Locks at Pont de l'Archevêché in Paris

The Archbishop's bridge or Pont de l'Archevêché is one of the bridges that tourists have latched love locks onto in Paris for years.  Of recent times, moves to prohibit love-locking on Parisian bridges on grounds that they might collapse and are harming the environment from the rust that goes to the wire mesh and the keys thrown into the Seine have become louder. 

Luckily, on our trip to Paris last year, we were able to do our own cliche gesture at the Pont de l'Archevêché. It's more picturesque for me with the Notre Dame behind and a few blocks away, we were already perusing books at Shakespeare and Company. I'm not proud to be a possible pollutant or to be as common as a typical tourist but hey, it's not common to be in Paris with your partner too. 

Comfortably single or coupled or even undecided, I hope you're spending this Valentine's weekend just the way you want. In my case, I will be happy not to be stuck in traffic! 

Nanette's Snack Haus, Maginhawa Street

Long before Maginhawa Street became a haven of foodies and casual intentional dining, there was Nanette's at # 84 selling burritos behind bars.

It wasn't part of my childhood nor my teens but my partner brought me there in 2013 as it brought him back to countless college memories. We were there when Maginhawa Street was being widened and the drainage was being fixed. It wasn't as comfortable as the streetside haunts so hip in the Poblacion area of Makati these days but hey, we were eating outdoors under the pleasant afternoon sun surrounded by trees. 

And our food was made to order.

Solitude in San Sebastian, Spain

It was a time in my life where I was always in Spain and enjoyed promoting Spanish tourism. A long, complicated and arduous project concluded that week and I was in dire need of a holiday. I thought why not go to Madrid and hang out with my friend Olivia? Visit Seville and see the hometown of my spiritual adviser. It would be a good idea to meet the family of our business partners in Salamanca too. But for me? Truly, the trip for myself was visiting the Basque country, specifically San Sebastian and Bilbao. 

Then and now, I still have a split personality of being torn between food and development (I thought it was called government and politics when I was younger). Pais Vasco appealed to me on two fronts. First, my curiosity about its autonomous government and concerns about ETA - an armed nationalist separatist organization that then sought independence from Spain aside from its earlier function of just promoting Basque culture. Second, related to culture, is the food. There's tapas and then there's pintxos - the cornerstone of northern Spain's culture - differentiated from tapas because everything is held together on a spike with the bread opposed to just small plates as it is with tapas. 

So there I was after Prague, Madrid, Seville, and Salamanca, on a train by myself to Donostia-San Sebastian. It was a trip without plans except to rest and enjoy. I only had a hotel booked and didn't even arrange for transfers. Travelling solo was not novelty or cool to me. It was simply no big deal. I used to believe that if I wait for a companion to do something, I'll never get around to doing it. 

To get our geographical bearings in order, San Sebastian is a coastal city in the Basque country of Spain, about 12 miles to the French border around the Atlantic ocean. In several occasions, it took turns with Gipuzkoa as the capital.  Its iconic landmark is La Concha bay (shaped like a shell) and my hotel was right before you reached Igueldo, which was a great place to see the rest of the bay. 

I was aware San Sebastian is one of the cities with the highest concentration of Michelin stars per capita but I didn't make reservations for any. After my walking and bus tours, I just moved from one bar to another, having a pintxo or two, leaving trails of table napkins and toothpicks on the floor as it is done in Spain. Unlike Madrid, I also saw a lot of shops and bars selling bacalao (dried cod) in so many ways too. Such a pity I couldn't bring home slabs of bacalao that my mom could cook so well!

VVG Bistro in Taipei

Right across VVG Something is VVG Bistro which Grace Wang opened much earlier. Despite confessing that she's got no restaurant experience prior to opening the bistro, she has certainly succeeded in creating an inviting space that meld the outdoors in. 

Upon entry, you'll see the mixed furniture inside the sunroom surrounded by plants. Inside, you'll discover that you can choose from couches, long wooden tables for groups, and smaller round tables. VVG Bistro is much bigger than the bookstore and more bright and airy. It easily is a space to hang out with friends over a meal or dessert or just get lost in solitude reading a book. The interiors give a rustic shabby chic vibe in the French countryside. (Apparently Grace Wang was inspired by French Laundry's Thomas Keller too.) 

VVG Something in Taipei

I like to read and write but definitely not as much as my friends K and J. I went to Taipei on holiday for the food but not for the bookstores. But my friends were keen to feed both the belly and the mind. And so it wasn't enough just to visit Eslite (the 24 hour bookstore)  and have truffle fries with a view of Taipei 101. We also went to VVG Something. 

Located at the area of Zhongxiao Dunhua MRT station, it's easy to get lost on the way to VVG Something. The entire neighborhood is surrounded by other little shops and residences that make you so curious you'd make a sudden turn to an alley and you're lost. But it was also how we realized that the people of Taipei are truly kind. While asking for directions, one immediately took out his smart phone, got the website and called the shop and walked us right to where we needed to be. 

Owned by Grace Wang, VVG simply means very, very good.  Her philosophy is to find what is good in life and find products that embody it. Once you get over the colorful plants and flowers outside and the pretty red doors, it's easy to feel helplessly drawn in and way harder to get out. 

At the center of the shop, which really just looks like a medium-sized L-shaped room is a massive table full of books. On sale are books on art, travel, design, and culinary that would make anyone go crazy with the hard-to-find English titles. Seeing the spread forces you to immediately wonder if you can afford it and if you still have enough weight allowance to bring it all home. Thinking back, they remind me of shops in Berlin and Hamburg too.

Learning from an Expert: An Integrator

Last week, I attended a "write shop" on international coastal management (ICM). A regional expert, Dr. Chua, lead the discussion on existing ways to address the issue and how it can be improved. In the process, he said that part of the solution is having the right people aside from other aspects of an enabling environment. 

Any endeavor needs the right person - the best possible fit available. 

But there are fields that require a mixed set of skills and mindset. And in a world changing towards a direction where a broader view and understanding is required to give specific solutions, integrators come to fore. Devex published an article on the rising need for integrators in development last year. So it's not about knowing just a little of everything for a big picture but being able to stitch the different pieces together to create a whole. 

Complimenting my fondness on the usefulness of an integrator in international development, Dr. Chua mentioned one thing that struck me: to provide solutions to ICM, the persons involved must:

1. Be technical like a scientist so he understands the systematic nature of the problem and solution.

2. Work like a manager because he will coordinate with a lot of agencies and deliver solutions.

3. Speak like a diplomat because let's face it: you have to work even with your enemies (e.g. a mining company) to get the solutions that you need. 

As I sat there, I realized Dr. Chua's requirement was more than just being a mere integrator because not everyone can possess all three. I dare to say very few - that's why experts are hired! But such tall order for an even more daunting task - to save the world via coastal management.

Sala Bistro in Greenbelt, Makati

Every time we have a seasoned traveler balikbayan (returning Filipino) who wants to catch up over a meal, the suggested dining venue requested is often always Sala Bistro in Greenbelt. Makati alone boasts a lot of restaurants in varying categories and cuisines with impeccable service and guaranteed to keep you coming back but when you've just had enough Filipino food and want that white linen service, then it has to be Sala Bistro. 

On a recent lunch of three, we split three mains and had our own desserts. I used to always have the salmon with risotto but since I arrived late, the pasta and steak were already ordered. For something light, I requested an additional order of the seafood and fish stew. It was confusing as it seemed more like soup than stew to me. The broth was very tasty and the done-ness of the seafood was alright. Just the right firmness without being overcooked. It would have been so good with bread. 

Except by then, I already enjoyed the casarecce with porcini, guanciale, and truffle cream. It was my first time to eat anything with guanciale and when I was told it was smoked pork cheeks, I was thrilled! Posh sisig is that you? This dish falls under the yummy comfort food category except having hints of truffle is always a bit of a luxury. Party in your belly! While I will not return to Sala Bistro for the steak (it made me crave for other steaks), the casarecce I want to eat again. 

Later on, we had tea with some cakes. I had a generous spoon of my aunt's chocolate cake and it was divine! But I had to leave room for my lemon meringue which reminded me of another dessert I miss in Manila - meringue with double Gruyere cream with fruits. At first bite of the meringue, I immediately thought of the lemon squares my aunt of Kuya's and Jed and Julian's (my cousins) fame - hers was better. Hers had the right balance of citrus and sweet. Thankfully, the tea tempered the could have been better aftertaste of Sala Bistro's dessert. 

But overall, I like the dining experience at Sala Bistro. You can leisurely enjoy your meal without being rushed at all while listening to ambient music. That time, we were there for more than three hours with some bossa nova in the background. It was a sunny day and its high windows certainly let the sunlight in but its chilly air-conditioning tone down the rays. 

I admit, I have to try the plenty new restaurants in Manila but if you're not a fad-follower like me, Sala Bistro is worth returning to for the classics. 

Site: Sala Bistro