Or, a vision in a dream. A Fragment.
saw this in the freezer section of our local (Kiwi) grocery store yesterday: since when did toast become so difficult and time-consuming that we would need a ready-made frozen version of it? only in Norway. (or at least I hope so.)
One of our favourite places to eat in Oslo is Focacceria, a small takeout joint run by Villa Paradiso (which is the best pizzeria in town, hands down). The focaccia is amazing; this is my favourite, with eggplant, buffalo mozzarella, basil and tomato: Focacceria is just up the side street from Villa Paradiso, and ever since discovering it we’ve basically … Read More
I was never tempted to go in when you were just a little crêperie on torggata. But now that you’re a full-fledged restaurant attached to a yuppie swedish store in Grünerløkka, you’re irresistible. nice crêpes, too. (I think this was the “italiano,” with pesto, olives and pine nuts.) Crêperie de Mari (facebook page) Thorvald Meyersgate 63-67 0552 Oslo
Sometimes I don’t think I’ll ever understand Norwegian mass culture. This ad for vanilla sauce, for example: NYHET! Endelig med skrukork! (“NEW! Finally with a screw cap!”) It doesn’t market any other feature. No great taste, no new recipe, just… a screw cap.
Decided to have lunch today at Operapassasjen (“the opera passage”), a walk-through building that used to house Oslo’s opera (not to be confused with the beautiful new building by the sea). At the entrance facing Youngstorget, there’s a small fish market called Fiskeriet — surprisingly one of the few fish markets in Oslo. Attached to the small market is a small … Read More
For you English language buffs: a brief history of the fight between prescriptivists and descriptivists (by Joan Acocella in the New Yorker). In short, prescriptivists believe language follows certain rules, so there is a correct way to speak and write; descriptivists believe that language doesn’t necessarily follow strict rules so the best we can do is describe how people currently use … Read More
Very cool new piece of public art in Oslo: “Grass Roots Square”, in front of government building R6 (Teatergata). It consists of 50,000 tiny statues embedded into the stones of the walkway, inviting people to walk atop them. The artist is Korean-born Do Ho Suh, and while this piece has come to symbolize a lot more since the 22/7 terror attacks … Read More
In Nairobi, the upper middle class are Indians–and not “fresh-off-the-boat” Indians, but those that have been here for several generations. According to wikipedia, the origin of Indian migration was for the construction of the Uganda railway (or “lunatic express“; see also last post) in the late 19th century. There are now over 100,000 Asians in Kenya today–and all the successful … Read More
G and I are in Kenya for a 3-week holiday, and our only concrete plan was to take the overnight train to the coast. So shortly after arriving to Nairobi, we went to the railway station to check out our options. There is only one train route going through Nairobi: