Mona Lisa Smile

I finally saw Mona Lisa Smile.

...

Sigh.

Googling

Don't you ever wonder "what ever happened to..."
I'd never really thought about "googling" until one of my collegues "googled" one of our famous kids in front of me. My gosh...the things that you can find on the net.
Anyway, a couple days ago, I'm not sure what brought it on, but I ended up googling some people that I had lost touch with.
- A New York based lawyer who's a comic on the side? (Can totally imagine him doing that.)
- A New York based portrait artist who's also a stylist to the stars? (Makes complete sense.)
- A New York based classical and jazz trumpet player? (I remember him when...)
It's totally a coincidence that they all happen to be based in New York.
...and then there's all the other people who are doing their PhDs, in law school, med school, have successful careers...
I don't know if I'll ever see these people again, but it's incredible to see where they've gone. I'm jealous, proud, humbled, happy, in awe, motivated...it's incredible.

Superman Returns

On July 13th, the first day I arrived to London, I happened to stumble upon the premiere of Superman Returns at the Odeon in Leicester Square. Many big names would be attending (celebs in the movie, and just plain celebs as well), and some die-hard fans had lined up since the morning to get a good spot to see them arrive on the red carpet.
Of course I didn't have tickets to the actual movie, but that doesn't really bother me...I have to admit that I'm not
really into the whole thing. I'll watch it, but if I don't happen to have the chance to do it, I won't be too disappointed. I've heard from very reliable sources that it's an amazing movie though.
Anyway, here are just some of snaps I took on paparrazi duty. I have no idea if there's anyone important in most of my pictures (there's plenty more than what I've posted - I almost don't want to delete them in case there's someone super cool in them!). The only person I would be able to recognize myself is Kevin Spacey. I didn't even know the name of the actor who played Superman. I guess I would have eventually been able to tell because he looks like Christopher Reeves, but I couldn't tell you his name. People around me had to tell me who everyone was, and now, I still don't remember who they are. Sorry. I know I'm a disgrace.
Don't forget that you can click on a picture to blow it up!

















The pics aren't too bad for being behind a metal wall and not being able to actually see the action. Gotta love my camera's flipout screen!
Feel free to tell me if there's anyone famous in the crowd shots. Or who everyone else is (except for Kevin Spacey, Superman, and the girl - see forgot their names already).
I like the pic of Superman doing autograph duty with the guy dressed up as superman in the background with a great face. Ha ha.
I got a poster of Kevin Spacey too. I'm going to give it away, because I know someone else will enjoy it more than I do. I have to admit it's a pretty cool looking poster though.

"Home" for a rest

Well, last night, I arrived to YYZ. I promptly got back to Scarborough and went online to work on my course.
Though I'm technically on vacation right now, I've been going in to work everyday (where my internet access is) to work on my Honours Specialist Mathematics course. It's a LOT of work, but I'm learning a lot. If I'm able to implement everything that I've learned is a whole other matter.
It's been so stressful though, that my extra time in Switzerland before leaving the country wasn' tvery relaxing and I didn't get a chance to soak up as much Neuch goodness as I wanted to. Any plans of travelling during that time also disappeared.
I did go to London for a 5 day stop-over on my way home (will write about that sometime soon I hope - my course is over after next week, so I'll get back to updating then I think), but while I was there, I had to go online regularly to work on the course as well. I still got a LOT of sightseeing in though, so it wasn't too much of a burden. It just called for lots of late nights, and being REALLY exhausted.
So, I'm back in Toronto for a little while, but I don't think I'll be able to really enjoy it for another week. Sigh.

Timbuktu

Timbuktu, by Paul Auster

This book is written from the point of view of Mr. Bones – a dog. The book starts as his owner’s life is nearing its end. The book isn’t particularly interesting, nor is it a hard read. I guess I just liked it because it was written from a different point of view.
The book continues and follows Mr. Bones' journeys. He talks about his ideas, opinions, and emotions...as a dog. It's kind of fun that way.
I felt like the book didn't pick up until a lot later than it should have. It was centred around the wrong character for the first part, and finally I could really get into who I cared to learn the most about. I guess that the author wanted to build up a background that he could refer to later in the book, but I found it a little dull. Anyway, once it got going, it was more interesting, but then, just when things were getting good, the author decided to change things up. I wanted to read more about what was happening, but I guess that's not how it was meant to be. I was happy for Mr. Bones for getting to where he was after what he'd previously been though, but I guess that's the whole point. Mr. Bones, as a dog, has one thing that he's going to stick with: loyalty.
The end just seemed so confusing. Why would the author decide to take a turn like that all of a sudden? Why not make the book a little longer, and then go down that route a little later? It was just a little too abrupt. Oh well.

Anyway, it's an easy read. I'd recommend it to someone that wants to know what a dog thinks, and wants a light book to finish reading in a short amount of time.

-picture courtesy of www.chapters.indigo.ca

Amsterdam (May 25th-28th, 2006)

I've been wanting to go to Amsterdam, but my head was filled with a lot of ideas about what it would be like. Anyway, I finally decided to go and I'm glad that I did.
Unfortunately, I ended up picking a weekend that was filled with gray weather and rain, but it's not like there's anything that you can do about it, so I tried to make the most out of the trip and the hairdryer in my hotel room got a good workout.

The first day, I set out to cross some tiems off my list of “things to do”. I thought that I would beat the crowds and go to the Museums first thing in the morning. It took a little while to find it (took the wrong tram by accident), but after walking by the Rijkmuseum (and seeing a sorta long line up), I kept walking to the more interesting (to me, at least) Van Gogh museum. The line up was long, it didn’t move quickly, it was raining a lot…oh well. What can you do. The museum
tried to make us feel better about our wait by sending out staff to give out free buttons. Inside it was also really crowded (and I got there pretty soon after it had opened) and because everyone was wet, it was a little gross feeling too. At least it wasn’t as bad as the Vatican.
I gotta say that I'm not a big fan of Rembrant and that type of artwork, so I didn't bother waiting in the super long line (while it was raining) to get into the Rijkmuseum. I did however see Rembrant in the Van Gogh museum in a special Caravaggio/Rembrant exhibit as well as in the Historical Museum. No biggie...I guess if I go back to Amsterdam, I'd probably visit the Rijkmuseum though. It just wasn't on the priority list, and I didn't have any extra time for it.


Yet another concert hall. They always look so impressive. I wonder why?



I was looking forward to buying tulip bulbs to take back home to give as special souvenirs. The flower market was so incredible. All the colours, the selection. Unfortunately for me, the bulbs that were for sale were from Tazmania and couldn’t be taken to Canada. It was too early for the Dutch bulbs (in case you want to get some for yourself, go between July and November), so my fantastic souvenir idea totally went down the drain.
Of course I wanted to go to the shops and see what Amsterdam had to offer. It was so depressing. Everything was bloody expensive, and it was all the same stuff that I’d been seeing around Europe for the past while. I’ll blame the bad weather too…maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for shopping. Whatever it was, I didn’t find anything special.
That night I went to the Anne Frank Huis. It was fantastic. The museum was set up in the actual building in which Anne hid in the secret annex, and was done in a way that you walk through on your own through the different rooms, leading to the hidden stairs leading to the areas where she stayed during hiding. Being in the space where they were really made it all come to life. I would highly recommend this museum to all.

And later that night:


Yep. Red light district. Nothing more to say.




The next day, it was raining again. Sucky. Still, headed out to cross off the remaining items on my list.



Unfortunately, I was too late to see fields of tulips, but darn it, I was going to try to see a real Dutch windmill. I had to go out of the city to see it, but it was pretty darn cool.




I did a lot of walking on this trip. When traveling, I love to just wander as I feel like I get a better taste of the city that way. The canals and cobblestone streets were so nice. I’m sure I would have enjoyed it more if it weren’t raining, but again, nothing I can do about that. There were bikers everywhere. It was so cool. I want to start biking some more. Maybe I should get a bike first.
I went in search of a cheesy, must-have souvenir of Amsterdam. Clogs. Of course they weren’t very hard to find…there were walls of clogs in many souvenir shops, or other shops that were dedicated to the wooden footwear. I don’t really post pictures of myself on this blog (there’s only one so far), here’s another one:
They were REALLY uncomfortable, and for the rest of the day, I felt like I had splinters in my feet. I didn’t end up buying those ones, but instead opted for a miniature pair. If I have kids, maybe I’ll make them wear them for my amusement. Tee hee.
When traveling, I tend to eat pretty lightly. I usually don’t want to waste my time sitting down in a restaurant, when I could be walking and exploring. In Amsterdam, it was perfect, because it meant that I could fill myself with fries and mayo. When I first came to Europe, I really needed my ketchup, but I think I’m starting to get used to the mayo idea, and during this trip, I would start craving it.

Anyway, the trip was enjoyable. Too bad about the weather, but even still, I feel like I saw everything that I really wanted to see. This trip would be the start of a series of travels leading up to the end of the year…up next: Copenhagen!

Darn it...

Grrr....so frustrating. Everytime I actually get "into" a TV show, I have to miss the best parts becuase I'm leaving the country.
Last summer, I got into the original "So you think you can dance", and then I had to leave. Same with "Big Brother" (number bazillion, or something like that). Right now it's "Strictly come dancing" (the third one I think). It's the semi-finals tonight, but that'll be the last one that I get to see.
Argh. Makes me mad. Anyway, I hope Colin wins.

Anonymity

I love the feeling of walking around, lost in your own thoughts (or with no thoughts at all) on your own without worrying about having to bump into anyone you know.
Often that's what makes travelling to places in which you don't speak and understand the language such a nice break. You hear a lot of background noise, but you're a lot less stressed becuase your brain isn't trying to process it all.
Sometimes I feel that it's a little too empty and quiet here in Neuch (especially since during your year you can't get away from the hoard), but most of the time the calm is helping me wind down from the year (I really like to have time to decompress). The past couple of nights have been the perfect temperature and humidity so I've done quite a bit of walking.

Les Ambassadeurs (June 28th, 2006)

The Hotel de Crillion in Paris has a couple restaurants, the star of the show being Les Ambassadeurs overseen by chef Jean-Francois Piege, a Michelin Guide two-star restaurant.
The decor of the restaurant was quite ornate with luxurious fabrics and lots of gold. You know the whole French over the top thing. A nice little touch was the footstool-like device next to the lady's seat. A purse-rest, naturally.
Way too many service people were at your beck and call (also with Philippe Rochat), but this place was done discreetly. It was just a well-oiled machine, and if they were a little too early to make their entrance, they'd wait around the corner where you couldn't see them (I only noticed, because I was closer to the corner and caught them before they had pulled themselves back from sight). At Philippe Rochat, it was just ridiculous. I hope that it's only because of the set up, but it was more than obvious when they would casually walk by...only to look out the window, change the order of chairs at an empty table or add wine glasses to a table which didn't need any. It was just silly. Don't pretend that you had something else to do. I'd rather you walk by, see that you're not needed, and walk out. Don't waste your own time doing useless things. Sigh.
I do have to saw that all of the men and women working at each of the restaurants were very gracious hosts and super nice. Chatting with them was fun.
Oh I forgot to mention that Philippe Rochat came out to meet us (at his restaurant, not Les Ambassadeurs obviously). It's always nice to
be able to give credit to a great meal to the chef in person instead of just passing your compliments along. And not really related, but I noticed that his team is quite young. I wonder if that's normal. Maybe once they're older, they'll move on to their own restaurants.
Instead of Badoit or San Pellegrino, we opted for Chateledon as our sparkling water of choice. I was also brought a non-alcoholic cocktail which I wasn't too impressed with. It was too much orange, and not even a high quality orange taste. Oh well.
The butters were sorta special too. The domed one was salted and the other one was light. I don't really like salted food, so it was pretty obvious which one preferreded. There was a great assortment of breads as well (also the case at Philippe Rochat).
Anyway, again, I'm not going to try to give some great restaurant review or anythinbecausese I don't know enough about what I was eating. And in this case, I can't even tell you the fancy names of the dishes because we had a degustation and I don't have enough of a memory to remember the amazing descriptions that were told to us.

So, in the order that courses were presented:

This was the amuse bouche. Highlights include the molten green liquid filled fried ball, ham cream cigar, and truffle butter bonbon. Not shown is the tabouli drink that came with it. The lighting in this picture is so different because I had forgotten to take a picture of my own, and send my camera with the host to the kitchen. Maybe I should have done that for all of them. I didn't want to use the flash at the table, and so the lighting provided for not great pictures.

This was a crab meat dish and the sauce that went with it was really yummy as well. Jeez. This is bad. I'm not giving this restaurant justice with these descriptions. I was just going to do a post with pictures titled: "What a meal costing ______ looks like". But then I didn't for some reason. I guess I could always go back and change it.

I'm drawing a blank. I know it was described (oh, I'm also doing translations in my head for some of these) sushi-like, but you can see that from the picture. I wasn't really into the creamy tartar sauce that went with it.

This was a mushroom dish that was well contained in its crispy little package. Really good mushrooms though...yummy. I do have to say that here in Europe, I've gotten to try a bunch of different fancy-schmancy mushrooms. Most of the dishes came dry with small artistic flairs on the plates, and the service staff would spoon out (with great flair) the sauce to go on top.

Oh sweet bread. This one I don't think I could forget. The two pieces on the bottom were cooked two different ways. I liked the one on the right better. Above it was a cylinder of pasta with a rich gorgonzola filling and bacon on top. I managed to eat most of the brown cooked sweet bread, tried the one on the left, scraped off the bacon and unrolled the pasta and ate it after trying it all as a whole. It was just too rich for me. And it was clear that the chef really liked using foams in his sauces.

As if the last dish wasn't rich enough, we then had the cheese course. I'm really trying to work on my disliking for cheese, but it's just not natural to me. I'll taste it, but it's often too much. This was just one of the two carts, and I ended up trying a little bit of every type of cheese they had (15!). They only had French cheeses and they were divided into two groups...goat cheeses and Camemberts. Or wait. Maybe the second one was Roqueforts. I think I liked the Camembert the best. It tasted most like the Swiss cheese I've been exposed to (Gruyere I think?), strangely the waitress said that it was the strongest of the cheeses on the non-goat cheese plate (she said to eat it last so as not to overpower the other ones). And I don't like strong cheeses.

And of course...the desserts.

First, they brought out popsicles. I guess the haute gastronomie version. They were chocolate covered abricot sorbet.











And then strawberry was the theme. A hamburger (that's the word they used!) containing a strawberry mousse and a meringue cage around a strawberry cake. Yum!





The petit fours...and there was also a box of friandises that I guess I didn't get a picture of. Lotsa desserts!





Along with being able to order different coffees or teas from a menu, we could have fresh tea from the cart. I decided to go with something that I'd never heard of (as usual). It was very similar to citronella. The leaves were picked, washed and then put into the teapot. We also had a selection of three different honeys. I went for lavender.












So I guess that was the meal! On our way out, we were sent home with a brioche to eat for breakfast the next morning, which was super buttery and good.

Philippe Rochat (June 30th, 2006)

Recently, I dined at Philippe Rochat in Crissier.
I'm not going to even pretend that I know lots about fine cuisine, so I'm not going to really say much about the meal, because it probably wouldn't do the restaurant justice.
The pictures will hopefully give you a better idea of what it's like. I guess the fact that it was given three stars by the Michelin Guide would speak for itself I suppose.
I enjoyed all courses except for the wine jelly at the bottom of the second course. But that was to be expected. The moules were wonderful. I just want to say that I had PLENTY of dessert and passed on the cheese cart because I'd already done my share at Les Ambassadeurs (will have its own post). Multiple desserts in meals should be a must. Especially when they were as good as these ones were. We decided to go Swiss and drank Henniez (legierement gazeuse) that night. I had some fresh orange juice as well, after being told that there weren't any non-alk cocktail options (a tad disappointing).
I've added additional notes in square bracket for some clarification, and for continuity purposes wrote them in French - excuse the errors and lack of accents please.


Croustille de tourteau de Camaret

Espoumas de melon charentais rafraîchi au Maury

Filet de rouget de la mer d'Iroise à la plancha, pressée d'aubergines de Sicile miroir de citron de Menton

Fines lamelles de cèpes de Bordeaux consommé à la livèche à l'huile vierge de pépins de raisins

Moules de bouchots du Mont St Michel au safran de la Mancha

Grosses langoustines de Raasay à l'unilatéral émulsion menthe bergamote

Lapin argenté de Champagne aux deux apprêts, polenta de Lombardie dorée

Fromages frais et affinés
[autrement, on peut avoir une salade]

Feuilleté caramélisé de framboises du Midi, mousseline de meurons












Glaces et sorbets
[Gouts de glaces: creme brulee, vanille et creme citron]

[Gouts de sorbets: pamplemousse rose, fraise et melon]

Friandises













[Aussi, il y a le chariot des desserts avec votre choix de patisseries et un assortiment de fruits en compote servi avec un sort de pudding blanc]