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Europe 2018 day 9: Franco-Italian-Argentinian garden
Ever since I first met Chef Ricardo Chaneton, I've always been curious about Mirazur. And as the restaurant continued its meteoric rise up The World's 50 Best Restaurants, that curiosity got stronger....
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Europe 2018 day 10: casino royale
After a late arrival at my friends' house that they are still renovating - and falling asleep in the car - we managed to sleep in due to sheer fatigue despite the absence of any curtains in the room....
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Europe 2018 day 11: art museum dining, part 2
Another beautiful day in the south of France, and it was time to explore a few places closer to where my friends live. Our first stop was Musée Molinard, where we got a guided tour on the processes...
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Europe 2018 day 12: from McDo to Michelin
After bidding farewell to our hostess and Moses, our host dropped us off at Nice Airport - where we once again put our luggage in storage. We then took the bus and headed into town for some...
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Europe 2018 day 13: 10 white men
There's an outlet of Eric Kayser just around the corner from the apartment we are staying in, so naturally this became our go-to place for coffee and viennoiserie in the morning. It won't be the best...
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Europe 2018 day 13: the little white rose
The afternoon's shopping session brought Hello Kitty some much-needed happiness after a disappointing lunch. After retiring to the apartment to freshen up, we crossed the river for dinner at Neige...
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Europe 2018 day 14: under the pyramid
Today is museum day, and I've set aside the daylight hours for the Musée du Louvre. It's been more than a decade and a half since my last visit, and it would be interesting to see what has changed...
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Europe 2018 day 15: Bastille Day
I'm finally in Paris on Bastille Day! I am very much looking forward to the festivities today, especially the fireworks tonight. We got ready to explore more touristy sites this morning, and just as...
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Europe 2018 day 16: Champion du Monde
It's Sunday in Paris where many outlets are closed, including your neighborhood boulangeries. Since we can't get our caffeine fix at Eric Kayser and we were reluctant to patronize a touristy café with...
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Europe 2018 day 17: escape from Paris
It's our last day in Paris and we have a few errands to run. After storing our luggage at Gare du Nord - which involved a 1½ hour taxi ride with our luggage as a result of Arc de Triomphe and...
View ArticleEurope 2018: the final tally
It's been more than a decade since I took such a long holiday, and I figured it's worth looking back at some statistics: Total days in Europe: 18 Number of countries visited: 4 (but mostly in Belgium...
View ArticleVisiting UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Since early 2007, I have been wanting to gear my future travels towards visiting more locations which have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. There are so many amazing places around the world...
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Jim's new playground
I rarely hang out with my professional peers socially, but one of my good friends invited me to join a networking dinner with people in similar positions at myself - people I normally only run into at...
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Bongwater with Gaggan
I had just paid my first visit to The Flying Elktwo nights ago with a bunch of people from the industry, but when Gaggan Anand comes to town and invites you to dinner... you don't utter the words...
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Celebrity Cuisine with celebrity chef
The Great One and I try to take Gaggan Anand out whenever he's in town, partly as a way to reciprocate the favor since he's never allowed us to pay for a meal in his restaurant or at his pop-ups. We...
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Dining with the rich and famous
Over 2 months ago my friend L told me she wanted to dine at Sushi Saito (鮨 さいとう) in Hong Kong, and told me that she would make her way here as long as I got a booking, so I got us 4 seats at the...
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Canned food for Russian cosmonauts
Today is the 1-year anniversary of the Soyuz MS-05 launch, which I traveled to Baikonur Cosmodrome to watch. Even if it's not "once in a lifetime", it's still a very special day that I will remember...
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Lunch #2 with bongwater
Not long after I nibbled on some overpriced Russian canned food, I went over to Caprice Bar to see Hairy Legs and Victor. This was my real lunch date, and I brought along a bottle of bongwater that I...
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Roast goose fix
It's been a while since I last hit up Yat Lok (一樂燒鵝), so I went for a quick fix at lunch.Roast goose chest with rice noodle (鵝胸瀨) - they were strictly allocating the goose drumsticks - as they always...
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La La La, Laa La Laa, La Laaaaaaa
So it's finally my turn to host a dinner for the MNSC boys. It's been a long time since any of us last hosted a dinner at Caprice, but I knew Hairy Legs would not fail me. Knowing this was a big...
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