Brooklyn Heights Life

Healthy Dinner

2012-02-11T19:39:00.001-05:00

To offset meaty lunch, we cooked a very healthy dinner tonight. Brown rice (sticky one), spinach, mushroom and tofu. We adopted Korean favor for the tofu. I love this red pepper paste. This time I mixed with sesame oil and green onion.

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Just Like My Italian Mom Made...

2012-02-11T13:27:00.001-05:00

We were determined to cook pasta with meat ball when we went to the grocery store yesterday. Ground beef and Italian sausage, the golden combination for meat balls.

Home made sauce made this dish to the next level.

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Rare Snow in Haarlem

2012-02-04T03:51:00.001-05:00

We had a red snow day yesterday and this morning it is like single digits - COLD...

It is beautiful at least.

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Tiny Car

2012-01-29T07:54:00.001-05:00

Basically all cars here are much smaller than ones in the states. But this is an extremely small car. Two people barely fit into the car. As you can see many bicycles too even during winter.

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Best Cake in Amsterdam

2012-01-28T12:52:00.001-05:00

I looked up the web and this place was supposed to be the best. Very crowded with the customers. Still traditional European cakes - different from American or Japanese.

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Light? Lunch

2012-01-28T07:05:00.001-05:00

Another market weekend here in downtown Haarlem (just be clear this is in the Netherlands). Very nutty bread I found. Kind like a German bread base (a bit sour), with a lot of nuts in and out sides. Yummy.

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Belgium Chocolate

2012-01-28T07:01:00.001-05:00

I liked this chocolate when I went to a town in Belgium. I did not mind to drive back there but I found that they have a shop in Haarlem. This is the smallest box they have, but it still holds like 20 pieces. I have another BIGGER box to home...

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Breakfast st Hotel

2012-01-28T04:56:00.001-05:00

Might have uploaded a similar one before but this is what I have been rating in Amsterdam. Not too bad but imagine the same selection every day...

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Ina's Recepit

2012-01-23T16:52:00.002-05:00

We tried our favorites TV personnel, Ina. Oven baked salmon topped with lemon zest and panko. Lemon favor totally cut the richness of the salmon. Total success. We will try this again.

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Weekend Home Cooking

2012-01-21T19:28:00.001-05:00

A typical weekend evening, we cooked our dinner home. A light dinner - tofu / chicken burg. Why it was a light meal? We had a fancy dinner in the city yesterday to celebrate a special day which was put off several days.

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Pre-B'day Dinner

2012-01-15T19:24:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow is a big day, so we needed pre-dinner. Beef stew just like the way someone likes.

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French Lunch Two

2012-01-13T14:57:00.001-05:00

My desert was home made strawberry ice cream. Rich yet not too sweet. Japanese / French style. A lot of topics to catch up over three courses meal.

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French Lunch One

2012-01-13T14:55:00.001-05:00

I forgot to post about this lunch. This Wednesday I went to lunch with another old friend to a French place. It turned out this area is famous for French restaurants. 2 hours of precious time.

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Tonkutsu Dinner

2012-01-13T08:41:00.001-05:00

Last night in Japan was with my old friend. Crunchy outside and juicy inside. A lot of good meals and wonderful reunions. Thanks Japan.

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In Tokyo

2012-01-09T03:17:00.001-05:00

Back in Japan on business, and today I came to Tokyo for the work from tomorrow. This hotel is located just a minute from one of the biggest department stores in Japan, so very dangerous...

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Did You Say Chinese?

2011-12-30T20:45:00.001-05:00

One of unique dishes at a Chinese restaurant in China town. I learned this place from my ex coworker. This crab dish is always good.

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Burger and Fries

2011-12-30T20:43:00.001-05:00

I don't eat burgers so often but when I do, I go all the way - no skimming. Extra bacon and the fries were awesome... No dinner tonight though.

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Oshiruko

2011-12-29T18:26:00.001-05:00

My friend visiting from Japan helped me cook anko from the scratch. It came out really good, maybe because of the beans or the pot I used.

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Hot Chocolate

2011-12-28T16:12:00.001-05:00

Finally I had a chance to come to the city bakery for their famous hot chocolate. It was like liquid chocolate... 1,000 calories just added to my body...

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Lunch at Essa

2011-12-28T14:10:00.001-05:00

It's been a while since last time. Sun dried tomato and lax spreads. Don't go to the counter but to the bagel window to get fresh ones.

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Showing The City

2011-12-26T18:16:00.001-05:00

We have a friend visiting from Japan this week. It is nice to show my city to our friend. Very interesting clouds.

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Last picture at the airport. How appropriate to have a cup of cappuccino.

2011-12-24T06:49:00.001-05:00

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Last Meal Four

2011-12-21T15:47:00.001-05:00

My second past for the night. Tomato sauce with Bacon. I think this is a traditional Roman dish as well.

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Last Map Three

2011-12-21T15:46:00.001-05:00

Only meat dish we had. I think it is veal. They have nice marinara sauce.

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Last Meal Two

2011-12-21T15:44:00.001-05:00

You have to have this in Rome. Carbonara.

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Last Meal One

2011-12-21T15:43:00.001-05:00

Another great find. As usual started with vegetable antipastos.

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Day Trip to Tivoli Two

2011-12-21T11:18:00.001-05:00

This place is famous for the garden with many fountains. It was one time used for pope's daughter's summer house. Just perfect.

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Day Trip to Tivoli One

2011-12-21T11:16:00.001-05:00

As both have been here in Rome before we decided to go outside of Rome. It was a wonderful decision we made. Subway and local bus brought us to this wonderful town. Look at the view. We saw many olive trees on the hills.

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Dinner Three

2011-12-20T15:36:00.001-05:00

This is the restaurant for the night. You can see we are in Rome.

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Dinner Two

2011-12-20T15:35:00.001-05:00

Second dish was heavier side, meat and cream sauce. Perfect al dente. Having dinner hearing Italian was adding authenticity.

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Dinner One

2011-12-20T15:32:00.001-05:00

We found this traditional restaurant. Lack of vegetables these days so we started with vegetable dishes. Both were very yummy.

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Colosseum

2011-12-20T09:55:00.001-05:00

We had a nice long walk from the hotel to see many sights and this was towards the end of it. I like the contrast with blue sky.

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Best Pizza Yet

2011-12-20T09:52:00.001-05:00

We find a pizza place today by accident. Typical Italian pizza meaning they measure it by weight. Eggplant this time. We might come back as it was sooooo good.

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X'mas Decoration in Fendi Way

2011-12-20T03:39:00.001-05:00

One of the interesting decorated buildings in the city so far we found.

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Our Room in Rome

2011-12-20T03:37:00.001-05:00

Very interesting hotel we are staying this time. In the old building but they have completely renovated. They have very tall ceiling with pink stripe wall paper.

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Rome Day One

2011-12-19T12:31:00.001-05:00

5 minutes walk from the hotel led us to the Spanish steps. The sky was really blue and the contrast with soil colored building.

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Pasta in Rome

2011-12-19T09:08:00.001-05:00

First meal in Rome. Easy a bit over hour flight from Vienna. Warmer but still winter weather. What's next.

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Austrian Cuisine

2011-12-18T15:57:00.001-05:00

Finally a sit down dinner at a neighborhood type restaurant we accidental found yesterday. Traditional dishes. A pretty place with minimal tourists, which was really nice.

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Opera Night

2011-12-18T15:55:00.001-05:00

As it is the birth place to so many musicians, we decided to do to the best opera house in Vienna. A beautiful building with a lot of history. Not a great seat but enough to enjoy the atmosphere.

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The View from the Cafe

2011-12-18T10:21:00.001-05:00

I can sit here all day long if I can have coffee, cake and this view. Fantastic!

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Coffee Break

2011-12-18T08:11:00.001-05:00

After walking around the city, another round of coffee and of course chocolate cake was necessary. This time, another famous and classic cafe we accidental found. I liked this place better than the one yesterday.

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St. Stephen

2011-12-18T08:07:00.001-05:00

Five minutes from the hotel, the heart of the city, St. Stephen. Inside was stunning as outsude.

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Coffee Break at Demel

2011-12-17T12:50:00.001-05:00

At one of the famous coffee place in Vienna. With traditional chocolate cake. Very established building with nice decor to match.

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Different Type of Cheese Toast

2011-12-17T12:47:00.001-05:00

I think I have heard about it, but did not know it is an Austria thing. Anyway, there was a stand selling unique cheese toast. They have heating systems directly melting cheeses. Once it is nicely browned, they scrap the surface and top on the toast. They have us a sample, so we did not buy a full serving.

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View from the Palace

2011-12-17T06:29:00.001-05:00

While waiting for the entey, we climed up the hill for the famous view. It was well worth to do so as we can see the palace and the city at once. COLD here.

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Breakfast in Vienna

2011-12-17T03:10:00.001-05:00

We started the day with semi-healthy breakfast at the hotel. This is one of the rewards staying so many nights at hotels to have a status giving me a feel that I am treated like a king. Nice top floor room facing a park in vienna.

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At AMS Airport

2011-12-16T09:53:00.001-05:00

Off to Vienna and Rome for a week. I am very excited...

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Snack Number Five

2011-12-11T08:24:00.001-05:00

I know it is over the top, but I don't eat this every week. And I chose ketchup instead while everyone was of course with mayo. Double fried so really crunchy.

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Snack Number Four

2011-12-11T08:21:00.001-05:00

Another pop up shop had this. I could not resist to pass. Oh my god, it was good.

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Snack Number Three

2011-12-11T06:59:00.001-05:00

Usually Sunday is one of the quiet days, but it is different today as there are a lot of pop up shops in the city. While doing the laundry, yup I have to do, I smelled something good, and this is what I ended up with. Not sweet except powder sugar. I believe it is different from Belgium type.

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Snack Number TWO

2011-12-10T10:52:00.001-05:00

After eating savory food, I always need sweets. There were a lot of shops at the Saturday market. This brownie got my eyes. Not too sweet and chewey the way I like it.

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Snack Number ONE

2011-12-10T10:49:00.001-05:00

OK, I have huge weakness when it comes to sausage. Porky and so good. A lot of mustered for the kick. Hmmm heavenly.

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Cheese, Cheese and Cheese

2011-12-10T10:46:00.001-05:00

No sunrise that Haarlem is famous for cheese as it is surrounded by all farms with cows all over.

It looks like swiss cheese but usually there are no holes. I have been eating these almost most every at the hotel for breakfast. I found that one of my nieces likes cheese, so this is for you.

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Happy Birthday

2011-12-09T01:12:00.001-05:00

It has been an year since last time I posted this, but it's my sister's birthday. Happy birthday to you. You can be as much QUEEN as you like today. It's your day.

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Vietnamese Sandwich

2011-12-04T13:25:00.001-05:00

Unseasonablly warm Sunday, so we decided to have lunch at the park. There is a Vietnamese sandwich store near by, so grabbed pork spicy one with some radish pickled. Yum..

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Airline Lounge

2011-12-02T20:07:00.001-05:00

After flying so much, finally I have earned the status to use the airport lounge. This KLM at AMS is one of the biggest ones I have been.

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Sunday in Haarlem

2011-11-27T10:01:00.000-05:00

Another weekend in Haarlem, as this was not the weekend going back home nor traveling to some other cities.
I had a car yesterday but did not use it - cold and cloudy day and I did not feel I drive to somewhere, so no car today. It was rainy when I woke up but by the time I was ready to go out, it started clearing out. There are a few museums in Haarlem and this is supposed to be the oldest museum in Europe. I did not go inside, as their exhibits are not my taste - older European (as I like after the impression period). On the way there, I stopped by the other one where I found perfect coffee cups at their gift shop. It was much cheaper price than this as he is from the Netherlands, I guess.

On the way to find a restaurant for lunch, there was a cool door hunger, instead of typical leaf stuff. I thought RED door is the best but black door like this with ORANGE ornament was really cool too.

My lunch was at a restaurant close to the center of the city. I was cold by walking around the city so I ordered hot chocolate to start. I usually don't drink sweet beverages but I was so tempted to try this time.

I asked English menu but as usual they did not have it. So I asked the person to describe all sandwiches. Spanish smoked ham, Netherlands cheeses, BLT, and something beef. So I ordered the beef one and this is what I got. I heard from my coworker about raw beef sandwich. Yes, I eat raw beef but never had in the sandwich. Interesting taste (not too bad). I could be better if it is not sandwich but meat plate with bread as side.

Snack for the Day

2011-11-26T07:14:00.001-05:00

At a pop up stand I had this deep fried Apple pocket. Nice for the season.

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A dinner at room

2011-11-26T04:35:00.001-05:00

You might think that I am eating good foods all the time, but during the trip I usually eat at room like this. Not luxurious but minimal.

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Early Thanksgiving Dinner

2011-11-19T06:17:00.001-05:00

We had a little early thanksgiving dinner this year as I will be in Amsterdam next week. Chicken instead of turkey, but we had green beans and my famous cauliflower side. Yum yum.

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Weekend in Paris

2011-11-13T14:27:00.000-05:00

It was like a dream...
I am talking about the trip to Paris.
I think I am fortunate to live in one of the best cities in the world, NYC, but Paris is at something different level.
I could not get enough of the tower. Wherever you are in Paris, you can see the tower from where you are. I was not crazy enough to go to the top, but I bet the view from the top is great.

I did not go inside of the museum (as it was so nice weather and I did not have that much time), but the architecture itself is worth to go there. Look at the building. This itself is art. You can't see this level of architecture anywhere else, but Paris or maybe in Italy (Rome).

Another site I could not miss is this gate, of course. It is located at the end of the famous street. Not so many people were this side of the gate, while the other side was packed with tourists. It was so nice to be out.

I did not go crazy on the food but I wanted to try this bistro. This was only 11 euro and it was a huge piece. Good with toast and of course wine... Their breads were really nice too.

I heard something about the number of yogurt they have. Look how many variety they carry. It was a small grocery store, and this many variety. I wished I had more time in Paris to snack something.

Next to the grocery store, there was a butcher shop and there were something you won't see in US or Japan - feathered ducks. I am not sure why they still need to have feather... The guy at the store was smiling when I was taking this picture. I guess he knew it was unique in Paris (or France).

Of course, I could not pass the sweets. You can't get true European sweets in the Netherlands. It was over the top. So rich and creamy... I did not try everything, but I had a few pieces over 3 days stay in Paris.

To conclude the trip, this was the nice shot in my opinion. Perfect French baguette at the airport. I noticed that French baguette has very similar texture to bagel - crunchy outside and chewy inside.
I am surely coming back to Paris sometime very soon. I can feel it.

Famous department store in Paris. it is decorated for X'mas already.

2011-11-12T07:54:00.001-05:00

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Paris for the Weekend

2011-11-11T15:52:00.001-05:00

This is the view from the room. Not too bad.

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Interesting Event

2011-11-06T07:18:00.001-05:00

I figured out that every first Sundays they open the stores. So I changed my mind not to go to Amsterdam but just hang out in Haarlem. (it is pretty dead in Haarlem on other Sundays) There was an interesting event at the church. Two models with wedding dress. They were pretty though.

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Nice Saturday

2011-11-05T17:08:00.000-04:00

It has been mild (mid 50s) here in Amsterdam/Haarlem. Since I got a car for a day (again sharing a car among the team), so I decided to make a day trip. Before that, I ran in Haarlem, where boat houses are all over, which I did not notice. They do have address listed in front of the house, which I thought interesting.

I drove a car a bit over one hour and this is where I ended up with - a beautiful forest. It seems a very famous hiking and cycling area and there were so many cars both side of the road. Fortunately the spot I chose was very quiet and I did not see that many people.

During the hike, I found this restaurant with well maintained garden. No guest so I was able to take a picture without eating there.

I drove another 20-30 minutes to get to Arnhem, where famous battle happened between German and British during the WWII. I was on the river where tour boats were waiting for next round. It had more German feeling than Dutch as it is pretty close the boarder with German.

On the way back to Haarlem, as I was so hungry, I stopped by at a Japanese restaurant my friend told me about the other day. "Okonomi-Yaki" is their specialty so why not, right? A combination of sauce and mayonnaise was something only Japanese crave for.

Snow in October

2011-10-29T12:41:00.001-04:00

I know it is almost November, but it is still October. It is not a joke. You can't see 10 feet from you as it is so heart and wet snow.

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Back Hone and...

2011-10-28T19:40:00.001-04:00

Back in NYC for the weekend. Sukiyaki bowl with Natto rice. I feel I am home. Someone was looking at me like, what on earth you are eating, but I didn't care as I was happy.

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How Many Languages?

2011-10-23T10:44:00.001-04:00

I guess it is typical products in Europe, but not this many. English, French, German, Portuguese,... I now know Europe is not one country even some company tries to business in the European market in a similar manner to the US.

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Walking Around Amsterdam

2011-10-23T09:16:00.000-04:00

It turned out to be a great weekend weather wise. I decided to go to Amsterdam. It was a great decision, even though it is already pretty chilly and you need a jacket and scarf.

I was not quite sure where I was but there were boats for sightseeing. Usually it costs about 15 euro for 90 minutes tour or so, and I wonder how the view is different from the one from the eye level.

I heard about it but did not know it exists. Yes it does. There were several floating houses on the canal - very similar to the ones in Seattle. Every one looks similar structure - one story obviously and 2 rooms or so.

Wanted to do some shopping, which I ended up not buying anything, at the shopping district where you find all high-end stores. Some of them were closed as it is Sunday while majority of them were opened. This means I can come back here any weekends if there is nothing else to do.

Close to this district, there is a big park, I guess it is like central park for new yorkers. I don't know why but the trees here don't change their colors that much but the leaves just die. Not pretty...

Day Trip to Antwerpen Belgium

2011-10-22T14:48:00.000-04:00

It was a nice sunny day so I decided to drive - and the destination was Antwerpen in Belgium, which is just about 100 miles away (south) and it took just about 100 minutes.

The first thing I visited was this castle... I don't know the history well, but it seems it was occupied by Roman at some point and there are many status of showing how big these people were.

This is the main reason I came down all the way here today - the church where main characters in the animation in Japan died, which I don't quite remember. I think this is a beautiful church but it seems only Japanese know about the story.

This is the inside of the church. There were many famous paintings, and one of which was the one the characters saw at the end of the story - sorry no picture as I did not go inside of the church.

Next to the church, there is the city hall, which has obviously Belgium's flag along with EU's one. It gives you more European feeling than Amsterdam/Haarlem at least for me.

In front of the city hall, there is a famous water fountain. If you look at closely you can see the water is actually coming from some of the body parts, e.g. from the wrist at the top.

After some sightseeing, I was ready for good food, which was actually the main reason why I came to Belgium. It is konwn that Belgium is famous for food, while the Netherlands is famous for not-good food. I did not do any research on the restaurants, but I found this nice French restaurants, Alaville, several blocks away from main attractions. Glass of red wine was nice with this chicken dish which came with a lot of root vegetables. It was so worth the trip down here.

On the way back when I was waiting for the traffic right to change, I noticed the red is not circle but HART shape. How cute this could be. I didn't see at any other places so I guess this was the only place?
I will come back to Antwerpen or at least to Belgium during my stay in the Netherlands, for food and chocolates. I bought 500g of high-end chocolate, which I asked at the information booth, and it costs only 10 euro... Really cheap.

Mansion Tour

2011-10-18T14:29:00.001-04:00

We visited one of the mansions in NYC as it was an open house weekend. This is no longer occupied but it had a lot of furniture they could have used. This was in one of their bedrooms. There was no plumbing so this was how they did the business at that time.

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Chanko-Nabe

2011-10-15T11:29:00.001-04:00

Back in NYC this weekend. It got a bit chilly so we decided to do nabe, Japanese pot dish. We have not cooked Chanko before but it came out pretty nice. A few types of fish and chicken meat balls. Nice to have home cooked meal after being away for a while.

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Sunday in Amsterdam

2011-10-09T11:42:00.000-04:00

Finally I decided to go to Amsterdam. There are trains from Haarlem every 10 minutes or so and it takes about 20 minutes. This is the central station in Amsterdam. In front of the station, there are several boats for tour on the canals (no picture, sorry).

I took a tram to the museum as it was rainy (it should be about 20 or 30 minutes walk). There were many people still waking the city for sightseeing with/without umbrella. BTW, you might be able to see "I Amsterdam" sign way back.

I guess I did not mention which museum I went. Of course Van Gogh, what else, right? There were about 30 people waiting at the entrance, which was not too bad. In side, there were a lot of people.

There are three floors and the 2nd floor was a special exhibition area - how Japanese culture and paints (Ukiyoe) influenced European arts and specially him. You might know at least a few prints he copied Japanese paints.

After spending a couple of hours appreciating his art, I went downstairs to have lunch at the cafeteria. For some reason I think I saw the TV show featuring their cafeteria, and it was not too bad (at least not too expensive). Egg salad sandwich (egg is a big thing here as my hotel carries boiled egg every day), and their apple cake (like apple pie).

On the way back, I sneaked at the flower market located in between the museum and the station. I can imagine that it would be very nice during the summer, or at least if it was a sunny day.
Overall, I am so glad I got out the hotel and Haarlem today. It was more exciting and I needed some sort of change on how I spend the weekend here in the Netherlands. But again I am not sure I will come back here before my stay in the Netherlands ends in a couple of months (yes, I will be here for a WHILE).

Deer

2011-10-08T13:04:00.001-04:00

To burn SOME of the calories, I went for a jog. I have not gone to another section of the park in front of the hotel, but this time I ran further, and there were several wild deer. Who knew.

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Food, Food and Food

2011-10-08T11:59:00.000-04:00

Finally it is Saturday after another long working week.
I started the day with a hotel breakfast, which has a variety of breads, cold cuts, cheeses, fruits, and today's choice was these. I try not to eat that much meat but smoked salmon which is good for the body.

After reading the paper at the room (it sounds cool, right?), I decided to take a walk to the center of Haarlem (I thought I would finally go to Amsterdam, but it is not super sunny day, so decided not to). First stop was local pastry store, where I bought this banana cream puff. It is like banana cream pie in the puff form. Very nice whipped heavy cream, which I really wanted. I even did not ask them to wrap it and I ate it with my fingers (with a lot of licking).

Next stop (this case I did not eat anything) was this pop up deep fried sweets store, selling interesting shaped donuts. I am sure I will try it before it disappears but today was not the day.

Fish is very popular here, and at the market held on Saturdays in the city center, there are a few shops selling fresh seafood and fried ones you can eat right there. I had one of fried fish just came out of the hot oil. Mild white fish and it couldn't go wrong.

There was a very familiar shop at the market selling several types of cream cheese based spreads and bread with whole. I asked the person selling them and he said it is originally from Greek. I was telling him that I am from NYC and we have very similar thing, bagel, which I am not sure he knew or not. I have not tasted it yet (maybe my dinner or mid-night snack), but I am guessing it is like bagel without chewiness.

I heard from coworker the other day that there is a famous baked good in Haarlem (or Amsterdam). It is like ice cream waffle with caramel sauce in between. It was still warm and moist as they were cooking in the shop and tasty. I wish I could had it with a nice cup of coffee though.

There were a few interesting shops at another market on the way back - fish store and the store only selling root vegetables (potatoes and carrots mainly). I have never seen a store specializing only these without selling other vegetables.

It was a very nice day even though there were showers every 30 minutes but sun came out after the shower every time. Very interesting weather patter here as well.

Traditional Outfit

2011-10-06T14:10:00.001-04:00

A shot at one of the surveyor stores. Girls were wearing very animation like outfit. Kind of cute though.

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Lazy Sunday in the Park

2011-10-02T08:46:00.001-04:00

Debated if I should go Amsterdam or just stick with Haarlem. Obviously I did not go to Amsterdam. Usually shops are closed on Sundays but for some reason,they are open today. Many people are enjoying the day like this outside.

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Good Start

2011-10-02T02:54:00.001-04:00

It is always like this in Haarlem. Very foggy in the morning even it's a sunny day. It's like San Francisco. A view from the hotel room which has a small terrace. A park is in front of the building so it is actually very nice. I should go for a jog.

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Windmills

2011-10-01T11:57:00.000-04:00

Finally it is Saturday after a long week of work (and a flight from NYC last Sunday night).
For some reason, I woke up early as usual, while I was hoping I could sleep till mid-day.
As we are sharing a car among three people, I got a car today this weekend, so why not go for a drive as it is a very nice weather (warm and sunny)

I wanted to see famous windmills while the weather is still warm (before the winter comes), so I decided to drive to the town, which is just 15 miles away. Did you know it has canvas on each wing? I don't think it is in use anymore, but it is really cool to see the real thing in person so close.
It is one of the most visited places in Amsterdam, so there are a lot of tourists - no Japanese but a lot of Koreans and Chinese, of course.

They area many sheep and they do make cheese (I am not sure they do make THERE) and they displayed the facility in the building where you can buy them too.

Of course there are famous wooden shoes. There was a museum of the history and a store next to it. Look at a variety of shoes. It looks there are traditional ones through modern looking ones, even though the shape is all same.

Who can forget about the food. As the Netherlands is surrounded by the ocean (if it is not ocean, at least by water), there are a lot of seafood places selling fresh seafood and cooked (mainly fried) fish. Flounder seems very nice, and I will try it sometime, but not yet.

Shabu Shabu Lunch

2011-09-24T13:11:00.001-04:00

Per someone's request, our lunch was Shabu Shabu. A good thing living in NY is you can get pretty much anything you need for Japanese or any other cuisine. The only thing you can't get easily is super premium meat, but what we had today was good enough for us.

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Jet Lag

2011-09-24T08:33:00.001-04:00

There are 6 hours of time difference between Amsterdam and NY. I am living somewhere in between intentionally, as I need to take a flight on Sunday to go back there to start working from Monday morning.
This morning I woke up at 4 and ate home baked bread for an early breakfast. 2 hours later I had a good jog and noticed that the color of trees has started changing.

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Back Home in NY

2011-09-23T19:18:00.001-04:00

After 2 weeks of stay in the Netherlands, I am back in NY for the weekend, yup only a few days and I am heading back there again. I have been craving for hone cooked meals, and that's what we had today. Nothing better than home, period.

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Another View in Haarlem

2011-09-19T15:23:00.001-04:00

I like to work out of town by staying at a hotel, because I don't have to do anything, but work. The room is always clean and you don't have to do anything to maintain. So another run after work, and this was the view. Nice, huh?

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Day Trip to Utrecht

2011-09-18T10:45:00.000-04:00

It did not seem a nice day in Haarlem today so I decided to go somewhere SOUTH.
Utrecht, 4th largest city in the Netherlands, is 30 miles southeast of Haarlem and 45 minutes by a car. It was a nice drive and I am so glad I did today. It was a beautiful town/city to begin with and there are a lot to see.

First stop, the dorm. It is located in the center of the town. Some people were on the top of the building where I am assuming a nice view, but not for me. You can see it is a typical Netherlands setting - surrounded by canal.

After waking around the majority of the town, I was hungry for lunch. I found this place which is part of a cool hotel next to the dorm. Duck meat and cream sauce pasta with arugula, by the way President Obama's favorite vegetable, on top.

Just over 10 euro for pasta and drink so not too bad by considering there is no tipping custom here in the Netherlands. I am not cheap but it is a custom here.

Canal makes the Netherlands so unique - restaurants open the seats right next to the canal, which is 15 feet below the street level. Even it was chilly - like 50s, but the sun made it a nice day to be out and sit at a cafe to enjoy the view - buildings and people of course.

There were boats with some tourists and it could be cool to see the town from the water level.
I am sure I will come back here during my stay in the Netherlands, and next time on Saturday when stores are open.

Shopping Day

2011-09-17T07:46:00.001-04:00

I guess this is a typical fall day in Amsterdam. Rainy and chilly. Everyone wears a jacket, I mean a winter jacket. I ran into a fashion show in front of the store just opened. Girls needed to have an umbrella, which looked funny.

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Haarlem

2011-09-16T14:38:00.001-04:00

Working in Amsterdam and staying in Haarlem. After the first week of work, got out for run. Nice view, right?

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Chicken and Waffle

2011-09-08T19:40:00.001-04:00

You have to have something southern, when you are in south. That's what I did today - chicken and waffle. Side was mac and cheese.

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Durham NC Again

2011-09-08T18:31:00.001-04:00

This is the view from the hotel. Yup, it is a small town even though there is a famous university, Duke near by.

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Labor Day BBQ

2011-09-06T06:12:00.001-04:00

It was an official end of the summer, and we celebrated with BBQ without outside cooking - it's NYC after all. All the meats and vegetables still got good charcoal / grill marks. Yum yum.

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Seafood Lunch in CT

2011-09-04T20:36:00.001-04:00

We decided to go to one of casinos in CT, as it was a bit too hot to walk around some town or go for hiking. On the way, we stopped by a seafood restaurant. A girl at the casher for some reason spoke in a southern accent which was funny. One of the best so far we had.

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My First Bread

2011-09-04T10:44:00.001-04:00

We recently purchased a bread machine. It is so easy to prepare. We tried whole wheat bread this time. Crusty outside and warm and soft/chewey inside. What's next?

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Saturday Supper

2011-09-03T20:10:00.001-04:00

We were talking about go somewhere or do something, but in the end we decided to take it easy, in other words "lazy" day. We still managed to go for grocery shopping and cooked several dishes by using in season vegetables. All came out really good and can't wait to have the left overs.

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Sunday Brunch

2011-08-28T12:20:00.001-04:00

At one of the restaurants on Franklin street in Chapel Hill. Some shopping after this. I have many school t-shirts and NC will join my collection.

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University on NC

2011-08-28T12:03:00.001-04:00

Didn't know this is the oldest public university in the US. Similar feeling to Penn State but a bit more southern flair to it. One main street next to the campus where you find many restaurants and shops. I don't know the school has started or not. I still like Penn State over this.

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Dinner at the Room

2011-08-24T20:07:00.001-04:00

Least favorite thing about the job is that I have to eat dinner by myself at the room. I guess I could sit at a restaurant by myself.

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Different Type of Bagels

2011-08-21T11:11:00.001-04:00

The front flat one is called bialy originally as popular as bagels but now not so many places sell both. It tastes like the pizza crust, very chewey. It might not be for breakfast but a good lunch or snack indeed.

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Fish Dinner

2011-08-21T09:49:00.001-04:00

We try to eat fish dish at least once a week. We cooked three types of fish marinated in sour and salty source. It came out good and we know it would be good next day in cold.

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Trip to Beacon

2011-08-20T18:51:00.001-04:00

Just over one hour drive brought us to this little town north of the city. It is famous for arts and galleries. You can take a train from the grand central as well. As there is a famous museum built out of an Nabisco factory, there are many visitors from the city, like us.

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BBQ Dinner

2011-08-20T08:28:00.001-04:00

To celebrate the summer, we cooked something summary, BBQ. As living in NYC, it is impossible to do outdoor grilling so obviously indoor stove top. We had Korean sauce which is a bit sweeter and made our original sauce. It came out great. This is serving for TWO, and we finished most of it.

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Japanese Artist in NYC

2011-08-19T16:03:00.001-04:00

In the subway I found this today. I don't think you can read the artist's name at the upper left corner, but it is Japanese girl. The subway authority has been featuring several artists to promote the subway and she is one of them.

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