Good Food, Good Life: All About Keeping A Balance 3/3

Good food, good life. It's all about keeping the right balance.

Being away from home makes it easy to lapse into habits, especially when you're away from your usual routine. That's why it's important to keep in mind that when you're on the road, your goal should be to maintain your fitness level, not necessarily improve it. If you're training hard and eating right, a little splurge is more than deserved.

Here are some tips that work for me when I travel (whether for work or vacation), helping me strike the right balance between fitness and fun:

- Make sure you pack a pair of super lightweight sneakers and gym attire.

- Use hotel amenities to your advantage. Use the pool, gym, sauna or steam room. While most hotel gyms usually only come with basic cardio machines, I've been to a few that were well-equipped with barbells, dumbbells and even a Smith Machine!

- Work out approximately half of the days you're there.

- Best way to explore around town? By foot! Put on your trainers and go for a jog. Make sure you take a map with ya!

- Work out first thing in the morning so you have the whole day to yourself.

- Pack your protein powder and supplements in ziplock bags so you always have an inexpensive, quick meal ready!

- Drink plenty of SKY JUICE! Water, that is. Go for a glass red or light beer instead of frozen, sugar-packed drinks.

- Try to keep your same sleeping habits so your body clock isn't extremely altered.

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Now back to Switzerland. So I've indulged in some quality Swiss cheese and chocolate. What next? More food! This time, it's strictly educational.

After a satisfying meal at Les Sifflets, we headed toward Lake Geneva to check out the Alimentarium food museum.

 As we walked along the Quai Perdonnet, off of Vevey's charming old town, this giant fork came to view. It stands 8-meters in height and is made entirely from stainless steel. Swiss artist Jean-Pierre Zaugg designed this work of art in 1995, to commemorate the Alimentarium Food Museum's 10th anniversary.

This controversial work of art was meant to be a temporary piece but apparently the people of Vevey had grown to love it so much that it practically became a public symbol. Following petitions, Vaud authorities finally signed papers in 2008 declaring the fork stays permanently.

Remember Ariel in 'The Little Mermaid'? She used a fork to comb her hair

Christine was our unofficial photographer. Thanks for being a sport! She helped the guys and I take photos from our cameras and our phones

The fork stands right in front of the Alimentarium. The Alimetarium food museum is dedicated to various aspects of nutrition. The museum houses a permanent exhibition on the production, processing, effect and trading of food within the framework of the four topics of cooking, eating, buying and digesting.

A spoon to match the fork sculpture.

From different methods of cooking to the different utensils and cookware, there was a lot to learn about the history of its origins!

An example of a typical Swiss diet. The ideal meal plan – Eat often and in moderation.

The average food consumption per week then and now.

As a food and wellness company, it was a fitting joint-venture for Nestle to support the Alimentarium since it opened in 1985. Some locals recognize it as the Nestle museum because you'll also find the history of Nestle in one the exhibition rooms. It takes you through the development of Nestle products through the years including original Maggi noodles packaging from years ago. Funny how Singaporeans think of Maggi and Milo as local brands but it's actually from Switzerland!

Check out the retro Nestle artwork used for advertising and promotional items!

Well worth a visit. Why? The better you understand food and how it is processed in your body, the better the choices you’ll make!

Nestle is the biggest food and wellness company in the world. They even have a road named after them!

At the Nestle store, you’ll be able to find most of the products under the brand, from confectionary to cosmetics. I was surprised to find that brands like Garnier, Maybelline and Lancome is partly owned by Nestle/L'Oreal.

Beautiful homes up the hill near the Nestle HQ. I could totally live/work here... Now if only there was a beach.nearby!

Office with a view.

Nestle is popularly known for its baby products. Their journey began in Switzerland in the mid 1860’s when founder Henri Nestle created one of the first baby formulas as an alternative for mothers who couldn't breast feed.

Since then, Nestle has continued to develop nourishing food for the whole family – from infants, growing teens, adults, and the elderly to pets! I was surprised at how many brands were under Nestle. Even Powerbar!

I'm sure you're all familiar with convenient Nespresso coffee machine and capsules. Did you know that they also have something similar for tea and baby's milk? Very innovative!

Maggi products adapted to local consumers in India.

Millions of different people relate Nestle to thousands of different things. For me, it’s a hearty breakfast and enjoyable tea breaks.

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I had the privilege of meeting a really international group of digital marketing professionals at the Nestle HQ on our last day. They literally were from all over the world, based in Vevey for 8 months at a time. Alvin, Brad and I each had a chance to stand up and share how social media has influenced our lives and enabled us to build an online community.

Representing our different countries! I took the Malaysian flag because that's where I live now. Alvin is holding the Singapore flag, can you see it?

Digital marketing is a such fast-moving and often complicated industry, and while I felt a bit nervous giving a full-on powerpoint presentation about my life and social media in front of a corporate team of experienced people, they kindly made me feel welcome and we all learned a lot from each other.

It's all about a healthy work-life environment at Nestle. The day starts early for Nestle employees as they punch in at 7/8am and leave the office by about 5/6pm. Most shops (with restaurants and bars as an exception) in Vevey close around 5pm. On my last night, I went out to get dinner and was surprised to find that all the shops were already closed! I can't read French, which made it difficult to order at any restaurant. I was also being quite picky and refused any pizza or pasta. Luckily, there was a kebab shop near the hotel so I ended up getting a chicken kebab for 10Francs.

A scenic view of the lake from the Nestle cafeteria. I would eat here everyday!

Check out the dishes they offer at the Nestle canteen! Wouldn't it be nice to know the nutrition facts before deciding what to eat?

That's the end of my amazing journey with Nestle. An equally fun and educational trip where I learned a lot not just about the brand but also on food and nutrition.

Good Food, Good Life with Nestle.

Thank you for this unforgettable journey!

Good Food, Good Life: An Amazing Journey With Nestle (Part 1/3)

I’m baaaack. Took 2 weeks to snap out of vacation mode and get into the swing of things again, especially in terms of work, but I've kept you waiting long enough from my recent travel adventure to Switzerland. And now I'm finally sharing the best photos and a few awesome stories from the trip; sorry for the delay!

It all started with that wonderful food company that everyone has definitely heard of, Nestle…

As mentioned in my previous post, 2012 marks the 100^th year in Singapore for Nestle. Did you know that the brand itself has been around for over 140 years? I remember Nestle for nostalgic products that I grew up with such as Milo, Cheerios and KitKat, just to name a few. A lot has been accomplished for both Singapore and Nestle in the last century.

To learn more about Nestle's journey through nutrition, health and wellness; things that this blog and I am ALL about, I was humbled to be given the opportunity visit the Nestle Headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland. 2 other Singaporean bloggers who write about travel, food and lifestyle, and a writer for Lianghe Zaobao also joined me on this trip. The tour was thoughtfully organized and led by Christine, from Nestle Singapore, who made sure we got the most enriching experience in Switzerland - where Nestle all started.

The thing that delighted me the most about this trip wasn’t just experiencing Europe for the first time, but realizing the true meaning of Nestle’s mantra -‘Good Food, Good Life’.

‘An Amazing Journey With Nestle’ was my golden ticket to explore the world of Nestle and its origins. The flight was kindly covered by Finnair and the rest; hotel, food and tour; by Nestle.

It was my first time traveling to Europe, but as a relatively seasoned traveler, I was surprised it only took 11 hours to reach halfway across the world to Finland! Finnair is the fastest airline to Europe and I had a pleasant flight thanks to the gracious service of the flight attendants.

There were a few unoccupied seats on the plane, especially in the middle row. After take-off, I moved from my window seat and took up the center row… like a boss! Personal screens were nice too.

As we arrived in transit at Helsinki airport, we were approached by a friendly Finnair staff who recommended that we signed up for Finnair Plus, a membership programme that allows you to collect mileage and redeem attractive offers.

We just flew halfway across the globe, it’d be a waste not to earn those miles! As a Finnair Plus member, you can always redeem your missing mileage points even if you hadn’t signed up prior to your trip (as long as you redeem it only after three weeks but not more than six months after your flight).

We were already waiting in the bus that was to take us to our connecting flight from Helsinki to Geneva when it was announced that the flight was cancelled due to some technical difficulties they could not rectify in time.

Finnair handled the flight cancellation efficiently and made sure all the passengers were re-issued a new ticket. No one made a fuss. Everyone pretty much accepted the fact that stuff like this happens. I was just glad that at least Finnair did their maintenance checks thoroughly and made sure the flight was safe before allowing passengers to get on board.

So we had to take a detour and go to Geneva via Zurich instead. Our next flight was scheduled at 4PM, which meant we had 9 hours to kill in the airport.

Luckily, we had the luxury access of the Finnair lounge!

Wifi was free and extremely fast! Time went by quickly, especially with endless things to keep me entertained online.  I remember reading about Felix Baumgartner’s daring space jump that afternoon because it was all over my Facebook news feed and everyone was tweeting about it. Watch his amazing video if you haven’t already!

I loved what they served at the Finnair lounge. I enjoyed a hearty meal while waiting for our next flight.

The flight to Zurich took only 3 hours and we arrived in Zurich shortly after dinnertime.

From there, we took the train to Vevey (the small town where Nestle bases its HQ) and finally settled in at Hotel Du Lac. The hotel has a rich history, with many important Nestlé deals being signed or discussed under the same roof we were hosted in.

After a lengthy 29-hour journey to get here, I was happy to finally get a restful sleep on a comfortable, fluffy bed.

The grand front entrance of Hotel Du Lac.

The next morning, I took a walk behind the hotel and marvelled at the majestic mountaineous alps as it came to view. It was about 13 degrees that morning and I’m usually a whimp when it comes to the cold, but the sun glowed with warmth and the air was crispy fresh. Such a nice change to wake up to!

View from the breakfast room. Can you see the snow-covered mountain peak?

Here's a closer look...

There’s a lovely park just behind Hotel Du Lac that stretches along the pristine Lake Geneva. I planned on going for an outdoor run along the park with Christine but I just couldn’t handle the cold.

After a light breakfast at the hotel, our first order of business was… CHEESE!

My theory is: Switzerland has the best cheese and chocolate because they get the freshest milk from the happy cows that feed on the greenest pastures. Happy cows = fresh milk = the best quality of cheese and chocolate. Wouldn't you agree?

Happy cows!

We saw plenty of happy cows as we drove to Gruyere. They were so busy feeding on the turf and barely moved that Brad almost thought they were just “decorations”. Like those cupboard cows you probably would have spotted in Singapore.

 So here I am at the cheese factory called ‘La Maison Du Gruyere’.

Yes, the cheese on my hand is photoshop magic

I was surprised to see that these Swiss women still wear their traditional outfit to work. The first thing that came to mind when I saw them? Milkmaid!

Now you know where your condensed milk (that special ingredient in teh tahrik!) comes from...

Beautifully handmade cards.

Most traditional Swiss clothing and handmade craft such is adorned with embroidery.

We signed up for the audio tour (available in several different languages) that takes us through how cheese is produced and manufactured.

Look at all that cheese! It takes a whoppin' 400 litres of milk to make 35 kilos of cheese. This huge cellar holds the cheese in different age.

Say cheese!

 At the end of the tour, you can buy the locally produced cheese called Le Gruyere in the souvenir shop or even do a cheese tasting at the restaurant.

Milk a cow – that’s in bucketlist. I heard it isn’t easy and not the most pleasant experience for some, but I’d like to try it once!

While still in Gruyere, we stopped by the medieval town nearby to check out the scenery and one of the last remaining medieval towns still preserved to date.

You'll find some of the breathtakings views in Switzerland at the town of Gruyères.

The town of Gruyères itself is unique: a medieval village consisting of a cobble-stoned main street flanked by ancient but beautifully preserved buildings – a tribute both to the local statesmen's commitment to the rich history of their canton, and to the craftsmen restorers who have kept the village in its pristine condition.

The entire town is car-free, and the cobbled main street is an uphill slope to the château, so remember to wear comfortable walking shoes. Not only is the architecture of the medieval buildings themselves worth seeing, but some exceptional art and cultural exhibitions are housed here.

Who could forget the badass Sigourney Weaver in movie 'ALIEN'? This tiny town has a smaller second castle – the Château de St-Germain – which houses an exhibition of images and sculptures from the Swiss artist H. R. Giger, Oscar-winning designer of the monster in the original film 'Alien' (1979).

You aren't allowed to take any photos in the museum but they had some pretty cool sculptures outside too.

Next to the museum, there was also the Alien Bar...

And when you've had your fill of these artistic horrors, you can recover in the bar opposite, which is decorated in the same science-fiction style!

You're only allowed to take photos in the Alien Bar if you're customer, so I didn't grab any on my own. But here are some photos I plucked from the internet.

Live the movie at the Alien Bar.

It's like walking in to a movie set!

I hope you enjoyed my mini introduction to Switzerland so far, there's more to come on my next post!