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Cooking class at 'Roots and Leaves' (Luang Prabang, Laos)
by catsholiday Cooking Class at 'Roots and Leaves' Restaurant , Luang Prabang We had enjoyed a cooking school we did in Hoi An in Vietnam and so when this was offered as an option on our tour we decide we would give Laos cooking a try at this course. 'Roots and Leaves' is quite a classy Luang Prabang restaurant not very far from ... our hotel. It has a beautiful setting with a huge lily pond around which the tables are arranged under sun umbrellas. It looks really lovely with beautiful reflections on the pond, the tables set with white serviettes and sparkling white crockery. In the surrounding garden is a fine range of fruit trees including tamarind, mango, jackfruit and coconut palms as well as orchids and other tropical flowers. We arrived and were introduced to another couple who were joining us in our culinary efforts. We were offered tea, coffee or a cold drink while we waited for the tuk tuk to take us to the market. OFF TO MARKET The ride in the tuk tuk in the early morning was surprisingly cool and I was quite glad I had my little linen jacket with me. These tuk tuks are sort of mini buses that hold about eight passengers which are actually converted motor bikes with a back like a bus open at the sides with two bench seats. We arrived at the busy market and our guide explained that he preferred to go right into the market as it was less busy there. He also had certain people he liked to buy from as he knew that their produce had come straight from the village to the market. We bought some large chicken breasts, some pork loin and some fish from a couple of stalls before we moved on to the lady where he bought all the vegetables and fresh herbs. We bought some of the dried 'seaweed' which is actually a river weed from the Mekong River which is dried and flavoured with chilli and tomato. They then dry these sheets, to cook they are cut into squares and very quickly deep fried. This is a speciality of Luang Prabang called Kháy phen is served with drinks and a pretty hot chilli dip called jaew bong. The market traders were quite happy to have their photo taken but it was quite tricky as it was crowded and people were dodging in and around us. Our guide also bought us some colourful rice Laos deserts which we tried when we got back to the restaurant. I have to say they were not unpleasant but they were pretty unexciting, they tasted of rice, were sticky and chewy and slightly sweet but that is about it. We returned to the restaurant on the tuk tuk with our ingredients. I was actually quite impressed with how fresh and plump looking the chicken breasts were. The pork loin was also really tender and free of fat. I was less keen on the flies that were hanging around but they were not too bad compared to some places I have been. WHAT WE WERE GOING TO MAKE We were each given a lovely little menu/recipe booklet made of handmade Lao paper which explained what we would be making and gave us the list of ingredients needed. We were going to be preparing about five dishes: Green chilli dip with crispy pork/chicken skin Chicken or pork salad (laap) with coriander Stuffed lemongrass with pork or chicken ( Ui Si Khai) Steamed chicken in banana pickets ( mok) Clear soup with watercress Wok fried morning glory - a sort of local spinach which is really yummy DOWN TO BUSINESS The chef came out to meet us and the guide who had taken us to the market was also our interpreter as the chef didn't speak a lot of English. He explained all the ingredients and then we had to choose which dishes we wanted to use the chicken for and which the pork. At this stage we hadn't washed our hands but were brought a bowl with lemons in it, an apron each and a hand towel. Our first task was to prepare the lemongrass for stuffing. This entailed using a pin to sort of cut through the bottom end of the piece of lemon grass. You kept on running the pin through the lemongrass and turning it until you could push it and get something that looked a bit like a paper lantern. These were put to one side then we chopped the herbs and finally the chicken. I was a little concerned about the hygiene as we chopped the chicken on the same board as the veggies and herbs. We then washed our hands in the bowl with the lemons in it. The lemongrass was stuffed and then rolled in egg and then breadcrumbs and left to be deep fried later. We then chopped more herbs and watched the chef cook the minced pork in the wok with water not oil. Once the pork was cooked all the herbs were added and it was left to cool. This was going to be a salad and the salad garnishes were then sliced by the chef with the same knife on the same board. I have to say I didn't eat any of the uncooked salad vegetables having seen this. The chicken wrapped in banana leaf was created by mixing the herbs with the chopped chicken and then we wrapped this up a bit like origami and fixed it with a toothpick. Mine didn't look quite as neat as the example done by the chef but it stayed together while it was steamed in the bamboo steamer. We had initially put the sticky rice on the steamer and at this stage it was ready. We had to wet our hands and roll the sticky rice into a cylinder and put it in the cylindrical baskets ready to be served from. I was a little concerned once again that my hands had only been washed in the lemon water after handling the chicken. I am so fastidiously careful at home with raw chicken. At this stage the chef sort of took over and we watched. He cooked our river weed for us and we tried it while watching him finish off all the dishes. Considering he had a very small table and it was full of all the bits and pieces i was pretty impressed with the way he presented all the food on lovely serving dishes with little garnishes as well. We were able to go across to the toilets at this stage as I was desperate to wash my hands with some soap before eating. The dishes were all taken across to a beautifully laid table on a deck overlooking the large lily pond. The large sun umbrella kept the sun from us. We could have ordered beer or other drinks but we knew we had an afternoon of sightseeing to last through so decided to have a lemon tea which was very refreshing. We enjoyed eating our handiwork and the other couple were good company so it was a very pleasant way to spend the morning and an excellent lunch even if I was rather concerned about the hygiene. We had no nasty effects after this so the lemon must have done the trick of being a natural germ killer. It was really interesting to find out what ingredients went into the dishes and also to discover that they didn't fry their meat for the salad. I was impressed as it made it far less greasy and we thought we would try this method for some of our cooking at home. I loved going around the market and seeing all the vegetables, fruit, meat, fish and other things on sale. The sights sounds and smells in places like that are just so atmospheric. The people were so friendly and willing to explain what they were selling or doing which sometimes people are really not happy about so that was a very nice experience. I would certainly recommend doing a cooking school in here or somewhere in Laos if you are travelling in the country and have any interest in food. It helps you to make choices at restaurants and gives you a very good idea of the ingredients such as herbs and spices that are used in the dishes. Thanks for reading. This review may be posted on other sites under my same user name. ©Catsholiday Read the complete review |
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Origo Lodowisko Ice Rink (Krakow, Poland)
by loulou22 Origo Lodowisko, Krakow Origo Lodowisko is my local ice skating rink here in Krakow. A few weeks ago, we decided to go ice skating and with both of us being relatively new to Krakow we did a Google search and found that Origo Lodowisko was our closest ice rink. Location Origo Lodowisko in Krakow is located at ... Eisenberga 2. There are regular trams and buses which run to the area, however from the nearest stop it is still a good 10 minute walk away. The ice rink is signposted as Lodowisko and quite easy to find from the tram stop. Opening Hours The opening hours of Origo Lodowisko vary from day to day so it is best to check the website http://www.lodowisko-krakow.pl to check what time the sessions are on your chosen day. The sessions are 1 hour 30 minutes in length and the start times and frequency of the sessions vary depending on the day. You must arrive at the start of a session otherwise you will have to wait until the next session begins. Entrance and Skate Hire Origo Lodowisko is an old looking building with a lot of graffiti art painted on the sides of it. The entrance is located down a few steps and through an old wooden door. As we walked in I felt memories coming back of being a child in the 80's entering a sports hall. Just inside the entrance is a small window to pay the session cost and for skate hire if you need it. The entrance is 10zl or 7zl if you are a student and have your valid student card. Skate hire is 7zl. Exchange rate as of March 2012 is £1 = 4.89zl. The skate hire area is to the left of you as you walk through into the area for changing from shoes to skates. When we visited Origo Lodowisko the skate hire was staffed by a man who seemed reasonably pleasant and gave us a choice of hockey style skates or figure skating style ones. We chose the hockey style ones and were also given 2 plastic bags about the size of a sandwich bag each. At this point I was a little confused as to what the bags were for, then it was explained to me that I needed to wear the sandwich bags on my feet inside the ice skates! The idea of this is that it keeps the ice skates from having sweaty germs inside for the next person, I tried to explain that in the UK we have sprays that they spray inside them for this, but I was told they don't have that here and I needed to wear the sandwich bag. In all honesty this wasn't an issue for me, it just seemed really random and strange! The skate hire area doesn't take your shoes off you and doesn't have any lockers either so you will need to be prepared to take your personal belongings with you. You will also need to give the skate hire attendant some kind of ID which they will keep safe until you return your skates. So, sandwich bags on, ice skates on and actually feeling reasonably comfortable for hired skates! So, lets go... The Ice Rink The ice rink is advertised on the website as being inside, this is only half correct and undercover would have been a better description. To get to the rink you need to go outside and walk along a path that has had a rubber coating put on it and leads to what I can only describe as a large marquee style tent. The ice rink is located inside this tent. The ice rink is a medium size and has a couple of benches around the outside of it. These were pretty full up with peoples belongings and shoes. The rink only has one entrance and exit to it so as you can imagine this area was a little crowded to begin with which made it a little awkward to get on to the ice with people slipping over, but after a couple of minutes the rush was over and we made it onto the ice safely. The ice quality was good, when we first got on the ice it was fresh and smooth and easy to glide along. I could see it was rather shiny and wet in patches so I did everything possible to avoid falling over as I didn't really fancy a wet bum! After about 45 minutes the ice began to have a snowy effect to it and it wasn't so easy to skate smoothly on, but it was still enjoyable. Due to the ice having a snowy effect there were a few people who thought it was good to make snowballs and throw them at each other, thankfully they kept this between them and we didn't get hit! The staff didn't seem to mind people throwing snowballs and made no attempt to stop them. At the end of our session we were lucky and managed to find a spot on the benches to change back to our normal shoes. Taking the ice skates off was painful as by this point my legs and feet were aching and the boots had started to rub a little bit. The sandwich bags were still in place and as gross as it sounds I decided to re-name them sweat bags! They were grossly sweaty and made my socks feel very unpleasant when I put them into my shoes. I really think they should invest in some shoe spray for the comfort of their customers! We then made our way back to the skate hire area, returned our skates and got our ID's back with no issues at all. Toilets I was unable to locate any toilets at Origo Lodowisko which was quite frustrating as after an hour and a half ice skating in the cold a toilet was called for. I would presume they have toilets somewhere but if they do they are hidden away somewhere and not very well signed. Overall Overall I would recommend Origo Lodowisko in Krakow as long as you are prepared for taking your belongings with you and you don't mind wearing 'sweat bags' on your feet! Ice skating here was a fun experience and I will be going here again, but next time with a change of socks for afterwards! Thanks for reading :) Read the complete review |
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The Stockholm Card (Stockholm, Sweden)
by jipp05 My partner and I visited Stockholm last year and the trip was one of the most enjoyable city trips that I have ever been on. The city is gorgeous and so clean with barely any visible graffiti or rubbish strewn across the streets. It is the kind of city that I myself would love to live in. Of course there is a price to pay for having such ... a well-run liveable city and that is the cost of living. Everything in Stockholm was expensive from visiting attractions to going for a cup of coffee. One way of making Stockholm a little bit more affordable when visiting is to invest in a Stockholm card which if you are planning on visiting the Swedish capital is a must and it comes with so many added benefits that it soon pays for itself. It is basically a card you buy that gives you free or discounted entry into more than 80 museums and attraction in the greater Stockholm area. It also gives you free use of public transport including the subway and local buses. When you buy the card you also get a really handy little guidebook which tells you what attractions are free and also where they are located. It also had a small description of what everything was which I found this really handy when trying to decide what attractions to visit as I hadn't heard of a lot of them and some were missing from my guide book that I had bought at the airport on our way to Stockholm. To buy the Stockholm card last year cost 395 KR for a 24 hour card, 525 KR for a 48 one and 625 KR for the 72 hour card. It has gone up in price and currently costs 450 KR for the 24 hour card, 625 KR for the 48 hour and 750 KR for the 72 hour. 450 KR is around about £42.50 with today's exchange rate (March 2012). If you are going to be in Stockholm for three days then to get maximum bang for your buck you should definitely invest in the 72 hour card as this is the one that offers the most value as long as it will soon pay for itself after visiting only a few attractions. To buy the card you can either purchase it online from the visit Stockholm website and they will post it out to you but you need to make sure to leave plenty of time before your trip as it takes around two weeks to be delivered outside of Sweden. The easiest way to get one is to do what we did and just buy it on arrival in Stockholm. You can buy it at the airport or at the main tourist office in the centre of town. A good tip is that if you are arriving in the morning then get it at the airport but if you arrive later on in the afternoon or night then wait before buying as the card is stamped the first time you use it and this is when the time limit on it starts. So if you buy at the airport in late afternoon and use it for free entry into the subway then it is unlikely you will be visiting anything else that day so will have wasted 12 hours or so of use when all the attractions are closed. All the main attractions of Stockholm are free with the card such as the Royal Palace, Skansen and the Vasa museum. This was great as I have been stung buying these discount cards before in other cities where the most popular sites were excluded from the card and all that was included was a bunch of sites that no one really wanted to visit. Because there were so many sites that had free entry with the Stockholm card it meant that I was more willing to explore and visit smaller attractions that I may otherwise not have visited due to the cost involved in visiting them. This meant that I got to see some brilliant museums that I probably wouldn't have bothered with had I not bought the card. As Stockholm is a city made up of islands there are lots of boat company's one of the best things about the card was that it meant trips on the hop on hop off boats to all the islands was free. All you had to do was show your card whilst boarding and we used this form of transport quite a lot as opposed to trekking the long way over the bridges to the islands. Our hotel was quite far from the centre of the city so we ended up using the subway a lot. Most people staying in the centre will probably not as Stockholm is quite a compact city but it is definitely worth going on a couple of journeys as a lot of the subway tunnels have modern art in them and were as interesting as some of the museums. Again to get free entry on the metro system we just needed to flash our card to a member of staff and they opened the barricades for us. I would definitely recommend the Stockholm card if you are visiting the city as it made visiting everything so much more affordable. We got the 2 day card and it paid for itself on the first day. It is quite an expensive outlay buying the card in the first place but we did all the major sites which would have ended up costing us nearly double what the card did and we used the subway extensively. I also enjoyed visiting sites that I would probably never have visited without having the card and I would highly recommend getting one if you are ever visiting Stockholm. Read the complete review |
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