Day uno in españa!

Hola from spain! I'm currently in my hotel room and I really need to blog about the day so I won't forget what I did in detail! 

It will also be a great guide for you young adults out there who wants to travel free and easy around spain! 

So the trip didn't start out perfect because the luggages for half of the flight got delayed! I was waiting in the Barcelona airport for about an hour after landing... After getting mu luggage, what I did was to first go to the information center in the airport and ask for a free Barcelona plus double check where to take the airport bus to the city center (plaza Catalunya). This is where majority of the hotels and the major shopping belt are. 

You have to go down one floor using the escalator where you will get out of the airport and you will be greeted with this scene!

I was amazed how all the taxis were so neatly lined up! 

Now you will have to cross the zebra crossing, turn to your left and walk straight where you will find the aerobus stand! To get to the city center, take bus A1. It costs 5.90 euros per person and you buy the ticket directly from the driver.

This is the route of the bus for both A1 ( for terminal 1) and A2 (for terminal 2).

After getting down from the bus at the city center we managed to successfully find our hotel and we rested for a while before going out to explore the streets close to our hotel. 

The first stop was to go get food and when you come to spain... TAPAS is definitely what you need to eat! I've read amazing reviews about this tapas restaurant called Cervecería Catalana so I was really excited to try it, plus I was starving! 

Address: Carrer de Mallorca, 236

08008 Barcelona

Spain

The menu

I didn't order it straight from the menu because I wasn't familiar with the Spanish tapas food so instead I went to the bar counter and ordered it straight from there! I think it's easier this way because you get to see the real food and you can ask questions about what it is, how does it taste like etc! 

The first dish that I want to introduce is called the seasonal salad and it was hands down the best seafood salad I have ever eaten! It comes with plentiful of shredded crab meat with some super fresh cold shrimps and mixed with corn! It was satisfying till the very last bite! 

Next, from the bottom left is a very nice and fresh cod fish dish! It's freshness makes you feel like you ate the fish right out from the sea but without any fishy taste to it! 

The one in the center was a little disappointing. To me, it tasted like custard croissant filled with jarmon ( Spanish ham). It gives both savory and sweet taste in a bite but it wasn't that awesome...

On the right is definitely one amazing dish! It's called the grilled shrimps if I am not wrong! I was told by the waiter that this is one of the dish you have to eat to claim that you have eaten in their restaurant! The freshness and how well the shrimps was grilled was perfecto mucho! 

Another dish that is a must try is the veal entrecôte! However, this was a little disappointing because it honestly tasted like normal good meat that I could find in nice meat restaurant in Israel so it wasn't that special to me! 

Lastly, this assorted mixed mushrooms, asparagus, calamari and jarmon was a really nice and refreshing dish but it was a tad too oily. 

Since the serving for tapas food is small because it suppose to be like snacks to go with alcohol, my stomach still had space for dessert! I tried the homemade cake which was really filling and good! It was sort of a butter fruit cake but with custard and caramelized ( the top part tasted something like a creme brûlée but the bottom was more of a softer and airy cake! 

My review of this tapas restaurant is that it is definitely a must visit when you come to Barcelona because the food here will practically leave you wanting more! 

The second stop I planned was to go to passeig de gracia, which is house to most of the luxury and international brands from around the world! Had to check out some of my favourite brands! 

On the way there, I made a small detour to this famous pastry stall called Mauri. When you step into the shop, you will be greeted with a strong cocoa aroma and there are many amazing chocolate displays in the the stall, especially huge Easter eggs since Easter is coming soon!

 I couldn't leave the shop without trying any pastry so I bought a praline pastry to try! The design was nice and it tasted as nice as it looks! The only turn off about mauri is that because it is so famous, the people working there are not friendly at all and I had to wait for a good 10 minutes before someone attended to me. But just for an experience and to satisfy my sweet craving... it was worth the money and the time :)

The card given to you for you to pay at the cashier before collecting your sweets! 

Buena noches everyone,

Kay

Thai house with my Asian loving gang!

It's a special post today because I went to Thai house with a group of special friends because they appreciate Thai food just like I do! Going to a Thai restaurant with my Thai homie, Jo, nothing gets better than that! Special thanks to my food loving neighbour, Ori for initiating this gathering and Yaron for fetching us! And...it was really nice to see my Asian girl Uki after such a long time :)

So now for the food review! *drumroll*

We went in the afternoon so there was the business lunch menu! You pay for the price of the main course but you get to choose a free appetizer and a free soft drink! 

For appetizers....

This is the egg roll! I didn't taste it but it should be really tasty, according to ori! What's special about this is that it is filled with something similar to crab stick or crab meat, whatever you call it. It comes with sweet Thai chilli sauce which gives makes it more flavourful! 

This is called the Pak Choy shrimp. From my understanding, Pak Choy is the green leafy vegetable and it comes with cooked shrimps! If you like fresh shrimps, this should be a good choice! 

Here comes my personal favourite! I will normally order this when I visit Thai house! It's called the shrimp fritters! It's crisp on the outside, fried till just the right golden brown exterior and inside it is filled with chewy minced shrimp meat! I'm not even kidding when I say the meat bounces between your teeth when you chew it! 

Lastly, when you go to a Thai restaurant, it's a norm to order the green papaya sald called song tam! Good choice Ori ;) 

I usually eat it spicy but I'm really surprised how refreshing this non spicy song tam taste like! Next time, I'm definitely ordering the non spicy one :)

Now here comes the main course! 

Highly recommended by Jo, this is called the pad Kapow! You can never go wrong with this dish, it's like a Classic Thai food! It's a must-eat for my family too! It's minced meat stir fried with chilli and onions I think, coupled with rice and my favourite fried egg! Best combination ever! 

This is what Uki and I ordered! It's called beef with broccoli and mushrooms! It's great for kids and people who wants something healthy and non spicy! I like how they give you a variety of mushrooms and the sauce is well flavoured, just the right amount of saltiness! 

Last but not least, the steamed fish! It comes with rice and I heard from Ori that it was good! It's really cute that it comes in a fish plate but be careful when eating this dish because I suppose there are quite a lot of fish bones! 

*Side information for all you readers: I don't know if it's a myth or a remedy but for Chinese, if we accidentally swallowed a fishbone, we believe that eating a banana after will help you flush down the fishbone! 

Oh and did I mention before that the fruitshake in Thai house is a MUST-TRY! I will have it everytime I visit because it is the best, I drink it even if it is freezing cold in the winter! I love how we can mix any fruits with coconut milk... In the usual fruit stores it is always based with milk or orange juice so I really like how coconut milk is used here, gives the drink such a thick but refreshing taste! Uki followed my recommendation and gave this drink a try! She ordered strawberries with coconut milk while I ordered pineapple and melon with coconut milk! Yumss! Here are photos of us posing with our drinks :) 

Uki with her pink drink and matching pink shirt! 

And me! :)

I had an enjoyable lunch outing with my fellow food tasters! Cheers from all of us! 

One of the best Thai food restaurant in Israel! 

Address: 8 Bograshov St. 

Loving Thai food,

Kay

Spring is near…

I love spring in Israel. It is the time of the year where I get amazed by all the colourful flowers that blooms out of nowhere… you see it along the highway, amongst large fields, even in grass patches along sidewalks! The plantations here are so magnificent that I truly thank God for the gift of nature!

This reminds me of something I've heard before… Don't worry about food or shelter because God will provide, just look at the flowers blooming out of nowhere, they grow naturally and they don't worry about the next day.

If you like flowers and flowers makes you happy or if you are a sucker for photography and is ready to kill your films for nature (which I am all of the above!), I recommend spending some time here!
If you are travelling from herzliya along high way 2, you will most likely spot this red-flowered plantation on your right. It is really hard to give the exact location but you will most likely see it after you pass by Rispon.
Go during the weekdays because I heard that this place is very crowded during the weekends! I think the best time will be around sunset, you will get the best pictures!

Scroll down to see more pictures of me and this wonderful place! When I was there today, I saw a couple taking wedding pictures there so I can guarantee this place is picturesque! This place is the perfect reason for you to camwhore ;)

Feeling lovely like a flower,
Kay

Sebastian, herzliya

Address: Maskit 33, herzliya pituach

I went to tried the much rave about Sebastian restaurant in herzliya on Purim day! It's such a popular restaurant, you have to make sure you call up to book for a table before going down. If not, you will have to face rejection haha

I like the interior of the restaurant pretty much. It reminds me of very much of Europe because of all the decorations and the settings.

Now for the food! My favourite dish for the night will be the fungi risotto! It's well cooked and the creamy taste was just perfect!

The salmon steak was also tasty! It's one of the rare few salmon steak where I will eat the salmon skin! The salmon skin was crispy and it does not have any fishy smell to it! The potatoes that came as sides were perfect fit to the dish! 

Lastly... The much raved about veal schnitzel! Veal=Cattle meal. Honestly, I didn't think this dish was worth the rave! It tasted just like any other schnitzel you can find in any restaurant! The only special fact was that the meat was veal instead of chicken! Having said that, maybe the chicken schnitzel may be nicer, so if you are a great fan of schnitzel, try the chicken one instead :)

Now for dessert! I tried the apple pie topped with ice cream! The warm apple pie and the cold vanilla ice cream is a match made in heaven! I applaud myself for this awesome choice of dessert! 

My overall review about Sebastian is that it is a wonderful restaurant but definitely a little over-rated, considering the popularity of this restaurant.

xoxo, 

Kay