[Throwback] Luxembourg

During my short assignment in Brussels many years ago, I decided to take a day trip to Luxembourg, which was only about a 2-hour drive away. This was the first - and so far only - time I drove from one country to another. My friend Brian was also on a business trip to Brussels at that time so he joined me.

As we had only one day, we spent our time at Ville Haute, which is the historic center of Luxembourg City. I had a Lonely Planet book of Europe and we used that to help us figure out what sights to see and how to get around.

We visited the Monument of Remembrance (Monument du souvenir) which is located in Place de la Constitution. At the top of the obelisk is the statue called Gëlle Fra or the Golden Lady.

Monument of Remembrance, more popularly known as Gëlle Fra

From there, we headed down into the Pétrusse Valley, a beautiful park through which the Petrusse River flows. We spent a lot of time just leisurely walking around and taking photos. It was winter when we were there so it was pretty cold but I can imagine spending the day here during warmer weather, sitting on the grass or one of the many benches and reading a book while enjoying some coffee.

Pétrusse Valley

The park is bound on one side by the Passerelle, which is the Luxembourg City viaduct. It was built in the mid 1800s and is also known as the Old Bridge.

The Passerrelle as seen from the Bock Casemates

A short distance away is Pont Adolphe or the Adolphe Bridge. It was named after Grand Duke Adolphe who ruled the country in the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Since it was build half a century after the Passerelle, it is also known as the New Bridge.

Pont Adolphe

From there, we walked to Casemates du Bock or the Bock Casemates. It is known for its multitude of tunnels and passageways (I don't know if visitors can explore them but we didn't). It also served as a fortress, holding guns and cannons. Apparently, Luxembourg was known for its impressive defense against invaders, and the Casemates du Bock were instrumental in repelling enemy forces.

Casemates du Bock

We then made our way to Place Guillaume II, which is the town square in Ville Haute. It is named after Grand Duke William II and an equestrian statue of the Grand Duke stands prominently in the square.

Place Guillaume II

Almost right next to the square is Cathédrale Notre-Dame. I realized I didn't take  a photo of the church from the outside but I did have my photo taken right next to this bell that is on display on the cathedral grounds.

We did go inside the church and the interior is pretty outstanding. Aside from what I think are tapestries adorning the walls and beautiful paintings on the ceiling, I really loved the stunning stained glass windows.

Interior of Cathédrale Notre-Dame

It was late afternoon when we left Luxembourg. As I look back at this trip, I realize I don't remember where we had lunch but I do know that we had dinner at a pit stop along the road back to Brussels. I'm not particularly sure why we chose to eat on the road rather than in Luxembourg where it would be more comfortable but maybe I wanted to get home early because it was winter and it got dark quite early.

That might not make a lot of sense but this trip happened a really long time ago and my car didn't have any GPS system so I relied mainly on road signs to find my way. I didn't even have a map with me! Unfortunately for us, I made the mistake of taking the wrong exit heading back into Brussels and we ended up getting massively lost. If I recall correctly, it took maybe an hour or more of driving and asking around for me to finally get back home. Still, I'm glad we got lost on the way home rather than on our way to Luxembourg.

Despite that bad end, it was still a really good experience. Luxembourg - or at least the Ville Haute or historic centre - is quite compact, making it easy to get around. It is very charming, which historic buildings set amidst the beautiful Petrusse valley.

I don't know if I will have a chance to visit this beautiful country again, but I hope I will.

Travel Alone Idea on YouTube

I recently discovered a YouTube channel whose videos I really enjoy watching: Travel Alone Idea. It shows videos of a Japanese man who, at least for now, travels around Japan and shows the different travel options such as overnight trains,buses, and ferries as well as varying accommodation options such as capsule hotels. I learned about this channel because his video of the Cheapest Private Room on Japan's Overnight Sleeper Train was recommended to me. I watched it and found it really interesting, well-made, and even relaxing to watch. Check out the video here:

  

video uploaded by Travel Alone Idea

What I love about his videos is that he really shares a lot of informative details through English captions, such as needing to buy a shower card or suggesting to buy food before you get on the train. I also realized that the sound of the train in the background is strangely relaxing. In this particular video (which has almost 50 million views as of this writing), I also love how he enjoys some of the local Wariko Soba, which apparently is a specialty of Izumo City. Watching this video really makes me want to revisit Japan!

The Streak Is Over

Bad news for Rafa Nadal fans: Taylor Fritz defeated Rafa in the final of Indian Wells to snap Rafa's 20-match winning streak in 2022. Rafa had to survive an incredibly tough 3-set match against Nick Kyrgios in the quarterfinal and he needed to dig deep again in the semifinals, where he nudged past Carlos Alcaraz in another tight 3-set match. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to summon his best tennis against an inspired Fritz and he lost for the first time this year.

And while we're on the subject of streaks that have ended, Daniil Medvedev dropped back to world #2 after losing to Gael Monfils in Indian Wells. Daniil lost enough points to enable Novak Djokovic to take back the top ranking despite not playing. Daniil's stint at #1 lasted for only 1 week. It remains to be seen whether he will still be able to climb back up to the pinnacle of men's tennis.

The Loggia by Margarita Forés

My friend Anna wanted to have dinner with us face-to-face to celebrate her birthday and she suggested that we have dinner at The Loggia by Margarita Fores, which is located in Palacio de Memoria along Roxas Boulevard. None of us had eaten there before so we were all quite interested and excited to try it.

The Loggia by Margarita Fores

The Loggia is pretty much an al fresco restaurant. While it does have a roofed area, it isn't enclosed. This made for an ideal place for us to meet up since open-air dining still felt safer.

Palacio de Memoria is a museum complex that also serves as an event venue. There are a couple of airplanes in the garden and based on the official website, I think this one that I took a photo of also serves as a lounge.

Mosphil Lounge in the Palacio de Memoria grounds

We decided to order several items that everyone could share; that way, we could try many different items on the menu. We ordered a dip appetizer, a couple of pizzas, a couple of pastas including this Linguine, Prawn, Capiz Scallops, and Tomatoes dish,...

Linguine, Prawn, Capiz Scallops, and Tomatoes Pasta

...and the Dry-Aged Ribeye.

Dry-Aged Ribeye

Since Anna was celebrating her birthday, the staff gave her a complimentary Lemon-Olive Oil Torta as they sang happy birthday. We decided to order the other two desserts on the menu - the Valrhona Chocolate Torte and this Mango-Proseco Tiramisu.

Mango-Proseco Tiramisu

Everything we ordered was really good, which isn't surprising because Margarita Fores was named Asia's Best Female Chef in 2016. This restaurant is priced similarly to Cibo so it's on the expensive side but I do think it's worth a visit. I'm actually thinking of taking my family here so we can visit the museum, take photos in the museum complex, and enjoy the food.

Quarantine Stories Part 17

Recently, while working from home, I noticed some movement outside my window along with a fluttering noise. I took a quick look and saw that there was a pigeon in my balcony. After it landed, it seemed to walk with a limp, leading me to think it was injured. I thought of feeding it with some bread but I was afraid that if I opened my balcony door, I would scare it off and it might aggravate its injury if it flew off. I kept looking at it every so often and each time I did, the pigeon would look back at me. I hoped that maybe I was establishing some level of trust with it so that when I did try to feed it, it wouldn't perceive me as a threat. After about 4 hours, I noticed fluttering movement outside my window again and when I looked, the pigeon was gone. Sadly, it left before I could feed it. Hopefully, it wasn't badly injured and that it would heal quickly.

I also replaced the tires of my car. I noticed that there one of my tires had what is called a sidewall bubble and when this happens, you need to replace it because if you don't, you run the risk of the tire exploding while you are driving your car. The best practice is that when you replace one tire, you replace all of them which is quite costly. But since I've had this car for many years now, it was just about the right time to get new tires. A friend of mine recommended Wheelhaus Marketing in Bangkal. I decided to take a leave and go on a Monday, hoping that there wouldn't be too many people there (when I arrived, I was the only customer so I got served immediately but another person arrived after I did). I normally get Yokohama tires but Wheelhaus didn't have the size that I needed for my car. I instead got Westlake, which another friend recommended. Once all my tires had been replaced, the service crew performed wheel alignment. Wheelhaus offers free follow-up checks for 6 months so maybe one of these days, I will go back for a tire and alignment check-up.

After the Omicron surge and my own bout with Covid, I got my booster shot. With less people contracting the virus and the hospitals finally reporting significantly less cases, my confidence to go out and meet up with people increased. So recently, I joined my friends for dinner at The Loggia by Margarita Fores to celebrate Anna's birthday. (I will write in more detail about this in my next post.) Our dinner slot was from 5pm to 7pm but I guess there weren't too many guests that night for the second seating so we actually stayed on until around 8pm. We then moved to Mitch's house so we could catch up more. After all, we all hadn't seen each other face to face in a really long time. It was maybe past 1am when I called it a night and left, making it the first time since the pandemic started that I got home at past midnight. It was a really amazing evening.

Shortly after that, I met up again with the same people, but this time under more unfortunate circumstances. Joyce's mom passed away so we all went to her mom's wake. While I had planned to stay there for only a short while, I ended up staying a lot longer because more of our high school friends arrived later in the evening and t turned into a bit of a mini high school reunion. This was actually the largest gathering I had been to since the pandemic started. I was unable to join my friends for their pagpag meal because I had a long day filled with errands and by the late evening, I was feeling really tired. (I was also a bit hungry so I passed by a Burger King on my way home. I tried their Plant-based Whopper and it was pretty good.) 

I started meeting up with people in late 2021 and I stopped doing it after the Omicron surge in January. Hopefully, Covid becomes a lot less dangerous and that it becomes more like the regular flu soon. I'm looking forward to getting to see more of my family and friends face-to-face in the near future.

Tennis Talk

What an amazing start to the year for the Rafa Nadal! Last week, he won Mexican Open in Acapulco. This is now Nadal's third title of the year, giving him a 15-0 record in 2022 so far. At 35 years old, Rafa has never had a better start to a year than this. What's more, he didn't drop a set en route to his title in Mexico. He beat 6th seed Cameron Norrie in the final and top seed Daniil Medvedev in the semis. Amazing! Congratulations, Rafa!

Y con ustedes… 🥁

EL CAMPEÓN DEL #AMT2022 🏆 pic.twitter.com/nCuWCaBakH

— Abierto Mexicano (@AbiertoTelcel) February 27, 2022

Speaking of Medvedev, a big congratulations to him too for ataking the ATP #1 ranking. It is the first time since 2004 that someone outside of the Big Four - Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray - is ranked #1. Congratulations, Daniil!

Medvedev took over from Noval Djokovic, who has occupied the top spot for a whopping 361 weeks throughout his entire career. Novak actually played in Dubai that same week, but was upset in the quarterfinals. This relatively early loss meant that his streak at #1 was finally snapped. Will Novak be able to get the top ranking back? Will Daniil manage to keep his top ranking and win more more majors? Will Nadal be able to win more titles (and maybe even another French Open), especially once the clay season starts? It will be really interesting to see what happens in men's tennis this year.