23 hours to Arica [YQrtw Day 87 Jul 5]

Location: Arica, Chile

Arica is a town near the Chile-Peru border, about 2,073.5 km from Santiago. After my very expensive flight from Buenos Aires to Santiago, I decided that I will take the bus for long-distance travel.

For me, while sitting on the bus for 23 hours is torturous, it is not as torturous as forking out a large chunk of the remaining of my savings. That was how I found myself on seat 20 on a semi-cama bus.

I broke down the journey into two: Santiago to La Serena and La Serena to Arica. Somehow, 23 hours of journey felt better than 30 hours straight on the bus.

I decided not to do a post similar to 31 hours of travelling because I get motion sickness when I try to read or write on a vehicle with wheels. I wish I didn’t have this problem since I would be able to read a lot more books when travelling.

I was seated next to a Chilean guy with large arms. I still had the aisle to put the rest of my arm and my feet so it wasn’t that bad.

On the bus, I managed to watch A Good Day to Die Hard and Hitchcock in Spanish. The first film didn’t require much listening skills since it’s all about blowing things up. Thankfully I’ve watched Hitchcock on the plane before.

Tur-Bus has a built in warning system that rings whenever the bus goes more than 100km/hour. There is a beeeeeep and the bus would slow down a little.

The bus was had air conditioning, which was great since I believe we passed through many places where the temperature was really cold. At one point, we were driving among the fog/clouds on a windy mountain road.

When we stopped at terminals to pick up people, I would go off the bus to breathe some of the cold fresh air. Ventilation on the bus wasn’t fantastic.

Food on a 23-hour bus ride

Some snacks and breakfast was included in my bus ride. However, the food provided was not enough to satisfy even a sedentary adult.

Chilena biscuit with dulce de leche filling

I had 6 green apples from Santiago and munched on them when I felt a bit of motion sickness. The sweet juicy apples helped keep things from coming up my throat.

Arriving in Arica

I figured out we were in Arica when everybody got off the bus. I only had 10,000 notes and 60 cents with me so I broke my note by topping up 1,000 peso on my phone.

Armed with a few 1,000 pesos, I followed the directions from the hostel and went to the opposite side of the road. Bus #8 came, I got on, asking in terrible Spanish if the bus went to the road I was going to. It did.

Using Google Maps [Tip! Save a spot on your app and the map for the area will still be there when you need it.], I found my hostel. I checked in, took a shower, tried to blog, napped and woke up for dinner. I had to walk to the main street for some local fast food but my belly thanked me for putting something–anything!–in it.

I’m now finishing up this post in my 12-bed (beds, not bunk beds, thankfully) in Arica Surfhouse. There’s no heating here but the temperature feels like a nice 17 degrees.

Buenos noches.

A stroll in La Serena before the 23-hour bus ride [YQrtw Day 86 Jul 4]

Location: La Serena -> Arica, Chile

For some strange reason, the small town of La Serena has a large concentration of malls. Besides Plaza Mall Serena where I bought my suitcase, there was Plata del Mar mall where I went to in the morning for the DIY store.

The left part of my glasses has a crack and I am afraid that this crack would lead to a complete break off of my glasses. That’s why I’ve been checking out supermarkets for superglue or anything similar.

Eventually I found a 100gm tube of glue at the DIY store. However, after multiple times of trying to glue the crack together, my glasses still has the crack. Hope I can work it out before it breaks and I have to use my backup glasses.

After getting the glue, I had plenty of time in La Serena before my bus to Arica at 4:20pm. I walked around, mentally ticking off the different Places of Interest, including:

Archaeological Museum – La Serena

I wanted to visit two museums in La Serena but I only found the Archaeological Museum. The entrance was 600 pesos and I got to see two Incan mummies and one Moai.

The Moai was very impressive but it looked kind of lonely standing on its own in a building.

By the time I got out of the museum, I was hungry for coffee and lunch. The cafe I went into didn’t serve their menu of the day until 1pm so I got a cafe latte to sip and wait till 1pm.

After collecting my multiple bags from the guesthouse, I walked to the bus station, walking alongside Panamericana Ruta 5 which is a shorter and easier route compared to what the guesthouse has on its website.

The bus came about 4:32pm. I thought I still had some time to use the bathroom since I heard the driver said, “Quince.”

However, when I got back, the bus driver waved me onto the bus. As soon as I sat in my seat, the bus pulled out. I was the last person to board. How very embarrassing.

There wasn’t any official rest stops along the way. I was thankful for my 6 green apples which also helped with altitude and motion sickness.

#FoodFriday Piscola in Chile

Welcome to YQtravelling’s FoodFriday–the day of the week when I show off some of the lovely eats I had while travelling.

Today’s post is not a food but a drink. Salud!

I used to be allergic to alcohol. I would break out in angry rashes whenever I drink wine or anything with more than 5% alcohol.

However, I treated this allergy by introducing a bit of wine into my body slowly. Now, I don’t break out when I drink glasses of sparkling wine but I still cannot drink too much alcohol.

Piscola--Pisco and coke — Piscola–Pisco and coke

While I do not drink during meals, I discovered the very delicious Piscola (pisco with Coca Cola) which I do not mind having with my food.

I’ve heard alcohol drinkers call this combination “like rum with Coke”. I don’t know what rum tastes like so I’ll take their word for it.

Besides Piscola, I like Pisco Sour a lot. It’s pisco with lemond and limes (some of my favorite fruits!) and egg white. It’s sour but sweet.

I always finish drinking it before I can take a photo. Drats.

What alcohol do you like to add Coca Cola with?

Bus to La Serena [YQrtw Day 85 Jul 3]

Location: Santiago -> La Serena, Chile

I woke up at 8:05am and began packing all my things. Back on Day 1, I only had a backpack and my slingbag. Now, besides my sling bag, I have a backpack that is bursting at its seams, a huge Carrefour cloth shopping bag for my laptop and other important things and another smaller Carrefour shopping bag for water and food.

My luggage has gone out of hand. I even had to wear my two jackets simultaneously because there wasn’t space to put them in. By the time I was ready to leave, I looked like a hobo with my three bags and multi-layered jackets.

Thank goodness for the jackets because it was 8 degrees C when I got out. Instead of shivering, I was warm and snug, although a bit tired from my bags.

I initially thought I would reach the bus terminal in half an hour but it took a bit more time than that as there was a bit of traffic jam. Thankfully I left one hour earlier.

The Tur-Bus terminal is pretty good. In fact, the whole place is much better than bus terminals in Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru. There weren’t any strange smell of piss or drunk/ drugged people hanging around.

My bus didn’t come until 10:34am. As soon as I got on the bus, the bus started pulling out of the parking space and off we went. That was fast.

The bus I booked was a “semi-cama” (semi bed) and the seats were quite comfortable. I could lean back about 150 degrees if I wanted to.

Through out the 6-hour journey, we were treated to three movies and no snack break. Luckily there was a toilet on the bus.

There was a very quirky Wes Anderson movie “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou“, the sleep inducing “Another Day to Die Hard” and the funny “Parental Guidance”. The latter two movies were dubbed in Spanish.

The view along the way was gorgeous. We passed by mountains and even the sea where the waves were gigantic.

I didn't know cacti grow on fertile land too. — I didn’t know cacti grow on fertile land too.

I snoozed a lot along the way, mainly during Bruce Willis’s movie.

We reached La Serena on time and most of the people got off the bus. Using a print-screened version of the hostel map, I slowly walked to the place I would spend the night at.

During the walk uphill, the straps of my bag dug into my shoulder. My hands felt like they would rather fall off than carry all the crap. So I decided there and then that I would get a suitcase with wheels.

Where do you find a suitcase in small town La Serena? After putting my luggage in the 4-bed hostel room, I walked back to the bus terminal where I saw what looked like a mall.

Indeed, it was the local mall. The inside looked exactly like one of the malls in San Jose. I was excited. I haven’t been in a “real mall” since coming to South America!

I walked around, admiring consumerism. My dinner was from a fast food place–a quarter chicken with rice and french fries at the price of S$8.

I managed to find a suitcase I like. At the cashier, I was given a discount for using a foreign credit card. My lovely black suitcase (actually, the only color they had) cost about S$100. I’ll show it to you one day.

The sun had set by the time I left the mall. I felt safe walking back the dimly lit roads because I figured that there would be less crime in a small town.

Now I’m back in my hostel room, in my warm bed. I’ll need plenty of rest for my 20-hour bus ride tomorrow. See you then!

Getting my fill of museums in Santiago [YQrtw Day 84 Jul 2]

Location: Santiago, Chile

Sunday was election day so no museum was open while Monday was the day all museums close so I only had Tuesday to visit Santiago’s museums.

Museum of Memory and Human Rights in Santiago

The Museum of Memory and Human Rights was the #2 tourist attraction in Santiago on Tripadvisor. Being the sheep that I am, I went to the museum just to see what the fuss was about.

There wasn’t an entrance fee for the museum which was “dedicated to commemorate the victims of Human Rights violations during the Military Regime led by Augusto Pinochet between 1973 and 1990″ as noted by Wikipedia.

I shed big fat tears when I watched some of the interviews of those who were around during the coup. Luckily I was wearing glasses and a scarf so the tears could be hidden away.

After the sad museum, I went across the street to the contemporary art museum. I lied that I was a student and paid the 400 peso entrance fee instead of the 600 peso.

Unlike the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, the contemporary art museum made my laugh. Some of the works on display were clearly just trolling the audience and the organizers.

My favorite was a tiny glass bottle with eraser shred. The piece was titled something like “Copy of someimportantdrawing but erased”.

After the museum, I got on a bus to the city center. However, the bus stopped halfway and I had to take another bus. I realized much later that everyone got out of the bus because the terminal was nearby.

I hung around some sort of rundown mall and had a lunch of hotdog. Even though it was a fast food stall, the queue took forever to end and the food took even longer to come.

My hotdog was garnished with avocado and tomato, an interesting combination that was destroyed by the limpy hotdog bun.

Doggi's hotdog set meal — Doggi’s hotdog set meal

After heading back to my hostel for another round of honey lemon drink, I went out for museums. This time, it was the Museo de Bellas Artes near my hostel.

I went to the wrong direction of the museum and entered another branch of Santiago Museum of Contemporary Art. After this round of modern art viewing, I decided that contemporary art is not my cup of tea.

The collection at the real Museo de Bellas Artes was pretty good. However, there was a large exhibition on Gordon Matta-Clark so I thought the museum had a bit of a confused identity.

The night ended well since I got to try out Pineapple Champagne! (Just regular sparkling wine with pineapple pulp.)

Bus tickets to the north bought! [Day 83 Jul 1]

Location: Santiago, Chile

Unfortunately, museums are closed on Mondays so I couldn’t spend my time looking at captioned items in a warm room.

Instead, I decided to buy my tickets to the north of Chile. Memorizing my route with Google Maps, I headed out after a great breakfast of scrambled eggs on bread.

I heard that buses in Santiago only accept payment by Bip! card so I’m glad I bought mine yesterday.

A ride on the bus was about 600 peso (S$1.50). One very good things is that bus transfers are free within 90 minutes. I took a total of 3 rides for 600 pesos. Bua hahaha.

Since I checked the bus timings online, I showed the cashier the bus timings, destinations and prices. The two rides cost a total of 47,600 peso (S$119) for a total of 25 hours.

On Wednesday, I’m taking a 5 hours bus ride to La Serena where I will stay overnight for one day. Then it’s a 20+ hour bus ride to Arica which is near the border of Peru-Chile.

After buying the ticket, I hopped on a bus to La Reina. I actually had no idea what there is in La Reina but anything with a name like “The Queen” is cool to me.

A pair of musician got on the bus at the same stop and were busking for a part of the journey. Busking happens quite a lot in South America.

I didn’t reach La Reina. Instead, I hopped off the bus when I saw a nice building. Unfortunately, it didn’t look like a museum up-close.

I walked around, taking photos of nice things and ate a set lunch at a Peruvian restaurant.

Using my City Guide app (one of my favorite apps for this trip), I figured out how to get back to the hostel. On my way back, I went to the supermarket and accidentally bought fizzy water.

I also bought a S$1 soap. It was expensive because the soap is gigantic! It’s twice the size of a regular soap back home.

After heading back to the hostel, I snuggled into my bed. Two new habitants checked in, N from Isreal and H from South Korea. We made plans to have dinner together. Five points to YQ!

Before dinner, I made a batch of honey lemon drink with boiled fizzy water because water in Santiago.

Overheard in the hostel

After dinner, we headed back to the hostel after H and I bought groceries.

Wi-Fi only works in the hostel lobby so I had to drag my laptop down. Unfortunately, three modern hippies were having dinner and talked in obnoxiously loud voices.

Among the juicy quotes from their loud conversation were:

“I feel uninspired by material things. I can’t fulfil myself in material possessions.”

–Canadian Guy 1

“You guys don’t have herpes, do you?”

–American-Indian Girl, referring to sharing drinks, not STD.

“I’m afraid I’m too drunk right now. I don’t want to be the girl who can’t handle herself.”

–Same girl

“I’ve been in rooms which just sucked my energy.”

–Canadian Guy 1, commenting on the quiet lounge

“You are like a princess… You have a warm heart. And that is beautiful.”

–Canadian Guy 1 to girl. [Get a room already!]

At the hostel, there’s a 60-year-old man who cannot stop talking to other people. However, his opening line is, “Do you speak English?” and he only speaks to white people.

As you can see, I’m quite a partypooper who hates it when other people have fun.

What’s the worst thing you’ve overheard in a hostel?

Visit to Santiago’s General Cemetery [YQrtw Day 82 Jun 30]

Location: Santiago, Chile

Despite sleeping at 3:00am in the morning, I woke up at 8:00am. I couldn’t fall back to sleep so I headed to the hostel basement for breakfast.

To my horror, the scrambled eggs were not there. I was hoping eggs would be refilled soon and I even hung around after finishing my bowl of cereal. Unfortunately, there was still no eggs no matter how long I waited.

I head back to my room and got ready for the day out. I wanted today to be museum visiting day since I had not been to any museums in Santiago yet. Plus, most museums close on Monday so I had better get my fill of museums on Sunday.

The first museum on my list was the Museum of Memory and Human Rights. I bought a transport card–adorably called “Bip”–and loaded it with some money. A ride on the subway is 600 peso (S$1.50).

When I got to the entrance of the museum inside the subway, I found out that it was closed I then remembered that today was elections day. I went out of the subway to take a look at the museum.

Near the museum, there were several TV cars and a few policepeople standing guard. I wondered if the building next to the museum was where voting happened.

I took a peek at my Tripadvisor app to see where to have lunch. I walked down the street, hoping to find the elusive restaurant but failed. Instead, I captured a few photos:

I headed back to the subway station and looked at the map. I saw a subway station called Cementerio. I remembered reading about how the cemetery here in Santiago is worth a visit.

I hopped back onto the subway and switched a line to reach the cemetery.

When I got there, I wanted to see if there were any restaurants around. Since I did not have a good breakfast, my energy was quickly sapped away. I needed food.

While I was waiting for the traffic lights, a young man in a small old car turned into my street, grinned and yelled, “CHINO!”

I didn’t know if that was supposed to be racist or just for fun. I should learn the word for “asshole” so I can use it in situations like these.

There were no restaurants around the entrance of the cemetery. Instead, there were stalls and stalls of florists, all selling blooming flowers.

Santiago General Cemetery

Without lunch, I walked into the cemetery.At first, the building on the left looked like an administration office.

Looking closer, I realized that the floors had shelves with plaques. This wasn’t an office. It was places to put urns.

There were many of such constructions in the cemetery–rectangular boxes with inscription in the front and presumably urns in the back.

Unlike Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires where only the “elite” were kept. The Santiago General Cemetery seemed to have a mix of rich and middle class.

The rich had elaborate mausoleums or underground tombs while the middle class were kept in rectangular space. It’s a little like real life where the rich could afford bungalows while the middle class stayed in flats.

The cemetery was huge! I didn’t walk from one end to another since the other end looked really far.

Interestingly, the cemetery had a few large buildings housing many different people. One of these was the “Circle of Reporters” where I assumed the remains of famous reporters were kept.

Circle of Reporters in Santiago General Cemetery

What's inside the Circle of Reporters? — What’s inside the Circle of Reporters?

This concept of keeping related people in the same place after life is quite fascinating. I had always assumed that people want to be “kept” near their families after they die.

I discovered one grave that was decorated with a lot of flowers and children’s toy. There were many notes printed on marble, thanking Carmenita for something. At first I thought this was where people came to pray for love.

After poking around my Spanish translation app, I deciphered that women who want children would come and pray for one (or two).

Carmencita's grave in Santiago — Carmencita’s grave in Santiago

Carmencita is able to bless you with babies

Soon, it was time to head back. I took the subway back to the hostel. I walked around and discovered a large supermarket. I bought a large pack of green apples before heading to lunch at a restaurant.

Then I got back to the hostel and had a refreshing siesta.

Walking around Santiago/ Second hand clothes shopping [YQrtw Day 83 Jun 29]

Location: Santiago, Chile

Despite preferring to sleep till noon, I dragged myself out of bed for breakfast so I could go for the free walking tour for Santiago.

Breakfast at Andes Hostel was slightly better than the one in Buenos Aires. We actually had scrambled eggs. I love protein.

However, there is something foul about Santiago’s water. Drinking coffee is still ok but tea and boiled water tastes polluted.

The Santiago free walking tour starts near Plaza des Armas which is just one subway stop away. I wrapped myself up in the thickest clothes I have and walked to the gathering point.

The air was misty with the morning chill. An advertising board which shows the time and the temperature alternatively told me that it was 7 degrees Celsuis. However, thanks to the bits of sunlight, it didn’t feel as cold.

The tour started on time and involved a lot of walking. The tour guide whose name might have been Maritius brought us to different spots, to point out their historical significance.

For me, the most exciting part of the tour was seeing the snow-capped mountains not far from Santiago. It was the very first time that I’ve seen snow in real life.

It’s just as beautiful as photographs. However, I have no inclination to actually touch snow so admiring from afar will do.

On our tour, we stopped by a cafe where everyone ordered something to eat. I decided to order a Pisco Sour even though it was only about 11am. After about half a glass, I was rather tipsy.

When the tour ended in Bellavista, the guide suggested 5,000 peso as tip. I think that’s really reasonable since the tour took a very long time.

I joined two Australian girls and an English boy for lunch. We ended up in the touristy Patio Bellavista square since a recommened restaurant wasn’t open for pre-lunch coffee. I had a custard which wasn’t that fantastic.

Second hand clothes shopping

After the coffee, I brought the English boy to the second hands clothes street since he said he needed something warm. This was the first time that I’ve went shopping with a guy and it still feels really weird.

The first shop that we went to, Meicy’s, had clothes piled up on tables. The place smelled a bit of puke which made shopping not very pleasant. I found a long cardigan at the 3 for 1,000 peso bin but the shop owner refused to sell one piece of clothing for any cheaper.

We headed to another shop which had hangers. Here, I found a padded jacket with a price tag of 9,990 peso (~S$25). I tried to bargain it to 5,000 peso and was quoted 6,000 peso (~S$15). Not bad for someone not good at bargaining.

I also managed to buy a woolen hat for 1,500 peso. My sister who had been studying in Beijing where the winters are bitter had suggested that I get a hat.

Dinner and drinks

After the successful shopping trip, I headed back to the hostel. The four of us had decided to meet for dinner at the recommended restaurant at a very Chilean dinner time of 9:30pm.

I didn’t manage to take a siesta as I did a bit of blog work. I did get the chance to shower and change. I was ready with my new warm jacket at 9:00pm to walk to the restaurant.

Usually when I travel alone, I never go out after the sunsets. Luckily, the English boy “S” stayed near my hostel and we speed walked to the restaurant. With my jacket, I felt invincible.

Dinner at El Camareno was good. The restaurant walls were covered with words left by previous customers. I spent quite a long time deciphering the Spanish.

I had ceviche again and we shared a bottle of red wine. After dinner, the girls wanted to go drinking at a particular bar. Since I was at the place, I became the unofficial tour guide, leading everyone to the bar.

Before we got to the bar, we stopped by another bar. Here, I ordered a Piscola (A three-quarter glass of Pisco mixed with a 220ml can of Coke). I rather like the concoction when there’s a lot more Coke.

Being tipsy, I listened more than I talked. Everyone else seems to be downing alcohol like it was plain water. By half a glass, I was rather drunk and imagined how nice it would be to sleep in my warm domitory.

At about 2:30am, the girls decided to head to the main area. By that time, I became sober again and was leading the way. However, I brought everyone to the wrong place.

A taxi driver nearby told us that the bar was closed. (I suspect it wasn’t and he just wanted extra cash.) The girls decided to head to another bar. I tagged along as well since I did not want to walk back alone.

Thankfully, S thought the cover charge was too expensive and wanted to walk back. I was secretly overjoyed because I did not know how much longer I could stand on my feet.

The walk back from the opposite bank to the hostel was pretty fast. When I got into my dorm room, only 1 other girl wasn’t back. I slipped into my blanket and sheets and fell into a deep sleep.

How much alcohol can you drink in a night? Share your best in the comments below!

Bienvenido a Santiago, Chile [YQrtw Day 82 Jun 28]

Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Location: Santiago, Chile

[This post was delayed by a day because of travelling and feasting.]

Finally, I am leaving Buenos Aires. I have been in Argentina for more than 3 weeks which is about 1 week too long. I blame it on my US visa application but I should be thankful that the application was successful.

However, thanks to Buenos Aires and Argentina, I’ve met quite a few exciting people. Like me, they’ve decided to take time off from “real life” and travel/ live abroad for an extended period of time. I feel less strange.

My plane to Santiago was leaving at 11:25am and I booked a 8:10am shuttle. This meant that I had to wake up at 7:00am and skip breakfast.

While waiting for the shuttle, I managed to lose my shuttle booking voucher. (I later found it in my pocket.) When the driver asked for the voucher, I had to pretend that I left it in the hostel.

Throughout the drive to the airport, the driver was twitching. Not listening-to-music twitch but a jumpy shoulder. I was afraid he might lose control and run into something.

Luckily, we arrived in one piece.

At the airport, I found the Overexposed Model in one of the ads. For those who don’t know me in real life, I have been “curating” a tumblr called The Overexposed Model which features a stock image model on many different ads.

I groaned loudly when I saw the ad. It’s not really that exciting seeing her on advertisements now. It’s more like a crazy nightmare.

Sky Airlines flight

Let’s head to my Sky Airlines flight. The plane was a small vehicle with three seats on both sides. I had the aisle seat as well as a lumpy seat.

The meal was horrible, one of those that give plane food a bad name.

They didn’t even have coffee or tea. Gasp. Thank goodness the flight was only 2 hours.

The plane seemed to take forever to land in Santiago airport. The clouds were really thick and the plane was flying around for a long time before it landed.

I took a shuttle bus (5,000 peso) to my hostel. The bus waited for a while for enough passengers before heading to town.

Along the way, I saw some beautiful green mountains. It was emerald green with a few trees lined up on its side. I’m liking the city.

Japanese lunch

After checking into my 6-person dorm, I headed out for Japanese. Sky Airline’s inflight magazine recommended a Japanese restaurant in Santiago that was just down the road from my hostel.

The place had two floors. I went to the second floor since the first floor was full.

I almost had a heart attack when I saw what the other customers were doing. They were drinking espressos, after a Japanese meal!

After getting over the shock, I ordered the set meal. It wasn’t until everything arrived that I knew what it was: Fish tempura with chicken in soy sauce.

The meal was delicious but the green tea was horrid. There’s something bad about Santiago’s tap water. It’s foul.

After lunch, I took a long siesta, something I needed badly.

Peruvian dinner and drinks

For dinner, I went out with Xiao Li who I “met” on Twitter. She has been in Santiago for a while and has been teaching entrepreneurship. I feel highly underachieved compared to her.

Xiao Li and her boyfriend, M, brought me to a Peruvian restaurant where I had my first pisco sour. I am in love with Pisco Sour.

This is obviously not Pisco Sour. — This is obviously not Pisco Sour but it is delicious.

Despite being on the same longtitude as Buenos Aires, Santiago is very very cold. I suspect it’s because it’s in a valley.

The night’s temperature dropped to about 7 degrees C. That is bloody cold. Luckily there’s a heater in my room so I didn’t freeze during the night.

Would you like to come to Santiago?

#FoodFriday: How to cook steak in a hostel

Welcome to YQtravelling’s FoodFriday–the day of the week when I show off some of the lovely eats I had while travelling.

Today’s post is a special feature where I give you tips on how to cook yummy steak in a hostel. Let’s eat!

When travelling, eating out at restaurants is a good treat. But if you need to save a few pesos/dollars, cooking will save you more money.

Since I’ve been in Argentina, I’ve cooked steak in my hostel kitchen for about 5 times. My hostel-cooked steak usually costs around 25 peso (S$6) while eating out costs a minimum of 45 pesos (S$11) to more than 100 pesos (S$25).

For this recipe, you will need…

Salt and oil, the only other things you need besides the meat

Steak: Preferably Argentine steak. I choose mine base on how pretty it looks.
Coarse salt: Larger grains of salt make it easier to see
Oil
Frying pan/ Grill
Watch
Plates to dirty and plates to serve

Step 1: Season the meat

Rinse the meat and pat dry with kitchen towel (the paper kind, not the cloth).

Pour some oil into the plate and lay the meat on it. Pour more oil on the meat. Sprinkle the oiled meat liberally with salt so that it looks like it’s Edward Cullen under the sun.

If the meat was refrigerated, this is a good time to allow it to be less cold and more room temperature.

I’m not very sure how long the salt should be on but I give it at least 10 minutes.

Step 2: Heat up the pan

If you are using an iron grill, make sure it heats up nicely before you start. I like frying pans too and these don’t take long to heat so I wait about 30 seconds before I cook to heat it up.

Step 3: Cook one side of the meat

Lay the meat in the middle where the fire is. Afterwards DO NOT TOUCH the meat or it will turn out burnt in strange places.

I usually wait about 6 minutes for my one side to be done. The meat usually turns out well done if I do 6 minutes on one side and 4 minutes on the other.

Step 4: Check if your meat bleeds

If your meat starts to ooze blood from the part that is exposed to the air, you are doing a good job.

Step 5: Flip the meat and cook more

When the 6 minutes is up, flip the meat to the other side. The cooked part of the steak should be easily separated from the grill/pan.

Wait another 4 minutes for this side to be done. Then take out the steak.

Step 6: Leave the steak

This is the most difficult part of this meal. After cooking, leave the steak for about 4 to 6 minutes. I read that this allows the juices in the meat to redistribute evenly so the steak is tastier.

I usually distract myself by cooking the other piece of steak because it’s hard not to swallow the hot steak whole when it comes out of the pan.

Step 7: Eat, drink and be merry

After the waiting period is over, it’s time to dig into your meal.

Red wines supposedly go well with steak but it’s your meal so drink whatever your want.

Category: Countries

23 hours to Arica [YQrtw Day 87 Jul 5]

Food on a 23-hour bus ride

Arriving in Arica

A stroll in La Serena before the 23-hour bus ride [YQrtw Day 86 Jul 4]

Archaeological Museum – La Serena

#FoodFriday Piscola in Chile

What alcohol do you like to add Coca Cola with?

Bus to La Serena [YQrtw Day 85 Jul 3]

Getting my fill of museums in Santiago [YQrtw Day 84 Jul 2]

Bus tickets to the north bought! [Day 83 Jul 1]

Overheard in the hostel

What’s the worst thing you’ve overheard in a hostel?

Visit to Santiago’s General Cemetery [YQrtw Day 82 Jun 30]

Santiago General Cemetery

Walking around Santiago/ Second hand clothes shopping [YQrtw Day 83 Jun 29]

Second hand clothes shopping

Dinner and drinks

How much alcohol can you drink in a night? Share your best in the comments below!

Bienvenido a Santiago, Chile [YQrtw Day 82 Jun 28]

Sky Airlines flight

Japanese lunch

Peruvian dinner and drinks

Would you like to come to Santiago?

#FoodFriday: How to cook steak in a hostel

For this recipe, you will need…

Step 1: Season the meat

Step 2: Heat up the pan

Step 3: Cook one side of the meat

Step 4: Check if your meat bleeds

Step 5: Flip the meat and cook more

Step 6: Leave the steak

Step 7: Eat, drink and be merry

Do you have other hostel recipes to share? Share them in the comments.