Before going to Asia

First and foremost, translation cards are a good help in any Asian country, but you can’t totally depend on them. Some people might not understand what an allergy is, and not in the least an intolerance. Some people might not be able to read. And some people might not simply care.

I had a stack of printed translation cards on A4 papers. In my experience a big piece of paper is easier to read for the people who want to try and help you and it’s easier for you to get it back when they have finished with it. Also, leave the paper on your table even after you have ordered your food, they might what to check something again, or even double-check it.

Find free translation cards for printing here:

http://www.celiactravel.com/cards/

Available in 51 languages.

OR

http://celiaki.se/celiaki-intoleranser-allergier/sojaproteinallergi/tillganglighet/oversattningskort/

A Swedish website with “cards” available in 41 languages.

 

If you are one of those gluten free people who can’t eat soy, it might be quite difficult for you to find things to eat, me on the other hand has been fine with all the soy sauces I have tried so far. However, I tried to eat as little soy sauce as possible just to be on the safe side. If you want to read more about soy sauce and wheat take a look here: https://glutenfree.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/safety-of-asian-soy-sauce-in-gf-diet-janssen-et-al.pdf AND http://www.celiac.com/articles/23061/1/Is-Soy-Sauce-Gluten-free/Page1.html

One translation card I didn’t find was one in Khmer, the language most commonly spoken in Cambodia. Although many people in Cambodia are very good in English, an intolerance to gluten is a hard thing to describe… My solution to this was pictures and so I made my own “translation card” with pictures from google. This actually worked very well!

 

 

One thing you can be almost certain of when you travel to Asia is that you will not feel 100% all the time. Don’t worry! Just because your stomach is upset it doesn’t mean that you have eaten gluten. So relax, and don’t let your tummy destroy your trip!

Love Erika

It is time for me to start to update this blog…

Oh, I’ve got so much to tell you since I last wrote!

I have travelled a lot this year, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia; Germany, Canada, and a few places in Sweden, and because of this I have many things to write about and share with you.

I hope I’ll have time to post some of my stories later today.

 

Love Erika

Still in Asia!

Hi you all!
I'm still on my backpacking trip in southeast Asia, and right now I'm in Manila, Philippines. Tomorrow my friend and I will continue to Vietnam. We'll fly with Thai airways this time, so it'll be another company to test how gluten free friendly they are!

I'm really enjoying myself on this trip, and I have so many things to tell you all about when I come back home - it's a little difficult to write all posts on my phone, so I just write down notes and then I'll have a lot to do on my computer later ;)

Love Erika

Koh Tao - Thailand

I know I should try to keep my posts in somewhat chronological order, but I just have to warn you about this a place on Kho Tao, Thailand. It's a restaurant and dive shop, and I can't say anything about the diving part, oh the food and especially the SERVICE I can say one or two things about...

To all my fellow coeliacs: don't eat at Big Blue Diving, Koh Tao! The staff there was stressy and very rude, and didn't even try to read/listen to me and my dietary requirements. Since our waiter's English seemed okay, I tried to ask what kind of wrapping they had on their spring rolls (I've heard that if they use rice paper they are gluten free). Anyway, I just about managed to ask my question and say that I can't eat wheat, rye or barley, before our waiter, whilst walking away from our table, says that he doesn't know about the spring rolls and that if I have allergies I should choose something I know I can eat. Then he was gone again. I was SO annoyed! How am I supposed to be sure about what I can eat if I can't ask questions and make requirements?! If there's something a waiter/waitress don't know they ought to be able to ask someone who do! And the fact that he just ran off without letting my friend or me to order is just unacceptable.
Eventually he came back so we could order our normal "safe" meal - fried rice - which you can easily get a tastier and cheaper version of in several restaurants on Koh Tao...

Based on the service, or perhaps I should say the LACK OF SERVICE in this place - I will NEVER go back to this place and I would NEVER recommend it to anyone, coeliac or not!!!

Oh dear what an angry post, but both my friend and I were very upset after this. And also there are so many much nicer places on the island - like Simple Life for example!

The manager at Simple Life is the only one there who read Thai (the others didn't understand my restaurant card) but he is a lovely person, and so helpful when it came to find me something I could eat that wasn't fried rice ;)

So leave Big Blue Diving to its own destiny and head to Simple Life to eat!

Love Erika

Airplane food - Qatar airways

We had already eaten at the airport, because we didn't know when or if we were supposed to get any food on this first flight to Doha. And Another reason was that I've read so much about coeliacs who got the wrong food on the plane, or that there was something wrong with the order, and to end up without anything to eat for 5 hours is not my idea of fun...
Never mind, we started and just a few minutes after take of the flight attendants walked around handing out refreshing towels, and after that they came with drinks for us before they started giving us food. My tray was clearly marked with my name, chair number and allergy information. Though you have to be alert so they don't give you one of the "glutenated" bread rolls!

My tray was marked with a sticker saying it was gluten free. 

The dish it self was also clearly marked with my name and seat number and dietary needs

This is what the food looked like.

The food was okay, the chicken a little dry, but pretty much what you can expect when it comes to airplane food... I got fruit for dessert, and the others got carrot cake, which was a bummer because a gluten free carrot cake would have been nice, but hey I'm not going to complain about that.

After we had eaten the staff were walking around offering us a variety of drinks for the rest of the flight. I tried to get some sleep, but I was too excited about my backpacking trip, so I watched a couple of films instead.

All in all, it was a very pleasant flight with Qatar airways to Doha.


Love Erika

On my way to Asia!

Okay, I'm going to start at the beginning;
Our flight with Qatar Airways was to leave Stockholm Arlanda 15.15. I met my friend, who came with another flight from the North of Sweden, at 11, which left us with plenty of time to check in our bags and find some lunch.

 

Wended up at a place (can't remember the name tight now...) were they had ready made salads, which had allergy information on the label. Just double check so you don't get any bread with it. There was a dressing that game with the salad as well, but i didn't dare eating that and I'm not to fond if dressingar anyway, so i left that...

Backpacking in Asia

Hi everybody!
I'm backpacking in Southeast Asia with my friend, and we've been away for a little then a week and I have not been glutenated once. So far so good :)
I will try to post some pictures and about the things I've been eating so far.

Love Erika

Füssen

In Füssen, a lovely little town in south Germany, there is a cute crêperie which has gluten free buckwheat crêpes :) It's across the street from the Rathaus, and easy to find.

Füssen is very close to Schloss Neuschwanstein (the castle which looks like an inspiration for Walt Disney's castle) and if you are in the area take a tour to the castle and take a walk around Füssen and stop for a crêpe by the Rathaus.

Read about the castle here: http://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/tourist/index.htm

Love Erika

More from my travels last year - Prague

After leaving Berlin I decided to make a two-day-stop in Prague, just because I basically was so close to the Czech capital on my way from Berlin to München (Munich). I arrived in the evening so I wen directly to a hostel I had looked up online - Traveller's Hostel Dlouhá. I hadn't booked anything but I was lucky and got the last place in a 4-bed-room for 20 euro per night, breakfast included (if I could eat anything I knew I would be lucky...)

I left my things in the room, lucky for me there was a locker for each person, and I went out to find someplace where I could buy something to eat. I had passed a shopping mall on my way to the hostel, so I decided to try there first. There was a food hall in the mall, and there i bought yogurt, cheese and rice cakes (which had the gluten free symbol on - the crossed-out wheat) I also went to a Starbucks and bought myself a large latte before heading back to the hostel, where I had a picnic in my bed.

The following morning I was happily surprised. I was one of the first to get to the breakfast room and there the ladies who worked in kitchen had prepared everything. There were bowls with different kinds of cereal in (no gluten free ones), there were plates with two or three pieces of ham and cheese, there were small pots of yogurt, there were a big basket of bred (not gluten free) and two large bowls one with butter and one with strawberry jam, there were tea, coffee, juice and milk. I had brought my own breakfast cereal and bread (just to be on the safe side and so I would have anything to eat for breakfast). So what I did was just ask for an empty bowl (these ladies didn't speak English, but they understood what I meant) I took a plate with ham and cheese and a pot of yogurt, then I moved to the butter where I found a nice and "clean" corner and the same with the jam. So in the end I had a really nice breakfast!

After such a good star on my day I walked to the old town square where I joined Sandeman's free guided tour at 11 o'clock. It was three and a half hours of a very energetic guided tour of the city. I can highly recommend doing one of these tours, but bring a sandwich and a snack... in the middle of the tour there's a 25-minute-lunch break at a bagels cafe, and nothing there is gluten free, apart from things to drink. It was a great tour and if you're in Prague - do it!

(Sandeman's has these free tours in several European cities check it out here: http://www.neweuropetours.eu/ )

Directly after that I went on Sandeman's Castle tour which also is very good value for your money (250 czk for students). However, if I were you I would do this tour on another day, and not the same as the free tour... To walk around Prague for more then six hours can be quite challenging, and in my case I was starving (!) by then. Lucky for me I had my small rucksack with water, snacks and fruit, otherwise I wouldn't have survived.

The Castle tour finished at the Strahov Monastery and from there I searched my way to my next goal, the restaurant for the evening - Na Zlaté krizovatce.

It took me almost an hour’s walk to get there from where the tour ended. We got a bus ticket from our guide, but i was unsure which bus to take, so I thought a walk was a better option. It was a little difficult to find, but if you're good with a map and read the signs carefully (or use a GPS) it's no problem, and trust me it's worth the effort!

I got a warm welcome by an English speaking waitress. I was there early for dinner so it was no problem in getting a table. In the menu it says that EVERYTHING which is cooked and prepared in this restaurant is gluten free! The waitress puts bread (that they baked at the restaurant), butter with herbs and tapenade on my table. I turn to the menu, so many (ALL) things to choose from... This is not a luxury I have ever experienced in a restaurant in my gluten free life! Eventually I manage to decide to have a Pâté for starter. Then I have a Schnitzel for the main course and it is served with a potato cake rolled in puff pastry. I'm stuffed, but I know this is my chance to try as much as I possibly can so I have an Apfelstrudel for dessert - thinking this might be my only opportunity to try it. And I don't regret my decision, it really is divine!

Completely stuffed and very pleased with my day I took a bus back to my hostel...

If you're in Prague don't miss to have dinner at Na Zlaté krizovatce!
Check it out here: http://www.nazlatekrizovatce.cz/en/index.php

Love Erika