Dispatches From The Swiss Boondocks

Moving Blues

2008-12-18T10:57:00.000+01:00

We started moving stuff to the new house last Friday and I haven't really had time for anything else. Besides, the ADSL connection got activated just yesterday. This afternoon is pretty much the first one without workers rushing about the house making sure everything is ok before they break for Christmas. Sample day this week: 07:00 – 17:00: 2 workers Façade installation, 10:00 - 16:00 – 2 B&O specialists for loudspeaker installation, 07:00 - 17:00 – 2 electricians to fine tune EIB installation and dining table suspension lamp, 07:00 - 17:00 – 2 workers for the conservatory. There's still a double garage packed with stuff to unpack, organize, give-away or throw-away. Oh, I'd have to do last minute Christmas shopping. Argh!!

Early Christmas Gift

2008-11-14T15:55:00.003+01:00

I once told Sacha that I loved the look of the cutlery collection of Zaha Hadid for WMF.

The 30 piece set arrived via post early this week. ;)

Paint!!

2008-10-11T22:52:00.000+02:00

The walls (except the exposed concrete ones) and ceilings will be plastered next week and we've finally decided on the colors we'd be using for the new house.

Here are the combinations:

Street Level (Erste Untergeschoss)

Entry - Farrow & Ball Blackened Modern Emulsion

My office/guest room - F&B Studio Green® Estate Emulsion, eastern wall will be exposed concrete

Guest Bath - F&B Borrowed Light® Modern Emulsion

2nd Floor (Erdgeschoss)

Living Areas (TV, Living, Dining "rooms" & Kitchen) - Blackened, walls on the north side are all in exposed concrete

WC - Borrowed Light

Master Suite - Borrowed Light, north wall in exposed concrete

With a south facing house, a main living area with lots of windows ( around 24 sqm of floor to almost ceiling height windows, + 11 sqm normal height windows), travertine floors, semi-gloss RAL Traffic White kitchen, and huge expanses of exposed concrete walls, pure white paint on the remaining plastered walls would force us to constanly wear sunglasses indoors. Sacha and I zeroed in on Blackened from the color card the local F&B dealer sent us. I ordered a color book and the bigger swatch confirmed our initial decision.

We initially wanted to do all plastered walls the same color but decided to have a different one for the master suite. I initially wanted to have Parma Gray but Sacha wanted a paler one. Borrowed Light was the palest one we could find from the F&B book and in daylight, with the sun shining through the two huge skylights in the shower and walk-in, Borrowed light will practically be off-white. It will also be a break from off-white/concrete gray combination of the living areas.

Blackened would also have been the obvious choice for my office since I'd be doing a lot of photo editing and photo viewing but I wanted something dark to allow me to switch to work mode. I fell in love with Studio Green the moment i saw it on the color card. I know it will fuck-up the color of my monitor but I can always turn the monitor to the exposed concrete wall if I'm doing color work. Besides I'm a B&W guy anyway and they my prints will look fantastic against the almost black dark green of Studio Green.

The guest bath and WC will be done in Borrowed Light for economical reasons. Farrow & Ball are already expensive and another color would mean another partly used can of paint. We could go the cheaper route and have the painters color match from the color cards but F&B colors are just different. The colors are deep and rich due to the fact that they use as many as 18 different natural pigments per color. Even their pure white is made with different white pigments. I've done my share of painting interiors and would've carried along using normal paint but after seeing F&B colors, it's like comparing the watercolors we used in kindergarten and the real stuff that watercolorists use. If you have a local F&B dealer, ask for the free color card (the chips are painted not offset printed) and you'll see difference.

Dacharbeit

2008-10-10T17:18:00.008+02:00

Following my picture post on Lausanne rooftops, I thought it would be fitting to continue my construction updates on work being done on the flat roof. The design is multilayer one since the roof has practically no incline. The next step would be to install the actual green roof with extensive planting (a combination of low maintenance herbs and sedum).

23.09.08 - Surface Prep

24.09.08 - 1st Waterproofing Layer (Vapour Barrier)

6.10.08 Insulation

6.10.08 - 2nd Waterproofing Layer (Reinforced Underlayer)

7.10.08 3rd Waterproofing Layer (Root Resistant Layer)

9.10.08 - Skylights

Lausanne Rooftops

2008-09-28T16:06:00.008+02:00

Nicolas & Ingrid were kind enough to show me Lausanne when I dropped by for lunch this summer.

Ingrid asked me to take shots of the Lausanne rooftops. I wanted to do another panorama and stictch the frames in post but I only had the lensbaby with me. I never got to download them to my Aperture library until today. They are actually not that bad. I do have to go back and do a shot with the Carbon Infinity and the 55mm Grandagon.

Eastern Side

2008-09-22T23:54:00.001+02:00

View from the East side early evening, originally uploaded by Edwin Lachica.

Early evening view of the easter side.

Roof: Pouring Concrete

2008-09-22T23:53:00.001+02:00

Roof: Pouring Concrete, originally uploaded by Edwin Lachica.

Kabelsalat

2008-09-22T23:52:00.001+02:00

Kabelsalat, originally uploaded by Edwin Lachica.

More kabelsalat on the roof.

Façade

2008-09-22T23:51:00.001+02:00

Façade, originally uploaded by Edwin Lachica.

Preparing CIP forms for roof

2008-09-22T23:50:00.003+02:00

Preparing CIP forms for roof, originally uploaded by Edwin Lachica.

Feature Wall

2008-09-22T23:50:00.001+02:00

Feature Wall, originally uploaded by Edwin Lachica.

Exposed concrete feature wall.

Pouring in concrete

2008-09-22T23:48:00.001+02:00

Pouring in concrete for main living area, originally uploaded by Edwin Lachica.

Street level ceiling/Main Living area floor

Picasso again!

2008-09-22T23:47:00.001+02:00

Picasso again!, originally uploaded by Edwin Lachica.

He's had enough of construction noise.

Kabelsalat

2008-09-22T23:45:00.001+02:00

Kabelsalat, originally uploaded by Edwin Lachica.

Pipes (Electric, Water, Heating, Controlled Ventilation with Heat Recovery) laid in before pouring in concrete.

Street level floor with interior walls in place

2008-09-22T23:43:00.001+02:00

Street level floor with interior walls in place, originally uploaded by Edwin Lachica.

Street LeveL: CIP Forms

2008-09-22T23:42:00.003+02:00

Street LeveL: CIP Forms, originally uploaded by Edwin Lachica.

Steet Level floor

2008-09-22T23:42:00.001+02:00

Steet Level floor, originally uploaded by Edwin Lachica.

Laying in pipes

2008-09-22T23:41:00.001+02:00

Laying in the 120m long pipes for the ground heat source pumps, originally uploaded by Edwin Lachica.

for the ground heat source pumps

Drilling

2008-09-22T23:39:00.001+02:00

Drilling, originally uploaded by Edwin Lachica.

120m deep.

Sacha inspecting the site

2008-09-22T23:38:00.001+02:00

Building site secured and ready, originally uploaded by Edwin Lachica.

Excavation complete

2008-09-22T23:36:00.001+02:00

Excavation complete, originally uploaded by Edwin Lachica.

End of excavation

2008-09-22T23:35:00.001+02:00

End of excavation, originally uploaded by Edwin Lachica.

Retaining Walls

2008-09-22T23:33:00.001+02:00

CIP Forms, originally uploaded by Edwin Lachica.

Digging

2008-09-22T23:28:00.001+02:00

Digging, originally uploaded by Edwin Lachica.

Birch Trees Down

2008-09-22T23:16:00.002+02:00

The Birch trees planted were planted by france when they moved in to their new house some 40 years ago. Unfortunately, they now pose a threat to the house and our building site so they had to go.

Design Ideas: Saarinen Table

2008-09-05T15:23:00.007+02:00

Saarinen Tulip Table

An old Saarinen tulip table base has been in the cellar for ages and Sacha has not had the heart to throw it away. The impending move to the new house middle of December this year calls for a strict edit of the stuff we have in storage and things we've accumulated in the four years we've been together.

I've already been thinking of getting rid of the cheap desk. As I was in the cellar today trying to have an overview of the mess we have down there, I unearthed the Saarinen table base and though it would do as a desk. Aside from a few nicks on the Rislan coating, it looked fine. I immediately fired off an e-mail to the Knoll distributor in Switzerland, and got a quote for 1400 CHF for a replacement top with fittings.

Our Tulip table after some clean-up.

I wanted of course to keep it all to myself but Sacha caught me cleaning it up and he now has designs on it for future use in the conservatory. On the upside, I'd have funds to buy chairs for the tables.

The Saarinen tulip chairs are out of the questions since matchy-matchy is not my taste and new chairs would blow my budget. Ditto Panton S chairs, Eames bent plywood chairs and Jacobsen chairs and they seem to be the default combination and I don't do default. Ditto Louis Ghost chairs although I've toyed around with the idea of transparent chairs with table.

Myto cantilevered chair.

The new Myto chair designed by Grcic for Plank would be closer to Saarinen's design ideal having only two legs and the white version would look fantastic with the table. Sacha however is not too thrilled with cantilevered chairs. It's probably best to stick to the combination Sacha had when the table was still intact: Appenzeller Stabellen. It's a nod to our locale's woodworking tradition and dark wooden chairs look really well with the Tulip table even if Saarinen did not particularly like the "slum of legs".

Appenzeller Stabelle

My cheap table is saved from the dumpster. I'll already be ordering books of Platinum leaf to do up an antique cupboard with a lock from the middle-ages so I guess I'd just have to order a couple more books. A Cinderella turn and the table would look smashing against the exposed concrete wall.

xoxo,

The Fairy Godmother.

Corned Beef Sinigang

2008-08-23T09:27:00.003+02:00

Here's the recipe of my favorite dish in Sentro Greenbelt. It's basically raw corned beef cooked in sinigang broth (instead of boiling the beef in water) until fork tender. If you have access to raw corned beef then you can go ahead and make sinigang.

Basic Corned Beef Recipe

Beef in Brine in sealed plastic bag.

Three flavors are dominant in corned beef - beef, peppercorns, and bay leaf. Most recipes call for spices and garlic.

1 kg whole Beef Brisket

1/4 cup sea salt

3 tbsp pickling spices

3 cloves crushed garlic

1 tbsp whole peppercorns

2 pieces dried bay leaf

1 cup Salt

1/4 cup Sugar

10 cups water

1 tbsp of saltpeter (this will keep the meat red when cooked but totally optional)

1. In a pan, dissolve salt and sugar in 10 cups of water and bring to a boil.

2. Cool to room temperature.

3. Rub the beef with salt and spices and place in a in a non reactive container (a huge tupperware container will do) or a zip lock bag.

4. Pour cooled brine over meat until covered. The meat will float so, if using a plastic container, take a smaller container to fit in the other container and fill with leftover brine. Put it on top of the meat to weigh it down.

5. Store in the fridge. Turn the meat daily. Curing takes around 48 hours to three days with this recipe. If you add more meat (up to 4 kilos) then extend the curing time to 6 days.

6. After the curing period, remove meat from the brine and rinse in cold water. Place the meat in a fresh container filled with cold fresh water and place in the fridge for an hour or so.

7. Cured meat is ready for cooking. Either boil in water until fork tender or cook as sinigang.

Sinigang

Every Filipino family would have their version of sinigang and since it's such an easy recipe, measurements are based on preference. Corned beef sinigang works with tamarind as the acidic/sour base.

1. Cut up cured beef into serving size and brown in oil.

2. Sauté onions, garlic and tomatoes and add to meat.

3. Add water and tamarind soup base (or tamarind if available). Bring to a boil and cook for a a couple of hours until meat is just tender.

4. Add potatoes/taro root and eggplants. Cook until potatoes are done.

5. Add mustard leaves or leafy greens in the end.

Photos to follow.

Now you see it, now you don't

2008-08-16T11:24:00.006+02:00

After waiting three weeks for the bauferien (holidays for firms in the construction business) to be over, the company we engaged to build the house lost no time in making sure the concrete is poured for the floor in time for another scheduled no work holiday (Assumption of the Blessed Virgin) in Appenzell.

The heating and plumbing company from our friend Hanspeter had to lay in water pipes, plumbing pipes, and central ventilation pipes. Aside from the usual pipes for lighting and electrical sockets, the electricians had to lay in several hundred meters of pipes for the EIB installation to control the metal shutters, multimedia /speakers cables, cable TV /satellite cables, telephone cables and ethernet cables. As they say here, it was one big kabelsalat.

Kabelsalat: Big blue/red pipes - central ventilation with heat recovery, small black pipes - central heating, small blue/red pipes - water, gray pipes - electrical installation.

Early Thursday morning, the construction firm was able to pour concrete. Next step - 1st floor walls (that's 2nd floor in american/filipino numbering).

The Joy of: having your own darkroom with a Jobo ATL machine

2008-08-03T23:57:00.008+02:00

I can cross process film whenever I want to, and pushing +3 without the extra costs labs usually charge.

Here are some scans from my recent trip to Vienna. I really wanted to do Vienna in b&w but haven't restocked on 120 TMAX but had enough Porta rolls. After processing some 4x5 chromes last week, I decided to run the Vienna rolls in E-6. I added an E-6 +3 program on the Jobo ATL-2200 and run my first Xpro.

Steph at the the Museums Quartier (orange color cast removed in post)

Statuary at the Hofburg (orange color cast removed in post)

Detail, Statuary at the Volksgarten

View of the Leopold from the MQ Courtyard

Before the digging started

2008-07-28T12:08:00.007+02:00

Our tiny piece of land (formerly known as Sachas-vaters-garten).

Fuji Provia, 4x5, Carbon Infinity, Rodenstock Apo-Grandagon 55mm

Been quite delayed with the construction photos. I was too lazy to develop film. We've gone digital for the documentation since I took this photo although I'll still do some slides when the house is finished, for perspective correction and all, you know.

Look at what the postman brought in today

2008-04-04T20:36:00.006+02:00

I've ordered these on Amazon just as the dollar reached parity with the Swiss Franc. Nonetheless it the package brightened my day having been sick and homebound and all we had were lead grey April days this week.

The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books

I remember seeing this fabulous boxed set in national bookstore a decade ago. I had to prioritize fencing equipment then and could not stretch my allowance any further so I bought the single CD highlights. By the time I've joined the corporate world I couldn't find a copy in Manila. I already bought the Porter, Arlen and Berlin from iTunes when they launched their Swiss store but I really wanted all of them. Luckily sold a photo earlier this year so I was able to finally buy the complete boxed set. Off to the B&O Beosound 9000 they go for my week-end music programming.

The Complete Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong on Verve

Amazon had this set on sale so ordered it along with the Song Books box. Next up would be the Song Books in audiophile vinyl and the Complete Decca box. I know I'm Ella obsessed. But I do have the most of Nina Simone Already (Complete Phillips, The Best of the RCA Years, The Legend) and Billie Holiday (Complete Verve) as well as the Complete Jazz at hte Philharmonic and have none of the Complete Ella sets.

Thomas Keller's Bouchon

I haven't eaten at any of Keller's restaurants. I should go visit cousins in the US so I have an excuse to go pig out at any of Kellers restos. Anyway I discovered him through the French Laundry cookbook. The recipes are very demanding but had great success with them. Bouchon is more manageable. Scanning the pages today, I think I'm gonna start with his recipes for Frog Legs. I've already marked easy recipes for those I'm-too-lazy-to-cook-but-still-want-to be-a-fab-host days. Another reason for you guys to come visit me.

Choices Choices (Part 2: Bath)

2008-03-28T22:29:00.004+01:00

I've decided that I should take a break from house planning and finally make the trip to Lausanne today to view the Steichen exhibit at the Elysée. I've even asked Nicolas, who lives in the area, if I could stay overnight just in case it gets too late for me to make the 4 hour trip back to Appenzell. I was dead serious to have my artsyt-fartsy day. My brain, however, is still occupied with a billion details and house plans, I've totally mixed-up the dates with the other Steichen exhibit at the Kunsthaus in Zürich. The one in Lausanne closed Easter Sunday.

Lucky for Sacha. He thought our appointment with the architect and plumbing planner was scheduled for tomorrow . So instead of viewing Steichen's body of work, us four went to view Dornbracht, Catalano, Gessi, hansgrohe, Grohe, Villeroy & Boch, Alessi etc. at the showroom of Sanitas Troesch. And decisions had to be made.

The guest WC, and guest bath were easy enough but we spent most time deciding on fixtures for the master bath.

Technically the master bath is not a full bath. We've decided to devote more space for the shower and banished the tub to the first floor guest bath. It took about an hour to decide on the shower head alone and we've rejected several, including the one Sacha and I picked a week before. We ended up with the Raindance Rainfall from hansgrohe though it required some downgrading of other stuff to fit the literally huge (58cm x 28cm) shower head in the budget. We're more or less within the original costing thanks to the things I've stricken out from the original proposed list of fixtures.

hansgrohe Raindance Rainfall

The sink was easy enough, Sacha and I have already spent half a day at Sanitas Troesch a week before and we both fell in love with the 125cm long Zero Domino from Catalano. We did spend another hour deciding on the faucet.

Catalano Zero Domino 125

Catalano was also the choice for the guest WC (Verso Lavamani 50) on the main floor and the Guest Bath (Verso 75).

Catalano Verso Lavamani 50

Catalano Verso 75

Here are some rough visualization of the master bath:

Top View

Sink Area / Walk In

Shower

We spent a total of 4 hours at the Sanitas showroom plus about a month of research beforehand, I've had just about enough on the topic. Tomorrow I will treat myself to my an artsy-fartsy day and go to the Steichen not in Lausanne (which was the one I really wanted to see) but the in Zürich.

Choices Choices (Part 1: The Kitchen)

2008-02-26T12:50:00.000+01:00

Sacha and I love entertaining and I'm sure friends would agree that I'm no slouch in the kitchen (although cleaning up was never one of my favorite chores). With the kitchen taking center stage in most modern homes, designing a kitchen is never gonna be easy. We've decided to go the bespoke kitchen route since there are a lot of small companies in our area specialising in Swiss precision cabinetry work. I did a rough 3D in Sketch-up and it took 13 revisions to get it right. The next step would be to award it to a contractor. So far so good.

Deciding on the white goods and appliances is another matter. I'm veering towards the Gaggenau Vario 400 system for the cooktops with the induction wok, 2 burner induction, and tepanyaki modules.

Sacha on the other hand hates the knobs of the Gaggenau and is veering more towards Whitehouse

combination of a 4 burner with wok module and a teppanyaki module.

Anyway, we're going for induction cooktops which means we'd have to get rid of all our pots and pans although we get to keep the cast iron stuff.

The dishwasher is a toss-up. If we go the residential dishwasher route, it will have to be one from Miele since they're the best in class. We do however have a lot of friends over for dinner (on the average 8 but we have dinners or lunches for 20 or more several times in the year) so a small dishwasher for the resto industry is in consideration. They do dishes in 3 minutes although air drying will still take 5 minutes or so. They are a bit noisy and we'd need to conceal it with cabinetry.

Planning Permission Granted!!

2008-02-26T09:14:00.001+01:00

It's been a tense few weeks since we submitted our house plans for planning permission. Appenzell is not known for modern style builds and the flat roof can be problematic if someone suddenly thinks they need to keep the ortsbild (image of the place, translated roughly) of the area we're building in. And pretty much anyone can lodge a complaint during a specified period to block the planning permission. Well we've been informed that we can go ahead. We're targetting an October/November completion date. This year would be quite busy.

Carbon ∞ 4x5 View Camera

2008-02-26T08:57:00.000+01:00

For those wondering what the hell it is I'm carrying over my shoulder on my profile photo, it is a Carbon ∞ 4x5 View Camera. Here's a review I posted on LF Info forum and Ipernity:

After going through two Sinar cameras (F/F2), I decided out of the blue to shop for another system. The Sinar was nearly impossible to backpack so I needed something more compact. A field camera was out of the question since I wanted the stability and movements provided by a monorail. After searching the LF Info Forum for reviews and suitable replacments, I came upon a mention of the Carbon Infinity 4x5, a quasi monorail / field camera made mostly of carbon fiber with ultra light weight metals parts. The only problem was it is one of the rarest view cameras around. As luck would have it I found a used one in Christoph Greiner's shop in 2006.
The camera is a beauty, I haven't had much chance to go hiking with it last year but hopefully I'd have more time to do so this year especially with the ultra-wide 55mm Apo-Grandagon I purchased to celebrate my 30th.

Adrian Thompson and Angus Noble, designers of the Team Philips boat, designed the Carbon∞ as the first and only 4”x5” large format camera made from, practically, all carbon fibre components. Eighty-five percent of this camera is made of carbon fiber, the other materials are titanium and aluminum alloy. It was unique in its ability to fold like a field camera into its own compact carbon fiber base yet achieves movements found in monorail cameras.

Though quite a few are turned off by the weight of the camera (3.3 kg), one must understand that the designed aimed to satisfy requirements of stability, full and yaw-free movements, durability and portability. As such the carbon fiber components used are thick solid constructions. An all aluminum construction following the same design and similar strength requirements would’ve been much heavier.
Carbon-fiber composites weigh about one-fifth as much as steel, but can be comparable or better in terms of stiffness and strength, depending on fiber grade and orientation. These composites do not rust or corrode like steel or aluminum. The problem is that carbon-fiber composites cost at least 20 times as much as steel, 5 times more as aluminum. Production of carbon fiber and of the actual composites is labor intensive, slow and expensive.

This explains the high cost (£ 3500 / US$ 6,000) of the Carbon∞ camera when it was launched in 1990. In 1994, the company closed with only a total of 120 Carbon∞ cameras produced.

Had it not been for the recession that hit the 90s, the camera design could’ve been bought by Sinar but it was not to be and perhaps will not be as Sinar has changed gears towards digital photography.
Even today, manufacture of products with high-grade carbon fiber components remain out of reach for mass production. With the current worldwide shortage in carbon fiber and with current supplies biased for aerospace applications, reviving this dream of a camera will remain a dream.
Technical Specifications

• Movements: Carbon∞ has virtually unlimited movement, and totally yaw free, matching and perhaps exceeding those of studio based monorails.

Front Rise: 5.1 cm
Front Fall: 5.2 cm
Front Base Tilt: 90º (marked up to 40º)
Front Axial Tilt: Bellows limited; A 7.5 cm long nodal point mount gives the possibility of lens tilts on the correct nodal point of any lens.
Front Shift: 7.1 cm (right), 1.6 (left); The front standard can be rotated to provide a left shift of 7.1 cm.
Front Swing: Bellows limited

Rear Rise: 7.1 cm
Rear Fall: 3 cm
Rear Base Tilt: 90º (marked up to 40º)
Rear Axial Tilt: on film plane, bellows limited
Rear Shift: 6.1 cm (right), 2.5 cm (left)
Rear Swing: on film plane, bellows limited

• Bellows

Maximum Extension: 54 cm (Standard Bellows)
Minimum Extension: 3 cm
Bellows Options: Standard or Wide-Angle Bellows
Front Bellows Opening: 8.4 cm x 8.4 cm
Lens board Size: 11.4 with locking pin

• Film Back

Film Back: Horizontal & Vertical International Back
Ground Glass: Bosscreen for Carbon Infinity

• Focusing rails run smoothly on precision rail bearings.

Coarse Focusing: Slider on two parallel rails with positive push button lock
Focus mechanism: Independent Rack and Pinion with a lever clutch lock on front and rear standards

• Closed Dimension: 26 cm x 27 cm x 11 cm

• Weight: 3.3 kilos

• Others

Tripod Socket: 2x 3/8

Locking pin on lens board, bellows, and film back attach to spring loaded lock on the front and back frames

Spirit Levels: Horizontal & Vertical on Front Frame and Rear Frame; Horizontal on both standards

Materials: Carbon Fiber, Titanium, Aluminum

One Lens (up to compact 210 mm) can be kept inside the camera case when folded.

4 titanium pegs on the film back act as a universal holder for reflex viewing accessories from other manufacturers.

• Optional Accessories:
Bellows Lens Hood System with jointed rod and three Hi-Tech filter slots for use with bag bellows. Bellows lens hood system attaches to the nodal point mount.

Studio Kit consisting of a base rail, square bellows, standard with nodal point adjustment, and frame for longer bellows extensions.

Black leather case

My Daemon

2007-12-18T10:15:00.000+01:00

I've been avoiding creating my own Daemon at the Golden Compass movie site but Rica's post made me curious. Took the test in English and German and both returned an Osprey. Well my Daemon's name in the English test reminded me of that period in limbo between graduating from university and joining the working world so I'm keeping Voltina.

Bayan-Bayanan

2007-08-30T21:05:00.000+02:00

Sacha's family comes from the mountain village of Appenzell, the capital of Kanton Appenzell Innerhoden. Coming to Appenzell is like coming home to Baguio of memory. I was quite at home.

There are about 5 other Filipinos in the Appenzell that I know. I meet the one who is married to the owner of a cheese shop quite often as their store is close to where we have our bijouterie and goldsmith atelier. A year ago, she asked me to join a "get together" of Filipinos in the area. I chose not to go. When friends ask me if I've made contact with the Filipino community I always say, "If I don't have contact with them back home, why would I do it in another land." I am not the type who'd join a bayan-bayanan. It easy to to explain my lack of desire to make contact with other Filipinos in terms of class divisions but then I also have no drive to make contact with members of the diplomatic community who are probably within six degrees of separation. My stock answer is a flippant one, it's not about snobbishness.

Am I part of the Filipino diaspora? By strict definition I do not count. I was not forced to flee the Philippines for reasons economic or otherwise. Nor have I experienced a sense of social or cultural alienation, the Philippines is a third culture country after years of colonisation. Sacha's circles are pretty much the same to what I'm used to with a good mix of academics, artsy-fartsies and politicians. The hurdle of the language barrier was easily solved after engaging a private tutor for German lessons for a couple of months. Like post-modern nomads, I do not live in the exclusive either/or but in und/and although I'm not nomadic enough since I'm quite settled in. Technology has pretty much erased boundaries that alienate one from one's country.

These thoughts were shoved to the back burner until today. I woke up feeling homesick and made a mental checklist on what I was missing. It was not my family, I just talked to all of them on Skype yesterday and have been away at school since I was 14. I keep in contact with friends and I need only to take a train to St. Gallen or Zurich if I missed the city life. Then it hit me that I haven't had seafood for a while so off I went to the supermarket to buy a blast frozen pack of frutta di mare. I made green curry. Perhaps I missed the sea, but a trip to the Italian coast wouldn't be quite the same. Epiphany over curry: No amount of adobo at a bayan-bayanan could cure my occasional homesickness. My affinity to my country is more primal – the landscape of the las Islas Filipinas.

Web Design Survey

2007-04-26T17:29:00.000+02:00

This survey aims to have a worldwide view of the Web Design industry. If you design websites and apps – full-time, part-time, or freelance – you are encouraged to participate.

EQ

2007-03-28T15:04:00.000+02:00

Your EQ is 160

50 or less: Thanks for answering honestly. Now get yourself a shrink, quick!

51-70: When it comes to understanding human emotions, you'd have better luck understanding Chinese.

71-90: You've got more emotional intelligence than the average frat boy. Barely.

91-110: You're average. It's easy to predict how you'll react to things. But anyone could have guessed that.

111-130: You usually have it going on emotionally, but roadblocks tend to land you on your butt.

131-150: You are remarkable when it comes to relating with others. Only the biggest losers get under your skin.

150+: Two possibilities - you've either out "Dr. Phil-ed" Dr. Phil... or you're a dirty liar.

What's Your EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient)?

Lardo!

2007-03-05T21:53:00.000+01:00

A friend from Italy brought a package of Lardo – pork fat cured in a marble tub with salt, herbs and spices for 6 to 8 months. It's like parma ham with a lot of tender creamy-white fat. Yum!

I read about Lardo in an FT Weekend article. The EU standards people came down heavily on this delicacy claiming production was not up to standards and not hygienic. Much of centuries old traditional methods have been killed off by this stupid pursuit of standards. I'm all for local food diversity, give me stinky cheese made from unpasteurised milk, and lots of lardo done in the traditional methods. Thankfully the Italians protested and the Lardo was saved but it is hard to source Lardo outside of Italy. I should be so lucky!

Serving suggestions: sliced paper thin and allowed to melt on top of warm crostini, pancetta substitute, wrapped around dry cuts of meat for roasting etc.

1st Post

2007-02-09T18:16:00.000+01:00

Dashing off this first post in between cooking veal kimchi soup.

Yikes it just boiled over!!! And I just cleaned the cooktop. :( Lesson for today: never attempt writing the first post while cooking. Mwahahaha.

My made up recipe for Veal Kimchi Soup:

Boil Veal Voressen (cut into cubes) in water until soft, add kimchi (luckily I had a batch of Kimchi I made a couple of weeks ago). Serve with rice.

Better get back to cooking.

Blades to die for

2006-04-08T02:12:00.001+02:00

A belated Christmas/Birthday from Sacha arrived in the shop yesterday. All fencers have a fascination for blades. Double whammy for me as a former fencer and a hobby cook. The gift in question: the special gift set of 3 knives of damascene steel by the house WMF. The blade is made from different grades of steel in several layers creating a wavy design on the blade itself much like beautifully grained wood. Each knife would have it's own unique pattern. Legendary Samurai swords were made with damscene blades. They're really pretty and I haven't had the nerve to use them. I think I need to redesign my kitchen.

WMF Damasteel, around CHF 1800 for the boxed set of three(if you can still find them), CHF 560.- for the 8" Chef's Knife. Amazon offer them at around 28% off.

Conquered another kind of piste

2006-04-08T01:45:00.000+02:00

After putting off hitting the slopes, the long winter pretty much forced me to tackle the challenge of learning how to Ski. Sacha has long since given up on teaching me how to navigate my way downhill so he booked a private skiing tutor. After a couple of sessions on the exercise slopes and being shamed into keeping up by 6 year old kids whizzing past by me, I was able to do a full run from the top. It rained on the morning of my thirds and last lesson for the season, the snow was a bit wet so my skis were getting stuck on some turns (I'm sure it has to do with technique but would have to wait for the next season to perfect it). I managed a three runs unaided. Hmm maybe I should start thinking about the next winter Olympics. Mwahahahahaha.

New Obsession

2006-01-12T15:58:00.001+01:00

A year has gone and I still have not found a suitable atelier for my painting so I turned to photography. Caught the bug after Sacha bought the Minolta Dynax 7D, so after the phase of buying accesories ( from an expensive 80-200mm f/2.8 High-Speed APO G Lens, to a Whibal for White balance, and yes even Apple's latest pro-app called Aperture), I started to crave for analog.

I am no digital photography hater, in fact I love the way digital improves workflow where it is needed, but then I wanted something close to painting, that meant an analog process. The learning curve will be steep: black and white film processing, black and white darkroom printing. To complicate matters more I've decided to use only medium and large format photography.

So now I've tracked down the first model of the Rolleiflex 2,8, the last model of Goertz Box Tengor (a 6x9 box camera that is so simple it looks like a child's toy) before they were bought by Leitz in the 1920's, the first model of the Leitz IKON Box Tengor, and the last model of the Leitz IKON Box Tengor)

Next week my Sinar F2 4"x5" View Camera will arrive by post. I don't have the faintest idea on how to operate a view camera. Let me get back to sipping my dry martini (Bombay Sapphire, Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth, and lemon twist, stirred) at least that I know how to do quite well.

Comfort Food

2006-01-12T15:33:00.000+01:00

Post-holidays the holidays and pre my getting a year older, i found myself craving for the familiar and that for me is all about food. So this domestic diva went off to Migros to comfort food shop. On my list: corned beef, ketchup, eggs, sardines. Pretty much rainy day weather food and precipitation - wether rain or snow - is still precipitation.

After carefully layering clothes on (shirt, shearling & knit pull, baby alpaca scarf and short coat), off to the supermarket I go. I never realized that hunting for corned beef would be close to impossible or rather there was no such thing as corned beef in the supermarket. The best thing i could come up with is canned beef in jelly. I had better luck with sardines since the canned food in the supermarket was pretty much limited to fish.

Corned Beef Rice (after Cafe Bola)
Sautee garlic, add 1 cup of cooked rice and stir, add can of corned beef, stir well, transfer to a bowl, top with a leaf or two of basil and fried sunny side up eggs. Serve with tomato ketchup on the side. Another option would be to add diced boiled potatoes before adding the rice.

When craving for tuyo in olive oil here's a substitute
Sautee minced garlic in olive oil, add a can of sardines in olive oil and then a can of anchovies. You can add capers or better yet buy anchovies with capers. Serve on top of rice.

Tomorrow I'll make seafood sinagang with a packet of Mama Sita Sinigang Mix (of which I have a small stash at CHF 4.- from the Asian Shop) and a kilo of slipper lobsters, too bad I could not go to St. Gallen for kangkong. Oh well when one is craving the closest approximation one could get is comfort enough.

Sunday Road Trip

2005-07-16T07:11:00.000+02:00

The weather was delivered as forecasted by the Swiss Meteo: sunny Sunday with blue skies and unbelievably warm weather. It was the perfect excuse to roll down the cabriolet’s top and an east Swiss road trip. And as usual it was a foodie trip.

First up was Berghotel Schwagalp, 2700 meters above sea-level. It’s a famous stop for bikers fro obvious reasons and the parking lot is packed with the uber luxury big bikes and for tourists who would rather take the cablebahn rather than trek up Mt. Sänti’s. After reveling in hills alive with the sound of music (cow bell music that is), now it’s time for a few of my favorite things: warm apfel strudel and vanilla ice cream. The ice cream was a bit of a disappointment since it wasn’t flavored with real vanilla (how to tell: look for the tiny powder-like black vanilla seeds), but the apfel strudel was superb with a wonderful flaky crust and generous cinnamon infused filling.

With the tourist traffic increasing and the sun going strong we decided to drive down to the Bodensee area, the lake bordering Germany and the north-easter part of Switzerland. It was a delightful ride down the mountainside, the apple trees were in bloom, the dandelions have managed to overrun grassy hills, and scent of magnolias compete with cow dung.

The boats were finally out in Bodensee after the long winter, the boulevards were packed with sun-worshippers, and lakeside restaurants were busy. The point of the ride down to Bodensee was to visit Rössli, a lakeside resto that’s famous for its Egliknusperli: deep fried fish fillet dipped in batter. This resto does away with the batter and lightly coats the fish in flour instead. What you get are thin crisp fillets of fish but still soft in the inside. Served with a quarter slice of lemon and tartare sauce, the dish was so excellent a finished a whole serving. With a view of the lake (well boat dock actually), and duck and swans gliding by, we didn’t want to end the day so early, so we went back up to homebase in Appenzell for a couple of drinks in one of the garden restos around Landsgemeindeplatz. This was midsummer after all, and the sun did not disappoint, affording us the luxury of sitting outside until the 9:00pm sunset.

Frohnleichnam

2005-07-16T07:00:00.000+02:00

Yes I am in Catholic country

Even with the reformation, Switzerland is Catholic country, the famous Swiss Guards are testament to that as well as the way Catholic holy days are observed in staunch Catholic Kantons.

Frohnleichnam (Feast of Corpus Cristi) is one such festival. In Appenzell, the women come out in force wearing the elaborate traditional costumes and jewelry, in countless variations including the special costumes for virgins (not so long ago, an old woman was seen marching with the virgins in her virgin kleid), widows, and variations in between.

This elaborate prayer vigil starts in the local gymnasium to the Landgemeindeplatz, the nunnery and finally to the St. Antonius Cathedral.

Der Fruhling is da!

2005-04-29T02:25:00.000+02:00

Think thousands of dandelions shamelessly cavorting on the sunny hillsides, tulips in come hither colors, and every spring flower vying for a bee’s attention. Ah, yes! The hills are alive with the sound of music! 5, 6, 7, 8 and run, and twirl and look up to the sky… Well you know what I mean. Spring is finally here!

Speaking of dandelions, I’ve got this wonderful recipe for with arugula. For those who don’t particularly like the the bitter taste of arugula, go for the really small leaves. You get more of the peppery taste but not the bitter aftertaste.

Spicy Chicken and Arugula Salad

For the dip/marinade, mix the juice of one citrus fruit with finely chopped onion, clove of garlic, chilipepper, stalk of lemongrass and a bit of fish sauce and a tablespoon of sugar.

Cut a couple of chicken breasts into cubes, marinade in a couple of tablespoons of the sauce and marinade for around 5-10 minutes. You could either grill the chicken or pan fry depending on whatever diet you’re on.

To finish, put a handful of arugula on a plate and make a hole in the middle. Put enough of the spicy chicken in the middle, garnish with fresh mushrooms finely cut with a mandolin, sprinkle some sesame seeds, fresh mint or coriander leaves and drizzle with sesame oil. Serve the dip on the side.