Damn! I miss Amsterdam!!

June 24-26:
So my work was where I wanted it to be so I was up for a last minute trip!! And no place better

than AMSTERDAM for some new experiences and fun!! : )  I especially jumped on the trip because a

coworker of mine (Ruslana) was going there as well and was meeting up with UW grads so I it would

be awesome to travel with some new people! and it was! 

1st day:
Took a crazy train from Stuttgart with like 5 train changes and arrived at 1am in Amsterdam....So

what do 4 tired people (Jeff, Nicole, Adam and myself) do at 1am in crazy Amsterdam... well the Red

Light District of course lol... and yes it was quite different! It was red, full of men AND WOMEN

(not the working ones) and of course the others ... It was weird because it seemed like most people

were just there for the show and window shopping.. why in hell would u take a stroll on a friday

night through that part of the city... don't get it!! but of course some others were there for

other reasons!... It is pretty controlled and yes u hear some weird comments here and there lol (

not going to write them since my mommy reads my blog word for word hehe :) ).  I think I went

through all these emotions surprised, flabergasted, shocked, curiousity, grossed out, embarrased,

mortified for the women, aggitated and determined to dress the women ... the men will probably have

different emotions... *sigh.. anywhoo so we strolled around saw lots of *shops and tried to find a

place to sleep ; ) and we found a cozy warm spot and parked it!

Slept 1.5 hours before being woken up by British hooligans (alright they were hilarious and drunk

but still) who kept talking and talking about this and that. *um.. stopping there

Split up at the train station after getting Ruslana and had *tea and went shopping ... lost Jeff in

a department store and had the personals call him to the desk but no luck the man was kidnapped..

so off we left to our hostel then lol... no worries we had a meeting spot for 6pm the house was in

the outskirts of Amsterdam and was BEAUTIFUL.  It was an estate how being rented out to travellers

and yes blew me away.  The room was gorgeous, we had a fully equipped and stocked fridge, tea

galore, drinks galore, beautiful antique furniture and u will not believe this... Allll along the

house instead of pebble stones on the ground guess what the lady had instead??? SHE HAD ACTUAL

SHELLS ... like realll shells all over the garden and walkway... insane!!! and in the places where

people walked the shells have become crushed and turned in broken small pieces... I cannot even

imagine how much it cost!! the lady too loaded! so got dressed and left again! and took a free

FERRY RIDE ( u jealous now! I know! lol) back to amsterdamn Downtown.  Was reunited with jeffers

and others and had dinner, had *fun and decided to go jam a little.

Oh Ruslana's friends Jack and Jules (i think)... Jules just came back from Greece and works in

Vienna... the man was in love with Greece and yes had me convinced I should hook up with a Greek

woman as well lol... so of course i bought tickets to Greece for my last week trip before going

home! Das STIMTTTT!

So the clubbing did not work but the process to getting to club was more hilarious... and the trip

back after the attempt even more hilarious!.. see I did not know the way back and Jeff had no idea

either and he was rather useless that night!  So after some pushing i decided to break from the

other we were staying with in the hostel and decided to jam with Nicole and Adam.  Well these were

the numerous difficulties encounted: Night bus 186 DOES NOT EXIST, the stop I was describing did

not exist according to the driver : ( ...um...We felt pretty screwed but I told the driver do not

worry i will recognize it ... where did the confidence come from i do not know!) but sure as hell

after asking the driver to slow down at EVERY stop lol and pissing off the entire bus.. I found it

P..something saplain!... oh yeah wer ist die damen!!? After all that came home to a what seemed

like an empty house :( so we sat outside and talked.  The people inside who had been having *fun

thought they were hearing voices and were literally freaking out in their sleep lol jokes

Why u need to go to Amsterdam: it is super dirty in the core and adorable in the outskirts, they

speak English (bonus), the people LOVE canadians and canada, they love their gardens, they have

wicked waffles of all kinds (have to see it to believe it), cheap fallafel and of course happy

happy tourists or people in general who are there just to have an awesome time! Das Stimmt..

Do-E Amsterdam! = Goodbye Amsterdam!!

Overdue Introduction

Who are all those people in the pics u say? well i will be getting to that now!

In the picture below which was taken the 2nd night we were in at the Uni Rez.  There are 6 new coops (including myself), 2 old coops (in the back) and to the far right our Project Manager.  Now for names and some shpiel about each. :)

Starting from the left going right:

Front Row
Bernada: moving on lol

Annie Choi:
She is a 4Ath year student from Operations Research program in the Math department.  Working on Database and Queries. She finds OR useless and is worried about what is going to happen to her.  We refer to her as the mom in the group well she acts very much like an asian mom. She worries about all the things us young'n don't think about until the last minute!  We always need someone like that when travelling for sure.  She travels tirelessly and HAS TO SEE everything there is to see.  She has realized though there is more to travelling than buildings and sites such as the social scene and FOOOOD.  Which is awesome and of course the natural beauty in cities.  The gorgeous night pictures are from her fancy camera which she is still getting to know how to use.

Funniest Moment: Getting off the train at 9:15am and hearing this emotional cry 'Why don't they have a BUSSSSS'??? lol jokes b/c when u catch the later trains there ain't no bus u walking DOWNHILL :) to work.

Jeff Kao: aka annoying asian :)
He is a 2B student from Systems Design Eng as well.  Working on Translation of websites.  What can I say love the dude.  He  is the funny man, the joker, the man who keeps us from killing each other lol.  He is a smart ass too.  He is a good resource for me at work.  He misses his g/f of 8 years and is my company when coming to drinking.  He is from scarborough and can pull the caribean accent anytime and a mean asian accent.

Funniest Moment: We were waiting before going out and we were both bored out of our minds and I was getting royally pissed of waiting.  So he was drinking in my apartment and said 'give me a sec'.  The man grabbed two bottles of beer, filled them with water to create two notes and well made an ass of himself!  He blew into the bottles to create two notes one after another and sang the circus song.  It was a sight to see and i have to tape it.  Needless to say i was entertained like a kid watching a clown, I COULD NOT STOP SMILING lol

Adam Sultan: aka the one and only Mr.GPS
He is a 4A C&O and Computer Science student.  Working on new IBM TOols.  The man is half Pakistani and Russian (what a mix). His parents met at Uni of Waterloo and fell in love when doing their Masters i think.  How cute is that!  The man can find anything in a city all he needs is a map for a second.  I know how he does it because i was amazed in Prague at how he knew the short cuts.  Well turns out the man just uses sense of direction, no streets, no signs, no nothing.. just adjusts his path according where something is.... it works!

Funniest Moment: When he walked around i do not know which city possibly Munich with a big greasy stain near his butt on his sweat pants. I did not tell him ... well because it was funny for me.

Nicole Wilson:
She is a 4A Pure Math student.  Planning to do her Masters in Fluid Mechanics hopefully in Germany.  Working as a business analyst pushing for solutions and processes.  This is her second time here and last time she was the only person here and it was during the winter.  She is a vegetarian and yes, Adam is her b/f : )  She is good company and can talk talk talk talk lol but all her expressions and words are in honesty.  She does not like being bugged about what she eats and can sing unbelievably well. 

Funniest Moment: Well since she does not eat meat she needs to know how to ask 'Is there meat in the sauce' well the translation is 'Ist there fleisch in de sauca' (we assume anyway).  The four of us (Jeff, Adam, Nicole and myself) spent a good number of hours just singing in our hostel room in Munich and when we left to go out we did not stop.  When on the train full of Germans Nicole started singing 'Jeff, ist there fleisch in de sauca... ist there fleisch in de sauca!!' I could not stop laughing... the Germans around us did a good job of keeping a poker face b/c i lost it lol never forget that!

Cora Yeung: miss dedicated to her man
She is a 2nd year Math/Business Student.  Working as a QA and Test Plan coordinator. She is the second youngest and the reason for her nickname is because she is very dedicated to her new b/f.  She calls him everyday and talks to him on MSN everyday.  He waits for her call everyday. Alright enough about that i think we get the picture. She is our mini PM and she hopes to return to work on the following term or staying here for another couple of months which is most likely. She loves to try different types of food when travelling. She loves salads from different places. Well she just loves ethnic foods :) and she has made me realize it is worth investing in it when travelling.

Funniest Moment:  When at Fruling's Fest (the Spring Festival) in Stuttgart she bought the huge mug of beer.  I could not believe she bought it and that she could even hold it.  She is sooooo tineeee.  Yes and she impressed me by drinking quite a bit of it.  In the pics u can tell the effect of it :).  She giggles like a maniac when drinking which is sooo cute too!

Ruslana Zbagerska: our PM
She is a graduated UW student from Software Eng and CS.  She worked here when on Coop and did such a good job she is now a fulltime here.. (am a little big jealous : D)  She has a Ukranian background and is great company.  She has impressed with her ability to balance different types of roles.  She has to be our friend, our PM and she is a new employee here.  So she has to make everyone happy basically.  She has to balance her time with everyone and make sure all is well.  Kind of tough if u ask me lol but she does it well.
FUnniest Moment: When she says 'Fair Enough' to everything alll the time.  And one day we all decided to say those words even when it was uncalled for.  She did not catch on but which made it pretty enjoyable for us.

The two students in the back are Jennifer and Lasse (from Denmark). Jennifer left when we got here and Lasse left last week.  So did not get to know them much.  But from the looks of it they seem and seemed really nice.      

Alright done with coworker intros! Tschuß!!

The magical Czech Republic

May 26-29
Since once again lol we had thursday off we took off for CZ with friday we all took off!  All six of us.  Man there is sooo much to tell here i do not know where to begin.

It was a 9 hours train ride and took forever with transitions here and there to different trains and leaving at 5 something in the morning did not help. The funny thing is we were going to a country where english was almost non-existent and german was very little spoken soooo we thought we were even more screwed lol  but it is not that bad actually!

Prague
So we went straight to Prague and well the hostel was sketchy but the city was as they say... Big tall buildings insanely detailed architecture and large spaces for shopping and buildings that look sooooo old.  Various parts of the city have diff architecture.  It is worth it to read about Prague and about the different styles in architecture and the examples that exist in the city.  Of course the Charlie's Bridge, the old city and new city and the castle on the hill and the entrances to the bridge were all beautiful and even more beautiful at night!

Secluded Sites to see
There is a wall that is dedicated to John Lennon.  This wall never looks the same when u come back because people keep adding to it.  The day we went and we searched for a while (b/c us asians just suck with maps lol)  there was a group there and they just finished painting it lol so we took pictures with them and the wall pretty sweet lol they were quite happy too there was paint on them and on the floor well basically everywhere. 

Also the Infant Jesus Church is nice.. that is where there is the wax doll of infant jesus is revered.  There is a museum in the church for free as well.

It is worth it to go up the St. Victus church allll the way to the top b/c the view is quite nice from there (that is an understatement actually)  When u get there DO NOT GET THE ENTIRE pass but only get passes for where u want to go.  I would recommend the Museum underneath the old palace and the tower everything else is meh! lol  Seeing it from the outside is more than enough.  Now on to my fav city.

CESKY KRUMLOV
See i saw a travel video before going and it said this place was amazing.  So arrived thursday and on friday woke 3 of them up at 6:30 and grabbed the earliest bus.  Unfortunately the bus driver rammed the bus with not even standing space left.  Since we got the tickets late WE HAD TO STAND FOR 3 hours lol i felt pretty bad but oh well to the schedule we stick.  It was worth it met women from France, Australia on the bus and all in all the city was magical. The pics will speak for themselves.  When u get there u understand what people described and u appreciate more than of course the pictures.  It is a smaller city with gothic architecture with most of the tourist sites on an island.  There is this gorgeous bridge and castle.  I heard the inside of the castle is nice so take it.  And also in the travel video she did some canoeing and so i refused to leave without doing some.  So we canoed around the island lol it was very nice i loved it!
Oh this was the first time we stayed in a dorm style in the hostel met a colombian and a very sweet japanese man so dorm styles hostels are sweet if u want to meet alll sorts of people.  and cheaper too i believe. 

Perfect place for a quite honeymoon :D

Food in CZ
If u look around u will get cheap food. 
Prague: had road duck with awesome sauce, a cocktail drink for like 4.70 Euros
Cesky Krumlov: Had the cheapest ever: cabbage soup, beef goulash and a beer for 3 Euro's that was insane lol this restaurant is on Karlova i do not know the name anymore but it has a yellow sign outside.  With i believe two tables on the outside patio but with more seating inside.  Inside it is all wooden.  Karlova is a small street and this place should be easy to find.

I love CZ and plan to return for sure but another time to see Karlovy Vary, the caves and other cites i can't spell etc...

Service there
OH AND YES THE SERVICE IS TERRIBLE but if u speak a bit of czech like day-koo-you (thank you) etc u will see that most will change their attitude.  I did not like the way people are there when they serve u but now i think it is because the people feel that after the european union there has been an invasion of tourists.  Their city is taken over and they are still getting used to this change.  There is a lack of balance between tourism and the life in the city which will take time to reach.  When i went even i was sick of Prague during peak hours because of the high volume of tourists.  Hope things will change.

toodles b

Massive update time:

May 21 weekend
Friday
Alright did not plan any trips because it was a normal weekend and was hoping to take it easy.  This almost happened :)
Friday was Carlos A Hoyos going away party.  He was our mini boss here from New York for like 2 weeks.  Awesome Colombian for any ladies interested, single and successfull.  So went to this popular fallafel place called Veggie voodoo.  And then sat outside the bar patio and had drinks.  He also grabbed me a Paul mug from the bar ; ))  Carlos is crazy he has been coding since he was 13 and is a coding maniac at IBM for the PTT tool.  u have to see him work to understand what i mean lol

Saturday
Since all the shops are closed all of Sunday i was planning to shop with Cora on Saturday but didn't.  Instead went to Alex's hometown in Heibronn?? lol He had the car so all three went to his parent's house and had mom's food :) and played the piano for them since they were soooooooooooooo nice!.... His mom iron's and washes his clothes ...just had to say that... lol  The city was small and adorable the house was all wood and had ancient furniture that they do not even use but use for decorative purposes the air there was really nice and the lake is nice as well.  At night my boss IMMI Henne wanted us to watch EUROVISION an extension of the American Idol but with people from each country in Europe participating.  Gracia was representing Germany and she was realllly good but my fav was Greece, England for performance but song wise it was a group from Morocco.  Anyway the competition happens every year and my boss is a strong fan so we went to his house had bbq and watched. and YES GREECE WON!!!

Sunday
Hot day and chilled mostly. Made banana bread and gave some to Kata.  And then played some soccer, beach volleyball and basketball lol pretty pathetic performance on my side but oh well i tried :) but the view from the field onto the valley is gorgeous so worth just being there.  Phew NEXT!

Tschuß!!

Let's Talk About Munich!

May 14-16 weekend

Plans
Alright so long weekend since Monday off so took off for Munich.  With plans for going to Lindhau on the way back.  Munich is in Bavaria but Lindhau is in Baden-Wuttenberg.  Look at those two as provinces if you like.

The weather was decent and the travel was long but we got there.

Travel and Arrival
There was a big soccer match that day and the train was full of fans with tickets.  So plenty of booze on the train and chants here and there.  Also lots of Munich Team gear.  When we got off the train the fans of the opposite team were there.  Pretty crazy since the munich fans seemed to be waiting for them to get off the train ... :) wish i had stayed back to see... but off to the hostel

Hostel
Awesome

City
Busy, alive and touristy.  Plenty of damn monuments to see so be warned.  U gonna be walking alot.  But they are each worth it though! Transit system is really good for getting around!!
The people there are less good looking than people in Stuttgart jokes... but i am serious!

OH the Deutsche Museum is incredible especially their boats exhibition.  They have EVERYTHING there it is crazy!

Check out a Beer Garten and Englisch Garden and off course DT Munich.  And this insane club place whose name i shall add later.  The night we went we paid 10 Euros for like 30 clubs pretty schweeet.  Make sure to check out the odd clubs like the Russian and American Club lol it is worth it just for the experience.

Ice Cream
.80 cents for one scoop, pistacio and choc, then pistacio and mango me happpppy

Dedicate Time
1.5 days to see this city!

Departure and Lindhau
Left and went to Lindhau which is a small city right around the Boden See (Lake). The day was cloudy but i could tell by the postcards it would be awesome gorgeous there!  Oh the tourist people have a nice pamphlet which u can read to yourself as u walk around.  Going back there again for sure and swimming in that lake yyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeha!

Dedicated Time
3 hours is good enough :) u will see it all

Ice Cream
.60 cents for one scoop (but did not have any :(  )

Trip Cost
Alright i will mention how much it cost me for the 3 days prob 80 euros which is nothing if u ask me :)

Next trip will be two weeks from this trip to PRAGUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!  

PS: If u want more details about Munich i will give on an individual basis but i think it is a hype city and not only a must see but a must party city!

Tschuß!!

Morning all!!

Alright I have massive catch up to do in terms of blogs... soo these are gonna be really short!

First Trip: Strasbourg (France) and Basel (Switzerland)

We went for the May 7-8 weekend.  Two day trip and two cities spelled pain and it was painful.  I will talk mostly about the city I really like which is Strasbourg.  Strasbourg is a really nice city with this old city feel to it especially in the old part (the most tourist part).  We went around like crazy and saw some nice boat paths, took the boat ride.

The city is known for being the European Union city with the office located there.  This building is a must see IT IS CRAZY!!! BIG! 

Food: They are known for Onion Pie and Onion Pizza both i must say are reallllly good and u should not leave without getting some.  It is worth is to go to a nice restaurant and eat some there in the French Atmosphere.

Best Part: Being in a city where u knew exactly what was going on b/c u finally understand the DAMN LANGUAGE!!! :) wow that felt good!  Also the scenery with the building is very typical old france style kind of like Beauty and the Beast set up.

Basel (Switzerland)

This city is ghetto :) ok ok it isn't but it is one of the crappiest u could see in Switzerland lol!  Alright so it is located right at the border of like three countries (France, Switzerland and Germany) kind of cool.  There is a point at which u can walk between all three countries. 

Well that is as interesting as that city gets.  Anywhoo we rushed back to Stuttgart missed our train in Basel and came home really late.  We missed the local trains in Stuttgart had to grab a cab... man we were tired.

Aight enough of this one, next trip!

Oh and at the end of each trip we are to drink on the way home.  So that is me and Jeffers or Yeff (as the Germans call him) drinking champagne on the train ride home!