Saturday, June 30, 2012

Amsterdam Day 2

Norman:


The second day we woke up feeling better than the first and decided to check out the more southern parts of central Amsterdam, namely the Museum District and Vondelpark. The Museum District is actually my favourite part of Amsterdam, both in terms of attractions and overall beauty of the city. And of course, as tourists, we had to take the picture in front of the the big Amsterdam letters!




The tram rails greenery

Easy part was getting up... hard part is getting down
From then, we went to the Van Gogh Museum. Though I was skeptical that I'd be able to apprepciate art, reading the museum's description and giving context to the artwork allowed me to appreciate the genius behind Vincent Van Gogh. Most interestingly was his evolution as an artist, and his technique and style advanced rapidly over the short 10 years he was an artist. Who knows, maybe now I will become an art aficionado when I grow up.


Park outside of the Van Gogh Museum



Afternoon Dutch snack.. Stroopwafel 

Afterwards, we continued enjoying the weather and went to Vondelpark to line on the grass and soak up some sun. Vondelpark is quite pretty, and the park was quite packed the day we went. I bought a beer, laid on the grass and Mandy and I enjoyed the sunshine that Amsterdam seldom receives.

We then had plans to check out Albert Cuyp market, but we relaxed for too long at Vondelpark, and unfortunately by the time we got there, many of the stands were closing. We decided to head back to Dam Square, check out some of the sights there. Mandy ordered a "small" order of fries as an appetizer before dinner, but and it turned out to get a gigantic portion that both Mandy and I could not finish together.  We killed more time by wandering Amsterdam and hanging out at another coffee shop, but Amsterdam was starting to bore us. We decided to head home, rest up for a little and then go back into the city to check out Red Light District at night.

We had dinner at Wagamama because we were craving noodles (poor choice...), but wandering Red Light District at night was very interesting. We had some fun checking out the prostitutes, and even hanging back to see if anyone would solicit them (we noticed a few people bargaining and entering). Afterwards, went back and pack to move on to our next destination.

The red lit blockade goes up everyday at 7pm to prevent cars from entering the Red Light District


Overall impression of Amsterdam is that it is pretty cool in a sense that it's the only place where there are coffee shops and prostitutes on display, but two days in Amsterdam was already a little bit too long.




Amsterdam Day 1

Norman:

So we arrived in Amsterdam, slightly tired (Mandy: EXTREMELY EXHAUSTED). First impression of Amsterdam is not good - the people we've asked for help were not very helpful and fairly condescending. I'm sure it doesn't represent the overall Dutch population, but still a rude awakening to the friendliness I was expecting. We showed the tram lady the map to our hotel and she decided not to tell us that we should get off two stops after the one we said we would... We wandered for a good 20 minutes with our luggage until we found our hotel. We were still fairly exhausted from Hackney weekend so we bought burgers at a restaurant next door called Burgermeester and chilled out at our hotel until the next morning.


Trio of mini burgers: 1. Tuna 2. Beef with mango salsa 3. Beef with truffle egg

Day 1:


After waking up way past the time we were supposed to, we first went to the Anne Frank Museum. We heard numerous warnings to make sure we get there early or be prepared to queue and those warnings were 100% correct - we arrived around noon and had to wait in line for more than an hour before we got in. I think it was actually well worth the wait; the museum does a pretty good job at emulating how it would have been to be hiding from the Nazis during that era. (We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the house.)

Mandy in front of the Anne Frank Museum with a very large queue waiting to get in

From then on, we wandered the streets to end up at Noordermarket and checked out a local coffee shop called Dampkring. It was a popular coffee shop and we understood why.. Good music, atmosphere, freshly squeezed orange juice and the service was good. The second coffee shop we went to called Bulldog was not nearly as good.

Coffee Shop

After that we continued to wander the streets and ended up in Dam Square, which is a central area in Amsterdam. It was still fairly early out, and we went through our itinerary much faster than we anticipated, so we thought we'd check out the Red Light district (despite it being blatantly bright out). We were trying to check out the many Amsterdam prostitutes but so early on, there were only a few that were scantily clad behind the glass doors. Eventually, we checked out Casa Rosso, which is a live sex show. Thirty-five euros each and we could stay there as long as we wanted! It was fairly entertaining when we first entered, but each act subsequently became less entertaining as the night went on. Eventually, we left and decided to retire early and replenish our batteries for  Day 2.

Me at Dam Square


Last Day (8) in London

Norman:


So comes the time that Mandy and I leave the London and continue on our way across Europe. However, the last day, we ended up off with a bang by attending the BBC Radio 1 Hackney Weekend! 


Intense tickets with our pictures on it so that we can't sell it.




There was an amazing line-up of artists, great festival atmosphere and best of all, it was FREE! (Mandy: It was a painful process of refreshing the website to sign up for the free tickets for 40 minutes straight. Totally worth it.) I went with a few of my friends who also happened to get their hands on free tickets. Variety of music was there (Jack White, Calvin Harris, Will.i.am, Swedish House Mafia, etc). For the full line-up, check out http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/events/e9wmxj/performances.


Probably one of the best days in London I've had, we partied for a lot of the morning, sat on the grass and enjoyed the brief good weather and danced for the rest of the evening. The sets we watched in chronological order: Deadmau5, Annie Mac, Nero, Nicky Minaj, Calvin Harris, Swedish House Mafia, and finally Jay-Z. Jay-Z was headlining the Saturday show and absolutely killed it, bringing on surprise guests Rihanna, M.I.A and Kanye West. We left exhausted, but awestruck. The Hackney weekend is really getting me hyped up for Swedish House Mafia when we return to London. EXCITED!! Tomorrow we're off to catch a semi-early train to Amsterdam!


Mandy:


Unfortunately our plans to go to an after party did not happen. We were exhausted!! For some strange reason during the entire 10 hours we were at the festival I didn't not eat or use the washroom. Good because the washrooms were gross but probably bad for my body. I'll pretend it was an intense work out day. We wanted to take a before and after photo but were too disgusting for an after photo, haha. The journey back home was a bit miserable. A swarm of people all headed to the same train station trying to fit into one train AND it was raining pretty  hard. Luckily we didn't catch a cold. 


Before Photo

Right after Deadmau5

During Annie Mac (best set of the day)

Jay-Z to end the night

London Day 7

Mandy:


After a night of vodka overindulgence we had a late start to the day. We woke up in time for lunch at Viet Pho. The pho was not as good as Toronto but it was decent for London standards. The broth tasted like 100% MSG.


After lunch we went to Oxford Circus (for the third time this week!) to find a fanny pack (or bum back according to the English) for our festivities tomorrow. 


When we got back home there were two fire trucks outside the residence. Luckily we just missed a fire evacuation of the whole building.


After everyone was allowed back into the building




Overall, today was a very rainy and lazy day. We mostly stayed in to do laundry, pack and rest up for tomorrow. The plan for tomorrow is to go to the (free!!) Hackney Concert during the day and go to Ministry of Sound at night. Hopefully we're still young enough to pull it off and we don't miss our train the next afternoon to Amsterdam.... 

Friday, June 22, 2012

London Day 6

Norman:


Sigh, the days in London are dwindling down. Very bittersweet that we'll be leaving London but going to go see new countries! First stop yesterday was the massive British Museum. There were a lot of cool exhibits. Another very important aspect about the museums in London is that admission is very reasonably priced: free! We stayed there for about an hour wandering the various rooms.


Very life like statue head that was staring into Mandy's soul




Me looking at stuff in the China section


Next stop after the British museum was Camden Market, which is a collection of street vendors, restaurants and food stalls. This was actually my first time in Camden market and I wish I visited Camden Market more often - it's a pretty vibrant area with a lot to see and do. This was also Mandy's first London attraction outside of Zone 1! Only bad thing is that the London weather was starting to be uncooperative and carrying and umbrella around is a little troublesome. We did end up buying a few trinkets 


Camden Market on a rainy day




Afterwards, we headed back into Central London for afternoon tea at St. Paul's Cathedral. Afternoon tea was decent - I can start to see why the English value afternoon tea so highly. Savory sandwiches, scones with clotted cream + jam, macaroons and tarts. While we were there, we thought we'd also check out St. Paul's Cathedral and the neighboring Paternoster Square. I was hoping to see some Occupy Wall Street protesters, but they were not to be found.

Me in front of the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral
Artistic picture of afternoon tea?

From then, we went back home to hang out before heading to my friend's place for dinner. Doug cooked up a beef brisket feast and it was immensely satisfying. Coupled with some drinking and the night ended up being very enjoyable.

Amazing meal!
That's it for now!




Mandy:


I am still astounded by the fact that three people finished a forty of vodka over dinner. I guess that's normal for Norman now =P
Because of all that alcohol we missed the last train to our station and had to take one of the red double decker buses. The ride reminded me of HK.  

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

London Day 5 (The days are winding down!!)

Norman:


Today we decided to escape the business of London and headed out to another area of England. We headed to Brighton, which is about an hour train ride away out of central London. Brighton is significantly different from England and since today is the last day of good weather, we tried and make the most of it.


My first impression of Brighton is that walking through the city and the independent shops, it is kind of hippy area and much more radical than London. Reminds me a lot of Kensington Market of Toronto. Lots of cool coffee shops, restaurants, vintage clothing stores and distinctive personalities. 


Mandy + Brighton Stores
We then walked to the Royal Paviliion in Brighton, which houses museums and some green area. Pretty  unique spot, the architecture of the Royal Pavilion has some gothic/Asian flair to it and is not like any building I've seen in the UK.


Reminds me of the Taj Mahal
From then we headed to the main attraction of Brighton: Brighton Pier! It's a pier with arcades, food, games and amusement park rides. It was nice to sit back and enjoy the sun. Only negative part of this trip was that for the first time ever, a seagull decided to poop on us and it was quite the disgusting experience.


Brighton Pier + Sun = Great day

A seagull pooped on us 2 seconds after this photo was taken


Brighton is has one of the few beaches that is accessible in London, and we decided to soak up some rays and hang out there until the sun began to wane and it started getting cold. I must be getting older, I'm starting to enjoy just lying down and enjoying the sun. The beach was a rocky, but I managed to wedge myself into the pebbles for a comfortable position.


Despite the beach, still have to check 
Headed back to London afterwards, changed out of the seagull-poop stained clothes and we met up for a few of friends for dinner before my friend Senny goes back to Korea for good. Currently trying to pre-emptively pack and get ready to leave London and continue on the next leg of the Euro-Trip!

London Day 4

Today was a quiet day of adventures in London. Though originally, we were supposed to visit Oxford (potentially go punting, check out the pubs, etc), we woke up far too late and decided that we didn't really have the energy to do so. We did want to do something outside since today was one of the last days of nice weather that we would enjoy in London. We walked down Regent Street towards Oxford circus, where there are a lot of shopping malls in the area. From then, we made our way to Hyde Park and relaxed under the sun and checked out the scenery there.


Writing post cards to friends/family. It took 2 hours... literally.



Normandy alongside some ducks. Craving Peking duck now...


Afterwards, we started to make our way towards Harrod's, which is a popular department store in London when we saw a police escort zoom by us with KATE MIDDLETON inside the car! (Okay, maybe it wasn't Kate, but I am convinced that it was). Harrod's was a very large department store, but my wallet didn't allow me to purchase any more things (especially after Bicester Village).  

Harrod's is exceptionally British looking
From then, we decided to go home as the clouds were starting to form. We made some dinner back at my place (grilled cheese sandwiches, cream of chicken soup, and cheese+crackers+cherry tomatoes). One of my friends was having a birthday party that day as well, so we joined them for some celebratory drinks and retired for the evening. 

Next day: THE BEACH!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

London Day 3

Mandy:


Today we spent an entire day at Bicester Village! It is Europe's most popular outlet mall. Burberry had amazing deals so of course we bought a few things :) The only bad thing about going to Bicester is that the train ride from London is 32 pounds. Good thing we each saved at least that much money on our purchases.


Norm made me a delicious pasta bolognese for dinner while I was getting ready to go to the LSE end of exams party at Cafe de Paris. The event was a black tie affair - luckily I brought a dress. We met up with Norm's res friends and headed to the club. I've never partied with a group of 8 European guys before but it was a really fun night! I got drunk off of two glasses of wine and a sex on the beach so I even had fun dancing to the 2008 pop music.




Norm's Posse


Only Asian Couple

Monday, June 18, 2012

London Day 2

Mandy:


Today we went to London's chinatown to have a late afternoon dim sum. Surprisingly there was a long line up and even more surprising was that the food was pretty good! For the price we paid... I'm glad it was good. Ha gow was £3!


Chinatown



On our way to dim sum we stumbled upon a Hare Krishna (Indian parade). People were lined up to pull a float across a street.


Hare Krishna

After dim sum we made our way to the LSE campus. It's a lot smaller than te UofT campus but it definitely has a different old European architecture feel.


LSE Building

Then we went to Oxford street to do a little shopping. Unfortunately all the stores close at 6pm on Sunday's :( Fortunately we were hungry and Chef Gordon Ramsay's Maze restaurant was just around the corner. The restaurant definitely deserves its one Michelin star rating. It was one of the most delicious meals I've ever had! Norm and I each had a four course tasting menu with a trio of wine tasting. The highlight of the meal was the sea bass ceviche (I didn't even get sick after!).


Sea Bass Ceviche


After a quick rest at home we went on a walk to see the London Eye and the Big Ben. I'm so glad Norm's place is a walking distance to all the attractions.


London Eye and Big Ben



That's it for now!

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Mandy Crosses the Pond!

Norman:

'ello Mates. Yesterday was the day Mandy arrived in London and I was quite happy to see her. According to this photo, the feeling seemed mutual:

Blurry action shot out of the international arrivals gate

We then took the Gatwick Express back to Central London. Mandy was quite jet-lagged because she forgot her very important neck pillow so her bobbing head prevented sleep on the plane. When we first arrived back at my apartment, she fell asleep to recharge her batteries. After (several) hours, she was up and running again so we decided to check out the sights and sounds near our place. 

First up was Trafalgar Square, which has a large open space in the heart of London. What I mean by "heart of London", if you simply type in "London" into maps.google.co.uk, the place marker is right at Trafalgar Square. Though I'm used to seeing this sight everyday on my walk to school, this is the first time I saw the Trafalgar Square from the perspective of a tourist and appreciated the . For whatever reason, it was extra-touristy at the square.



41 days until the Olympics!

From then, we walked across the Mall to check out St. James Park and Buckingham Palace. The weather starting to become uncooperative and the wind was picking up. Leaves and debris were flying into our eyes and mouths, but we survived. Again, despite living in London, and walking by Buckingham Palace often, this was the first time I stopped to actually appreciate it.

 

At that time, it was getting close to dinner. London is an amazing city, but one thing it seriously lacks is decent food (or at least lacking in food that is worth the money you pay). However, notable exceptions to this are the Indian food in London, which is quite authentic and delicious. We went to a place called Dishoom near Covent Garden. Food was good there and reasonably priced. Some lamb biryani, curry, paneer tikka, murgh malai and chessy naan afterwards, we were full and headed home.

Mandy's favourite was the paneer tikka, but it was too spicy for her to fully enjoy it 
Today was also the birthday of one of my good friends at LSE and to celebrate we went to the Charring Cross Theatre and Player bar. This bar plays live piano music and is open until 2:00 am. For those who live in Westminster, it is a common headache that 95% of pubs close at 11:00 pm and stores stop selling alcohol. As a result, the search for drinks past 11:00 pm is always a headache unless one wants to go to one of the crappy Piccadilly tourist clubs. Finding the piano bar was an amazing late discovery for me and my friends and Christoph decided to celebrate his birthday there.

Birthday boy is on the right

That is it for now! Tune in for more updates. Cheerio!


Mandy:

My first thoughts of London: 

1) I didn't bring enough warm clothes
2) It was so windy debris was flying into both my eyes
3) My fave line of the day

Norm: I need to buy a new.... falafel?
Me: You mean a loofah?
Norm: Yes... that....

Friday, June 15, 2012

Summer 2012

Mandy:

Our next adventure is a 4 week Eurotrip starting in London then Amsterdam, Paris, Nice, Barcelona, and back to London for Norm's convocation.

Stay tuned for daily (hopefully) posts!

Two Year Update

Mandy:
It has been two years since our last post. During this time we have travelled to New York City for New Years, Chicago, and Korea. While Norm went to school at Villanova, Pennsylvania I did a road trip around the states and went to Las Vegas.


Here is a quick recap of our travels:



Road trip stop in New Jersey. Rick and I went to the bar where Snooki got punched in the face and beers for $1. We ordered 15. 


We were lucky to have amazing weather in New York City in December. 


Thus far, the best New Years Eve celebrations at Cabanas in the Maritime Hotel.


Post SOA, pre UFE celebrations in Vegas. Four full days of pool parties and clubbing.




Korea Crew Family Picture - Day trip to Gyeongbok Palace.