• the streets of spain are alive – graffiti love

    from our taxi ride departing the barcelona airport into the city, spain has offered up a smorgasboard of street art.  over the span of the four cities we visited, i’ve grown fonder and fonder of spain.  each of the cities…

  • tapas done right in granada

    so our first dinner in spain was a must-do in the form of tapas.  we ended up at cerveceria catalana and had a great meal with a few wobbly-pops to the tune of 40 euro.  not cheap but not breaking…

  • the hawkers of spain

    another culture shock element for us here… the street hawker.  in asia, the land of enterprising people, selling fake goods seems like a right of passage.  the giant malls (rundown buildings that have been out of maintenance for years) comprised…

  • weekly recap #17 – lisbon

    q. current home/addy where i stayed (neighbourhood) and how long a. lisbon (airbnb, baixa, 7 nights) q. favourite meal a. maybe the toughest week to recap for food.  our lisbon stay involved: i) home cooked chinese meals for almost all…

  • first 24 hours in lisbon

    jojo: what do i like? -the thought of the original egg tart finding its way into my mouth at some point over the next 7 days -almost have our next 4-6 weeks of our travels planned out which include seeing…

  • looking back at sapporo

    i’m trying my hand at maybe my last ‘regular’ series of posts… to look back upon the cities that we’ve stayed in this trip and to compare that to our first day to see how our opinions of the city…

  • getting our eats on in the markets of spain

    one of the biggest culture shocks coming from asia to europe has been the markets that spain’s cities have to offer.  from the fresh produce to the baked goods to the fresh seafood and even the candy.  toss in stalls…

  • the gancho burger – entering flavour country

    before leaving vancouver, my longtime friend/boss took me out for one final hurrah and we ended up at the pourhouse to get a burger done ‘just right’.  no frills, no toppings, just a medium rare burger on a bun with…

  • cerveceria catalana, the start of our tapas diet

    we eased into our first of many tapas dinners at cerveceria catalana in barcelona. nadius had a great meal here the last time they were in in town so we placed our trust in them. we got there after 730pm…

  • first 24 hours in porto

    jojo: what do i like? -small, quaint and beautiful city.  from the orange rooftops to the coloured & tiled facades to the street art to the cobblestone streets (as in the streets, not just the sidewalks), it’s so vibrant -cheap…