Belgium Part 2: Ghent Day Trip

In between the busy conference schedules, I actually found time to go out on two day trips! (:

This post shall be about Ghent!

Ghent

I went to Ghent with my friends from the NUS delegation, return train tickets cost 17.8 euros (heartpain).

Ghent is just half an hour away from Brussels, and is another typically pretty small town. The town is connected by a tram system, and they operate on an honesty policy which basically means that people can get on and off for free, rarely does anyone check. although if they do, the penalty is 50 euros ouch.

we visited the very spectacular Sint-Baafskathedraal

and we even went down into the underground crypt

which had original wall paintings, manuscripts etc. The whole experience was very surreal and mystical and we spent like an hour just exploring

after the visit to the cathedral, we just went to walk in the plaza outside, taking pictures

here's me and my co-delegate (:

I really love the architecture in Europe. Even a small town like Ghent has beautifully constructed buildings. it's just too beautiful. i wish singapore would have more pretty buildings, instead of blocks. haha

after we got tired and cold from walking around, we went to have pizza and belgian fries and chit chat.

awesome timess

okay i'm going out for dinner soon, will update about the other day trip next time!

Love,
Shermine

Belgium Part 1

Hi! i'm here to update about Belgium!  But before that i have to tell everyone about how I missed my train from Paris to Brussels, and had to pay another 69 euros to get on the next train ))))):

Anyway, I was in Belgium for the Harvard World Model United Nations Conference, which was in Brussels (:

It is so amusing to me that when I tell people that I'm going for world model united nations, people think it is fashion modelling. Lols!! No okay, i do academic stuff too!

So this year, the NUS delegation of 21 people had the great honour to represent the Federal Republic of Germany! I had a co-delegate in my committee, the United Nations Development Program, debating GM crops and access to clean water. 

It was AMAZING to meet people from all over the world!!! It was scary to actually debate with them, but once we got into the swing of it, it felt better, and it helps that we were representing such an important country, so people had to listen to us. hahaha :D

WorldMUN was definitely a great experience, and an eye opener to diplomacy, politics and international relations. I'm super glad I took part (: 

BELGIAN FOOD 

of course the highlight for me will always still be food. so i have to introduce you all to all the amazing things I ate haha

Brussels Grill

 there is this chain store called Brussels Grill everywhere in Brussels, and my friend and I decided to try it out for dinner on one of the nights!

It was super pretty, with a warm fireplace and stained glass

Here's us waiting for our food :D

 I ordered a steak with mushroom sauce and fries. It was 15 euros, but it was a really good steak, no regrets (: the mushroom sauce was as creamy as a soup, and I understood why steak is always really popular in Belgium!

my friend had scampi, which is a prawn dish in garlic aioli sauce i think? i didn't have prawns, but i tried the sauce and it was delicious!

Dinner with Edmond 

Met a fellow singaporean studying in Cambridge, and we had dinner together at a restaurant, the name of which I can't remember hahah.

but it was pretty good!

for starters i had a cheese croquette, and he had escargot

then i had a delicious sea bass with fries (in belgium, almost everything comes with fries)

whilst he had the famous brussels mussels!!! too bad i don't eat seafood, because mussels are a traditional speciality in Belgium

and for dessert we had a yummy belgian waffle. i really am in love with belgium waffles! you can find them everywhere, the same way that croissants and crepes can be found everywhere in paris. haha it's like a local favourite snack.

of course, post dinner has to be with a nice glass of belgian beer! the one on the right is cherry beer, which i really enjoyed. haha

Fish Market 

one day during the conference lunch break, my friends decided to head to the famous fish market in Brussels. It was definitely worth the trip!!!

It is a really cool concept because you order at the bar, and then head to an alfresco table to stand and eat. haha, was super crowded and difficult to get a table, but very worth it!

I shared grilled swordfish and fried fish fritters with my friend. it was heavenly

 and the famous soup du poisson! it comes with a generous mound of cheese that you're supposed to dump into the soup!

in fact we loved the fish market so much, that we went back! this time I tried the swordfish grilled in a different style (chilli with roasted veges). 

and my friend had prawns. it was pretty good, but I think i preferred the food on the first day

UNDP committee dinner at Restobiere

on the last day of the conference, my worldmun committee UNDP had our committee dinner at a very quaint authentic Belgian restaurant. It was cool on many levels.

Firstly, dining with a whole table of different nationalities was very interesting and it is always great to make new friends

Secondly, the food was very awesome. I had the most amazing bread and butter ever, and I ordered sausage and stoemp (a kind od mash), which tasted so good

Thirdly, the whole atmosphere felt very homely, and it felt like an authentic belgian restaurant, especially since it was a local girl who recommended it, so i definitely felt pleased to get the chance to dine there

Chocolates!!!!

chocolates are EVERYWHERE in Belgium. they smell so good, I just want to buy everything up hahah

I managed to get free samples, and I bought a couple of pralines to eat on the way. i was super tempted to buy a whole box back, but I knew it would definitely melt by then. ):

okay, i shall update about my Belgium day trips in the next post! 

Love, 

shermine

Paris

I am super loving Paris, and I'm really going to miss it when I leave ! ):

I thought it would be good to blog as I travel through Europe, since I will probably forget to do it if I sit on it for too long haha

Day 1

I was rather lost when I touched down in Paris, and getting to my accommodation was a real challenge. lols, I had to change two buses, and walk down a few streets whilst lugging a huge luggage. I was also super paranoid about getting robbed, and having a huge luggage basically screamed 'i am a tourist and i am lost!'

but anyway, I was super proud of myself for being able to ask for directions in French, and I actually somehow made it! It was located in a quiet and peaceful neighbourhood in the 7th Arrondissement.

 My room! (:

View from my window down to the courtyard

This is the lift. I have never seen such a tiny lift in my life. It was all of 6 tiles big. and it looks super old school, i was  thrilled by it. hahaha

My accom was located 5 minutes away from Rue Cler, which is a famous food street, so it was absolutely perfect for me!!! There were plenty of quaint shops selling fruits, flowers, cheese, meats, crepes, chocolates, and of course also plenty of  Parisien cafes.

I took a stroll to the Rodin Museum, and there's the famous Thinker sculpture! Apparently Rodin himself is buried underneath the statue.

and the museum grounds and gardens are very beautiful and romantic. it is really perfect picnic and chill out grounds, especially with the lovely spring weather at the moment.

Afterwhich, I had duck confit at cafe du marche, because i'd read rave reviews about it. It was quite cheap actually (10.5 euros), and the portion was really large! the duck was crispy on the outside and was melt-in-your-mouth soft inside, so i thought it was amazing. 

Day 2

Day 2 was my most productive day out, i walked around for 6 whole hours haha.

 The seine river, which has so so so many bridges going across. the most beautiful one is the Alexandre III because of the huge columns and golden statues at 4 corners.

This is the little palace! it's huge, but the grand palace is just opposite, and they so happened to have horse racing at the grand palace that day, so it was interesting to see them bring horses in and out hahah

then i went to walk around musee l'orangerie and musee d'orsay, but i didn't go in cos the queues were crazy.

instead, i went to the love lock bridge! where lovers put padlocks!

and this is place de la concorde!! that little 'stick' with the golden tip is actually a 3000 year old obelisk from Luxor, Egypt!!!! it looks much more impressive up close haha. the grounds are huge, and there was also a lovely garden. i love the parisien open spaces and gardens, because there're so many places to simply chill out. 

I also spent quite a few hours walking up and down champs elysee!!! I LOVED IT. the point was actually to find laduree, but i ended up buying little perfumes etc. haha and i saw the biggest sephora i have ever seen! prices are slightly cheaper too, and i managed to find something that was out of stock in singapore.

 okay so this is laduree, a really pretty shop, and one of my tourist must-dos in paris hahah

look at the great selection!!! i bought a giant choc macaron, which was of course super yummy.

had dinner outdoors at another Parisian cafe. it is so lovely to dine and watch the world go by. and the food is always so good, i'm so impressed by Parisian cafes.

no night-life for me though, because i've been advised not to go out after dark. haha, i guess i don't want to risk getting mugged either, and anyway i'm still jet lagged, so i get sleepy at like 9pm, and am up at like 5am everyday hahah

Day 3

Only spent the morning in Paris, because i'm going to catch my train to Brussels real soon!

walked through champs de mars gardens and had a close up look at the Eiffel Tower!

It was super early, like 7am. so i got a good look at it without any crowds. in fact there were only one or two people! so i guess i was lucky! :D

i found my way to marche au grenelle, a sunday market, and there were so many wonderful things to buy there! I bought baguette, Camembert cheese, 2 different types of croissants and delicious butter cookies! 

oh! and my love life has been doing well in Paris, because 3 people have asked me out in my short time here hahahaha. i should just migrate here, i love paris so much!

3 days was too short in paris, just as ive gotten used to getting my directions right, i'm on the move again! haha

oh well, Au Revoir Paris, and Bonjour Brussels! 

Love

shermine

Savour food festival

This place is so dead! haha, it's been almost two months since i last posted. shall update about a fun event that I went to with my dance partner (:

since i missed the street food jamboree last year, i was really enthusiastic about this gourmet food festival. I guess the idea of a lot of food in one place appeals to the greedy monster in me. haha :D

so the way the event works is that everyone is given 30 savour dollars, which you can use to buy whatever you want!

we couldn't decide what to eat, cos everything is michelin starred, and looks super goood :D

 This is the Badoit bar, where we got complimentary bubbly. haha

The whole village was really well laid out, and it was shaded even though it was quite a warm day, with waiters to clear plates etc, so it was quite a classy environment although it was outdoors.

 This hotdog was a UK creation, and was quite highly raved by a lot of people. but we felt it was quite average. to be fair it was quite good, but so was every other dish at the fair, and we didn't think it stood out that much.

 we LOVED this pork cheeks with mousseline potatoes. (: it was super tender

 This was a tasting plate with 5 cheese tortellini, kurobuta pork cheeks and a dessert valrhona dulce chocalate cream with passionfruit cream and chocolate macaron.

 and cured salmon! which was yumms with capers and breadcrusts

it was quite fun, but quite an expensive experience (tickets were $42 per person!). Definitely don't regret going once, but probably i'd just go to a restaurant next time hahaha