the week is so packed. tuesdays are smd fellowship. wednesdays are spanish
class at don quijote. i'm trying to work out regularly, so that means
usually mondays and thursdays are done. plus the usual chilloungin' with friends. there isn't enough time.
ever.
yoyoyo, represent!
so that doesn't leave a lot of time to do stuff that's not so regular, say, updating this journal. i know the
easy answer is, update it regularly! well, that takes a backseat when there's a decent party going on. last
weekend was just that time of year around here, the local equivalent of munich's oktoberfest - karneval!
me, anne and mark, biggin' it up at sausalito's
only thing is, it'a like halloween for adults, and i don't like dressing up. just ask my mom. people go to
great lengths here to get all done up like cowboys or pirates or medical personnel, but it's really just a big
excuse to drink. so why not skip the costumes? well, that's what i did anyways, when i met up with anne at
sausalito's. mark and i had just come back from düsseldorf (more on that later), and he went home to shower,
so i went straight to the bar and there was a big party raging... bumped into irena and a friend of hers also,
and mark and barbara came by later as well... as my bro says, gthba.
so anyways, what else is going on... nothing really. work has been pretty busy of late. got that second
reference for my apps (woohoo!). got the second invitation of what is sure to be a busy summer of weddings...
oh, happy lunar new year (aka chinese new year) to anyone who cares. last weekend was also the annual dragon
ball fundraising gala that my whole family participates in... i heard it was pretty sweet. jeff healey was
the musical guest, and there were over 1700 ppl there, helping to raise money for
yee hong...
it's not quite the same as back home, but my friend barbara and i are gonna celebrate the new year by going up
to amsterdam this weekend for the new year festival there. they've got lion dances and fireworks and parades,
the whole nine yards. should be good.
2.15.2005 cafés and coffee shops
so some of you might have noticed that i've posted quite a few pics recently, like, each of the last 4 posts.
well, that was a conscious decision on my part, to reward all 6 of you who come to visit my site regularly.
it's about time i threw you a bone, no? ok, i've got a lot to make up for, so i hope this is the first step.
the chinese community in amsterdam in full effect
so as i said in the last post, i went up to amsterdam on the
weekend with barbara for the chinese new year festival up there. you may not know this, but there's a
fair-sized chinese community (and other east asian nationalities as well) in amsterdam, at least, compared
to other european cities. the festival was held in the old nieuwmarkt area, complete
with a traditional dual lion dance and the good luck lettuce and red pockets and such.
daniel and barbara
barbara's bulgarian friend, daniel, who lives and works in eindhoven, came along too, and the 3 of us
watched as the hordes of people watching followed the lion dancers up zeedijk, the main
street in chinatown. we followed it for about 45 minutes before deciding we were too hungry and bolted for
some lunch, which ended up being all-you-can-eat dim sum. clearly not the best choice, but for 7.50 euros,
you can't really ask for much more.
barbara and me
we splurged more for dinner, going to the most famous chinese restaurant in amsterdam, nam
kee (oysters at
nam kee is both in book and movie form), and stuffing our faces full of yummy chinese (read:
cantonese) food. we walked around for a while and then went to leidseplein, probably
the best place in a-dam to go out, with tons of bars and restaurants and clubs.
in total, we hit up 4 bars, each successively better and better (though, given the music selection at the
first couple, that wasn't too hard). a word of caution: it's expensive here. not quite london, or even
dublin, but when a pint of guinness costs 5 euros, you know you're
in for a pricey night. still, we avoided all places with a cover charge, so we only got hosed on drinks.
on the other hand, the girls in amsterdam really like to party. heheh.
this trip also marked the first time i used hospitality club,
a website that brings together cheap travelers and generous hosts to offer shelter in places around the
world, very often for free (check also couchsurfing). i had
emailed this dutch guy, stef, a week before to check if the 3 of us could stay at his place, and it was
no problem. he lived pretty centrally, and he was very welcoming (in fact, he was hosting 4 other ppl).
best part, it was practically free (well, 50 cents from each of us cuz he had to cut a new key for us).
if you're more of the wandering type looking for a kindred spirit (or really really cheap), i suggest you
check it out.
2.25.2005 uplifting and floorshaker
i really could've posted something earlier this week, but i wanted to keep this streak of consecutive
picture updates alive, and i never found any time to sit down and write up everything. well, almost another
week has passed, so let's get a quick synopsis of the last couple weeks...
caroline and me, at the uplifting party
last friday, after sushi with christof, sophie, markus, and yvonne, i went to this party at bar museo... it
was called uplifting, and they were playing vocal house. or at least, what they called vocal house. i
dunno, it wasn't really what i expected and i came close to bailing a few times, but every now and then some
good music would come on and so i would stay a bit longer... well, this occurred over and over until 4am.
heheh, good times? well, it was fun, being with mark, francesco and caroline, but i would've preferred
other music.
jose and me, at the jungle-themed party
on saturday, after staying in all day to do my uni apps, i went to play football with some of the philips
guys, and finally, finally we rocked it. we won 12-3, and it was a pretty dominating performance. we had
only a couple defensive miscues, but otherwise, our passing was good, our flow was good, and we didn't miss
many chances. i was aiming for a clean sheet, but i only made a mistake on one goal... i had no chance on
the first one (though i still got a glove on it), and the second came on a penalty.
toni, francesco, begonia, javier, david's friend, david (l to r)
after the match, we went for greek food at this nice restaurant called dinosaurus, and it was a really good
deal... 15 euros for a 3 course meal... i took calamari as appetizer, then a grill platter for mains, and
then baklava for dessert... nice.
but the highlight was the jungle party after dinner... jason's flat was having a big jungle-themed party,
though he wasn't actually around... but jose came back from madrid just for the party. it was crazy, so
many people... it was rammed.
david's friend, begonia, me, caroline, francesco
in fact, i think they seriously underestimated the number of people coming, because around 3:15am, it was
impossible to find a beer. i thought they had actually run out, but someone had stashed a case away in the
small fridge, and that was the last of it. i managed to score one, though it was short-lived... the police
came and busted up the party around 3:45. or at least, that's when we got the order from karo to leave. i
don't recall that happening at other parties, though it did happen one time at chris' place...
:P
roomies anne and dalia
anyways, so that's been that... went to watch meet
the fockers last thursday, which was alright... a little comedic in spurts, but nothing to write
home about. the same can't be said for ray, the
biopic about ray charles... that was amazing. totally worth the
6.70 euros i paid for it. jamie foxx was amazing. i
hope he wins the oscar he got nominated for...
caroline and me again, it's not the same party as the first pic
i've been picking back up a bit of all the french i've forgotten in the last 10 years... i'm trying to
talk to caroline only in french, since she's from paris... it's working out alright actually, i need a bit
more help speaking than i do when writing since i have the handy internet available then... je n'ai pas
oublié tout ma français! woot!
anyways, so i'm off to bar museo tonight again, but this week it's not vocal house, it's soul, funk, disco
and old-school rap... they call it floorshaker. sweet! should be good.
2.28.2005 striking out, in 2 different ways
it might seem like all i do is fun and games here, going out to bars and clubs, but honestly, i actually
go to work during the day. i just don't take pictures there (nor am i really allowed to anyways). but
looking back at the last few posts made me realize that it all seems like i'm just hopping from one
party to the next, when i'm really not... it's just that the weekends are busy. :P
stefan watches as rüdy gets a 6.0 from the russian judge
anyhoo, so last thursday, my department held our Christmas event... yeah, we're a bit late on that, but
with parties and dinners and meetings out the wazoo during that time of year, we decided to postpone
our little get-together until now... bowling was the event du jour and for someone who hadn't bowled in
about 3 years, i wasn't that bad.
dan (seated) and florian watch the action
rüdy was pretty hot in the early going, nailing a few spares, but dan was mr. consistent, topping out
the first frame at 150. i usually take a game or two to warm up and that day was no exception... i
finished the first game at a measly 102. my "team", consisting of dan, nils, florian, tatiana and me,
were the highest-scoring team, though dan really carried us, as florian seemed a bit out of place and
i think it was tatiana's first time bowling...
nils and rüdy at bangkok restaurant
i took the high score in the second game with 117, which was a pathetic score considering i had 4
strikes... totally wasted them though, and i didn't even think i was gonna do that well, as i resorted
to my "freestyle" bowling for one frame, bowling both attempts with a one-handed, between-the-legs
move i started in high school. i ended up with a strike high of 5, and the 4th-highest game score and
average score too. dan was tops, tatiana picked up the rear (and both got prizes) while nils was in
second, i think.
after bowling, we went for dinner at a thai restaurant called
bangkok. it was actually pretty good...
maybe not the best in aachen (river
kwai is still the best, i think), but it ain't far off either.
me and nils, at the floorshaker party at bar museo
on friday, i went out to bar museo again, like i said in my last
post, for the floorshaker party... it was rammed there. more my type of music (soul, funk, disco)
than the uplifting party, but still not exactly my thing. i enjoyed it though... i saw a girl from my
spanish class there, and hung out with nils most of the night. he knew a ton of people there, and we had
a good time. i was so chicken though... there were multiple opportunities for me to go up to this cute
german girl and talk to her, cuz she seemed a little intrigued when i was talking to nils in english...
but i never worked up the nerve to do it, and then in the end, i was like, you can't go up to her now,
after not doing anything the first 10 chances you had... man! so chicken. bawk bawk!