15 Jan 2010
by Ubiquityin 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
05 Jan 2010
by Ubiquityin Festivals & Celebrations, Globetrotting Tags: celebrations, Christmas, dessert, dinner, food, Switzerland, travel, Valais
The evening of December 24th is very much a family celebration in Switzerland. This is the evening on which the Christmas tree is brightly lit and decorated in all its splendor complete with wrapped gifts underneath.
Presents under the Christmas tree!
Starters : Shrimp cocktail with cognac & grapefruit sauce
Main course : Filet mignon with chestnuts & brusselsprouts & spätzle
No feast would be complete without cheese platter
And finally, dessert : Paradiso cake
Presents comes after midnight where everyone gathered together to give and receive while enjoying a glass or two of Amaretto and Williamine.
01 Jan 2010
by Ubiquityin 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 :-
- Quit smoking
No timeline exactly but I’m giving myself some time till after our wedding (before the end of the year). YES! I’m getting MARRIED!!! Back to that in another post.
- Get a driving license
I could’ve gotten it way before 2010 but unfortunately, I failed the test. Looking at the bright side, I don’t have to do the theories and practical lessons all over again. Next test: 17th February 2010. Wish me luck!
- Speak better French
I can’t express how crappy my français is right now.
- Eat right & keep fit
With all the junk food and no exercise I’m getting, I wouldn’t be surprise if I get a heart attack or gain 10kg in 3 months. Salads, vegetables, cereals, grains… here I come!
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…
- More moments of reservations
To all my readers in Singapore, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
25 Dec 2009
by Ubiquityin 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…
20 Dec 2009
by Ubiquityin Globetrotting Tags: Switzerland, travel, updates, Valais
Yesterday has got to be the most gruelling day in my entire life!
Woke up around 9am, finished packing and went through all the nitty gritty details before leaving the house, like; making sure the fridge was shut, switch off all the electrical appliances and blah blah blah. Left the house for the airport around 11 and had a little more than 2 hour to wait for the flight. The plane arrived and we left Singapore on time for a 13 hour journey. Although the flight was uneventful with no violent turbulence, I got no sleep at all! Spent the whole time curled up in my seat watching movies. Thankfully, the flight wasn’t fully booked so we had an empty seat in between us and took turn to stretch out.
Flughafen, Zurich
We arrived in Zurich around 8pm local time and made a mad rush for the trains. Spending further 3 hours traveling on 3 different trains to get to Sion, Valais. Zurich airport to Bern, Bern to Visp (I slept through the 1 hour journey) and finally, Visp to Sion. The transfer in between the trains was the biggest challenge because each time we alighted, we had to run to another platform to catch the the other. The trains were tightly scheduled together and if you miss it, you had to wait for at least another hour in the bitter cold. Yes! It was BITTER COLD with torturous wind at -10 degrees!
Just landed; having the 1st ciggy
Our total traveling time had been more than 18 hours inclusive of waiting time and transfers. I can’t remember feeling more drained than I was last night. After a good warm meal, we finally had our deserving rest.
Can’t wait to go out and see Romaine & Didier!
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