece. There was a hook on a pinkish wall in my room and a white wall was decorated with a giant jigsaw puzzle. Then I hit on the idea to decorate the pinkish wall with a Greek flag which I bought at a stall on a street and I gave it a try. At that moment, the room looked very Greece. I brought back the flag as my souvenir, so right now the flag is decorated in my apartment. Seeing the flag reminds me of Greece so much. Hopefully, I'd love to return to Greece in 2014. Next time, after Athens, I'd love to visit the place where the jigsaw puzzle shows. I'm sure once you visit Greece, you'll find good reasons to go there again and again.

When it was light enough

I took this photo in Copenhagen, Denmark. A beautiful street lamp on a street. I loved the design. I had a unique start of my first day in Copenhagen, Denmark. My flight from Bangkok, Thailand flew in Copenhagen at 6:35 a.m. I caught a train from Kastrup airport station and headed to my hotel near Copenhagen central station. I reserved my room from the day before, so I was able to check in without any hassle. First of all, I took breakfast at the hotel, then waited at room till the sky was brightening up. After a couple of hours into the waiting, the color of the sky still seemed to be a little dark, but I noticed that the sky was probably already light enough. Then, I got out of the hotel to see the city. Thus I have experienced Scandinavian winter for the first time in my life.

The national animal of Bhutan; Takin

I took this photo at a takin pasture in Thimphu, Bhutan. I described the place as a takin pasture, but it didn't look like a pasture I've seen, it more like national home of takin, but there were fence between us and Takins. I don't know the official name of the place, though. The takin is the national animal of the Kingdom of Bhutan who has stubby legs and blackish nose. My Bhutanese guide told me that they were ubiquitous long time ago, but they are way fewer nowadays. Who is at the top of the food chain?

Walk, walk, walk, till my stomach growling

The photo shows water front view of Zurich, Switzerland. I took this photo after an hour walking in the largest city in Switzerland, then I continued to walk till my stomach growling. I've tried Fondue de Fromage (a.k.a. Cheese Fondue) in Lucerne, so that time in Zurich, I wanted to have something different, but something special of Switzerland. So, I chose Zürcher Geschnetzeltes for lunch. It's kind of like a specialty of Zurich, and the German term means Zurich styled slice meat in English. The cream sauce brought out the flavor of meat and mushrooms. Also, it really matched with Swiss style hash browns.

Go with one's gut

I took this photo on a street in Malmö, Sweden. A huge menu board of a restaurant. I don't often see this much huge food menu on a street, so I was just curious and took a photo of it. Gorgeous. I love eating. I also love cooking, but when I'm abroad I stay in hotels, so normally I dine out. Sometimes restaurants have menus without any English, and full of   local language. In that case, I chose my meal from photos. Also, sometimes the menus are written in only local language and no photos. Well, in that case, I go with my gut and ask a wait staff what they taste like.

Stay in bed and eat Bhatmas

The photo shows my hotel room in Kathmandu, Nepal. After spending 20 days in Pokhara, I returned to the capital by air. I had 7 nights 8 days in Nepal's largest metropolitan without any plans to do. First things first, I chose a hotel and paid in advance. It cost 91 bucks for everything. The hotel was located at the edge of Thamel district. Thamel is the name of area witch is one of the most popular tourist trails in Kathmandu. Staying in that hotel meant I was almost there. Here. One night, I was staying too lazy and stayed in bed. Then, the phone rang. It was a receptionist and asked everything was okay and also gave me a recommendation about their rooftop restaurant. It sounded tempting. Of course I went there and had Nepali special set. It was full of Nepali food with good curry. It was totally nice, especially Bhatmas. I really loved it. Bhatmas is kind of like roasted dried soybeans tasted spicy and a bit salty. Once you start eating Bhatmas, you won't stop.

Worth a wait

I took this photo while I was waiting in a line at Casa Milà to get an entrance ticket. Casa Milà is a unique building in Barcelona, Spain which is designed by Antoni Gaudí. There was an information board beside the line and said "Aprox 30 min". I don't read any Spanish, but I understood that I needed to wait for about 30 minutes to get into famous Casa Milà. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so I thought worth waiting for 30 minutes. There was no direct flight from my country to Barcelona, Spain. How long was the total flight hours? I don't remember, but I'll say this, it was much more than 30 minutes. Half the fun is getting there. Worth a wait.

A breathtaking view from the Castle Hill

This is my favorite beautiful view of Budapest, Hungary includes the Hungarian Parliament Building, the Chain Bridge across the Danube. I took this photo from the Castle Hill. There was a breathtaking view from there. I personally believe that the Hungarian Parliament Building is the most beautiful parliament building in the world, so I was really happy to be there. The photo shows sort of a long-distance view of it, but still. I think it can't be criticized from any angle. The Hungarian Parliament Building is worth looking at again and again.

International Meeting Street

I took this photo at the end of Pattaya Walking Street (a.k.a. International Meeting Street) in Southern Pattaya, Thailand. You can enjoy the hustle and the bustle of Pattaya city at night on this exotic street. The street is kinda empty in the daytime, though. Also, it's fun to turn off and walk on Soi. Soi is a Thai word means side street in English. One of my British acquaintances has ever said that Soi 15 is the most interesting and unique Soi in Pattaya. I can't choose the most interesting place in Pattaya, because I love everywhere in Pattaya.

A pendant light in Venice, Italy

I took this photo in Venice, Italy because I found this nice pendant light above the narrow street. The pendant light was hanged in between a couple of face-to-face buildings. Venice is sort of a floating city and the Venetian boats (a.k.a. gondolas) are well-known as a transportation in Venice. However, there are complicated narrow streets for foot passengers. When I found the pendant light, I was walking on one of the narrow streets. I think maps won't do you any good in Venice, Italy. You'd better have fun getting lost in a way.

Pepsi bottle caps

The photo shows the Lao soft drink company in Vientiane, Laos. There were a lot of large Pepsi bottle caps on the fence and the color of the bottle caps looked pretty nice with a color of Lao flag. I took this photo on the way to Nam Phou (sometimes it's spelled Namphou) from Buddha Park (a.k.a. Wat Xieng Khuan) by tuk-tuk. Nam phou is a fountain which is situated in the heart of Vientiane and most tourists tend to say Nam Phou as their destination because it's easier to pronounce Laotian names of somewhere else.

Become captivated by Lisbon, Portugal

I took this photo in Baixa district in Lisbon, Portugal while I was walking around the city on my first day. My plane departed from Cairo, Egypt and the in-flight meal was served a while before the landing as lunch. The plane flew in Lisbon in the early afternoon. I took a cab and headed straight for my hotel to keep my luggage. Then, got out of the hotel to see Lisbon. After a second, I really came to like Lisbon. The city was picturesque, people were so nice, and I was really happy to be there. Also, the first dinner in Lisbon was so yummy. Within a few hours, I became completely captivated by Lisbon, Portugal.

I'd rather be a barfly in this case

I took this photo at a humongous beer hall in Munich, Germany. The beer hall is world-famous and is considered one of the must-sees in Munich, Germany, so I went there twice to have experience with good German beer. The beer hall was bustling and was full of beer guzzlers on each occasion. The second time I went there my table was kinda next to the beer mug lockers. What does beer mug lockers mean, right? From my point of view, the beer mug lockers were kind of like personal lockers to keep their own beer mugs at the beer hall. Each locker had a number and a padlock exactly like the photo shows. It seemed like a really unique service and obviously I've never seen such a unique system before, so I was blown away. I learned that while they were drinking, they were also talking, laughing, dancing and then some and having fun with beer.

A hidden delicious place

The photo shows Sri Lankan rice and curry. I took this photo at my favorite place in Negombo, Sri Lanka and I had this fantastic plate as lunch. The eatery is located in a hotel on the beach road and they served daily lunch special in a way and the ingredients of rice and curry changed with each day. I was totally happy to had rice and curry lunch at the eatery. One day, the rice was covered with my favorite ingredients such as chicken, lady's fingers, eggplants, and then some. It looked nice like the photo shows and tasted so nice as you can imagine.