30 Sep 2008 No Comments
in Food & Drinks, Simply Green
Amai! Look at the price of these Belgian endives!
And yet, these are not the most expensive endives I’ve seen in America. Five years ago in Michigan, it was one dollar per endive.
I’m thankful I am living in witloof country and do not have to pay an arm or a leg to get decent vegetable.
29 Sep 2008 No Comments
in Travels
Despite the lengthy 5 hour transit and a 2 hour delay at JFK, the flights from Brussels to New York and then San Francisco were pretty decent. I managed to get exit row seats for both flights because it was not peak travel period. Thank goodness!
Being a short person, I do not need much leg room but the boyfriend does. Exit row seats are just much more flexible and less stuffy. On the first leg of the trip, the guy on my left moved to another empty seat because the plane door was crushing his knees. American airlines are known to create extra seats in the most unlikely places.
Overall a good transatlantic trip. I am glad to be back in the US and look forward to spending some time with my family.
28 Sep 2008 No Comments
in Travels
In approximately 4 hours, my boyfriend and I will be flying off to the US for our vacation, my sister’s wedding and the Tang family reunion. I will take pictures and document the event for later blogs.
I am looking forward to seeing my entire family (with addition of little Oliver). To visit the beautiful city of San Francisco again. I’ve lived in SF for almost a year and never stopped loving its uniqueness. One week will be spent in Sonoma Valley. I’ve never been to the California wine country. Guess I’m getting what I wish for again…lucky me!
Now let’s wish that Belgians authorities will let me back in 2 weeks later. 
27 Sep 2008 No Comments
There are so many good eating places in Gent, it has become a difficult luxury to pick a place to eat out.
Marco Polo Trattoria on Serpentstraat (what a name Serpent Street…) is just across the street from where I live. I pass by the place every single day when doing my grocery rounds. Whenever the boyfriend and I take a walk around the neighborhood, we always say to each other “we must go there once”. And it is on the list.
Despite the Buddhism inspired deco of dark wood and Tibetan prayer flags, Marco Polo Trattoria serves delicious and authentic Italian meals in generous portions. One really cannot go wrong with a restaurant that serves handmade pasta prepared on the spot!
I ordered the special of the evening which is a salmon, mussels, pasta dish. Boyfriend ordered the pizza with Italian ham. The salmon and mussels were very well prepared and nothing beats the handmade pasta. This pasta lover would have licked the plate clean if not for other people.
The bio wine was actually very good. I do not know where I got the notion that bio alcohol is horrid. And the Gent flower-accented Roomer has just become my favorite aperitif.
26 Sep 2008 No Comments
Inspired by the UK Up Series, I have tried to record some significant thoughts and events that is my life in 7 year gaps.
Seven
Fourteen
Twenty-One
Twenty-Eight
Thirty-Five
I think my life can be even more exciting and eventful if I had not been a shy and timid person. I hope to make up for it in the following years living in Europe and traveling the world!
25 Sep 2008 No Comments
in Belgium
…alstublieft?
Today, I do not feel like walking to my favourite bakery – Himschoot. So, I went to the one that is just a block away. I wished it was the man who speaks English working the counter, but I got an older lady who only speaks Nederlands. This baker lady is always polite and friendly to me. I think she enjoys the fact that I was forced to speak Dutch when I encounter her.
Klein, wit brood alstublieft is one of the better sentences that I can utter. Though I quite often forget the alstublieft and probably appear rude. Like the Chinese students in America, who often seem rude and loud when they speak English. It does not help that Asians usually have poker face expressions. I must remember to smile even if I forget my please and thank you. 
I have yet to muster the courage to say ‘bruin’ because I honestly believe I might say something bad. Or get the usual question of “you want the light brown or the dark brown?”. That would be too much foreign language in one encounter. After small, white bread please, the best I can do is answer ja to the question “you want it sliced?”.
I dislike looking and feeling foolish, but it is unavoidable. Language learning is often a slow and painful process. Especially in a country where dialects are spoken more often than proper Dutch. I do take comfort in realizing that I already know 3 languages (English, Malay, Mandarin), and 2 Chinese dialects (Cantonese, Hakka).
Up till now, I have refused to learn any Belgian dialects. I want to be comfortable with the Dutch language before I do so. I do however know a one liner in Kortrijk dialect. It amuses my boyfriend every time I say it.
24 Sep 2008 No Comments
Deleting The “Save” Icon is an article that questions the use of a floppy disk image as the ‘save’ icon. When I read this, I went ‘oh yeah huh?’. Observant as I am, I never notice this inconsistency until the author points it out. Now this made me wonder. Would a younger computer user notice the weird icon? Could it be that we recycle our design work so much that we brought back outdated images and not realize it? Old fashion can be revisited and resurrected, but I doubt you can use the same creative process on evolving technology.
It might be worth mentioning that the last time I saw a floppy disk was December 2007. I needed to clear out my junk in preparation for the move to Belgium. My computer is an older model containing the right disk drive, so I was able to go through the floppies and make sure that I have no important data on them. I tossed the floppies away after removing old pictures (taken before the emergence of digital cameras) and drivers of long retired computer accessories. Being paranoid of identity theft, I did destroy these in all imaginable ways.
How did we survive the era of 1.44 MB storage space?
23 Sep 2008 1 Comment
in Travels
I was browsing travel news and came upon an article entitled When in Rome…Keep an Eye on Your Purse. It is a simple warning to those planning a trip to Rome. I personally think the warning applies to most big cities in the world.
I have had close encounters with petty thefts in most big cities – Paris, San Francisco, Kuala Lumpur and Dongguan, China. Despite heightened awareness and paranoia (quoting the boyfriend), I let down my guard once and my purse got snatched in Barcelona, Spain. 2 years after the nasty incident, I still can’t bring myself to carry a purse unless it has a cross body strap as tight as a goddamn seat belt.
All the trouble (not the incident) could have been avoided if I had:
It took me a while before I stop blaming myself for being stupid. I now believe that these kind of stuff happened to the best of us and are sometimes unavoidable. Despite my loss and the bad experience, I was fortunate no one got hurt. An ordeal I do not plan on re-living ever!
21 Sep 2008 No Comments
in Happenings
It amazes me profoundly that any event can be kept alive for 200 years, but I guess I will see more of that as long as I live here in Europe.
Hours before the event, I drilled the boyfriend on his knowledge of local Belgian festivals. What the hell is the Floralien? Is it anything like the Rose Parade in the US? His simple answer to me was ‘I have no freaking idea and I’ll be as surprised as you.’
I knew this is going to be something big when I saw hard core parade fans sitting on their retractable chairs early in the morning. The parade is not starting till 3pm. Talk about dedication!
People were everywhere by 3pm, filling up every available spot on the sidewalks, shoving themselves into potential good view points. Not everyone wants to pay the 18 Euro ticket for a seat.
We made our way to the Friday Market but that was too jammed. So, we went to the side streets but that was packed as well. We did a long walk and ended up next to the city hall of Gent. And how lucky we were! We stood behind short old people (God bless them) who didn’t move around too much.
The parade took an hour. It wasn’t that much of a flora display and there were no beautiful girls smiling and waving to the crowds. It was more of a marching play of the city’s history. And what a bloody and violent past Gent has endured.
My spot on the stairs of the city hall wasn’t ideal, but I caught a glimpse of the king. Well, more like the back of a head and a waving hand. I hope it was the KIng. It was cool knowing that the Belgian royalties were in the same city as I. Next parade will be in 2010!
20 Sep 2008 No Comments
in Happenings
Today started out like any other Saturday in Harelbeke. I got up after 9 (for me…that’s late), drank my cup of coffee and sat myself in front of the computer. The computer activities were punctured occasionally by helping out with house chores. It was an exceptionally sunny day this time of the year and air-dried laundry is a beautiful thing.
After lunch, boyfriend and I attended a welcoming reception for new residents at the stadhuis (city hall). I am never too fond of such events but curiosity got the better of me. The boyfriend wanted to see where his tax money went. Two speeches, a group photo, a guided tour of the building, a present from the city and 3 glasses of wine later…I must say that the afternoon event was quite enjoyable.
After the reception, we walked to the city fair of Harelbeke. The main Kortrijk-Gent street was blocked off for
about 10 blocks. On it were food stands, drink stalls and lots of people. At night, concerts were held. Boyfriend and I went to the Rat Rock Concert and saw the band Senser.
I’ve experienced Harelbeke the city from different view points and love the small city for specific reasons. Today it was alive and rocking!!!
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