Back in Toronto

So I returned to London from Prague on Wednesday night and then flew out for Toronto again on Friday afternoon. I'm currently sitting in the patio at the cafe at the Drake getting ready to enjoy my bloody caesar and egg and bacon brunch. I've actually got to spend some time working today since I didn't get much done at the airport yesterday while waiting for my flight, but I figured I'd spend the first bit of the day enjoying the weather and updating my blog.

So I'm here in Toronto for the next two weeks before flying back to London. If anyone has any suggestions of things to do here in my free time please post comments or send me a quick mail. The only thing I have planned so far is to try and catch Dark Knight in IMAX while I'm here.

...well, brunch just arrived so I'm going to cut this one short and hopefully post again later this weekend.

Wow, all I can say is wow...

Well, not really. I suppose I can actually say quite a bit more than that. Let's start off with my opinion that the Tom Waits concerts were absolutely phenomenal. And that's an understatement. I don't think I could find the words to adequately describe how incredible the shows were. The only drawback is that, with encore, they were only around two hours each night. Short but sweet. Short but extremely sweet. Tom Waits is an incredible showman, musician and storyteller. Additionally, the members of his band were all awesome as well. Makes me want to quit my job and just follow him around for the remainder of his European tour. hmm.... ;)

So five nights in Prague and four of those nights were filled with great music. Jazz the first two nights at Blues Sklep followed by two nights of Tom Waits. Great food, cheap beer, beautiful weather....

Actually, speaking of the weather, the rain here is interesting. At least what I've experienced of it. It may be sunny and clear one minute and then boom, the sky turns black, thunder and lightning, the clouds open up and there's between 2 and 5 minutes of torrential downpour. Then it's clear again. Really a wonderful experience. I noticed most people would duck into awnings for the duration of the deluge, not me. I found it really refreshing to just wander down the middle of the empty streets and let the rain soak me. It actually made me really happy and for awhile I was laughing hysterically while meandering through the rain. People probably thought I was crazy. I'm sure they're at least half right.

Well, until next time... which will probably be some time late this weekend. I'm flying back to Toronto for two weeks for work and I'm sure there will be some interesting goings on there. Hopefully that will include The Dark Knight in IMAX.

The laptop has been drinking, not me...

In Prague. Just got back to the hostel from a night out on the town. It's about 2am on Sunday... Really an early night if you compare to last night where I was out at a bar until about 4am . An intersting place it was. None of the workers or patrons were Czech. There were people from all sorts of other places around the world (Canada, States, Denmark, UK, various places in Africa).


So the real reason I'm posting is the place I hit tonight. Name of Blues Sklep. Initially a bunch of old guys playing jazz. Really well... Not only was the music great but the venue was great too. In the basement of a building in some old side alley. Exposed stone walls and arches (and shit...). The musicians were a bunch of old Czech guys, all of them were really good. A sax, a piano, an acoustic guitar, an upright bass and a set of drums.

After the first set they added a trombone and a chick singing. Even better times! Especially with 1/2 litre Czech beer for less than 30 koruna (that's just over $2US or a bit over a pound). Definitely think I'll be going back on Sunday.

Who Knew There's New News?

I purchased my concert tickets to Tom Waits in Prague weeks ago, but hadn't yet gotten around to booking my flight and accomodations until today. Fly in late Friday and back late the following Wednesday. Man I'm really looking forward to that. It was a difficult decision to make between a hostel and a hotel. In the end I went for a private room at a hostel, though I believe it is a shared bathroom. Compromise between privacy and price.

This coming weekend I'm flying into Toronto for a week as part of the new project I'm working on. Most of the other people on the project with me are based out of Toronto, so we're having a week of ramp up and architecture/design discussions to get the project off to a good start. I'm hoping to actually have some free time this time around in Toronto and look forward to hanging out with Matt and Janella (?on spelling of her name).

Besides those two items, not a whole lot new going on. Second week living in Camden Town went fine. Still no furniture, but I am borrowing an inflatable mattress from a co-worker so at least I'm not sleeping on the floor anymore. I promise to have the place furnished before any of you drop in for a visit :). Speaking of visitation, I've found a great pub that I'll definitely be taking people to. It's named Quinns and its a bit out of the Camden Town core, so it's not too crowded. They have a decent selection of Belgian beer in bottles, and they only charge 3.30 pounds per bottle, which is what some of the other pubs in Camden Town charge for a pulled pint of ale. For those not in the know in regards to current conversion rates that's about $6.50 for my bottle of St. Bernardus Abt 12. Pretty close to what Rob charges at the Monk, right?

Speaking of Quinns, it's a beatiful Sunday afternoon, I think I deserve a St. Bernardus...

Moving This Weekend

Finally moving to my own place. The next week is going to be a hellish week though. I get my keys Friday night and have to be fully moved in by next Wednesday because the lease is up then on my current place. Plus I'm supposed to go to a training on Saturday AND Sunday that runs from 9am to 6pm... Plus my current contract is up next Friday so I'm going to be really busy at work too. Not looking forward to the next week.

But on the bright side I'll finally be in my own place! :)

Updated "Miguel's London" (see link to the right) with the location of the flat.

I've made my decision

I am indeed going to Prague to catch Tom Waits. Not for one show, but for both shows! I've already purchased my tickets; Monday July 21st and Tuesday July 22nd at the Kongresového centra Praha (bit pricey, but you only live once...). I plan to fly in on Saturday and hang out for the weekend before hitting the shows on Monday/Tuesday, then fly back to London on Wednesday. If anyone has recommendations on places to sleep/eat/visit in Prague they are much appreciated. Leave comments or send emails!

Enjoying Edinburgh

I've been in Edinburgh, Scotland since Saturday morning. It's Monday morning now and I'm elated that I'm not at work! :P Was considering doing a day trip to the Highlands (maybe Loch Ness) with the parents, but decided to just do more wandering around the side streets of the city today. Beautiful architecture and roads in the city, both old city and new.

The old city is something around 870 years old (don't remember exactly). We're staying on the corner of St. Giles Street and Lawnmarket, essentially right on the Royal Mile. Right smack dab in city center, more old city than new. Lot's of "closes" and "wynds", which are the side streets we'll be exploring today. From what I understand, a close is essentially a dead end alley (usually small arch leading you between buildings) and a wynd is a non-dead end alley :). We're only like 1/8 of a mile from Edinburgh Castle. The photo to the right is of the castle from below the clif it's on. The small windows in the bottom are the windows out from the prison underneath the castle.

The new city is 200 something years old (you can tell I'm not really a history buff), and is a bunch of Georgian architecture and built more with a grid structure.

Went to a place called Sandy Bell's (or something) last night and drank a few pints of scotish ale while listening to people jamming traditional music. Couple fiddlers, couple guitarists, couple people on wind instruments and harmonicas and a dude on a traditional drum.

I'll try to post later with some more photos of the place because it's really amazing to see.

Mr. Waits in Europe - not quite PEHDTSCKJMBA

So I'm trying to figure out where I'm gonna go to catch Tom. I'm leaning towards Prague. Somewhere I won't have been by the time the shows roll around, and also somewhere I definitely want to go.

If anyone has any recommendations on places to stay or spots for food/drink in Prague, let me know.

EDIT: If anyone wants to meet me in Prague for the show that would be awesome! :) He's playing on Mon/Tues the 21st/22nd of July. I'm thinking I'll hit both shows :P. Tickets go on sale on Friday, 9am +1GMT...

Long Weekend

Today is a bank holiday in the UK, known as "spring bank holiday". So much meaning in the name! :) My parents were here for the weekend and took off at about 4am for Ireland. Got to hang out with them for the weekend and do some touristy things, like take photos of Big Ben and Houses of Parliament from the London Eye. I'm glad that I now can take Monday off to relax a bit before having to go back to work.

I'll be travelling up to Edinburgh, Scotland to meet my parents this coming Saturday and we'll be hanging out there through the following Tuesday. Have to make sure to visit a distillery while I'm there :), compare with the visit I made to the old Jameson Distillery in Dublin with Chris and Bonnie.

Got a Mobile!

Finally picked up a mobile phone. I've gone the last 4 months in the UK without a mobile phone. Really wasn't too bad, but it'll be nice to be able to get ahold of people (and be gotten ahold of) when not at home/office.

I can send/receive skype calls on my mobile, so any of you out there that are on skype and want to call me send me an email and I'll send you my skype name. Or you can search for me, I should be easy to find.

Road Trippin'

Went on a road trip the weekend following Dublin. Had lots of fun but then got lots of sick. Had a fever that turned in to a chest cold that is still with me today (over a week later). At least the road trip was fun. Went to Oxford, Swindon, Bath, Western-Super-Mare (small beach town), and finally Chippenham. All in the span of two days. ...and we didn't even start the trip until like 2pm on Saturday. No wonder I got sick...

Watch Out Dublin, Here I Come

So I arrived in Dublin on the ferry at 6am this morning. Had to walk through some form of customs on the way in. I say "some form" because it wasn't much. One old fella that was asking people "what's your nationality." If you replied with an EU member nation (and he believed you) he waved you in, otherwise you had to step aside and wait for those folks to filter through (didn't take long). I was the first in line for non-EU nationals. He greeted me and apologized for the wait, which was by normal customs standards almost non-existent. As he was looking over my passport he noted, "a lot of those folks [referring to the EU nationals] are drunk enough that I could have turned them away" (remember it's 6am). He followed this up with "I guess Ireland's the only place that lets you in when you're drunk. Have a nice stay, thanks for your patience." ha!

I went directly to the B&B I'm staying at to drop my bags and then intended to grab some breakfast. On the walk to the B&B, though, everything seemed to be closed (it was near 7am by now). I asked the guy manning the counter at the place whether he could recommend somewhere close by that served good breakfast. He looked at me quizzically and said, "It's too early."

Ok, no breakfast yet. Let's go for a walk to the city centre and see if we stumble across something open on the way. Luckily there was a convenience store open that had a coffee stand inside, so I at least was able to have an Americano. I continued on to the city centre and made it a point to check the signs on places to find out when they open. Many of them opened at "10ish." That is exactly their words, no paraphrase :). Even the breakfast at my B&B isn't available until 8:30.

After not having gotten much sleep last night and with the intention of hitting the pubs tonight this will probably end up being a good thing tomorrow.

Busy Couple Weeks

So I went to Amsterdam last weekend. Let's not talk about that one too much, it was a raucous time. There were twelve of us, mostly people from work. It was definitely fun, though I think I was still recovering from it until today. Just in time for my next trip...

Tomorrow at around 8pm I'm catching the train from London, Euston station to Holyhead in Wales. From there I take a three hour ferry ride into Dublin. I should be arriving in Dublin around 6am, just in time for a full Irish breakfast (and maybe a pint of Guinness :)). Yup, meeting up with Chris and Bonnie for a weekend in Dublin.

At the end of the month my parents are here, and I'll be joining them for some time in Edinburgh, Scotland. I have a feeling that I'm only going to be getting busier and busier as the summer draws nigh.

What's For Dinner?

So I find myself eating kebabs alot nowadays. Kebab shops are so plentiful, they're not too expensive, and if you find a good shop are pretty damn good. I used to change up my kebab choice alot. Doner one day, shish another, kofte the next. Back and forth between chicken and lamb, maybe even a mixed to mix it up. For some reason over the last couple weeks I settled into a lamb shish kick and haven't pulled out of it yet. So tonight, once again, I am having a (tasty) lamb shish kebab with chips (fries for you North Americans).

Funny story: When I went to the kebab joint to pick up dinner last night, as I walked in the door the fella manning the grille said "hey Andy!" I didn't realize it for a second and just replied "hey!" Once it did occur to me what he had called me I had to wonder why. The first (and only) thing that came to mind was that with my paper boy hat and peacoat I reminded him of Andy Cap :).

Wishing I was in Seattle This Coming Weekend

So I got an email from Sam at the Summit. They're having their first BBQ of the year on 4.20.08. Man I love the BBQs at the Summit and I think that it's great that Sam puts them on. Summit Pub: Good beer, good people... and at times FREE GOOD FOOD! What more can anyone ask for :)

If any of you make it to the BBQ tell Sam I said "what up", and eat some food and drink a beer for me :)

Flat Hunting

I wrote a few posts in word while I was in Brussels with the intention of posting them when I got access to an internet connection. Unfortunately I never got around to it and now it just seems wrong to post them....

So I'm still working on finding a flat to let so I can move out of West Hampstead. Got a viewing tonight for a 1 bedroom place in Camden Town. Hopefully this one will go better than the last flat I viewed in Camden Town. The last flat was really small and dirty and they wanted 235 pounds per week. Definitely wasn't worth it.

Weekend after next I'm heading to Amsterdam with a bunch of the people from Infusion. Have my flight and a room booked at a hostel. I need to start planning more trips to places I haven't been yet. So far since I've been here I've spent all my time in London with the one trip to Brussels and now the trip to Amsterdam. I'd been to all these places before... Perhaps I'll head to Paris some time soon. It's only a 2 hour train ride on Eurostar. I am also planning on hanging out in Ireland with my parents in early June, plus perhaps hanging out in Ireland for a bit with Chris and Bonnie. Hopefully as we get closer to summer I'll be travelling more and more.

Little Did He Know

12pm, Friday March 21st

A tattooed, tired man sits in a bar at the airport, waiting for his ride. He's wearing ratty old slacks and a t-shirt with a message that, if you understand it, is a good laugh (and one that's not worth explaining if you don't). In contrast, he's wearing a nice rabbit felt pork pie hat that is the height of fashion. Such the fashion that people around him don't get it and pass him strange glances. Or maybe those glares are due to the big bull ring looking steel piece in his nose...

Who knows really? Who cares.

He doesn't, he's content with immersing himself in the world of his small electronic device, in to which he is thumbing a message to the world. To be broadcast to all, but swallowed by the void. Immersing himself in that damned de-"vice"... and... and also his beer, of course. Of course. Yeah, of course. Well, to be fair, he is destined for Belgium after all.

Destined for Belgium. On a 12:30pm flight that was of course delayed 'till 1. "Or at least that's their story now," he thought, "the first delay is never the last..."

Last minute change of plans

Well, didn't have BBQ for dinner on Sunday. Decided instead to have sushi. Don't remember the name of the place, but I can say that it was a couple doors down from Spaghetti Western. I can also say that if you spend more than $15 dollars on sushi you get all you can drink house sake! Sounds like a deal! :) heh... The fish was very fresh. It was definitely good sushi.

My dinner plans aren't actually the change of plans I mentioned in the title. The change of plans was around my return to London. I was supposed to return on Thursday, but since my visa came through on Friday and other reasons having to do with work I moved the flight forward to a late Monday flight. Unfortunately no new stories about interesting food in NY...

So I'm back here in London now. I'll try to continue posting as often as I did while in NY. We'll see how it goes.

Catching up on food

Edit: Added photos from Balthazar

Ok, so this is a catch up post for what I've been eating since Tuesday. Even lunch at work has proved to be relatively interesting and I've hit a different place every day so far. Tasty deli sandwiches, Indian buffets, and something great called a rolly. They take fresh dough, throw your choice of ingrediants on to it, roll the dough around it to make something that somewhat resembles a calzone, and then send it through the oven. I chose the philly steak version, which had steak, mushrooms, mozzarella and a tomato sauce. I added onions, lettuce and tabasco to give it a bit of a kick. It was DAMN good!

Wednesday night I hit up an Argentinean restaurant named Industria Argentina. One of the interior walls was covered with a huge collage/mural that almost looked paper mache'd on. It was snippets of things from Argentinean culture. One thing that caught my eye amongst the randomness was an advert for Nescafe. Reminded me of the time I spent in Chile where when you order coffee they bring you a cup of hot water and a small mound of Nescafe :). I had an '06 Catena Malbec there that was really good, and for the meal had something called Cochinilla Patagonico, a.k.a. suckling pig. It's a special that they only serve on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The meat was super tender and tasty. The saltiness of the pork was offset well by the mild sweetness of the sweet potato puree and the slight bitterness of the broccoli rabe further balanced the dish. For desert I had flan with butterscotch icecream and fresh whipped cream. It was awesome.

Most of you might not find my Thursday night dinner very interesting, but I had to do it. Hot wings. I haven't had hot wings since some time before I left Seattle (Wing Dome) and have been craving them for awhile. Hot wings aren't really something you find in London so this craving has gone unsatiated the entire time there. So I got some wings and beer with a side caeser at a place called Atomic Wings. They were decent, though not as good as Wing Dome, and I was a bit dissapointed by the spiciness. I got the wings with their Suicidal sauce, the hottest they have. I'd say it falls somewhere in between 4 Alarm and 5 Alarm at Wing Dome (they serve wings in bulk up to 6 alarm and you can buy 7 alarm wings one at a time). But hey, at least I got some wings.

Friday night was Belgian night at Petit Abeille, a little restaurant just a couple blocks from where I'm staying. I had the Moules Marinieres and of course some Belgian beers :). It was like being back in Belgium again!


Yesterday was another day of great food. Started out with brunch at Balthazar, a SOHO restaurant I stumbled across when doing a search for "the best breakfast in New York." Rachelle also mentioned that she though I should try it. Well, I've got to say that it was not only the best brunch I've had in New York, I think it was the best brunch I've ever had in my entire life. I wish I was able to actually get across with words how great the food actually was. I've actually got a couple photos in my phone of the food, I'll add them to the post later. I had a warm goat cheese and carmelized onion tart and the Balthazar salad. The tart was taller than I expected it to be, but that's not a bad thing. It was cooked to a perfect consistency and wasn't overly rich. I could probably have eaten two or three more of them! The salad had haricots verts (a thin long green bean), asparagus, fennel, ricotta, avocado and truffle vinaigrette over mixed greens. Really fresh and great flavor.

Dinner was family style Ethiopian at Queen of Sheba in mid-town with two New York Infusion guys and their girlfriends. Coincidentally the atmosphere reminded me very much of Queen Sheba in Seattle. We had Doro Wot, Quanta Firfir, Special Tibs, Awaze Tibs, Mizir Wot and of course lots of injeera to mop it all up with :). I'd rate it about the same quality as Queen Sheba in Seattle, though the spicy dishes were not as spicy (unfortunately).

Well, that brings me up to date. Perhaps I'll post again tonight and let you all know how the food is at the BBQ joint I plan on hitting tonight.

ye olde onion

I was walking from the subway back to the corporate flat this evening and noticed among the other free papers at a local shop was... The Onion! This is the first time I've actually had a hard copy of the onion in my grubby little hands since I was working in Austin. Good stuff!