Harabu House » Travel

Destination: Istanbul Sights

Harabu House — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:00:03 +0000

And finally, some of the colorful vendors and beautiful architecture from our trip.

Destination: Istanbul

Harabu House — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 11:00:44 +0000

Istanbul, unlike any city in the world happens to straddle two continents… Europe and Asia. The European side of Istanbul could be confused with many major European cities, with its wide tree-lined avenues, if it weren’t for the call of the Imam, 5 times a day, which reminded you of where you were. The Asian side of Istanbul appeared more residential and certainly more conservative, with less glitz. �We were lucky enough to get a chance to spend a week in Istanbul to soak up the sights, smells and history of this incredible city. A week is hardly enough time, but we made the best of our time there. �Stay tuned for a post on Istanbul Eats!

Best Chocolates on the Planet – MAST BROTHERS, BROOKLYN.

Harabu House — Mon, 17 Feb 2014 12:00:08 +0000

Anybody who knows me, KNOWS that I just LOVE chocolate. I mean, good chocolate, with at least a 70% cocoa content. None of those sickeningly sweet candy bars, where all you want to do is pull your teeth out after one bite. On a recent trip to Williamsburg, I just had to stop at Mast Brothers, a “bean-to-bar” chocolate factory in Brooklyn, to sample their artisanal chocolates for myself. �As soon as you entered, you were literally hit in the face by the aromas of cocoa. And then, right before your eyes, was the sampling table with rows and rows of beautifully wrapped chocolate bars. My other favorite- fine papers. It was so tempting to buy the whole lot. They didn’t come cheap, with the average cost of each bar around the $12 mark. There were samples from Papua New Guinea, Costa Rica, Madagascar and some other far flung places. Still, the place is worth a visit, if you’re in the area, But if you’re unable to, hopefully these pictures will provide you with visions of chocolate heaven.

The Factory

The many beautiful fine papers used to wrap each bar

The two flavors I ended up with were “Vanilla and Smoke” and yes, “Black Truffle”. Yum yum!

And finally, I left with my very own signed copy of the Mast Brothers’ Cookbook!

Soup Dumplings: Din Tai Fung, Singapore

Harabu House — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 12:00:44 +0000

If you’re a fan of dim sum, you’ve probably tried soup dumplings or Xiao Long Bao. These dumplings, contrary to the name, aren’t dumplings in soup. Rather they are dumplings FILLED with soup! There is a special way to eat them, to prevent you from scalding yourself from the piping hot soup within the dumpling. In fact, there are several youtube videos illustrating proper technique. �This particular one is my favorite.

I was lucky enough to eat at a Din Tai Fung, a Taiwanese chain known for their Xiao Long Bao. The next time i’m in Singapore, i’ll definitely be heading there again!

How dinner spread

Noodles and dumplings in broth

Delicious greens saut�ed in garlic

Xiao Long Bao

And finally, the ginger, vinegar, soy sauce used for dipping Xiao Long Bao.

Vintage Travel Posters: South Africa

Harabu House — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 12:00:34 +0000

I found these beautiful vintage South Africa posters on Pinterest. �Having just returned from a stunning trip to South Africa, i felt these vintage posters completely captured the essence of our trip. Pictures (and products) from our trip still to come!

Beautiful Booth Displays at the NYNOW Gift Fair

Harabu House — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 12:00:04 +0000

We just spent two very busy days at the NY NOW (formerly the NY International Gift Fair) over the weekend! Too busy to capture some of the more elaborate booth displays, but here are a few! I can only imagine how much time and effort went into these displays. �Stay tuned for the products we found!

Vintage-inspired Italian Staplers

Harabu House — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 12:00:37 +0000

We recently discovered these super chic vintage-inspired italian staplers at Present&Correct, a lovely stationery store based in London. They look like little whales! (Images below are from Present&Correct.)

And my very own in orange….

Floral Fabrics and other Tulu Finds

Harabu House — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 12:00:10 +0000

I was happy to see House Beautiful’s roundup of Folk Floral Fabrics recently and the their very first fabric, Talullah, caught my eye. It looked SO familiar, and then it occurred to me – Talullah, designed by Tulu, a beautiful boutique in Istanbul, is the very same fabric used on the clutches that we brought back from Istanbul. We had stumbled upon Tulu right next to the Blue Mosque and loved their shop instantly. We went a little crazy and picked up several items from vintage ikat bowls to suzani cushions.�You can find clutches and pouches in the Talullah fabric, here at Harabu House. And here are the items we from Tulu that we brought back.

NYC Eats: Ippudo NY

Harabu House — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 12:00:55 +0000

You�ve probably heard about it� the long lines at Ippudo, the Ramen noodle shop in NYC that is apparently to die-for.� What was all the hype about? Naturally, being a lover of anything Japanese, I had to try it. Of course, I didn’t believe the stories about the long lines and decided to head over there for lunch. I showed up an hour after they had opened for the day, and I mean, what was I thinking? It didn’t seem like i was! �I walk in, expecting a 30 minute wait, which is reasonable for a popular restaurant in Mahnttan. Instead, the wait for a table was on the order of 2 hours. Urgh! Sadly, I abandoned that quest and decided to come a bit more prepared the next time.

So last weekend, I rallied up the troops and got there at exactly 11am, when they opened. There were already 20 people in front of me, but thankfully since our entire party was there, we were seated right away! I ordered some shishito peppers, steamed pork �buns, baby cucumbers and of course a hot steaming bowl of the spicy ramen. Wow, they weren�t kidding. I�ve never had a better bowl of ramen before, EVER! And I grew up in South East Asia.� The wait was most certainly worth every last drop!

Snow, Snow, Snow

Harabu House — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 01:00:58 +0000

We’ve had quite a bit of snow lately, and not to mention some pretty frigid temperatures along with that. All this white outside made me think of ice hotels in Scandinavia. I’ve always wanted to stay in one, although given how well i’m adapting to this winter’s cold, perhaps I’d be better off just VISITING an ice hotel so i can scratch it off my bucket list…. or come to think of it, these images might just suffice!

Babble.com did a run down of 10 Most Amazing Ice Hotels, which you can find here. Here are a few additional images from Pinterest that I found particularly stunning. Enjoy and stay WARM!

And my absolute favorite……