792. Morocco Part 19 | Snapshots of Rabat + Next Destination!

After some weeks of planning (and stress), we finally have our next destination booked!! I guess the Africa portion of this world trip will already end as we will be heading to Asia after! More specifically - to Bangkok, Thailand. I guess we chose it mainly because we've been wanting to enter Asia and at this point, Thailand seems to be the only one open to foreign visitors. It did include a lot of planning/approvals though.

To enter Thailand, the main thing required is a Certificate of Entry. After we got pre-approved, we had to book a government-approved quarantine hotel, flights, etc. To apply for the COE, we needed to buy proper insurance. I got rejected twice due to minor issues with the insurance and each time I had to re-apply and wait a few days for an answer..so it was quite stressful as our departure date was nearing.

Long story short, we got the final approval yesterday! Now we have everything booked and the final step will be to take a COVID test before leaving. For the flight, I'm excited to be flying Emirates for the first time! We have a short layover in Dubai before heading to Bangkok. I'm actually excited for our hotel quarantine as it will be an experience and our hotel is really nice. All the quarantine hotels in Thailand seem really well organized and provide excellent service. Like they make an effort to ensure their guests have a good experience quarantining. We will have an exercise bike, yoga mat and weights in our room. Our meals are provided 3 times a day (and the sample menu looks really good!). They will give us a COVID test on the 5th day and if the results are negative, we will be allowed out to the rooftop pool/lounge for a limited time each day. Then another test is done on the 13th day. Every day we will need to take our own temperature and record it in a special app I think.

I plan to be as productive as I can during that time with work and I guess I will get started on my taxes. I'll also bring some books to read.

So after our 2-week quarantine, we will stay another month in Bangkok before going to one of the islands (hopefully). We also booked our post-quarantine accommodations and I'm super excited about it too! The main thing I'm worried about in Thailand is the heat and humidity. It's going to be mid 30s degrees every day =\ Also I'm not looking forward to the super long flight. But I hope by the time we are done with Thailand, we can enter other Asian countries.

It feels like we've been in Morocco forever. I guess we were here about 2 and a half weeks in total. Here are some random shots taken around Rabat these weeks:

For Chinese New Year, we went for lunch at As'iam Restaurant. It's not a Chinese restaurant but close enough lol.

The Thailand Embassy where we walked to a few weeks ago to get information

This Turkish place we've been to a few times. It's really good.

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730. Alo Restaurant | Dinner at the Top Restaurant in Canada

Last month for my boyfriend's birthday, I took him to dinner at Alo. Alo is a contemporary French restaurant, currently rated as Canada's #1 Restaurant. Naturally, getting a reservation here took a bit of effort. I had to book months in advance (at the exact hour/minute when reservations for November opened up) and was lucky to secure a spot on our desired night..as when I refreshed the reservations page a few minutes after, it was already fully booked again. A non-refundable deposit secured our spot.

The tasting menu consisted of 10 courses, not including the amuse-bouche, intermezzo, etc. Each course was so beautifully plated I kept looking forward to the next one to see how it was presented. Everything was delicious (as expected) with exciting flavours and textures.
The service of all the wait staff was impeccable. They were very professional and knew the perfect moments to come and change our dishes and cutlery without being intrusive. The dining experience was unlike any I've had before, and definitely one of the best meals I've had the pleasure of eating. The ambiance was perfect. I highly recommend it for a special occasion.


Bigeye Tuna


Hokkaido Sea Scallop


Kanpachi


Sea Urchin


East Coast Lobster


Milk Fed Veal Tenderloin


Snake River Farms Beef Rib Cap

*Then there was bread and butter with foie gras which I seem to have forgotten to take a photo of.


Intermezzo


Concord Grape - the dessert. I LOVED this!

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718. Anniversary Dinner at Blueblood

Last week my boyfriend and I had our anniversary dinner at Blueblood, a beautiful steakhouse inside Casa Loma. I really loved it. It was a great way to celebrate the best two years of my life so far!







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713. Peru Trip | Dinner at Kjolle, Lima

With Lima being the food capital of Peru, we wanted to take the opportunity to try a nice restaurant for dinner that night. With a bit of research, we discovered the top restaurant there is Central, which is currently ranked 6th in the world! Unsurprisingly, they booked up months in advance. So we went to the next best place - their sister restaurant, Kjolle. They are located within the same building. The owners/co-chefs are a husband and wife team named Virgilio Martínez and Pia León who also live on the property they work. The wife, Pia, opened Kjolle last year. She is hailed as Latin America's best female chef.

Kjolle (pronounced "koy-ay") is named after a tree that grows at extreme altitudes. The tree produces a yellow flower that is fermented to make spirits and sauces. A lot of ingredients in Peruvian cuisine are only found at high altitudes which is what makes them so unique.

The menu at Kjolle features fresh ingredients found all over Peru, many ingredients being indigenous to the country's diverse landscapes and even some from the Amazonian jungles.

The food was incredible and very flavourful. Everything was beautifully plated. The atmosphere in the restaurant was tranquil and elegant, with very minimalist style decor. The staff was excellent. They were very knowledgeable in all the dishes, and knew just the right time to come and retrieve an empty plate or refill our glasses without infringing on privacy.

I loved the whole experience a lot and highly recommend it.


Each table was offered this drink before starting. I completely forgot what it was but I really loved it.

The bread was delicious! We asked for a second loaf after devouring this one. It was freshly made (we saw them being baked outside in their garden when we entered) from the stone oven/pit straight to our table. It was really soft and light inside.


We ordered several dishes to share. I believe this was the "sea bass and razor clams" and at the top is "squash and crustacean".


The bottom dish is yucca. I have to admit I don't remember at all what the top two were.


I believe this was pork belly.


This dessert was so good!! It was a mixture of cacao, coconut chunks and honey.




On the first floor they have some ingredients on display.


This is the entrance to the restaurants.

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651. Shanghai | Fu He Hui

We went to Fu He Hui for dinner one night in Shanghai. It is a Michelin-starred vegetarian fine dining restaurant. All the rooms are private and you can only order the tasting menus which feature a variety of exotic vegetables and fungi. It was a really nice experience and peaceful atmosphere.













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