Scheveningen (スケベニンゲン) in Japanese

When I first got to Japan, a friend asked me if I knew a place in Holland called "perverted people". I looked at her with a strange look, and then realized she was saying Scheveningen with a Japanese pronounciation, which is "sukebe ningen" (スケベニンゲン). When I told her I lived in "sukebe ningen", she had a good laugh and proceeded to tell all her friends I lived in a place called "perverted people".

Tokyo, Japan

Our office is closed over the holidays from 21 December to 2 January, and my plan is to never be in the Hague over this holiday period. This year, I chose to be in Japan because when I made my plans, I felt the need to be around friends - more specifically female friends, which I didn't really have until fairly recently. Probably the greatest concentration of my friends are in Tokyo. Some go way back to high school when they came to Virginia as an exchange student. Others are friends I made when I lived here several years ago. Some have even moved here since my departure. Oh... and my mother is here, which is another compelling (perhaps a more important) reason for me to visit every now and then. The last time I visited was in April of 2004.

Prior to leaving the Hague, I was some what stressed about the idea of coming here. I was not looking forward to the crowds, bumming lodging off of friends (I really cannot stay with Mom too long and stay sane), and the possibility of being extrememly busy during my 2.5 week stay. I also did not really want to stop working since I was on a roll with one of my tasks. Well, perhaps my bah, humbug attitude towards Christmas did not allow me to have a positive outlook towards this upcoming trip. It wasn't until the last day of work, after I left the office, that I finally felt free and excited about this trip.

The flight from Amsterdam via Munich was about 14 hours - almost a 24 hr travel time altogether, door to door. My plan was to split my time up between 3 friends so I didn't impose on any one person too much, but would be able to spend quality time with each. I have just arrived at friend #2's place... and she had to run back to work. It's almost 8pm and she's still not done. She works at the same company I used to work at for 5 years in Tokyo and NYC. Every once in a while, I miss the money I used to make there, but then you see her working her butt off and then I remind myself "the grass is always greener...."

Anyways, my stay with friend #1 was a success. The last 5 days went by pretty fast. During that time, I also saw Mom and 4 other friends. It started off with a party on Saturday night, but my friends and I ended up leaving it since it was boring. Unless you know lots of people that are going, or have an opportunity to meet cute people of the opposite sex, I don't really see the point in parties. If I'm just going to chat with a few friends, I would much rather do it somewhere more quiet. So that's what we did. (The odds of actually meeting a decent Western guy at a club in Japan is pretty much nil.) On Sunday, I went to an onsen (hot spring) village in the city. There I enjoyed lots of good food, shows, and hot baths. We spent the whole day there.


Monday was Christmas, but it really did not feel like it here in Tokyo. There are few place in the city that are decorated for the occasion, and I was near none of them. The day was spent with friend #1 and a mutual friend from out of town at a spa and at home eating chicken and Christmas cake (both a Japanese thing). It really felt like just another day, but nevertheless, it was a good day. Tuesday was spent with the same friends, and I finally got my (short) karaoke session in. I suck as usual, but it didn't stop me from belting out hits by Eurythmics, Guns 'n' Roses, Britney Spears, Tiffany, Sir-mix-a-lot, and Bonnie Tyler.

I suspect that the next few days will be less hectic. Friend #2 has to work until Friday, and most of my friends are out of town for the year end. This is my chance to get some shopping in. I'm not quite sure what we will do for NYE yet tho. It really isn't celebrated much in Japan. I suspect any countdown event will pale in comparison to the Times Square one that I've already done. Parties will most likely suck for reasons I've already mentioned - unless friend #2 has some really cool friends. So what's left?? I don't know. It would be nice to do something unique for year end, but I'm pretty much out of ideas. Maybe we will be welcoming 2007 from a karaoke box....

London, England

Okay, I couldn't go five weekends in a row without getting out of this freakin' country so I booked a trip to the UK to see some friends. EasyJet was having a 40% off discount at the time of my booking so it only cost me 60 euros - woo hoo! Anyways, a friend of mine living in the UK just moved there recently and hadn't visited London, but I lived there previously for 4 months and have friends there I wanted to visit, so I figured I'd hop on over on the hour long flight to show him around.

We only had 2 days in the city, so we didn't get to spend too much time checking the sights out in depth. We saw most of the major tourist stuff from the outside - Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Trafalger Square, Leicester Square, Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, St. James's Park, Wellington Arch, Hyde Park, etc. I've seen it all before, but it's been a while (~8 years) and was still nice to see it all over again. I wouldn't mind going back and seeing more, such as inside some of these places, and visiting less touristed attractions.

The only killer about London is the price though. The USD these days is a whopping 1.95 to the GBP!!! I went out to dinner on Friday night with my Morgan Stanley friends at a typical restaurant in SoHo. A dinner for five (including appetizer and desert for some) and perhaps 2-3 bottles of wine cost us 200 freaking pounds! Perhaps you wouldn't bat an eye at a US$40 dinner, but at 40 pounds a head, that's almost 80 bucks! I was about to say that I might have broken my record on the most expensive dinner I've ever bought for myself, but I can't really say that I bought this dinner either (it's so nice being a girl sometime). I guess compared to the euro, the pound isn't as bad (1 GBP = 1.5 EUR), but still... ouch.

Well, this was a much needed break from all the drama back here in the Hague. And in 10 days, I'm out of here for the holidays to Tokyo. Can't wait.

Pictures from London are here.

Aachener Weihnacht Markt

Today, a few of us went to Aachen, Germany to check out the Christmas markets. These markets supposedly go on all over Germany but we went to the one closest to us - just 2.5 hrs away close to the Dutch-German border. There were many booths selling cute Christmas type stuff like ornaments, sweets, and miscellaneous knick-knacks. Lucky for me, I am resistant to shopping temptations since I dislike shopping. I bought a few ornaments in hopes that some day I will have a Christmas tree again. (I don't plan on being ever being around the Hague for the Christmas so I will probably never have a tree while I'm here.) There are also many German food stands, too, where you can get tasty wursts, pizza, warm drinks, etc. If you're ever near Germany around Christmas time, I totally recommend going to one of these markets at least once. Especially if you actually like shopping....

Kaizers Orchestra

There are a lot of Norwegians in my team at work. Therefore, we are often exposed to various Norwegian cultures, such as drinking Aquavit. (I think the next cultural education session involves eating a sheep head.) I was also previously introduced to the Norwegian band Kaizers Orchestra on DVD, and on Saturday, I finally got to see them live in Amsterdam. Any description I give of the band probably will not do it any justice, so I refer you to the link above to read about them and sample their music. This type of music normally would not be my taste, but I actually enjoy theirs. I also like their performance in concerts. The lead vocalist is kind of cute/sexy and is very good at getting the audience involved. The guy on the pump organ also wears a gas mask and is interesting to watch. It's a shame I can't find any good videos, but here's a very short clip from Maestro:

The Bodies Exhibition

I was in Amsterdam today doing a bit of wandering when a friend pointed out this exhibit. I'd heard about it before and had wanted to go so here was my chance. It's an education exhibit of the human anatomy using displays of real human body parts. You'll see our bodies in ways you never seen before - maybe unless you've seen the movie Anatomy (2000) :P It's a cool exhibit so check it out if you don't know much about the human anatomy or are interested in stuff like this.

Btw, check out this video on Cameron Clapp, an inspiring story about a triple amputee.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I actually had an early Thanksgiving dinner last Saturday with my usual group of American friends since several of them were going to be away this week on a business trip. Of course we had to have a turkey, as well as all the usual trimmings - mashed potatoes, yams, stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, apple pie, pumpkin pie, etc. There was 11 or 12 of us, and just like back home, most of the boys had to stop and watch the (American) football game a bit. It was a very nice evening, and many thanks to Kathy, who for some reason decided to do all the cooking on her own.

As for today though, it wasn't a very traditional Thanksgiving. They didn't even have turkey at lunch :( It was a bit of a stressful and late day in the office, followed by a dinner at a Japanese restaurant with a fellow American. But today is a day to be thankful, which I don't do enough of. So it's time for me to start, even if it's just once a year. Here goes:

I am thankful this year for...

• my health and that of my family and all of my friends
• a job I actually like and a wonderful boss
• having been able to travel so much... again
• the secret luck I had in Greece
• the spices in my life
• my brother being able to sell his condo
• the same brother's first child being born
• my other nieces
• Skype, Instant Messaging, and e-mail
• my best friend's wedding
• passing my black belt test without dying
• skating through my Masters degree
• my new friends
• my mom's happiness
• a cozy and warm apartment (the best feeling is when I step into my house when it's cold out)
• my big bathroom
• the commissary and APO address
• Grey's Anatomy
• and all my wonderful friends who stay in touch and think of me even when I'm miles away

I'm sure I left a lot of things out, but it's my bed time so this will have to do for now.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Ju-Jitsu World Championships

When I first got here, I asked around to see if anyone knew of a jiu-jitsu school in the area. A coworker said he took jiu-jitsu lessons, but turns out the "ju-jitsu" that he does is slightly different from what I was looking for. I was looking for pure-ground fighting lessons - as in Gracie jiu-jitsu. There apparently is another form of ju-jitsu which incorporates stand-up karate like fighting and ground-fighting. Anyways, so the world championships were this weekend in Rotterdam so I joined my friend to go watch the last day of it on Sunday. There were 4 events that day: Men's 69 kilo and under, Men's heavy weight, Women's 62 and under, and Mixed duos. My favorite competitor for the day was Fedor Serov from Russia in the 69 and under category. He had very smooth techniques and pretty cool counters. No wasted movements. I was so disappointed when he lost his 4th match to Ferrie Hendriks of the Netherlands. I almost left until I found out he would be competing for the bronze, which he took in the end. My least favorite was the Italian. After his first win, he threw a kiss to the crowd and walked off with the helper girl in arm. Then in his match against Taiwan's Cheng-Chih Chi, his (multiple) injuries were so over-dramatized that it was like World Cup all over again.

The French had a really good day though. They took gold in 3 of the 4 categories, and a silver in the last. (I've never stood up for the French National Anthem so may times.) Even then, they lost to the Germans by only half a point (99.5 vs. 99). I guess they expected it, cuz they shipped over tons of supporters. All you could ever hear were the French cheering, even when it was French vs. Dutch. Where were the Dutch supporters?? The Dutch did pretty good that day too. A silver and couple of bronzes. I think they took 5 medals the day before so not bad.

Check out www.jbn.nl and www.jujitsu2006.nl for more on the championship.

Alyssa Pics

My brother finally sent me some pictures of my new niece:

Greece... again

I just got back from another trip to Greece for work - this time for a week. The trip was a bit more pleasant this time around than last with significantly less frustrations. Although, I did get stranded at the Athens airport by a co-worker on my way in. We are working at a site 3 hours away from the airport and a colleague who was already there was supposed to come get me but he was nowhere to be found upon my arrival. When I called him his reply was "I don't know anything about that." Excuse me?? Are you f***ing sh***ing me?!?!? I was furious. I had to hitch a ride with a group of people from UK who also happenned to be going to the same place. In the end though, they turned out to be really nice people and I ended up hanging out with them on my time off. It could've been pretty boring otherwise. So I guess in a way it was a blessing in disguise.

The plan really was for me to work all week, but because Wednesday was some sort of a day off for the people we were dealing with, I decided to take the day off too. Couple of those guys I met were going to Ancient Olympia for the afternoon, so I joined them on that trip. It's the site of the original Olympic games, and the lighting of the torch ceremony for the modern Olympics are still held there today. Olympia is also the site where the statue of Zeus, one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, used to reside.

Aside from that, not much went on. I stayed in a nice 4 star resort since it was off-peak and seriously discounted. Much better than the dumps I stayed at on the last trip :P It had a nice gym (for a hotel) so I went almost everyday. The food was also awesome and included with the stay. It was one of those buffets with all sorts of choices. I also had a room with a ocean view and the place had really beautiful sunsets (the kind where the sky turns all red.) I love sunsets....

More on Dutch Life

The credit card hassle

Way back when, perhaps in July or so, I blogged about how my bank kept losing my credit card application. Well, after the last one, they never got back to me about my application. After calling them I found out that they had denied my credit card application. Gee, thanks for telling me guys. So naturally, I ask them why. They said they will send me something in the mail. After receiving nothing in the mail, I made couple more similar phone calls. Finally, I received something in the mail that told me I was denied a credit card, but with no explanation. I politely made my local branch's service rep aware of how mad I was and threatened to change banks (there was no reason that I could think of of why I should be denied a credit card, particularly when it's included in the service that I am paying for). Then I get a call later in the day saying that the credit card company thought I was working somewhere else (but that bank knew damn well where I was working) and I was indeed eligible for a credit card. A card arrived a week later. Idiots.

The closing gym

Last night a friend went to his usual gym - a very nice one with a relatively high membership fee. He had about 3-4 months left on it but yesterday he found out his gym was closing in about a week's time. So naturally he tried to find out how he could get his money back for the remaining time on his membership. They had no phone #s to where he could call, no address to which he could write, and no forms which he could fill out to make claim. He was fuming... and understandably so.

The trash pickers

Another friend was telling me last night how one day he put his trash next to the large trash receptacle because it was full. Apparently some time later, he received a fine from the city. In the fine, there were pictures of his trash and the contents of his trash. They had literally grabbed the trash bag, openned it up, and rummaged through it to find the owner!! You know, yesterday morning was trash day and I noticed one of my trash bags was missing. I had clearly put out 2 the night before and there was only 1 when I left for work the next morning. Perhaps they didn't like the fact that I use a white trash bag as opposed to the black one everyone else is using. Or maybe I am not allowed to put out trash the night before (though I've seen others do it). Whatever the case, I need to invest in a shredder.

Halloween Pictures are up

HERE

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone has a fun Halloween.

Please welcome to this world: Alyssa Rei Norgaard

My brother, Nathan, and his wife, Maria, had their first baby (a girl) on Monday, October 24th. Her name is Alyssa Rei and weighed in at 7 pounds 2 ounces. The delivery went well. I am still waiting for my lazy brother to send me pictures.

It's All Greek To Me

The Drive

Okay, let me just put it out it there - Athens suck. Actually, it's not so bad, but it definitely wasn't one of my favorite cities. I was going to Greece for work, so I decided to spend the weekend in Athens but 2 days was more than enough. That's including time I spent being lost, which was about half the time. The first problem arose out of the Greek letters. I've only seen them used in math equations and Greek societies, so I've never seen them put together to make words - or street names. I had a hard time mapping the street I was on to the streets in the map. And try this while you're driving in major traffic! Nevermind the fact that you can't even see the street signs if you are driving. Yeah, so my very first night in Athens (after a drive down to Cape Sounion to see the Temple of Poseidon), I probably spent an hour in the city driving around in circles trying to find my hotel. I'm sure I broke my record, by tenfold, the number of times I had to stop and ask for directions - in a given month. Seriously, this sucked. Luckily, I was to return the car the next day, but it took me about an hour then too to find the car rental place in the city. I knew exactly where it was on the map - but I couldn't get there!!! The city has so many one way streets it's not funny. Again, I was going around and around in circles. At least on one occasion I rushed my way down a one-way street hoping no one will come from the other end. In another case, I completely left my car illegally blocking a one-way street while I stepped out and ran around the area on foot looking for the car rental place. (Hell if I was going to spend another 20 minutes driving in circles.) Yeah, so don't drive in Athens if you can help it. But if you must, do like the locals do:

1) Cut people off in the turning lanes and get right up to the front
2) Speed limit signs are ornamental - pay no attention to them
3) Run over pedestrians at your will
4) Double park if you can't find a place to park
5) Go the wrong way down one-way streets - but do it quickly
6) If you get stuck, drive down a pedestrian street while taking out some cafe tables

You think I'm joking... I'm not.



The Walk

In this city where life is as ancient as Acropolis, the internet is as slow as dial-up and a water bottle costs only 50 euro cents (maybe the cheapest in the world). In this city, you also do a lot of walking. The city is very mountainous(?) so there are a lot of uphills. To get to Acropolis you must walk uphill, to get to the top of Lykavittos, you must walk uphill. To get from place to place, you must walk a lot, because it is a big city. To get from place to place, you must walk a lot because you will get lost. Well, mostly, it's in the city center where it's a bit confusing. It's also difficult to find your place on the map if you have no idea where you are to begin with. Which was the case one night after coming down Lykavittos Hill after dark. I came down a different path from where I went up, simply because I had no idea where I entered the hill to begin with. You know, this hill is supposed to be a major tourist attraction. I found it quite surprising though that the paths were not lit or marked. I stayed up the hill past dark to try to catch the sunset (too many clouds tho) and see the city by night. It got very dark on my way down, and I could hardly see anything and I had no idea where I was going. I followed a few people for a while, but I lost them quickly after stopping once or twice to take photos. A little while later, the path split into two. I went back and forth between the two paths unsure whether one would end up taking me back up to the top or to the otherside of the hill where I didn't want to be. In the end, I finally made it down hill and just kind of kept walking aimlessly until I found someone who pointed me in the general direction of where I wanted to go. Yeah, that's another reason why you'll wak a lot. Since there really isn't a whole lot to do in Athens, you could easily just decide to walk around a lot aimlessly as I did. Beats sitting in the hotel. So I probably spent at least 6 hours a day walking while there.



The Sights

Everyone goes to Athens to see Acropolis. This was actually the coolest part of my trip. I actually enjoyed the walk up to it, and the walk around Ancient Agora which is right next to it. The weather was great, and the occasional hustle bustle of the tourists all around made for a lively outing. The Acropolis was slightly on the disappointing side though. The Parthenon is not well-preserved, and the scene is ruined by tons of equipment for reconstruction. Also, in comparison to some other ruins (e.g. Angkor Wat, Machu Picchu), it's not so spectacular. Hence, I did not vote to have the Acropolis be part of the new 7 wonders of the world. (You can vote too!) Aside from Acropolis, I went to the Ancient Agora, Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Olympic Stadium, Lykavittos Hill, National Archealogical Museum, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Plaka, and the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion.



More pictures here.

The Trip Home (#1)

I just got back this morning from a week back home in the U.S. The flight sucked cuz it was cold and I could not sleep (it was a red eye). Somehow I got a free 1st class upgrade on the ORF->Chicago leg, but it was a pretty useless upgrade. You get a drink (OJ or H2O) before the flight and a little more leg room. That's it. I wish they'd givem me an upgrade on the int'l leg.

During the week, I was in VB and NC to see my two brothers. That meant I only had like 3 days in each place, which wasn't nearly enough time to do anything. I didn't get to see all my friends, eat my favorite sushi, or much of anything for that matter. I did lots of shopping though - perhaps too much - and boy did that suck (I hate shopping). Anyways, so I get all these vacation days, but at least a good 2 or 3 weeks of it has to be spent back in U.S. to see family/friends. Damn it.

Btw, my brother has one of those trash cans that has a motion sensor operated lid. So you can pretend like you are a Jedi, wave your had in front of the lid, say "open" or any other appropriate mind controlling phrase, and viola! The lid opens. Now, this got me thinking - they already have touch free flushing in many public restrooms. How great would it be if you had a toilet seat, in your home, that goes up and down at the wave of a hand?? No more arguing between the man and the woman as to whether the lid should stay up or down.

So jet lag coming this way means tomorrow morning when I get up at 8, it's gonna feel like 2am. Fabulous.

No ice cream in LHR terminal 3

I flew home yesterday to ORF via London Heathrow. I had about an hour layover in LHR and I was really craving ice cream. I circled the terminal at least twice for a good ice cream shop but they have none!!! I had to settle for one of those pre-packaged ice cream sold at a coffee shop which cost me almost $6! And the thing was only like 175ml (tiny) and not that good. Very annoying.

The flight itself was pretty smooth. Edible food and X-Men: The Last Stand was on. I've been wanting to watch that for a while now. Got home pretty late at night and everyone was already asleep. I went up to my oldest niece's room (she's 10 now) as they had prepared a bed for me there. As I went to turn off the lights, I noticed I was being stared at by Jesse McCartney and the likes from all corners of the room. I'm trying to remember what kind of posters I had as a kid. It was so long ago I really don't remember. Definitely wasn't NKOTB though.

This morning I spent some time chilling with my family. My youngest niece bought this barbie doll that comes with a dog that poops. And it comes with a pooper scooper!! This would be great toys for kids in the Netherlands. They should learn to pick after their dogs from early on.

Now I'm off to do some serious shopping. I hate shopping in the Hague 'cuz everything is expensive, and the shops are crowded, and nothing will probably fit (Dutch people are tall). I've gotta do all the shopping for winter and spring while I am here. It's mission impossible but gotta do it.

Paris, France

The Friday after I got back from Oktoberfest, we (Lukasz, Joe, and I) had to drive down to Paris for work and returned just today. Fortunately, they gave us the weekend there off so we got to have some fun while there. I actually spent a week in Paris back in Feb of '98 though and saw most things then. A lot of the time was just spent walking around the city. I saw the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, and various other things again.

The most exciting part of the trip was undoubtedly the Pari-roller-blading on Friday night. It's just as it sounds: roller-blading through Paris after dark. Every Friday night at 10pm, thousands gather to roller-blade through the city for 3 hours. They start at the same place every week, but the routes vary. I didn't actually read the web-site before doing it, so I was rather suprised at the pace we went. I guess to cover 18+ kilometers you need to go pretty fast. I had expected a leisurely stroll but this was the fastest I've ever skated. It's not necessary an easy route either. We went over cobble stones, down-hills, through tunnels, etc. I'm not a great skater by any means so I spent most of the time staring at the ground trying not to kill myself by tripping (many people fall). Fortunately, one of the dudes with us was a regular and pointed out some awesome views of the city by night (including the Eiffel Tower, which was beautiful.) Anyways, we only lasted 1.5 hours of it, but it was a blast. I heard that they have something similar in Amsterdam, so we plan to try that sometime.

Btw, driving in Paris is crazy. And try to avoid the roundabouts in rush hour, particulary the one around Arc de Triomphe. There's like 5 lanes of traffic all going round and round and if you get stuck in the middle, may god help you if you want to get out again. The advice I got was that nose-position is key in Europe. If you want to go somewhere, cut someone off by getting the nose of your car in front of the other car's and then you (usually) get to go where you want from there.

Pictures here.

Oktoberfest

I went down to Munich, Germany, with Lukasz and Trond this weekend to check out Oktoberfest. We had an interesting trip, and could have been pretty awesome if I actually drank beer. I had always wanted to see Oktoberfest tho, and had a good time overall.

The trip started on Saturday evening with an overnight train from Utrecht to Munich. On the way to Utrecht tho, we got fined because only 2 of us had tickets from the Hague to Utrecht due to some miscommunication. It's like 30 extra euros (on a 10 euro fare!) if you don't buy tickets before you board. So don't try to get on a train without one! (Though I am convinced I once saw someone hang out in the toilet the whole entire time to avoid being checked for tickets.)

We arrived in Munich bright and early, like 0730. We couldn't check in yet, but we dropped our luggage off at our hotel and then headed out to city center to eat breakfast. The boys wanted sausage and that's what we got. We sat in a traditional German restaurant and observed in awe as everyone around us drank beer at 0930 in the morning. The next thing that happenned was Lukasz losing his phone in the toilet. Apparently he tried to search for it with his hands, without success, so I tried to avoid touching him rest of the day.

After breakfast, we did a 1 hour city tour of Munich for 12 euros. It was a nice day out, so we sat on the top of the double decker open top bus. I had actually been to Munich before and had seen much of the city already. I suppose it's an easy way to see the various parts of the city. They also offered a 2.5 hour tour for 19 euros. This one takes you to the Schloss Nymphenburg (castle) and Olympiapark so you get to see a bit more. I wouldn't call Munich a striking city, but it has its charms and I like it.

At noon, we were close to Marienplatz so we checked out the Glockspiel (mechanical clock) play. I saw this last time I was here too, and each time I think it's funny how so many people gather around to watch this cheesy thing.

We finally checked into our hotel a bit before 1. We stayed at the Innside Premium Hotel. Now this was an interesting hotel. We picked this hotel because it was not too far from Oktoberfest (12 minutes ride on the U-bahn, and about 5 minutes walk on each end), it was relatively cheap (roughly 150 euros per night - or 50 euros each per night), and it looked nice. Everything looks modern, or made of glass and steel - including the bathroom. The interesting part was that there were no doors to the bathroom, and the shower was see-through, and the toilet is almost see-through if you had the lights on in-side. Not to mention that there's no lock on the toilet, a huge crack between door and wall, and you can hear everything that's going on inside. There are mirrors everywhere too, so even though you could sort of be hidden behind a wall to undress, one could easily see what's going on back there with the mirrors. (Check out the virtual tour of the room.) Absolutely no privacy whatsoever. And I was sharing a room with two guys....

We decided that the rest of us would hang out in the bar while one showered, so 3 showers later, we were ready to head down to Oktoberfest. It was about 1600 when we got there and the place looked like a huge carnival. Rides, food stands, games, and souvenirs were all over the place. This must certainly be the biggest carnival I've ever seen, and probably rivals many theme parks in the number of rides.



Ofcourse the boys' objective there was to hit the tents and drink beer, so that's what we did off the bat. We went into Paulaner's tent, and surprisingly, we had no problems finding a seat. Even better was that the Germans were so efficient that there are no queues in the women's restroom. I found this unbelievable, but sure enough, even my second visit to the toilet was nearly waitless. Also surprising was that the music played inside the tent was mostly American. Songs like Country Road and YMCA played over and over again in this tent, and even others I checked out later. Someone also once said that Oktoberfest was for bunch of stupid American tourists wanting to get drunk. It's not so. I didn't see any Americans. Majority of attendees were locals. Those who were from Bavaria also wore their cool traditional outfits. The women looked very beautiful in them and the men looked like hobbits.

Now, as much as I had wanted to see Oktoberfest, I knew that I did not drink beer, and that my two companions would drink lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of beer. I was prepared for the worst and braced myself for what I was about to observe. It was nice to see people have fun, but I must admit it was not all pleasant. Lots of stupidity and senselessness. The upside was that the boys were so drunk I was able to take advantage of them for a threesome. Ok, not really.... I only took advantage of the fact that I could shower without worries that night since at least one was passed out and other was close enough. The night ended pretty early - by midnight.

On the second day there the boys took their time getting up. I was wide awake bright and early at 0730 or so. Why does this never happen when I need to go to work?!? I went down to breakfast on my own and ate up at the expensive buffet. By noon tho, everyone was up and ready to head out. We spent the afternoon checking out Deutsches Museum. It's a very good science and technology museum, but too bad not everything had English translation to it. In addition to the museum, we also spent some time walking around various parts of the city.

By the time we got to Oktoberfest on this night, it was like 6 or so. This time we had a bit more difficulty finding a seat in a tent. We ended up sitting at the tables outside, and just as much nonsense went on outside as inside. I was glad the night started late, because come to find out, the night also ends early at Oktoberfest. Last call is around 2230, and all shops, rides, etc. shut completely down at 2330 sharp. The second night was more bearable than the first.

Our third and last day in Munich was spent puttering around the city mostly aimlessly. We caught another night train back home, which arrived around 1000ish back in the Hague. I showed up to work waaaay late and I hope that none of my bosses read this in case they didn't notice.

Pictures here.

Useless Thought of the Day

I think I might be the only one using this one bathroom at work. I never see anyone in there, except the cleaning lady on occasions. It just occurred to me that I might be the only female on the 3 corridors that the bathroom supports. It's kind of nice knowing I don't have to worry about anyone else making a mess in there. Don't tell anyone though... I don't want them to take away my private bathroom.

Dog Shit

One of the first things I noticed when I first arrived here was that there was dog shit everywhere. The Dutch people do not pick after their dogs. Even though I was disgusted, it was of just minor irritance - until recently. As I was finishing up my yard work, I noticed that my neighbors' dogs had been shitting in my back yard. I didn't complain just yet though, since you would really never know given the state my yard my was in. So I was ready to let that slide too, until the next morning, when I woke up and walked out the front door only to find - guess what? - a huge f***ing terd right on the sidewalk in front of my apartment. I was little more than annoyed this time and was ready to start an anti-dog shit rally and call the press. Except I had to go to work.... Seriously though, why is this tolerated in this country? I heard that there is a law passed now against this, but it is not enforced. The government really needs to sponsor some educational materials to make their people realize how much nicer their country would be without all this shit everywhere. A commericial, a speech from the queen, street signs, posters, anything!!! One of these days, someone will start an anti-dog shit rally, and that person is going to be my hero.

Gardening 101

Rule #1 of gardening - don't rent an apartment that requires gardening.
Rule #2 of gardening - if you must get a place that requires gardening, don't get one with vines.

Today, I finally did what I've been putting off all summer - gardening. Not that I have a garden, but I realized a month or so after moving in that there are things growing in my back yard. I'd never lived in a place where maintaing the yard was necessary so I wasn't too happy about this. To make things worse, I have vines growing in my back yard. On one wall, I have a grapevine and a tree of some sort. The grapevine got so big over the summer that it fell from its support onto the ground. It sat there for 2 months while grapes were growing. I didn't even realize it was a grapevine until like a month ago. It probably grew to about 7-8 feet tall and 2-3 feet wide. I had to hack it down to like 3 feet high (see picture above left) to pin it back up on the wall. Apparently vines grow back easily so I was advised to go crazy on it. I also cut off all the leaves so I could see what I was doing. The tree also fell too, so I cut that down quite a bit and pinned it back up to the wall. I used an all-purpose string for pinning these. I hope it holds....

Now the other wall (see picture on right) is just covered in vines. And it started to grow on to the ground and the door to my backyard. If I didn't start cutting those down it'd be a lost world here. I am having guests over this weekend and I can't have a jungle in my backyard. Unfortunately, I ran out of trash bags so I will have to continue tomorrow with more gardening :(

Sky Radio 101FM

Want to listen to popular music in English, in the Netherlands? Check out Sky Radio 101FM. There are chart toppers from the 80's, 90's, and current decade. It's almost as if I'm listening to my own music collection. (Although it might be debatable by some on whether that's good or not.) The only problem is, they seem to play the some songs over and over again. I hear a lot of Billy Joel. Probably heard Eye of the Tiger and Fast Car 2 or 3 times since I've been here. I still think it's a good station though. There is enough variety and there is very little talking, unlike radio stations in the U.S.

Party Party Party

I haven't had any fun posts lately, so I thought I'd write a quick update. Last Friday I went to a Tropicana Beach Party hosted by the Inter Agency Events. They do two big parties a year - one at start of the summer, and one at the end of the summer. They also have small events here and there through out the year. I've been to each of the last 4 parties they had, and this one was probably the most fun of them all. Usually the music sucks (I'm not into Eurobeat), it's crowded, there are long lines at the loo, and drinks are expensive (not that I ever buy my own drinks.) I had planned to skip this one, but I found out at last minute that friends who I hadn't seen in a while were going, so I decided to go to this one too. In the end, the music still sucked, but it was less crowded, and there were more interesting people to talk to than usual. So I had fun. The sad part is, I never manage to meet anyone outside of work. Maybe 'cuz I'm too busy having fun with people I know, but it would be nice to get to know a few people outside of work. I haven't quite figured out how to do that yet here. I suppose it goes back to my earlier post about needing a hobby. Find a sport or something to do and I can meet people that way.

So this party on Friday lasted all night for the most part and Saturday was wasted. I did make it out to another party tho for some good ol' fashioned board games. Yes, I play board games. Board games aren't big here in Europe though, and I can see how it would be a bit difficult for foreigners to play anything based on English or American culture. Luckily, there are a few Americans around that are into games. I'm having a few non-Americans over this Saturday for a "housewarming" party so maybe I'll see how Cranium goes with these guys.

Anyways, I don't usually write about parties but things have been so uneventful otherwise. I thought I'd spare you an entry on how boring this Java Web Services training I am receiving this week is. Or a recap of Grey's Anatomy Season 2, which I've been watching every free chance I get lately. Things are going to get really busy pretty soon. This coming weekend will be my last weekend home until late October. Hopefully I'll have some interesting stories to tell then.

NyQuil Rules!

The good news is that my homesickness didn't last but a day or so. The bad news is, that few days later I came down with an actual cold I haven't been able to shake. I did manage to take a sick day off of work on Tuesday, but it's really hard to take these unexpected days off when you've only got a 38 hour work week and ~9 weeks off a year. So I drugged myself with Dutch meds and dragged myself into work only to still be miserable cuz the meds aren't working. Finally, in hopes of getting some peace last night knowing I could sleep in today, I resorted to taking my one last pill of NyQuil that I had left over from the U.S. And that drug does wonders. All discomfort gone. Unfortunately, it didn't have the knock-me-out effect that it usually does so I'm wide awake at 3am doing laundry, dishes, and blogging. Maybe I'll even do some work. I must be high. The effects aren't going to last past the morning though. Where do I find NyQuil in Holland?!?!?

Home Sick

I hate having to write a bummer entry, but I guess I gotta be honest when portraying the life of the dancing nomad. So as the title states - I'm homesick. My karate instructor back home e-mailed me today to tell me about a mutual friend's baby, and how he's going for his 4th degree black belt. It got me thinking of all my friends back home who I miss very much, and karate. Back home if I had nothing else I always had karate. Now I just realized I have no hobby here in Holland!!! I have yet to find a martial-arts school to stick with, and I can hardly call traveling a hobby when I can't do it on a regular basis (once a month doesn't quite cut it). It hadn't bothered me up until now because things had been quite fun regardless. Recently though, things have been shaken up a bit and I feel like I have to find my place here all over again. I am still meeting new people and am hopeful of all being well again since I've done the moving thing so many times. For the moment though, I miss all of my friends and family back in the U.S., in Japan, and everywhere else. I've also got it in my head now to start practicing karate again. Maybe I'll just stick to my old style and go for my 2nd degree some day. I can't really think of any other hobby I'd like to take up. Snowboarding and hiking is no good since Holland has no mountains. Or maybe I'll take up dance lessons so I can be a professional dancing nomad :)

Book Review: The Alchemist

The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, is about a boy who travels to follow his dreams. He learns a lot while in pursuit of his dreams and has the kind of experiences he never even dreamt of. Along the way though, he also faced many challenges which discouraged him and at times made him give up. Yet, something always turns him around and he eventually succeeds in his quest.

A phrase often repeated in the book is that when a man is in pursuit of his dreams, the universe will conspire to help him. This was very encouraging for me. My theory is that there are two types of people - ones who are always content with what they have, and ones who are perpetually pursuing their dream. I've always been the second type, constantly seeking for something new and exciting and better. At times, I wonder why I couldn't just be content with what I have. It is not a bad philosophy to live by. Afterall, if you never want anything, you can never be disappointed. However, if you never expect anything, you also get nothing. And the world has so much to offer! It's not just about traveling either. It's about meeting people and developing relationships, new challenges in your career, or perhaps just a better life at home. I do have a dream, although it's a secret, and I have been in pursuit of it for as long as I can remember. I do admit there are tough times, but I think there are tough times for everyone, regardless of whether you are the first type, or the second type. I have on many occasions thought about giving up, or settling for something else. This book has inspired me to continue in search of my dreams, meanwhile, enjoying the journey along the way. The hope of achieving my goal helps to keep me going. Maybe once I've reached it, I'll be that type 1 person I always envy. Oh yeah, the book - absolutely recommended. It's short and easy-reading, so no excuses! :)

Book Review: Freakanomics

Freakanomics is a book by Stephen J. Dubner based on economic articles by Steven Levitt. Subtitled A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, the book discusses the economics behind why certain things are the way they are. Levitt provides interesting arguments using data for why Sumo wrestlers and school teachers are similar in that both are cheaters, how experts who are meant to help us really help themselves, why it matters more who the parents are as opposed to what they do when it comes to their children's successes, etc. One of the controversial arguments also made, repeatedly, is how legalized abortion played a significant role in reducing crime. I thought it was a plausible theory and if the statistics he used were valid, even better. (Yes, I'm pro-choice.) Anyways, no deep thoughts in this book, but a lot of interesting theory and statistics.

Haugesund, Norway

This entry is a bit late 'cuz I haven't had internet connection at home until now and I didn't want to hang around late at work just so I can blog.

Yeah, so I went to Norway from 12-15 Aug to hang out with a friend who is from Haugesund, which is on the West coast in the fjords. His family owns a cabin there by the sea and a small boat. Fortunately the weather was better there than in Holland (summer is already over here) so we were able to ride around the water on the first day. My friends also did/tried wakeboarding but I had to watch as I did not have a wet suit. What I saw of Norway was really beautiful. I bet there are more beautiful places though, and I've found couple of places I would like to visit next time I am in the country again. One is called the Pulpit and the other is 'Kjeragbolten' - the big rock wedged in between two cliffs (same rock seen in the video of the dancing dude). Both were actually within a few hours of where I was staying! This time around though, we spent too much time drinking and recovering to see much. We did make it to Bergen though on the last full day there. If you ever go there, take the cable car up the highest mountain there for a great view. There are also some trails you can do a bit of walking on (we only did a short one around a lake though).

Pictures here.

How To Piss Off the Dutch

The Dutch people that I've met so far have been pretty nice people, although I still maintain that they are cheap. Yesterday, though, I had a very unpleasant experience of getting yelled at by a Dutch person. And this is not the first time either. In the last 2 or 3 weeks, I got yelled at 3 times by a Dutch person while I was on my bicycle. The first time, I was riding on a sidewalk since I had just come out of my house. I went past a guy that was walking out of his house and I guess he wasn't happy that I nearly ran over him so he yelled something along the line of "garble garble garble fietspad!!!". At another time, this idiot stopped at a corner so I went to go around him to turn on to that street and I guess he was unhappy since he was just about to get going again and I was in his way. So, he yelled at me. Finally, yesterday, I thought I was doing everything right. I was on the bicycle path, or fietspad as they call it, going straight. Then a guy comes from the opposite direction and yells something to the line of "garble garble garble fietspad!!!" The only thing I could possibly think that I was doing wrong was riding on the wrong side of the street. However, some bicycle paths are two-way, and this one had plenty of room for such traffic. I saw no signs to indicate it was a one-way bike path. Unfortunately, since I have no way of verifying these people were being assholes. For all I know, they could have been saying, "Hey! I hope you are having a pleasant day and enjoying your bike ride on our wonderful fietspad!" Highly unlikely, but I restrained from telling them to fuck off. Anyways, if you are going to cycle around in Holland, it's best to learn the rules of the road... which I obviously haven't done yet. (Someone wanna help me out here?) If you do want to piss of the Dutch people though, cycle only on the sidewalks and try to come within inches of every person walking by. Or cycle going only in the wrong direction. Better yet, just set up a road block on their precious fietspad.

Dutch Service

The title of this blog is probably an oxymoron. The Netherlands is a relatively fun place to be if you don't have to move here. If you do move here though, prepare to lower your expectations as far as service goes in this country. Getting settled in here has been a frustrating experience for me, so I'll share with you some examples of the kind of things that happen here:

• Wanna follow-up on an order you made on-line? Be prepared to pay 10 cents per minute to 0900 #s. There is no such thing as 'toll-free' here.
• ABN Amro (one of the international banks here) is an exception and do have toll-free service desk. And a good thing at that because you will need to call them a lot probably. For starters, they lost my application for internet banking so it took me almost a month to get this service. (I had to keep calling to follow-up on this.) Meanwhile, when it came time to start paying bills, I had no way of making bank transfers (this is typically how payments are made). It took me about 2 hours on the phone and 3 visits to my local branch office before someone realized they could immediately provide me with a code that allows me to make bank transfers over the phone. Then my credit card application was denied because they did not have a pay slip from me. Apparently my work contract which clearly states my salary wasn't enough. So yet another trip to the bank to reapply. Oh, and no on-line address changing either. You need proof of residence and sign any requests for address changes, which means it has to be done by mail or in person. So much for convenience.
• So you need new furniture and did some shopping at IKEA? Be damn sure when you want your delivery because if you want to change it - yep - you have to call the 0900 #. Even if you don't mind paying the toll to change the date, chances are, you will confuse them and they will not even come on the day that you want. This was my case. I rescheduled a Monday delivery to Tuesday over the phone. And they came on Wednesday - unannounced. I was very lucky that I happenned to be home at the time they came.
• The movers on the otherhand, came when they said they'd come. But they almost left without unpacking anything even though I had paid for this service on the U.S. side. And they even wanted me to pay some sort of 'terminal delivery' fee!!! We had already paid the U.S. movers lots of money and I was not aware of any other fee to pay. I live on the first floor so they shouldn't charge me for having to go up stairs. They were in and out in 30 minutes, even after I made them unpack. I'm still trying to figure out what this is all about.
• Want internet service? Telephone? Cable? Well, Cassema is this great one stop shop where you can get it all. You can even order it all on-line!! That is, if you know Dutch. Btw, don't expect them to get things right. I waited a while, after receiving my confirmation e-mail, for my modem and such to arrive. It never did. After calling yet another 0900 #, I found out they never received my order. To boot, they said there is no service for my address!! Yet, their website says I do!

I still have no internet, telephone, or TV. My only form of entertainment at home is this cheap radio that ABN Amro gave me for all the troubles they caused. This is probably the most valuable cheap thing I ever received. Anyways, did I ever tell you how great Holland was? Well, if I did, I lied - it sucks!!!!! I did not come here for the weather, food, or the service - that's for sure.

(On a brighter note tho, had a fun game of volleyball yesterday afterwork. Also getting into my PS2 games now that my shipment has arrived. I have DDR Max 2, Karaoke Revolution 3, and Katamari Damacy. Went for a nice swim this morning in a lap pool 5 minutes away by bike from home. Things ARE fun here - but I had to vent for all the frustrating stuff that goes on.)

Lago di Garda - Verona - Annecy - Luxembourg

I just had a nice mini-vacation from the 13th to the 16th. A friend was in Italy for the week so I joined him mid-week and we drove back together through France and Luxembourg. The first day was spent in the Lago Di Garda (Lake Garda) area. We mountain biked up this big hill all morning and most of the afternoon. It was my first time mountain biking, so it was a bit of a challenge, but it was worth it for the views from above. We also spent some time relaxing by the lake. There were many tourists from all over Europe, too. The water was a bit too cold for swimming, but it was clear and beautiful. The second day was spent in Sirmione, South part of the lake, and Verona, the place where the story of Romeo and Juliet takes place. We walked around a bit and saw Juliet's balcony, but to be honest, I prefered the beauty of the lake area. On the 3rd day, we had to start heading back to Holland. It was a long drive back and we decided to break it up into 2 days. We stopped through Alba, France to get my friend some wine, and then stayed the night in Annecy, France. Annecy also boasts a beautiful lake. The French on this night was also celebrating their Independence Day so it was a busy night out. On the last day, we drove through Luxembourg City on the way back. It was a dead city, with the only people around being mostly tourists. It was beautiful though, and perhaps warranted more than a 2 hour stay (but a day is probably enough).

Pictures here.

Book Review: Adam's Curse

My US copy of Adam's Curse is subtitled: The Science That Reveals Our Genetic Destiny. However, the UK version is more interestingly and appropriated subtitled: A Story of Sex, Genetics, and Extinction of Men. In the book, Bryan Sykes discuss the science behind the male's Y-chrosome and the need for sex. You might have covered some of these topics in your high school biology class, but what makes this book interesting is the author's theory of male extinction. The Y-chromosome, which lacks the advantage of sexual recombination, is doomed as the level of infertility amongst men increases over time. No worries for us women though. Technology has been able to, at least in mice, create a viable embryo from two eggs, instead of 1 egg and 1 sperm. This means someday there will be a world of only daughters. I suppose over the long run the women will adapt to life without men. In my life though, I can't imagine a world without them. They can be a pain in the ass sometime, but without them, who would build my furniture, carry my shopping bags, buy me dinner, etc. etc. And who would do all those stupid things that make me laugh? I'd also have to turn into a lesbian. But homosexuality is genetic, so how would I do that? I guess I better enjoy them in my current lifetime.

Happy 4th of July!!

I had almost forgotten today was Independence Day... until some colleague I'd never met went out of his way to find every American in the office to invite them to a bbq. I was going to be out of the office a lot these two weeks, so my initial plan was to put in some serious overtime, go grocery shopping, and get an early night's sleep so I can be good to go when I'm up 0430 to catch a 0600 bus to Brussels tomorrow for induction training. Instead, I found out in the afternoon my office hasn't applied for my alien registration card yet, which could delay custom clearance of my goods shipped from the U.S. My office has already contributed to other delays in my shipment, so I was already unhappy about the idea of living in an empty apartment for weeks. So the idea of a further delay annoyed me a great deal so I said 'screw work'... and I took off to the BBQ. There I met more Americans, and some even seemed close to my age. I had a good time eating burgers and chatting with these people. I will be looking forward to hanging out with them again. But now I am going back to the European thing for rest of the evening and catch a World Cup match at a friend's. Anyways - Happy Birthday, America!!

Another Dancing Nomad

Now that I'm back to the life of working, I almost forgot about my passion for traveling. Thanks to Jeff for the clip and the reminder.

Stockholm, Sweden

This weekend I visited a friend who happenned to be in Stockholm for a conference. The city was a bit dead tho, being that it was the weekend of midsummer night. Tradition says that if an umarried girl picks seven types of flowers and puts it under her pillow at night, then she will dream of her future husband. So my friend and I went on a mission to find these seven types of flowers. Only, neither of us had a dream that night. Is that bad?!? The next day, I did have a dream, but of a guy I didn't want to marry. Good thing I threw out those flowers in the morning!

Beauty of a Woman

Today I came across this poem that I wish I'd seen last week when I celebrated(?) my bday and was feeling a bit bummed about getting older.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears,
The figure she carries, or the way she combs her hair.
The beauty of a woman must be seen from her eyes,
Because that is the doorway to her heart,
The place where love resides.
The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,
But true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.
It is the caring that she lovingly gives,
The passion that she shows.
The beauty of a woman
With time, only grows.

I'm not sure who the author is though, sorry.

My First Nudist Beach

My weekend started early on Friday since it was Sports Day at work. We got the afternoon off to go play sports and drink and eat. For my sport, I decided to participate in the obstacle course. We had one in college that we used to have to pass for time, so I thought I'd do it for good ol' times sake. Unfortunately, I'm not as fit anymore... or as young, so the obstacles were *just a little* tough. They were things like net and rope climbing, horizontal rope traversing, and stuff like that. We didn't have to get down and dirty in the muds or anything like that. Anyways, I did each obstacle twice, once for practice and once for time, and now my body wishes I'd only done it once....

Anyways, by the weekend, summer had arrived. The sky is clear and temperature is above 80. It's almost a heatwave for this country. So we decide to go to the beach on Saturday and it didn't occur to me to actually put on a swim suit because I didn't think it could get that hot. It was just a week or so ago that I was doubling up on my light jackets to go outside. Only after I stepped outside and walked a bit did I go back and pack for a 'real' beach-going experience.

Once at the beach there are topless girls everywhere. I suppose that is a European thing but I'm thinking it must be pretty convenient not having to worry about tan lines up top. Maybe I should go for it too. Or not. A bit more suprising was the number of naked people on the beach. My friend warned me we were going near a nudist beach but I had never been to one. I sort of half expected naked people to be everywhere, but there were more clothes people. I guess the actual nudist beach is further up North, so these were the stragglers that wandered away. Thankfully so, because most of the naked people are old. When I did see guys that appeared to be in the under 40 range, I did try to look just to satisfy some unexplainable curiousity. They were usually too far though to notice any details, since I was too embarassed to look directly at any if they were in close range. More often than not though, what I saw were saggy butts and stomachs... ick. It's best not to look.

Den Haag has two beaches: Scheveningen and Kijkduin. Scheveningen is where we live and is the more touristy one. Kijkduin is where most of the locals go, just a bit South of Scheveningen. Being on the North Sea, the beaches here are awful for swimming. Not only is it cold, but the water is very nasty. Brown I tell you. Nevertheless, I had my first dip in the sea, and only because I was thrown in there. No one in their right minds would voluntarily go in that water. Still, many Dutch and Germans crowd the beach the minute it's above 75 since days like this are rare.

Saturday was also a great day for BBQ, which we had at a colleague's. John's an American and has a German wife who makes great food - and lots of it!! Lots of people showed up and we had a very nice time eating, drinking chatting. The only thing missing was a large yard like you'd find in the U.S. But bbq's a bbq, and it' was great!

On Sunday, we went to Middelburg - the capital of Zeeland. It's a recommended stop if you have two weeks according to Lonely Planet's Guide. I'm not quite sure why though.... It's a nice place, but kind of dead. Perhaps because it was Sunday and the Netherlands were playing in World Cup today. Speaking of World Cup, US lost to Czech 0-3 today :( So Middelburg is unremarkable aside from an abbey and some nice churches. More remarkable were the Delta works, but not so much that I was willing to stop and get out of the car on the drive home. It was a nice drive out of the city though through some countryside, and it's always good to see new places, no matter where.

Hoge Veluwe National Park

Today I visited the largest national park in the Netherlands - the Hoge Veluwe. They provide free bicycles for use within the park so we did a big loop around the park while taking in views of marshlands, forests, and sand dunes. We started off at the south end of the park and rode about against the wind and uphill towards the middle of the park. My legs, which were unaccustomed to cycling, were struggling a bit. At the center of the park is a pretty good museum, the Kröller-Müller. We stopped here to fuel our stomachs and checked out the works of Van Gogh, Picasso, Renoir, Manet, etc. There were also many absract art, as well as some strange pieces of work. After the museum, we rode up to the St. Hubertus Hunting Lodge. This was my favorite place in the entire park. It was situated near a lake and had nice gardens with blooming flowers. By now, the sun was high and we relaxed a bit by the lake. The ride home was much more pleasant. It was warmer, and not as much uphill. Over all, despite the lack of any splendor compared to the U.S.'s national parks, it was a very enjoyable day.

I'm a Mean Lean Cycling Machine!

The first productive thing I did in Holland was buy a bicycle. They have special roads designated for cyclers so just about everyone here rides one. Since I didn't ship my car or have any plans to buy one right away, I decided to give the bike thing a try myself. The first time I was here, I did the bus and tram thing, and that sucked. The last time I was here, I hitched a ride from coworkers and that was a pain in the butt, too. This time I am taking the most economical and efficient way to work.

I bought a used bicycle for 100 euros. Pretty pricey, but new ones cost like 400-600 euros!! You'd think there'd be a market for cheaper bicycles here but I guess you have to get something half decent or the sea breeze will rust it up pretty quickly. Anyways, I rode my new bike around the neighborhood feeling like a kid. It's been a long time since I've ridden one. I was having fun. I also felt a bit retarded though, trying to get used to it. It's not just riding. You have to make sure you don't hit anyone or get run over by a car. A friend of mine used to give another friend and me a ride on his bike (one on the handle bar and one on the bar in front of the seat). As often as we did the three-person bike ride, I'm surprised he didn't get us killed. I suppose by the time I'm done with Holland, I'll be as skilled as him in riding a bicycle.

Hello, Netherlands!!

My flight arrived this morning in Schipol at 0700. It was a bumpy ride and the audio system didn't work well so I sat through 2/3 of Kingdom of Heaven having no idea what the hell was going on. I got home (staying with same roommate as before) around 8ish, and decided I'd go back to sleep for a bit thinking I'd get up by noon or so. Well, the next thing I know it's freakin' 5pm. I slept the day (a nice one at that) away. On top of that, I'm going to have a hard time shaking jet lag off. Good thing I don't have to be in work until Thursday.

The next couple of days will be apartment hunting and running miscellaneous errands - like opening a bank account, buying a bicycle, etc. Or, I could just end up sleeping in every day. That would suck.

Bye bye, U.S. of A.!

Well, here I go leaving the country again, this time for who knows how long. I know I will miss home though, so I am sure I will be back at least once or twice a year for a visit. Anyways, next time you hear from me, it will be from my new country of residence.

It's the End of the World as We Know It

Or at least, it appears to be the end of my world. Eric Julien claims in his website, Save Lives in May, he has "received information psychically, which is corroborated by scientific data, according to which on May 25, 2006 a giant tsunami will occur in the Atlantic Ocean, brought about by the impact of a comet fragment which will provoke the eruption of under-sea volcanoes. Waves up to 200 m high will reach coastlines located above and below the Tropic of Cancer. However, all of the countries bordering the Atlantic will be affected to greater or lesser destructive and deadly levels."

The pictures below are from the above website. The left picture outlines the impact zones. The right is a regional diagram of where I live. Apparently, the area outlined in red is going to be underwater after the tsunami. I live about where the X marks the spot.



Normally, I wouldn't give a rats ass to predictions like these, but after the tsunami of '04 and hurricane Katrina, why should anyone be surprised if a comet came and wiped out half of the Atlantic coasts. I had indicated in past on occasions that it would be in the best interest of humanity if mother nature took out majority of the human population. Our world is falling apart, and I really do think it's just a matter of time before nuclear warfare or global warming or some other disaster destroys mankind. My prediction is that a series of disasters will slowly take us out little by little, until what's left of us poses no threat to the environment.

While I do not want to die, I have no plans to evacuate. My siblings and their family are all also in town this week, so it would really suck if we all died together. My parents would be so sad. What would also be annoying is that I'm scheduled to fly out on the 27th. I would be just 2 days away from escaping death. On the otherhand, what you don't see above is another image of Europe and its red line outlining the death zone. Most of Holland is already below sea level.... Anyways, I just hope that when my time comes, whether it's this Thursday or 50 years from now, that it is painless.

Well, I couldn't possibly call or e-mail every loved one before dying to say my good-byes. So I'll do it now. Sayornara amigos. I'll see you in the next life!

Orlando, FL

To celebrate graduation, I took a trip down to Orlando with fellow classmates, Kelly & Melissa. Luckily, Kelly's family down there gave us the hook up - one put us up in their very nice home where we chilled mostly by the pool, and the other got us into Disney World for free. We spent the first day at the Epcot Center and MGM Studios. I was a tad disappointed in both, even though I had been there and enjoyed it way back when. The international pavillions no longer excite me after having travelled so much in the last decade. Also, I've never been too keen on roller coasters, and simulation rides seem to make me more nauseaus the older I get. Furthermore, the shows in these parks are on the cheesy side and performed by amateurs at best. The next day, we went to Animal Kingdom. It was my first time there, and I liked it much better than the other theme parks. Despite all the people, I got a sense of being out in nature. The mini-safari wasn't bad either. Still, I think this could be the last time I go to theme parks in the U.S. It almost seems pointless to go unless you like the thrill of rides. I suppose I am getting old, but whatever.

The rest of the stay down South involved mostly hanging out by the pool and shopping. On the drive back up to Virginia, we stopped in Hilton Head to drop Melissa off so she can join her parents who are there for the week. We stayed a night in their guest bedroom. They had a pretty nice place there - a 3BR place just for the 3 of them, through time share. I'm starting to think I need to stop this budget traveling thing and start doing the luxury travel thing a bit more. I have a few options: 1) travel less and spend more on each trip, 2) get rich, or 3) marry rich. I'm not sure that traveling less is an option yet for me. Maybe by the time I'm 40 I could be making enough to live a little better. As for #3, maybe I need to start stalking some of the diplomats and royalties in or visiting the Hague. If anyone has any other bright ideas, I'm open to suggestions.

Book Review: Life of Pi

Back when I was traveling the world in 2003, I saw several fellow travellers, mostly English, reading this book. I never got my hands on one until now. The book has received great reviews and awards, and for good reason. I found the initial chapters to be slow but by the second section, I could not put the book down. Canadian author Yann Martel tells in the book a story about an Indian boy, Piscine, who survives 227 days at sea on a lifeboat after a shipwreck. Saved on the lifeboat along with Piscine is a Bengal tiger. Piscine must face the challenges of surviving in the face of nature and predator. Intertwined in this story about animals and survival is religion. Interesting perspectives are introduced to make you go hmm.... Anyways, even though it is fiction, I found motivation in the boy's courage and strength to survive. There are some talks about making a film based on the book, so be sure to read it before the movie comes out.

Graduation

Today I received my Masters of Engineering in Modeling and Simulation from the College of Engineering at Old Dominion University. The commencement was held at the Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk, Virginia.

What a fitting end the ceremony was to the grueling 2 years of graduate studies. Actually, neither was really all that bad (I ended up with a 3.93 and was initiated into Tau Beta Pi), but sitting through actual graduation was somewhat painful. I had to get up at 0600 in order to be on campus by 0800. It takes about an hour for all the students to get robed properly and lined up according to their degrees, so by 0900 we were marching into the stadium. The speakers were brief, except one, the honorary degree recipient & CNN host/reporter Wolf Blitzer. Not only was his speech long, but most of the graduates seemed to find it irrelevant to the particular event. The speech, which revolved around the current criticisms journalists faced & the war in Iraq, was hardly motivational. I, for one, was quite disappointed. The longest part of the ceremony was the 'walk' where graduates go up to the stage to receive their 'fake' degrees and shake various people's hands. There were probably 500 graduates for this particular commencement. (The school holds a separate commencement in the afternoon for other colleges.) I took a short nap during the first half. When it was my turn to go up, I did manage to have a moment of cheer and put on a smile for the ODU president and other people. Then I went back to my seat only to spend rest of the 2.5 hour ceremony literally cursing the jerk-offs behind me who were letting their cell-phones ring and being obnoxious in every which way possible.

So why did I bother walking you say? It wasn't in my plan to, but my friends were attending since they invited their families. I did want to share this moment with the girls that helped make these past two years bearable, if not at times enjoyable. If they were going to suffer through the ceremony, I figured I'll suffer right along with them.

When shaking the president's hand she asked if I planned to pursue my Ph.D. My mind said hell no, but I politely replied, "maybe." My only motivation to do a Ph.D. is so I can make people address me as Dr. so-and-so. Whether it is enough or not, I'm not too keen on becoming a student again. At least for now, going back to school is not in my future plans. If anything, I hope those that know me will remind me if I get any crazy ideas how much I disliked being in school.

Riviera Maya, Mexico

I just spent a fantastic week in the Riviera Maya. About three weeks ago, I decided I need to do something to fill some free time I have at the moment. Nevermind that I'm an unemployed student, or that I just had a vacation at end of March.

I decided on Cancun initially for two reasons: 1) I have never been to Mexico & 2) I wanted to see the Mayan ruins. I wasn't quite sure before booking my flight what else I was going to do, but it turned out there are tons to do in the states of Yucatan and Quintana Roo. Everyday was a full-day, and I did a lot more than I had planned. It didn't quite turn out to be the budget vacation I had hoped tho. The area is a major tourist destination, particularly for Americans. Most things cost as much as, if not more than, the U.S. It didn't matter though, as it was all worth it. Including flight, car rental, lodging, food, and everything else, the week probably cost me $1300. Perhaps I got lucky tho, as I managed to find a travel-holic crazy enough to join me on 2 weeks notice to split the some costs with. The trip would have been a bit more difficult and boring on my own (although I had booked the flight before I had even asked anyone to join.)

My partner in crime for the week was Dave, a chiropractor-to-be from Cali who I met in S. Africa back in 2003. He was a trooper as I rushed us around from place after place to make the most of the week we had there. Here's how the week went:

Day 1: Arrival & Cancun

I got in around noon so I got the car at the airport and headed towards Cancun. There were hardly any road signs so I had no idea if I was going in the right direction but I finally made it into the hotel zone of Cancun. I drove all the way down and into downtown where I checked into our lodging for the night. There was a more direct way to get there but I had missed the turn off because of the lack of signs on the road. Anyway, I was quite amazed at how pretty the water was here. I'd been to places with nice beaches, but this ranks up there, too. The water was a beautiful turquoise color. I couldn't wait to get in it. Unfortunately, access to the beach is limited because the hotels put up fences, but I cut right through a 4-star hotel's lobby and hopped in the water. The water felt great!!! But I got tired of the wave hopping so I decided to go use the hotel's pool for some swimming. Despite being off-peak season, the pool area was packed. I had a hard time finding a full-sized chair to lay on. The people in the pool seemed to be having a good time but they looked like buncha 20 something wannabe's. Not really the atmosphere I wanted. Later in the day, I went looking for food (I skipped lunch so I can get some beach time). Unfortunately, there were chain restaurants everywhere. Outback, Hooters, Johnny Rockets, Planet Hollywood, you name it - they got it. It was too much work for me to find a good local place in my state of starvation so I settled on one of these. I'm too embarassed to even name the place. Anyways, I found the Cancun resort area to be too wide spread and touristic to the extreme. I had no desire to hang around here too long. Dave was due to get in late tonight and my plan was drive our butts out of here first thing the next morning - whether he liked it or not.

Day 2: Chitzen Itza and Ek' Balam

Probably the most frequented and impressive Mayan ruin of all is Chitzen Itza. It was a two hour drive from Cancun to get there, so we were out the hotel by 0730 to get there before all the tour buses started arriving. We spent couple hours in the area looking at all the ruins and sweating our pants off. For lunch, we drove back to the town of Valladolid, about 30 km East, to check into our hotel. It was the nicest place in town, but still only cost us $50 for the night. It was a charming little place with a nice garden and pool. After lunch, we headed up to Ek' Balam, another set of ruins about 20km North of Valladolid. These were much smaller but still nice. We were able to climb one of them for a cool view of the area. Dinner was held again back in town, and for the evening, we headed once again back to Chitzen Itza for the light show, which was a bit on the lame side.

Day 3: Coba and Tulum

I heard the Tulum ruins were a must see as they sat right by the beach and made for a picturesque scene. On the way to Tulum tho was Coba, another set of ruins. This one had an even higher pyramid which we were allowed to climb. It was fun going up it but not much of a view from top since the area was covered by the forest. There was also a lot of walking around in Coba. The distances between sites of interest were large, and we were too macho in thinking we didn't need to rent bikes or bike taxis. If other people are walking, why shouldn't we? Well, for starters, I didn't want to spend all day here, and it was hot as heck outside. I wouldn't have minded the walking otherwise. We only saw a portion of Coba - we were ready to get back to the beaches. Tulum was very nice as promised, but very small. It took less than an hour to see the ruins here, and an hour at the beach by the ruins sufficed (it's a tad on the crowded side). Our lodging for the night was in an el cheapo place (the area is a bit too pricey to stay somewhere nice) but it was on the beach and had palapas. That, beds and shower were all we needed today.

Day 4: Xel-Ha

Most of this day was spent at Xel-Ha, one of the several ecoparks in the area. It boasts great snorkeling, which is what we did most of the day. While not the best snorkeling I've done, I must admit there are a lot of fishes and is great for beginners. I had hoped I would find an opportunity to get out to the reefs later in the week, but alas, this was my one and only snorkeling opportunity. We also had the opportunity to do a river ride on an inner tube, which turned out to be more of a work out than a relaxing ride. Part way down, the current turned against us so a lot of paddling was involved (but I always welcome a challenge.) You can also walk around the lagoon and enjoy the beautiful flora and wildlife. Later in the afternoon, we had the chance to chill in hammocks.

Day 5: Xcaret

This was the mother of all ecoparks, the Disneyland of Mexico. Xcaret was an all-day affair of 9 to 9. The day started with a walk around the park to check out all the attractions such as a Mayan village, wildlife, flora, Mexican cemetery & church, etc. After lunch, we moved onto a 40 minute swim in an underground river which was pretty exciting save for the fact that I had to keep adjusting the life vest strap that kept rubbing against my crotch. Good thing I'm not a guy. (Lesson: make sure you get life vests that fit tightly). The rest of the afternoon was spent chilling by the beach under palapas and hammocks, or swimming. In the evening, they put on a spectacular 2 hour show. The first half told a story of the area's history. They also reenacted a ancient ball game and fire hockey (like ice hockey but using a ball of fire - pretty neat). The rest of the show was lots of singing and dancing.

Day 6: Playa del Carmen and the start of the luxury life

Playa del Carmen is the next most happenning place next to Cancun. The atmosphere here reminded me of Key West and it was a more to my liking. The main area could be covered on foot and I hardly noticed any chain restaurants (although there was a Haagen Daz on every other block.) There are lots of shops in the area so we spent the morning souvenir hunting until we could go check into the swank hotel we booked for the last two night's stay. We had considered staying somewhere nice for a while, but it wasn't put into action until we met some people in Tulum who told us about an all-inclusive deal in Puerto Morelos, just 20 minutes south of the Cancun airport. For roughly $300 bucks a night, they got 4-star lodging, plus all-you-can-eat-and-drink for free (including alcohol!) Resort side activities were also free. So couple days ago we went on-line looking to see what kind of deals we could find, and we found a whopping 40% off deal for a Junior Suite at Hotel Marina El Cid. That's right - we got the room for $183 a night - roughly $90 bucks a person. If I drank like my friends do, it would more than pay for itself in food and drinks alone. The hotel is brand new and just opened in February. The cheap deal that we got is good for couple more weeks so go book your Riviera Maya trip now!!

Day 7: Life of luxury continued

Okay, I'm not usually one who can sit around and do nothing all day. I looked forward to a nice hotel, but I had doubts as to whether I could keep myself busy on this last day. Well, it turned out there was not enough time to do nothing. I was way too busy swimming, doing aqua aerobics, playing beach volleyball, working on my tan, napping under the palapas, swimming some more, hitting the wet bar, chilling in the jacuzzi, reading a book on the beach beds; and enjoying the view of the torquoise water and palm trees, the sounds of the crashing waves, and the feeling of the cool sea breeze. Now this was life. I suppose the fact that days like this are rare in my life makes me appreciate it so. What made it even better was the fact that because the hotel was new, there was hardly anyone there. I had the gigantic pool practically to myself. I was in heaven. I couldn't help but think how nice it would be to live somewhere where I could swim when I want to in a nice, big, clean pool or beach. I'm thinking perhaps Sydney is the place to be. Hmm... I'll have to work on that one.

Day 8: Departure

We milked the last bit of luxury we could in the morning and checked out of our hotel. Our drive to the airport would have been short had it not been for the lack of signs (again) which made us drive way past it and forcing us to do a u-turn. I was sad and bitter upon arrival in the airport as I was not quite ready to face reality yet. I am saved though in knowing that there are more good times to be had, and I will have another trip soon enough.

Pictures are on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dancingnomad3/sets/72057594126483910/

Washington, D.C.

The last stop on this trip is a stop in D.C. to see Milinda, one my closest friends and one of the first few people I got to know in college. She has a new apartment just 10-15 minutes walk from the mall so I spent a few hours walking around there today. I'd been to D.C. several times already, but I never get tired of coming here. I love all of the monuments and memorials, buildings, the museums, the zoo, etc. And you know what the best part of it all is? That it's all free to visit!!! The mall area, monuments, and memorials all have a park like feeling too, so there are many great places to relax. Many people also run, blade, or bike around these areas. Also, there is no better city in the U.S., in my opinion, where you can learn so much about the country. Granted, culturally, there are differences across cities all over. Still, a lot about the U.S.'s history and politics can be learned here through the museums and the organizations that exist here.

With all the things to do in D.C., relatively good weather, friends, and abundance of jobs, this is the place I would have chosen to live had I not taken the Europe offer. Still, it is a place I would like to come back to and live in someday. It was a tough choice to make, to move overseas, but it is a great career move, and a great opportunity to experience more traveling. The Europe offer may not always be around, but I can always come back to D.C. later when I'm ready to move back to the U.S.

I forgot to bring my camera with me today, so sorry there are no pictures. There will be a next time though!