Taipei

April 12, 2017 By roopgill in Asia, Food, Personal, Travel Tags: berg wu, coffee, food, food blogger, huashan creative park, mume, street food, taipei, taiwan, travel, travel blog, travel blogger 1 Comment

I popped over to Taipei for a night during my visit to Hong Kong. Taiwan has been on my bucket list for a long time, largely due to one reason: food.

I’ve been thinking of re-adopting vegetarianism, but I was in full carnivore mode when I went to Taiwan in February. The best way to experience Taiwan is by eating everything that’s put in front of you. It’s going to be delicious – and cheap!

I intended to eat my way through the whole city, but little me only managed to scratch the surface in the 36 hours I was there. However, I got overexcited and researched enough for a week’s worth of meals. So here’s a non-exhaustive list of places you need to eat at while you’re visiting Taipei.

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Hong Kong

March 1, 2017 By roopgill in Asia, Food, Photography, Travel Tags: asia, cocktail bar, coffee, hong kong, jason atherton, michelin star, restaurants, travel, travel blog, travel photography 3 Comments

I love a good city break. Few things get me as excited as the idea of eating good food in a new setting. Living in London opens the door for so many exciting weekend trips, but my new favourite city break happens to be on the other side of the hemisphere.

I went to Hong Kong last month to visit my childhood best friend who has now started calling this vibrant city her home.

“How do you like living in Hong Kong?” I asked J when I got there.

“I absolutely love it,” she replied empathically. And I spent the next four days seeing first-hand why she was so enthusiastic about Hong Kong. Continue reading →

Belgrade

July 29, 2016 By roopgill in Europe, Photography, Travel Tags: belgrade, coffee, Mikser, Pržionica, serbia, Skadarska, speciality coffee, Strahinjica Bana, travel, travel blog, Šoljica 2 Comments

“This year, I’m definitely going to visit you in Belgrade.”

I’d been saying that to Sonja for about four years, so a visit to the Serbian capital was well due. I finally found some cheap flights and went over for a few days this July.

I’m not going to sugar coat this: Belgrade isn’t a pretty city. It has a certain “heaviness” about itself, perhaps owing to its recent past. But that heavy backdrop is what sets the scene for its cool vibe.

Belgrade Manufaktura If I had only one word to describe Belgrade, it would be lively. Locals are out and about, filling up the outdoor seats along leafy streets. Grey buildings have been spruced up with blasts of colourful decorations. No matter what time of day, you’ll find the locals enjoying their city. Continue reading →

Viennese coffee houses

February 23, 2015 By roopgill in Europe, Food, Photography, Travel Tags: austria, cafe central, coffee, demel, hawelka, landtmann, photography, sacher, travel, travel blog, vienna, Viennese coffee houses 3 Comments

It’s no secret that I love a good cup of coffee.

It’s also no secret that when it comes to cafes, Vienna has a special league of its own – the Viennese coffee house.

The Viennese coffee house culture is listed as “Intangible Cultural Heritage” as per UNESCO. It’s a concept I recently became familiar with my friend Melissa went to Marrakech and told me that the markets were listed as Intangible Cultural Heritage. While the more well-known concept of World Heritage sites refers to tangible – or touchable – buildings, monuments, places etc., this particular categories refers to song, music, drama… overall vibes that you can’t replicate elsewhere in the world.

And surely, I’ve never been to a coffee joint quite like the Viennese coffee house. I liked them right away, and went to several during my trip to Vienna. They all have different decors, moods, menus, but what remains the same is the hushed banter, the elegant service, melange on the menu and delicious cakes served with silverware.

The first coffee house we went to – literally within two hours of arriving in Vienna – was Cafe Hawelka. It was on the very top of my list for all the historical significance it boasts of – opened by Leopold Hawelka (who passed away in 2011 at the age of 100) in 1939, the interior of the establishment has been fully preserved, from its marble table tops to elegant lace curtains. I ordered my first Wiener Melange, literally translating to “Viennese blend.” It’s something I’d describe as a cross between a cappuccino and a latte. And I liked it!

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Palma de Mallorca

March 31, 2014 By roopgill in Europe, Food, Photography, Travel Tags: coffee, food, palma, palma de mallorca, photography, spain, travel 4 Comments

My Erasmus girlfriends and I have a bit of a tradition: we like going on trips for our birthdays.

For my last birthday we all met up in Amsterdam and the year before we went to Krakow. And now that we don’t live under the same roof anymore, it’s even more crucial to plan holidays where we can catch up, overdose on coffee and check off another place on our bucket lists.

Somehow it came up that we go to Palma de Mallorca for Nina‘s birthday. Palma was never on my must-visit list, but it should have been.

By going in the spring, we avoided the hoards of rowdy summer crowds and were able to admire the beauty of this Balearic island at leisure. Inspiring architecture, buzzing squares, delicious food, sea breeze and the company of my two darling friends: how was I not supposed to fall in love with Mallorca?

Before we get ahead of ourselves, the first order of business in Palma was celebrating Nina’s birthday. Continue reading →

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