Kitchen crush

Check out this fabulous food blog (www.kitchencrush.com)- yummy recipes mixed with a good sense of humor. Now I got a bit inspired to upgrade this dummy blog to a more "serious" travel blog.. I visit so many cool places, restaurants, art fares, shops etc - perhaps time to start some real documentation of it?

Anyway, check out Kasha's blog and get inspired. All the food looks delicious!

Photo: www.kitchencrush.com

Japanese hot pot and Filipino coffee

Yum to both! Thanks to our friends who invited us over for a real Japanese hot pot, followed by a wonderful mango tart (ate it before I had time to take a picture...) and homegrown (kind of) , home-roasted, home-made coffee!



Coffee has become quite a passion among our friends, so much that some are starting to grow their own. We will try it to, and have bought in 10 seedlings for our little farm (where there is still no house..) in Cavinti. I am not too optimistic, coffee farming is a bit out of character for us... But hey, the Philippines used to be the fourth largest coffee producer in the world - time to revive the industry! And for all you visitors, the real coffee here is very good - try it! And stay away from the Nescafe...

How Paul Krugman found politics

Interesting article in the New Yorker. For economics geeks and others...

Buying art in Jakarta

With a few hours to spare in a day full of meetings we wanted efficient shopping and we wanted art!What better way to remember the countries you travel to, really? You can get a nice piece for your home, a conversation piece, and a memory for your trip - 3 in 1! Surely beats a lot of the regular souvenir knick-knacks.


So, art and efficiency - we decided to go to the Ancol art market (Pasar Seni Ancol). They have a little bit of everything, though mostly paintings. All price classes are represented and you need to haggle! I am horrible at that but fortunately I had a very competent colleague with me and she got our paintings down to 1/3 of the original price! Pretty good.

Here is one of the pieces I bought - and the artist, Nasimin. A fun guy, go visit him and check out his art if you make it to Ancol!



Ancol Art Market can be found in Kompleks Taman Impian Jaya Ancol, Jl. R. E. Martadinata, North Jakarta. Ask your driver to take you to Ancol, and then Pasar Seni Ancol.

Dangerous karaoke....

Photo: www.nytimes.com

Now I have a better excuse than "I REALLY can't sing" when I get nagged about doing my turn at the karaoke mike... I always thought there would be a danger in me getting killed while singing - turns out I wouldn't be the only one. Yes, sad but true, but the karaoke machine is the cause of violence and killings here in the Philippines.

Read about it here.

QTV: Analysis by Winnie Monsod - C5 extension project

Pretty self-explanatory....

QTV: Analysis by Winnie Monsod - Video - GMANews.TV - Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs - Latest Philippine News

The music scene in Cambodia improves

And my friend Karin is the lead singer of The Fumes (last picture in the article). New Years resolution number XXXXX: go to Phnom Penh to check out the music scene and see her perform!

http://www.asialifeguide.com/Cover-Story/Phnom-Penh-Rocks.html

HAAPY NEW YEAR!

Unraveling an economic illusion

With reference to my study:

http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/opinion/19672-unraveling-an-economic-illusion.html

Girl Power

http://blogs.worldbank.org/eastasiapacific/empowering-adolescent-girls-in-east-asia-and-the-pacific-to-protect-build-human-capital