Pai: Deconstructing a piece of "pai" (pie)

Deconstruction (culinary term) - Take the ingredients or components in the dish, change their forms and then plate them together in a different way. It's not just about taking the dish apart but putting back its elements back together. ________________________________________________________________________ Pai, Thailand heralded in numerous blogs as a secret mecca of backpackers in Northern Thailand. The ultimate definition of CHILL. It might...

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Venice: Venice in 24

24hrs left As the train stops at the Santa Lucia station, you will be greeted with utter chaos.Commuters going down the train with their heavy luggages, people rushing in the platform clutching their train tickets , groups huddled in the corner trying to figure out where to head to, disoriented tourists trying to figure out what water boat to take. This particular scene in Venice's train station just shows how popular is the city. Most probably you...

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Tuscany: Dear Mom, wish you were here

Dear Mom, This afternoon, we arrived in Florence. This will be our base city as we explore the Tuscany region of Italy. As this is my first time in Italy, I'm so excited with all things we will see and experience and I'm also looking forward to eating authentic Italian food. I remembered grandpa when I first set foot in the old quarter of Florence. Like grandpa's graying hair and wise eyes the age and wisdom of the city is very much evident...

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Girona: Off the Beaten Path

I have never heard of Girona until three months before the big trip, it was initially recommended by one of my travel buddies since her officemate can't stop raving about the city. Armed with a two-way train ticket, we decided to just basically wing it once we reached Girona. No plans just see where our feet will lead us. Once we reached the Girona railway station, with a mixture of following signages ang asking locals our first stop is the tourism...

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Barcelona: Of Sun,Sea,Sand and finding a Hero

With a lot of ground to cover in just three days in Barcelona, it was imperative for us to visit the Barceloneta area once we arrived from Madrid.On that balmy afternoon a bit weary from the 4 hrs train ride from Madrid, we made our way by metro to Barceloneta. A short walk from the metro stop of Barceloneta lead us to the harbour that borders the Meditteranean sea. Numerous sailboats dot the waterfront along with the huge shopping mall Maremagnum....

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