Hoppin over to Brussels

To mix it up a bit I decided to take a solo trip to Brussels for a few days at the suggestion of my dad, hoping to sample some Belgian beers, chocolates, and waffles. The trip of course was about more than food, but also about finding out what it's like to explore a new city alone, one whose languages (French, Flemish) I know virtually nothing of beyond "merci" and "croissant."

The classic "self-picture" in front of the Cathedral

I learned a few things from my three days in Belgium:
-hotel location can make or break your trip. My hotel was right in the middle of the city, saved me money on transportation and the convenience is priceless. This brings me to my next point...
-walking around all day is damn tiring
-Asian tourists in Europe are almost always assumed to be Japanese...people gave me Japanese menus without asking, and constantly said "konichiwa" (hello) to me.

One corner of the Grand Place, famous city square in Brussels (2 min walk from my hotel)

Brussels is big on comics, and I used to read Tintin when I was younger, which is Belgian, so it was cool to go to the Comic Strip Art Museum and look at the genre's rich history. Other highlights include stumbling across an exhibit of all 8 Faberge Eggs, among other jewels from the collection. The Eggs are unbelievably stunning...words can't describe their allure. After seeing them once I had to go back and look at them again before I left the museum. Also visited the famous Cathedrale St. Michel & Gudule which housed some enormous, intricate stained glass.

"What the smurf!" (this statue from the Comic Strip Art Museum)

Some good quotes from the trip:
-one guy, trying to get me to eat at his restaurant said: "You speak English? We have seafood! Mussels in Brussels....YEA....Jean-Claude Van Damme!"...hilarious, almost got me to eat there.
-From a museum on Belgian Beer, the narrator in a film: "Our beer is always agreeable among friends, and it's a good decision in all circumstances."
-the train conductor: "I apologize for the delay ladies and gentlemen, but we have found an illegal immigrant aboard the train"

You knew I had to get one of these...

Overall Brussels was a good time, although by the time my 8:30pm train departed I was definitely ready to leave. Good city, but the cold and the snow and not being able to speak French was starting to get to me.

Hope everyone has a great New Year's.

Boxing Day

This morning Irf and I ventured into Central London to see what the hype on London Boxing Day was all about. Apparently some people line up and even camp out for hot after Christmas sales, which I find utterly absurd. In either case, I wanted to go look at some English Premier League jerseys and Irf wanted to return some boots, so into Regent Street we went.

First we went to my sports store, and in about 10 minutes I realized the prices were a little to steep (20-30 pounds for Arsenal and Chelsea jerseys) so I decided to close the wallet for the day. Irf, on the other hand, was only just beginning.

This brings me to a funny concept that I took notice of today especially. Is there a specific set of guidelines that a guy is supposed to follow when he is accompanying his girl friend, girlfriend, or (God forbid) group of girl friends shopping?

I think there's three possibilities:

1) Venture off solo into the men's section (if there is one), knowing in the back of your head you'll be done browsing before your shopping mate has even finished with one rack.

2) Trail your partner, being sure to give her a four foot radius to do her business. You can throw in some jokes about how some of the size 4 dresses or black high heels look on you, but that gets old really fast. Of course some aggressive shoppers will inevitably cut you off in your game of follow the leader, meaning you sort of have to play safety and anticipate where your partner is going next. A high stress option.

3) Find a place to post up: a chair, a mannequin platform, anything. Odds are many other guys are already taking these spots, so it may be hard to find a good one (i.e. not between the shoppers and the 50% off rack). Sitting down, you fiddle with your phone (your best friend at this point), checking messages even though you know nobody has called or texted you.


I managed to do all three today...Option 2 was utter insanity.

A random picture to get everyone in the winter spirit:

Part of the BC Crew last year on a trip to Killington, VT

Off to Belgium tomorrow. I'll be sure to come back with pictures of waffles and chocolate and whatever else I find there. Cheers.

CHU

Holidays, London Style

As of this past Wednesday I was finally feeling healthy enough to get out of my room and go explore the city a bit more. So I took my first opportunity to get back out to Hyde Park and finish walking around the enormous fields of grass. Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens are adjacent to each other, and I really wanted to explore the latter, so all I really had to do was just keep on walking. Not really much to say about this little excursion: trees have lost their leaves, skies were gray and bleak, but Kensington Palace was pretty magnificent, and it's still a huge park. Here are some pics from that day:

Bird Chillin on a Statue in Kensington Gardens

A view of Kensington Palace from the gardens

The next day I managed to get out to the Imperial War Museum, a short busride away and actually a really interesting site. There are enormous tanks in the lobby, comprehensive WWI and WWII exhibits (from a non-US perspective), a really jarring Holocaust exhibit, and an intense, 30-minute film on genocide playing on the top floor. One of the most amazing things was a scale model of part of Auschwitz. Something about seeing the camp in physical form that gave the events there a new power. It was kind of a depressing afternoon, but nevertheless educational and thought-provoking. Sorry, no good pictures from there because it's a museum.

In the midst of my exploration my friend Irfana returned from her adventures in Greece and Turkey. We had tentatively planned to make a huge Christmas dinner, and we spent Friday going shopping for the meal. Here's what we planned: salad, Southern "Soul Food" Mac and Cheese, Roast chicken stuffed with mushrooms, asparagus, green beans, and a cheesecake with strawberries and kiwis for dessert. Some pictures from the night:

Ingredients

Irf stuffing the chicken

So much food....(we had to cut out the salad before we even started eating)

Defeated Chu (half a bottle of wine, a stick of butter with some mac and cheese, lots of chicken)

Dessert (cheesecake from Borough Market...no this wasn't just me, we split this)

For my dad, we drank a Chateau Declau Bordeaux, 2002. It was a pretty smooth wine...that's really all I'm qualified to say.

On this Christmas day London is completely shut down: all public transportation, pubs, even movie theaters. So I'm sitting here digesting my X'mas eve meal, as most people do. My first holiday season away from family and friends was a little tough, but soon enough work will pile up and I'll wish for a day where I can stuff my face with food and just vegetate in a food coma. On a brighter note the Niners swept the Rams this season, although they lost the first pick in the process...

Happy Holidays!

Roger

Tignes '05

Tignes / Val d'Isere is absolutely massive. There is no other way to describe this pair of resorts. While places in California or Colorado (for the most part) are based on one main mountain, Tignes (pronounced "teen" I think) and Val, as we came to call them, sprawl across an entire mountain range. The first thing that struck me upon hitting the slopes was incredible amount of space on this mountain, a feeling amplified by the lack of trees in most of the resort. Right away I knew I was not at Lake Tahoe, but smack dab in the middle of the Alps....I can actually say the phrase: "Yea I've been to the Alps." No doubt they have their allure, whether France, Italy, or the legendary Switzerland.

In terms of pure skiing, Val had boatloads more to offer. Unfortunately I bought a Tignes-only pass in my package, so I had to drop another 45 Euros to get access to the entire resort. But Tignes still had it's charm, mainly in a student-packed, happy hour kind of way....while Val provided a more traditional allure (wooden cabins, quaint resort-town, family-oriented atmosphere).

Had to stop and take a picture after rushing to make the last chairlift home

Now onto the snow. There wasn't much of it. We were blessed with amazing weather (5 out of 6 days of blue skies and sunshine) but that only helps when there's enough snow on the ground. Rather than opening more of the park during the week, we found some runs that were open on Sunday roped off on Tuesday. Nevertheless, we made do with what was available, and when looking for ungroomed powder, it always helps to venture "off-piste." Of course these adventures into closed runs and away from the snow machines pissed the hell out of the ski rental place. Although they did give me a crappy pair of skis to start off with, so I didn't feel all that bad returning some nice Rossignols with a five-inch gash (through the black surface and into the metal) on one ski.

Following someone's off-piste path on my solo day of skiing (I don't think my ipod liked the cold, but it was awesome skiing to a soundtrack)

Throughout the week my skiing improved slightly, and then took a huge dive. I don't think my body has taken that kind of pounding since the timed mile run in fifth grade PE (> 10 mins). So while on Monday and Tuesday I was viciously trying to attack moguls where I could find them, driven at the same time by an excitement to explore the mountain, by Wednesday I was falling more than I can remember. My body just didn't respond quickly anymore...of course I switched skis because I was trying to convince myself they were the reason I couldn't stay on my feet, but of course even the new Rossis didn't help. I believe there were two times where I fell and slid down the run at least 40 feet. Not a good finish to the trip.

To make things more annoying by the end...on our last day came a huge storm that probably dropped 6-8 inches of powdery sugar onto the mountain. Of course we were caught in the middle of it, so for our purposes it just made visibility crap and the snow on the runs very inconsistent.

But skiing is skiing, so you really can't say that many negative things without remembering the times when you're thinking "Man, this is awesome." Add that feeling to the fact that I'm in France, and it just gets to a whole new level. Also, although everybody in the group was at different levels, it didn't stop us from sharing our stories of the day over pints of Kronenberg at the end of the day.

Now I love basketball, but you can't get views like this in the gym...

(On a brief side note the former members of 90 311 will be proud to hear that 7-11-Doubles has now gone international. My dice joined my skis, boots, and poles, as my accessories of the week. The game's power is tremendous).

Having arrived this morning after 20 hours of driving, I'm very disoriented, so I may have forgotten some things...but many thanks to the Ski and Snowboard Society for organizing the trip.

You guys will hear a lot from me in the next week and change, as I have about 10 days in London to explore before heading off to Brussels. I plan to continue the park tours, even though it's about 40 degrees here. For those of you still finishing up work, of course good luck. For the rest that are already home...I envy you, and not only because you can watch SportsCenter.

End of First Term

Excuse the unoriginal and boring title to this post, but I really can't think of anything interesting and attention-grabbing to put there. Anyway, today marks the end of the first term here at "The LSE" and I have to say it has been a great one. Last night some of us in Great Dover Street celebrated in Flat 311 (coincidentally the same room number as my sophomore year stomping grounds) with some drinks, chips and salsa, and more drinks. Thanks to Rebecca, Dan English, Sarah, and others for having us over...a great night to end the first semester.

This past week was lighter than the previous, with only a couple papers. But between basketball and my mom's visit it felt just as occupied as the week before. As one of the first fans we've had at an away game, my mom, assuming her usual role of nervous mother on the sidelines, was even able to take some pictures:

Team Warm-ups (I'm in the corner stretching cuz I think I'm already winded...)

Shooting a Free Throw on the (stupid) international key (I made one and missed one...typical)

But to continue the theme of endings, my mom also left yesterday, marking the beginning of my first Christmas holidays away from my family. I don't really know what to expect, but I do know that in two hours I'm leaving for the French Alps. In the spirit of student saving we are taking a bus from school to Tignes, France. I believe the total ride (including the ferry across the channel) is somewhere around 20 hours. Should be quite an experience...

Hope to have some nice ski pictures to show when I get back. Good luck to everyone in their final pushes before leaving school, and happy holidays.

Chu Reunion

My mom conveniently arrived after my week of hell last week. She came bearing gifts (many of which were food from home) and an update on how the Chu family, friends, and dog are doing back home. (Lily is limping). Since the Chus always get together around food, it wouldn't surprise anyone to know that my mom have been talking about and eating a lot of it. I realized that before she got here I had not eaten out in a restaurant in about a month, which is pretty sad. So being able to select something from a menu--rather than from my mini fridge--was a welcome change. I also realized that I lowered my standards to make myself think that I am actually a good cook.

I'm going to assume an Arthur Hungry role of my own for a bit, partly to let my dad know what he is missing by staying home, partly because I really do love food. Last night my mom and I travelled all the way out to Hammersmith to eat at a restaurant called The River Cafe. We got there early and had a glass of champagne, followed by a half bottle of Chianti Classico with dinner. Langoustines with some amazing mustard-mayo type mix, homemade pasta with crab meat, and finally the best lamb I've ever had.

This morning we headed to Borough Market again, and this time my wallet was a little less empty. Came back with a full backpack of fruit, desserts, and of course a full stomach. Quote of the day from my mom:

"That market makes the Ferry Building Market look weak. The SF Market is just plain weak."

Of course we weren't too full for dinner, which we spent at The Blue Print Cafe (in the Design Museum). Great food (pasta and a pheasant pie, but the mussels and the skate were unbelievable), wine (can't remember this bottle), and a great view of Tower Bridge.

My mom is here until Thursday and I'm so full that I'm only eating three meals a day (as opposed to my usual five). Looks like I'll be a step slow on the basketball court this week...

My Mom and I in front of Tower Bridge. I'm making a weird face because I"m in the middle of telling this guy to push the button down harder.

That's it for now. Looking to get another post in before I leave for Tignes, France for a week-long ski trip celebrating the end of the first semester. Good luck with finals everyone...

Almost forgot...to steal a concept directly from Harms, clutch performance of the week goes to who else but my mom, not only for making the trek out here but for bringing me a box of Honey Bunches of Oats with Strawberries (unsolicited). My favorite cereal of all-time (except when I was 10 I think Cinnamon Toast Crunch was an absolute must)...couldn't have asked for a better Christmas present.