Monthly Archives: November 2012

Lugano: Switzerland

Posted on November 19, 2012 | 20 comments

When I was growing up, if there was place in the world I always wanted to visit, it was Switzerland and on this Europe trip we went there.

As a child I was always fascinated by the beauty of the Swiss Alps and the natural beauty of Switzerland. As I got older, every time I saw someone’s photo from Switzerland or any movie or documentary of Switzerland, I would tell myself that one day I will visit that country. So when we entered Switzerland from Italy that was one of the most exciting moments of my life.

I was so happy that finally I would be on a mountain trail, looking at the beautiful Alps and the farms full of big cows.

Our first stop in Switzerland was Lugano.

Lugano, with 54,000 residents, is the largest city in the canton of Ticino. It is located on the beautiful Lake Lugano, 30 minutes north of the Italian border and one hour north of Milan. The city feels completely different than German-speaking Switzerland, but the prices, cleanliness, well-dressed people, and Ferraris remind you that you are still in Switzerland.

Lugano, Switzerland, nicknamed the “Monte Carlo of Switzerland,” is a popular tourist destination because of its quaint Swiss-village feel, its culture, its favourable proximity to (and distance from) urban commotion and, most of all, its majestic scenery.

Once we were in Lugano, we had half a day to explore the beautiful city. It was perfect spring weather with the sun shining on the clear blue beautiful sky. I was so excited to get off the bus and explore my dream destination. You could actually tell that you are in Switzerland as it was so clean everywhere.

As we got off the bus, I could see Lake Lugano with its deep blue water. The rich vegetation in the surrounding valleys and the stunning mountain peaks makes this a place of peaceful relaxation. As we walked along the lake I was extremely happy to enjoy this beautiful country.

Down by the lake shore is the famous Lugano promenade which gently meanders along the water’s edge, decorated with maples, palms and carefully tended flower beds. Here you can sit and watch the ferry boats busy themselves or take a lake cruise and admire the spectacular scenery.

The charismatic narrow streets in the centre of Lugano are peppered with grand piazzas, where cafes and bars make a welcome retreat for those who like to relax and watch the world go by. There are historic buildings and Renaissance churches with their charming belltowers and 15th century frescoes that portray incredible moments in history.

The next thing I noticed in Luganoo was big designer stores and boutiques everywhere. Via Nassa and Via Pessina are two of the most popular shopping streets found right in the heart of Lugano. You name the brand and they have it from Hermes, Versace, Gucci, Issey Miyake, to Armani, Rolex, Cartier.

We were not planning to go brand shopping but we were looking to buy a Swiss knife for my husband and a watch for me.

As we were walking along the shops, we discovered that everything is expensive in Switzerland. It’s quite amazing to see items that you saw the day before in Italy at triple the prices. Our guide told us that a lot of locals drive into Italy to do the shopping (it’s quite close) every week or two.

We ended up ditching shopping after buying few souvenirs and concentrated on sightseeing.

We visited San Lorenzo Cathedral, City hall, Old Fountain on the embankment in the centre of Lugano. It was a really nice town and I can understand why it is called a place for the rich and famous.

Please click here for more photos.

20 Comments

Posted in Switerzland, Travel

Jamie’s Crackin’ Crab Briks, Couscous Salad & Salsa

Posted on November 19, 2012 | 5 comments

Here is another great recipe from my favorite chef, Jamie Oliver. This recipe from Jamie’s’ 15 minutes meals. It is really easy and yummy.

Briks 

  • 1–2 preserved lemons
  • 2 spring onions
  • ½ a bunch of fresh coriander
  • 400g crabmeat (I used tin crab)
  • 2 tsp harissa, plus extra to serve
  • 4 large sheets of filo pastry (from a 270g pack)
  • olive oil
Salad

  • ½ tsp caraway seeds
  • ½ a mug (150g) of couscous
  • 2 tsp sun-dried tomato purée
  • ½ a bulb of fennel
  • ½ a bunch of fresh mint
  • 1 lemon
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 pomegranate ( I didn’t use)

Salsa

  • 1 large ripe tomato
  • 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
  • ½ a lemon

To serve

  • fat-free natural yoghurt

Procedure

  • Finely chop the preserved lemons, trimmed spring onions and coriander (stalks and all).
  •  Mix in a bowl with the crabmeat (I used can crab meat) and harissa.

  • Lay out a sheet of filo pastry, add ¼ of the mixture and shape into the size of a packet of playing cards at the centre of the bottom of the sheet, then push your thumb into the centre of the filling to make a space for it to expand as it cooks.
 

  •  Fold in the sides, then fold them up.

  •  Repeat until you have 4 briks.
  • Put 1 tablespoon of olive oil into the pan, then add the briks and cook until golden and crisp on both sides.

  • Add the caraway seeds to the side of the pan and toast for a minute, then scrape into a salad bowl.
  • Put ½ a mug of couscous (I used wholemeal one ) , 1 mug of boiling water, the tomato purée and a pinch of salt into a bowl and cover.

  •  Pick and reserve the fennel tops, then roughly chop and grate the bulb in the processor.

  •  Tip into the salad bowl, then chop and add the top leafy half of the mint.

  •  Squeeze in the lemon juice and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.
  •  Season to taste and toss everything together.
  • Finely grate the tomato and ginger into a little bowl.

  •  Add a pinch of salt and pepper, a good squeeze of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and mix together.

  •  Fluff up the couscous, then tip on to a platter.
  •  Pile the salad in the middle, then bash the halved pomegranate over the top so the seeds tumble out.
  •  Scatter over the reserved fennel tops, pop the crab briks on a board and serve with dollops of yoghurt and the salsa.

You may also like :

*Jamie Oliver Szechuan stir fry with chicken and brown rice *Jamie Oliver’s Chicken Tikka Masala *Jamie Oliver’s Dan Dan Noodles

5 Comments

Posted in Recipe

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Etiquette for announcing engagement

Posted on November 18, 2012 | 10 comments

I want to share a story from my workplace today. Let’s call my colleagues S (male), B (Female) and K (female).

We (me, B and K) have been bugging S regarding his wedding for a long time now. He has been with his girlfriend for over 5 years now and he is in no rush to propose.

Our argument was that if a woman wants to get married then she deserves to be. I really think if both of the people in a relationship are happy living together without getting married that is perfectly fine but if one of the people in the relationship wants to get married then the other should be able to give in.

The wedding doesn’t need to be big, just go to the registry and register but at least respect the wish of the other person in the relationship so that they will stay happy.

Anyway S has been living with his girlfriend for a while and they have even bought a house together. So we always asked him what the problem is, why he isn’t married to her yet. I think he wanted to stay away from all the planning and the wedding headache as long as possible.

Anyway, the good news is that he came back to work after a 2 weeks holiday and told me and B that he proposed and they are getting married next year. It was great news for us as well and we finally think we managed to get it into his head. K was off that day so she didn’t get the news.

Today when K was back at work, I told her excitedly that S is engaged now and they are getting married. I was sure she would like to know about it.

But the scenario changed quickly when B had this shocked expression on her face while I was happily telling K about the engagement. Ohoo I was given this look that I might have murdered someone. I didn’t realise what I had done wrong.

So when the initial shock and surprised expression was over, B told me that it is not right for me to tell K or anyone about S’s engagement. I should let him announce it.

I felt really bad about it as I never knew this rule regarding engagement announcement before. So I went back to S and told him what happen. He being a guy didn’t care at all (Thank god!). He said it doesn’t really matter to him how people find out. I think he is just glad that the difficult part is over and done with.

I always try to follow the etiquette everywhere I go as I know in Nepal we have different etiquettes while in Australia I need to follow different ones. Even when I travel, I try to Google and learn basic etiquette of the place. This must be one of those times when I  had no idea what I did wrong,

I talked to other colleagues at work about it and some think that B is right about the matter while some are either ignorant like me or don’t think it is a big deal. Anyway, I do understand why B wanted S to announce it.

It is funny how things works in the west compare to east.

I remember when me and AS got engaged, we told our parents and they told everyone else.  We called a few close friends to convey the news but for the rest of my friends, after the engagement ceremony, I uploaded mine and AS’s pic on Facebook and captioned it, “ENGAGED”. Also I changed my relationship status from WHATEVER to ENGAGED.  🙂

After that I remember that my Facebook flooded with thousands of likes and comments. Most friends who we went to school with me were shocked about it. As I told you before in many posts, here and here, I and AS are so different  that it was surprising to some people to even think that we would get married one day.

I was the chatty one who had many friends and used to speak with everyone. I never minded attention I get while AS was the quite one who had select friends and didn’t want to have any attention on him. So imagine North Pole and South Pole coming together.  As I explained already before about our relationship here, we were friends first and it took a while for AS to propose to me.

After the engagement me and AS were trying to convince our close friends that we were not a couple from school days; we were just friends but they thought we had lied to them all these years.

I didn’t bother to correct other friends from school who wrote comments like

 “Chhupa Rustam, how did I not see it?”

“I knew it something was on with you guys” and so on.

It was really funny that suddenly when our relationship was out in open, everyone was telling me that they knew AS liked me from the start. I must be the silly one who never saw that before. Anyway I am glad things happened the way they did. I am just happy with my loving husband and still feel butterfly in my stomach every time, I recall the day he proposed :).

So what is the etiquette in your culture regarding engagement announcement?

10 Comments

Posted in Personal, Relationship

Lake Como: Italy

Posted on November 17, 2012 | 7 comments

On the way to Switzerland, we made our final stopover in Italy in Lake Como.

Lake Como is a glacial lake situated in Lombardy, in beautiful Italy. It is the third largest lake in Italy, coming after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. It is one of the deepest lakes in Europe and it is over 400 meters deep and at the bottom around 200 meters below sea level with it being fed by the Adda River.

It is ‘Y’ shaped with the northern branch having beginnings in Colico and the towns of Como and Lecco create the start for the other two branches making views of the lakes ideal from each end and the lake flows out at Colico and Lecco. There is a boat service that runs between the tree inter sections making it a beautiful base to explore the sunning scenery. Lake Como is around 40km from Milan to the South and only a few minutes from the Swiss Border – and George Clooney has a home their too.

Lake Como has been a popular retreat for aristocrats and wealthy people since Roman times, and a very popular tourist attraction with many artistic and cultural gems. It has many villas and palaces (such as Villa Olmo, Villa Serbelloni, and Villa Carlotta).

Many celebrities have or had homes on the shores of Lake Como, such as Matthew Bellamy, Madonna, George Clooney,Gianni Versace, Ronaldinho, Sylvester Stallone, Richard Branson, and Ben Spies. Lake Como is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful lakes in Italy.

When we were there, I was so mesmerised by the beauty of the area as well as the expensive looking villas everywhere. They say money can’t buy happiness and looking at the place there, I thought, if I can buy the place there, I can be really happy 🙂 so go figure.

From the elaborate terrace of Villa Il Dosso Pisani, in the mountains above the lake, to the grand villas curving toward the water and the unspoiled parcels of hilltop land, beauty was everywhere in this place.

The weather was perfect with blue sky and sunshine.

From here we went to Switzerland.

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Posted in Italy, Travel

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Parramasala 2012

Posted on November 17, 2012 | 12 comments

Last weekend we went to the festival in Parramatta called Parramasala.

Parramasala is an international contemporary arts festival that celebrates the global impact of South Asian arts and cultures. The city of Parramatta comes alive with vibrant art and entertainment including music, dance, theatre, comedy, film, markets and visual arts from around the world.

Parramasala is also designed as a destination in the state of New South Wales for tourism and business development. The festival is at the forefront of the promotion of Parramatta as a great city in which to live, work and play.

We went there around 2pm and waited for the program to start in main dance area. In the mean time we went and found lunch which included samosa, masala dosa and chicken biryani. I have to say that the food was not tasty as it supposed to be but I guess it is normal in fairs like this.

There were lots of stalls setup to sell items like Indian style jeweller, Manchester, Indian outfits, book stalls and henna painting area. I wanted to get a henna but then I was going to have a massage afterwards so didn’t seems like a good idea.

The dances were good with some Bollywood, Indonesia, Indian Classical dance as well as modern dances.  There was some Tablatronics program as well which was interesting.

We had fun.The audience for the festival is all embracing, and attracts a wide a varied audience.

But the day was really cold so we decided to leave at 7.30pm. The show was on till 11pm.

12 Comments

Posted in Australia

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