Holland, the original cool? Slovenia, Diversity to discover.

I’ve seen so many beautiful and really cool promotional destination clips. Why did Holland make such an uncool clip?

NBTC (Nederlands Bureau voor Toerisme & Congressen) receives government funding from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and cooperates intensively with relevant parties within and outside the hospitality sector.

That means that we, Dutch tax payers have funded this movie. It doesn’t look cheap, but I guess my biggest issue is that the guy talks too much… when I think of it, yes, that could be very Dutch (If you think away his unDutch accent).

Does anyone disagree? Who finds this clip cool?

Here’s what I find cool; Slovenia, Diversity to discover.

The new bell

I hope this one doesn’t get stolen too…

Spring at last?

It’s been a long winter here in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Everyone seems fed up with it, it’s time for Rokjesdag!

Spring. Museumplein IAmsterdam by DLCS management

Croatian gastronomy

Some of the reasons of my love for Croatia..

More information: Croatian National Tourist Board www.croatia.hr

Natural flu shot

I still didn’t *KNOCKS ON WOOD get the flu this year.
Everyone seems to have already gotten it here in The Netherlands.
Wonder how I’ve been battling it?

*Peel and grate some ginger, put in a teapot or cup
*Crush a chilli pepper and add to the pot or cup
*Add boiled water, cover with a lid or plate or tin foil
*After 5 minutes, add half a lemon, squeezed
*Add a spoon or 2 of honey
*Drink hot; a cup (or 2) in the morning and a cup (or 2) before going asleep.
This tea is also supertasty when drunk cold.

Good luck & stay healthy!

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Sage – Queen of Medicinal Herb

Sage, Salvia, I love it. I’m forcing some of my friends (Sorry I.!)  to at least apreciate the healing powers of it, but I understand they don’t like the taste, it took me years to start loving it.

Just stumbled across this great blog, stressing the qualities of this amazing plant. Thank you Jelena & Nada.

Sage – Queen of Medicinal Herb.

 

Traditional Specialities Guaranteed

Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (aka TSG) is a European Union (EU) food designation. This Regulation establishes the criteria and procedures by which agricultural products intended for human consumption and foodstuffs can be recognised as traditional specialities guaranteed (TSGs).

This act or designation does not restrict a food item to a geographical area, as the other designations do. The emphasis is on the product being made with “traditional” ingredients, or techniques, rather than being on the place where it is made.

An agricultural product intended for human consumption or foodstuff with a traditional composition, or produced according to a traditional production method may become a traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG). This possibility encourages the diversification of agricultural production and has positive consequences in several areas. The introduction of a TSG boosts farmers’ revenues and maintains the population in less favoured or remote areas by promoting the rural economy. It also increases the market value of the products of economic operators, by guaranteeing that they are distinguishable from other similar products or foodstuffs. In addition, thanks to the introduction of this designation, consumers will able be to make more informed choices on the basis of clear information on the specific characteristics of the products they buy.

Register of products

TSGs recognised at European level are entered into a register, which is kept by the Commission. They are divided into two lists according to whether or not the use of the name is reserved to those producers who comply with the product specification. A product may only be registered if:

• it is produced using traditional raw materials;
• it is characterised by a traditional composition or by a method of production/processing that corresponds to a traditional production/processing method.

In order to be registered, the name must:

• be specific in itself;
• indicate the specific character of the agricultural product or foodstuff.

Product specification

In order to be recognised as a TSG, an agricultural product or foodstuff must comply with the product specification, and must include the following elements:

• the name, given in one or more languages, and an indication whether the application for registration is being made with or without reservation of the name;
• the description of the product, with an indication of its main physical, chemical, microbiological and organoleptic properties;
• the description of the production method to be applied by the producers, including where relevant the nature and characteristics of the raw materials or ingredients used and the manufacturing method;
• the key elements that define the product’s specific character;
• the key elements that demonstrate the product’s traditional character;
• the minimum requirements and procedures for checking its specific character.

Protection

The Member States must take the necessary measures to ensure legal protection against any misuse or misleading use of the term “traditional speciality guaranteed”, the abbreviation TSG and the associated Community symbol and against any imitation of names registered and reserved. Registered names must be protected against any practice liable to mislead the consumer, including practices suggesting that a product is a traditional speciality guaranteed recognised by the Community.

• Perhaps you know about the quarrel Slovenia and Austria have about one of my favourite foods; the Kransjka klobasa from Slovenia (‘Carniolan sausage’) or the Krainer wurst as the Austrians call it (See THIS article in the UK Telegraph) 
• Or perhaps you are from a region which has local specialties which fall under the Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (aka TSG) European Union (EU) food designation? 
• What is your favourite Traditional Speciality Guaranteed food (Check Wikipedia HERE for a list)?

Kranjska klobasa

More info and the full legislation: http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/agriculture/food/l66043_en.htm

Toilet in the mountainhut

When I was in Slovenia, we visited the mountains and spent some nights up. Everything up there was an incredible experience, even a visit to the toilet…

Toilet in mountainhut

Toilet in mountainhut

The lake you see down there, is drinkingwater which tasts amazing.

Feel-Good-Song & Missing the sea

Back in the city for a month and I’m missing the sea terribly…

This song is my Feel-Good-Song of the moment, it makes me happy and gives me energy. Plus it reminds me of the sea..

 

 

SOLEDAD
En la mar yo me encontraba
En una tarde serena
En la mar yo me encontraba
En una tarde serena
Detrás la brisa cantaba
Allí calmaba mis penas
Detrás la brisa cantaba
Allí calmaba mis penas

Amor en la mar
Mis penas pude calmar
En la mar, en la mar
Mis penas pude calmar

Luego me acerqué a la playa
Le canté a la soledad
Luego me acerqué a la playa
Le canté a la soledad
De alegría se desmayaba
Aquella tarde en la mar
De alegría se desmayaba
Aquella tarde en la mar

Amor en la mar
Mis penas pude calmar
En la mar, en la mar
Mis penas pude calmar

Hong Kong tycoon offers $65 million “marriage bounty” to any man who can win the heart of his lesbian daughter

Just a week after 33-year-old Hong Kong socialite Gigi Chao revealed she is married to her female partner of seven years, her tycoon father has launched a public campaign to marry her off to a man.

Cecil Chao, a Hong Kong shipping magnate and property developer, is offering a HK$500 million ($65 million) marriage bounty to the man who captures Gigi’s heart, the South China Morning Post reported Wednesday. “I don’t mind whether he is rich or poor. The important thing is that he is generous and kind-hearted,” Cecil was quoted as saying by the Hong Kong daily. Gigi last week revealed she married long-time partner Sean Eav in France earlier this year. Same-sex marriages are not legally recognized in Hong Kong. Her father, the 76-year-old owner of Cheuk Nang (Holdings) Ltd., rejected suggestions that Gigi is a lesbian, and described reports she had gotten hitched as “false,” the SCMP said. Cecil Chao is hardly one to be giving marriage advice: he is known in Hong Kong as the “playboy tycoon,” famed for once claiming to having bedded 10,000 women. Gigi, who runs a modeling and marketing company and is a director at Cheuk Nang, is his first of three children with different women.

A photograph posted on Ms Chao’s public Facebook page confirmed that she and her partner were Paris-bound in April this year. “Going to Paris to buy a few businesses,” read the caption to a picture apparently taken in the first class section of a plane. The Facebook profile of Ms Chao, who is a University of Manchester architecture graduate, reads: “Helicopter Pilot. Social entrepreneur. Creator of expressions in colour and emotion.” It also describes her as an executive director at her father’s Hong Kong-based property firm, Cheuk Nang. Ms Chao’s LinkedIn profile says she worked with British architect Sir Terry Farrell for two years.

Speaking to the South China Morning Post, Mr Chao denied he would force his daughter to marry a man against her will.

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Could you imagine (Okay well probably your parents are/were not this wealthy), your parents doing anything similar? Do you think this is just gossip? Would you support your child regardless his or her sexual preference?