Cow trekking in the Rhine.

“It began on a winter’s day when my wife took the kids camel riding here in Switzerland,” said Heinz, with a twinkle in his eye. “Why camels, I asked, when we’ve got a stable full of cows?”

Heinz may have been joking at the time, but he soon realised he was actually onto something. Today, cow trekking is part of Heinz and Doris's approach to organic farming at Bolderhof in Hemishofen, in the canton of Schaffhausen.

I arrived on a warm, hazy morning and was introduced to brown-eyed beauties Umbra, La Paloma and Oklahoma. I took to La Paloma instantly and, after a quick briefing, I was helped onto her smooth back. It wasn't as bumpy as a camel and considerably slower than a horse. I tried to keep La Paloma on the path and away from tempting meadows full of grass. In vain. Yet, slowly but surely, we picked our way through fields of sunflowers and down to the banks of the Rhine. Cow trekking is not only a unique way to explore the Swiss countryside, it's slow travel at its finest.

Kerry Christiani lives right by the German-Swiss border and is the co-author of Lonely Planet Switzerland.

This article was published in partnership with Lonely Planet Magazine.

The Hop Garden, in Wellington, has a great selection of New Zealand microbrews to intice any hobbit.

(Phil Cook)

Adding to the excitement surrounding the much anticipated film based on JRR Tolkien’s inaugural fantasy novel, director Sir Peter Jackson released a video diary last month that takes fans behind the scenes of his movie set in Wellington, New Zealand.

• Related article: Hiking through a microcosm of Earth

His glimpse into the making of The Hobbit movie, scheduled for release next year, has undoubtedly whetted the palates of fantasy geeks around the world. So we've put together a tour of Wellington that should all but satisfy their hunger for all things Lord of the Rings - in other words, an itinerary fit for a hobbit.

1) Get yourself a hobbit name
Use "The Hobbit Name Generator" to discover your secret hobbit name. ("Bilbo Baggins" returns the name Bilbo Baggins, so it's legit.)

2) Find a dwelling in Middle-earth
Booklovers Bed and Breakfast in downtown Wellington is a dream for, well, book lovers. Converted from a historic home, Booklovers was opened in 1999 by author Jane Tolerton who has stocked the inn with books over the years. The coolest thing about this B&B is that guests can choose from the literary collection and take books with them.

3) Devour breakfast... and then second breakfast
Freshly cooked breakfast is included in your stay at Booklovers, which offers eggs, bacon, fresh fruits, homemade granola, local juice, fair-trade local coffee and more. Since hobbits are known to enjoy "second breakfast", we recommend Vista Café, just north of Booklovers, which serves breakfast until 4 pm. In addition to brunch staples like eggs benedict and pancakes, Vista serves corn and herb fritters with a tomato-onion salsa, banana-coconut bread and homemade ciabatta bread.

4) Follow the trails of Frodo and Gandalf
Follow in the footsteps of actors Elijah Wood and Sir Ian McKellen by choosing from the movie tours offered by Wellington Rover Tours. Depending on which trip you select, you could recreate up to 25 scenes from the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) trilogy. Possible locations include "outer shire", outside of Downtown; suburbs to the south of Downtown where LOTR actors have lived; the WETA Cave, a pop culture museum co-founded by Jackson; Stone Street Studio, where The Hobbit is currently in production; and Hutt Valley and Kaitoke Regional Park, home to gardens, rivers and elfish trees featured in the movies. Wellington Rover Tours says its proudest feature is its knowledgeable guides, who have numerous anecdotes and secrets about the LOTR movies.

Serious fanatics may want to head out of town for a weekend to take the Hobbiton Movie Set and Farm Tour in Matamata - about six hours north of Wellington. Peter Jackson used Hobbiton's private farmland - the Alexander family farm - as The Shire in his films.

5) Have a spot of afternoon tea
It's no surprise that hobbits take afternoon tea, since their creator was an Englishman. Hippopotamus Restaurant serves high tea with multiple menus from which to choose. Tea varieties range from Mediterranean mandarin to natural rosehip and hibiscus to traditional Ceylon. Hobbit wannabes looking for an afternoon tipple will be pleased by Hippopotamus's selection of high tea cocktails. The Skye Bridge cocktail is made with 10-year-old scotch and Manuka honey.

6) Crash the set of The Hobbit
A tweet from Sir Ian McKellen leads us to believe that he and his cast-mates are currently shooting scenes at Stone Street Studios in the Miramar area of Wellington. The company does not offer public tours, but if you hang out outside for long enough, you're likely to spot members of The Hobbit's star-studded cast.

7) Chow down some more
As Pippin notes in the first Lord of the Rings movie, hobbits love to eat: "What about breakfast...What about second breakfast?...What about elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper?" That means, it's time to eat again. Not far from Peter Jackson's Miramar sound stages is Café Polo, named after the polo grounds nearby. According to Tolkien, mushrooms are a favourite hobbit food which grows in the Shire. Café Polo's menu features wild mushroom arancini and a main course of sirloin steak with mushrooms in garlic butter.

For supper with a side of celebrity, restaurants with a reputation of attracting LOTR stars include Green Parrot and Matterhorn, just a few blocks away from each other in Downtown Wellington.

8) 'It comes in pints!'
After your day (or weekend) of Tolkein-esque attractions, wind down with some ale, glorious ale. If there's an activity hobbits enjoy more than eating, it's probably drinking. If hobbits weren't fictional, we have a feeling they'd be at the forefront of the microbrew scene. For a night of frothy craft ales, start at Mac's Brewbar, on the harbour downtown. Mac's own award-winning beer includes the English-style Sassy Red, the chocolaty Mac's Black and Isaac's Cider, a hard cider made from local apples.

Next, head south to find The Malthouse, which isn't a brewpub but it does serve 80 craft beers from around the world. To find out which creative beers the bar is rolling out, check in with its blog. Finally, travel a few blocks south to find a gorgeous pub just a stone's throw from Booklovers B&B.

The Hop Garden has a lovely glass-encased garden-patio in addition to its great selection of New Zealand microbrews. With the option of ordering half-glasses of beers including Emerson's Bookbinder and Renaissance's Stonecutter Scotch Ale, you can sample as many craft brews as your little hobbit liver allows.

 

The rocky tidal island of Mont St Michel on the Normandy coast. (Donald C. & Priscilla Alexander Eastman/LPI)

Famous for the Bayeux Tapestry, the D-Day Landings and fortified Mont St-Michel, Normandy’s eventful history draws in visitors. Equally beguiling are the pastoral landscapes, small fishing ports, dramatic coastline – and distinctive regional cuisine, with Camembert and cider taking pride of place.

Normandy’s 25-mile Route du Cidre starts east of Caen and wends through the Pays d’Auge, a rural area of orchards, through villages such as Beuvron-en-Auge. On the way, Cru de Cambremer signs direct you to local producers happy to sell you their homegrown cider (routeducidre.free.fr).

Rouen’s centre is a medley of architectural treasures. The main thoroughfare, rue du Gros Horloge, is spanned by an impressive Gothic belfry and nearby are the grand Notre Dame cathedral and Place du Vieux Marché, where Joan of Arc was executed (rouentourisme.com).

The Maison et Jardins de Claude Monet in Giverny was home to the painter for the last 43 years of his life. His pink house and Water Lily studio stand on the periphery of the Clos Normand (00 332 32 512821; giverny.org; 84 rue Claude-Monet, Giverny; 9.30am- 6pm Apr-Oct; £7).

The world’s most celebrated embroidery, the Bayeux Tapestry, is in the Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux and recounts the Norman invasion of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror (00 332 31 512550; tapisserie-bayeux.fr; rue de Nesmond, Bayeux; daily; £7).

Trouville is a laid-back beach resort for weekending Parisians. The historic town was frequented by painters and writers during the 19th century, including Mozin and Flaubert, no doubt lured here by the sandy, mile-long beach. Nearby Honfleur is an amazingly picturesque old fishing port.

Eat and drink

Bayeux’s La Reine Mathilde is a sumptuous, turn-of-thecentury pâtisserie and salon de thé where you can sample soft nougats and fruit tarts beneath ornate chandeliers (00 332 31 920059; 47 rue St-Martin, Bayeux; breakfast, lunch and tea Tue-Sun; cakes from £2).

Caen’s warm and unpretentious Le Bouchon du Vaugueux is well worth booking for. Popular with locals, it serves spectacular modern Norman cooking such as fried chanterelle mushrooms and snails with red beetroot emulsion (00 332 31 442626; 4 rue Graindorge, Caen; lunch and dinner Tue-Sat; mains £8-£14).

Les Vapeurs, Trouville’s most famous restaurant, is a home from home for Parisian weekenders in designer shades. The menu focuses on local fish and seafood dishes served up in grand brasserie style (00 332 31 884585; lesvapeurs.fr; 160 quail Fernand Moureaux, Trouville; lunch and dinner; mains £8-£25).

Double Michelin-starred Gill serves gastronomic French cuisine by the banks of the River Seine. Try the Rouen-style pigeon stewed in vegetable consommé (00 332 35 711614; gill.fr; 8-9 quai de la Bourse, Rouen; lunch and dinner Tue-Sat; mains £20-£30).

Les Nymphéas bases its cuisine on local ingredients, including cider, giving a rich Norman twist to dishes such as farm-raised wild duck, scallops and lobster (00 332 35 892669; lesnympheas-rouen.com; 7-9 rue de la Pie, Rouen; lunch and dinner Tue-Sat; mains £20-£45).

Sleep

Stay in 17th-century La Maison Normande and you’ll feel like you’re visiting your Norman grandma. The cottage-style rooms are decorated in warm colours and toile de jouy wallpaper. The best have views of the nearby Gothic church (00 332 31 881225; maisonnormande.com, in French; 4 place du Marechal de Lattre de Tassigny, Trouville; from £42).

Occupying a red 19th-century seaside villa in the centre of Trouville, Le Fer à Cheval has 34 comfortable rooms with large French windows and wrought-iron balconies. Owned by a retired baker, the croissants at breakfast are a treat (00 332 31 983020; hotel-trouville.com; 11 rue Victor Hugo, Trouville; from £75).

The impressive 18th-century Château de Bellefontaine, one mile outside Bayeux, is surrounded by a five-acre park. The spacious rooms have views over a tranquil brook. The suites in the converted barn are more modern and rather less charming (00 332 31 220010; hotel-belle fontaine.com; 49 rue de Bellefontaine, Bayeux; from £105).

La Maison de Lucie in Honfleur is the former home of novelist Lucie Mardrus. Its rooms are decorated with antiques and contemporary objets d’art, and some have fantastic views of the Pont de Normandie – the world's second-longest cable-stayed bridge (00 332 31 144040; lamaisondelucie.com; 44 rue des Capucins, Honfleur; from £128).

The elegant conversion of Hôtel de Bourgtheroulde adds some glamour to Rouen’s hotel scene. A 15th-century mansion house, the modern rooms have wood-panelling (00 332 35 145050; hotels parouen.com; 15 place de la Pucelle, Rouen; from £180).

Getting around

Trains serve Rouen, Amiens, Caen, Bayeux and Le Havre (sncf.com). Elsewhere, you’ll be relying on local buses. Car hire is best if you want to explore the countryside and coast. Avis and Europcar have offices in Rouen train station (£25 per day; europcar.com).

Getting there

Ferries run from Portsmouth to Cherbourg (£125) and Le Havre (£200; ldlines. co.uk). Taking a car by Eurotunnel costs £53 one way. Rouen is reached by train from London, via Paris (£90; eurostar.com). Paris has flights from Edinburgh (£105; easyjet.com)

As most of you know, coral reefs form large sections of the Bali coastline. These coral reefs are important for the marine habitat, providing shelter for marine life, protecting the coast against erosion and as a breeding ground for fish.

Bali’s coral reefs contain a diverse selection of marine life. Statistics show that in 2007 over 80% of the coral reefs in Bali were damaged in some way, some almost destroyed. The situation has gradually worsened and by the mid 1990’s development took its toll on the reefs.

Serangan Island has been destroyed by beach reclamations work done at the location in 1996; the building of the causeway connecting the mainland to the island did almost irreparable damage to the biodiversity of the reefs. However, the fishing community in the area are working hard to restore 5 hectares of coral surrounding Serangan Island.

Serangan Island is home to one of the most sacred temples on Bali – Pura Sakenan. But it is the coral reefs that are of importance and one can only hope that in the not too distant future the reefs will return to normal. If you are unaware, coral reefs and the tiny polyps are extremely sensitive to their environment, small changes in ocean temperatures, salinity and other factors. Slight changes in the amount dissolved particles from human waste can seriously threaten a coral reef.

[How to make Aaron from Where the Wild Things Are]
- spaghetti
- mashed potato
*- egg yolk
- sliced cheddar cheese
- seaweed
- radish or white-ish sliced cheese or kamaboko (fish cake), or even left over hard boiled egg white from mashed potato. In other words, you can use any white food!
– cupcake cup (I used foil cupcake cups, but if you need to microwave your food, use paper cupcake cup instead. I’ve tried it, and the paper cup handled the moisture pretty well.)
– hole punch
– straw
– scissors
– round plastic cap
*optional

1. Make some spaghetti! (You can mix the pasta with your favorite salad dressing if you like.)

2. Take some pasta and put it in a cupcake cup.

Tips: Stick a spoon in the pasta, put a fork on the spoon, and slowly spin the fork to get the pasta on around the fork. Put the spoon & pasta & fork into the cup, slide the spoon out, and then remove the fork. It'll be less messy.

3. Make mashed potato and mix it egg yolk. (Egg yolk is just to make his face yellow, so if you don’t like egg, you don’t have to mix it in.)

4. Wrap it in plastic wrap, make an oval shape, and put it on the pasta.

5. Slice radish (or sliced cheese, or kamaboko, or hard boiled egg white), and use a plastic bottle cap to cut out a “C” shape for the horn. Stick it on the head.

6. Cut sliced cheddar cheese with a plastic cap or biｇ straw　(I used a bubble tea straw) for his terrible yellow eyes.

If you don't have any plastic caps to cut cheese, you can just use a spoon to trim it.

7. If you have a seaweed cutter for a smiling face like I do, use it to cut out seaweed.

Tips: If you put very thin paper under seaweed, it's easier to cut the seaweed out.

7. If you don’t have a special seaweed cutter, cut it freehand with scissors, an cut seaweed out with a hole punch, and put it for the eyes.

...and Max said "I'LL EAT YOU UP!!"

*For step 7, if you don’t have access to seaweed, you can use black sesame seeds for the pupils.

I had so much fun making eggs for the Behemoth’s contest so I thought I’d do a how -to so you too can make oddly shaped hard boiled eggs on your own!
What do they taste like? You should make one and find out by yourself.

From the left (clock-wise): Pyramid, sphere, square, and cuboid.

[How to make a cube shaped & pyramid shaped hard boiled egg]
- Eggs (the measurements for the mold is for LARGE egg)
- Milk carton or any juice carton (cut open, washed well and dried)
- Stapler (I’ve tried using different kind of tapes but almost all tapes were useless against moisture so save yourself the trouble and use a stapler.)
- Scissors
- Rubber bands
- Paper towel
- Plastic wrap (for a pyramid shaped egg)

Step 1: Make a mold!
Cube: Cut a milk carton like the photo below. Make sure you have tabs (the pink part in the photo) to use to staple the box together. For a cube, cut three extra square pieces that are slightly smaller than the squares on the box (so they’ll fit inside the box). The pieces are used to cover the staples on the inside of the box.)

Cube

You don't need to staple the bottom part. The rubber band will do the job.

Cover the stapled sides with the smaller square pieces.

Pyramid: Cut a milk carton like in the photo below. Make sure you have the tab (the pink part in the photo) in order to staple the box together. Cut two extra triangle pieces that are slightly smaller than the triangle on the box. These will be used to cover the staples inside.

Pyramid

I only used one staple to put together the pyramid box.

Step 2: Make hard boiled eggs! Plunge them into cold water. (It makes it easier to peel.)
A bit off topic, but someone emailed me asking how to get rid of the stinky egg smell from a hard boiled egg. The smell comes from the reaction of iron in the egg yolk and sulfur in the egg white when the egg is heated inside the egg shell and the smell gets stronger as the reaction goes on longer. So if you cook the egg  just right, your hard boiled egg doesn’t smell! How do you know when you over cook your egg? If the yolk is green-gray-ish on the outside, that means you over-cooked it. There are many websites to help you make the perfect hard boiled egg so try them and find the right method for you. 

Step 3: Peel the egg carefully and put an egg in the mold. Place the extra carton piece on top of the egg and push the egg in slowly.
Cube & Pyramid: If the carton piece can be pushed down lower than the edges of the box, put a folded paper towel on the top of the carton piece and put rubber bands around it.

Make sure you push the egg in until you can't push in any further.

Pyramid: The mold for a pyramid egg was just the right size, but because of its shape it was hard to put rubber bands around to secure the top. So I wrapped the mold with plastic wrap, put paper towels on the top (so the rubber bands wouldn’t make indentations on the egg.)

Slowly push the top down...

Pyramid: It doesn't look like it's supposed to be in the fridge, does it? It might be better to let your family know what you're doing.

Step 4: Put it in the fridge for about 15 minutes or so and slowly take the egg out.

Cube-ish

Pyramid-ish

This how-to is basically “make a mold and squeeze a hard boiled egg in” and not much else to it. The hardest part was to figure out the right size for the mold for a large egg. I tried a couple of different measurements and finally found the right size.  The first cube mold I made was too small and that’s how the cuboid shaped egg was made.

I know that some company sells a device to make an egg into a cube, so if you aren’t crafty but still want to make a cube shaped hard boiled egg, Google “Egg Cuber.”

I made Hatty from BattleBlock Theater using a cube mold.

[How to make a spherical  hard boiled egg]
- Hard boiled egg

I wasn’t going to do a how-to for this, but my boyfriend was amazed at how round one of the eggs was and asked me how I did it. All you have to do is put the index finger on the top of the egg, and the thumb on the bottom of the egg and squeeze for at least ten seconds. It pretty much stays like that even after you let go with your fingers.

My boyfriend said it looked like a turtle egg.

I’m not sure what you can do with these molded eggs to be honest, other than… purely for fun!

I’m sure you’ve seen them in various bento sites, but I also have Japanese egg molds. I got them out of curiosity a long time ago. I just wanted to see a molded hard-boiled egg. It’s amazing how flexible hard boiled eggs are.

Cute, aren't they? Too bad I rarely use them.

I have another how-to for an easy egg molding trick ready, but I’m going to post it separately so they’re nicely organized, so check back often!

If like me you're one of those people who love going on holidays, but cannot abide the whole flying experience, then this feature will be your new best friend.
Location, hotel, weather, nightlife – these are all major factors that we consider when planning a holiday. Although often overlooked, your flights play a hugely important role in your whole holiday experience as well. A bad flight or a flight that’s too long can be the difference between a fantastic holiday and an ok holiday.
ExclusiveLondon.co.uk has complied a list of holiday destinations by flight duration to help you choose the perfect holiday. If you don’t like lengthy flights, you may think you are just limited to holidays in France or Germany, but there are many destinations featured below that may be closer than you think. Flight durations are based on flights leaving from London, UK.

1 to 2 hours

Austria (Tryol, Salzburg)
Belgium (Brussels)
Denmark (Copenhagen)
France, North to Mid (Paris, Lyon)
Germany (Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg)
Ireland (Dublin)
Netherlands, The (Amsterdam)
Scotland (Edinburgh)
Spain, North (Bilbao)
Switzerland (Basel, Geneva, Zurich)

2 to 3 hours

Romania (Bucharest)
Hungary (Budapest)
Finland (Helsinki)
Balearic Islands (Ibiza, Majorca, Menorca)
Italy, North (Milan, Venice)
Latvia (Riga)
Lithuania (Vilnius)
Costa del Sol (Marbella)
Poland (Krakow, Warsaw)
Portugal (Lisbon)
Czech Republic (Prague)
Iceland (Reykjavik)
Netherlands, The (Rotterdam)
Bulgaria (Sofia)
Spain, Mid to West (Barcelona, Madrid)
Sweden (Stockholm)
Tunisia (Tunis)
Austria (Vienna)

3 to 4 hours

Bulgaria (Sofia)
Greece, North to West (Halkidiki, Preveza)
Greece, South (Kalamata, Athens)
Greek Islands, North to West (Corfu, Kefalonia, Skiathos, Zante)
Gibraltar (South of Spain)
Turkey (Istanbul, Anakra)
Madeira (Island South of Portugal)
Malta (Valletta, Birkirkara)
Morocco (Casablanca, Marrakech, Rabat)
France, South (Marseille, Montpellier, Nice)
Norway (Oslo)
Portugal (Porto Islands)
Italy, Mid to South (Rome, Naples, Sicily)
Russia (Moscow, St Petersburg)
Spain, South (Seville)

4 to 5 hours

Azores Islands, The (inc. 2 hour flight from Lisbon, Portugal)
Canary Islands (Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Tenerife)
Greek Islands, East to South (Mytilene, Cyprus, Mykonos, Kos, Santorini, Crete, Rhodes)
Egypt (Cairo, Luxor)
Jordan (Amman)
Syria (Damascus)
Turkey (Izmir, Bodrum)

5 to 6 hours

Israel (Eilat)
Africa, West (Nigeria)

6 to 7 hours

Africa, West (Gambia, Ghana, Senegal)
Saudi Arabia (Riyadh)
Oman (Muscat)
United Arab Emirates (Dubai)

7 to 8 hours

Antigua (St John’s)
Barbados (Bridgetown)
Bermuda (Hamilton)
USA, East (New York, Boston)
Canada, East (Montreal)
St Lucia (Castries)
Trinidad (Port of Spain)

8 to 9 hours

India, North (New Delhi)
India, West (Mumbai, Goa)
Pakistan (Karachi)

9 to 10 hours

Aruba (Oranjestad)
Bahamas (Nassau)
Bangladesh (Dhaka)
Botswana (Gaborone)
Cuba (Havana)
Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo)
Jamaica (Montego Bay)
Kenya (Nairobi)
St Kitts (Basseterre)
Tobago
Zimbabwe (Harare)

10 to 11 hours

Canada, South (Ottawa, Toronto)
USA, South East (Atlanta, Miami)
USA, West (California, San Francisco)
USA, North to West (Montana, Seattle)
USA, South (New Orleans)
Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo)
Argentina (Buenos Aires)
Cayman Islands (George Town)
Hong Kong
Grenada (St George’s)
Mexico (Mexico City)
Namibia (Windhoek)
Chile (Santiago)
South Africa (Cape Town)
Sri Lanka (Colombo)
Tanzania (Dodoma)
Zambia (Lusaka)

11 to 12 hours

Australia (Sydney)
Thailand (Bangkok)
Hawaii (Honolulu)
Japan (Tokyo)
Mauritius (Port Louis)
South Korea (Seoul)
Singapore
Venezuela (Caracas)

12+ hours

Fiji (Suva)
USA, West (Las Vegas)
Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur)
USA (Montana)

To help you choose where to go and more importantly what beach to choose, we have compiled a list of the top 10 beaches in the Caribbean.

Palm Beach

1/ Palm Beach (Aruba) – Idyllic beach setting with superb white sand.

2/ Grand Anse Beach (Grenada) – 3km beach with sugar-white sand, lots of space & shallow waters.

3/ Johnson’s Point (Antigua) – Made up of secluded coves; these white soft sand beaches are a must for snorkeling & swimming

4/ Pink Sand Beach ( Bahamas) – One of the world’s most photographed beaches, often voted world’s best by travel publications. 5km’s of salmon pink coloured sand, due to red plankton that has mixed with the fine white sand.

5/ Crane Beach (Barbados) – Often voted as Barbados’ most beautiful beach. Imposing cliffs, a natural coral reef and soft white sands make for a perfect beach.

6/ Negril Beach (Jamaica) – Laid back atmosphere and Jamaica’s prettiest beach. A lot quieter than Seven Mile beach.

7/ Englishman’s Bay (Tobago) – A sheltered beach with fine white sand, crystal waters & surrounded by a palm jungle.

8/ Grace Bay (Turks & Caicos) – Part of a national marine park, this beach has fine white sand, calm turquoise waters and is protected by a barrier reef.

9/ Trunk Bay (US Virgin Islands) – A beautiful beach with crystal clear waters, considered one of the best places for snorkeling in the Caribbean.

10/ Shoal Bay (Anguilla) – Put Angullia on the tourism map; sugar-white sand, crystal clear blue waters & coral reefs.

Another restaurant offering western cuisine is present in the capital. This time with the concept of 'luxury but warm' Velpa Resto present to you.

Velpa in Spanish means grand and luxurious. However, do not want to seem to keep a distance with the audience of culinary, concept Velpa room made ​​homey and friendly just like the bars in the era of cowboy first. Wood ornaments become a key feature of the restaurant.
Splendor it feels on makanna flavors offered. Menu is a mainstay Velpa is The Original Koboy Steak. What makes this different is the steak sauce of Jack Daniels drinks are poured over the steak. but do not get me wrong, you will actually feel the bitter taste like the sauce from other alcoholic beverages, even the sweet taste of Jack Daniels dar perfect mix of grilled meat is juicy. For those of you who like beef ribs, the menu offered by the Texas Back Ribs could be the right choice.

The other is a mainstay of Velpa is Cocktail drinks and wines from various countries. To cover, Coffee Cream With a delicious Kahlua will shake your tongue.
For those of you who did not like Western-style cuisine, not to worry, because the flavor menu at Velpa have all been adapted to the tongue of Asia. Moreover, unlike the western restaurant which always brings corn, bread or potatoes for a side dish, rice Velpa also provides a menu for those who want it.

Want to try? Just come to the shopping center Gandaria City Ground Floor. In the framework of soft launch, held Velpa promo 50% for each diet.

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Decorating is one of the best parts of the holiday season. Trimming the tree, putting lights along the roof and of course getting the gingerbread house all decked out and ready for Santa. To be honest, that’s actually one of the toughest things about the holiday season…waiting for Christmas Eve and Santa’s arrival. This year I think I might have to have two gingerbread houses. One for Santa and one for me because this one is looking mighty tasty.

Image By Stuck in Customs

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I walked into my garden yesterday and found this little guy making a break for it. Going somewhere, are we little carrot? I don’t think so. I’m not sure how he managed it, but the only place he walked to was my kitchen. I walked him right onto the counter and straight into a delicious salad. Oh, don’t worry, he had plenty of friends in there. Besides, what else was I supposed to do? He was trying to make a run for it.

Image By clickclique

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Hey dude, nice wiener…I mean nice wienermobile you’ve got there! Mind if I climb aboard and have a look around. I’d ask if I could take a test drive, but it looks like you’re getting a little heavy in the rear. Maybe it’s time to lighten your load? Either way, if you don’t mind I’d at least like to get a picture of me and the wiener before I head out!

Image By Matt McGee

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Coral, sometimes referred to as the “rain-forest of the sea”, are considered one of the more productive ecosystems on Earth. They are also known for their beauty and richness of life. A coral reef is made up of many colonies of coral. Hard coral attach themselves to a reef, often on top of previous coral colonies, thus building their future and providing more stunning color and beauty to the vast ocean.

Image by NOAA’s National Ocean Service
Although there are many different kinds of coral, there are two basic types: hard and soft. Hard coral are known as the reef builders, while soft coral look more like the colorful underwater plants.
Hard coral can be found in a variety of shapes and sizes, however, unlike their soft counterpart, hard coral are usually found in shallow waters where they can be closer to the sunlight.
They are composed of rigid calcium carbonate (limestone) and can sometimes be mistaken for rocks. The Great Coral Reef is an example of when huge colonies of hard coral live and grow together. Here are some examples of hard coral:
Brain coral contain many rough ridges much like the human brain. Their crevices make an ideal place for small animals to live.

Image by jayhem

Image by sethbienek
Star coral kind of look like a decorative custard tart…but they are definitely not for eating. They have an outer ring with lots of lines going through it, then an indentation in the middle.

Image by JennyHuang
Encrusting coral are built extremely strong and can withstand storm conditions. They form by spreading out low, like a crust, on rocky surfaces.

Image by pareeerica

Image by yeowatzup
Pillar coral, like it’s name, look like fingers or pillars sticking upward. They are different from branching coral because they do not have secondary branches. They are commonly found in the western Atlantic Ocean.

Image by Nick Hobgood
Table coral got their name possibly because they have a broad horizontal surface, quite like a standard table. They are normally found in environments with bright light.

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Image by Hamed Saber
Elkhorn coral is the most common, as well as the largest coral. Its branches, which look like antlers, are thick and very sturdy. Elkhorn coral often acts as a protection for smaller fragile coral and can usually be found on the outer edges of a reef.

Image by Paul and Jill

Image by Paul and Jill
Staghorn coral is a branching coral and like the Elkhorn coral, they also have a lot of antlers. Staghorn coral has a number of main branches, as well as many secondary branches which are used to provide shelter for the rest of a coral reef.

Image by Nick Hobgood

Image by SarahDepper
Bubble coral have large water filled bubbles which cover large sharp sepia. The “bubbles” expand during the day and look very similar to cream colored grapes.

Image by CybersamX