Micha & Bea : An International Love Affair

Fusion "Quesadila" Recipe

2011-10-24T12:18:00.000+02:00

Inspired by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's vegan quesadilla I made the following scrumptious lunch treat friday (for those who like spicy that is). I am normally not so adventurous in the kitchen, combing elements from different ethnic cuisines, but I wanted to eat something super tasty but not fattening, and similar to a quesadilla. I started with a whole wheat flour tortilla, then spread a thin layer of aioli on it (you can use vegan aioli or regular), and put kimchi on top of the aioli. Fry in a skillet for a few minutes just as you would with a quesedilla and then cut into triangles. Spicy and garlicky! If you have bean sprouts you can add that too for some extra crunch.

[Unfortunately ABC took down the video from the above link. But I've managed to embed the video below, which is also available on her website's mainpage: http://www.compassionatecooks.com/]

Wedding Vendors 3: Invitations, Rings, and Cake

2011-10-21T17:00:00.004+02:00

Delilah Hatch (Invitations, et. al) - Do-It-Yourself Invitations

Wedding invitations, ah, what a drama when I think back. We wanted something personal, unconventional, pretty, playful, and classy but affordable. Simple... Right?
Looking at websites online for wedding invitations, we must have gone through hundreds and weren't happy with any. It seemed impossible! Per a friend's recommendation (thanks S & A!) we landed at the do-it-yourself-invitations website. We found something that we thought was very appropriate, a big tree that looked like the 200 year old Beech at our chosen wedding location. However, the invite did not have the right colors. We emailed Delilah and asked for some very specific colors, which then after a proof print, turned out to be ... uhm.. not what we were looking for. So we tried some others. Still... not quite right. At this time we got a little out of control (Bride- & Groom-zilla?) but Delilah led us back onto the path of the right color scheme. She was really patient with us and sweet throughout the whole process and we appreciate all her help in finding the right colors! She even gave us enclosure cards as a bonus.

Check out her cards and designs (not just for weddings!) here: http://www.do-it-yourself-invitations.com/

Wim Moolenaar (Rings)

Yes, relation! Those of you who were present for the wedding (or who read the text of our ceremony on this blog!) are already aware that the goldsmith who designed and created our wedding rings was the same man who did my engagement ring: my dad, Wim Moolenaar. Wim created about 8 models out of silver and copper for us to try on. We finally decided on one of his original designs instead of the many ideas we had ourselves based on pictures of existing rings. He was extremely supportive of our decisions, and really did his best to avoid influencing any of them (even when we asked for his opinion he was evasive! LOL). So it still took us weeks to decide on metal type (white, yellow, or red gold?--no platinum since I don't like the grey patina) and purity (14k or 18k?), during which he patiently reminded us that we'd have to decide soon so that he'd have enough time to make them!

Well, we finally made all of our executive decisions (on our own!), and left the remaining minor details up to the designer. When trying on the model Micha had mentioned something about the golden ratio and Wim decided to implement it into the design. We were so pleased with the final result (as always!) we just had to trumpet his praises along with the other vendors. While he is not currently actively producing new pieces, he may be offering his services, per request, again soon. Just post a comment or send us an email with his name in the title and we'll make sure to forward it on to him! And check out this glamour shot I took of all three rings (pre-engraving) along with the wedding invitation.

Richard Ophorst (Cake) - De Dessert Winkel

When we only just got engaged I told Micha "I don't want a wedding cake!" Then later, thinking about some great chocolate cakes I had consumed throughout my life, I said to him "I only want a cake, if it's a chocolate cake." This wish evolved to schwardzwalder kirsh torte. Micha put the breaks on that, however, since he refused to have a black cake at his wedding (old-fashioned as he is!). This cake thing sure brought along some tensions...
The problem was that, in my opinion, wedding cakes don't taste all that great. I am not a cake fan to begin with and then all that marzipan, frosting etc. yikes! I still cringe thinking about it. Moreover, the most show-like elements of typical "American weddings" were the things of my worst nightmares. But then, after browsing the internet and calling some people, I talked to Richard Ophorst. His cakes didn't look like those tiered, showy things with hearts, bows and flowers in marzipan and frosting. And, as it turned out, had very little (if any!) cake and zero marzipan, frosting, etc. He said to me "keep in mind it's not really cake." And I was sold :) What also attracted me about his "cakes" was that he uses all organic fruit, selected by himself. I arranged for a tasting and was pleasantly surprised that we did not have to pick any flavors we wanted to try (like with many other places).

I was really nervous that Micha wouldn't like Richard's cakes since well, my husband just likes tried and true things... He's just a little more traditional and does not shy away from show-like elements in a wedding. When we arrived at Richard's store we were welcomed very warmly. We sat down at a beautifully set table with gorgeous china and silverware. He brewed us some fresh tea and served us all existing flavors of his "cakes." He made 1 person cakes but each one was decorated to the T just like he would with a regular size cake. He enthusiastically explained details about every flavor. Each cake was delicious and we had a hard time deciding, but there was one flavor that jumped out at us right away, the Charlotte. Our second favorite was the champagne, green apple, lime cake. We decided to have at least these flavors and think about a third. The third became red fruit with creme de cassis. This mainly because we thought many people would like it, and it goes well with the other two flavors.

We tried some other (real) cake which was nice but the refined flavors of Richard's "cakes" are just something else. Just a little more sophisticated and a nice elegant touch to a wedding. And most importantly, we thought: this was a cake that people will remember months after the wedding. Richard was very kind in letting us decide and change our minds up until three days before the wedding. But we stuck with our three choices. He also was very helpful in deciding how many layers we needed (which is really not as simple as it seems). We kept the number of layers down and he made some individual cakes in the three flavors we picked so the amount was exactly taylored to the amount of guests we had.

Check out Richard's website at: http://www.dessertwinkel.com
Or better yet, come visit his store, open Thur-Sat from 10:00 to 18:00: Google Map Here!

Wedding Vendors 2: Hair, Photography, Band

2011-10-18T17:00:00.002+02:00

Paul van Heugten (Hair)

Our hair dresser Paul has his own cute little salon at the front of his home in Den Haag (Bezuidenhout). He once rescued me from some bad high lights my mom put in when I was visiting home while living in the U.S. Ever since then, I've had him cut my hair. Paul is great, I never have to come in with pictures or elaborate descriptions, he just cuts at the length I indicate. His cuts are always exactly what works well with my hair (thin, drab hair) and therefore it always looks much better than I expect it could ever look. He also does a great job at low- (and high-) lights.
So it was only natural that I would ask Paul to do my hair on my wedding day even though he is not a wedding hair expert. I had no idea though what I wanted (only what I didn't want: half down or all the way down). I had no picture of myself as a bride in my head. So we just tried some classics and something I found on a wedding website. I liked one thing but wasn't really crazy about it. So a week before the wedding, when I had my hair cut, I asked him to run 1 more trial. This was it! Paul fixed my hair in just an hour (putting in hot rollers and all) and it stayed perfect for over 12 hours! I didn't have to pay; his labor was his wedding gift. Excellent and super sweet hair dresser!
If you are in the area of The Hague want to go see Paul, please put a comment below or email us.

Wouter (Photography) - Wouter Coomans Photo & Video

When we just moved to Scheveningen I ran into someone I went to college with, Wouter. We both studied Political Science at the University of Amsterdam. We chatted and it turned out that we now live on the same street! It also turned out that neither one of us stayed on the political science path really. Wouter had become a photography journalist/photographer. So when the time came to find a wedding photographer I asked him for advice. He surprised me hen he told me that he was willing to do it himself. I was so excited and told Micha about it. Micha had a friend in film check Wouter's portfolio online (Thanks, T!), and when the verdict came out positive we decided to go with Wouter.
What we love about Wouter is that he doesn't like the posing one normally sees in wedding photography and that he works really fast. We had our photos three days after our wedding! Moreover, he made us look better than we anticipated even though according to Wouter he didn't do any beauty touch-ups. Wouter is not a wedding photographer but knows how to beautifully capture emotions, events and nature. He is also very genuine and an overal nice guy. At our wedding we didn't even notice he was there (we saw him in friends' pix though!), and he was very patient with us even though we had no idea how to pose or anything. We also had fast fading daylight ( a nightmare for a photographer) during the family portraits which he conquered bravely and succesfully. Recently Wouter has also ventured out into film making, with some beautiful footage to his name already. Most of the wedding photos on our blog were taken by Wouter, including the two "medium"-sized ones on this page.

Check out some more samples of his work at http://www.woutercoomans.nl/

Wouter Kiers, et. al (Band) - Blood, Sweat and Kiers

About 20 years ago when I only just learned how to play the guitar I had the privilege to share the stage with tenor saxophonist Wouter Kiers. My cousin played in the band The Kiers Unit, and together with them I was allowed to perform at my aunt's birthday party. Great fun! After that I went to various performances of Wouter over the years. Blood, Sweat and Kiers became one of my favorite bands to check out. Micha and I always have so much fun at the concerts of Blood, Sweat and Kiers that we decided to ask Wouter if it was at all possible to hire them for our wedding. We were stoked when he told us it was possible. He did warn us that they are not a wedding band playing requests all the time; they march to the beat of their own drum. Yet, they were so kind to play our request for our first dance -- At Last by Etta James, and it was BEAUTIFUL coming from Wouter's tenor sax. I think at first our guests were a little overwhelmed by the band although our niece C. was a fan from the start. She was entranced from the first song. After a few drinks even the old folks became used to the sheer volume exuding from the sax and everyone was dancing and we received great comments regarding the band. Impressive was the balancing saxophone act of Wouter; I can't comprehend how he keeps a tenor sax on his chin. The musicians were so nice to play a lot of sets until after the official end of the party. If you want to check out a concert of B, S & K check out their calendar here: http://www.bloodsweatandkiers.nl/concert.html

You can see we ended up with quite a few "vendors" who normally don't do weddings but who made ours really special. It showcases what great professionals these people really are!

Wedding Vendors 1: Venue, Officiant, and Mustang!!!

2011-10-15T17:00:00.000+02:00

We wanted to take just a little time out from our posts to thank some special individuals who contributed to our wonderful wedding day! We received a lot of support from our closest friends and family, but some of the vendors we patronized were really awesome and we thought we'd give them a shout-out from the blog in order to do our small part in advertising for them. If you are planning a wedding (or perhaps another event!) we can highly recommend these folks. We will have two more posts on vendors going up in the coming days, after which we'll have some honeymoon stories... so be sure to stay tuned!

Ronald Leenheer (Venue) - Herberg Vlietzigt

Firstly, where would we have been without the wonderful folks at Vlietzigt--the wedding location. Mr. Ronald and Mrs. José (pronounced "yo-ZAY") Leenheer were absolutely wonderful to us throughout the entire process. We actually fell in love with the location as soon as we saw it, and José showed us around and walked us through their proposed program. With a couple of small changes, we had everything planned almost a year in advance! A month before the date Ronald met with us and the masters of ceremony to go through the whole program to make sure everything would be going smoothly on the big day. The staff at Vlietzigt allowed us to make adjustments to the menu up to a week before the date, and helped us a lot to make a nice selection for herbi- and omnivores alike.

But even on the day of, some questions arose about whether a runner should be used on all of the tables. They took the extra effort to text us a picture of the table with and without a runner, so we could make the call ourselves and it would be exactly as we wanted it! How thoughtful! ;)

During the ceremony there was a minor snafu in that we had not planned to implement music during the portion where our witnesses (i.e., the bridesmaid/groomsmen) signed our wedding contract, but it turned out to be very appropriate when Ronald had taken a look at our "recessional music CD" and decided to play "Signed, Sealed, Delivered!" (by Stevie Wonder). We weren't really expecting it, but hearing the intro riffs we simultaneously both looked at each other... nodded... and then started dancing! But it was even funnier when, during the "first kiss" part of the ceremony he proceeded to play the Prince song on the same cd (none other than "Kiss"!)...

All of the staff at Vlietzigt were kind, helpful, and considerate, and Ronald was emblematic of their ethic. He made sure we were taken care of in terms of drinks, food (sandwiches for the starving flower girls and even a snack before we started the ceremony, because Micha was afraid he might pass out), collecting the presents, saving the top of the cake, etc., etc., etc. When he put us in the cab at the end of the night and our cab driver didn't know the address of the hotel we were staying in (neither did we!), Ronald pulled the address right from memory and even gave the driver directions!!! We couldn't have been happier with Vlietzigt's treatment, and we can't recommend them more!!!
You can contact them via their website: http://www.vlietzigt.nl/

Liesbeth Tigges (officiant) - BABS, Rijswijk

Our officiant, or BABS (Buitengewoon Ambtenaar Burgerlijke Stand) as it's abbreviated in Dutch, was totally awesome! And to think, she wasn't our original first choice! After consulting the directory of BABS in the city of Rijswijk (where Vlietzigt is located) we first settled on a Chinese woman, partly because of Micha's ancestry and partly because she mentioned mixed backgrounds as it relates to marriage in her description online. But it turned out that she had recently become ill and was not working as a BABS for the time being. So we returned to the site and both, independently, picked Liesbeth as our second choice. We can't say exactly why, but her self-description just sounded so fun, spontaneous, and playful compared to some of the more dry descriptions of other BABS.

But one of the most important aspects for us was that the ceremony be conducted, at least partly, in English. Since Micha was the best to judge whether or not her accent would be understandable to his family, he had to call her up and have a short discussion with her in English. She was a bit nervous on the phone, and sounded fairly British (as most Dutch people do!), but Micha thought her control of the English language was more than adequate for his family to understand, so we committed to having her.

Well it turned out that ours was one of the first weddings she'd ever given in English! And what a job she did! You can find her full ceremony (with the originally Dutch-language sections translated into English) here on our blog. Even though we'd only met with her for a few short hours one evening, a few weeks before the wedding, she managed to integrate a whole slew of personal anecdotes and stories that described us "to a T"! As described in the ceremony, she even wore red especially to integrate something Chinese (red is a lucky color) into our wedding!!!

She was bright, exciting, engaging, and most of all incredibly entertaining. She set the mood exactly how we'd wanted our wedding to be: fun, interesting, meaningful, slightly spiritual, and first and foremost... very intimate and personal. She was very accommodating to all of our requests--especially since most Dutch people don't do such things as stepping on a wine glass or planting a tree, let alone BOTH!--and supportive of all of our decisions and outlines for the ceremony. We are so glad that we ended up with her as our BABS!!!

You can see her page on the Rijswijk website here: http://www.rijswijk.nl/Over_Rijswijk/Thema_s/Trouwen_in_Rijswijk/De_trouwambtenaren/Liesbeth_Tigges

Marco Koren (Mustang-owner & Chauffeur) - Old-Timer Verhuur

While we only had limited interaction with Mr. Koren, he was as thoroughly professional as he was cordial and organized. We shopped around for a while and were excited to see that he had a beautiful 1966 Mustang for an hourly price lower than any other company we'd found in our area! We took a ride out to see the car at his house in Leidschenveen and we were pretty darned impressed... The car was in MINT condition, and as soon as he turned on the engine we were pretty much convinced this was the car we wanted to arrive at Vlietzigt in!
We went in to sign the paperwork, which Marco manages entirely himself on the Mac in his home office, and he told us that he would ask us to pay him after the wedding and not before--he went on to say he thinks its rather ridiculous that you have to pay so many things for a wedding up front! [He actually got married just a month before us in neighboring Voorburg, the town where Bea grew up!]
On the day itself he was a consummate professional chauffeur, arriving promptly (and waiting patiently), opening the doors at every stop (and we had multiple photo shoot locations!), and even suggesting a few poses with the car to our photographer. We got a lot of great shots with this beautiful piece of American machinery, as you can see, and we really enjoyed all the attention it got on the road as well! Arriving at the wedding location, we were able to drive up onto the grounds, surrounded by all of our friends and family; we were so overwhelmed we almost forgot to get out when Marco was holding the door open! We can highly recommend Marco for any event in or near the Den Haag region when you need to show up in style!!!
Contact him via his website: http://www.marcokoren-oldtimer-verhuur.nl/

Bike Ride Groene Hart

2011-09-17T09:00:00.000+02:00

Saturday was the grand finale of the wedding week, well besides our wedding of course! We concluded the week with family and friends with a bike ride through the country side of Zuid-Holland, het Groene Hart. On the way we visited two cheese farms for cheese tasting and an ice cream farm. We passed by at least three windmills.

We took off from Leiden Centraal where we rented bikes. We were with quite a group so it took a while to all get set up. Then Micha led the group of 19 folk out of the city and into the country. It was quite a challenge and at times hilarious. I formed the tail end of the group just yelling to point out the windmills.

First stop was cheesefarm Kaptein where we tasted about 6 kinds of cheeses. We had to do this in groups of 4-6 people since the place was too small to accomodate all of us. As some sort of travel guide I arranged for different groups to taste various cheeses. Most people bought a piece or two and after an hour or so we were ready to hit the road again. The kids in the group were getting hungry though and Micha and I asked the farmer's wife where we coulkd have lunch. It appeared that the whole town was on vacation and there was no place that could house all of us. I bought a big piece of cheese and a slicer and asked Micha to buy some bread in the village and meet us at the next farm. I led the group to the next farm. We parked our bikes in asight for Micha to find us and ventured onto the farm. There was a little store which I entered and asked: "Hello can I visit with 19 Americans?"

The farmer's wife was very hospitable and started cutting cheese to sample right away. The little store filled up quickly and most of us where snacking on cheese while the farmer's wife explained to the group (through me) that she made all the cheeses herself and that she was specialized in making artisan Leidse Kaas (with cumin and red wax). It all tasted delicious and all of a sudden Micha appeared with bags of bread. I asked the farmer's wife where we could have a picnic and she graciously offered their own back yard. Her kids pulled up chairs and a table, and there was a running around with plates and silverware. I bought some more cheese for the group and some fresh butter,milk and butter milk, and some people bought some wine from the little store and we were ready to picnic! The cheese and butter was delicious. It was a lot of fun picnicking out at the farm. After a while the famer's wife announced that she had some time to show us around the building where she makes the cheese. We walked around while she told us about the cheese making process (which I again translated of course). And we all stared in amazement at the cheeses that were maturing on the shelves in the maturation room.

What a special place to visit but we had to move on, with kids fading and all (see right!). So only a little bit down the road we stopped at an ice cream farm. This one was for the kids and the last stop before biking back to Leiden. We all indulged in some fresh made ice cream and rested abit before biking the last few kilometers. The ice cream farm was a big hit with the kids.

We reached Leiden around 5.30pm where my mother, J. and T. and our witness R. and our masters of ceremony W. and M. waited for us. We had the plan to all have dinner in Leiden but for some reason all of a sudden, everyone took off by train. Micha and I were just standing there and then just had dinner with my mom, the MC's and our witness. It was quite funny.

Family-style Dinner in The Hague

2011-09-16T03:00:00.000+02:00

So after a wonderfully relaxing night (we didn't arrive at the hotel until 2 AM!) we enjoyed staying in bed until very late (wink, wink!), despite having breakfast in bed at a reasonable time at our hotel, Savarin, in Rijswijk. Unfortunately we were unable to schedule massages on such short notice (one of the few things we hadn't really planned in advance!), but we nonetheless got to enjoy many aspects of the spa located within the hotel. We had a late checkout, so we just had enough time to run back to Delft to drop off Micha's suit before heading back to The Hague (with our overnight bag and some gifts, still!) to meet up with everyone for the Family-style Dinner at the oldest and most famous Indonesian restaurant in The Hague (actually, founded in 1949, the oldest in the Netherlands!): Garoeda.

This was probably the best attended event of the entire week, outside of the Herring Party, and the restaurant gave us an entire floor to ourselves! (We had one super-long table, so we sat on one side in the middle so that we could have as much access to everyone as possible!) The service was surprisingly great (esp. for the Netherlands!) and the food was, as always, truly wonderful! Many of the dishes were (deliciously!) spicy, but we ensured that there was enough non-spicy food for everyone who doesn't appreciate the hot pepper as much as we do! We enjoyed (among other things) spicy mussels, beef rendang, sambal boontjes, sayur lodeh, gado gado, chicken sate (of course!), coconut/peanut topped rice, and much, much more.

We had a wonderful time hanging out with everyone after the wedding, and our super-relaxing stay at Savarin, and it was really wonderful to just chill out and babble among our friends and families over great food and drinks!

Our Wedding Day

2011-09-15T09:00:00.000+02:00

Well, if you've been keeping up on the posts of the week so far (with pics!) then you'll be as surprised as we were to learn that our wedding day was warm and sunny! It was literally the only day of the entire week which was warm and sunny basically all day, and we felt truly lucky that Mother Nature chose to bless our union with great NL weather!!!

Bea had a full day of preparations, what with her makeup and hair people, her mother helping her get into her dress, and the photographer taking some early "prep" pictures. Meanwhile I woke up late in the house my dad & step-mom rented in Delft, and took the tram into Scheveningen to get ready at my brother's hotel (after picking up my jacquet). I had some extra time, which I got to spend on the beach with my brother and our eldest niece and other family members. After getting ready, I got picked up by the chauffeur and we rode to pick Bea up at home.

We went to a nearby park (where Bea sometimes goes jogging) and took a whole slew of pictures in the Rose Garden, in and near the convertible, and also near a monument. Then we took off for the wedding location, Herberg Vlietzigt, in Rijswijk. When we arrived, a throng of our friends and family were waiting for us out in front of the building. We got out of the car as the guitarist switched to playing Mason Williams "Classical Gas" (we LOVE that song!), and walked into the back of the building to prepare for the procession. I was feeling a little faint, so the manager gave me some cheese sticks to scarf down (just to make sure I didn't pass out in the ceremony!) while we chatted with the officiant and got our flower girls psyched up, and everyone went to find a seat in the garden.

Our ceremony music was Canon in D, a common piece for weddings in the US and one of my personal favorites from childhood, when I used to play piano. The officiant (the "BABS"), Liesbeth Tigges, went first in the processional. Then I walked to the front and turned around to watch the rest of the processional. Next came the flower girls, our nieces, ages five and two. The five-year old took her responsibilities VERY seriously, as she was instructed that she was "helping Uncle Micha and Auntie Bea to get married". So it was a minor catastrophe when her little sister decided there were too many people looking at her and veered off to the side instead of going down the aisle! When the elder sister tried to admonish her to get back in line, I started freaking out, thinking to myself "No, no, just let her go. Just ignore her and go on, and everything will be fine. Oh NO little one, PLEASE don't start crying!". Just then Bea walked over to the two-year old (I hadn't even seen her enter the garden!), leaned down and took her hand, and they started walking together--with the older sister leading the way throwing flowers, and occasionally looking back to make sure her sister was still with the program. It was soooo precious! (And it was the first, of many things, that brought a tear to my eye!)

Our officiant graciously left us her typed copy of the ceremony, so we have posted elsewhere on our blog (here!), along with our vows (both Bea's in translation and Micha's here!). The ceremony was about half in English and half in Dutch, and our vows were (primarily) in our native languages. So we've posted the translations of all of the Dutch into English as well. [We did not do the reverse translations, however, since all of the Dutch people who can use the internet can also understand a bit of English... ;)].

After the ceremony we walked out into the courtyard to assemble around our beautiful wedding cake and have the toasts by my brother, R. (our joint witness), and myself. After the champagne, we cut the cake and everyone got a piece of this wonderful masterpiece made by our neighborhood cake baker! While the guests enjoyed their cake to a mix of Tenor Saxophone jazz music (a CD I burned), we went to take pictures with our photographer while our stellar M.C.'s went to grab family members, as needed. We were rapidly running out of light, but our photographer managed to take some GREAT pictures (as you can see) before it got too terribly dark. When we re-entered the party hall, the band (Blood, Sweat, and Kiers, our favorite local band!) was already in the middle of their first set. Naturally they played our song, "At Last"--which we thought was fitting considering it was the 10th anniversary of our relationship!--and we had our first dance as a married couple!

The party was a whirlwind, and we hardly had time to talk to everyone at least once. During the first band break, my stepbrother and his fiancee (we're headed to their wedding in Nov.!) performed a few self-written skits. We loved every bit of their performances, but the whole crowd seemed to get the greatest kick from Phillip's Scottish Yoga. It was such an amazing experience to have so many of our family and friends, from both coasts of the US to the Netherlands, in one place at one time!!! Unbelievable! And it was something that we had been looking forward to so very, very much, for so long! We can't thank all of you enough for coming, and we hope everyone had at least half as good a time as WE DID!

Dune Walk and Haring Party

2011-09-14T03:00:00.000+02:00

On Wednesday morning we had to get up early to lead an interpretive nature walk into the dunes at

Meijendel. The horror, since we had our bachelor and bachelorette parties the night prior. I wasn't feeling so good after many shots of huppelolie and could barely stand up. However, the interpretive nature walk through the dunes was the event most people registered for in the weeks prior (26 people wanted to take this walk!). So I clambered out of bed, painted some life onto my face and told myself I could do it. Micha was feeling slightly better, luckily. One of our family members met us at our apartment and then we headed for the Carlton Beach hotel to pick up the other 25 folks. When we arrived downstairs at the hotel it turned out that there were only 2 more family members waiting for us. Where were the other 23??? In their beds! Apparently everyone had been partying too hard during our bachelor and bachelorette parties and just decided to bail. Unfortunately they didn't let the bride and groom know so they could sleep in too. So we took off with our party of three dune walkers. We walked from Zwarte Pad through Meijendel to the Nude Beach, looking at flora, fauna and bunkers left by the Germans after WWII.

After the dune walk I ran home to go grocery shopping with my dad for our welcome reception for out-of-town guests, Dutch "haring party" -style, that would take place that afternoon (in our home!!!). We still had to buy all the fresh fish and then make salads etc. I was very fortunate because my dad helped a great deal with cooking (and he is a terrific chef!) and B. and D. were a great help vacuming the house and putting together a flower arrangement (we can't thank you all enough). For those who didn't realize then: yes all the food was prepared by the two of us, on that day -- the day before our wedding! We made a salmon salad decorated with Dutch shrimp, a haring- beet salad, and we had hering and a spread of Dutch cheeses. To keep the party short and sweet we served a finite amount of wine and cocktails but people were having such a good time that I we almost just had to toss them out. " Hey guys we're getting married tomorrow!"

Day Trip to Delft (w/ Canal Tour and Lunch)

2011-09-13T03:00:00.000+02:00

On Tuesday (T-"minus"-2 days, from the wedding), we arranged for a group trip to Delft. We met a few folks staying in our neighborhood at our place in the morning, and hiked up to the Kurhaus to meet up with the rest of the group coming from Scheveningen. (It turned out later that the two folks actually staying at the Kurhaus hotel were late to the tram stop, but they made it on the canal tour in time nevertheless!). We all hopped on tram 1 for the long slog to Delft (the same route Micha takes to work!) and since we rode right by our wedding location we took the opportunity to point out the walking route (across the Vliet) to everyone sitting with us on the tram.

We met up with the folks staying in Delft right at the canal tour departure point, where we assembled to do a final head count. We had fourteen folks on the canal tour, and a fifteenth joined for the walking tour (just to the New Church on the central square) and lunch. The boat tour lasted a little less than an hour and we got to see just about all of the city, minus the front shot of that famous Vermeer painting (owing to construction on the bridge at the entrance to the city canals). Then we took everyone to the central square walking by City Hall, Hugo de Groot, and the New Church, built in the 16th century... the Old Church, de Ouwe Jan was started in 1246, built on two century old church grounds!).

We had lunch with the entire group on Markt where Bill Clinton had poffertjes when he visited Delft. After lunch the group split up into little groups to explore the town further.

Historic walking tour of Den Haag and visit to Van Kleef distillery and Brouwcafe

2011-09-12T03:00:00.000+02:00

Back in September 2010 Micha and I decided that, in order to organize the perfect destination wedding for our guests, we needed to schedule some additional events during the week surrounding our wedding. We fantasized over wine and hors d'oeuvres on our balcony about where we would like take our family and friends. It was some of the best parts of wedding planning, by far, and it also seemed like people really had a lot of fun participating in the planned events. For the next (work-)week we will be dropping a post a day about each of the days during our wedding week. If you were there, come and reminisce with us! If you weren't, have a look and see if you'd like to hire us to plan your destination wedding!!! (Ha-ha, j/k! ... or am I?)

On Monday we kicked off our wedding week with a historic walking tour of Den Haag as we had envisioned on our balcony those many weeks prior. I was supposed to lead the tour but, since I had to try on my dress 1 more time, Micha had to start the tour. We led the group by architecture ranging from the 13th century up to to the 20th. The group started at Binnenhof (the Parliament building of the NL), and went by various sites including Mauritshuis, Paleis Lange Voorhout, Hotel des Indes, Paleis Noordeinde, Gevangenpoort, the Passage, Haagse Bluf, Grote Kerk en Boterwaag. At the Boterwaag (now a restaurant) we had drinks with the whole group of twelve people, after which a smaller group (just us and our (step-) parents) split off to visit the Van Kleef Distillery.

Van Kleef is the oldest distillery in Den Haag, a place where Vincent van Gogh used to buy ethanol for his paints, and a drink for himself. The distillery is unusual, as it is in the middle of a city center which has become quite uncommon over the last century and a half. In this distillery they mostly distill jenever, a Dutch hard alcohol that is based on the juniper berry (like gin) but tastes much softer. But they also distill berry, almond, and many, many other flavors of liqueurs. A special liqueur we tasted was bruidstranen (bridal tears) which has specks of 14k gold in it. If a woman drinks it before getting married it's good luck (after not so much). Fleur Kuyt explained all the different flavors of jenever and liqueurs to us in excellent English (and very quickly, too!) with a great sense of humor. After many drinks and many delicious fresh snacks we kicked back in the back yard to enjoy our last shots of jenever and smoke some cigars.

At night we went to the micro-brewery, het Brouwcafe, in the habor of Scheveningen with some folks. We enjoyed some fresh seafood and locally brewed beers and met up with some newly arrived guests (who had been traveling all around Europe already!). All in all, Monday was a chance to show off our town, both Scheveningen and central Den Haag, to the earlybirds who had already arrived and checked in to their lodgings. But on Tuesday we started to branch out and the group grew a bit bigger, so stay tune for tomorrow's post...

Honeymoon!

2011-09-11T23:30:00.000+02:00

Tomorrow we're off for our honeymoon to Greece! We practically forgot that we got married, already, as it has been so long (j/k!)... but here it is. Our thanks go out to so many of our friends and family who gave us gifts to contribute to this trip (via Traveler's Joy)! These gifts make this vacation even more meaningful!

First up, we'll be going to the beautiful volcanic island of Santorini for five days. We'll be staying at a hotel with a spa built into a volcanic cave. We anticipate many hours soaking in their natural hot springs. We also want to visit the town Oia (and do some wine tasting on the way there!). Then we'll be on the ferry to the island of Naxos. In Naxos we'll be staying right at the beach but plan to go inlands for some cool archeological sites. After two days on this less-known island we'll be off to Mykonos. On Mykonos we plan to see "little Venice", Elia Beach and take a horse back riding trip. We'll conclude our trip with a visit to Athens. Archeological and some very cool gastronomical treats (with outstanding views) await us there.

We probably won't post much (if anything) about the honeymoon while we're on it. But once we're back, you can expect some reviews of all the great hotels and restaurants we'll have visited!

[While we're gone, we hope you guys enjoy the series of posts about our wedding week that will go up this week! We will have a new post every day at 12:00 pm (NL time) running from tomorrow until Saturday! Don't forget to check back every day this week!]

Heere die Hage - Bistro & Jazz Club

2011-09-08T10:16:00.002+02:00

Micha and I wanted to give a shout-out on our blog to the newly (re-)opened bar on Spui in Den Haag, Heere die Hage (note: the former owners still manage the website, so we just linked to the map!). Yesterday we went there with our friends M. & M. to have a beer and the daghap (daily special) before M. and I would go to a GroenLinks meeting about trash collection and recycling.
We were pleasantly surprised by this little pub! The owner and bartender, Riet, cooked for us herself in a tiny kitchen that is just right next to the actual bar (open and in plain view when you sit at the bar). She made a traditional Dutch meal of two types of meat, brown beans, bacon, potatoes and cucumber salad. For me she also fried up some fake meat. When we ordered some coffee, she also offered some Chocolat Swiss Roll to go with it (which is surprisingly much like a HoHo!). The food was really good (maybe the HoHo stuff a bit less) and cost only 6,50 € per person. Having a meal there is just like pulling up a chair in your aunt's kitchen--at least, if your aunt was from Holland! Very cozy and comforting, especially in this blustery Dutch fall weather.
We would highly recommend visiting Heere die Hage. Check with Riet if she has time to cook for you! I believe today (September 8th) she is making chicken soup... She also has live music on most "going out" nights (Thurs-Sat). This weekend there will be live Latin music and free food!

One month anniversary

2011-08-29T13:40:00.004+02:00

Yes indeed yesterday we celebrated our one month wedding anniversary! We went to see Captain America in the theater and played Texas Hold'em. Sounds romantic eh? We're just incredibly geeky I guess... (although we were drinking wine and whiskey, and Micha had a cigar!)

However, it has been a great month in which we had Micha's mother over for 11 days, we tried to organize wedding pix, wrote about four blog entry (drafts) that we have yet to post, went to the Delft Jazz festival, the Scheveningen fireworks festival, engaged in unlimited sushi eating (Sumo Sushi-Scheveningen!), and went tea tasting at Betjeman and Barton. We also planned our honeymoon to the Cyclades and Athens and are currently planning for our wine tasting trip to the Alsace right after our honeymoon to Greece.

Here are some videos Micha took of Blood, Sweat and Kiers (our wedding band!) playing our favorite song at Delft Jazz, 2011:

Wedding posts will be up soon...

2011-08-04T17:14:00.000+02:00

So we have got A LOT to blog about regarding our wedding, what with all of the activities occurring during the week surrounding the big day (the 28th!) and with all of the family members attending (along with plenty of their cameras!) from here and abroad. We just wanted to let you know that we will be posting a blog entry about each separate day--if not each separate activity--including the big day itself with several really cool pictures in each. For the full stream of photos, you'll either need to have been a wedding invitee or you'll need to get on Google+ to get access to my photo posts (mbarankin@gmail.com).

So keep checking back for the new posts, or even better: become a follower and get email updates automatically!

"The Shining" & More Food Porn

2011-07-18T11:50:00.054+02:00

So last week we got a pleasant surprise from one of our couple friends, Mar & Mar (names abbreviated to protect their identities): they were taking off the next day for a trip to a music festival out in the country, and they didn't have the energy to use their two tickets to a late-night showing of the full cut of "The Shining", on real (reel) film!!!
Apparently the Film House (Filmhuis) in Den Haag brings it out only once every so often (once a year?) for these special showings--and since it's the original, there were no subtitles! We were both pretty excited, as it'd been at least a decade since either one of us had seen this classic Kubrick flick! Micha was especially excited at the end when we saw an extra scene that we'd never seen before!!! (see pic, right) So we had a wonderful date night, after enjoying a wonderful home cooked meal and an evening out courtesy of our friends!!! THANKS MAR & MAR! :)

Later in the week we had one of our witnesses (for our upcoming wedding) over for dinner, and I had planned on making my famous Korean BBQ recipe for Galbi (!!!) along with a recipe for Asian Cabbage Salad which my grandmother (the Jewish one, not the Asian one) used to make. Unfortunately, Mother Nature didn't approve of my plans to barbecue, so I was given my first true test for becoming a Dutchman: barbecuing in the rain! Luckily I passed the test, so we didn't have to cook the steaks on the stove or in the oven, and both NL'ers (Bea and our witness) were pleasantly surprised with the cabbage salad as well!

Finally, the next day we had our BABS over for a meeting to discuss the details of the wedding ceremony. [In the NL, a legal wedding ceremony must be conducted by one of the officiants who work for the city; their title is Buitengewoon Ambtenaar-Burgerlijke Stand (BABS) which roughly translates to "Extraordinary State-worker - Citizenship Status".] She was a lovely woman, but unfortunately she declined our invitation to have this delicious raspberry tart that Bea had made with the line "At my age, you might as well just put that right onto my hips if I'm going to eat it..." (LOL!). She then went on to say "I hope you didn't make that just for me" to which we had to grin at each other before we responded "Oh no, of course not. We make this kind of thing all the time..." HAHA. But luckily we had Bea's uncle Geer over for a visit the next day to help finish it off... :)

Bar-B-Q Season!

2011-07-06T11:21:00.000+02:00

It's that time again--even in the Netherlands--for barbecue!!! We've had particularly nice weather recently, and it's a national pasttime to celebrate the sun with a grill session outside.

On Friday, we enjoyed another in a long line of gourmet meals at Bea's dad's house. As you can see, we sat outside in the corner of the backyard with the last bit of sun, heh heh. Bea's dad whipped up some wonderful grilled vegetables on the grill for appetizers, but we dined inside where it was nice and warm (after the sun went down).
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Wedding Preparations - Ondertrouw!

2011-07-02T07:00:00.000+02:00

As we mentioned (several posts earlier) we've been exceedingly busy with all the preparations required for our wedding at the end of July. And let us tell you, planning a "destination wedding"--without a wedding planner--is a LOT of work! We finally mailed out our invitations several weeks ago (later than we wanted, but just in time for etiquette standards...) and they were quickly followed by an e-mailed .pdf document (30 pages!) of all kinds of info on traveling to the EU/NL and some specific info about the wedding. We're also planning a week full of events for our guests to attend with us, which will hopefully be a lot of fun! So we created a web-form for people to rsvp for the events separately, and so that Micha can keep track of who all is coming in a google doc spreadsheet.

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Enjoying Nature in the Kikkervallei

2011-06-27T21:05:00.000+02:00

So, on this past Sunday, the Conservancy people who are responsible for taking care of the protected areas (nature reserves) in the dunes just north of where we live in Scheveningen treated the public to a once-a-year opportunity: visiting the Kikkervallei ("Frog-valley"). Since neither of us had ever seen it, we decided to grab our chance. [Thankfully our neighbor lent us a bike, since it was a good deal further than we usually walk together, and we got a slow start in the morning...] So we packed a couple of water bottles, sunglasses, and durable shoes and were off!

Runnin' runnin', and runnin' runnin'!

2011-06-21T18:21:00.000+02:00

Bea's back at it, again! This time she's hit up the Golden Tenloop (10 km) in Delft on Ascension Day, and the Wateringseveld Loop (also the 10 km) on the 12th of June. While she's been working out a lot more regularly in the past couple of months, the Delft competition was the first one she'd done in quite a while! And even though it wasn't her best time ever, it certainly wasn't her worst.

Micha's tutee graduated!!!

2011-06-19T21:01:00.000+02:00

In the Netherlands the high school students take a series of national, standardized tests, in each of the required subjects, to graduate high school. These are called their eindexamen or "final exams". Micha has been tutoring two girls this school year in math, and one of them was intending to graduate, and she did it!!! Not only that, but she got a better than passing grade on her math test alone! (Which wasn't absolutely necessary, since she was passing all of her other tests by a good margin.)

We're really proud of her and we just wanted to post this photo in tribute...

Photoshop CS3 Fun

2011-05-19T22:52:00.000+02:00

Micha has had some fun, recently, playing with some of the fancy features in Photoshop that he doesn't quite know how to use 100% properly. While this got us into quite some trouble with our wedding invitations (more on this later!), he did manage to get this beautiful 360-degree panorama picture done.

And, although he was hoping to make it one of those animated, revolving pictures that you can control like in StreetView, we liked the results below!!!

Food Porn

2011-05-10T20:18:00.000+02:00

Most of you probably know that we are both foodies, through and through, although we haven't put a whole lot up on the blog recently to prove it! So here are some glamour shots of just three of the meals we've enjoyed making for each other recently.

Dish #1 - Asperges a la Ardennes
Head Chef - Bea
Soux-Chef - Micha
Side-dishes: "Avocados Leliveld", and fried potatoes (krieltjes)

Pesach 2011

2011-04-25T19:01:00.000+02:00

Our second Pesach seder celebrated in the Netherlands, and this time a whole new crowd (with one exception, who made a return appearance)! In case you missed our post on this holiday last year, we've made our own trilingual Haggadah set based on a hundred year old Dutch manuscript which we found
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Vote for me!

2011-03-01T09:58:00.000+01:00

Beste mensen, morgen 2 maart 2011 zijn de verkiezingen voor Provinciale Staten. Ik zou het enorm waarderen als ik op jullie stem kan rekenen in Zuid-Holland! Lijst 6 nummer 10, E.N Moolenaar

Mocht ik geen zetel krijgen dan zal ik mij de komende jaren voor GroenLinks inzetten in een bestuursfunctie in Zuid-Holland.

Veel dank voor alle steun die ik tijdens deze campagne heb mogen ontvangen!

In Gesprek met Scholieren

2011-02-28T15:20:00.000+01:00

De leerlingen van de Schakelklas van het Da Vinci College aan de Noordendijk in Dordrecht hebben op donderdag 24 februari 2011 een tentoonstelling en Politieke Markt georganiseerd. Buiten deze leerlingen waren ook andere leerlingen (niveaus 1 en 2 van het mbo), en natuurlijk alle politieke partijen uitgenodigd om de tentoonstelling en politiek markt te bezoeken.

De politieke markt vindt al 25 jaar plaats en werd dit jaar geopend door gedeputeerde Erik van Heijningen (VVD). De markt heeft tot doel leerlingen politiek bewust te maken en politieke participatie te bevorderen. De leerlingen hebben de gelegenheid gekregen zich aan de politieke partijen te presenteren en de vertegenwoordigers van de politieke partijen vragen te stellen.

Kandidaten Annelies van Egmond en ik (Elisabeth Moolenaar) waren van de partij en hebben vele leerlingen van verschillende klassen te woord gestaan. De leerlingen hadden veel specifieke vragen, zoals bijvoorbeeld: wat doet GroenLinks voor mij, wat doet GroenLinks voor het onderwijs, waar bezuinigen jullie op, en hoe word je kandidaat-Statenlid? Er waren ook enkele docenten die even langs kwamen voor meer informatie. Dit soort gelegenheden zijn geweldige momenten om heel informeel en individueel met jongeren te praten over wat zij belangrijk vinden en politieke interesse te stimuleren.

Een Bijzondere Ontmoeting

2011-02-28T15:15:00.000+01:00

Since I'm too busy to always write a Dutch version and an English version of my campaign activities, I am just posting this one in Dutch. For our English speaking visitors please use google translate.

Alweer een bijzondere campagne-ervaring. Zaterdagavond 19 februari was ik in Den Haag te gast bij De Ontmoeting voor een debat. Er werd goed van leer getrokken en ook het publiek maakte het de aanwezige kandidaten (met name collega’s van de VVD en het CDA) niet gemakkelijk.

Het idee achter de Ontmoeting ontstond rond de verkiezingen voor de Gemeenteraad van 3 maart 2010, toen Haagse Afro-Surinamers zichzelf nog steeds afwezig achtten in het Haagse politieke debat, in politieke partijen, en aanverwante Haagse belangenorganisaties. De Ontmoeting streeft ernaar om via informatie en discussies het politieke bewustzijn en -participatie onder Afro-Surinamers te stimuleren.

En discussie was er die avond! Na een voorstelronde waarin de kandidaten even kort zichzelf konden voorstellen en hun programmapunten uiteenzetten, werd er gedebatteerd over de volgende stellingen:

1. Het Provinciaal beleid is tamelijk onbekend en daardoor onbelangrijk, ten opzichte van het gemeente en centrale regeringsbeleid.

2. De nadruk van deze Provinciale Staten verkiezingen wordt terecht gelegd op de zware bezuinigingsvoorstellen die het huidige kabinet wil doorvoeren.

Het publiek deed zeer bevlogen mee en trakteerde ons, kandidaten, op wat kritische vragen over de bezuinigingen op onderwijs, een mogelijke (of onmogelijke) samenwerking met PVV, ontslagen bij de overheid als gevolg van de huidige bezuinigingen, het ontbreken van een diversiteitsbeleid in het regeerakkoord, en welke partij nu toch het goedkoopste openbaar vervoer kon garanderen. De Ontmoeting had zijn doel zeker bereikt die avond. De VVD en het CDA wilden de vragen soms afdoen als “landelijke thema’s”, echter er was duidelijk behoefte aan wat uitleg wat betreft de beslissingen van de Tweede Kamer fracties. De linkse partijen waren echter wel bereid op alle vragen in te gaan. Onze collega’s van de “kabinetspartijen” waren dan ook eerder weer verdwenen na het debat, dat uitermate aardig werd afgesloten met een presentje voor de debaters: bakkeljauw voor thuis.

Debate Night - Rotterdam!

2011-02-19T23:03:00.000+01:00

As a political candidate you get to do a lot of interesting and cool things. I got to travel through the province on a big bus to learn about the polders in het Groene Hart in our province, I attended literary theatre at an elementary school (Midsummer Nights Dream for 10-11 year-olds!), and last Friday I was invited for a debate at Stichting Rosarium. This organization is aimed at the emancipation of Turkish women (and they do this through a myriad of ways: language class, debates, cooking for the elderly). So there we were three blond women telling these Turkish women about provincial politics. I was sad that my party has no Turkish woman candidate but realized that some day may be one of these women would be! These women were so eager to learn about provincial politics, it was great.

I was a little nervous about the debate because I had never done a political debate before and I was there all by myself (D66 had support in the audience). No one to defer to.... Luckily I managed just fine. The only hard part of the debate was distinguishing ourselves from eachother very clearly. Perhaps a signal to future cooperation in Gedeputeerde Staten?

After the debate the three of us received flowers and it was time to speak further one on one while having drinks and home-cooked food. The women really made some delicious (and vegetarian!) food and it was so nice to hear what they were concerned about. In my opinion politicians and voters should be able to dialogue much more often, and not only during campaign period. As Oscar Dijkhoff (lijsttrekker GroenLinks Zuid-Holland) says: democracy is more than voting! People should have access to politicians to share thoughts and concerns whenever they feel the need.

This must have been the best first debate anyone can wish for, thanks to the wonderful women of Stichting Rosarium!

Sushi Dinner Weekend

2011-02-10T15:19:00.000+01:00

What with Bea's being constantly occupied with election activities (not to mention her part-time job at After's Cool and her full-time job of writing her dissertation!) we've been experiencing a little role reversal. Luckily it's something we're slightly accustomed to, and certainly not afraid of. A great example was last weekend, the first weekend in February, when I (Micha) cooked ALL WEEKEND! (I know, can you believe we survived it!!! lol, j/k!)

On Thursday I made a ratatouille quiche... well, Bea had done ALL of the prep work, so I just poured it together, crumbled the chevre on top, and baked it just in time for her to get home (oh yeah, and made a salad). On Friday, I made a simple pasta dish while Bea was visiting the Groene Hart with other provincial candidates; and on Saturday I prepared her famous Bean Dish with hard tacos (and she made her delicious guacamole!). But Sunday was the coup de grâce: an elaborate Sushi Dinner!

Firstly, Bea deserves a lot of credit for the prep work here: she bought almost all of the ingredients in advance, and was instrumental in a lot of the setup and prep work, not to mention cutting every roll (except for one, which I kinda squashed!). But I did venture out to the harbor (about a 5 min bus ride from home!) to buy fresh Maguro (red tuna), Sake (salmon), and Ebi (shrimp). When I got home I vacuumed the house and started cooking at our "pre-prep" station (setup by Bea, shown here right). Thanks to my mother, we have the appropriate pan for making my famous Tamago-yaki (Japanese omelette) recipe; but I inadvertently put a few too many eggs and ended up making about 4 batches!!!

After the egg was finished, it was time to shower and gussy up before our guests arrived. While the original plan was to tag-team (I roll a few, then Bea rolls a few, while the other one entertains our guests) I made the executive decision that we should play to our strengths and Bea's superior sociability dictated she should stay with the guests as long as possible (lol, but true!). So I only called her in to cut the rolls and plate them, since she's also strong in presentation... hehe. We made several rolls we'd never made before, but have enjoyed many times at a number of restaurants; using home-made spicy mayo, eel sauce (reduction sauce made the night before!), marinated carrots (shown in the now "prep station" pic here), and a whole lot of other ingredients Bea'd bought at the Asian store in downtown Den Haag.

Without making a long story even longer, we ended up making these rolls:
Yasai (vegetarian, including Takuwan!)
Shinsen'na Tamagoyaki (Fresh Omelette)
Tsuraina Tamagoyaki (Spicy Omelette)
*Boston Roll (Crab Salad, Salmon, Scallion)
Philadelphia Roll(Avocado, Cream Cheese, Smoked Salmon)
*Seattle Roll(Avo, Cucumber, Salmon)
California Roll
Rainbow Roll (California topped with tuna, salmon, shrimp)
Caterpillar Roll (Eel, Cucumber, topped with Avo and Eel Sauce)
and, the topper...

Dynamite Roll (Spicy tuna roll, topped with spicy mayo and broiled for under 2 min ;} )

We also had a seaweed salad and homemade cucumber tsukemono. Please, let us know in the comments section if our pics make you salivate, and you might earn yourself an invitation to our next Sushi Night!

On the Campaign Trail

2011-02-03T08:51:00.000+01:00

Being a newby political candidate, the last couple of weeks I had to concern myself with matters I never had concerned myself with before, such as have a professional photographer take a headshot (terrible experience), write blurbs about myself for I don't know how many websites (what to say what to say?), and visit various cities in the province. It's all been good fun but extra work in addition to the general campaign management I do for the party as a member of the campaign team (this I actually started with and only later became a candidate myself). This week a promotional video came out in which I appear. It was nerve wrecking to see the first cut. It's so strange to have to promote yourself. However, I thought I share my first promotional video here :-) Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-31T23:54:00.000+01:00

Belated, but apt. We had a wonderful holiday season that was so jam-packed we didn't get around to ANY of the wedding planning we had hoped to accomplish. So we've had a busy January, what with Bea's political campaign gearing up and us playing catchup with things like invitations! But we wanted to post a brief update about our holidays, hoping yours went just as well (or better)!

We left the Netherlands just after a big snowfall, but before the inundation that briefly shut down European airports (!), and went to Sacramento to hang out with Micha's family for a while before the holidays! We especially enjoyed seeing our nieces again--Micha hadn't seen our newest niece since she was just a few months old!!! Here he is giving her a piano lesson (on the same piano that he learned on!).

We went to a fundraiser party at Micha's dad's house, and enjoyed catching up with extended family and friends we hadn't seen in a while. This picture of Bea (right) is from the party, and features our older niece... shortly before her bed-time! The next day Micha was able to take in a Sacramento Kings game (loss) against the Houston Rockets. Much to his disappointment, Yao Ming didn't play (or even show his face at Arco Arena!!!), but Micha was able to to get this gratuitous photo nonetheless...

A few days before the big holiday we caravanned up north to celebrate Xmas with family in the Southern OR mountains! Along the way we, of course, made the obligatory stop at one of CA's greatest plentiful treasures: In 'n Out!!! (lol!) Here's a pic of Bea & her mom with a grilled cheese and cheeseburger, respectively.

We had an awesome time with family in OR, celebrating Christmas eve with a visit from Santa Claus and a wonderful dinner (replete with British poppers!) and traditional turkey Christmas dinner after a full day of watching the kids opening presents! It was really fun, and we can't thank everyone enough who were all involved in bringing it all together! We Love You!!!

A day after we got back to Sacramento we were able to celebrate Xmas with Micha's dad's side of the family (divorced families always complicate things, don't they?), and had an awesome time celebrating before, and after, dinner!!! (... even waking up our youngest niece in the process!) Here's a picture of Micha singing with Gaston, his dad's guest foreign exchange student from Argentina.

MIA

2010-11-09T14:59:00.001+01:00

You may be wondering what has been going on here (with nothing going on); has the blogging suddenly stopped, as happens to so many blogs eventually? Don't worry, we're still here. And let me tell you everything that has been going on, all the things you were not privvy of for so long:

Micha and I have set a wedding date! On exactly the same day as we fell in love (then) 10 years ago we will be getting married.
Micha and I have been busy wedding planning. As so many people plan their wedddings a year in advance, we had to seriously start thinking about commiting to a venue etc.
Micha and I have been working on Save-the Date's.
I traveled to Boulder (Co.) to present at a conference and visited Micha's family for 10 days in Sacramento (Ca.) after.
I went wedding dress shopping in Sacramento.
I went through the application process to become a candidate for the primaries of my party (GroenLinks) in the provincial elections
I am indeed now officially a candidate!
I have also been working on the GroenLinks campaign a lot. You can now find campaign news on facebook and hyves (GroenLinks Zuid Holland)
Micha and I have made-over our bedroom (new wall paint, new bed, new bedding etc.)
I ran 2 races (1 in Sacramento, Ca 1 in Den Haag)
Micha and I are currently planning Thanksgiving festivities.

So yes it's been a bit busy. But we didn't forget about you! We will continue to write!

Museumnacht

2010-09-06T12:19:00.000+02:00

This weekend Micha and I went to check out a location for our wedding. It is an old farm house between Rijswijk and Delft along a canal. The location was great and the woman who showed us around even greater. While we had no clear ideas about what our wedding should look like, she gave us tips and advice on how to have a wonderful day there--from where the band will setup to what we will eat. We became pretty excited about planning our wedding.

At night we decided-last minute-to go to Museumnacht (museum-night). We planned out our evening carefully to see several places and make the cost of the ticket worthwhile. But once we arrived downtown we first had to buy the ticket, and this proved to be more difficult than expected. At the Haags Historisch museum (Hague Historical museum) there was a line and so we decided to head on over to the M. C. Escher museum to buy our ticket there since we really wanted to see his art. We stood in line (actually more of a big crowd) for a while. When we were finally inside I asked a woman if I could ask her a question (the question being where to get the ticket) but she told me rudely: "No, I am here welcoming people!" What a welcome!

Micha and I went into the museum gift shop but the (friendly) woman there didn't have tickets either, and she told us to go to a kiosk at Buitenhof. Since no one seemed to check the tickets anyway, Micha and I just went in the museum and walked around. There was a DJ playing music and they served wine and oysters! After about half an hour a dance group performed a modern interpretive dance on the stairwell which seemed to represent Escher's black and white paintings. Micha and I really enjoyed all of Escher's work but were most impressed by the wood cuts using 4 blocks, the various Moebius rings, and the wood carved balls.

We intended to see the Gevangenpoort (literally Gatehouse, a prison until 1828) and the Tweede Kamer (Lower House of Parliament) as well as go on a special canal tour, but when we left the Escher museum it was already 10pm and we still had to buy our ticket; we missed the tours in the museums and were afraid we might not get on the boat anymore. So we decided to chalk up our good fortune and just have a drink somewhere on the Denneweg. While we walked around to find a 'gezellige bar' we ran into our friends F. and R. We hung out with them outside the bar (yes here one can drink outside of the bar on the street!) for a little over an hour and then went home. So we only saw one museum... but it was nice and (even better) it was free!!!

In Search of Roots: Den Helder and Haarlem

2010-08-25T14:46:00.000+02:00

As some of the readers of this blog may know as an anthropologist I have been doing research on a cultural heritage program called "In Search of Roots." Well this weekend it was time to return to my own roots a bit. We went to Den Helder and Haarlem, cities where both my great grandparents are from. On Friday we took the train for a day trip to Den Helder which is the most northern city on the western side of the Netherlands (excluding the islands). According to legend, this is also where the Vikings landed. We walked through the city center and then had lunch at my mom's second cousin's house. It was a beautiful day with clear blue skies and some wind which reminded us that we were truly right next to the ocean. My mom's cousin is also an artist and we received a painting from her of sand dunes, the ocean with ominous clouds it.

After lunch we visited Willemsoord -- a part of the harbor right next to the city center, the navy base and the real economic port. At Willemsoord, they have preserved a number of historic buildings and boats. We had some beers at Lands End, a restaurant/hotel right on the beach at the tip of Den Helder, from which you can see the island of Texel. We really enjoyed the scenic view and some snacks from their backyard terrace just above the water! At night we had dinner at a seafood restaurant in the city center.

On Sunday we took the train for a day trip to Haarlem. One of my closest friends lives there and he was going to show us around. Just after we arrived at the station we went on a little tour; R. took us through a park and some nice streets in the city center. Then we had some coffee at his wonderful apartment right in the center of town. After coffee we leisurely strolled through the historic city center toward the Teylers museum. Pieter Teyler van der Hulst was heavily influenced by the ideals of the enlightenment and deeply interested in science and art. This museum is the oldest museum in the country (!) and houses art and science related artifacts. I had always wanted to visit this museum but wanted to do it with Micha since I thought he would appreciate the scientific inventions there. The building itself is very pretty and so are all the display cabinets (all antiques). Micha and I also discovered a painting we really like by Anton Mauve.

After exploring the museum I was getting hungry and wanted to visit my favorite french fries place (also to show Micha--R. what's the name of this place?!?). At this place they peel the potatoes and bake the fries fresh every day! (Probably why I love them so much!) They also have some interesting sauces (much to the liking of Micha - a real sauce fan) such as different mayos, joppie and bansai sauce. We all enjoyed a big portion of fries (which actually was just the "normal" size) before doing some more sightseeing. We saw many of the historic hofjes the city has. It was all very pretty and very cute. Many hofjes were populated by cats which made it even more fun to visit them. After having seen the smallest hofje we retired to a bar with patio to have a beer. In town there was a jazz festival and so we could enjoy the music from the patio. When it started to rain we decided to go back to R.'s place. R. had purchased a California wine especially for our visit and so we ended the day with a nice Zin and some seriously delicious snacks (especially the lentil curry English pie!).

Scheveningen International Fireworks Festival and Delft Jazz Festival

2010-08-16T14:47:00.000+02:00

Sinds I have come back from China our social calendar has been pretty packed with lots of fun things. This week seemed particularly busy as some events were back to back. After a night of drinking under the guise of "watching a documentary about ADO" (ADO is a professional The Hague soccer team -- Alles Door Oefening) on Thursday with some ADO fans, we went to the International Fireworks Festival in Scheveningen. At this event they ignite fireworks from a boat on the North Sea; giving a stage to fireworks shows from various countries. Our neighbors M. & F. suggested we go and bring some wine and snacks. And so around 9pm we walked from our house with a bag full of goodies (white and blush wines, fresh bread, aioli, cheese, olives, nuts, etc.) to the beach. We watched the English show at 10pm and the Belgian show at 11pm. We thought the 10pm show was pretty good but the Belgian show was even better. Micha exclaimed: "holy shit man!" during the second show much to the amusement of the people around us (and us). Yesterday we found out that this show was the winner of the festival!

The next day we went to the Jazz Festival in Delft with my dad and stepmom. We arrived early in the afternoon and walked around the historic town center listening and watching various bands. Because we did not really study the program very well we ended up seeing mostly the last song and/or encore of most bands. However, the sun was out, the beer was cold, and it was nice to walk around the city hearing many styles of jazz. We made a meal out of fries that we ate sitting along a canal and ended up at Cafe de Wijnhaven where a friend of mine was playing, Wouter Kiers with his band Blood, Sweat and Kiers. We all love Wouter in this family after he played at my aunt's 50th birthday party together with my cousin. I was allowed to play a couple of songs with him and my cousin (after learning to play the guitar only a few weeks prior) which was insanely scary but fun. During the blues weekend in Delft a few months ago Micha met him as well, and now Wouter has become a standard to all of us. When Wouter plays it's always a party, and his was the only band we managed to see for more than 1 set!

Beijing - Adventures in the Hutong

2010-08-05T15:15:00.000+02:00

This post is not so much a story about all the wonderful things I have seen in Beijing but more so a (shameless) plug for the hotel I stayed at and the manager there, Sharon Yu. I was extremely nervous about traveling to Beijing because it was the first time all by myself without my research subjects, in a city with millions of people, and where I don't speak the language (Canto doesn't really help here let alone my very limited ability to express myself in Canto). I emailed my hotel to ask if they could arrange for a pick up as I was afraid the taxi driver might scam me or just simply did not know how to read the address in English. It's bad news when you can't communicate with your taxi driver AT ALL (when traveling you may often not speak the language but also not having the script in common is rather complicated matter). Luckily someone from my hotel would come pick me up for only 150 RMB (a little over $20 or less than 20 euro). At the airport my bag was lost and so it took me a while to fill out a claim and when I finally got to the exit my pick up was still waiting for me patiently. I was so grateful. It turned out that the woman who came to pick me up spoke English well (which is not a thing to take for granted in China) and even brought me a bottle of water. She was the hotel manager.

I picked this hotel because it is in a hutong. Hutongs are alleyways in downtown Beijing and really give one a sense of life in the olden days. Back then merchants often lived in the courtyard houses in these alleyways. My father and stepmom had stayed in one of these courtyard hotels and loved it and that's why I booked a hotel like this. Moreover, this place was walking distace of the Forbidden City. When we arrived at the hutong I was intially shocked at how alleyway-ish this was. It was like visiting one of the villages we saw in Southern rural China - people drove rickety bikes around, people were hanging out on the streets chatting, drinking beer, a scooter came by with chickens in a cage in the back. Inside the hotel there were all the comforts the Western traveler needs.

The next day I went out and walked through the alleys to the Forbidden City and later met up with a friend in another part of Beijing for lunch and more site seeing. When I called Sharon at the hotel around 6pm with the request to book me a tour of the great wall the next day she did just that (the next day I was picked up in the morning by a tour guide and spent the day on the wall). At night I took the subway back to my hotel but got a little lost finding my way home from the subway station. This was only an exercise what was to come next day:

On my 3rd night in Beijing I got on the subway around 10:15pm and it turned out that this subway was no longer running all the way to where I needed to go. As I just had given all my cash to my friend T. for fronting some stuff I had no money to take a taxi home. I realized that a credit card wouldn't do the trick here either. So I decided to walk home as according to my friend Beijing is extremely safe at night. I had no idea where I was and my map told me I was at the edge of the part of town where I needed to be. I decided to walk in the direction of the most lights. I came to an area with many restaurants and people were out partying. No tourists around and I started to feel uncormfotable when a mother and daughter approached me with a wish for help to start a life somewhere else not to mention a sleeping mom with a todler, both out on the side-walk with a little bucket for money in front of them. I asked a security guard of a restaurant if I was going the right direction with the few Mandarin words I knew. I think he told me I had to go the opposite direction. I was getting tired and so I decided to cut across a hutong. Bad idea as this was like an endless hutong and very poorly lid. So I am walking and walking through this narrow street, no lights, passing laughing and chatting villagers. I looked like a target with "rob-me" on my head as I was so clearly lost. My phone rang and it was my mom. I did not dare to pick up and tell her that I was lost so I ignored the call. I tried figuring out over the phone where I was with the help of my friend T. But even she couldn't make sense of the direction I was walking in. I decided to go toward lights or big streets. At the end of the hutong were two women who sat there, squatted, chatting the night away. I asked T. to ask them in Mandarin which direction I should go. The women stared at me and were completely shocked when I put the phone up to their ears. T. explained at the other end but the women seemed to not understand. It was around midnight now. I was really desperate. And so I called the number on the business card the hotel manager gave me. I asked for Sharon. I said "Sharon I am lost." She asked me where I was which is already a complicated matter since even though the street names are written in English they are pronounced completely different (much like some people say of French) and moreover each street has a north and south section. But I managed to explain to Sharon the intersection I was at. She told me I was only 7 minutes away and that she would come get me. I waited for her in the intersection thinking how she would ever find me. But after 10 minutes Sharon showed up on a moped. I wanted to hug her and asked her how much money I owed her. She declined. I climbed on the back of the moped that Sharon hesitantly drove back to our hutong -- she said she hadn't driven an electric bike in a long time. Two little women zoomed through the dark streets of Beijing right after midnight; it seemed like a dream. I kept thanking Sharon but she appeared to find her service the most normal thing in the world. I think this service on top of the already good service distinguises this hotel from any other place I stayed, the most luxurous included. This woman saved my life and because her notion of service is so great I would recommend her hotel to anyone. The hotel name is (Beijing) Xiaoyuan Courtyard Hotel. But please don't get lost in Beijing as well!

Sharon you are amazing and made such a difference in my stay in Beijing which was overall a bit overwhelming at times. I wish I could have said goodbye in person to Sharon but she must have been tired from all the guests she has to rescue and was asleep by the time I came to say goodbye :)

Snowflake's popularity

2010-08-03T15:25:00.000+02:00

As you can see in this picture snowflake's popularity was growing rapidly with every new city visited in China. This picture is taken in Foshan at the largest godess of mercy statue in the world. Kids followed me around for at least 20 minutes to take pictures and "make friends" with me. This repeated itself in Beijing and some other places as well. Sometimes people asked me to take a picture, sometimes they just grabbed me and had someone quickly take the picture. It wasn't until the 25th day of my trip that I actually told someone "no." I started to become too grumpy because of this interest and also because everyone wanted to sell me stuff. Of course this is part of being a tourist in a big city like Beijing. Of my entire trip I really liked the Southern Chinese country side the best where these things did not really happen.

Partners for Nine Years!!!

2010-07-26T22:41:00.000+02:00

Today Bea and I are celebrating the ninth anniversary of our first trip to Yosemite together, where we fell in love! That was exactly one year after we first met, at my cousin's barbecue in Los Angeles. A few days later they all came to my place (when my mother was in town) for another barbecue -- what else ya gonna do in L.A. in the summer?

Here are two pics from that night ten years ago:

(I was really after a pic of Bea the whole time, but I was trying to act nonchalant and take pics of everyone... lol!)

And here is a pic of us holding hands together at our Yosemite campsite exactly nine years ago this week:

Meat for dinner while Bea's gone...

2010-07-25T16:49:00.000+02:00

My dinner last night -

From Top to Bottom: Potatoes Lyonnaise w/mushrooms, Spinach Leaf Salad with Tomato & Mozzarella, Homemade Tonkatsu Sauce, and Tonkatsu (or Japanese Breaded Pork Chop).

My dinner tonight - The other pork chop... ;)

[I still haven't perfected my recipe for the Tonkatsu sauce yet, but this one had a very nice texture for a change! I used some peeled fresh tomato and whipped the sauce after reducing it...]

Creepy Crawlers and Dr. Sun Yat Sen (Zhongshan)

2010-07-14T16:10:00.001+02:00

It's a miracle that I have time to write something two days in a row, because most days I work about 15 hours conducting ethnographic research and then writing up the research! Today we left Jiangmen for Zhongshan--the area where Micha's (Chinese) ancestors are from. On the way we stopped for lunch at the restaurant of an aunt of one of our guides, here. We got the chance to taste some of the Zhongshan specialties: water beatles, fish throat, rooster testicles and worms.
I am a vegetarian but occasionally eat some shrimp (when I'm not experiencing much compassion, I guess ;) ) and so I said to people that I won't try any mystery meats but wouldn't mind eating insects. So today when the plate arrived at the table with some black big beatles fried in salt and hot peppers I got my chance to try something completely out of the ordinary and keep my word. First I had someone else try it and see how to peel these creepy crawlers. I took off all of the hard parts and only ate the middle of it.

The thought [of eating an insect] is really the worst part of the experience, because it was very salty and actually quite good!!! I ate three of them and then returned to my normal diet of veggies. The others at the table tried the worms and testicles as well. Most people liked it and got rowdy from laughing at the various things to try, especially the rooster testicles... I swear some people suffered a hormone imbalance from it or something, because these people are
usually quite calm!

In the afternoon we went to the Dr. Sun Yat Sen memorial. Even though this is a big touristy spot I again attracted a lot of attention (maybe even more than the exhibits at the place!). It was very nice to see Sun Yat Sen's house and read about his thoughts regarding the political, social and physical welfare of the people of China. I think people in the area are really proud of him and what a lot of people in other countries don't know is that Zhongshan is named after him.

At night we had dinner with Zhongshan Overseas Chinese Affairs officials. There are a lot of transnational connections between Zhongshan (but also other parts of the Pearl River Delta) and Chinese in various other countries. They brought us brochures of their office that described these relations with pictures. The dinner was really wonderful with again some local specialties such as huge prawns, cilantro cakes and pigeon. I sat next to our bus driver (who does not speak a word of English) and managed to ask him if he wanted this or that while serving him (it's polite to serve someone next to you in China, especially if he/she is older).

In our group there are some individuals who keep correcting others on how to say or do things but I managed to communicate just fine with this pure Cantonese man right next to me so I felt a sense of pride and a "I'll teach you know-it-all 'I am better Chinese than thou' folks!!!" The hyper-correction is really getting to me but I can't say anything as a researcher, I guess. I should just let it unfold, it's great data...

After dinner the officials took pictures with my research subjects that will be visiting their ancestral homes in this part of the delta and asked me if I could be in it; they wanted a foreigner in the picture-- but phrased it as " we really like her." Snowflake will most likely appear in one of their next brochures about overseas affairs.

After dinner we went shopping in a nicely decoratively lit area with lost of clothing stores. The street was nice and quite modern for here but then there was a girl peeing in the middle of this pedestrain shopping steet. As my informant said: "that's China for ya!" Everything that looks clean or nice is not really so... We walked around trying to get a feel for the local fashion and tastes: flashy, glittery things and lots of fake hair (batches and batches hanging, waiting to be braided in) and nail polish is what I noticed. Female fashion is very cutesy and frilly and the shoes are all with high heels and possibly glitter/rhinestones.

I look forward to seeing the villages of this area tomorrow. The villages interest me more than the big cities...

The Amazing Adventures of Snowflake in China (part 1)

2010-07-13T09:18:00.001+02:00

Today i finally got to sit down and write a little update on my travels through the Southern Countryside of China. My research subjects and I have been in China for a week now, but every day is so jam-packed that I never have time to write something for friends and family!
We have visited about 10 rural villages in China already. We've seen the Kaiping watchtowers and some big cities as well. We're in Jiangmen right now, a relatively modern and economically developed city. We are here to visit a few ancestral villages of people from the Sun Wuey area. This morning we arrived at one of the villages. And with every village we visit I think: "this is the most beautiful village!" This village was quite large and had some wider streets and some interesting architectural features (like bridges). I often hang out with the locals in the villages but in this village the officials and villagers took a special interest in me. They were impressed I knew some Cantonese and when I said something about that "snow flake"-- because I am bak yut yut (white as snow)--enjoys it, it stuck.
To them I became sut faah, snow flake. Villagers usually don't stare or anything but the people in the city do, and in our previous hotel our masseuses took a special interest in me because I am so fair and because I am 34 but look so young (according to her!). People are surprised I can eat with chopsticks so well and that I knew some "Canto". So I am wooing some of the locals in Sun Wuey. In this area we were invited to have lunch at a government building with all kinds of officials (the whole hierarchial spectrum). The room was seriously air-conditioned, which is not exactly rare here but this was definitely one of the coolest places I have visited. The tables were nicely set and the chairs were nice too (which is also not always the case, even in restaurants!). It all looked really nice and fancy.
We were welcomed by a local offical and told that the food we would get to eat was very much local specialties. We were hopeful for what was to come, after having had a meal of pigeon soup cooking at the table with bird parts and heads bopping around in the boiling liquid, rice with pigeon, and all other kind of things pigeon, last night. The food was amazing with lots of different
vegetables even (something we'd agreed to be lacking so far). They fed us so much food and they served us beer, soda and coconut milk. It was a major sign of welcome and so we had to show some major appreciation. This you do by toasting your hosts and so we went from table to table to toast the local government officials. One seemed particularly excited to toast with me. He later chatted me up saying how sad he was for the Dutch soccer team to have lost the World Cup.
Another lady, the highest official, told me how fair and beautiful I was and together these officials remarked that I should marry a Chinese husband. I told them my fiance is from Zhongshan which was a crowd pleaser!!! As they told me: "the best way to study Chinese culture is to study Chinese men!" So it's of to another village this afternoon.
The adventures of Snowflake continue...

BTW: Who would have thought that people who are allergic to cats can't eat them either?! One of our travelers had to go to the hospital after eating some *yummy* cat soup. And for those reading this: now worries, I did not touch the cat soup (or the dogmeat, snake, pork, beef, squab
or the pigeon).

World Cup Fever - Dutch Style

2010-07-07T17:55:00.001+02:00

For those living in a cave for the last few weeks, the Netherlands defeated Uruguay last night to make it into the Final Round of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa for the first time since 1978. We will find out tonight whether they will play against Germany or Spain (Paul the octopus predicts the latter), but either way it will be an all European final this year.

But for those of our friends and family who live in the United States, where World Cup fever is just beginning to appear as a hot flash, we wanted to give you a little flavor of what it's like to experience it in the Netherlands. So a real quick background: the colors of the Dutch flag are indeed only red, white & blue (hint: turn the french flag sideways, so the stripes are parallel to the direction of U.S. stripes). However, the Royal lineage derives from the House of Orange-Nassau (via William the Silent, A.K.A. William of Orange). Thus, most everybody wears an orange T-shirt to show their national pride, sometimes with the flag on it as well.

These blocks (above) in Voorburg are covered in flags, mainly orange ones, that flap very loudly in the wind. These have been up for weeks, since before the beginning of the tournament, and presumably will stay up until the Netherlands is eliminated. More blocks in Voorburg are shown below, including a big Dutch flag, several signs and pictures in windows, etc. A lot of the signs say "Hup, Holland, Hup" which roughly translates to "Go, Holland, Go!". (We won't get into the difference between 'Holland' and 'the Netherlands' just yet...)

Finally, in downtown The Hague there are the usual signs and flags (just as in Voorburg), but the city has replaced the water in the fountains near City Hall with orange-dyed water. Apparently the dye is a bit weaker in the morning (below, left) which makes it look an unappetizing yellowish color; but the right picture was taken in the afternoon where the fountains look more orange.

And finally, if you want to see a really crazy decoration scheme, check this link out. The picture comes from some town in Gelderland, where they covered whole blocks of houses in orange plastic!!!

China itinerary

2010-07-05T07:16:00.000+02:00

Since many people have asked me for my itinerary and my wherabouts in China I have made a little schedule:

6 July SFO-HKG CX 873 Cathay Pacific
7 July HKG -China by bus
7-9 July Kaiping
9-12 July Toishan
12-14 July Jiangmen
14-16 July Zhongshan
16-18 July Foshan
18-20 July Guangzhou
20-22 July Nanxiong
22-24 July Guangzhou
24 July Guangzhou-Hong Kong-Beijing KA 783 and KA 908 Dragon Air
24-28 July Beijing
28 July Beijing-Hong Kong KA 905 Dragon Air
28-29 July Hong KOng
30 July HKG-AMS CX 271 Cathay Pacific

And yes in answer to other requests I will be blogging about my experiences in China!

In Loving Memory of Ieniemienie

2010-06-29T09:43:00.000+02:00

Bea's childhood cat, Ieniemienie, passed away last night at a ripe age of 22 years old! She was a beautiful animal, with great temperament and surprising intelligence. It was several visits before she could get used to my presence, once I started visiting Hetty's often, but once she trusted me we were thick as thieves. She would recognize Bea's voice whenever Hetty had her on the telephone (while we were in the U.S.) and would instantly start meeowing and purring toward the phone! This was exceptionally remarkable the past few months when it seemed like she couldn't hear anything: but then, it just goes to show what she was listening for!

This precocious and tiny kitten was found as a part of an abandoned litter Hetty found on the street and rescued. But Bea had the honor of picking out the runt, Ieniemienie, as her kitten when she was just 11 or 12 years old. Ieniemienie's early life wasn't easy: for a long time, she was too short to eat or drink from the bigger cat's bowl so she had to be fed in little saucers on the ground. By the time she was big enough to eat from Vlokje's bowls, the bigger cat had other plans and would smack Ieniemienie across her head if she ever tried it. So Ieniemienie learned patience... and acquired a bit of Stockholm syndrome--as she looooved Vlokje!.

Ieniemien got a form of throat cancer earlier this year, and it progressed very fast. It got to the point where she could no longer clean herself (except her face/head!). Unfortunately it continued to get worse, and when she could no longer properly eat on her own it was time to let her go. We will miss her dearly, and remember her always!

Missing my boo

2010-06-13T07:23:00.000+02:00

20%

2010-06-06T01:41:00.000+02:00

Who would have thought I could be so "homesick"? I sure never did... It's been hard being apart this time around eventhough we have been through it so many times. I guess it's because we just started a new home together and we just found a nice routine. I have been having a great time in California but ... am homesick. Luckily we're a bit over 20% of the way.
The things that have got me through so far:

Spending quality time with family and especially our niece Harper. She has been such a sweetie to me and we have had great fun practicing evil laughs in the shower room, playing together and having an occasional big girl lunch (with dessert at Vics of course "auntie Bea did you know they also have ice cream to take home?").
Doing a 5k in Landpark was also lots of fun especially since my sister-in-law and Harper were there with me! Sister-in-law was amazing, running with a double stroller!!
Meeting with my informants again!
Planning and shopping for my China trip (oh yes rubber Okabashi sandals, sun hats, tank tops you name it)
Exploring new restaurants - I just LOVE going out for dinner and in the U.S. it's so much cheaper.

Stützpunktgruppe Scheveningen

2010-05-22T05:28:00.000+02:00

Inspired by war stories of my uncle Geer and our downstairs neighbor mevrouw Ringeling Micha and I went to check out a WWII bunker near our house on my last night in the NL (before returning to Cali for more fieldwork). The bunker is located in the Scheveningse Bosjes/Belvedere park. When we got to the bunker the gate to the entrance was open and Micha and I went in. We ran into some people who were working in the bunker on the restoration of the place into a monument and part of the Atlantikwall museum. The Atlantikwall (Atlantic Wall) was an extensive system of coastal fortifications (2685 kilometers) built by the German Third Reich in 1942 until 1944 during World War II along the western coast of Europe to defend against an anticipated Allied invasion of the mainland from Great Britain. Our neighborhood was part of (or actually mostly on top of) the Atlantikwall - there are many bunkers and passages underneath Scheveningen. As a port Scheveningen (and Den Haag as a likely place for a surprise attack) had the penultimate priority for the Germans and they founded Stützpunktgruppe Scheveningen. The dunes and many of the parks I run through almost daily were places where SS oberfuhrers, German marines but also rockets were housed. Entire streets were told to move out of their houses so the area could be better controlled. After the war many people tried to get rid of those ugly bunkers. Many are filled up with concrete. In my life I have seen about 4 but never on the inside. 65 years later people are reconsidering. One of the bunker restorers told me that currently they are trying to turn many of the bunkers and passages into a monument. The one close to our house is expected to be ready in September. The small bunker houses a commandopost for Stützpunktgruppe Scheveningen. I asked the people working on the bunker how much time it costs the Germans to build bunkers and learned that it only took them about 6 weeks. I always wondered how they got up the Atlantikwall so fast... (it provided work for many contractors during the slow economic times of the war). Micha and I plan to take a tour of the passages and bunkers when the restoration is ready.

Hemelvaart weekend/birthday weekend

2010-05-18T09:16:00.000+02:00

Our last weekend together (for at least 2 months) was a long one thanks to the holiday. And it was a busy weekend! On Thursday Micha, my mom and I all went to Delft because I was running the Trompper Optiek Golden Ten Loop (an annual 10k run through Delft). My last 10k was in Rotterdam at th Rotterdam Marathon event and it was a pretty bad experience- about 5000 people were running this distance then and the route was too narrow which resulted in nearly tripping and not being able to run free at all; I finished with a horrible time. The Golden Ten is slightly smaller but better organized. At the start there were pace signs that you lign up with so there won't be slow people in front. The weather was gloomy but turned out a great temperature for running. It was easy to run free, the route was nice, and the general atmosphere was really good. There were bands along the way and part of the route takes you through an area with farms and forest. I had a pain in my chest but managed to keep going and finished at a much better time than last month in Rotterdam. After I finished all of us went for drinks in one of the many cafes around the Markt. When we got home we treated ourselves to some food from the snackbar across the street and watched a movie.

Friday was Micha's birthday. I got up early to clean the house because we were going to have a surprise party at night and I was going to take him places during the day. I also made some schwarzwalder schinken and cheese croissants for breakfast.By the time we were ready to get outta the house it was approaching lunch time, so we took a bus to a nearby neighborhood which had lots of shops and cafe's open (sort of like Noe Valley or some other hip/trendy area which is family-friendly). I had looked up a nice dim sum restaurant in that neighborhood, and it turned out to be quite authentic!!! (Surprising in the NL!!! They do indonesian here very well, but Chinese can be hit-or-miss). Moreover it's not always easy to find a good Chinese restaurant that is also a romantic place to eat. Walong however is the place! We had chicken feet, siu mai (not the best, but definitely in the top 10 Micha's ever had!!!), ha gao, jin doi, and some other stuff that was really interesting such as vegetarian steamed dumplings with mushroom and corn! It was all really gooooood... After dim sum we walked around the neighborhood and checked out a pet store and book store before catching the bus back towards our neighborhood. We got out early and walked into Westbroekpark to play miniature golf. The course was kind of weak but romantically situated among trees and flowers and it was still a lot of fun playing each other. At night I organized a little surprise party. Micha's boss, our friends from Breda, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam, and our neighbors came (who stayed until after 1am). Micha fell asleep with a bottle of champagne next to him.

On Saturday there was another birthday to celebrate: the daughter of my cousin, Lois, was having her 10th birthday. We went to Zoetermeer to celebrate and the party was almost like a mini reunion as we saw relatives that we had not seen for years when we lived in the U.S. We sat in the back yard and chatted and laughed for hours.

Sunday I had to pick up some stuff to beautify our balcony. We put everything into place just in time for our neighbors to come over to have some bubbles and show us their wedding pictures. We sipped Riesling sekt and ate cheese and crackers. A lovely closure to a wonderful weekend!

Koninginne-nach/dag (Queen's Day)

2010-05-01T17:14:00.000+02:00

So Friday, the 30th of April, was Queen's Day--a national holiday in the Netherlands--which meant that Thursday night was the eve of the holiday, and also meant a big giant outdoor party over the whole downtown of The Hague (Den Haag) (and only in Den Haag because it's the Queens residence and the city also has a great musical scene dating way back). We met up with some friends (coming from Delft & Rotterdam) at Centraal Station and walked to the Kerkplein via the Poten. They'd set up a big stage (complete with smoke & lights!) in the square in front of the Big Church, and we saw a band called de Wolff, complete with smoke effects! They played sort of classic-sounding originals, and with a Hammond they sounded a bit like the Doors in some ways.

Next we moved on to the square next to city hall where a big band was playing! There were way more people here, but the square is much larger so it was actually a bit less crowded, at least where we were standing. It wasn't just the foreigners (myself and some of our friends!) who were all dressed up in red, white, blue & orange...

As it was starting to get dark, we headed to the carnival (kermis) where they had games and rides and vendors. Along the way we passed the Parliament Building, and there was a giant ride set up RIGHT IN FRONT OF IT!!! (Sorry for the caps, but I just can't imagine this happening on K Street in front of the Congress in D.C.!) The carnival has a long history (see sign below) in the Hague, and in addition to the rides/games (for both children AND adults) there were plenty of food vendors, a psychic, etc., etc., etc.

We had a beer and some nibbles while checking out the rides and then walked over to another stage at Grote Markt to see yet another band. Unfortunately it started to rain pretty heavily. The partiers didn't seem to mind too much as they all crowded the streets of the entire city center with their beers, but we were not dressed for it nor were we drunk enough to not care... so after a beer at the Grote Markt we took the RandstadRail back to Centraal Station.

The next morning there was some noise outside and as I looked out the window people had set up little stands and their wares already at 6am. On Koninginnedag it's allowed to sell stuff on the streets without a permit (vrijmarkt, or free market!). In our neighborhood that means that almost everyone puts out all their stuff they don't need and sell it for a euro or two. The streets grew more crowded over the morning and there were rides for kids on the square just down the street. There were also a bunch of kids playing their musical instruments on the street!!!

Also, there were different bands playing at the square and there were vendors with haring, poffertjes and patat. It was like a BIG block party. After we looked at tons and tons of second hand furniture and clothes covering the streets of our neighborhood we went to the beach and had a drink there at one of the bars right on the beach. When we came back the block party was still going strong and it wasn't until 7pm that the clean up started.

Berlin

2010-04-26T11:13:00.000+02:00

Finally, as promised: a post on our Easter trip to Berlin. Together with my dad and Tilly we had been planning this trip for a while and after some seriously packed weeks of writing grant proposals and working on the dissertation it was such a welcome break! We took off from my dad and Tilly's house at 4am and drove to Berlin in about 7 hours, stopping for coffee along the way. When we reached Berlin we first parked the car at our apartment on the Prinzenallee (in Wedding) and then took a walk to Alexanderplatz. This was quite a walk, it turned out! We had a beer (our first German beer in an enormous glass - many more to come) out on a terrace and then proceded to taste a currywurst (something Berlin is famous for!). At least we had those two culinary experiences in, already...

We walked around the Fernsehturm and bought public transportation passes and museum passes which would allow us to travel around town freely for 3 days and visit a variety of museums! After this important errand we went to see the Hackeschen Höfe. Then it was time to check in with the person who rented us the apartment. The apartment was all the way at the top of a typically East German building. It was quite an ordeal to get our luggage up, but inside it was light and spacious and the apartment had everything we needed. We quickly hopped over to the supermarket downstairs to buy some wine, snacks and breakfast supplies, took a nap and then went to have dinner at Georgebrau in the Nicolai Viertel. This was a great microbrew where they serve traditional German food in a gorgeous location (on the Spree--the river that runs through the city). We all indulged in some large beers and Micha had Eisbein, my dad Schweinshaxe, Tilly a stuffed pepper and I had Matjes. Tilly's food was very modest but there was nothing modest about the rest of our food. It was delicious though! We walked back to the metro through the Nicolai Viertel and went to our apartment where we tried to have drinks but some of us just dozed off (me especially!).

Eisbein (before) ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Eisbein (after)

The second day of our trip we planned to go to Concentration Camp Sachsenhausen (see previous post). We had breakfast at our apartment and took the commuter rail to Oranienburg where we walked in the sun to the camp. We spent many hours there trying to absorb the information but it was too overwhelming (in more ways than one) to really read, see and experience everything. After we took the train back, us couples split up to do separate sightseeing. My dad and Tilly have been to Berlin many times and didn't want to do all the touristy stuff that we wanted to do, so we would meet up with them later. Micha and I decided to do a city walk which incorporated various sights. We started out with a currywurst on Unter den Linden. [As a group, we took up the plan to try as many currywurst as possible and then review them all.] This one was good but not as good as the first one we tried. After the wurst tasting we had a coffee with sachertorte for dessert at Cafe Einstein. This was one of the best cappucinos I have ever had!

We walked to Brandenburger Tor (the Brandenburg Gate) and then to the Reichstag. The weather was beautiful and these buildings were impressive. We then walked through Tiergarten to find the Siegessauele, or Victory Column (you know, that golden angel on top of a pillar that you see in the U2 video and in some movies). We passed by the "pregnant oyster" on our way. The park was filled with people BBQ-ing as it was the first warm day in spring in Berlin and most people had the day off because it was Good Friday. When we had reached the golden angel we were getting tired and we still had to hit up Potsdamer Platz, Checkpoint Charlie, and the Friederichstrasse. Micha suggested that we take a riksha. This turned out to be a brilliant idea! - the driver was extremely nice, and the drive through Tiergarten was fun and romantic. The driver showed us some features of the Sony Center where he dropped us off, and then we walked over to parts of the Berlin wall that were still standing.

It is really hard to imagine how it once was, but the Germans display a lot of information on plaques and pictures from the time when the wall was still there at Potsdamer Platz. We walked over to the Holocaust memorial and then to Checkpoint Charlie. It was extremely busy at the checkpoint and extremely kitsch, in a way, since there are actors dressed up as American and Russian soldiers that you can take your picture with. We only went briefly into the Mauermuseum and then studied some plaques on which there were pictures from when the wall was still there and some text on its history.

It was getting late but we managed to quickly get to Fassbender & Rausch as well, a famous fancy chocolate store we had heard about from our friend, R. The store was really big with sooo much chocolate. I wanted to buy something but just couldn't decide. In the store they have replicated famous Berlin landmarks (Reichstag, Fernsehturm, Brandenburger Tor) out of chocolate. These masterpieces weigh in at about 300 kg a piece! Very impressive. We ended up in a far corner of the store where a nice gentlemen had us taste some chocolate (white with ginger and lemon) and we decided to buy this special tasting treat, then we added some dark chocolate with pepper to it and a bag of Borken schokolade (something apparently typically German). I also bought 2 little boxes of truffles as souvenirs. We were running late on schedule but serendipitously right outside the chocolate store was the square (Gendarmenmarkt) where we were supposed to meet my dad and Tilly! They had made reservations at a Korean restaurant near Kurfürstendamm and so we walked to and across Kurfürstendamm before our dinner. We had a lovely dinner, again accompanied by some huge beers.

So far we had been really fortunate with the weather - the weather was warm enough to sit out on the many terraces and it was sunny every day. However on Saturday morning it seemed as if it would be less nice and so Micha and I decided to visit the Museum für Naturkunde. Naturkunde literally means physics but it was really more of a natural history museum. Still it was a very enjoyable experience. After our visit to the museum we took the metro to the Kurfürstendamm area and made a frühstück into lunch at Wintergarten im Literaturhaus.

After this artsy lunchplace we walked to a special cigarshop I had read about in one of the travel guides. The owner welcomed us while smoking a huge after-dinner cigar. I explained I wanted some German made cigarillos and he let us smell some of his German wares. We bought two boxes for my dad's birthday and then walked to the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche on the Kurfürstendamm. This church had lost its top part during the Berlin bombings and they had left the church like that and just built another section right next to it in its place. Around the church and in this area of town it was just flooded with tourists and Micha and I didn't enjoy it very much because of it.

After sifting our ways through the masses, we managed to make it to Kauf Haus des Westens, or KaDeWe as they call it. While Micha had a currywurst (and an impromptu short nap) I went in to buy a card for my dad and look around what this famous department store had to offer. Which was A LOT! And everything was pristinely organized by color and theme. The delicatessen floor was perhaps the most impressive- there was a tea tasting section, a bar, freshly cooked Asian and Italian food, a bakery and rows and rows of jams, olives, pasta, sauces, chocolates, chips, nuts, oils, vinegars etc. etc. I tried to make a video but it was so busy that it was almost impossible.

When I came out, Micha had almost finished the last currywurst we tried on our trip. (This was the worst wurst... lol!) We then went to Potsdammer platz to visit the museum of musical instruments. Unfortunately, they'd almost closed and so we went to have a beer at a microbrew in the Sony Center, Lindenbräu. Here they served white beer (Weizenbier, or Weißbier) mixed with fruit juices. Micha had a banana hefeweizen mix. It wasn't bad! We then had to go meet my dad and Tilly somewhere in town, but before that we had to buy them a thank-you-souvenir (for paying for most of the trip!) near Alexanderplatz--we were afraid the stores wouldn't be open on Easter the following day--and we almost lost each other at the metro station (which was pretty huge).

We met them at Savignyplatz where we had dinner at Italian restaurant Die 12 Apostel that was packed to the brim. We ordered pizzas and pasta to share accompanied by a bottle of wine. Micha and I wanted to go to a jazz club and so after dinner we persuaded my dad and Tilly to come with us. At the club, however, it turned out that they only had standing room left so we decided that wouldn't work. After a chat with a patron we decided to try our luck at a club nearby, but the cover-fee was high and Tilly wasn't sure whether she and my dad would like the music (Funk/Fusion). So we strolled back to the metro station and bought wine on our way home that we had in our apartment while we played a Miles Davis cd; our own little jazz club...

On Easter day itself, Micha and I hit up some Jewish sights--we didn't think they'd be closed because of the holiday. First we visited the Jüdisches Museum. This museum showcases Jewish history within Germany (which started a lot earlier than most people realize!) and has a special part devoted to the Holocaust. After a couple of hours in the museum we had a coffee next door and then went to the Neue Synagoge. We had to stand in line to get a security screening before we could enter the synagogue, and Micha even had to take of his sunglasses (presumably for the video cameras!). We bought tickets to go up into the dome and walked around the back of the synagogue which had been destroyed during WWII.

In the Heckmann Höfe right next to it we had frühstück for lunch at Cafe Restaurant Neu while we watched children hunting for Easter eggs. We took the metro to Potsdammer platz and visited the museum for musical instruments. We didn't have much time until closing, so we decided to concentrate on just the downstairs section starting with the 1600s. This was a wonderful museum and I would really recommend going there. There is a free audio tour that plays little pieces of music on the instruments that are on display. We had the plan to visit the Pergamon museum right after this one, but while grabbing coffee at Potsdammer platz I realized the Pergamon was closing in 30 minutes. I was so sad and in a blur I went to the museum anyway just to sit in front of it and stare at the people exiting. I walked around museum insel by myself and then met up with Wim, Tilly and Micha at Savignyplatz for drinks and dinner.

This last night we had dinner at the Spaetzlerei. This restaurant served predominantly southern German fare. My dad ordered a mixed plate of things like leberkäse, maultaschen and sauerkraut. Micha had cheese and bacon spätzle, Tilly chicken with a salad, and I had vegetarian maultaschen with sauerkraut and emmentaler cheese. Of course we had some beer with it! We really really enjoyed this typically German meal on our last night! After dinner we took the metro together but Micha and I went off at Hauptbahnhof to wait for a call from a friend of mine who works and lives in Berlin. We had a coffee at this enormoFus station (which looks like an airport and mall in one!), and after she called we met her at Friederichstraße where we had some caipi's (a caipirinha is a Brazilian cocktail that is apparently very trendy in Berlin, and similar to a mojito). We chatted outside on the terrace and around 1am we went back to our apartment. On Monday we left Berlin at around 7am and had lunch in Bad Bentheim and arrived home at 4pm. And ever since then I have been looking forward to returning to Berlin!!!

Our re-upholstering project (a.k.a these chairs are driving me nuts)

2010-04-13T13:21:00.000+02:00

When Micha and I were still looking for an apartment we were already shopping for furniture as well. We were trying to save money and finding things we liked. One night on the phone one of my best friends mentioned that I could also fix up old dining chairs (I think we were discussing kringloopwinkel potentialities or something). I told him that my uncle had a set of old dining chairs from the 1960s but that I already looked at them and I wasn't sure if they would work. My friend convinced me to just give it a try. I asked my uncle if I could have this set of chairs. He said: "you like em take em." These chairs were from the first dining set he and my aunt Anneke owned; they got them right when they got married in the sixties. Around this time the apartment also came to us and the place happened to come with a big black table. So in my mind I started to think of what to do with the chairs. I thought about making 2 of them white and 2 black and putting modern wild patterned fabric on them. I changed my mind about a 100 times about the color, the fabric, etc. Because I had to take care of my mom after her hip-replacement surgery I couldn't start working on the chairs immediately and so I had ample time to imagine the chairs in various incarnations. But I couldn't decide on any one. So with no fabric or paint purchased I began to sand the chairs about 2 weeks before Passover. I first used something to de-grease the wood. This was necessary as the chairs were old and had been treated with furniture wax. Then I began sanding... And sanding, and sanding, and sanding... Micha helped sanding for a weekend and I sanded through the next week. It seemed like the chairs would never be entirely free of paint!
In the mean time I also went shopping for fabric. But I couldn't find anything that I liked. I didn't even know what kind of fabric I was really looking for. My mom and I finally went to a fabric market in downtown Den Haag this was about 10 days before Passover and I thought I'd better buy some fabric because people need to sit on something during the seder. And in the last stand my mom finally spotted something; a heavy duty furniture fabric in a sandy pale color with woven-in polka dots. We both liked it right away. Now the paint had to be decided on and purchased soon because we had to have the chairs done by Passover. While Micha and I were sanding our next-door neighbor came out on her balcony and was in love with the chairs right away. She said "what beautiful chairs" and I thought she was kidding. However, she even offered to buy them (I should have taken her up on it). I told her I had plans to paint the chairs white or perhaps even black (but at the time most likely it was going to be white). She said that would be such a waste of such a beautiful chair. That made me start to look at these old crappy chairs differently. I started appreciating the patterns in the wood, the roundness and organic shape of the chairs.
I changed my mind and decided to buy transparent white stain so the chairs would be white but one could still see the wood pattern through it. My mom loved the idea and she bought a big jar of stain for me. The weekend before Passover we finally had the chairs sanded sufficiently to start painting. At 9pm on the Saturday before Passover I started painting exactly as the man in the professional paint store had told me to, using special brushes etc. But the paint would not stick. The wood would not absorb the paint even after more than 40 hours of sanding! I left the chair to dry and called my mom that I had an emergency and she had to come over the next day. Thankfully she could finally climb the 2 flight of stairs again to our apartment to come check on the chairs because I didn't know anyone with more painting experience who could help me decide what to do.
The next day the painted chair still looked awful and my mom and I decided to sand the paint off again. Then we had to quickly decide what to try next as time was running out until Passover. She had brought over another transparent white stain that she wanted to try. While Micha labored over the messed-up chair to sand off all the paint again my mom and I painted another chair with her white stain. We noticed this also didn't look too good and decided to just try rubbing the paint in with a rag like the process they call "white washing" furniture (although usually this is done with a different kind of paint or even a white wax). The result was acceptable. I didn't like it though; it made the chairs look older and worn I thought. But my mom was quite delighted as this look is now very trendy in the Netherlands and one sees it in major Dutch home design magazines etc. You can actually buy furniture that looks like that (I always say "who would buy furniture that looks worn?"). So I settled for this look. I had to put 2 layers on for it to be at least a little bit to my liking.
On Tuesday morning (the day of Passover) I painted the last layer on the last chair. In the afternoon my dad came by and helped me put the fabric on the chairs. Around 4pm on the day of Passover the chairs were done. Now 2 weeks later the chairs are starting to grow on me even though I still don't really like the end-result. My friends know that these chairs really drove me nuts for 2 weeks and many have shown interest in the end-result so I have made some pictures for y'all.
Enjoy!

Visit to Sachsenhausen

2010-04-10T13:10:00.000+02:00

We went to Berlin for a long Easter weekend--we left early Thursday morning and got back on the 2nd Easter day (Mon after Easter is a holiday in the NL!). We will be making a subsequent post to talk about the rest of the trip, but we both decided it would be best to dedicate an entire entry to Sachsenhausen, on it's own. If you've never been to a concentration camp, we highly recommend it as it can be a deeply moving and incredibly informative way to spend several hours. But be prepared, it can be sort of a downer...

We took the U-bahn to the S-bahn which took us all the way out to Oranienberg (to the NNW of central Berlin), then walked to the camp from there since the buses were running only once an hour. The main entrance is kind of artistically set up, with pathways through the wall which displays "Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum" (Gedenkstätte und Museum Sachsenhausen). In the entry hall there are audio tours available for a small fee (we didn't get them), maps, and some found items from the camp. We then took a walk along one length of the triangular site to reach the museum where they were featuring an exhibit on the Polish and Czech intelligentsia who were imprisoned and murdered by the Nazis after the invasion of their respective countries. Unfortunately most of these were only in German, Polish, and Czech so I was unable to understand very much of it...

On the other side of the building was the permanent exhibition, which included English and German descriptions. They had items of historical interest and memorabilia from Germany and other parts of the world, including this little gem from a rally held in New York City prior to America's joining the war. (One of the speakers was an escapee from Sachsenhausen, spreading the word internationally about the camps Hitler was setting up all over Europe!) They also had one room in the middle of one end of the hall which had pictures of the atrocities covering seemingly every inch of the walls and ceilings. It was just a bit too much for me to handle, and I had to rush through it without dwelling for very long... (I had a similar experience at the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem). An interesting fact: this camp housed the most successful project of counterfeiting of Nazi Germany, as described in the film Die Fälscher.

After leaving the exhibition hallways you enter what, presumably, was the main entrance to the camp where most prisoners were brought in. I say this because it has the exact same message on the gate which is seen at Auschwitz (recently stolen and returned!), as well as Dachau & Theresienstadt, et al. Behind the gate is the monument to the prisoners of the camp, erected by the East Germans in the 50's--yes, Sachsenhausen sat firmly in "East Germany", so it was under Soviet purview after the war (in fact, they used it as a prison camp for Nazi's and anti-communists!). This monument was built to emphasize the fact that Nazi's had held political prisoners here, silencing any and all opposition within the country and conquered regions (e.g., Poland, Czechoslovakia, etc). This is why the symbols (red triangles) on the monument are those used for foreigners and anti-Nazi activists--esp. Socialists--and not the ones used for the Jews (gold stars), Homosexuals (pink triangles), or Jehovah's witnesses (purple triangles). At the back of the camp there is a memorial to the mass grave of Soviet soldiers, next to the barracks they were kept in. It is now a very nice park filled with beautiful flowering plants and trees.

Another part of the camp makes the atrocities that occurred here more palpable. On the right is an image of the path leading to the location where individuals were shot for their "crimes" or for their conduct at the camp. Next to this region is a plaque memorializing the 100+ Dutch resistance fighters who were killed at Sachsenhausen. Just beyond this area is a memorial to the mass graves of Jews buried at the camp (below, left). And further along the perimeter wall was a section (they are currently restoring?) where the ovens were located. I managed to squeeze my camera through the holes in the wall to snap this picture of the foundation (below, middle). And finally there was a memorial to all of the people who were killed at the camp (below, right) where, in Jewish custom, people have placed stones atop the marble monuments. This was true of several sites around the camp.

Along the wall behind this area were a number of memorial signs posted by various governments and interest groups to those who lost their lives at the camp. These included the governments of France, Poland, Norway, the Netherlands, Ukraine, as well as Jehovah's Witnesses. But I'll end this post with my father's favorite quote about the Holocaust, written by Martin Niemöller, a pastor who was also a prisoner of Sachsenhausen (but survived his incarceration).
The proper translation (there are mistranslations all over the place!) is: "When the Nazis came for the Communists, I stayed silent - for I was not a Communist. When they came for the Social Democrats, I stayed silent - for I was not a Social Democrat. When they came for the Trade Unionists, I stayed silent - for I was not a Trade Unionist. When they came for me, there was nobody left to protest."
(Niemoller was arrested in 1937, over a year before Kristallnacht and well before the official arrest/extermination policy for the Jews...)

Bea & Micha's First Passover Seder

2010-04-10T10:40:00.000+02:00

While it certainly wasn't the first Passover we ever celebrated (Bea's been to one almost every year since we met, and I've been going since I was born...), it was the first Seder we ever hosted in our own home! (Yes, we're all growed up!!!)

For those who aren't familiar with the festival, it can be quite a lot of work. But organizing one in a country with such a small Jewish population can be an even greater challenge! For example, one cannot buy the traditional foods (e.g., gefilte fish, matzah meal, kosher wine, etc.) at the corner grocery store. There is only one Jewish store in all of the Hague where Bea could find these, luckily referred to us by the Rabbinate. Another problem was finding a Haggadah--the book from which all dinner guests need to read aloud and follow along during the seder. Since we only had one other guest who was a native English speaker (an Australian), we couldn't simply scan/print my family's Haggadah... we needed to find one in Dutch!

We found a copy of the Haggadah printed in Amsterdam in 1892, thanks to the expansive database maintained by HebrewBooks.org which included both Dutch and Hebrew. I copied the Hebrew side of each page (plus all the illustrations) into Word and found suitable English translations from an online Haggadah (and memory!) to match up with all the Dutch passages, added some cues for "Participant" and "All", and printed them out and had them bound into books. [I also made a special version for myself which included both the Dutch and English]. Thanks to my dad, we were also able to integrate a few pages from his books which included the musical transcription of the songs we sing every year... So after all that, it was our first trilingual Seder ever!!!

Another first was that I took it upon myself to do a majority of the cooking! Unfortunately Bea was otherwise occupied re-upholstering our dining chairs (look forward to a later post on this, with pictures). I made Charoset (quasi-venetian style, with dates and two kinds of nuts), Asparagus with a Matzah crumble, and two kinds of Matzah Ball Soup (one vegetarian, and one with schmaltz!)... all personal firsts. I have to say I was hoping the Matzah balls would've come out a bit fluffier--especially since I used only egg whites!--but they certainly were not bad!!! I think my grandmother would've been proud! Thankfully this is the *only* Jewish holiday where my mother's challah recipe cannot be served (leavened bread!), so i didn't have to compete with that one! (lol!)

Bea made the green beans and salad, while her dad cooked the main dish, lamb with garlic and wine, in our brand new Dutch oven (apropos, I know!), and it was absolutely delicious--as is almost everything he cooks! Bea was able to procure a lamb shank from a local hallal butcher, for symbolic use on the Seder plate (see pic below). The shank (Pesach) is a reminder of how the Jews put lamb's blood on their doors so that the Angel of Death would "pass-over" their homes when looking for the first born children in all of Egypt. Clockwise from the bone we have parsley (symbol of spring), lettuce (also?), charoset (mortar for the bricks built in Egypt), egg (fertility and spring), horseradish (reminder of how Pharoah embittered their lives), and in the middle Matzah (reminder of how, when fleeing Egypt, there was no time to let bread rise).

But all in all, after five hours and as many bottles of wine, a joyful and boisterous time was had by all, and (I hope) an interesting and thought-provoking experience as well. Bea and I thoroughly enjoyed hosting this family tradition, and look forward to doing it again next year (in Jerusalem?... j/k!).

Feel free to leave any comments, and let us know if you want any of the recipes!

5 Reasons Why I Love the Netherlands

2010-03-17T15:27:00.000+01:00

So this is--by no means--a complete list of all the reasons I love this country I've made my new home (at least for the time-being!); but I've recently had some appreciable moments I wanted to share and I thought: What better way to do so than in a Tonight Show style Top-10 list? So here it is, the top 5 reasons (I can currently think of) I love the NL, in no particular order:

5) The Progressive Style of Government--In contrast to the U.S., where Obama has to use the bully pulpit to try to herd the cats of the Legislature to think in a bipartisan way and play nicely together, the Dutch government is composed of a coalition of the majority parties which are FORCED to work together. When they reach an impasse on which they fundamentally disagree (e.g., health care in the US, or most recently in the NL the military presence in Afghanistan) the government is dissolved, new elections are held, and a new coalition is formed and approved by the queen (all but perfunctory approval...). So bipartisanship (or rather, multi-partisanship as there are at least 5 major parties at any given time) is an inherent part of the political system! (pic of Binnenhof from here)

4) Social Values--While the country is beginning to entertain the principles of xenophobia en masse (cf. Geert Wilders), due to the massive influx of immigrants (mainly from muslim regions) in recent years, the laws in this country are generally reflective of an evolved social value system: You're free to do anything as long as it doesn't bother anyone else. From legal prostitution and soft drugs (marijuana & mushrooms) to the relatively recent legalization of gay marriage, the nation espouses the principles of tolerance. It should be noted that this is not necessarily equated with acceptance as I've met several people who don't like that gay marriage is legal... but they do put up with it (they're not trying to vote on a referendum to ban it again!). (I photoshopped this pic from here)

3) Weather--It might sound strange, considering it's also one of the things I hate the most about the NL; but I love watching the Doppler radar images of the Netherlands online (at buienradar.nl, source of this pic). After growing up in the physically sheltered Sacramento Valley, and living in L.A. for 10 years--where, as Bill Hicks put it, it's hot and sunny just about every day of the year--watching the high pressure systems float in from the coast, in a matter of an hour or less, over this completely flat and partially below sea level nation is just so incredible!!!

2) Food, Glorious Food!!!--One of my favorite items of the food pyramid is most expertly produced in the Netherlands (especially since I don't dig the moldy or stinky varieties more commonly produced in France), and that is CHEESE! And one particularly common variety--which we buy fresh from the farmer at his stand in the weekly market, almost every other week!--is Cumin Cheese or Komijne Kaas as it's known in the native language. Paired with the fact that you can buy a bucket of my favorite condiment, Mayonnaise, at any local supermarket, the Netherlands is perhaps the best place in the world for me to go grocery shopping! (original pic)

1) Spring Flowers!!!--Another great consequence of the end-of-winter rains is the blooming of the flowers in spring all over the country. It's as if they're all on the same alarm clock, when I walked through this field two weeks ago it was a barren green wasteland, where wild rabbits bounded across wide open grass fields. Suddenly, last night, it was filled with crocuses packed more tightly than transistors on a silicon wafer!!! It's as plain as day: Spring has arrived!!! (original pic)

Help Save Eastwick!!!

2010-03-07T21:42:00.000+01:00

Okay, so maybe this should've been a post on Micha's blog "Tirades of a Techie"--more for the "tirades" part, than the techie--but since we are both really big fans of the show we decided to post it here... (Not to mention, we get a little bit more traffic on this site)

So for those of you who aren't aware of this wonderful TV series which premiered in the US & Canada in September of last year, Eastwick is--indeed--based on the movie of the similar title (starring Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer), and before you start in on making comparisons let us stop you: A TV series is an entirely different format from a movie. That would be like comparing a magazine or a newspaper to a book. They're simply two different formats, and should not be compared.
That being said, those familiar with the film will have instant familiarity with the setting and plot background of the TV series. It's about three women (played by Rebecca Romijn, Lindsay Price, and Jaime Ray Newman) who slowly begin to find out that they are witches with certain special powers. When a strange and intriguing rich philanthropist (played by Paul Gross) inexplicably moves into their small town and draws attention to himself in many ways.
While the basic story is the same, there are many major differences between where the TV series is heading and the story of the 1987 film. The characters are updated and tweaked (e.g., Lindsay Price plays a reporter, not a classical cellist like Pfeiffer), the town is much more modern, etc., etc., etc. But perhaps the most important difference is the reason why we loved the show so thoroughly: They really maintain the ambiguity of who is "good" and who is "evil"...
After 2-3 episodes we were certain that Darryl would later prove to be a thoroughly evil character (as Nicholson did so expertly after spitting out cherries during a church service in the film), but then somewhere around episode six or seven we weren't that sure anymore, and by episode 11 (still unaired in the US!!!) we were leaning towards his character being "good", or at least benign... Adding more complexity to this question, some of the main characters are put in difficult situations in which they (feel forced to) choose to break the law or do some ethically questionable things to maintain the status quo (Price's character says "I've committed... 3, no 4 class A felonies in the last two days, now?" in the final episode, which also never aired in the states).
We feel that it is rare for TV to offer such shows which put ethical and moral questions in such a light that it is not clear which is the "good" and which is the "evil" course of action. Because after all, that is the world we live in. Without getting too political, there are many groups out there who claim that morality is a clear and easy choice; but honestly, the world is too complicated and filled with gray area, that people will frequently face ambiguous choices throughout their lives. And media should reflect this. This is why have gained such a deep respect for this TV show...

And then of course there's the entertainment value... Yes, the show is filled with escapism (I mean, it's magic... come on!). And yes, that's why a lot of people watch television in the first place. But this is the first show in a long time (if ever) to be focused on characters who have magic powers and NOT just as much focused on the magic or supernatural aspects of the world. With no disrespect to Joss Whedon or Ms. Burge, Buffy, Angel, and Charmed spent a great deal of time and energy focusing on the supernatural aspects of the worlds they created. So much so that at a certain point it felt like every episode focused on a new (heretofore unseen) enemy with novel powers which had to be overcome with a new spell or encantation. And while this is escapism at it's best, it doesn't make for the deep and more valuable kind of show Eastwick presents, where characters (who happen to have a few powers) are thrust into real and practical situations and face hard moral decisions.

If you haven't seen the show, we highly recommend you give it a chance and see if you agree with us! It's currently available on hulu, and will eventually be available on netflix (if the DVD is released!). It should also air in reruns on the Hallmark channel. It is currently airing in the UK on Hallmark SciFi, and will run in Italy and Greece this year, with a later release in Australia. ABC has cancelled the show (midway through the first season!!!) and savagely reordered the airing of the last few episodes (to feign "tying up loose ends" for the US audience?!?), and will not listen to ideas of reconsidering their decision, despite it's high polling on E! Entertainment News website for "Which 2009 show should not have been canceled?" (a whopping 55%!!!)

So if this show is to survive, it will require us convincing a new network to pick it up. Lifetime has expressed some interest (after all, the show polls very well with women!), so we think this holds the best opportunity for action. If you agree, please send a postcard with your own message (or just "Please Buy Eastwick!!!") to:

Lifetime Television
309 W. 49th St.
New York, NY 10019
U.S.A.

P.S. And those guys out there who think this show is just for chicks, I have 3 words for you: Romijn, Price, Newman...

P.P.S. We love the show for its wonderful escapism as well... ;)

Winter in the NL

2010-01-09T17:12:00.000+01:00

So a whirlwind roundup of what's happened since June: Bea did not end up going to China; the whole trip was canceled by their govt. due to the H1N1 flu concerns--the trip will thus be about double the participants next year. I 'walked' in the graduation ceremony at UCLA in June, with many members of my family in attendance (thanks for your support guys!!!). And to celebrate, Bea and I went to Vegas for a long weekend (pics and reviews to be posted at a later date...). We moved back to Sacramento to stay with my parents while I finished up my dissertation (which was officially submitted just in time, in mid-Dec). *phew!* So we finally moved back to the NL, where I started my post-doc job at TU Delft, and we've been having a wonderful time catching up with old friends, seeing family, and celebrating the holidays. In that spirit, we wanted to post some pics we took this winter (so far) in the Netherlands.

Hetty's schuur (shed)

Bea & Me with our Snowman (it'd been YEARS since I'd helped to make one, and Bea gave me the pleasure of making most of the design decisions with this one... ;D!)
Bea helped remove the white snowballs from this poor puppy's stark black fur (he didn't seem to mind either way, actually; he was just so pleased to be playing in the snow!!). The snow was really dry, apparently, so it was sticking all over him. I thought it made a cute pic...

Some ducks on a partially frozen canal in Delft, on my walk from the train station to work. Some of them waddled over to the edge and jumped in for a swim (so weird!).

Vegas baby, VEGAS!!!

2009-06-25T04:50:00.000+02:00

So we took a short (two-night) jaunt to Vegas on the Sunday after graduation weekend. It was Bea's first time in the city, and my first time since reaching gambling age. We stayed at the MGM Grand on the Summer Splash package.

When we first arrived, we drove up to the valet station to drop off the rental car (complimentary... but not including tip!) and entered the front of the hotel. It was like walking into a small city, with hundreds of people circulating through the casino, shops, and entrance hall. We were able to check in quite rapidly (on a late Sun afternoon, so no wonder), however Bea was shocked at how busy it was (thank goodness we didn't go on a Friday!!!). Unfortunately our room had a wonderfully expansive view of the back roof of the hotel, but the amenities in the room were nonetheless very satisfying.

In preparation for the big trip (normally left to Bea, but I was trying to surprise her with the whole trip), I did some research on the ten best buffets in all of vegas. On our first night we decided to go for one of the more expensive ones ($26 per person): Le Village Buffet at Paris Las Vegas (the one with the Faux Tour d'Eiffel in front):

The buffet was rather impressive compared to other (non-Vegas) buffets. My personal favorites were the crab legs and shrimp (Bea also enjoyed them!) with the best cocktail sauce I've ever had!!! They had several stations representing different regions of France (Provençal, Bourgogne, etc.). I really enjoyed the lamb w/mint jelly and the delectable Chateaubriand (steak)--which I hadn't had for YEARS! :'P
After our first Vegas buffet experience (with a nice Viognier), we took a walk down the strip and checked out various locations, including the breathtaking (really!) fountain show in front of the Bellagio. I had an interest in playing poker at a limit table and, as we'd ended up at Bally's on the North end of the strip, I decided to try my luck at a $3/$6 table (their minimum!). I changed $100 and lost it in about 20 minutes flat. Seeing as I'd come prepared to spend a maximum of $200 on gambling, I decided to save half for our next (and final) night. So we walked back to our hotel along the strip in the moist, warm summer Vegas air.
The next day we took advantage of our free "dine-in" credit that came with our hotel package and ordered breakfast in bed!!! Despite my embarrassing bed-head, it was a romantic and delicious (and filling!) way to start the day together. After we finished eating, we plotted our day. The goal was to get in another buffets (dinner only, since breakfast was big & late) and check out the nature reserve (Red Rock Canyon) to the west of the city. We went down to the front desk to ask how to access the park, and get directions to the nearest ATM from my back, and they were EXCEEDINGLY helpful by printing out two maps and clearly indicating how to get everywhere. [We couldn't have been more pleased with the service we got from the MGM, and will definitely stay there again!]
We drove around the park, taking in the broad and beautiful vista views and natural rock formations. There were mountain climbers (that white speck in the picture below), hikers, and various other nature enthousiasts (like us) littered throughout the various stops along the highway which looped through the park. It was really a beautiful place--that never would have occurred to me existed anywhere near Las Vegas, of all cities. When we got back to the hotel we were just a little tired and in the mood for some relaxation, so we jaunted down to the pool and used our free poolside drinks coupons (actually they didn't quite cover the drinks price, but they fixed us up when we checked out!!!).
For dinner that night we decided to try the best reviewed (and one of the more affordable at $24/person) buffets: Rio Las Vegas' Carnival World Buffet. It TOTALLY lived up to the reviews, it was absolutely wonderful. The selection was massive (at least 2x that of Le Village), the quality was great, and the price was the best part. The only downside is the logical conclusion of such a great place (even though we had to drive off-strip to get there): The line to get in was HORRENDOUS! It took us at least 45 minutes to get through the line and finally get to a table. At this point I was in a horrible mood (because my stomach was empty!) so I ordered a cocktail right away (also quite good prices!). Bea began immediately on the Teppan Yaki station (awesome!) while I hit up all the deep-fried food and seafood. After 2-3 more trips each (different sections every time!), I decided to round out the meal with a visit to the dim sum section. They had siu mai, jin doi, har gao, rice cake, char siu bao (waste of stomach space!), and just about everything one could expect from a common chinese restaurant! And the siu mai wasn't bad at all! (I've tried at least 100 different types of siu mai, so I should know!) Finally we finished up making the rounds at the dessert island. They had a small (but tasty!) gelato bar, a number of baked goods, confections, and fruit! By far the best dinner buffet we've ever had!!!
The next morning was check-out day. So we packed up all our stuff and went down to the lobby to check out, and were pleased not to find any unexpected charges on our bill (except for those pool drinks, which they ended up taking care of for us!). While we had to stand in the check-out line for a while, the valet picked up our car pretty quickly and we were back on the road. Bea took some pics of the strip on our way out of town, heading towards the Hoover Dam (right on the border of Nevada and Arizona). It was pretty impressive to see such a massive modern marvel of human engineering, and luckily it was nice and sunny the whole time we were there.
Underway to the Dam, we stopped to have brunch/lunch at another highly rated (and the cheapest by far, at $11!) buffet in Henderson, NV. It was located in a fairly lame casino (owing to the location so far out of town!), but certainly provided the best value of any buffet. While the selection wasn't *quite* so massive as the Rio, almost every single thing they offered was addictively delicious. Plus they had a very large salad bar (rare for buffets!) for a nice break in between heavy courses. The dessert offerings were relatively sparse, again, but again very delicious! On our way back to L.A. we passed Zzyzx and then came across a sign we hadn't noticed on our way there: the site of Early Man. As half the car was an Anthropologist, we just had to stop and check it out. Unfortunately it wasn't open, so we had to park at the end of the dirt road and hike in (about 1/2 mile or so). As we were wrapping up it was getting dark so we drove back into Los Angeles, stopping at the Spaghetti Factory in Rancho Cucamonga for a brief dinner...

Long time... no POST!

2009-06-09T18:10:00.000+02:00

Apologies, apologies, a thousand apologies. But Bea and I have been neglecting the blog due to work heating up in both of our programs. Currently I'm trying to finish up my dissertation by the end of July (since I'm walking in the graduation ceremony next weekend!!!), and Bea is trying to salvage her research trip to China despite their govt's fears of H1N1... We will post some stories about graduation after this weekend, I'm sure.

In the meantime I've come across a (rare) question which is not easily answered by an internet search, and I'd like to probe our audience for answers/opinions. The question: What is the origin of the following quote:

"Don't walk in front of my, I may not follow. Don't walk in front of me, I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend."

A google search turns up Albert Camus as the most common attribution. But from what I know of existentialists, this idea is antithetical to their philosophy (e.g., all relationships are essentially master/slave, etc.), so I would think this would be the opposite of something Camus would say. Other sites attribute it to George Sand, which seems more likely, but I cannot find the actual original published reference. Does anyone know where this quote comes from???

Vegetarians Feel No (less) Pain!

2009-03-02T21:53:00.000+01:00

Some scientists from the UK demonstrated last year that both humans and animals are capable of producing their own salicylic acid, without the aid of Aspirin (acetyl-salicylic acid), from benzoic acids derived from food. Furthermore, an article in Nature has shown that plants produce salicylic acid in response to wounds or lesions (e.g., on leaves or branches; cf. related). Bacterial transgenic research (i.e., genetically modified plants) have shown that tobacco which produces 500-1000 times more salicylic acid demonstrates a resistance to viral and fungal infection similar to the systematic acquired resistance!!! [SAR is what I would call 'evolved immunity', developed normally by those plants exposed to the bug for long times that survive]

But perhaps even cooler is the fact that vegetarians have over 50% more salicylic acid in their blood stream than do non-vegetarians. This may simply be due to the fact that vegetables have higher concentrations of salicylate in them (and vegetarians eat more vegetables than the rest of us), but certainly suggests that on the whole Vegetarians feel less pain than the rest of us! :)

(Blood concentration for Non-vegetarians = 0.07 umol/L, Vegetarians = 0.11 umol/L, Low-dose Aspirin patient = 10. umol/L)

Oyster Crawl

2009-02-16T20:54:00.000+01:00

Up until Valentine's Day we did not have a clear plan of what we were going to do that day. I'm one of those people who thinks that just because commerce tells you it's a special day on which you have to buy flowers, chocolates, go out for dinner etc.doesn't make it a special day and rather do romantic things on a random day. However, it was such a beautiful day and I too was in the romantic spirit (yes even I) that we decided to walk along the beach from Marina Del Rey to Santa Monica. We also thought it would be fun to grab a drink and have some oysters in one of the many seafood places on the way. However, we could not really pick and so we decided to go on an oyster crawl. We walked about 5 miles and had 4 different kinds of oysters. All the oysters were very fresh and tasty but our absolute favorite oysters were the kumomoto from Washington. We had a really great day and highly recommend oyster crawling.

LINK: Drive Less, Eat Fewer Hamburgers!

2009-02-14T01:48:00.001+01:00

Bea normally enforces a strict separation of personal blogging and my long-winded political/social commentaries (tirades), but my latest post received the stamp of approval for linkage. Please read it here:

http://tiradesofatechie.blogspot.com/2009/02/drive-less-eat-fewer-hamburgers.html

Power of/to the Consumer

2009-02-12T19:56:00.000+01:00

Most people wouldn't like to harm the planet but their everyday consumer choices do. I know so many people who don't buy eco, green, or cruelty free products because they are 1) too expensive and 2) they do not know what is all out there. I want to help out on those two fronts because I think consumers have a lot of power and also because I just think every little step we make in saving the planet (including our own bodies, the climat and the animals) helps. As you may know Micha and I are poor PhD students. I currently would be considered living under the poverty line. So please do not think that anything I suggest here is too expensive. These are my/our favorite brands and products that I/we actually buy.

1) fresh produce from an online organic service called SPUD (check out spud.com). Spud delivers fresh produce from organic local farms and delivers it to your house. You do not pay any delivery cost if the order is oevr $30. I have noticed that I actaully spend less than half of what I used to spend on fresh produce granted that I buy the things that are on sale and pair those with interesting exciting recipes. Spud fresh produce can be combined with regular groceries. Because it is delivered you save on gas and time to go to the store. The commitment is minimal because you can order week by week or every other week or whenever you need something. You can quit whenever you want. However, if you're into committing then you can also sign up for a standing order. If you live in the LA or bay area and will try it let us know via this blog or email. We have plenty of starter-discount-coupons to give away! www.spud.com

2) For any grocery item you find too expensive at SPUD go to Trader Joe's. We love TJ's as they offer great organic graceries for little money. Try their vegan trail mix cookies they are insane!

3) I fly a lot. One really shouldn't because this is expensive and really bad for the environment. So this section is for people who just HAVE to fly otherwise just don't. Anyway, it was great to learn that my favorite cheap airline Virgin America has the option to buy carbon offset every time you fly. Trust me SWA fans VA is the way to go; similar convenience and fares (actually better from coast to coast and no or less layovers) but much nicer planes, less delays and the opportunity to buy CARBON OFFSET. I pay $49 wthout taxes between SFO and LAX and fly in style for that. Collecting frequent flyer miles at a similar pace as SWA. www.virginamerica.com

3) Yes to Carrots body lotions and body washes. Lost of vitamins, cruelty free, vegan and smells wonderful. Recycable bottles. Produced in my home country the Netherlands. starting at $6.99. Available at most drug stores.

4) Heather Loraine Cosmetics Apricot Oil. No animal testing. Their motto: "if you wouldn't put it in your body don't put it on your body" $4.19 for 4 fl oz. Available at most health food stores.

5) Nature's Gate shampoos. Cruelty free, no animal byproducts about $5.99 for 18 fl oz. They have body lotions and perhaps shower stuff too but I haven't tried any of their other products yet. Available at Safeway, on the web and health food stores.

6) dr. Bronners sal suds or magic soaps. You can clean your house, your body, your dishes, almost everything with it! No chemical old fashion style stuff. Prices vary with the kind and size. Cruelty free and vegan. I love the lavender soap to clean the house with and the sal suds for the dishes. Available at health food stores, Raleighs, and some hardware stores.

7) Revlon and Hema make up. Not tested on animals. I like it more than Revlon but Hema is only for sale in the Netherlands. Revlon was one of the first companies in the U.S. attacked by antivivisection groups to please stop testing on animals (particularly tear duct testing on rabbits). Now they are on the list of cruelty free companies. Prices vary and available at most drug stores. I know there are organic products out there however Revlon has the best deals (like buy one get one free).

8) Cafe Gratitude. Located in the bay area. Raw food. Delicious and affordable. Micha's favorite are the nachos! I love the coconut creme pie (without diary so better for the body and the cows).

I will end here today (to be continued) but if you have any suggestions or questions about products/brands please let us know! Also check out vegan.com and caringconsumer.com

Weekend Cooking

2009-02-09T19:03:00.001+01:00

For most people the weekend is a time that they don't cook but for us it is THE time to cook. During the weekend we are at home earlier and have more time to prepare a meal. After yesterday's vegan mole, we cooked up some Indian bites. I decided to experiment and make lentils in the rice cooker. The lentils looked funny (much more red and solid than anticipated for Dal Makhani) but tasted really good. The aloo gobhi was good as always.

Holy (vegan) Mole!

2009-02-08T19:49:00.000+01:00

After some serious dissertating at Starbucks Micha and I decided to cook a bit of a feast. The starting (or perhaps focal) point was a big heap of mole and a couple of liters of sangria. I got to use my new cast iron skillet again which was a rewarding experience. Because I am a vegetarian I have been reading many recipe blogs to see how one can make vegetarian or vegan mole. The final result was a mole with tofu, zucchini, kidney beans, and bell pepper. The tofu you freeze first and then thaw slowly before even cutting it. This renders the tofu very sponge-like and it soaks the mole up beautifully. To Mexicans it might sound like an abomination but I have to tell you that we (vegetarians and non-veg. alike) all thought it really good.

I started out with the veggies and tofu separate

Micha making sangria

ahhh my cast iron skillet

Superbowl!

2009-02-05T22:54:00.000+01:00

Enjoying a superbowl party organized by my friend Stephanie with lots of fantastic (organic) food! Here we are Steph and I on the couch in front of the TV.

Exotic Eats!

2009-01-29T20:36:00.000+01:00

It's been awhile since we've posted anything... (Bea was in the NL and I've been in the lab, so we've been apart for 2 months and three holidays!!!). But I wanted to share some pics from one of our first nights back together again. We invited our friend Steph ("Big Papa") up from Orange County to join us in partaking of some exotic eats Bea procured in her travels. Along with fresh grapes (TJ's), we had three dutch cheeses: a belegen (mildly aged), a jonge komijnen (young, cumin cheese), and one from sheep's milk (this one actually came from Trader Joe's, and not our usual source in the NL: 'Koen, de boer van Stompwijk'). We also enjoyed a very nice red wine from Young's winery in the Shenandoah Valley (run by a Dutch girl!!!) with the cheese, and a nice Orange Muscat dessert wine with the chocolates.

Ahh, the chocolates. My Aunt Dawn and Uncle Barry gave us an incredibly sweet Christmas gift of chocolates from around the world. This was quite apropos, since everytime Bea is at their house (which is more often than I) she shares some exotic chocolate with my Uncle... We tried bars from Peru, Colombia, Sao Thome (Brasil), and Papua New Guinea, and they were ALL DELICIOUS! But I must say the New Guinea was my personal favorite (so far!). We still have four more bars to open, so we'll let you know if there's a better one...

P.S. The chocolates are also quite healthy! (No really!!!) They are all dark chocolates (>60% cocoa), and have zero milk!!! All the anti-oxidants with none of the fat/cholesterol! SWEET!!!

Eats in Philly

2008-11-18T03:43:00.000+01:00

So we had a wonderful experience and a horrible experience, culinary speaking, today. Firstly the horrible: in Reading Terminal Market there's a great selection of places to eat (in addition to all of the markets with organic foods and wide selections of cheeses and candies), but unfortunately I happened to have chosen the worst place: Down Home Diner. Although they offer free wireless, and the menu features a "chocolate egg creme" those were the only redeemable qualities.

Bea ordered a "7-vegetable quesadilla" which inexplicably had a bunch of (burnt) beef in it. We waited patiently for the waitress to come by again and I politely said "I don't want to be a troublemaker, but we didn't realize that the veggie-quesadilla has meat in it..." to which she replied, very condescendingly, "No honey that's mushroom. Yeah, that's mushroom sweetie, it's got only vegetables and that is definitely mushroom...". So we proceeded to eat and Bea had to let me taste it to prove it was, indeed, beef... So we just quietly picked it out of the quesadilla, for fear the waitress might later spit in my egg creme. Then my cheesesteak: I'm no professional (or Philly resident) but it's my understanding that the cheese/bread is put on the meat, directly on the grill, for the last few minutes to allow the cheese to melt all over the steak, hence "Cheesesteak". Also, there is often the option to add onions, peppers, and/or mushrooms (at least at GINO'S!!!). This one looked like they'd put swiss cheese on the bread and toasted it, then let it sit out until they cooked the meat, tossed it on, and let it sit out even longer. It was lukewarm when it finally made it to the table. All in all, I ate about a third of this crap, and most of the fries (which I normally don't have the appetite for!).

And now for the good: Maggiano's, across from the Downtown Philadelphia Marriott, was absolutely wonderful. Bea had the Crab & Shrimp Canneloni (special) and I had the Beef Braciole (which I ordered using the Tony Soprano pronunciation...). While hers was quite rich, it melted in our mouths! And mine was soooo good that I savored it until long after Bea had finished. For dessert we had the pumpkin cheesecake with pumpkin flavored whipped cream! (also a special) Maggiano's has locations in nearly 25 of the 50 states, so we highly recommend you find your local one and give it a try (if you haven't already!). The prices were quite reasonable (about $12-18 for half orders of pastas and entrees, which is more than enough if you're going to have dessert!!!). Let us know your experiences in the comments section below!

(image source: http://www.maggianos.com/locations/)

Weekend in Newport Beach

2008-11-06T16:19:00.000+01:00

Before election day and after my Wenner-Gren application was finally done Micha and I took a trip to Newport Beach to visit his cousin Josh and his partner Jen. They had just moved to this swanky triplex and so it was time to go see the house and relax at the beach down South. Relaxation was so much needed after 9 versions of the application! Even though the weather was not as nice as it usually is-- it actually rained on Sunday morning-- we had a great time. We had some nice meals together (baked bries deserve extra mentioning here), went to the beach where Micha proceeded his surfing training, and played poker. Here are some pix.

Prop 8 un-American!

2008-11-05T21:05:00.000+01:00

Can I just say that I find it disgusting how people use the state to lock in RELIGIOUS ideals? Think about this Catholics: I know most of you don't like the idea of divorce either but would you like to make it unconstitutional? If it wasn't for the state none of you would ever be able to get a divorce and people would have to be in abusive or otherwise bad relationships. You just made YOUR RELIGIOUS ideals law for everyone. I find that very un-American!!!!

Prop 8 going to be a close one...

2008-11-05T08:19:00.000+01:00

It looks like its going to come down to the wire for the first proposition (at least in my lifetime) to alter California's Constitution in order to "eliminate the rights" of a minority group. The first reports (shortly after the polls closed at 8 pm) showed a 56% Yes vote, with a few percent of precincts reporting. This was clearly the most rural and religious regions of the state, as it soon dropped to a 52.5% Yes vote with about 25% of the state reporting.

Currently the vote is 52.6% Yes at 44% of precincts reporting. But this is with only 37% of LA county reporting in, and 63% San Francisco. I will post updates as received.

KCRA (Sacramento) called prop 8 to YES as of midnight, with 53.3% Yes and 44% reporting.

Back down, 53.1% Yes with 57% reporting. To 53% Yes with 59% reporting.

Down further to 52.6% Yes with 65% reporting... now LA is at 65% reporting at 52/48 Yes.

Back down to 52.5% Yes with 70% reporting... now LA is at 70% reporting... this is starting to look like I should go to bed soon (1:10 am).... :(

52.3% Yes with 72%... at this trend, could we be looking at least at a recount??? (LA has 70%, or 600k outstanding) Still outstanding are Alameda (80k), Contra Costa county (100k, my aunts and uncles live here!), Kern county (40k), Monterey county (35k), Orange (90k), Riverside (75k), San Bernardino (146k), San Diego (300k), Santa Clara (195k), Santa Cruz (35k), Solano (25k), Ventura (45k), Yolo (20k)...

51.9% Yes with 78.1%. Narrowing... Los Angeles (472k), Alameda (84k), Orange (82k), Riverside (75k), San Bernardino (146k), San Diego (270k), Santa Clara (195k).

51.7% Yes with 80.2%. Still narrowing...

51.8% Yes with 80.5% reporting... LA (380k), San Diego (270k), Santa Clara (195k), San Bernardino (145k), Orange (82k), Riverside (76k).

51.7% Yes with 82.1% reporting... I'm going to have to go to bed, it's 2am.

I thank G-d they haven't passed a law preventing me from marrying my foreigner fiancee because of her minority status, and I pray that--even if this bigoted law becomes a part of this great state's Constitution--the Supreme Court of the United States will one day recognize the err in preventing two people who love each other from being legally married.

[Legally married, that is, because it is fundamentally a civil institution, not a religious one]

Yes We... DID!!! :)

2008-11-05T07:04:00.000+01:00

It's official. President-elect Obama addressed the nation (as well as the world) with an expectedly trite but inspiring speech, true to form. Thank you all who voted with us and supported the Obama campaign, and to all others: we look forward to Obama's forming a coalition reaching across the aisle, healing the (perhaps) deep wounds inflicted by this bitter campaign cycle to bring this country out of the pit Bush has left us in after 8 years of failed policies.

We found McCain's speech even more inspiring (and the Senator appeared to have been as turned off by the crowd's bitter responses as we were!): re-affirming his commitment to help make this country better as he as always endeavored to do in his (loooong) lifetime of service to the nation.

As you watch all of the voting breakdowns in the coming hours and days--by gender, ethnicity, educational background, etc, etc, etc--please try to keep in mind President-elect Obama's primary focus throughout his campaign...

"There's not a liberal America and a conservative America--there's the UNITED States of America"!!!

Vote Obama!

2008-11-04T20:12:00.000+01:00

I am urging you to go out and vote today and vote Obama. There many reasons for this but one of them is that I think the chances are that if Obama becomes president it will improve your life! It won't happen in the first year but it will happen. Also, don't worry about all that socialism stuff. I grew up under socialism and I can tell you Obama is not a socialist! He is a person who wants to reform the country by raising taxes for big businesses but really that will only benefit you- your taxes won't go up but you'll benefit from the extra taxes Exon pays. Quite beautiful right? Because there's more average people and middle class people than super rich people or corporations. Also, in this economy you better make sure there is a at least a garantee that you'll have a pension or healthcare. But you know those are only a few reasons to go vote for Obama. But I think these are the reasons that make sense to average Americans. Obama has already won the hearts of some long-time republicans:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081104/ap_on_el_pr/new_hampshire_first_votes

So if you are unsure... vote Obama!!! Everyone vote Obama!!!!!

Excellent Ethiopian in Culver City!!!

2008-11-01T04:52:00.000+01:00

It's not often we eat Ethiopian food together(the last time was in Delft in 2003, and technically it was Eritrean but I challenge you to point out the culinary difference) but this time was AWESOME! Fassica is a small restaurant with one of the WORST locations in Los Angeles, across from Sony Pictures Studios on Washington Blvd. So it came as little surprise that we were the only patrons in the restaurant the entire time, save one guy who came in to pick up his order. I have no idea how they stay in business (although perhaps they do quite a bit of catering for the studios nearby).

When we first walked in we were overcome with the smell of incense and a warm, inviting feel (despite the lack of customers). After perusing the menu a bit we decided on the Fassica special, an Ethiopian beer, and an Ethiopian red wine. The wine reminded me a little of Manischevitz (i.e. alcoholic grape juice) but the beer was nice and refreshing.

Ahh, but then came the Fassica Special. So for those who have never eaten Ethiopian before, a bit of explanation: Utensils are superfluous! You get a bunch of injera (like a sourdough pancake) with which you scoop up all the yummies to stuff in your mouth. It reminds me a little of Indian style food.

The Fassica special has about 4 different kinds of meat dishes and 6 veggie choices, all nicely spread out on top of the injera. It was quite a big dish and everything was so delicious; we managed to eat almost the entire thing. No matter whether you are a vegetarian or a meat lover this place has a lot to offer. The service is friendly, but the location (however convenient) leaves this place unnoticed and thus quiet. I highly recommend trying out Fassica in Culver City so the next time I'll walk in it will be less quiet.

Proposition 8 in California

2008-10-25T21:41:00.001+02:00

I don't often post politically charged blog entries, but I have been so upset by some of the lies and half-truths being passed in the name of proposition 8 that I felt the need to post something! Aside from offending my libertarian sensibilities with the title "Eliminating the rights of..." the proposition is a blatant attempt to pass religious-based law regarding a civil institution: Marriage. (A vast majority of the support for the proposition comes from religious groups, including 30-40% from the Church of Jesus Christ, Latter Day Saints based in Utah). For less biased description, check out TruthDigg's latest feature article.

I was most offended by a page on the massresistance.org website: entitled "What same-sex 'marriage' has done to Massachussetts". I will avoid character assasination as much as possible, but please check out the wiki article on Brian Camenker, the sponsor of this website; there's a quote which epitomizes his tactics in attacking gay marriage.

I would like to respond to his 'points', starting with the issue in the public schools:

High School: "a school-wide assembly to celebrate the decision" -- Gee, didn't they have those after Brown v. Board of Ed? And I recall attending assemblies celebrating MLK and civil rights, Cesar Chavez and the rights of migrant workers, etc., etc. That seems to be quite commonplace when a minority group is (finally) granted equal rights in this country.

Middle School: a specific teacher in Brookline "discusses gay sex with her students." Well, if you read the interview, she is a SEXUAL EDUCATION teacher. I seem to recall learning how to put a condom on and some other explicit details about heterosexual intercourse in my sex ed class. I also remember some kids being EXEMPTED from sex ed because their parents wanted them to learn abstinence only... What is the problem here?

Elementary School: "Kindergartners were given picture books telling them that same-sex couples are just another kind of family, like their own parents." -- Again... I don't see the problem here.

"when... a parent of a kindergartner... strongly insisted on being notified when teachers were discussing homosexuality... the school had him arrested and put in jail overnight" - This man, David Parker of Lexington, MA made this request by email numerous times before finally meeting with school officials on school grounds. When his request was rejected in person, he refused to leave school property prompting the authorities to arrest the man for trespassing. Camenker writes this crap as though he was arrested for expressing his opinion, whereas the man violated the law.

"Second graders at the same school were read a book... about two men who have a romance and marry each other, with a picture of them kissing." Again... whats the problem? I'm sure a lot of bigots got really pissed off the first time their kids saw a picture of a black girl kissing a white boy, but such material was never contested in a public school.

"School libraries... have shelves of books to normalize homosexual behavior and the lifestyle in the minds of kids, some of them quite explicit and even pornographic." I don't know what this guy considers pornography, but I can tell you that in my high school library we might have had "Tropic of Cancer" on the shelf... but certainly no Playboy!!!

"... teachers... prominently display photos of their same-sex 'spouses' and occasionally bring them to school functions" - Ah, here's the heart of Camenker's argument. Apparently he believes these people, after suffering ridicule and pain their entire lives (since discovering their minority sexual preference) should continue to be made to live in secret and in hiding. Reminds me of how the marranos/moriscos had to hide their jewish/muslim ceremonies from Torquemada during the Spanish Inquisition...

And perhaps the most atrociously fallacious argument of all: "Since homosexual marriage became 'legal' the rates of HIV/AIDS have gone up considerably in Massachusetts". Firstly, in high school I learned a little something about constructing an argument without logical fallacy. This is an excellent example of post-hoc ergo propter-hoc: arguing because event A preceded event B, A necessarily caused B. This is equivalent to saying "The Red Sox won the World Series because I coughed in the stands just before they batted in the game-sealing run..." And let's not forget that, due to the long incubation period of HIV and low testing rate, when a rise in new infections is detected by the CDC it probably actually occured 1-3 years before then (i.e., before gay marriage was legal in MA).

This one is just so ridunkulous (to quote Arsalan Iftikhar), it's actually funny: "Given the extreme dysfunctional nature of homosexual relationships, the MA Legislature has felt the need to spend more money every year to deal with skyrocketing homosexual domestic violence" - Again, Camenker plays with words to make it sound like that is money earmarked SPECIFICALLY for HOMOSEXUAL domestic violence. Actually domestic violence rates are about the same for homosexual and heterosexual couples, according to AARDVARC.org AND the University of Minnesota.

And finally some tongue-in-cheek responses:

"The wedding industry is required [to] serve the homosexual community if requested." - You mean, I have to let Rosa Parks drink from my fountain and ride in my section of the bus?!?

"The Massachusetts Bar Exam now tests lawyers on their knowledge of same-sex 'marriage' issues. In 2007, a Boston man... failed the MA bar exam because he refused to answer the questions in it about homosexual marriage." - You mean... if I want to gain a state license to practice law I can't pick and choose which laws I want to support? I'd have to know ALL the laws of the state?!? How shocking and unfair!!! I mean what is this, a Democracy?!? Rule-of-law? What's that?!?

Okay I'm rambling now... but you get the point. The shameless exploitation of MA children in "Yes on 8" commercials currently airing in California is egregious and offensive, and many of the material distributed by these group is blatantly false or fallacious. Think carefully the next time you hear these arguments, and you will be able to see the difference.

"They must find it difficult... those who have taken authority as the truth, rather than truth as the authority." --Gerald Massey

Are M&Ms worth dying for?

2008-10-21T01:48:00.000+02:00

In only a few days, children around the world will be ringing doorbells and looking for Halloween treats. As scary as some of their costumes might be, the true horror this holiday will actually be the M&Ms, Snickers, or Skittles candies that lie in your child's candy bag. All these candies, along with many other candies sold under household names, are manufactured by Mars Inc., a company responsible for the deaths of numerous animals in unnecessary animal tests. The experiments funded by Mars, including the following examples, are truly the stuff of Halloween nightmares:
Rats have been force-fed chocolate chemicals and had needles jabbed directly into their still beating hearts.
Rabbits have been cut apart to determine the effects of cocoa on muscle tissue.
Guinea pigs have had cocoa ingredients injected into arteries in their necks to measure the impact on their blood pressure.

And these are only a few of the tests that Mars has funded. Perhaps most disturbingly of all, not one of Mars' experiments on animals is required by law.

A Real Dinner without Bea :(

2008-10-10T05:27:00.001+02:00

Most of the time I don't cook for myself; and even when I do, I rarely cook something elaborate or interesting. But for some reason I decided to try it out tonight (perfect for break-the-fast!). Below is a picture of my "Mushroom Tortellini with Smoked Salmon Cream Sauce and Tricolore Tomato & Mozarella Salad".

For the salad dressing I used the standard vinaigrette recipe I developed with Bea, with a little sherry vinegar in addition to balsamic. For the cream sauce I fried up some onions and garlic, added heavy cream and combined a little bit of fresh mozarella with a lot of shredded parmesan. If I do say so myself, it was quite scrumptious and I'm very glad I cooked it (although I wish Bea was here to enjoy it too!!!).

A little less nomadic

2008-10-09T19:51:00.000+02:00

After having spend a whole month traveling around from Sacramento to Walnut Creek to San Francisco and Los Angeles (which was stressful and blissful at the same time) I will finally be in one place for a while. Next week I'm going to LA to stay there for 2 months. In this time I will need to finish writing 2 proposals. Also, I will be the research assistant for one of my favorite professors. AND I will be working on the Obama campaign. I am so excited about all of this. It'll be weird leaving my informants for a while and especially not seeing my kung fu buddies will be sad. Hopefully I'll be back for the Chinese New Year Parade to do some lion dancing.

Being a grad student...

2008-10-08T00:55:00.000+02:00

"Being a graduate student is like becoming all of the Seven Dwarves. In the beginning you're Dopey and Bashful. In the middle, you are usually sick (Sneezy), tired (Sleepy), and irritable (Grumpy). But at the end, they call you Doc, and then you're Happy."

Lifted from http://www.cs.unc.edu/~azuma/hitch4.html, by Martine Boersma and posted on Facebook in the group "Grad Students: they're Not Bad People, they Just Made Terrible Life Choices"

What my friend found on the road in Texas!

2008-10-06T22:45:00.000+02:00

(check out the plate)

Debate # 1 - This Friday!

2008-09-24T02:07:00.001+02:00

As many of you know Bea and I don't watch much (actual) television. I am more of a cinephile, but those few (dozen) shows I watch throughout the year I usually purloin online and view them at my leisure from the computer. Bea really only watches Lost, and those episodes she usually catches online as well (though live, not downloaded). In fact, the TV in my apartment was off for about three or four weeks until last night's premiere of Heroes (which actually aired before the download was available online!).

But it's time to dust of those remote controls, turn on, and tune in this Friday at 6:00 PM!!! The first presidential debate airs this Friday, and I humbly suggest that everyone (or at least those who can legally vote) take the time out of their weekends to do their civic duty by watching this important melee. Whether you watch it on CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, CSPAN, or (gulp!) FOX News, it is sure to be a rewarding experience seeing the candidates finally face off on SUBSTANTIVE issues rather than "What did your preacher say?" or "How old is your pregnant daughter?" Please feel free to post your comments on the debates on this message.

This week's debate is hosted by Jim Lehrer (Lehrer News Hour on PBS) and will focus on: "Foreign Policy & National Security". Obviously it should be a very informative debate, since this is McCain's strongest issue yet one on which Obama has consistently taken very distant and unique positions.

And don't forget the main event... Next Thursday Gwen Ifill hosts the first (and only) VP Debate on "Domestic & Foreign Policy". I don't know about you all, but I'm gearing up for this debate like a wrestling fan getting ready to watch Steve Austin take on Minnie Mouse...

Go Obama, 2008!

2008-09-04T08:21:00.000+02:00

Shameless exploitation of our cute niece...

But with a family full of Dem's (and other liberals) what would you expect her to say?!? (lol)

GOBAMA!

Sail away

2008-07-27T04:12:00.000+02:00

Today I went to the way-too-posh-for-my-budget farmers market at the ferry building. This market is beautiful, almost all organic and they have so many nice things, such as handmade cheeses and lavender salt. The nice scenery does make it worth wile stroling through it though. This weekend it is also the festival of sails in San Francisco. While walking along the waterfront I took some pictures for you to enjoy.

We're so cute together when playing a game

2008-07-25T03:35:00.001+02:00

Another (pescetarian) way to enjoy lunch!

2008-07-01T23:30:00.000+02:00

Having not posted a blog entry in so long, I've been too ashamed to return until Bea's lunch posting inspired me. So my roommate went back to Canada for the summer, eh?, and he left me all this wicked smoked salmon (2 lbs!!!). So I'm defrosting it, trying to think of something to eat after Bagels & Lox gets old... which for me would be after about two mornings back-to-back... and I decide to do what I always do when I'm out of ideas: borrow some!
So I found this recipe on epicurious and just had to share it. The tarragon is really what sets it off, in my opinion, though I would (naturally) include more mayo as well as more tarragon than the recipe calls for. So for those who don't want to traverse the link to their site, here's the recipe:

Tarragon-Caper Egg Salad Sandwich with Smoked Salmon
6 hard-boiled large eggs, peeled
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh tarragon
2 tablespoons drained capers, rinsed and finely chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise
6 (4- to 5-inch) soft round seeded rolls, split
18 watercress sprigs, tough stems discarded
1/4 lb sliced smoked salmon

I made a double batch and it turned out perfectly (though could take a little more mayo and tarragon)! I didn't use nice rolls, but rather the cheap (preservative-infested) sliced bread from the local grocery store; but it was seeded with sesames, my favorite! I recommend getting seeded bread, as the texture nicely contrasts with the squishy egg salad.

After a double batch, still I've only used a quarter of my salmon... Any more ideas???

P.S. I also made some updates to the blog design: you can now SUBSCRIBE to our blog in your favorite RSS reader at the bottom right side of the screen; also we will be periodically adding "related blogs" to the section at the bottom. If you want a blog listed (yours?), please write a comment to this post with the internet address and we will consider it!

getting more out of your lunches

2008-06-18T21:14:00.000+02:00

Lunch time can be a great way to pack in some super nutrious foods that will boost your health. I just made the following:

warm up a sprouted wheat tortilla and spread eggplant hummus on it, then fry up some onions and shiitakes (known for their cancer fighting properties). Put a layer of baby spinach on top of the humus and then add the shiitakes and onions. Add some fresh ground pepper and fold together.

another nice version is:

start with a warm sprouted wheat tortilla and spread vegenaise on it, then put down a layer of mixed baby greens. Top with sliced beets, sliced persian cukes and raw onion and some fresh ground pepper.

Enjoy!

procrastination even onto its inner most parts

2008-06-11T03:58:00.000+02:00

Okay so I'm not a stellar blogger anymore. Not by lack of things to write. How can it be- I live in San Francisco, travel to LA frequently, I do practice kung fu and lion dance as part of my research; lot's to write about. But somehow the last weeks I have not been in writing mood nor mode. I hope is not the disease that I know some people afflicted with: procrastination. Just in case it is, part of my recovery from this is a almost daily dose of writing. Break the cycle.

Last week I went to LA for 5 days to warm up a bit, work and have fun. It was wonderful. I discovered a great new read for work "Choosing Ethnic Identity" (Song 2003) and one for leisure "The Dharma Bums" (Kerouac). I spent quite some time reading. Micha and I also had some great dinners together at some of our local favorite spots like Overland Cafe and Natalee Thai. We cooked some mighty fine ones ourselves too such as Greek pita pockets with feta/mint boulettes and a sate-dominated BBQ with skewers marinated til perfection and sauces that keep you begging for more.

The perfection our lives reach when we're together is just cruel!

Extra Extra (Read All About It)

2008-05-20T18:25:00.000+02:00

Hot of the press: I passed my foreign language exam (requirement for the Ph.D.)!!! Yay! One little step closer to being done. Almost ABD....

Lion Hug

2008-05-20T01:29:00.000+02:00

This women once found this lion in the jungle where she was working. The lion was wounded, sick and emaciated. The woman nursed him back to health. When he was healthy again he was transferred to a zoo. Watch the reaction of the lion when the woman pays him a visit.