水乡之都~威尼斯 (24~26/5/2014)

Venice, the water city, is one of the place I have longed to visit. I have heard so much things about it. People has been talking how romantic & special this city is. Yes, indeed. It is truly romantic. However, I find it too touristy, and too expensive compared to other parts of Europe I have been to.

We were there in a perfect May day for 3D2N. The temperature ranging from 13C at night - 23C during the day. On the sunny day, I did feel a bit warm, but not humid or sweaty. We stayed at Best Western Olimpia at Piazzale Roma, where the main bus station, and the airport bus to Treviso airport-AVTO is. So it is a perfect location. However, on the day of arrival, we walked towards the wrong direction towards to the railway station by crossing a long overhead pedestrian bridge. And then made a round walked to the opposite side of the canal. We were lost. I had read that Venice is a place you just will get lost, and how true it is, the map is of no use at all. The road sign was bad, and in fact, the address printed on the hotel booking sheet was not complete. It did not specify the street name. Luckily we traveled light, nonetheless crossing the many bridges, and going around the area blindly still a big challenge. Finally, we spotted the hotel. Oh.. It was just behind the bus stop, a few steps away. The facade was quite old, out-dated.

Well, afterall, the hotel location is still convenient. Going downtown to the main square-St Mark square, we need to travel by water taxi #1 or #2, and the journey took approximately 40 minutes. Felt excited on my first water bus ride, but the journey was too much boring and long.

The view overlooking grand canal from the bridge from Piazzale Roma to the train station.

quiet , peaceful neighbourhood near the hotel

Best Western Hotel Olimpia facade

Breakfast at the hotel courtyard. Breakfast spread was not too fantastic, in fact I was quite disappointed with the pastries and even the coffee (I assume all Italian coffee is nice). Not as tasty as I had in Paris. This courtyard is a very quiet chill out place for breakfast before kick off our day.

Piazza San Marco, the symbolic heart of Venice is packed with tourist . Overpriced food served in the cafes & restaurants around the square. A cup of cappuccino as high as Euro8.00. We went into one of those small alleys, and found a small sandwich bar for toilet break & quick lunch. We ordered a sandwich , two glasses of drink, the total bill for this simple meal was Euro 20.

In the heart of Venice, this landmark bridge across the Grand Canal, It is the oldest and was the dividing line for districts of San Marco and San Poloand .

Last day in Burano Island

                                                                                                                                                               

Another long journey to this colourful and unique island - Burano Island. It is to be more correctly to be called an archipelago of four islands. These islands are very small and linked by small bridges, I had initially thought Burano is just one island.The water bus ride took almost like 2 hours (the return was shorter, about 45 mins) as it went a loop passing by Murano Island (the famous murano glass making factories, lack of time and gave it a miss). Once you were on board of this island, it was truly picturesque and beautiful. Though it is still a tourist place, it was far less noisy or busy as in Venice. I love this island very much given its beautiful coloured house. Yes, you will feel happy being in this island. There were many shops selling lace, but the price were expensive which the designs seem like those I can find in Pasar Malam. Probably, I am not good at differentiate the workmanship of these with those cheaper lace products.

                                                                                                                                 


We had our lunch at Da Romano Restaurant based on tripadvisor review. Food was fantastic, and fresh mussels cooked really well.

We didnt spend too much on this island, as we have a flight to catch at night, and around 3pm we left the island, taking the water bus back to Piazzale Roma. Before heading home, we had a quick coffee and pastry at the local pastry shop nearby hotel. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
In my opinion, a visit to Burano island is a must if anyone is in Venice, and has an extra 1 day to spend. It is simply too beautiful and special.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Barista training-4 hour @ Limini Coffee 14 June 2014

Like a dream come true, I was making nespresso coffee using the professional coffee machine lwe always see in the cafes!!

Yes, dear and I finally put our "talk" to learn barista into action. Thank you my dear. We booked for the 4 hour barista training with Limini Coffee few months ago at GBP186 for two person. The seats for weekend session were always full. We traveled 100 miles, 1 1/2 hours to reach  Limini Coffee premise in Bradford.

Upon arrival, there were another two other coffee addicts ( father and son) joining the class, along with the instructor, Youri. The greeting was informal. We sat round the long table, engaged each other with brief conversation. The father and son pair-David and Ben look alot more interested. They had watched numbers of youtubes, made a lot research on coffee before the course. Well, no stress! This was just a workshop , no competition. So still a relaxed and friendly environment.

To kick off, Youri made each of us a cup of cappuccino using the La Spaziale expresso machine. Wow! it was the best coffee we ever had in Nottingham. It was comparable to the standard with London "Kaffeine" . The creme expresso topped with steam milk and completed with beautiful latte art. It smelt aromatic, flavourful coffee taste, and yet not as milky or much foam as we normally get from cafes here. Followed by this, we were served flat white. It was heavenly too. For a non-milk drinker, dear enjoyed the flat white and cappuccino as much as I did.

Youri then explained to us the important factors behind the working of a perfect cup of coffee.

The correct temperature to brew. Being too high, the coffee lose sweetness and smoothness, being too low, it turns out sour. The boiler temperature is recommended at 117-119C.

The Roasting-yes, we want fresh coffee, but freshly roast coffee need to rest for about a week for best taste. We tried two small cup of expresso, one being roasted 2 days ago, and another which had rested for a week. The taste made a difference.

The grinding - extraction time should be around 25 seconds, so if the grind is too fine, the extraction is too slow. On the contrary if the grind is too quick,means the grind is too coarse and so the extraction time is too short. The coffee once ground lose its flavour within 5 minutes, so it is the best to brew freshly ground coffee.

The Dosage- The coffee powder need to be measured the correct dosage using a weighing scale. The single shot we are looking for 10-11grams, whereas 15-16 grams for double shot.

First fill the porta filter with ground coffee, slightly above the top and level it out then tamp it. Once tamped, the coffee should be 1-2mm below the line .

Most expresso machine has the water setting function to control the ml required for different type of coffee. Example 20-30ml for crema per espresso, double expresso of 40-60ml.

The extraction time need to be around 25 seconds, the crema per expresso will flow like warm honey. Turn off the extraction button when the coffee goes a blondish colour.

The crema on top should be halzenut colour, and stay on top for minutes.

future baristas in action:

Leart the basic knowledge of good coffee. So now let's crack on. It was really not easy to be a full-fletched barista. Grinded the bean, filled up the porta filter and tamped it, pressed the single expresso button then we will have to work on the milk steaming.

Milk steaming did not look as easy it does. First, fill up cold whole milk into the jug max half full. The position of the tip of the steam wand is really important. First, place the tip of the steam wand between the side of the jug and the center of the jug, just under the milk surface. This will allow the steam to create bubble in the jug. If too deep, it will not create bubble, and the must turn to full power for it to spin.

Then move down the jug and will hear high chirping noise . This created foam in the beginning when the milk is cold. The colder the milk, the better the foam. The milk will rise whilst creating foam. Be really careful to create smooth foam and not bubbles.

Then move the steam tip deeper into the milk, once the foam has created. The milk should spin around deep in but no high chirping noise. The longer you spin the smoother the milk foam is.  Turn off the steam  once the themometer shows the temperature reaching 60C, it will slowly rise up to 70C. Which was the perfect temperature we were looking for. Wipe off the tip. Gentle tap the jug on the counter to burst any bubbles and pour a half of foam to a smaller jug. Swirl the jug for smoother foam (micro foam) and pour on the expresso to create a flower design.

My latte arts were terrible without Youri by the side. haha

After the busy hands on session, we then watched a short video on the harvesting, picking and drying of coffee beans process. It was so labour intensive.

After the video, we watched Youri demostrated how the beans were roasted. Then we tasted the filter coffee with beans just roasted and beans rosted and rested a week ago. Not a fan of filter coffee, but the beans which have just roasted tasted really awful compared to one rested a week old.

Oh, we tried the Limini hot chocolate using real chocolate instead of chocolate powder. The last drink was Latte Machiato. It was too milky, the layers with milk at the base, coffee, foam look pretty.

Last but not least, Youri ended the session showing us how to clean the coffee machine. This is important to do at end of everyday after use.

4 hours training. We are really excited to get a homestyle nepresso machine to apply all the brewing skill, milk steaming and latte art. But the La Spaziale small home used machine Limini is selling costs GBP1200. This definitely needs a lot of thinking before we hurry to get one. More googles to be done.  Happy that we went for this course.

Go go Lisbon, Portugal (22~24.2.2014)

Haha, I have never expected Lisbon (the capital of Portugal) will be our first oversea trip in 2014. It is never been in my bucket list at all. So why we went?? Dear suggested we should go for a short weekend holiday in February, so while checking the air fares, Lisbon seemed to be the lowest offered by Easyjet, departing from London Luton Airport. After some research online of the city, seemed quite a nice city. So here we go. Well, worth the trip.

Compared to most European cities, Lisbon is cheaper to travel. Based on tripadvisor, we found this hotel at Rossio Square, at the downtown of Lisbon , provide easy access to tram, subway station, buses, and several tourist sights nearby. It costs £218 (exclusing breakfast) for two nights. Room quite small, but ok since we did not bring big luggage. The staff was friendly.

The Rossio Square-the beautiful 19th century pavement made from cobblestone in wave pattern first caught your eyes, two baroque fountains at both side of the square.

Wandering through the neighbourhood, walking up, walking down the steep stone streets looking for a restaurant recommended by the hotel receptionist. Though we found, it was not opened for lunch on Saturday. Well, still worth the walking through these cobblestone back alleys, streets, which make Lisbon city special .

Our very first Portugese dish near the square. We know most of the restaurants near the main square do not serve good food as mostly are targeting tourists. But we were too hungry or tired to walk further looking for another restaurant. Give it a try of local portugese mixed vegetables soup with pork. Well, we did not finish. It just tasted weird for my liking.

Figueira Square is just next to Rossio square, which is the city main's tram and bus stop, and you can view St George Castle from the square.

There are many shops and cafes around the square, one of the oldest cafe - Nacional Cafeteria is just right at the corner of the square, next to the hotel we stayed. We went there for breakfast. Well, not the best, but worth paying a visit.

Strolling through the pedestrian Rua Augusta to Commercio Square. Alongside the pedestrian streets are high street fashion shops eg Zara, cafes, restaurants.

Our first stop in Belem.
Oh, this is my most favourite food/snack in Portugal. Must not miss this cafe -Pasteis de Belem. It served divine traditional pastel de nata (Portuguese tarts) It tasted so delicious and  different from what we had in Singapore, or Macau (maybe I have not tried the best one in Macau). We were lucky to have avoided the queue , and managed to find a table inside. We ordered 4 tarts with coffee, the crust was crispy , thin and flavourful, the egg filling was light and taste really good. 

Belem is the most monumental and historical district in Portugal. There are buses, or tram 15 to Belem. We took a bus (#737?)

Jeronimos Monastery. Beautiful stained glass which you found in most European cathedral, entrance to the cathedral is free.

Magnificent Discoveries monument, the world explorers in stone, built in north bank of Tagus River in 1960 to commemorate the 500th death anniversary of the Navigator Prince Henry who sponsored the portuguese explorers in 16th century.

Ar ha, it is not the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, but the bridge "25 de Abril Bridge" does look the twin sister of Golden Gate Bridge.

Walked along the waterfront from the discovery monument, you see the Belem Tower. Nice walk, enjoyed the sea breeze. It is built in 1515 as a fortress to guard the harbour, it was also the starting point of many voyages.

Our dinner for first night after a long steep walk up to the shopping mall -Amoreiras. Had this buffet style portuguese mixed rice in the food hall. Each plate cost Euro 6.95 . Quite cheap, and quite good taste.

Exploring area along Avenida Da Liberdade, the main avenue in Lisbon. Similar to the Champs Elysees in Paris with big brands such as Gucci, LV, Prada along side. But the road is too widely apart, and shops all closed on Sunday, so not a good day.

During the afternoon, we took tram #28 to St George's castle, locally called Castelo de São Jorge. The travel guide says one should explore the way up to the castle from Alfama, as there were many hidden gems and interesting shops. We did not. The steep, narrow slope, and irregular roads to the top was just too 
challenging for our feet. It  is located on the hilltop overlooking the city. The view should be breathtaking, but we did not go inside the castle, but walked around the surrounding neighbourhood. 

A bit of walking down to Miradouro das Portas Do Sol , it is one of the most attractive viewpoints to admire the old town Alfama's rooftops, towers, and domes. Sat back, relax, for a cup of coffee. Enjoy the panoramic view

There ended our 3D2N short trip to  Lisbon. It is so lovely. I love the sights, the cafe culture. It is one of my new favourite to recommend to all travelers.