My cell phone is from 2007. This means I’m generations behind on the smart phone era. No apps, no e-mails, just good old fashion dial and talk. One of these days, I’ll surrender to this millennia but until that day comes, I still need to come up with analog ways to get things done. My latest job has me traveling to new destinations and now I’m on the hunt for alternatives to the clunky Lonely Planet Books.
Since I can’t rely on travel apps like unlike or foursquare, I need to find good old fashioned paper to tell me where to go. I’ve been thinking of using these tiny city guides from Hostel World. It has a lot of obvious tourist destinations but its nice to be able to have one free printout of addresses, wifi cafes, cheap eats, etc. I usually do general research before hand but its always nice to have the basics, just incase. I checked out the guide for Amsterdam as a baseline and it offers a pretty decent list of budget tips and cheap eats. One of my favorite affordable restaurants, Eatmode is the first restaurant listed along with some more obvious attractions like Anne Frank and Van Gogh.
I’m off to Lisbon, London, and Rome in the next two months and I’ll see if these city guides are any useful. Do you know of any nice tiny paperback guides? Or is it time to trash my Saved by the Bell cell phone?
If you’re visiting Amsterdam, the pocket guide can be found here.
My second attempt at travel photography is now published in the latest issue of Schiphol Magazine. This time I was lucky enough to join a press trip to Malaga, Spain during the Feria festival. The sun, the food, the people, it was all pretty great. Where else can you take naps everyday and eat ham on the beach? To read a proper article about Malaga, check out the report by Arun Sood here (p.30).
Traditional dancing during the Feria Festival.
Parties everywhere on the streets. Look at the dresses! Beaches in the middle of the city.
A wine pourer at El Pimpi, a famous Tapas restaurant. My first and last viewing of a bull fight. A big spectacle that occurs every night during the festival.
I recently visited a cool interior design shop that’s tucked away in the residential area of the Baarsjes called Store Without A Home. Its a fun semi permanent pop-up shop that is also partly a design gallery. Young designers are able to showcase their work as well as established international labels. I particularly love the drawing below by Manja van der Storm and all the fun fabrics by Marimekko. The store is located on Cabotstraat 1.
A holiday to North Uist lead to my first professional travel photography gig for Schiphol Magazine. North Uist is one of the islands off the West coast of Scotland. We started from Aberdeen in the east and drove through the highlands to the Isle of Skye, and finally a ferry to this beautiful little island. No traffic lights, no internet, just serene nature for a week. To read more about North Uist, check out the travel report by Arun Sood here (p.60).
Beautiful horses in Lochmaddy.
A view of Vallay dusk, an uninhabited Island that can be reached by walking across the water when the tides are down.
The famous Vallay House, now abandoned on the tidal island.
Fiona piping away. Arun and Maggie walking towards Vallay Island.
Doesn’t it look like a tropical island? It’s Scotland!
Highland cows roaming around a village like they own the place.
Loving these photographs by Italian photographer Lele Savari. The series below is titled “Villa Fiorita Psychiatric Institute.” I’m inspired to go out and take more photo stories in Amsterdam.
Most of my friends and family are aware of my love of Korean food and my latest obsession with learning how to cook from my fav chef Maangchi. I discovered her cooking videos over a year ago when I got sick of not having access to any affordable Korean restaurants in the city and needed to feed my kimichi addiction. Since then, I’ve gotten a whole group of Amsterdammers hooked on Korean cuisine by throwing dinner parties with Maangchi recipes. Next month, my ultimate gastranomic dream is turning into reality because Maangchi is flying to Amsterdam and cooking on my houseboat! She has started a food show project where she is traveling around the world to cook and I’m lucky enough to be a part of her show. I’m so excited! Stay tuned, a cooking show with me and Maangchi out soon!
Check out this house I had to photograph for work last month. This lady is obsessed with the 1930s era and transformed her house completely into a vintage home. She has an old thirties oven, a rotary phone, and even the newspaper next to her lazy chair is from the last century. It felt more like walking into a Dutch oldies film set than a real life home. You can read the full story by Marieke Verhoeven here.
