adjective – existing or being everywhere, esp. at the same time; omnipresent
03 Jul 2010 1 Comment
in Festivals & Celebrations Tags: celebrations, photos, Sion, Switzerland, wedding
…or was it the other way around? However it happened, Anna & Frederic are MARRIED!
The ceremony
"We're married!"
Getting ready for the reception...
The reception
The apéro
Time to loosen up those ties!
The party started... and the rest of the night was a blur... ;-)
PS: Merci beaucoup Romine ! ;-)
15 Jan 2010 No Comments
in Globetrotting Tags: Sion, Switzerland, travel, Valais
Valais is Switzerland’s third largest canton. Twenty percent of the canton is covered by glaciers, and yet the region has the driest climate with the lowest rainfall and the most sunshine of the whole country. Valais is also best known for the Matterhorn, one of the highest peaks in the Alps, and ski resorts, like; Zermatt or Verbier.
Click to enlarge
The dryness and sunshine of the valley are ideal vine-growing conditions and the canton’s 22,000 vineyard owners are famous for producing some of the finest wine in the country.
For the Swiss, the Valais somehow represents a piece of common heritage all but lost elsewhere in the country: in the most unlikely corners of Geneva or Zürich, you can find restaurants done up as traditional Valaisian-style darkwood chalets, complete with windowboxes full of geraniums and farm tools as decoration on the walls, serving up the local speciality raclette under a nameboard “Chalet Valaisanne” or “Walliser Stube”.
Predominantly, Valais is occupied mostly by the Swiss-French. They make up slightly more than two-thirds of the total population. The eastern part of the canton (Upper Valais or Haut-Valais) however, are occupied by the Swiss-German.
The capital of Valais is Sion and it is one of a few largest town apart from Monthey, Sierre, Martigny and Brig. Wine and fruit cognacs like; Williamine production and tourism are some of the main industries of the canton.
Planchouet; A little village on the mountains
A barrage in Derborence
01 Jan 2010 No Comments
in Festivals & Celebrations, Globetrotting, Reality bites Tags: celebrations, Singapore, Sion, Switzerland, travel, Valais
Since I’m writing this in Switzerland and we’re behind by 7 hours from Singapore, technically, it’s not the new year for me. At least not yet. So here we go…
For 2010, my resolutions are :-
I can’t think of more resolutions for the time being. So that’s all for now. Too much going on in my life at this very moment and I’m just dying to settle down and be quiet. Yes! That’s it! That’s one of my resolution for 2010…
To all my readers in Singapore, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
25 Dec 2009 Comments Off
in Globetrotting, Recipe Vault Tags: dessert, food, Sion, Switzerland, travel, updates, Valais
Pommes Canada
As much as Fred digs my apple pie, I can’t deny that he prefers the one of his mom’s. You may wonder why but lemme tell you this… Today, I’ve learnt how to make the EASIEST apple pie, ever! And the secret actually lies in the apples themselves. Now I’ve been mistaken all these while thinking that his mom must’ve used those Granny Smiths but no, no no no. All these while, she has been using pommes Canada.
What is pommes Canada? Honestly, I don’t know. But what I do know is, they’re not red and not even green. Literally translated from French to English, pommes Canada is Canadian Apples. I’m not sure if I can find them back at the supermarket at home but I’m pretty sure I could make do with other apples. Like Fred used to say, “so long you don’t use the green apples”. Now for the recipe…
Serves 8
Ingredients:
2 Borg’s shortcrust pastry dough
fillings
6 pommes Canada, peeled, cored & sliced
2 tablespoon sugar
2 pinches of cinnamon
Directions:
Preheat oven to 220 degrees C. Roll out the dough and place it on a flan pan. Arrange the apples on the dough and bake for about 45mins to an hour. Remove from oven and sprinkle sugar and cinnamon immediately. There aren’t a lot of sugar in this pie because the apples are sweet enough, so don’t need to add more sugar!
Gâteau aux pommes
Back to snow shoveling now…
22 Dec 2009 5 Comments
in Globetrotting Tags: photos, Sion, Switzerland, travel, updates
Sometime last evening, we caught up with Didier & Romaine in Sion for vin chaud.
Vin chaud literally translated from French to English, means hot wine. It’s actually a mulled wine and usually red, combined with spices and typically served warm. It is a common knowledge that wine often go bad. However, by adding spices and honey, it could be made drinkable again. Thus, the birth of vin chaud. This drink is a specialty in most wine producing countries; such as France, Italy and Switzerland and they differ by the type and amount of fruits or spices added in.
After our petit rouquin, we took a walk down the main street of Sion along the marchés de Nöel (Christmas market).
When we got home after dinner, it snowed! And oh how it snowed. It was my first time experiencing snowfall and it was incredibly beautiful! Little flakes of ices floating down towards the ground illuminated by the street lamp. It almost looked like rain, except it leaves everywhere it landed a blanket of white powder. We bundled ourselves with hats, scarves, UGGs and headed outside…
Trying to catch the snow with my tongue
And finally, jet lagged from the night before I fell asleep on the couch while watching CSI in French (YES! They’re dubbed in French!).
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