I will get around to writing about the actually cities but I have to get some things off my chest and it would be great if someone replied in agreeance. The reason I have time to do these posts is because after going to sleep at 12 and very quietly I might add, I have been disturbed numerous times. First just as I was drifting off and other people were already asleep, two girls stormed into the room turned the main lights on and proceeded to shuffle through their luggage and talk REALLY loudly, like not just loudly for a room full of sleeping people but in general. They did this for several minutes and at one point the girl stood on my mattress so she could rustle through her shit on the top bunk. THEN at 3:30 one of the girls went to bed and I woke up so she obviously wasn’t that quiet and again at 5:00 the other girl was rustling and in and out of the room for about half an hour before she went to bed. As I had been awake for half an hour I decided to get up and that is why I have been on the computer for 2 and a half hours and it’s too dark and cold to go anywhere yet so I guess I’ve got another hour to kill.

This morning there was a guy a sleep on a couch and one past out with beer cans surround him on the dining table. I know that anywhere you travel you’re going to meet dickheads but I thought Europe would have to be far better than somewhere like Thailand and I assumed Sweden would have less than other places in Europe, I’m probably in for a big shock when I get to Paris, and I don’t mean the filth and the bed bugs.

The ‘issues’ I referred to in my previous post are the above and how these people eat there dinner here and then sit around until 12 before they go out or not go out at all but rather sit in the hostel getting drunk. I have no problems with going out and if I met some people I liked or had friends here I be going to bars too but it’s as if these people after waking up at 11 and seeing some sites for a few hours come back here at around 4 when it gets dark and then just start drinking so they can go to some dirty nightclub or lame pub. A guy got arrested for having a brawl the other night, now this guy either started the fight or he was fighting with another backpacker, there is no way a Swedish guy started this fight. There is hardly any crime here and I’ve seen only 2 homeless people this whole time.

These people and anyone who utters the words ‘who wants to get shitfaced tonight’ or similar are scum and don’t deserve to be able to travel in such a beautiful country like Sweden where everyone is super friendly and super cool and really chilled out.

The hostel is actually quite nice except everyone here is either a nerd or jockey wanker. At first I thought I preferred the nerds here until I realised how fucking rude they are.. Am I being too harsh?

This lobster mayonaise toast with roe was actually really nice. And the mayonnaise wasn’t sickly sweet.

This is crumbed herring with beetroot butter – delicious.

Some of the milk here tastes different, well this milk did.

It was flaming when the waiter brought it to the table. It’s was cinnamon apples with this really good vanilla ice cream.

Delicious pieces of a hairy little fish called herring from Nystekt Stromming. There were various sized meals you could order, I got the largest which was $12. It came with red onion, mashed potatoes, sweet pickled cucumber and a horseradish coleslaw which I didn’t really like but the rest was great. I’m not a huge fan of the crisp bread they serve with a lot of things over here.

It keeps happening to me, I get all excited about a place to eat, make the trek across the city to get there and it’s either closed or no where to be found. Yesterday after I’d been to the rather dreary Skansen (I dont know, maybe it was just the grey weather) I went to the Musikmuseet which was pretty fun and I know that as a child I would have loved it. Then I was supposed to go to this nice food hall that sold traditional foods such as fish soups, soured fermented baltic herring, reindeer hearts etc… but when I got there it was closed. Then I wondered around but couldn’t find anywhere I thought was worthy of eating at so I went to the National Museum and the Modernamuseet.

For dinner I was supposed to go to Pelikan which is on the other side of Södermalm. I caught the train because it was really cold and windy and then walked for about 15 minutes to the street. When I got there I couldn’t find it, I was really annoyed because I was totally out of the way. I decided to walk to Götgatan and when I got there I stupidly turned the wrong way. When I realised this I tried to get a bus but none were coming so I jumped in a cab out of desperation – the chill of the wind was actually making my body sore. I told him to take me to the place I’d been the night before, Kvarnen. It was a 10 minute cab ride and it cost me 240kr which is like $45, I just payed and didn’t even think about until I go out of the cab and it clicked how much it actually was. Arrgggg!!!!! Anyways, Kvarnen was fucking closed so I went to a créperie and just had dessert which was really nice. Then I got the train home and was again woken up several times in the night by slamming doors.

It’s extremely laid back here, a lot of shops are closed on Sundays and Mondays and most shops and museums don’t open until 10, 11, 12. That’s great if you’re the person working but as a tourist it’s really annoying, especially when I only have 3 days here.

I have walked so much since I’ve been in Sweden, I’ve actually lost weight. It’s been good, I’ve seen so much of Göteborg and Stockholm and I’m getting much better at reading maps – I was getting so lost at the start. But getting lost is sometimes a good thing, I found a lot of cool places that way.

This is a cool record store in Södermalm, and just down the road is the Pet Sounds Bar.

This photo was taken at 4:30 in the afternoon… It’s so strange, you get tired so early.

Peter Bjorn And John – School Of Kraut (zSHARE)

Peter Bjorn And John – All Those Expectations (zSHARE)

Peter Bjorn And John – Amsterdam (zSHARE)

Lo-Fi-Fnk – City (The Teenagers Remix) (zSHARE)

The Radio Dept. – I Wanted You To Feel The Same (zSHARE)

Cocoanut Groove – Midsummer’s Dream (Mainmix2) (zSHARE)

Åta

Weeks before I took this trip I was on the net researching the best places to eat, I wanted to eat at one or two up market modern restaurants, but also eat at cafe’s, beer halls and at markets and street stalls. I wanted to try some real Swedish food. What has shocked me most so far is the amount of people who cook their own meals at hostels, I guess it’s just a different culture, if you don’t go out to eat when you’re at home you’re not going to do it on holiday. For a lot of people it’s definitely a money thing and I totally understand if you’re traveling for a long time it’s just something you have to sacrifice because it does put a significant dent in your funds but I just couldn’t do it every night. Such a huge part of my traveling experience and I think of really experiencing any culture is trying the food, especially with Swedish food, i really don’t think you can get it anywhere in Melbourne (sorry, smorgies doesn’t count). My main issue which I will address in my next posts is with the douchebag wankers you meet and try to ignore when you’re traveling, you definitely meet more idiots than nice like minded people but they are out there.. I’ve met one cool person so far – It’s about 1:20. And he was from Melbourne but that means nothing, the Australians over here are embarrassing.

These are at every cafe in Sweden, it’s a cinnamon roll. I didn’t like it  it tasted like cloves.

This is Basement, apparently it has a Michelin star. It was described as having modern swedish cuisine. Interesting note, the head chef was Australian.

All this was nice, the potato soup, the mushrooms and salmon, I think.

Okay what’s the deal here with mayonnaise, I thought maybe I just didn’t like the stuff because I rarely eat it but I had a nicer subtler mayonnaise last night. This was beautifully fresh lobster that was dripping in overpowering mayonnaise. Was a real shame.

The seaweed oyster topping was a bit much for me but I enjoyed the haddock and that potato thing with the egg. That white stuff running down the side of the plate was amazing, it was called a milke and was horseradish flavoured.

A very refreshing lime and passionfruit sorbet, just what I needed after that seaweed and mayonnaise.

Ah dessert, the brulée was crispy but not burnt and I could see lots of little black specks through the custard indicating the had used vanilla beans. Blood orange sorbet was nice and the coconut foam had an interesting airy texture.

The people at this milk bar were really friendly and those are handmade chocolates below. The balls were delicious. I went back the next day to get some more and his wife was there, we chatted about chocolates and Obama.

Awesome blueberry muffin coated with sugar.

Fish Church

The FIsh Church is a fish market with a couple of restaurants.

Three different kinds of herring, one was pickled and I think one was raw. I hated the one with mayonnaise.

Hot smoked salmon.

This chocolate fudge cake was amazing and my breakfast. Those red things on the top are pomegranate seeds. I got an outer square which unfortunately had significantly less than the middle.

Delicious Smörgåsbord lunch which consisted of various breads, two vegetable toppings, some sort of tapenade, grated carrot and grapefruit which I didn’t have. It came with soup alwell and was around $12.

No I haven’t tried the plopp, it’s still in my bag. I think it’s just chocolate with a caramel centre.

I went to the Universeum which is a kids interactive museum, like scienceworks but better. I spent an hour there on my first afternoon, it was a lot of fun.

This was the music section of the museum. It had voice recorders, deejay decks, synth drums, a piano and a few other things I didn’t understand. I played the drums and I’m actually a lot better than I thought.

This was a weird chair exhibition at the Stadsmuseum, they boasted that there were 600 or something chairs in the exhibition. It was a pretty boring museum, a lot of things in glass boxes. I preferred the Konstmuseum which actually is an art gallery.

A diet high in herring and reindeer is important for creating great indie pop. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to see any live music over here. It’s really hard to search on the net for smaller gigs and I haven’t come across anything while I’ve been here.

Erik Hallden – If I Ever Get Married (zSHARE)

The Knife – One For One (zSHARE)

Love Is All – Spinning And Scratching (Metronomy Remix) (zSHARE)

Studio – Radio Edit (zSHARE)

Peter Bjorn And John – At The Seaside (zSHARE)

Peter Bjorn And John – Money (zSHARE)

Hoi An is such a beautiful place, its very quiet and there are very few cars around. We hired bikes (3 for $2), had lots of clothes and shoes make and ate heaps. All of the food we ate was good. I recommend Cargo Club and Morning Glory for really good quality nice food and at a very reasonable price. Everywhere was so cheap in Vietnam, I generally ordered at least 3 dishes per meal. Here is all the really good stuff I ate…

Green Papaya Salad at Cargo Club

White Rose Dumplings at Cargo Club

Raspberry, Lemongrass and Mango Sorbets from Cargo Club

Miss Vy’s School of Cooking

Fresh Prawn Spring Roll

Green Papaya Salad & Prawn Dumpling Soup

Fried Eggplant

Pork Stuffed Squid

Rice Pancakes at Morning Glory

Sugarcane Prawns at Morning Glory

Green Papaya Salad from Miss Vy’s School of Cooking

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon red onion, finely chopped

3 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon chilli, finely chopped

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped

1 cup roasted peanuts, crushed

200g green papaya

1/2 cup mint leaves

1/2 cup basil leaves 

Heat vegetable oil in a skillet until hot

Add red onion and saute until golden brown and set aside

Combine lime juice, brown sugar, salt, black pepper, chilli, fish sauce, garlic and half of the roasted peanuts in a bowl.

Mix half of the mint and half of the basil into the golden brown red onion. Make sure the onion has cooled to a warm temperature before adding the herbs.

Place salad on a plate. Top with the red onion and herb mixture first, then with the remaining peanuts and herbs.

Fried Eggplant from Miss Vy’s School of Cooking

1 small white eggplant

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 teaspoon light soy sauce

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon spring onion, chopped into 1cm rounds

12 teaspoons fish sauce

1 teaspoon garlic, finely chopped 

1 teaspoon chilli, finely chopped 

Bowl of cold water

Pot of boiling water

Slice thinly the eggplant half way down. Flip it over and turn 90 degrees, slice thinly half way down.

Soak the eggplant in cold salted water for 30 minutes.

Place the eggplant in boiling water for 7 minutes. Ensure it is completely covered with water by placing a plate on top of it to weigh it down.

Remove the eggplant from the water and place it between the bottom of two plates and squeeze, draining excess water from inside the eggplant.

Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a saute pan until hot. Place the eggplant in the pan. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side. It should be golden brown and crispy on the outside.

Mix the soy sauce and brown sugar together.

Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a saute pan until hot. Add spring onions and fry for 2 to 3 minutes adding the fish sauce at the end of cooking time.

Place the eggplant on a plate and top with fried spring onions and drizzle with soy sauce.

Mix garlic and chilli and place in the center and serve.

Nico – The Fairest Of The Seasons (zSHARE)

I was only in Thailand for a week, spending half of my time in Bangkok and the other half in Chiang Mai. I didn’t like Bangkok much, it was hot and dirty and there wasn’t much to do in the city. I’m not sure if we just had bad luck with the places we chose to eat but I only had a couple of good meals and I think this is what put me in such a bad mood and probably affected my overall perception of Bangkok.

The first good dish I had was this ‘Prawn & Tofu Rice Noodle Soup’ at the Floating Markets. You choose what meat you want and they put it with bean sprouts, coriander and your choice of noodles into a big sieve and let it cook for a minute in a huge pot of spicy salty broth. It was probably $1 or something. The crunchy ‘Thai-Style Coconut Crepes’ were also delicious with grated carrot on top. The best meal I had was at this place in the city, I think I ordered well though. It was very simple, ‘Fried Turnip Cakes & Prawns’, the cakes were cut up with bean sprouts, spring onions and a nice sauce. The ‘Turnip Cakes’ we bought off a street vendor just before we left Bangkok were also very good. They were fried and super crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside each with a different filling. There was three fillings, all good, but I can only remember the spinach and taro. As you should in Melbourne and probably anywhere in the world, don’t let the amazing smell of roasting chestnuts temp you.. they are completely tasteless but came in a very cute bag.

Prawn & Tofu Rice Noodle Soup

Thai-Style Coconut Crepe

Fried Turnip Cakes & Prawns

Roasted Chesnuts

Turnip Cakes

I spend all of my time in Chiang Mai in the Hill Tribes. My favourite dish was the one I had on the first night, it was a very light ‘Thai Eggplant Curry with Pumpkin’. The ‘Pad Thai’ we had for lunch on the last day was also nice. On the first day for lunch, just before we started the trek, my friend and I ate about 3 whole bowls of ‘Fried Rice’ each. It was good but once we started walking we both regretted eating any of it.

 Hill Tribes in Chiang Mai

Thai Eggplant Curry with Pumpkin

Pad Thai

Plastic Food & Expensive Sorbet at Bangkok Airport

I think for breakfast, unless you are staying at a really nice hotel (and even this is no guarantee), get something savory, a Thai breakfast or skip it. The western breakfasts are terrible, wonder white toast, sickly sweet strawberry jam, rubbery scrambled eggs, funny looking bits of ham/bacon and pieces of cucumber and tomato. I stopped eating breakfast until I got to Vietnam which wasn’t much better.

Blur – Coffee & TV (zSHARE)

I was in Vietnam for 2 weeks and I reckon I probably ate a ‘White Lotus Salad’ every day. I reckon the best in Hanoi was at Bobby Chinn. I didn’t have any bad meals in Hanoi and all the restaurants listed below are worth going to.

Paris Deli is a nice place to get some good non-Vietnamese food. Lots of cakes and french pastries. The club sandwich was fantasic – check out that layering. They have a pretty big menu and I wouldn’t recommend asking them to change anything on the menu if you can to avoid confusion.

Eggplant Spaghetti

Club Sandwich

Tamarind Café is great for breakfast and lunch. They have an amazing fresh passionfruit juice. You can book tours through the Handspan office located at the back of the resturant.

Eggplant Claypot

Deep Fried Oyster Mushrooms

Vegetable Claypot

Coconut Sticky Rice with Mango

There may be a few restaurants called Little Hanoi but the one we went to was very new and clean. The food here was very good, I ate all four dishes below myself and it probably cost me under $20.

Vegetable Claypot

Deep Fried Prawns

Prawn Lotus Salad

Prawn Spring Rolls

Cay Cau is located in a hotel. It attracts an older crowd and is kind of daggy but the meal was really good.

Prawn Lotus Salad

Eggplant & Pork Claypot

Bobby Chinn is California-Asian fusion cuisine. The wine cellar is one of the most well-stocked in Hanoi and the bar carries a 102 cocktail menu. For the quality of food and drinks provided Bobby Chinn is comparitively cheap. We had a three course dinner as well as a couple of cocktails and glasses of wine each. We also smoked two shisha pipes in the lounge for hours after dinner.

Prawn Lotus Salad

Lamb

Vegetable Risotto

Dessert Plate

Child Rebel Soldier – Us Placers (zSHARE)