Cat Walks World

Zurich, according to William M. Mercer, a London-based consulting firm, is the city with the highest quality of life in the world for 6 consecutive years. They analyzed 215 cities based on 39 different criteria, including leisure and relaxation, safety, cleanliness, political and economical stability, and medical care (Manila is 123). Well, since this is where I live, I guess, life cannot get better than this. Actually, in the same survey, Switzerland together with Germany are the only countries with 3 cities in the top 10 (Zurich-1, Geneva-2, Berne-9) . Well, I guess , it really doesn't get better than this.

What do these criteria translate to in everyday life? Well, the Zurich Lake, around which the city is built is so clean, I won't be surprised if one can directly drink from it. The trains and trams arrive precisely on time (to the second!). The city vacuums (!) the street everyday. The swiss franc is one of the most stable currencies in the world. Everyone has health insurance. Very low crime rate (in fact probably there is none at all that sometimes the big news of the day is that of man caught peeping in the women's changing room of a department store!).

Though famous for being an overly expensive city (9th in the world in terms of cost of living), it also gives the world's highest salaries. It's so expensive here that if one is earning less than 3500 sfr (3200 USD), one is considered to be living below the poverty line.

To be continued....

Technorati tags: zurich cost+of+living quality+of+life

We were in Cambridge in September 2004 when the Titan arum at the Cambridge University's Botanical Garden bloomed for the first time in 20 years. A native of Sumatra, this giant flower (largest flower stalk in the world) is famous for it's odor--- the smell of rotten flesh. This odor is used by the plant to attract pollinators like beetles and flies. We were really lucky because the bloom lasts for only 2-3 days. This event is so rare that you can even find in wikipedia a list of all known publicised Titan arum blooms in cultivation!

Technorati tags: Titan+arum rotting+flesh+flower Cambridge England

What is the best thing to do when you only have 6 hours in London? Take the red double decker sightseeing bus!
Unfortunately, we didn't have so much time in London but I wanted to see everything. I saw everything from the outside at least. We went past the Tower of London, Picadilly Circus, London Eye, Parliament house, Buckingham Palace and the Big Ben, and of course the London Bridge. I even saw the house of Madonna!
I will go back to London for sure to see all these places deeper but I was really glad to have taken this red sightseeing bus. Made the 6 hours that we had in London quite memorable.


Technorati tags: London England red+buses sightseeing

Located in the eastern part of Poland, near the town of Siematycze, The Holy Mount of Grabarka (also Holy Hill of Grabarka) is considered to be the most important sanctuary in Poland for Orthodox Christians. The most distinguishing feature of this place is the mass of crosses surrounding the church brought by pilgrims to get salvation and good health. The site itself had been considered scared for 700 years but unfortunately the monastery burned down in 1990. It was reconstructed almost immediately. What is strange though is when I went inside the monastery, I didn't have a feeling of "new".
I came here as a sidetrip of one scientific meetings I went to so I have no idea how to get there by public transportation or by car. We were nicely transported in a big bus from Bialowieza.



Poland Grabarka orthodox+church Holy+Mount+of+Grabarka

Hmmmm....disturbing, thought provoking, enlightening, and depressing images that changed the world compiled by Pinguy's Website. Obviously, all of us (not unless you are hiding in a cave the last 50 years or so) have seen these pictures but it is quite disturbing to see them all at the same time. Unfortunately, these are the pictures that defines the past 70 years, honestly I would have preferred more positive photos (only 1 positive in the list).

This book is super super great! A must-have if you are going to Switzerland for a vacation, living here or just planning on moving here. It explains so many things about the Swiss in a very funny way. I highly recommend this book!

Switzerland Swiss books living+in+switzerland

When I tell friends sometimes how nice the Philippines is and so they should go and visit, one of the first things they would ask me is if we have wine. A lot of them would sound so disappointed when I say that we don't have wine in the Philippines. We have no grape, how can we produce wine? It doesn't mean we are uncultured, all it means is that we have no grapes.
Arriving in Switzerland 4 years ago from my grapeless country, I had no idea about wine. I improved considerably since then but in general I just have only 1 rule, if I like it, I like it and if I don't like it, I don't. Anyway, I am not a wine expert (and I will never be) but I can taste the difference between a 4 sfr and a 30 sfr bottle but not really between a 30 sfr and 100 sfr bottle. I can taste the difference between a Bourgogne, a Bordeaux, and a Swiss wine from Wallis most of the time. I understand that I need to twirl red wine in my glass so the wine gets aerated so I can smell it's aroma. I refuse to gargle it in my mouth like a mouthwash in public. I get it that there is a high culture behind wine and wine making but honestly for the life of me, I still don't get why people need to be so snooty about it. I have a strange feeling that most of the time people just pretend to get it so as not to be labeled as uncultured. I asked a friend once who knows about wine why is it that people don't just drink coca cola when most of the time anyway a good wine taste like coca cola? Okay, I guess no one will really agree with me about my coca cola theory because in Europe in general coca cola is the symbol of non-culture.
Anyway, a year ago as part of my wine education, we went to Maurice Gay, a winery in Chamoson, Wallis, Switzerland. The Romans brought grapes to Wallis a long long time ago and from then on the locals have been making wine. We learned that the Wallis is a special place for wine because of its micro climate. Nowhere else can multiple varieties (60 varieties) of grape be planted together in the same area as in Wallis. One can also find very old varieties such as Amigne, Cornalin, Heida, Humagne Blanche, and Petite Arvine. We saw how they produce wine from when they crush the grapes to when they age it inside oak barrels. The best part of course is at the end of the tour when we tasted all their wines with our host generously opening bottle after bottle for us.


Wallis Switzerland wine chamoson

Christiania according to the wikipedia is a controversial, partially self-governing neighbourhood of about 850 residents, covering 34 hectares (85 acres) in the borough of Chistianhavn in the Danish capital, Copenhagen. A former military camp, it was occupied by homeless people in Copenhagen in 1971. A few weeks after, it was proclaimed as a free town by a writer named Jacob Ludvigsen. Christiania quickly became associated with the hippie movement and cannabis. Recently, the Danish government has been trying to "normalize" the situation in Christiania and so open drug dealing was put to a halt.Since Christiania is partially self-governing, they are not subject to building laws. The result is fresh and eclectic furniture design and architecture found nowhere else in Europe. In the entire city, murals adorn all the building walls and raggae music plays loudly in the background.

When some friends and I went to Christiania a few years ago, we saw it with romantic eyes. Eyes of PhD students drowning in our work. What we saw were people doing what they want, when they wanted it. It made us stop and think if really so much hardwork is required in this life. Wouldn't it be so much nicer if we would be free of the strict rules of this world and free from needing to blindly run the rat race like the people of Christiania? We were contemplating this when we started chatting with an old man selling nice Tibetan jewelry. We started telling him about our romantic ideas about Christiania and how we think he is so lucky to have seen the world. His advice? We should continue slaving our ourselves because in the end what matters is that you have a health insurance and a pension. =( Doesn't that make you want to cry?
Denmark copenhagen christiania hippie

This is probably my favorite restaurant in Germany. I first came to this restaurant 2 years ago when we were brought there by the organizers of the training course that I attended at the EMBL (European Molecular Biology Laboratory). At first I was not so enthusiastic since I was not the biggest fan of German food. Considering the name of the place, I thought we were going to eat Schnitzel (breaded pork chops). Surprise, surprise! No, they don't just serve schnitzel but also other wonderful traditional German food. The restaurant is called schnitzelbank because the place where the restaurant is located used to be an old schreinerei or a place for woodworks and schnitzel are the the small flakes of wood that you get when you make furniture. This is the restaurant that made me appreciate sauerkraut or fermented cabbage (and German food in general). I learned that sauerkrauts are not created equal. Prepared well, it can be so delicious! I am also not the world's biggest fan of potatoes but this place made me crave for it. Here, I usually order schweinshaxen mit sauerkraut (pork legs with sauerkraut). They also serve good beer and the region's wine. Don't miss this place if you are around Heidelberg.

Weinstube-Schnitzelbank
Bauamtsgasse 7
69117 Heidelberg
Tel. nos:
06221-21189
0172-6331944

Between christmas and new year we were in Naples, Italy. The birthplace of pizza. When in Naples, it is a must to go to Pizzeria Da Michele. For Napolitans this is the best place to eat pizza in Naples, period (and therefore the world). We had to wait 2 hours in the winter cold for a table!(check the pictures) Napolitans are willing to wait even longer actually. We went there early so we didn't have to wait so long (apparently 2 hours is still quick for this place). The pizza was really worth the wait even though you can only get margerita (tomato sauce, garlic, basil, mozzarella) or marinara (tomato sauce, garlic, basil). With their secret dough recipe, the pizza dough is so soft and elastic it is almost like a crepe. The restaurant itself is very simple. People don't go there for the ambiance but for the food. Immediately after eating, one actually have to leave fast out of consideration for the hundreds of people waiting outside.

Pizzeria Da Michele
Via Sersale, Naples, Italy

naples pizzeria+da+michele pizza italy