World Bistro

Wochenmarkt Volksdorf

I moved to Volksforf a few weeks ago. It's a district in the Wandsbek neighborhood in the northeast of Hamburg. Literally means "people's village" and it has a very lived-in feel where families thrive in a community. It's common to see teens in bikes to and from school, elderly carrying groceries, the middle aged folks sipping coffee at a cafe with a book or an iPad.

But last Saturday, people were on the streets, specifically all over the Wochenmarkt. As a deprived foodie, I was just thrilled to know that a lot of the food I like is sold in Volksdorf either at supermarkets (more on that on a next post) or at the weekend market.

This is where all the thundercats are at!

The closest to fresh fish I can ever have unless I go to the infamous fish market of Hamburg at 5am.

Cape Town Calm

I spent a month in Cape Town with classmates and failed to make a single entry. As those wine bags suggest, enough wine, chill moments, and just too much fun in Cape Town. We did study of course.

Christmas 2012

It's Christmas in Manila for me but just like last year, it's different. Amidst all the festivities that I have yet to weave through, I'm ambivalent of all the sights and sounds so far. Even the joyous and peaceful aura that Christmas brings elude me. Maybe I should start shopping? Nothing ushers in Christmas than generosity and gifts.

Kai Neo Japanse Cuisine

Since I moved to Germany, I realized my taste buds have significantly changed. In Bochum, I found most dishes bland and lacking flavor. Non-spicy Mexican food, non-salty Spanish food, or simply "empty"-tasting Vietnamese salads.

So when I had lunch at Kai Neo Japanese Cuisine recently, I really appreciated the clean flavors of the dishes. None were oily and what you taste are just the natural flavors. E and I ordered a lunch menu each (I had grilled mackerel and he had seared pork) accompanied by their house sake, and a sashimi platter because I missed raw salmon.

Badalona, Bochum, Germany

One somber Saturday in December, I was out in Bochum with a friend. If it weren't raining, we would have found ourselves at the Weihnacht. But it was a sad day for me and I wanted somewhere cozy and familiar.

At the corner of Sudring and Brüderstraße is Badalona, a tapas and cava bar. For so many months, I've always walked passed it but it was always closed or I was on my way to dinner elsewhere. That evening, it was the perfect venue for a very poignant time in my life.

I wanted to have croquetas de bacalao but they didn't have that evening so S and I just had a serving of croquetas de jamon instead. I couldn't taste the jamon let alone find it inside the tiny croqueta. But it was okay. I loved the ambiance. Later on, S had some torta de papas, then we ordered calamares a la plancha and chorizo de merguez, which is not actually Spanish but French - S' favorite, apparently. With this, S had Belgian beer and I had white wine. I know, I didn't even ask where it was from or what kind. I didn't want to think.

Bochumer Weihnacht

All photos from my personal collection

I didn't get to to prepare any of the breakfasts I posted last night. Instead, I had a Schneeball (or puff pastry shaped like a snowball), which I bought at Bochum's Weihnacht - a series of events leading to Christmas. Here are a few pictures from my quick sojourn around Bochum's city center with every available space occupied by the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market).

Lebkuchen to your heart's desire! As a ginger-lover, I am confused which to get.

Frühstück / Breakfast / Agahan

It's past midnight and I should be sleeping. But I'm thinking of what to have for breakfast tomorrow - lazy Sunday. As I ponder (in my dreams) what to have tomorrow, I leave you with two photos - one a Filipino breakfast, while the other is a Western one.

In the Philippines, it's typical to have sinangag (garlic fried rice) and a sunny side up egg (spiegelei) and a choice of pork sausage, beef chunks, corned beef, or dried seafood for breakfast. This is the breakfast to have when you have time. There are other Filipino breakfasts too (chocolate porridge, pan de sal with coffee etc) but there are too many variations to mention. My breakfast above from last weekend was with dried squid (tintenfisch). Dipped in vinegar, it's just so perfect with the salty rice and egg. Of course, with a cup of coffee. This absolutely destroys any diet.

I described this second one as Western as I'm not quite sure if Norway has a monopoly of smoked salmon the way Italy has on parma. Anyway, here's what I have been having for breakfast this week: Räucherlachs (smoked salmon) with frischkäse (more like cream cheese) on knackerbrot (crispy bread). I blame my mom for my fondness for salmon. Since all the above items are available at Aldi's, it's all affordable and accessible!

House Parties

House Party in Bochum

Personal Collection

Filipinos love to eat, and some love to cook and entertain but hosting house parties have become less and less as I grew up. Although my mother still prepared merienda for almost 20 of my relatives every Sunday, cooking and hosting at home has become less common. If it were at home, it is often catered. It's just much more convenient. Otherwise, families go to a restaurant, and for bigger parties, certain sections of restaurants are closed off to make it private.

But not in Germany. Or maybe in all of Europe? Or perhaps it's a student thing. Aside from the notes above, I've become accustomed to eating and drinking out when with friends. Gone are the drinking/load up sessions at home before going out back in college. Perhaps, it is indeed a student thing.

Newspapers and Me!

on board CX from Hong Kong to Beijing

Personal collection

Above is a picture of FT Weekend and the International Herald Tribune (the global edition of the New York Times). I assume these are publications taken for granted by business professionals and perhaps any one who could afford such subscriptions. High level employees often have this delivered to their desks daily.

When I was studying in the Czech Republic, I was so deprived of English. I lived in a dorm that had no cable TV (which we take for granted in Manila) and internet. That was a time when laptops were quite new and having wifi on one's laptop was quite a big deal. To go online, I had to go to an internet cafe or go to a hotel's business center.

So whenever I traveled through airports or visited friends and family billeted at any of Prague's hotels, I would hoard newspapers to have access to the rest of the world and not forget my English. It kept me abreast of world events and made me feel I was still plugged in. We Filipinos may be a developing country but we're very much in tune with what is going on elsewhere in so many ways. In Podebrady, it was just a parallel world of Czech language, international students, and elderly who all spoke Czech better than English most of the time.

Years on, I still have the same habit. Although I could possibly afford these papers, I still found it expensive to buy them. With the wealth of information available online, it didn't make sense to spend on it either. But when I have the chance, I get newspapers.

Newspapers + Fika at the Dusseldorf Airport

Personal collection

I just wish I have time to read them. On a recent trip to Prague, I hoarded newspapers at the Dusseldorf airport again. But thanks to school work and the actual holiday, I haven't read them. Literally, old news.