Category — the traveller

No, no, this is not from google earth! It was taken as we were landing in El Calafate, Patagonia. The land looks barren.

But oh, its so lovely. We feel so all alone in this wilderness of nothingness.

And tomorrow, we are going on an excursion. A little bit of adventure in which I managed to convince Mr Fudge to come along (took a lot of coaxing). So, today we were busy getting all our gears together including our lunch! Its a 12 hours excursion with 4 hours trekking on the glaciers with crampons.

We are going on the  BIG ICE TREK at the Perito Moreno!

Oh well, we never thought, being such frequent travellers, we would ever be cheated. But well, I guess, the tricksters are always a step ahead.

So, the damage was 20 pesos for a taxi ride. I had only two 100 pesos notes. Handed him the first but he said it was torn so he returned it to me. I had a fleeting notion that hey, the notes in Argentina looks like monopoly money ain’t it? But anyway, I handed him the second 100 pesos note and got back my change of 80 pesos happilly.

Hopped out of the taxi, I exclaimed to Mr Fudge - Ooh how I love this city! Not only its vibrant, friendly people but even the taxi drivers are nice and honest! There was no haggling of prices, it always goes by the meter.

2 hours later, after a hearty meal at yet another good discovery of mine – La Cabras (I’ll elaborate about it another day, in a total review about food in Buenos Aires – yummy!), we were chased upon by the waiter and waitresses on the streets. They claimed that we have paid them with counterfeit notes. Huhhh!

Then we realised that we were conned BIG TIME by the *#!*%? taxi driver!

And oh, but it made Mr Fudge laughed so much because ’your naiveness kills me!’.

(But seriously, to those who are travelling there, take note of this trick. Always note the taxi’s license plate or ask for a receipt.)

Oh well, so we did what the locals do – eat steak every day. I must admit that the Argentinean meat really deserve its fame. Its damn good!

So, gathering from a travel magazine review, I was all glee when I found out that the best steak restaurant in Buenos Aires is just a walk away from our hotel (Also one I have skillfully selected!). It is said that the best Mollejitas in Buenos Aires is served here.

So, I was truly looking forward to this place and very determined to try the best Mollejitas in town.

(Just didn’t cross my mind to check out what Mollejitas is. I had the impression its a meatball or something)

Well, there I was, so pleased with my new discovery – sitting in this lovely quaint restaurant, sipping beautiful Argentinean red wine and chomping off Buenos Aires BEST Mollejitas (didn’t take any pictures because I was too excited to eat!). But uhm, wait a minute – its chewy, a little fatty, sometimes crunchy on the side, the texture looks weird (tube looking stuffs popping out)… I started to wonder what is this really? Perhaps minced meat with intestines?…

So, Mr Fudge kindly asked in his best Spanish to the waiter.

And the waiter puts his hands to his chest and said, ‘HEART’.

Oh my, I ate a cow’s heart! I squealed and almost choked. You should have seen the look on my face.

Sigh, I am but blind sucker for reviews.

(Mollejitas is a true local delight in Argentina, so if you have a heart for it, do try it!)

Hola Chicas y Chicos, guess where I am? 

The land of steak, tango, soccer and wine.

And yes, the city truly lives up to its reputation!

Mar 30 -- Apr 2, ‘09 -- Nairobi, Kenya

Kenya, with its capital city in Nairobi, is a country in East Africa. It has a population of about 38 mio. The main languages are Swahili and English. I think most of us may know Kenya for its wonderous wildlife reserves (safaris) with thousand and thousand types of animals.

But well, as usual, I was there for a business trip so no safari or anything like that. Just hours and endless hours of taxi rides to and fro conference centre and my hotel. Traffic is a nightmare. And pollution as well. But warmth and beauty of the people made me forget it all.

That’s when I realised how important is education, not only to elevate lives of people out of poverty but also for the sake of environment. Awareness is key.

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Oh, one sleepy morning, as I was resting my head against the window of the taxi, trying to take a nap knowing the long ride ahead, at a rather busy junction in the city centre, we came side by side with a school bus fully loaded with energetic primary school children. They were climbing over the seats, tugging at each others hair, chatting, singing and whole lot of activities going on. Suddenly a boy saw me. He got really excited and started tugging at his friends for attention but none who took noticed of him.

As we were turning the opposite direction, going out of sight, I heard a loud shrill cry, “CHINESE!”. I looked back, lo and behold, the entire bus was staring at me. I even thought people on the street paused for a second. Then all of us in the taxi started laughing.

Priceless.

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I learnt to love this song and to sing it too -- Malaika, means “Angel” in Swahili.