Baguio

Spending my birthday in Baguio City (where I was born) on route to Sagada further up north was quite a treat. First of all, at approximately 1,600 m, the weather was about 10 degrees Celcius lower than in Manila. Also, in spite of all the pollution from taxis and jeepneys, there still are a lot of trees, and many more green spaces than in other towns across the country.

We stayed at Camp John Hay which is a former recreation area for the US military and is covered in pine trees and grassy hills. Thanks to my jet-lag, I was able to catch the sunrise. From the little balcony of the hotel room I had a view on a pine forest, with in the background the mountains and the simmering reflection of the first sun rays over the tin roofs of the city. Among the pine trees were two white horses, a bit of a surreal apparition, so incongruous in this tropical land better known for its beaches and coconut trees.

Another thing visitors enjoy in Baguio is the amazingly fresh produce you can find. There is a huge wet market in the center of town where you can find anything from artifacts to civet coffee. The produce comes straight from the fields all over this part of the country, and it is so fresh in fact that I found a little critter in my salad...

We had some nice meals in our short time there, but my highlight was the strawberry and cinnamon cream dessert at Forest House, made with local-grown strawberries.

Lisbon

I'd been wanting to go to Portugal for a long time as I had heard so many great things about it, and let me just say that I was not disappointed. The first thing to notice about Lisbon is that it is hilly, and covered in little white cobblestones for the most part. It was a good thing that I brought my stomping boots as no heels would have survived these streets (at least if I am the one wearing them).

The next thing about Lisbon was the food. Of course wherever I go this is what I look out for, and it just so happened that I love bacalhau (salted cod) and natas, the marvelously addictive little egg pies which the Lisboan would have for breakfast along side one hell of a strong espresso.

Other than natas there is of course the ubiquitous cod fish. I had a few disappointing fritters which were served cold (ew) but two redeeming versions which I will forever remember... The Bacalhau Espiritual (a mash of fish, cream and vegetables) at the small Fernandino's diner-like place, and the stunning Bacalhau dish at Jose Avillez's cantina de Avillez. Mr Avillez is one of Lison's most celebrated chefs and definitely lived up to his reputation.

This dish looks simple and rustic when in fact it it contains "explosive" olives, which are in fact olive-shaped pods filled with a succulent green fluid which literally pop or explode in your mouth. I am grateful to Frank Bruni for recommending this restaurant (along with three others I didn't get to try) in his article "How I Fell for Lisbon" which appeared on 25 March 2012 in the New York Times.

Back to natas, which are a real institution in Lisbon. I was thrilled to stumble upon The World Needs Nata store, a tiny outlet devoted entirely to the sweet portuguese delicacy.

Lastly the pretty view from the Castello San Jorge of the town, the river and the bridge... Next stop for me, the Philippines!

After creamy richness of the Buche de Noel comes the almond butteriness of the Galette des Rois, one of my favorite pastries of all time (okay the list is long) . As a kid growing up in Paris part of the fun was hiding under the table while the adults sliced the cake/tart and pronounce which slice was assigned to whom. Tucked into one of the slices hid the precious fève or trinket, as Wikipedia refers to it, which would determine who would be the king or queen of the day and don the golden paper crown (imagine a Burger King crown without the logo).

So two years ago I made my first and last galette from scratch, puff pastry and all, pictured below in its raw and finished form in my little Marseille flat.

It was definitely far from perfect but I was very satisfied with the result nonetheless. Puff pastry always had a mysterious aura for me, as something only expertly trained hands could achieve. It turns out that a little patience and practice and a lot of butter was all that was required to achieve flaky perfection. I was shocked to discover that in the South of France, people prefer the Couronne des Rois, which is basically a donught-shaped brioche covered with sugar and candied fruits and flavored with orange-water.

I was equally surprised to find out that in Geneva, they have the same type of cake, albeit without the candied fruit. This has divided my houselhold into to factions, with only one high-calorie solution... to get one of each.

Here's a recipe for the galette which I found on the ever-reliable Epicurious.com, let me know if you try it and how it turns out!

For the new year my partner and I decided to hit the road and ended up about an hour away (relatively far by my downtown Genevan standards) to the lakeside town of Vevey, nestled in the Montreux Riviera (I had no idea that there even was such a thing until I googled Vevey and was directed to www.montreuxriviera.com). Other than the hotel that we stayed in, which i will come back to later, my highlight was to discover the gigantic sculpture of Swiss artist Jean-Pierre Zaugg, a 8 meter high metallic fork (that's over 26 feet) stuck inside the lake across the town's Alimentarium or food museum.

The giant piece sticking out of the still lake with the white-tipped Alps turning pink in the background was a stunning sight to behold and a grandiose farewell to the last day of the year.

When we scrambled to find a cozy mountain abode with a fire-place at the very last minute, we came up with zilch. Thank God I had the présence d'esprit to check out the website of Relais & Chateaux, the ever reliable source of independent hotels and restaurants around the world where you can be sure you will not be disappointed... and disappointed I was not. I had never heard of The Grand Hotel du Lac but from the moment we stepped into the building and for the next 24 hours we were seriously pampered into 2013...

The black and white dinner featured an array of amazing dishes, though I could have just settled for the poached lobster (from Maine) and the scallop and truffle ceviche I had to ask the chef where the scallops were from, they tasted so buttery fresh... straight from the US!

At the stroke of twelve champagne was poured and a giant macaron tower or pièce montée was wheeled out. Fortunately I am not a big macaron fan, as I had already over-eaten by that time!

For the first morning of 2013, we woke up to a sumptuous breakfast with view of the mountains before heading back to Geneva... what a way to start the new year! Best wishes to all!

Resources

http://www.relaischateaux.com

http://www.hoteldulac-vevey.ch