Food in Europe

Did I mention that we ate our way through Europe?

Amsterdam is known for a few things: drugs, prostitution and BEER!  So after the Van Gogh museum, it was time for the Heineken museum.  You typically get 2 glasses of beer on the tour, but Nick got 4.  Ever try and find a public restroom in Amsterdam?  Not easy.  But 0.30 Euros in a McDonalds will do the trick.

We ate Pomme Frites - fries served in paper cones....they prefer mayonnaise.  I prefer ketchup....how American of me.  

We ate Oliebolloens.  Fried dough sprinkled with powdered sugar.  The powdered sugar got everywhere, including Nick's face and my black jacket.

We saw a restaurant that served the best soup (probably) in Brussels, but didn't want to chance it.

We ate (probably) the biggest bowl of spaghetti I've ever seen in a pub.

And we had waffles with ice cream and chocolate for dinner.  I know my mom would be proud.  Screw vegetables!

Amsterdam

Amsterdam 2008

Nick and I decided to go on a little impromptu trip.  

We left Livermore around noon, with just our backpacks.  We took KLM from SFO and I highly recommend the airline.

1.  Meals were pretty darn good.  They came with a warmed roll AND we got chocolate ice cream about midway through the trip.  And it wasn't light, non-fat or slow churned - it was fatty-sugary deliciousness.

2.  Movies!  Get Smart and Baby Mama.

3.  Did I mention there was no one on the flight and I got to lay flat on my back to sleep?

  Awesome!

We arrived in Amsterdam at 10AM (1AM PST).  The customs agent asked if I was on holiday and I giggled....yeah, so mature.

The train from the airport to Amsterdam was very quiet - BART could probably learn a thing or 2.

The hotel was adorable - and by hotel, I mean a 2 bedroom house.  But it was awesome and we highly recommend it for anyone on "holiay" to Amsterdam.

Despite the complete lack of sleep we were determined to stay up and get on the European clock!  We headed to the Anne Frank Museum and took a small detour at Cafe t'smalle.  Our first (of many on this trip) Rick Steves recommendations and it didn't let down.  Small sandwiches and a coke for Nick and a white coffee for me.  Don't let the name fool you, white coffee is actually light brown and EXACTLY like a latte.

The Anne Frank museum is actually in the house/attic the Franks lived in for a good part of WWII.  Quite moving and very well done.  Unfortunately no pictures were allowed.

We eventually wandered into the red light district.  Quite fascinating.  Imagine store fronts with mannequins, but replace the mannequins with women in lingerie.  

2.  

The next day we visited the Van Gogh museum....again, no pictures allowed.  Does the Van Gogh museum know that they allow photos in the Louvre?  I'm just saying.

We also took some time to take the obligatory shadow picture.  

Prop 8 - my little rant

I don't typically take much interest in politics.  Let's be honest, this past election was only the 2nd time I've ever voted.  In general I'm very analytical and pretty good at seeing both sides of an argument.  I am typically "on the fence" about most issues.

So here's the deal, I can't see the other side to Prop 8.  I very rarely feel this way about anything.

Here are my thoughts, in no particular order:

1.  If you can make some people better off without making others worse off, then you might as well.  My life will stay the same and remain completely unchanged regardless.

2.  For those that argue that marriage is sacred and special - the divorce rate in America is approximately 50%; a 50% success rate isn't very good.  And then there's Britney Spears and her Vegas marriage (and subsequent annulment) to that guy....nothing about that seems sacred.

3.  The state supreme court justices did not "impose" gay marriage on anyone. They are appointed to interpret the constitution, and their interpretation of "equal protection" meant equal protection for everyone.  The constitution was purposely vague.  The justices are not left wing activists, they are well educated individuals.

4.  There's an argument that prop 8 would redefine marriage and it does.  But who really cares? If you think the definition is wrong, don't worry about it.  If you think it will somehow lessen the significance of your heterosexual marriage, you might be forgetting that marriage is about love.  Would you really love your spouse any less knowing a gay couple in San Francisco entered in the same loving contract? 

5. Proponents of Prop 8 often site religious reasons for why they believe gay marriage is wrong and should be banned.  We have separation of church and state for this reason: the rights of the minority can't be trampled on by people with different beliefs.  Plus, if you believe homosexuality is wrong, you likely believe homosexuals will burn in hell for their sins anyway. Your belief isn't going to stop them from being gay.  And since that's the case, why not let them enjoy married life on this earth if that's what they want to do before their inevitable eternal damnation? 

6.  At one point in history (not all that long ago), interracial marriage was banned.  Looking back, I think most people would agree that the ban was wrong (if you don't, we are longer friends).

7.  California failed to pass Prop 8 but successfully passed Prop 2 (giving chickens and other farm animals --that we are going to kill for food -- more rights).  What's even more disgusting is the estimated millions of dollars spent on the Yes on 8 campaign, with the sole purpose of taking rights away from American citizens.  Imagine the myriad better uses for that money -- feeding the hungry, curing disease, saving the planet.  Shoot, burning it would have been more productive than using it to etch hate into the constitution.

To be honest, I don't plan on getting married anytime soon.  To me, it's just a piece of paper.  A ring would be nice, but who needs a government contract to prove their love and commitment to each other. And let's be honest, Nick and I already have a 30 year contract - the mortgage.  

October, a month in review...and a little bit of November

So let's see....Beth came, but the blogger is having a tough time letting me upload the cute picture of us golfing.  So I'll move on.

We went to a Jimmy Buffett concert in Mountain view.  I think Google should invest in better roads...it took us nearly 45 minutes to make it from the exit ramp to the theater.  Without traffic, this drive would have taken 5-10 minutes max.  But the concert was fun and very entertaining and we got to see lots of older people dance, which is always incredibly entertaining for me.

Then I went back to UW to recruit for Sandia. While there, I visited with an old RA buddy, Zach Tobin!  He's now an RD!  All grown up.

Back to the bay area for hot sizzlin.  What is hot sizzlin you ask?  Well it's an event they hold during the "summer" with a live band dance party......for people 40+.  It's excellent people watching.  This was the halloween version so it was about 10 times better than normal.  I wont go into details, but the costumes were incredible, and by incredible, I mean kind slutty.

On Halloween we dog-sat Pico.  The two buddies got dressed up and ran around the house.  Pico was not pleased so the doggies only wore the costumes for a few minutes.

And while it didn't happen in October, I'll include anyways.  UW volleyball played the evil Cal Bears.  Let's just say that UW was awesome and KILLED the competition, 3-0.  Husky fans - if you want a winning team, switch to volleyball.  They haven't let me down in 4 years.

Disneyland, the Tonight Show and Six Flags

Nick turned the big 2-6 this year, and to celebrate we went to California - Southern California.  I kept telling people we were going to California.....without realizing I live in California.  It sounds silly, but the north and south might as well be 2 different states.  Totally different......I don't know if I could live in LA.

In any case, we drove down south on Friday and hit up Hollywood and Jay Leno.  The above picture is of my favorite stars - the kids from Harry Potter.  Tina Lin hooked us up and we were in the front row (yeah for Tina).  There was a super crazy girl next to me, but it was all good. The guest was Hugh Laurie from House.  I still can't get over his accent.  I actually realized that I have more fun watching what goes on behind the scenes.  For instance, there are these people that sit on the side of the stage and scribble notes on cards.  They hold up the cards behind the

 guests and help guide the conversation.  It's incredible.  I wish I had these people walking around with me all the time!

After Leno we were off to Anaheim.  A good nights rest and it was time to hit the ground running - Six Flags!

There weren't any pictures taken at six flags....lots of big rides.  Nick rode a lot.....I got a little sick.

Then we made the long trek back to Anaheim for an Angels vs. M's game.

The Mariner's played a good game...but alas, they lost.  We actually sat next to a bunch of M's fans, so at least we could cheer (and sulk) together.  K-Rod set a major league record for saves.....the bad news was that he set it against us.....the good news, we kept it close enough for him to get the save :-)

Sunday was Disne

yland day!  And it was a marathon (I think both literally and figuratively).  I'm kind of intense at Disneyland.  If you want to hit up as much as you can in one day, come with me.

9AM

Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Splash Mountain

10AM

Head to CA Adventure, Tower of Terror, CA Screamin and some of the little rides

FAST PASS for Soarin over CA

11AM

Wait in line for Toy Story ride (AWESOME)

Soarin

Grizzly River run - I didn't want to go because I always get soaked....and then I got soaked.....I never learn!

1PM

Back to Disneyland, Indiana Jones fastpass, big thunder mountain......it gets a little hazy after that, but we definitely did:

Indiana, space mountain (again), star tours, finding nemo, the house of tomorrow, matterhorn, autopia and ended the night with fireworks.  We were DEAD!  But it was really fun.

Grizzly river run

See below for a pic of big thunder mountain.

California Love

So Harvey and I went to LA for a conference. An Asian conference. The National Association of Asian American Professionals to be exact. I mean, we're Asian, and American and heck, if we try hard we can be professional.

Tina Lin, an old RA buddy lives in LA so Harvey and I met her for dinner and PINKBERRY! I'd never had it, but Harvey and I became addicted.....original+mochi (not the dog, the food).

Here we are flashin our best asian sign.

The conference was only meh, not too well organized. But Harvey and I did manage to have Pinkberry every day. We then proceeded to have a Pinkberry hangover as soon as we got back to the Bay Area.

One night we drove to santa monica.....it was cool, but kinda dirty. Here's proof that we made it.

Birthday Blog

I actually tried to post this a while ago, but the internet was acting funny.

Anyways.  For my birthday weekend, Nick planned a whole bunch of fun stuff. 

First, we headed to the Mountain Winery in Saratoga for a show by Brian Regan.  He's a comedy central comedian.  Good stuff and a pretty winery.

The comedy show was in front of this awesome old building.  The show was a lot funnier than I thought it was going to be.  That sounds bad.  But see, I feel like they have to be REALLY funny when you are paying money for it.  The TV and internet can make me laugh quite a bit....so I expect a lot from a live show.  It exceeded expectations.

The next day we headed to pebble beach and 17 mile drive.  Here we are enjoying the scenery off the 18th green.

Here is the 18th green.  It costs $400 to play the course and that doesn't include your caddy or golf cart or the tips for your caddy.  I'm not ready yet.  Too rich for my blood.

What trip would be complete without a visit to the Monterey Aquarium.  Here are my artsy jellyfish.  There are more if you are interested.

We saw seas otters, deep sea creatures and not so deep sea creatures get fed.  It's a nice aquarium....but I think the Atlanta one is better.