Food, flip flops, and photos

Today was another interesting day in Singapore. I met up with an old friend for lunch, Krishna. I worked with Krishna over ten years ago at FedEx. He was on the business side of the Pricing department when I was on the IT side.

Krishna and his wife have moved around the world as he has moved up in his Pricing career. Just like everyone else I've spoken with, they really love it in Singapore. It's clean, safe, and easy to get around. Singapore is also very open to foreign workers.

We went for Thai food nearby where I'm staying. As with all the food I've had here, it was delicious. Below is a photo from lunch.

After lunch, I made my first attempt at the subway system here alone. It's very clean and easy to navigate.

I went fairly far and visited the MINT Toy Museum. The museum is five levels and is filled with toys from different times and countries. Interestingly, many of the oldest toys were extremely similar from country to country. Apparently, before the days of patents, it was very common for manufacturers to copy toys from one country to the next.

When I paid for my ticket, I was offered a 20% discount if I would pay with a MasterCard. Financial services are such a big industry here, that is seems many credit card companies and banks sponsor things like theaters. It's as if the FedEx Forum in Memphis were renamed the Visa Forum. As an outsider, it feels strange.

And on the topic of copying... I forgot to share something that happened on my flight from Phuket to Bangkok (on the way to Singapore). I was seated in a window seat on the plane. As we took off, there was a beautiful view of the island and water. The man in the middle seat next to me pulled out a nice digital camera. I leaned back a bit in my chair so that he could have a straight shot out the window at the beauty below. To my surprise, he opened up the Air Asia in flight magazine. The magazine had travel tips for various destinations along with beautiful photos to illustrate each point. He began snapping photos of the photos in the magazine. He was extremely careful to get very close to the photo so as not to have any of the white magazine edges in the pictures. He worked on this task for a while on many photos. It left me wondering if he would show theses photos to friends and say that they were his own from his trip to Phuket.

Anyway, after the toy museum, I explored a few more malls in search for the perfect shampoo. I've had about 3 incidents so far of my shampoo spilling out while in flight and I'm really running low. As someone with very long, naturally curly hair, it's important that I find a reasonably good shampoo. I will say though, my hair really seems to get along with the warm, humid weather I've found in Asia.

While I was walking around, I tried some "milk tea with pearls." It's iced tea made with sweetened condensed milk. It contains these soft round gummy candy pieces in the bottom. If you're familiar with bubble tea, I think it may be the same thing. When you order, they ask what percent sugar that you want. The choices range from zero to 100%. The barista recommended 50% for me as I was clearly clueless about the difference.

On my way back home, I stopped in the subway and got a pedicure. I'm walking miles each day and my nails are beginning to be out of control. Unfortunately, I was wearing normal shoes and not flip flops. The nail salon was very hesitant to paint my nails without the correct footwear, but I assured them it was fine. The pedicure was amazing. My feet feel so much better. The polish did get ruined on the way home, but I don't care. I'm just happy that my feet are comfortable again.

For dinner, Andy, Catherine, and I went to a local restaurant for more Singaporean dishes. As with every meal, the food was incredible. After dinner, we walked all around the downtown area and I was able to see the Singapore Mer-Lion (their national symbol) up close.

I have really enjoyed eating my way around Singapore. In many ways, I wish I could extend my time here just to try more foods. I've also enjoyed being in such a multicultural place. Despite being foreign, I don't feel like I stick out too much because there are many foreigners here.

Eating my way through Singapore

My second day in Singapore was a lot of fun. During the day, Andy took me around the city to see some of the sights.

We rode the subway to a large luxury mall. There is a big mall culture here, so they have all of the best stores.

From there, we went to the top of a very tall luxury hotel for a drink in their rooftop bar. The views were stunning. You could see the port where items are shipped in and all of the tall corporate buildings.

We ate lunch inside a shopping center. There is a big culture around food here, so an entire floor of the mall was dedicated to food - and an ice skating rink. There is even a "river" running through the mall with small boats, much like Las Vegas.

Later that night, we went to a neighborhood called Little India to have Indian food for dinner. We had a delicacy called fish head curry that was very tasty and I had a mango drink that was fantastic.

After dinner, we took a long walk through Little India. The streets were packed with men from south India. Most are workers that come to Singapore to work in construction in order to support their families back home. Sunday is the one day each week that they are required to have a day off and it is when they visit Little India. There were long lines outside of the banks where people waited to send money back to their families.

The experience transported me back to India in a way. The only odd thing was the large discrepancy in numbers of men compared to women. I felt bad for what these people must have to go through to support their families.

On the way back home, we also passed a religious temple. Much like India, many different religions coexist in Singapore.

I learned a lot about Singapore that I didn't know. For example, Singapore only became independent about 50 years ago and has really transformed itself into the safe, business focused place you see today. It's the most densely populated city in the world, so city planning seems to be a big part of life. It's also incredibly safe. For more information about Singapore, here's a Wikipedia article about it: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore

Below are a few photos from the day.

Hello, Singapore!

I made it to Singapore safely this evening. I was met at the airport by another Pepperdine alum, Andy. Andy and his wife Catherine have invited me into their home here in Singapore.

It was nice to see Andy after 8 years. And really strange to think that it's been that long!

After putting my bag pack down, we went for dinner with a couple from their building. We went to a hip bar near their house.

I hear that thing recommended thing to do in Singapore is to eat. I'm very okay with that plan.

Until tomorrow, goodnight.

Goodbye Thailand

My last morning in Thailand was more eventful than I would have guessed. Even though my flight didn't leave until almost 1 PM, my hotel insisted that I should leave at 7 or 8 AM due to the water festival celebrations. Since the airport is only an hour from my hotel, I opted for 8 AM.

Sure enough, as I started to walk out the door to checkout just before 8, the phone rang. It was the front desk. They were going on and on that I was going to be late for my flight due to the festival. And no amount of "I'm walking out the door" would stop them.

I had the same driver as before. Same glitzy car and same dance music playing. We encountered no traffic on the drive and I started to wonder if my early departure had more to do with the driver's holiday than my flight schedule.

We stopped for gas once and encountered two groups spraying water from hoses at the cars going by. I was relieved that nobody opened my car door like I'd seen yesterday. I couldn't imagine anything worse than a day soaking wet with wet luggage in the airport. The driver once rolled his window down to participate. Luckily, I remained dry. We made record time and arrived in about 45 minutes including a stop for gas.

Inside the airport, I went straight to the Air Asia line to check in. This is where it gets strange. Almost immediately, one of my classmates from business school walked past me. His name is Jonathan and he is the only other person from my Pepperdine MBA class from Oklahoma. He lives in LA and the last time I saw him, it was randomly in an airport- the Oklahoma City Airport.

I was totally shocked. I hadn't even had breakfast yet. And in all honesty, when I travel, I tend to see people who remind me of other people, so I often have to do a double take before I say hi. Jonathan was totally calm and simply said "I'll be right back." When he came back, it was with his wife Mary Ruth. They just got married and are on their honeymoon! It must have been a bit odd for her to meet a random Pepperdine person at such a tiny airport in Phuket, Thailand. It was random enough for me. I snapped a quick photo (shown below) and they were off to their flight. Congrats to them if they're reading this!

On a side note, I'm very good at recognizing people I know. Too good sometimes. I even spot friends driving on the highway in their cars. Not from what the car looks like, but because of the person in the car. I once spotted my friend Claire from Pepperdine in the Kauai, Hawaii airport as she was boarding her flight. She screamed out something along the lines of, "oh my gawd!! Oh my! I will call you!!! I have to go!" and ran onto the plane. It will be interesting to see if any other similar encounters happen on this trip.

Back in the Air Asia line, I learned that I could not check my luggage for another hour and a half. The Air Asia employee was confused about why I was at the airport so early at all. This baggage rule kept me from going to the gate early and in turn, chatting with Jonathan and Mary Ruth more. Oh well-- at least there was one bright spot in the early morning.

I decided to get some breakfast. There was a Dunkin Donuts in the airport, so I gave it a try. Airports have been the only time I've allowed myself to eat American food or fast food for that matter. All the donuts were facing into the airport. Each customer takes a set of tongs and puts all the donuts they want onto a tray. Then, at the counter they put them in a bag for you. It was one of the more precarious food situations I've seen in an airport, but the donuts tasted good.

A final note about my time in Thailand... Multiple friends have compared this part of my journey to Eat, Pray, Love. I guess in a way, you could say that it is. I certainly had lots of time to think and to rest. I had planned to do yoga. I found a really interesting studio in a little house on stilts. Unfortunately, it was closed for the holiday. Maybe next time!

And I'm off to my next destination!

It's wet in Phuket

Today was an uneventful day in Phuket. I woke up early and then slept in late. It was very relaxing. And, I realized that from my hotel room (more specifically from my bed), I can see the Big Buddha that sits on the highest point of the island.

I went back to the tailor this afternoon for a fitting of my suit's pants and to take measurements for a coat. I brought the coat that I have with me on the trip as a sample. During the fitting, the store began to put lots of pins in my coat for reference. It was then that I realized that they were expecting to keep my coat and ship it back to me. As much as I'd like it out of my backpack, I'm not finished traveling. I need that coat (despite having ripped the seams out of the arms)! I was of course able to keep it. But as a tip, if you ever plan to go somewhere to have clothes made, consider bringing samples that already fit. It's easier.

The trip back to my hotel took twice as long today. The Thai new year has started and people are out celebrating. How do they celebrate you ask? With giant water guns and buckets of water. They will drench anyone on the street. In fact, I even saw some folks who were opening doors of unlocked cars that were driving by to shoot the driver. It was really wild and unexpected. Somehow I made it out dry. And the tailor had given me the heads up yesterday to protect my phone, so it was safe in a ziplock bag.

When I returned, the pool had been shut down due to the rain, so I sat at the bar, ate ice-cream, and drank beer.

Because of the water festival, my 1 hour drive in the morning is slated to take 3 or 4 hours. That means I will be waking up super early. That fact and the precarious water gun situation outside has led me to order room service. For the first time since I got here, I'm eating non Thai food. I felt guilty until I realized that I've had Thai food in almost every country on my way here. It's always cheap and always open.

I'm having Italian food tonight: fettuccine with pesto sauce and red wine. Fettuccine with pesto is one of my favorites. The wine is not. Unfortunately, the hotel is so focused on tropical drinks that they only sell one kind of red wine. It's not the best, but it works.

I'm avoiding mixed drinks right now (because they're sometimes made with egg whites) so I've had a lot of beer, red wine, bourbon, and whiskey lately. Life could be worse. And the good news is, I haven't been sick from food or drinks at all. Lets hope we can keep it that way!

On a related note, I found an interesting website you might like when traveling. It's called canidrinkthewater.org. It's just what it sounds like: a place to learn about water quality in any country.

Below is a photo of the hotel's decorations today. I wanted to take a photo of the crazy people with the giant sized water guns for you, but it seemed to be a recipe for disaster.

Wish me luck tomorrow!

Sand, suits, and more eggs

As planned, I slept in yesterday. My legs have been hurting and definitely needed a break.

Once I got up, the first thing on my agenda was to stop by the tailor. A friend in Memphis, Shawn, recommended a particular tailor in Phuket. I took a cab the 15 minutes to get there, where I was greeted by the friendly staff. I picked out one woman's suit in black with a blue pin stripe.

The staff took a lot of time to measure me for the suit, but they only measured my left leg. I asked the person with the tape measure to also measure my right leg, and he shrugged it off a bit. So, I asked the owner to measure both. He did it, but obviously thought I was over thinking things until he blurted out, "Oh my gawd! You're right leg is an entire INCH longer than the left one!!" I started to laugh and he immediately composed himself. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound so shocked. It's not unusual to not match perfectly. How did you ever notice this?" he said. I explained that as I grew older, I had noticed issues with my hips, feet, and legs that led me to figure it out. That and my jeans only get torn up on one side at the bottoms.

After picking out a suit, I started picking out a winter coat. The final details on that will be chosen today when I go in for a fitting. The Thai new year festivities start tonight, so the store will have to ship everything to me. My understanding is that the new year is celebrated as a water festival where everyone dumps water on each other. I may put my phone in a plastic bag today, just in case.

The store gave me a ride back to my hotel. The driver was very interested to chat with me and I learned quite a bit. Originally from Bangkok, he's lived in Phuket a few times. First, he was a bartender. Then, he installed Internet wiring in a resort and now, he's a driver for the tailor. He said that people in Bangkok are more friendly and smile more and in Phuket, they tend to scowl more. This is the opposite of what I would have guessed. He also mentioned how bad tuk tuk drivers are. He said that they change their rates on you during the drive and that they won't stop when a honking car is driving at them. I wasn't planning to try one of these, but it's good to know.

During the drive, he noticed me spotting police with intimidating looking signs about not having weapons. Initially, he started to explain that people had died from bombs during the new year. Then, he switched to saying that people got drunk and drowned during the water festival. I suspect that both happen, but that he may have decided to scale back the violence for me a bit. When I looked up the festival on Wikipedia, it also mentioned bombs, so I suppose that part wasn't just lost in translation.

After returning from my hotel, I went to the beach. As expected, it was very pretty and very crowded. I took a long walk and saw all sorts of tourists wearing way too tight swimsuits. The beach itself seemed to be designed around excess. You could get a massage, a mixed drink, or a temporary tattoo all within a few feet of your beach chair.

The next task was dinner. I took a long and exhausting walk around looking for a karaoke bar that's voted as the best restaurant on the island. After not finding it right away, I opted for my second choice-- an upscale places called the Boathouse. They have a French chef there who makes both French and Thai food.

When I sat down, I felt a huge sigh of relief. The place was quiet with a view of the ocean. They had a live piano player who focused on songs Frank Sinatra once sang. Everything was super clean. Then it hit me-- nice places, especially European places, use raw eggs in their food. (If only I was content eating cheap fried food for every meal!)

I ordered a glass of Malbec from a vineyard called Catena that I visited a few years ago in Argentina-- and a 5-course Thai meal. I explained to the waiter that raw eggs make me ill and that it's important that I don't eat any. As the same as every place before, he started out by saying that "all of our food is cooked very well here." I think it's assumed that I think the eggs were mishandled or are old. I responded by asking, "what about the ice-cream in the dessert?" He thought for a second and said, "well that just uses egg whites." Of course I explained that these make me very ill. He checked with the kitchen on any other items that might contain eggs. Luckily, the ice-cream was it.

The wine and the food were amazing. I also got a glass of Thai Shiraz, but it wasn't the same as the Malbec. I was dehydrated from the day and probably had eight cups of water during dinner. My waiter asked at one point if the food was too hot for me. Since it had almost no heat, I was confused. Then I realized that all of the water must have made him think I thought the food was spicey. Below are photos of the meal.

On the way back to my resort, I asked for a cab. It was only two blocks, but it was dark. The streets were packed with tourists, salespeople, and unforgiving cars and motorcycles. The restaurant valet laughed at the thought of hailing me a cab and decided to take me himself for free. I would have to assume that he understood that it wasn't the best idea for me to be wandering alone by myself in the dark, even for a short distance.

This brings me to an overall assessment of Thailand. It's beautiful here and very inexpensive; I like it. But as a single woman, it's a bit uncomfortable. I can't blend in here like I was able to in Europe. People know I'm foreign and most know right away that I'm American. Even getting out of my car for a moment, I get comments like, "hey sexy lady" from women and men who are trying to sell something. I like it here, but I think I would like it more with friends.

Time for relaxation

I will keep today's post short. The purpose of my trip to Thailand is to rest and recharge. I've been traveling for a month now and I'm starting to get tired.

Today, I slept in, ordered room service, and got a massage. My legs are exhausted to the point that it hurts a bit to walk. I guess that walking everywhere for four weeks will do that. I'm taking vitamin C and trying to soak in a little TV.

Tomorrow, I hope to go to the beach and maybe to yoga, but the weather is predicting rain all day. I'm not sure of my strategy yet for downpours, but I guess I will figure that out. There's an umbrella in my room after all.

Below is a photo of the Pad Thai I had for dinner. Interestingly enough, it's covered with one thin cooked egg and wrapped up like a package.

Good morning to those in the US. I'm heading to sleep soon.

Traveling to Thailand

I arrived in Phuket, Thailand yesterday. It proved to be one of the more complicated travel days so far.

I woke up in Hong Kong around 7 am yesterday and took a taxi to a train called the Airport Express. I was excited because usually you can check your luggage at the Airport Express and not see it again until you reach your final destination. I had just enough time to check my bag and take the 30 minute ride to the airport. Unfortunately, upon arriving at the train, I learned that Air Asia is the one airline that you can't check there.

Just as I started to grow nervous about my bag and the impact to my flight, I ran into Kathryn on the train. Hong Kong seems like such a big small town. On the ride in, we talked about Memphis and I found that I would have just enough time to check my bag at the airport-- if there were no mistakes.

When we pulled up, the doors opened on both sides on the train. One side went to terminal one and one to terminal two. Which one would I take? I had no idea. There hadn't been any signs or mention of this until now. Initially, I got out on one side and quickly realized I was in the wrong side. Just before it took off, I ran back onto the train and through the doors in the other side.

I had checked in online the night before, but had no way to print my ticket. When I reached the Air Asia counter,I had five minutes left before the baggage cutoff time. The checkin line was huge, so I went straight to the bag drop counter. Luckily, I was able to get my ticket and check my bag. Unfortunately, I also found out that my bag would not be checked all the way through. I would need to pick it up during my layover in Bangkok and go back through security again.

Before I left, the woman at the counter looked at me very seriously and said, "you need to go straight to the gate. There's no time. Go and don't stop. Don't be late." This increased my already high adrenaline level. I went down the hall, around a corner, down an escalator. Onto one train. Off the train. Onto a second train. Off the train. Up an escalator. Around a corridor. Down a huge hallway with multiple moving sidewalks. I made it exactly on time! And boarding was late. Of course.

The flight to Bangkok was bumpy, outside food was not allowed, and they only accepted payments for food in the local Thai currency. Midway through the flight. I realized that we were delayed-- by 30 minutes. The crew seemed to be oblivious of the delay and weren't able to check my luggage through all the way. Now I was down to 1.5 hours to navigate the airport, find my luggage, go through immigration and customs, re-check-in, drop my bag, go back through security, find my gate, take a bus to the plane and board 20 minutes prior to takeoff. (Keep in mind that I had no idea how big or complicated the airport was or wasn't.)

Well, I made it! It's probably the one time on the trip I've been aggressive. I was ready to push over just about anyone who got in my way. I even had a few minutes to spare once I got to the gate. I stopped by one of the only food options for a snack-McDonalds. I was surprised to see that one of the other options was a Crispy Creme.

When I arrived at the Phuket Airport, my driver was waiting. The hotel I'm staying at is an hour away, so they sent someone to pick me up. He was a great driver, so I avoided getting car sick again. And, his car was totally bedazzled on the inside. Check out the photo below.

Last night, I checked in, had dinner, and looked around. The room is very relaxing. It faces a pool and lush greenery. And, it has free Internet!

Below are a few photos from the journey to Phuket.

Hong Kong in a Memphis themed nutshell

Wow. It seems like I haven't written in ages and in fact, it's been 5 days. I left Hong Kong yesterday after 4 nights. I stayed with one of my Memphis neighbors who recently relocated, Shea. It's amazing just how much I've seen Memphis friends on my trip so far.

The first full day I spent relaxing. I took my laundry to be washed and had lunch at a local English pub. That evening, we went out with a relatively large group to a local club / bar (after first stopping at a local pub and a pizza place). Many of the people in the group were also either from Memphis or had lived in Memphis-- and a few still had condos downtown. We had drinks and enjoyed dance music and bright lights. It's interesting how much popular music is the same everywhere. I've heard the same songs in bars and clubs in every country I've visited.

The next day, we visited another part of Hong Kong for lunch with part of the group from the night before. The location was beautiful and we got a chance to check out the markets, but unfortunately it took a curvy taxi ride to get us there. I felt sick all day.

The following day (which was the last full day) was by far the most exciting. We walked all over Hong Kong. We saw parks and a zoo. We took a tram up to see Hong Kong from one of its highest points. While waiting in line, we made a new friend from the US, Kathryn. She lives in Denver, but used to live in Memphis and knows a few of the same people I do!

Kathryn joined us on the walk down the hill and together we all went to the Hong Kong Art Museum. Afterward, we checked out the worlds highest bar. I think it was called O Zone. It was very stylish, but they seemed to struggle with processing payment transactions. I won't get into it here, but lets just say it was a little shocking how hard it was for us to pay our bill.

After dinner, we went to the night market, the "wet" (food) market, and the ladies market. We also had dinner at a street vendor at the night market. Everything was very different and interesting.

Overall, Hong Kong was much more organized and less fast paced than I had imagined. There were surprisingly high numbers of foreigners living there... All with very interesting jobs. The weather was great, the people were great. Overall, it the city gets an A from me. :-) Shea also deserves a huge thank you for being such a great tour guide!

Below are a few photos from my time in Hong Kong.

Hello, Hong Kong!

I've made it to Hong Kong and have completely switched time zones again.

My trip here was nothing short of interesting. I flew from Amsterdam to Moscow to Hong Kong. On the first flight, I met two very nice people. One is a designer originally from Korea and the other is a dancer / dance teacher originally from Russia. Both now live in Amsterdam so we all shared experiences about the city and moving to different cultures.

During the flight, one of the people mentioned a dislike of the Moscow airport. I wondered what could be different, but I soon found out. The moment I landed, I got a text from Greg that said "don't look at your phone until you're through security in this airport!" It's a good thing he texted me, because that's just what I was about to do!

Once inside the airport, the staff was not especially happy or helpful. On the way to my gate, I noticed two things. First, I was very warm. It felt like summer to me in the airport, but looking out the window, I could see lots of snow. Second, people were smoking inside the airport. I had heard about this before, but didn't really believe it was possible. Sure enough, people were smoking and the airport smelled a bit like a casino to me. While standing at my gate, a bird also flew by inside...

The flight itself was okay. I sat next to a very nice man who clearly had either been traveling for days or had different standards on bathing than me. Because of this, I didn't end up sleeping at all on the eight hour flight to Hong Kong. I did get a chance to watch Argo though. It was amazing! And another interesting thing-- the in flight magazine had an article about Lindsey Lohan. It was about what an amazing actress she is, how bad her father is, and how the tabloids in the US are unfairly persecuting her and ruining her career. Poor Lindsey was the theme. No wonder she goes abroad so often!

Once we landed in Hong Kong, things suddenly became much more calm. The airport was the most organized chaos I've seen so far. Walking through the airport, there were a number of kiosks of very serious looking people. They each said "temperature reading station." They would stare as you walk by. My only guess is that if you look sick, they pull you aside and take your temperature. I just wonder what happens if you have a fever.

The line to go through immigration was huge, but super efficient. The agent took my passport, read through it, stapled in a tourist visa of sorts, and handed it back to me. There was no need for conversation. No need to say hello is another language. No pulling out all of my future reservations. It was nice and a big relief.

I'm staying with a friend from my building back home in Memphis, Shea. Shea is out of town today so two of his friends set me up in his apartment once I arrived. Getting here was easy because he sent some of the best directions I've ever seen. They were written out step by step with photos of every sign or line or building I needed to look for.

So far, I've had piece of pizza and a big nap (a rule breaker for switching time zones). I think I may stay in tonight and rest, so I will be more energetic tomorrow. Hopefully, I will actually sleep!

Goodbye Amsterdam

Amsterdam, it's been fun. I wasn't so sure about you at first, but you turned out to be okay.

I left my hotel around 10 AM this morning to embark on my new adventure. Leaving after almost a week in the same place made me nervous that I might forget something important. I only have just enough of each thing, so losing something is a big deal.

Right now, I'm searching for some high quality shampoo. My perfectly measured bottle leaked on my last flight and I'm completely out as of this morning. Recommendations for high quality shampoo abroad are welcome.

Anyway-- I took a bus to the airport. Although I was running a few minutes late, so was the bus. I made it and arrived at the airport fairly smoothly.

A friend mentioned to me that there are tons of items on the McDonalds menu here that they don't recognize. Although it generally goes against my personal policy, I decided to check out the McD's here. It was about $14 for a McChicken meal with fries and a bottle of water. And they charged per package of ketchup or fry sauce. Interestingly, there were tons of things on the menu that were different. The most interesting was a Greek sandwich. It looks like a gyro, but with a giant beef patty in the middle. I tried to get a photo, but the staff told me in a very stern voice that photos are not allowed. Below is the one photo I was able to snap without anyone noticing.

When I left the hotel today, I dropped off my FedEx package with the hotel's front desk. I told them to call me if anything went wrong with my pickup this morning. Sure enough, they called while I was waiting for my flight. The driver was looking for more paperwork or he wouldn't take my package. This really made my mind race. Clearly, I can't leave the airport to go back and get it. What would I do?? After, I explained that the box contains personal items like sweaters that I'm sending back to lighten my backpack, the driver agreed to take it. Whew!! What a relief. Hopefully it will make it all the way to Memphis smoothly.

I'm waiting now for my plane to begin boarding. Honestly, being in an airport makes me nervous. I feel like the airport staff are always under the impression that there are very strict rules at the airport, but they are never quite on the same page about what those rules are. (And the staff always has just a little too much power to mess up your day if they are so inclined.)

Today, I'm heading to a country that doesn't require a visa for Americans, but the staff here really struggled with that idea. It makes me nervous that I could end up stuck sleeping in an airport somewhere. Wasn't there a movie about that already?

Wish me luck today!

Cheese and pancakes

Today was another successful (although hectic) day in Amsterdam.

I started out the day by going to a cheese tasting class. It was held at the one place left in The Netherlands that ages their cheeses in the old fashioned way. The first step though was getting to the class. There was a tram leaving from my hotel that only took 10 minutes as the class was just a mile away. Unfortunately, just in front of the tram was a broken down truck that a crew was attempting to fix right there. As you can guess, the tram had a sign in it saying "sorry." I walked to the next station to find that the next tram was also stopped in order to not back up more traffic. And so was the next one. Suddenly, I had very little time to walk the mile. There was even road construction in my path. Luckily, I made it just two minutes after the start time and before the teacher started.

We learned about six cheeses and tried them with red wine, white wine, and port. It was very interesting to spend so much time learning about each cheese. We talked about how they were made, how long each was aged, the color, the smell, and most importantly, the flavor. We then compared the tastes when eating the cheese with the various wines.

Directly behind me was an over achieving English couple and behind them were their two teenage children. I picture that these parents always sat in the front row during grade school. I also suspect that they don't drink often as adults, as their alcohol tolerance appeared to be quite low. Each time the teacher asked a question, they shouted out the answer first. The more they drank, the more excited and louder they became. They may be the first people I've met who possibly like cheese more than me. I often thought about how embarrassed their poor children must feel about mom and dad getting drunk and loud in the cheese tasting class. Either way, I learned a lot and got another certificate. Ha. They are very big on certificates here I suppose.

Next, I went to the Anne Frank House. I waited in the freezing cold for an hour to see it and it was really worth every minute. The house where Anne Frank and her family hid is located in the middle of Amsterdam. Visitors can walk through the house, read about the history, and see videos of the survivors. I read Anne Frank's diary in school as a child, and it's amazing to see the house in person. They even had real copies of her diary there to view. The best part was a video of her father describing when he found the diaries, his hesitance to read them, and then the process he went through to publish them.

At the very end of the tour, they had something I didn't expect. Videos were playing about some of today's current issues. The first was people who deny the Holocaust. In many countries, denying they it happened is illegal. I didn't realize it, but there are currently videos on YouTube that deny the Holocaust. In other countries, these videos would be banned, but in the US, it's considered part of free speech. The museum was making a statement regarding their negative feelings toward this.

The other thing in the video that I wasn't expecting was with regards to gay marriage. It seemed to be geared at the US, although I'm not sure. Maybe the timing was just right. It was really a statement on separating a religious groups views from the basic rights of people. Although it surprised me to see it there, I can see how it fit nicely into the overall message of the museum.

After all this sadness, it was time for something happier. I headed to a place called Pancakes! to try Dutch pancakes. The waitress seated me with a couple who was about my age (because the seating was limited). I introduced myself and the woman said her name was Alex. Her husband never said his name and chose not to look at me throughout the meal. The couple quietly had a conversation together and never spoke to me during the meal. It was the most I have ever felt like a 3rd wheel in my life... Or at least for a while. When we paid, I asked Alex where they were visiting from. She said England and then immediately said, "you're American, aren't you?" Well, gold star for Alex. She's the first person to guess my nationality (and most certainly the least friendly). Anyway, the food was good. :-)

On the way back to my hotel, I stopped by a Ben & Jerry's for a little taste of home. They had my favorite flavor, Cherry Garcia, and the place was decorated much like the stores in the US (and the one we had in college at RPI).

After getting back to my hotel, that's when the real chaos started. I procured a box for $10 at a bookstore nearby (it only took 4 days to locate it!). Then I called to schedule a FedEx pickup. It took two calls because I didn't have my account number handy the first time. Next, I had to print three copies of a shipping label. There is no way to print from my iPad, so I had to rent the hotel computer for about $7.50 per 15 minutes of use, plus copies. Needless to say, this wasn't cheap. Eventually, I got it done. All I need is a little tape for the box. Hopefully, the front desk can scrape some together before FedEx gets here tomorrow. On the bright side, it's going to lighten my backpack by about 10 pounds!

Situations like this one make me so happy to live in Memphis, where people are friendly and everything is so easy-- and so darn cheap!

Time to sleep. Big day tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Heineken and Picasso

Today was another good day. I started off having a beautiful Brie and pear sandwich at a local pub.

Then, I headed over to Heineken for the factory tour. I learned more about beer brewing and most of all, that Heineken is a marketing beast. I was incredibly impressed with all of their advertising. They also had a beer pouring school where I learned why a beer with foam on top is good. I was the only person in my group who had a perfect pour on the first try. The teacher was so happy that she raised my glass up for everyone to see and asked if I was an experienced pourer. Clearly my lesson at Guinness paid off. I'm definitely ready for BBQ Fest now!

After the tour, I went to a grocery store where I found a few other items. I'm hoping to mail them back tomorrow, but have had trouble securing a box. I hear there's a bookstore nearby where I can find one in the morning.

Last, but definitely not least, I stopped by a museum called Stedelijk. It's a modern art and design museum located within the city. The art was really fantastic. I've enjoyed checking out various pieces from my favorite artists in different countries. A few of my favorites were by Van Gogh, Kandinsky, Matisse, Mondrian, Picasso, and Monet.

During my walk, I spotted a few large public parks. They were all very well done. In fact, most things here seem to have an element created for children- indoors and out. That has been a very nice part of the city and culture.

I hope you enjoy the photos below from my day.

Carpets made of tulips

Today was like a puzzle that I'm proud to say I had a nice time figuring it out.

I woke up not feeling so well and ended up cutting my plans back a bit.

I'm still in Amsterdam and decided to use my time today to check out the largest flower garden in the world. As you can imagine, it's located outside of the city. Getting to the garden took 2 buses- one to take airport and then one from the airport to the garden. I made it both ways with no issues. This may be the first time I've ever negotiated a bus system this way on my own, so it was a big relief that it worked out.

The weather was a bit cold and most of the tulips haven't come out yet. I have a feeling that the garden will be a completely different place in two weeks. The good news was that the garden had a number of indoor flower exhibits and shops.

After the garden, I tried another Thai place for dinner. The local restaurant I tried to go to had already stopped serving food. Thai restaurants seems to always be open late and cost less, no matter where I am.

Right now, I'm winding down and watching Seinfeld. It's one of the only English speaking shows on TV. If I had to choose, it's certainly not a bad pick.

Below are a few photos from today.