Or, a vision in a dream. A Fragment.
Stavanger is Norway’s oil city, and so naturally I had to visit the oil museum. Norway was apparently a poor country less than two generations ago, but in 1969 oil was discovered in the North Sea. Since then, the government has been careful about limiting foreign rights to the oil. In 1972, Statoil was founded (though it was later partially … Read More
While Oslo is technically in a fjord (as defined by wikipedia), the Oslofjord is not all that impressive. But after this weekend, I can finally say that I have been to a real movie-worthy Norwegian fjord! A couple of hours away from Stavanger (on the southwest coast of Norway) is Lysefjord: View Larger Map To get to the start-off point … Read More
Last Wednesday was the longest day of the year, and a traditional day to have a big bonfire party in Norway. I was at my in-laws’ new cabin by the sea (well, in a fjord), and that night they had a big barbecue: It was a nice summer party, but a couple of funny things: some of the guests arrived … Read More
a hit at the Market in Ottawa, ever since the first Presidential visit: maple-leaf shaped cookies with “Canada” emblazoned on them.
Mixed it up this time on this trip to NB and drove north of the Saint-Laurent instead of the highway south, crossing over to Rivière-du-Loup using the ferry at St-Siméon. and what a fancy ferry it was! first there were the binoculars and the elevator… then there was the diner and bar: and hmm, what else? how about an enclosed … Read More
one of the side entrances to the largest night market in taipei: and the food that is there: meat skewers (pick whichever you want, and she’ll fry them for you), lemon jelly drink, pan-fried buns (qian bao) with vegetable or meat fillings, and cool looking roti machine. but my favourite is the “pulled” roti (zhua bing)–fluffy, buttery, and scallion-y–which I … Read More
fresh fruit, candied fruit (and a cute kid), shoe market, chopstick vendor & tea shop…
I was in Taipei for the holidays, and each day before driving to my grandparents’ apartment we would eat or pick up breakfast at a soy milk place. Typical dishes served at a place like this include: bowl of hot sweet soy milk (熱豆漿) or “salty” soy milk (鹹豆漿), bowl of rice milk (米漿), scallion pancakes (蔥油餅, with or without … Read More
I’m now back from a few weeks of traveling–to Anchorage for a wedding, Toronto (incl. a trip to Niagara Falls) and Fredericton to see friends and family, and finally Albany to complete the swearing-in for admission to the NY bar (and gain the pompous title “Esquire”). […]… Read More