A Kominar Chronicle

Thanks to all of those who recently helped celebrate my birthday.  Supposedly turning twenty-six isn’t a very interesting birthday because your life doesn’t really change much with no significant milestones.  Somehow I have found myself in the middle of a mid-twenties crisis. 

I’ve been accused of entering my late-twenties prematurely by close sources.  (Guess: It’s neither me nor the mysterious man in leather pictured to your left.)  I submit the following age demographic breakdown of the twenty-somethings for your consideration. 

• 20-23 = Early Twenties
• 24-26* = Mid Twenties (I’d also be open to considering 23.5 - 27.5)
• 27-29 = Late Twenties

Feel free to share your prejudice in the comments.

T-Shirt Adventures

With that reality nicely dealt with I’d like to share a quick tale of my birthday celebration.  As you may have noticed in the photo above, Nadine and I are wearing similarly heart-themed t-shirts.  They are in fact the 8-bit dynamic life shirt from ThinkGeek.com.  When near another shirt all six of your hearts light up, when apart only two and a half. 

This novelty has not worn off all-day and has garnered us attention at work and abroad including numerous potential workplace harassment incidents due to intrigue (inappropriate touching and the like)!   I’ll keep you apprised as the cases develop.

Flower in Sauce

The art you see on your right is my latest food-art creation Flower in Sauce.  I laboured over its creation after a delicious sushi-lunch.  Its medium is remnant chicken skewer sauce, and was painted with a single chopstick.  Some have relegated it to the lower class of “handy-work” rather than “art”.  This piece us that while sushi is certainly delicious it is not without its thorns.  (Some side effects have included: mysterious sushi regret and full-belly)

Art? Handy-work?  Certainly Art.

En route to Amsterdam via Eurostar from Brussels immigration busted into our train car and asked for everyone’s passports.  They had some sense of urgency about them which made the atmosphere a little more intense.  As it would turn out they escorted 4 gentlemen off the train at Rotterdam.  One of them was hiding in the bathroom right next to me and I saw the guard posted outside waiting for him to emerge.  Exciting times.

Time in Amsterdam seems to slow down just a bit.  The pace is very relaxed and the people are exceptionally friendly.  I was staying in Sacha’s Bed & Breakfast which was within 5 minutes walking to everything in Amsterdam. I thought I was lost when the taxi first dropped me off because it is very unassuming and appears to be rooms in his house that he rents out.  A simple buzzer on the front door encourages guests to call for service.  I had a moment of panic when the taxi was telling me that this was the address and to get out of the car into the rainy night.  With an establishment like this I should have heeded the registrations notice to contact Sacha with arrival times as I showed up at 8pm for a 2pm standard check in time.  I would absolutely recommend this place to anyone looking for a nice single bedroom place in central Amsterdam.  At 30 euros a night it was quite comfortable.

Within an hour I had discovered the Cafe de Fles whose fine proprietor had spent some time in Canada and had a large flag hanging in the corner of his pub.  He furnished me with the most delicious short-ribs and kept the libations liberated throughout the night.  If you find yourself lost in Amsterdam, find yourself here to get acquainted properly.

I met some local chaps in the pub that night and learned many things of local ways and customs.  They’re both students who lived nearby and worked in the bar part-time as well.  They showed me the ways of the town that night including their shoe-boat which was unfortunately not sea-worthy at that particular moment.  I was invited back to their house on the canal to listen to some euro-beats and keep the party going because everywhere in Europe seems to close way too early.   

I took a boat tour of the canals and port to see the city from the water and try to get better oriented.  There aren’t too many landmarks to orient yourself if trying to navigate blindly, so its important to pay attention to which canal your on and which way you’re heading.  The boat cruise only added to the confusion, and my best guide was definitely the map and street signs.

The Torture Museum was recommended to me by my father so I found my way there first to see what the fuss was about.  Although short, it was a great display of torture implements and some fascinating history. I particularly enjoyed the Bad Musician’s torture implement and guillotine. 

I walked around town mostly and saw a lot of the shops and canals.  Of course there were visits through the red light district and the coffee shops, but there was also some other quirky sights to the museum of bags and purses; collections of juices; fancy buildings.  I even found another Australia store, although this one wasn’t serving alcohol!

The Van Gogh Museum had the most amazing exhibit on called Colours of the Night which was highly inspirational.  It was the history and inspiration behind Van Gogh’s passion for painting a starry night.  Another culturally significant site was the Anne Frank Huis which was a living story of the famous Jewish diary-writer of WWII. 

Towards the end of my stay I noticed a significant increase in the amount of kilts flowing through the city streets.  As luck would have it, the Scottish were in town to celebrate their eventual defeat to the Netherlands in a World Cup qualifying match (3-0).  I say this because I spoke with many a Scotsman who were  all forth-coming that although they fully expected to get smashed in the match, they were there to support their fellow countrymen.  Someone told me that there were only 8000 tickets for the match reserved for the Scots but that they estimated 20,000 were in town.  I caught a glimpse of the celebrations in Dam Square before the match including a few notable characters and animals.

• See the rest of Amsterdam Photo-set

Tags: EuroZack, Zack

If you had 24 hours in Brussels what would you do?  They mainly speak French, but the people here are much better versed in English than France and they are all very friendly.  Here’s what I managed to accomplish in from 17h to 17h. 

• Get lost and find my way many times
• See the Mannekin Pis including a humorous wardrobe change
• Watch Van Gogh’s Mime
• Find Gargamel’s genetically-modified black Smurf for sale in a toy shop
• Seek shelter in Brussels Central metro station during a torrential downpour
• Yearn for a giant Yop!
• Let the Brussels Casino pay me 10L for my roulette winnings on 00
• Enjoy some local Leffe beer and delicious salmon w/ bearnaise
• Wander aimlessly at night
• Go antiquing in Sablon
• Visit the Palais du Justice, Grand Place, Royal Palace, Kathedral, Opera House, parks and other small sights

• Take a listening tour of the Museum of Musical Instruments and enjoy a nice lunch at the rooftop cafe with a beautiful view of the city
• Discover a new instrument
• Talk with local shopkeepers about Canada the “dream country”
• Purchase some fine Belgian chocolates
• Devour a sugary-sweet Belgian Waffle
• Take a lot of pictures (see my complete Brussels photo-set)!

And with that Brussels is gone in a flash.  See you in Amsterdam!

Tags: EuroZack, Zack

Day 2 in London started later than expected due to some very potent potables from the night before.  Regardless I made a great day of it and have a tale or two to share.

Morning brought adventures closer to home.  I explored Woking, one of the commuter towns in the London suburbs; coincidentally it’s also where I’m staying at night in a friend’s flat.

One of the town’s largest claim to fame is that it was the first town to be destroyed in H.G Wells classic “War of the Worlds”.  An alien invader statue lies in the town centre as a constant reminder of a future yet to come.

The train ride into London was only 20 minutes, and it was nice to get off my feet for a little bit longer before today’s adventures.

On my way into London, I stopped off at Picadilly Circus, the “times square” of London as I have dubbed it.  I spent a beautiful, sunny afternoon in Soho on Carnaby Street with friends visiting eclectic clothing shops and Peter Gabriel’s lawyer’s office. 

We settled in for a quick bite to eat on a sunny street-side table, at Veg a thai/asian buffet.  I probably would not return to this particular establishment, the food was rather cold and just not that enjoyable. Company was exceptional and we met two other gents who were about to start new gigs as owners of a new MTV Club in Copenhagen and another establishment.  All the best to them in their new ventures!

Soho used to be a pretty scummy part of London but has been cleaned up as of late.  Although, there are still plenty of shady back alleys to spend some time in should you be so inclined.  On my way out of the district I stumbled upon Walkabout, an Australian bar. Tick another one off the scavenger hunt Nadine!  I wonder if I can find some in Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam?

In the evening I power walked it down to the London Eye to catch the sunset.  On this day I noticed that London appeared to be on fire! Large thick plumes of black smoke were coming from the roof of a building near the Thames.

It turns out that a fire broke out in a building used for immigration advisory tribunals and no one was hurt.  The news has some closer pictures than I do, and a full report, read Sky’s coverage of the London Fire.

To close the day out we ventured out to Brick Lane for a taste of London’s best curry.  I must admit that it was out of this world.  The sampler platter, the papadoms, and the curry were all well executed.  Competition is fierce in the curry business and you can expect that most businesses will have people at the front luring you in with offers of 30% off the menu and 2 rounds of drinks free, at least ours did anyway.  Enjoy Masala if you’re ever in the region.

See you tomorrow.

Tags: EuroZack, Zack

While browsing through my Google Analytics yesterday I noticed a strange concentration of visitors from Bulgaria.  I traced the referrals down to a site called Svejo. 

d_r_watson, A member of this community media site recommended my mushroom skull food carving.  At the time of posting I’ve got 32 гласа and counting.  Finally, some international recognition! You can read my original blog article here: Mushroom Skulls.  If you want to help with my гласа you can vote at : Svejo Салата от гъби

I took the liberty of translating some of the user comments for you below. 

• “ей аз обичам гъби не плаши така хората” “hey I love mushrooms so people are not afraid“
• “…отровни“ “… poisonous”
• “Виж, за това не съм се сетила” “See, for I do not think”
• “Сол сложи ли?” “I put the salt?“

Try some translation of your own! (ImTranslator.net)

Tags: Zack

The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony played for CIGI/IGLOO over the lunch hour this friday. Beethoven, Bach and others were on the set list, spiced with an excellent flute solo for good measure. It was a pleasure to hear classical music resonate through the office. If only more employers could bring the symphony in to play for their employees!

Hosted in the Seagram’s Building the aire was something special. The building used to be a brewery for Seagram’s from 1857 until 1992. It’s got quite a history, you can read more at the City of Waterloo’s Seagram Collection website.

I’m feeling pretty cultured lately as this is the first of two symphonic experience I’ll be privy to this week. Later this evening, Massey Hall will be hosting Video Games Live a mixed media experience. I’ve been anticipating the event as I enjoy music and video games together.

Check out either of the symphony experiences and you won’t be disappointed.

• Video Games Live
• Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony
  

Tags: Music