The Highlight of San Jose Trip

The standouts for me were the food.  I had tasted the best Carbonara ever at "The Sausage Factory" in Castro in San Francisco.  Sean ordered it and I tasted a bit from his plate.  Apparently, using pancetta instead of normal bacon make a big different to this dish.  My ordered, some spicy tomato sauce thing, was nice too.  The portion was huge.  I ended up having to pack about one third of the portion.  It was still good after staying in the fridge for two days and microwave.

I also ran into unexpected Gumbo stand at a farmers market in Monterey Bay.  We were there to see the Aquarium but we arrived a bit late after we visit the beach in Carmel.  The ocean was very cold for me at Carmel but it was sunny and a lot of families were enjoying the weather at the beach.  But I digress, we did not went into the aquarium because it was about to close.  I thought it was also odd that the gift shop was not available to people who had not buy the ticket to see the aquarium.  Anyway, on our way back to the car, we came across the farmers market.  At the very end of the road I saw a stand that sell New Orleans food.  I was excited because, although this might sound racist, I saw that the stand was manned by two black women who spoke with Southern accent.  I just knew that the food would be good.  After being a bit indecisive, I decided that this would be a very place to buy Gumbo from and I wasn't disappointed.  The seafood Gumbo that I bought for 10$ was full to the brim with shrimp, fish and crab.  I was telling the ladies that I thought I would have to wait another year to eat New Orleans gumbo and my friend added that I was initially planned to visit New Orleans for labour day weekend but the hurricane disrupt my plan.  I, later, went back for hot sauce to spice it up and asked for the hottest one.  They gave me a bit of dubious looks but handed me the sauce.  I added a bit and while it was quite hot, it wasn't the hottest I ever had.  It was still good though.

I also love In-n-Out burger. The burger there was nice but their fried was the best I have ever had.  I would love to return to San Jose just for the burger and the Carbonara.  On one morning Sean also take me to a breakfast place downtown and I order omlette with hash brown.  The hash brown was lovely :d.  The portion was also nicely large.  Despite what many said about American penchant for large portion, it was not always true.  Some of the meal I had were not quite enough for me to be full.

I was there in time for the Castro St. fair.  It was quite nice.  The weather was cool and there were a lot of things to see.  One booth was selling Venetian masks.  They certainly looks very nice but also very expensive.  There were many things to see, also the Blue Angels were flying over the area as well.

Summaries of Amsterdam

Honestly, by now the Amsterdam parts are almost blurred together. With so much time has gone until I finally have the urge to do this post, I think it's best to just sums it all up. I think I will have to start a seperate traveling blog... Otherwise I won't write anything else until the trip is finish.

Somehow I have managed to meet most of my friends who live in Amsterdam. I did the free walk tour again and I have seen the famous canal pride. I went to the central station. I also went into one of the sexshop along the way. I buy sandwiches from A&H, the biggest supermarket chain there. Things are quite expensive in Amsterdam than Prague, naturally.

I also noticed that Jack Russell Terrier seems to be quite popular. I saw quite a few people walking that breed in the city. My friend also have one, they named him Max. Max is a rotund JR terrier with personalities to match. They definitely spoiled him a lot :) He has a sizable pile of toys in one corner of the house and love to chase them when you throw it for him. Max also have a habit of fall asleep on his back with all of his four legs in the air.

I visited bars, museum (with entrance fee *grumble*, I guess I have been spoiled by the free museums in London), the china town area, and many hash shops :P One of my friend treated me to his favorite chinese restaurant which serve wanton noodle. The portion was great, with about 10 wantons in the bowl. They also have chilli paste, which perk up my palette considerbly. I added that a bit too much though :P.

My friend remember my birthday which I forgot since I was traveling :P. He gave me a birthday card ;)

I also visited a windmill park courtesy of my friend's hubby. It was a nice, relaxing, and free to enter park with several still functioning windmills with different purposes. One was use for making paint, another was use for making flour, etc. There is also a clog making demonstration which we were able to catch. They also sell Netherland style waffle crack. They were very sweet, heavier than they look, and quite delicious. The hubby recommended this as the souvenier to buy. I ended up buying a few for my family, colleages and myself. Before we left we had a pancake meal Amsterdam style. The Amsterdam style referred to the way the pancake was cooked which is a tin slice on hotplate on wheel being rotated into hot oven. It was quite good as well :)

On my last day, I went into the city for the last time and bought a rice chocolate cake from A&H that I has been eyeing for a few days. It was a half round piece so I planned to share it with my friend and his husband. After I returned, I began packing my stuffs, with sometime left I decided to check out one last place I wanna see. I went to a lake not far from my friend's house which is also the cruising area. The beach areas of the lake were pack as it was quite hot that day. Once I got back, I finish packing up, shower, and eat. My friend was also there taking me to the airport. He told me that his husband will be home late that day. So I told him of the cake I bought for them. He also worried whether I will make it in time to the airport as I scuffle down leftover pasta.

My friend could only drop me off at the terminal. We hugged and said goodbye and then I went to the KLM counter.

When it was my turn, the counter lady told me that I will be put on reserve, that there might be a chance that I will have to take the next flight, and that I should went to the gate as soon as possible. I was slightly panic by this but the staff told me that in that case the airline will pay for accomodations and what not. So quickly went to the gate. But I also have the time to stop and look at several paintings that were on loan from the musuem. I also texted my friend to inform him of the situation.

Half of me wants the overbook to happens since it would be means another day of vacation but the other half do wants to go home already. Eventually, I got the seat alright and the flight home was without a hitch. It was older model of airplane though as there were no enetertainment system in the back of the seat. The A/C was way cold as usual, the food was so so, the movie was Duplicity.

The taxi home was slightly cheaper than the last times so it was nice.

Food Reflection II: Green Dream

Lately I have been accustom to eating more vegetables. Not just the simply white radish soup that was usually the only thing I would eat but I gradually added watercress and *gasp* brocolli to the mix.

I am sure that my younger self would be aghast by this fact if he saw the kind of vegetable I did ate now. I have been eating, not just carrot and cabbage, but brocolli, basil, bamboo shot, and bell pepper.

I still remembered how my mom told me that her younger sister used to not eat a lot of vegetable when she was younger and how she now eat vegetables a lot more. I never thought that that would happen to me. The fact that now it did happen, boggled my mind a fair bit.

It is better for my health I am sure so I am not complaining. I am also sure that I will not began eating salad anytime soon :p

Office Party Night and Wonderful

Tonight is the night of the office party to welcome new teacher and say good bye to the leaving one. The food was quite good and a lot people turn up including the new teacher and the one that is leaving :)

Anyhow, I leave the party rather early as I have my visa application to go tomorrow morning *fingers cross*

I also found this clip that I am very fond of. I first hear this song from one of the audition in the 4th cycle of "So You Think You Can Dance". I remember the voice, it was Annie Lennox, and after a bit of search I found the song. Even better, I found her Acoustic Live version as well.

However, the original video post have very low audio. So I download and put it through conversion to make it louder, the easy way :P

Here it is :)



I am really admire her singing voice. I find that she is one of the few musician whom I like their live performance than the studio release version.

An Enjoyable Meal

I had a great time last night with my friends at Kuroda.

With his time suggestion, I did had time to shower and change before went out to the restaurant. When I arrive at the meeting point, I call him and found out that they were at MajorCineplex near by to escape the pollutoin from the road.

We finally meet and walked to Kuroda. Although I have reserve the table for us, we still have to wait for a while for our table.

Tonight we did not order anything out of ordinary. I do not wants to order any rice or noodle dishes, fearing that it will filled me too quick. So apart from Salmon Sashimi and deep fried squid tentacle, we ended up ordering the same the foods as the last times.

The conversation were almost constant, we talked about our cities, families, travels, etc. I even cop a feel on my friend's leg and crotch a bit too :pp

When we leave I even catch a ride with my friends back to their hotel since it will be cheaper for me to go home via subway.

I even still a bit full from the food this morning :P

The Red Hot Day

Today was not quite a fun day for me for several reasons.

I planned to go in early for my second tetanus shot, so whatever happen will comes to pass come New Year's Eve. It was a bit late than I expected since I wants to finish the package shipping for a friend.

I finally reach the hospital and got the shot. It seems to hurt more than the first one which, in retrospect, it could be because I had a stitches wound on my forehead :p

I saw the discount outlet store called 'Dress Smart' on the bus going to the hospital. I had bought some stuff from that store which I like so I walked to it after I finish at the hospital (thanks to my insurance card I do not have to pay anything). I ended up buying three t-shirts :P All of which I will be wearing soon.

I eventually walk to MajorCineplex. I was slightly hungry, even though I must have ate a couple of hours earlier. After walking around for a while deciding on which restaurant to eat, I finally choose Yaoi, to have hot plate tonkutsu with miso sauce :) However, about half way through my meal, I heard an announcement from the mall. I did not heard it quite clearly from where I was sitting but I notice that the crowd looks slightly alarmed. After a few more announcement I heard it more clearly that there was a fire on the first floor and we should evacuate. I quickly tried to stuff down the rest of my food and give my money to the waitress to pay for my meal. Eventually I have to put the last two pieces of tokutsu on paper napkin and leave the building :P

I took the nearest exits, which is on the side of the building. When I came out I saw pillar of black smoke coming from the front side of the building, with small red/orange colour of fire. I did not really see what happen as I wants to go home. So I cross the road on the crossover and notice that the firetruck still spraying the second floor on another side of the building.

The traffic on my road gonna be hell tonight.

Food Reflection

How did I began the second day of my long holiday? Well it began when I woke up around 7:45 in the morning.

I felt restless, as the weather became the usual hot lately, so I decided to get up. I took a leak and began surfing the net. Around 8:05 my mom called, asking me whether today is really my day off. I said yes and she said her back pain still not getting better and that she would like me to accompanied her to do errands in the morning. Like a good son that I am, perhaps I should stress that because I am a good *gay* son, I agreed to go with her (if I am not gay, perhaps I would already be married and moved out already).

Anyhow, the errands finished around 11:30, thus I decided to check out the midnight sales at Central World (it used to be called World Trade Center), an upscale shopping mall in BKK near Oriental Hotel.

The first thing I notice once I got near the building is the sign about Japanese food sampling on the 5th floor. Right then and there, I forgot about the midnight sales and head straight to that floor :P The area was smaller than I thought but it was packed with goodies. Few of the booths' presentation reminded me of the small market in front of the garden in Osaka castle in Japan. They have a lot of seafoods products as well as some instant noodles, rice, gyoza, and okonomiyaki. The best part is that most of the booths offer sample :P I graze around the area trying this and that. Then I came to a station which sell scallop stir fried with butter. I tried the sample and I just LOVE it. They use *real* scallop, with tendon muscle and all, and there were virtually no fishy smell either. After some serious contemplation, I finally caved and pay 85 baht for the small package :dd. It was very good, although pretty soon I wish I would have some rice with it too :P

After the scallops, I began walking around the supermarket area on the 7th floor looking at different restaurants. I began to think about the different kind of foods that I like. Although I generally like Japanese and Italian foods, I came to realize that if I would have to choose one type of food to eat everyday, I would really prefer Japanese food. Maybe because I am Asian as I find that Italian can be too oily and plain for me. Unlike Japanese food, which can be tasty without too much condiments. Or maybe it just because I like their soyu sauce :P I will definitely go back for that and this times I will think about where can I find good rice to eat with the scallops :d

Delayed Christmas Parties report

I was planning to do a post about my Three Christmas parties. But the last parties we were going to have has to be postponed till Wednesday. Due to the pre-election on the weekend, which forbid the selling of alchohol products. The Thais staff have no objection to that but the teachers want to drink :p, hence the postponement. So I will just post about my Two Christmas parties I had attended so far :)

The first one was organized by the staff, with raffle, prize and game. I ended up going alone since all Thais staff other than me find the location too far for them. It was quite nice, a chance to meet people from other branches and make connections. The food were rather so so... Plain to taste and not quite meaty. The prize were quite numeral but I didn't won any :p Just my typical luck...

The second party, held at British embassy, I was a bit more excited to attend this one. Apart from the fact that it held inside the embassy, it is also a chance to somewhat shown my face to the embassy staff and make myself acquaintance. For the grand plan, of visiting London next year :p The food were better, as they came from the embassy kitchen. There were also turkey, potatoes, gravy and salad apart from Thai foods. I tried the turkey, most part of it was quite dry and rather... tasteless... If it's not for the butter and the gravy, I would not go for second plate :P The potatoes were charred on one side and it taste nice, even though they were a bit cold from being left outside for sometime. I also have a chance to taste the mince pie and the fruitcake (which I believe have alcohol in it).

Overall, I would say that the food at the embassy is better... Although I enjoy both parties and I am looking forward to the third one, which will be the one organize by our branch.

Loosen Pants, Daidomon and Esplanade

When I put on my slack pants for work yesterday, I felt that it is slightly loosen than usual. That Is a good thing, because the pant has 34" waist :p Although the tightness came back when I put on my belt...

Nevertheless, it seems that the protein shake is working. However, I had this urge to stuff my face full of food. I have a choice of either go to Kuroda or Daidomon. The thing is... I do not like the idea of going to Kuroda alone. For that price, I need someone to be there to talk to and order something different so I can have a taste as well. The friend whom I went to Kuroda with the last times has found new love and now moved to HK, Damn him :pp

So I decided to go to Daidomon, the one in the shopping mall next to Rama 9 MTR station. That shopping mall also have IT Mall section so I also went and bought the two-headed monitor cable for the office.

It is not very far from the new Cineplex+Department Store, Esplanade. This place was advertised as the Cineplex with the 'artsy' decor and style. I have not been to that place yet so I give it a try today.

The place is rather spacious with a lot of room to walk around, with the design of a high-class venue. Everything is white and shiny, the exterior are glasses windows, similar to the new airport. The food area, somehow, is on the basement floor. There were a few interesting eateries there, the price was rather on the expensive side.

I also found Sony Ericsson shop with firmware update service. So I finally update my phone today for the first times after I bought it :P

Cooking with Paula Dean

Another one of my finding from browsing on Youtube. This is the clip from Oprah show with guest Paula Dean who is famous for American southern cooking. It is one of the funniest thing I have ever seen. She certainly have great sense of humour :) Check out the clip ;)

A Kuroda Experience

Yesterday I finally have the time to go back to the Japanese restaurant from last year for their great buffet package. The price is 399 baht per person and you can order anything from the menu :D

I arranged to meet with an old friend of mine and his bf. He wants to meet at 18:00 instead of 17:00 that I propose. He ended up coming about half an hour late... Of cause I was not happy. At first I decided that if he does not show up, nor call me, by 18:30 I would leave. He call at about 18:15 to say that he would be late. He later explained that he was watching a movie in the theater and it was running late (Although, in my opinion, he should Know how long the movie is going to be... Have he not see when the next round would be??) I was too hungry to make any scene, since I only have a slice of watermelon and a bit of ice-cream that day, not to mention that he was with his bf.

It was quite late by the time we get there and place was packed! Literally no available seats but luckily we do not have to wait long for a table.

The food was good as usual, although they arrive rather infrequently, I guess because it was full of customers. By the time they order ice cream, I was about maybe 1/4 full...

I think I will return there later to really have ful-FILLED experience. I have no complain about the foods, they were great, only that it was quite slow...

I am still not satisfied.

My Banana

I have been meaning to do this post for quite sometimes. The problem is that the subject in the photograph is not easy to find and when I find them it wasn't long before I devour them all :p

Here is what I am talking about

Aren't they look good enough to eat??? :d

They are grilled bananas, one of Thailand's.... well it's not dessert and it's not appetizer, you will not find this any restaurant as they are usually found on street side stands.

They use a particular kind of banana called 'Hugmoog'; Hug means to snap or break things (usually in half) and Moog means pearl. I do not know the origin of the name however :p Anyway these bananas will be cut when the peels are still green. When grilled the peel will be slit and then place on hot charcoal grill. The secret seems to be in the timing of grilling. When grilled at the right time the banana will turn sunflower yellow, it will became sweeten and very very juicy. I could ate 6 of them at once or more :dd.

Too bad that they are not easy to find in BKK and whenever I found some I would buy 3 to 4 pieces at least at a times :ddd They seems healthy at a first glance but as MusicMan said when I send him this photo "It's not heathly since it's charcoal grilled"

It seems that whatever taste good are usually bad for you eh...?