|
 |
Portugal |
2-1 |
Netherlands |
|
26' Ronaldo
58' Maniche |
|
63' Jorge Andrade
(o.g.) |
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Fair & square
Well, it's over again. We got kicked out
in the semis, with the Portuguese as the bad guys. 
But I have to be honest. Whereas I've always been devastated
by any Dutch defeat, this time it's not so bad. It's the first
time since I can remember that we lost fair & square.
The Portuguese played better, actually I think they played
their best game of the tournament against us. (Of course the
only match where Figo plays like Figo is THIS one!) They were
the better team, had the better chances, and scored 3 times
(thanks Jorge!)
All in all it was not a bad tournament in
terms of results. We made it to the semi finals and shrugged
off the obsession with penalty shoot outs. Our coach, Dick
Advocaat, is leaving which is in itself a good thing as I
think he lacks authority and even common sense (see the Czech
game), but what I didn't like at all was the way he was abused
by the Dutch press - to be more specific, the Dutch low-quality
gossipy kind of press that unfortunately the majority of our
country reads (De Telegraaf, Voetbal International or whatever
that lousy magazine is called.) People, ditch De Telegraaf
and Algemeen Dagblad and start reading a real newspaper, please!
|
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
The Sound Of Silence
Tomorrow I am leaving for a month, to Holland
to visit Marieke, family, friends, to Cincinnati for business,
to Malta for holiday, to Madrid for business, to Paris for
a wedding... So it'll be quiet on my site...
I will try and see if I can do some updates
during this time, but don't count on it too much. Expect the
next update early August!
Ciao,
Daniel
|
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Fokke en Sukke
A bit of Dutch humor on the Euro2004... 
|
 |
Sweden |
0-0 |
Netherlands |
|
Netherlands
wins on penalties: 4-5
|
(Orange) Sunday, June 27, 2004
Sweden - Netherlands : 0-0 (4-5 on penalties)
Finally, the spell has been broken!!! 
For those of you that don't know what I mean, here is the
last 12 years of European / World Championships for the Dutch
team:
1992 Euro semi final: Netherlands - Denmark
: 2-2 (Denmark wins 4-5 on penalties)
1994 World quarter final: Netherlands
- Brazil : 2-3
1996 Euro quarter final: Netherlands - France : 0-0 (France
wins 4-5 on penalties)
1998 World semi final: Netherlands - Brazil : 1-1 (Brazil
wins 3-4 on penalties)
2000 Euro semi final: Netherlands - Italy : 0-0 (Italy wins
1-3 (!) on penalties)
2002 World: Netherlands failed to qualify
Extra sad note: In the Euro 2000 semi final against Italy
we also missed 2 penalties in regular time... So you can understand
the relief when this time we finally won a match on penalties!!
I have to admit that I had a good feeling about it this time,
also for the first time since I can remember. I 'knew' we
were going to win on penalties, there was so much confidence
in the team... Or maybe there was just so much alcohol in
me... I don't know but for the first time it 'felt' right
- and YES!
If we can beat teams on penalties, then we
can become European Champions again. It would be the second
big title for us after the European Cup in 1988. We generally
do quite well as you can see from the list above - at least
quarter finals, often semis. The last World Cup in Japan is
the one notable exception. But it's true that we generally
start quite bad: always qualify as 'best second' in the initial
rounds, then the qualifier games during the tournament pretty
much the same (see also this year) but then, gradually, the
players grow and get better and better. We always play well
in those finals, even if we can't convert better play to winning.
This time however, I have a good feeling about the team. Some
key players are emerging that can decide the game, like Van
Nistelrooij and Robben. Defense looks solid again but I'm
not sure why - it still depends on the same group that failed
to qualify for 2002 (Stam, De Boer, Reiziger.) Nonetheless,
it's looking good.
Wednesday we play the Portuguese (Thursday
here in Manila.) That will be a real test. We can surely beat
them (as they can surely beat us) but I think we really will.
So far, the Czechs seem the strongest team this tournament,
and let's be honest, we had them in our pocket. Until that
fatal substitute that completely screwed up our game for some
strange reason. But if we are to face them again in the finals,
we can get confidence from the fact that we were able to dominate
them before - and that we can do it again... But then again,
we first need to get around those nasty Portuguese... (And
the Czechs around Greece - who knows!)
|
 |
Netherlands |
3-0 |
Latvia |
|
27' (pen) Van Nistelrooij
35' Van Nistelrooij
84' Makaay |
|
|
(Orange) Thursday, June 24, 2004
Netherlands - Latvia : 3-0
I wanted to watch this game in India but
unfortunately they only broadcasted the Germany - Czech Republic
game. I started to watch that one but soon realized the Germans
were probably going to win so I went to bed, setting my alarm
to 10 mins before the end of the game.
Then I woke up. I can't really begin to describe
the state I was in at 3:00 AM in the morning after a 14 hour
flight and a full day of meetings. Suffices to say that I
was looking for a water vase to turn on the telly. And when
I couldn't find it (looked for at least 2 minutes!), I got
the remote and decided I'd just have to do with that. It took
me another 5 minutes into the game before I realized the surreal
ways in which my mind was working! 
So I turned on the TV. And saw that the score
was 2-1 for Germany. Bugger!! 
Then I looked again and felt my hopes returning when I realized
it was actually only 1-1. 
Still half a minute and some good squinting efforts later
it dawned upon me that the Czechs were leading 2-1!!! 
I should get glasses...
But still no word about the Holland game.
The game was over and all I knew was that the Germans were
out. That meant that either we or Latvia had won (or drew
with big numbers) and of course I knew it was probably us,
but you never know. If your team can give away a 2-0 lead
against the Czechs then god knows what they can do against
Latvians... I couldn't wait until they finally would decide
to show the highlights so I called Marieke to hear the happy
news!!!
WE'RE STILL IN THE RACE!!
|
|
Netherlands |
2-3 |
Czech Republic |
|
4' Bouma
19' Van Nistelrooij |
|
23' Koller
71' Baroš
88' Šmicer |
(Black) Sunday, June 20, 2004
Netherlands - Czech Republic : 2-3
One of the worst days in my life. I can't
understand how we lost this game. Well perhaps I can:
The referee, what was up with him?
- That was definitely a penalty for Van Nistelrooij
- That was definitely NO red card for Heitinga
- I can't even start to comment on all the other dodgy decisions
Is his mother Czech or something?
And then Dick Advocaat, what was up with
him?
- We're playing well. We're 2-1 up. We're dominating the game.
He should be leaning back and enjoying the show. Instead what
does he do? He starts substituting!!
- As if that isn't bad enough, he substitutes our most dangerous
attacker, Arjen Robben, who has been at the base of both goals
and was man of the match up to that moment, for midfielder
Paul Bosvelt! What, was he nervous we might score again???
- As could be expected, that substitute immediately changed
the nature of the match and the Czechs make 2-2. So what do
you do as coach in this all-or-nothing match? Well I am just
1 of 16 million Dutch coaches, but I'm pretty confident that
99.9% of them agrees that Advocaat did the one thing you should
NOT do. He replaced Andy van der Meyde, an attacker, for defender
Michael Reiziger!!!
I mean, what the FUCK? Did he WANT to lose???
What a nightmare. We still have a chance
if the Germans don't beat the Czechs and we beat the Latvians.
But still, what a terrible nightmare. I saw Dawn of the Dead
earlier this day and I can tell you that that was a lot less
horrific than watching this game unfold. Wednesday is D-day.
Let's hope it doesn't become Black Wednesday.
|
 |
Germany |
1-1 |
Netherlands |
|
30' Frings
|
|
81' Van Nistelrooij
|
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Germany - Netherlands : 1-1
Tonight we played our first match against
the Germans who have never ever lost an opening match on a
championship. Unfortunately we haven't been able to break
the spell, but on the upside, we haven't lost to the Germans
on a championship either since 1996. I met Luc and Tram in
Heckle and Jeckle,
a bar in Makati that apparently is run by a Dutchman. The
game started at 2:45 local time and it's now nearly 5:00 AM.
A hell of a time to see your team alternate between good football
and appallingly fucking things up. All in all I think we were
the better team (despite the fact that we seemed to have no
midfield players for 45 out of 90 minutes) and we deserved
a win. (Yes, of course I am biased!) But let's face it, a
draw against the Germans ain't bad.
On to the next match, playing the Czechs
(current group headers) on Saturday night, Sunday night for
me. Now I gotta get some sleep, tomorrow is a work day after
all!!! 
One final note: all my orange kit is currently
in storage somewhere in Manila.
Fortunately I have an orange buttoned shirt. Not quite the
same caliber as my other shirts, lion's tail, inflatable crown
and prehistoric club, but better than nothing. 
|
Sunday June 13, 2004
Euro 2004 |
|
It's started!!!
June 13, midnight local Manila time, the sports event of the
year!!! Last night Lucy and I went on a mission to find a
bar in Manila where they would show the opening game of the
Euro 2004. I had already been told they should have it in
a foreigner's bar called Heckle
& Jeckle so we got a taxi and headed to the area.
Only too bad neither the driver nor anyone on the street we
asked knew where it was! So after driving around the same
blocks a few times we decided to jump out and talk to the
first foreigner we'd see. And sure enough the 2 Aussies we
talked to were up for the task and took us to where we wanted
to be. There weren't many people to our surprise, but there
was a big screen and as the kick off came closer, a few more
football fans trickled in. Our neighbors turned out to be
Greek so by default we were Greek supporters too. Good choice
'cause the Greeks beat the Portuguese 2-1 and deservedly so.
I was happy that the Portuguese were able to score at least
1 goal as well, I'm supporting them a little bit too!
We also got tickets for an English stand-up
comedy show next Thursday in the same bar. Apparently the
comedians (called Iain Moore and Mike Gunn) are real stars,
tickets were 1250 Pesos, almost 20 Euros. You do get 4 free
drinks for that - I guess this is because they are worried
you may need those drinks in order to find the comedians funny.
I have a simple mind and am easily amused so I don't worry.
Third round of golf: Applause!
I have a consistent pattern when it comes
to golf. The first time all goes really well and
no one believes I am a beginner. And then it's straight down
from there. I can't properly hit a ball on the driving range
anymore and it's no different on the golf course. Today was
the third time and I was simply shit. And when you're shit,
it gets to you and you get worse. Or at least I do. However,
I did have my best moment on the course as well. It was on
the last hole (things got better as the game progressed) and
I was making my shot for the green. And it was spot on, landed
the ball 50 cm from the put! A group of golfers that just
finished their game was watching and they actually applauded
me for my shot!!! My own fans!!! 
Of course, I missed the easy put (and with it lost my chance
on having at least 1 par on the 9 holes) for which I completely
hated myself, but fortunately the crowd had already left by
then - no doubt thinking that put was just a formality for
a formidable player like me...
The caddies keep score but either they cheat
tremendously or simply can't count to numbers over 8. I think
the former. Anyway, while my form has constantly deteriorated,
my scores keep getting better. On the 9 hole, 34 par course
my score has fallen from 59 to 54 to 48 today. Yeah right.
48 My ass. 
That's 48 not counting the 3 balls into the water, the 2 swing-and-complete-misses
and a few other random fluky shots... Next time I'm going
to keep score myself because by now I'm actually curious how
I'm really doing.
Tonight went out for dinner. Again. At a
Japanese restaurant. Again. Then came home and called Charlotte
for her birthday. She totally didn't expect it, which was
nice. She also said she read my web site, which was double
nice - at least I know that some people do read all this stuff,
even though no one bothers to sign my guestbook. Poor, lonely
guestbook. 
|
Saturday, June 12, 2004
Anime
I came across this
site today where you can create your own Anime self...
Pretty good! If you make some of yourself, I'll post them
up here as well.
Golf fun
I've been searching for golf instruction
videos but couldn't find any. Instead I found the 2 videos
below. The first one is Robin Williams doing an impression
of a Scotsman explaining how and why the Scots invented golf.
The second video is Tiger Woods doing some ball tricks. I'm
thinking this video is digitally enhanced - it's very hard
to believe he would actually be able to do this...
|
|
| |
Tiger Woods bouncing a golf ball
|
|
Sunday June 6, 2004
Shrek 2 |
|
I went to see Shrek 2 today with Edgar, one
of the guys from work. We initially planned on going to Power
Plant in Rockwell but strangely enough the 15:30 show was
sold out!
Probably because of the shitty weather and the fact that the
new Harry Potter was completely sold out as well. We ran back
to the car through the rain to drive on to Glorietta, where
we could catch the 16:45 show.
After a successful first release, most movie
sequels are unworthy productions just to cash in as much as
possible on the initial success. Fortunately, Shrek 2 is an
exception, the film is excellent! Opinions differ on whether
it's better than Shrek 1 - I think the 2 are equally good.
The parts I liked best is where the lean and mean fighting
machine Puss 'n Boots shows his 'sad face' with big black
kitty eyes...
The story is good, the characters funny and
the cast amazing: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz,
Antonio Banderas, John Cleese, Jennifer Saunders, and a few
more.
Curveball
Today I also added a nice little addictive
game for if you get bored: CurveBall!
I'll keep high scores so if you send me a screen shot of your
final score, I'll put it up the site. There's no way to verify
the scores so I count on your honesty (Angus!)
|
Monday, May 31, 2004
Guestbook
I've finally been able to add a guestbook.
Check out the link in the navigation window on the top! Now
of course I count on EVERYONE to leave a comment... Or else
I'll assume no one ever reads this stuff and I might as well
stop making the effort!!!
|
Sunday, May 30, 2004
Second time on the golf course
It seems to be the curse of golf for me.
The first time it all goes wonderful but then reality kicks
in and it's all downhill from there. Today was the second
time on the golf course and I sucked. Couldn't hit a ball
properly - I think I counted 1 maybe 2 good strokes and that
was about it. In the end my caddie had written down 54 strokes
versus 57 last time, but I'm pretty sure she cheated: I lost
about 54 balls in the water alone!
But despite my game being shit, I still enjoyed the whole
thing a lot. Luc joined as well and afterwards we went back
to the driving range for some beers. Again I brought my camera
and again I forgot to bring it out until we were on the green
of the last hole... Here are the few pictures we shot.
|
|
Luc going (and failing) for bogey
|
Luc and me and the 3 caddies.
On the right is Leony, 'my' caddie
|
|
|
Back at the driving range...
|
...with our friend San Miguel
|
|
Sunday, May 23, 2004
First time on the golf course
Today I went to the golf course for the first
time ever! I already planned to go with Peter (my golf teacher)
and then Bart asked me as well, so we went with the 3 of us.
It went pretty well too, 23 over par for 9 holes, that's on
average about 2.5. I have no idea if this is actually good
or not, but it felt good especially since this was the first
time. The course has a LOT of ponds and I was very please
with myself that I didn't drop a single ball in any of them.
Until we got to the 9th and final hole where I sank 2 balls
before I finally got it over. Bart dropped I think 3 and decided
to just walk to the other side. At the start of this hole
he told me that this is where "the boys are separated
from the men". I guess that's exactly what happened.
I also bought my first golf set. Bart didn't
think they were real beginner clubs (something about the shape
of the head) and that they weren't real cheap, but as it went
pretty well on the course and since I've been having nearly
all my lessons with these I decided to go for it anyway. So
I got my full set of Taylor Made golf clubs now - nothing's
gonna stop me from becoming
the world's second best golfer!
The Form...
|
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Famous Canadians
Last week in Boracay we met 2 Australians
whom I offered to crash on my couch as they were coming to
Manila. I wasn't sure if they'd take the offer, but indeed
last Friday evening Thomas and Simon showed up in Oakwood!
They dumped the bags, got a shower and then were trying to
reach some rich Philippino family that they met in Boracay
and that they were supposed to have dinner with. However,
the family was unreachable so they joined us for Japanese
in Rockwell with Margaret and Clare. The Japanese wasa pretty
good and again I over ordered - seems to be the trend whenever
I end up in a Manila Japanese restaurant (which is quite often
 .)
Afterwards we went out to a place called Absynth, where the
main menu item is, that's right, Absynthe. (If you don't know
what Absynthe is, read this
site.) Lucy felt ill and Simon wasn't at his best either
so they didn't drink quite as much. Probably a smart thing...
We ended up in some random place close to Oakwood before calling
it a night. All in all it was a good night, or at least I
think it was 'cause I don't really remember all of it!
The next day we went shopping. Targets for
the day: Diesel (for Thomas and I), general clothes and shoes
(for the Ozzies to bring home) and a tux and shoes (for me.)
The Diesel trip was funny. First we walked around for an hour
trying to find it, then inside Thomas had arranged for a gay
Philippino friend to meet us, so he could tell him what to
wear, as "gay guys know what chicks dig." Fortunately
he didn't walk out with too funky a combo so I think he'll
still be safe on Bondi Beach...
After the Diesel store I went to look for
a tux. The reason I needed one was that we were invited to
a Canadian ball that night, and as I've never been to a ball
before in all the 30 years of my life (!), I don't have a
tux nor acceptable shoes. It was a nightmare. I think I tried
more than 10 places before I realized that they ONLY make
tuxedo's to order, nowhere could I rent (preferred option)
or even buy a standard size one. In the Philippines, there
is always the possibility to wear a Barong, which is like
an oversized shirt that you wear over your trousers, but I
didn't see myself going to a Canadian ball in a traditional
Philippino dress, so in the end I called Bart who had offered
me to borrow his tux. Fortunately his tux fitted me. As long
as I kept my hands in my pocket to keep my pants from falling
down...
The ball itself wasn't great. It was kind
of boring even - the average age was well over 80 and somehow
the Canadians didn't know how to hit it off. I've been assured
that normally balls are a lot more fun - we'll see! Afterwards
the group went to a Karaoke bar. Lucy and I lasted for about
2 minutes in there before we snuck out to Absynth to finish
off the night. My first ball wasn't great but I'm going to
give it another try.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I went for a haircut
as well. There's a Tony & Guy chain here (a UK hair dresser
chain) so I figured I couldn't go wrong there. I couldn't
have been more wrong! I wasn't very precise with what I wanted
with the 'guy' and oh did I ever get punished for it. I walked
out looking almost just as gay as Ziggy, who did my hair!!!
Fortunately I was able to do some proper damage control after
a shower... Here what it looked like:
|
Sunday, May 9, 2004
Boracay
What brings more piece of mind than a sandy
white beach with crystal clear blue water and plenty of lightly
waving palm trees offering some shade if the sun gets too
hot? Well, nothing I can think of does, so last weekend I
went with Lucy (who is by now my best buddy in this country)
for a 3 day/2 night package deal to Boracay, an island in
the Visayas that is famed for its - you guessed it - sandy
white beaches with crystal clear blue water and plenty of
lightly waving palm trees as well as a lively nightlife.
We took a day off from work to leave on Friday
afternoon. Our plane was scheduled to leave around 12:30 but
it was about an hour delayed. We flew from the domestic terminal
so there wasn't anything to do except have breakfast in a
little Délifrance. Luckily (?) we just finished eating
when I spotted the cockroach on the wall. 
So we spent the rest of the time in the waiting area, far
away from any food place. When we booked the trip, the planes
flying directly to Boracay were all fully booked so we flew
to another airport called Kalibo and we had to ride a minivan
for about 1.5 hours to the boat that would finally take us
to Boracay. I left my apartment at 9:30, we first set foot
on the island around 17:00. Needless to say, we dumped our
luggage in the (very picturesque) cottage and went out in
search of a drink to soothe the nerves... Two Piña
Coladas on a beach chair with a stunning sunset in the background
later the nerves were cool with it all and full relaxation
had set in.
The next day we went to the beach, got ourselves a nice big
beach chair and basically stayed on the same spot the whole
day, sun bathing and reading. Really, really nice. Initially
I had some plans to start to learn diving but in the end it
was just way too much effort and the closest I did was 2 meters
under water swimming in the sea.
In the evening we went for dinner amid the palm trees on the
beach (fish restaurant but while the atmosphere was great,
to be honest the food wasn't that good.) Afterwards we walked
the stretch of beach lined cafes and restaurants to end up
in an open bar which had no wall on the beach side with a
huge stage in front with a huge crowd - mainly Philippino
and a few foreigners. The atmosphere was great, the music
too, and drinks ranged from 50 to 100 Pesos (0.75 to 1.50
Euro) so there was no reason to move on. We met 2 Australian
guys who we hung out with for most of the evening and who
are supposed to come to Manila on Friday to meet up for a
drink. We'll see!
The 3 day/2 night deal turned out to be more
of a 1 day/2 night deal as we arrived on Friday around 17:00
and had to leave on Sunday at 9:00 in the morning. 9:00 in
the morning. After a night where drinks were 50 to 100 Pesos.
9:00 in the morning. This must be a new standard in lousy
planning...
Next time I'll make sure to put a little more thought to the
itinerary!
|
Monday, May 3, 2004
House hunting
I've lost track of how often exactly I've
gone on house hunting trips now, I think today was the 3rd
or 4th time. After Marieke and I visited for the first time,
we more or less set our minds on Rockwell as this was the
best location - excellent swimming pool, gym and a a big mall
next door. However, the apartments we saw were not that great.
So we told Luan, our house hunter, that we'd like to live
in Rockwell but that we'd wait until a better apartment would
be available. When I started the hunt again early April, the
apartments were still not great. But I anyway had some time
as my stuff won't arrive till end of May anyway, so we decided
to stop right there, take another month to wait and see if
something else would become available. And sure enough, Luan
told me last week that some nice units had become available
on high floors and today we went to visit. And I despaired.
Seriously, all apartments I have seen in Rockwell are the
same: relatively small (even though they do have 2 bedrooms),
they look kind of old and the view is either over poor areas
or right into someone else's flat in the building right opposite
you.
So I gave up. I told Luan to either get furnished
apartments in Rockwell (there are supposed to be a lot more)
or elsewhere. She got on the phone immediately and we went
to visit another place called Pacific Plaza, which is actually
opposite from where I live now, right in the center of Makati
and walking distance from work, which is nice. The apartments
were huge as well, although less modern than other places
I've seen. The view's nice, the windows are tinted glass which
keeps out some of the heat but does make the rooms a bit darker.
There's no balcony and the pool isn't as glamorous as the
one in Rockwell but even though this place isn't perfect I
still think it'd be better living than Rockwell.
We will continue the search tomorrow, and
I'll visit as many other places as I can. Hopefully something
nice will come along this time... 'cause I'm getting SO fed
up with this...
I've temporarily (?) added a link to the
house hunting pics in the right column of this page.
|
Friday, April 30, 2004
Supermarket near-heaven
Today during lunch I went to the supermarket
around the corner to get beer and orange juice. As I was shopping
around I figured I'd also have a look for coffee as my espresso
machine arrived last Monday. And guess what! They have Illy!!!
My favorite coffee from Italy!!!
But the point was... it's only sold as beans, not ground.
However, the good thing is that apparently Philippinos buy
their coffee always in beans and they have an isle where you
can select coffee beans that are then ground for you on the
spot. So I went over with my can of Illy and asked if they
could open it up and grind it for me! I got some funny looks
and they double checked that they actually sold this stuff
themselves (of course they're not going to grind up other
people's coffee beans...) but in the end they did it. So now
I have freshly ground Italian coffee. How cool is that?! 
And as if that isn't enough, in the same
supermarket I was able to find Slankie Smeerkaas Sambal (they
also have Tuinkruiden!), Edammer aged cheese, whole wheat
bread, aceto balsamico and pesto. They have rucola as well
but it's poor quality for a staggering 20 euros per kilo!
Things still missing: Milka chocolate, Guinness,
fresh mozarella, good noodle soup (but I had a stash of 2
boxes shipped over)
|
Thursday, April 29, 2004
Bon appetit!
This afternoon I had lunch with a group of
Philippinos in a place called Long Grill. It's a Philippino
restaurant where you walk past a counter with huge bowls of
food and you point out to the staff what you'd like to have.
Strangely enough I didn't see anything grilled... I had a
beef stew which tasted quite good, although the meat inside
is very fatty and bony - the locals like it this way. I don't.
Anyway, we had all just finished and we were chatting away
as all of a sudden a cockroach ran the length of Queeny's
arm!! It wasn't a big one, but still, a cockroach. In the
restaurant where you just finished your lunch. She brushed
it away and we all got up and left. Philippinos may eat fertilized
egg with a half developed chick inside but insects gross them
out like everyone else. (Thankfully - had she been Thai she
may have actually eaten it for dessert! )
|
Monday, April 26, 2004
A dinner to die for
It's the Monday after I could have died.
Last week I've been to Japan, basically for
business but somehow in Japan that always gets mixed with
pleasure. Tadashi, one of the guys in my team, had asked me
the week before what I wanted to eat for the standard group
dinner... Now I've been to Japan quite some times (even lived
there for half a year as a student) and I had tried pretty
much everything I could think of. Except one thing. Fugu.
Before I go on, a little education on the
subject is required. Those of you familiar with fugu, or blowfish,
can skip this paragraph. For all others it's time for some
National Geographic docutainment...
Fugu is the Japanese term for the extremely
poisonous blowfish, a not particularly appetizing looking
fish living in the Pacific Ocean and considered a delicacy
in Japan. Its Kanji fu-gu literally means 'river pig'. To
protect itself from its enemies, the blowfish can inflate
its body, you know, sucking in the air to inflate yourself
and impress - don't say you've never done this yourself! The
fugu also contains a very powerful poison called tetrodotoxin.
It's 1200 times deadlier than cyanide (a lethal dose for a
full-grown man fits on a pinhead) and there is no known antidote.
One blowfish contains enough poison to kill 30 people. About
100 people die each year of fugu poisoning, but I have to
be honest: it's mainly fugu prepared by untrained people,
not in restaurants. Here's a site with some more
info.
So on Tuesday we went for a nice fugu dinner
in Kobe with Ozaki-san, Onogi-san and Tadashi. The ugly fish
were swimming in an aquarium visible outside the shop. Standing
in front of, looking one of them in the eye, you know there
will be certain death. But it's not you or me, but you or
you and me, which gives us humans the slight upper hand I
would say...
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Me, Onogi-san,Ozaki-san, Tadashi |
Fugu-san |
Once seated with a tasty Japanese variant
on Guinness (which I fell in love with during a trip to Dublin
with Shawn) the chefs started preparing the fugu. Basically,
they serve everything. The fins are deep fried in batter (a
technique called karage), the skin is poached and served in
a salad with seaweed (this was NOT my favorite.) The fugu
is then served partly as sashimi (raw slices) and the rest
comes on a big icy plate to be boiled with veggies and mushies
in a big pot (called nabe) in the middle of the table. And
that rest is SO FRESH that when it's served, it still throbs
and moves!!
Here's a movie of it, so you can see
for yourself. I did get a tingly feeling on my tongue
from the sashimi. It's not entirely impossible that it was
the horse radish in the soy sauce, but I like to think it
was the poison of the fugu. Normal sashimi never tingled my
tongue.
Wasabiiiiiiii !!!
On Friday, Ozaki-san and Tadashi took me
out again, this time to a sake restaurant with more sake than
dishes on the menu. In short, REALLY my kind of place!
The sake is served in huge x liter bottles, two Japanese experts
around me, what more can you ask for? Ah yes, the food. It's
strange. Japanese dishes, I either love them with a serious
passion or thoroughly dislike it. Fortunately the majority
of the dishes belong to the first category. That night I ate
some of the best things I ever tasted in my life. There was
a small bowl with tuna goo topped with raw quail egg and seaweed.
I know, I thought the same, but believe me, it is delicious!
There was something else really good as well that I don't
remember anymore. I also ate a full baby squid sashimi which
really didn't do it for me (yuck!) and also the grilled tongue
I will pass on next time. A novelty for me was to rub my own
wasabi! I always thought it was a mixture of a horse radish
type root and spices but apparently it's the root itself you
mush up, no additives. It looks a bit like ginger and Tadashi
told me it grows only in very fresh water. Ozaki-san filmed
me preparing
the wasabi.
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Saturday, April 17, 2004
Vijay Singh, start worrying !
My ideal job: being the second best golfer in the world.
Why golf? Easy. Golf is easy. And I don't
mean the technique, I readily believe that's pretty hard.
But what are you really doing? A walk in the park. Hitting
a tiny little ball every now and then. No contact sport. Carrying
any heavy stuff is done by your caddy. It's not as football,
where you run like a maniac for 90 minutes, hoping no one
will break your ankles. Tennis is slightly better but you're
still running up and down the court for hours at a stretch.
No, golf's the game. No work out needed, no risk of your opponent
trying to break your arm with his clubs etc. And then there
is the money. Golfers and golf tournaments aren't sponsored
by Vodafone or some electrical company or newspaper. Golf
is still an elitist sport, certainly at the top, and typical
sponsors are Rolex, Laurent Perrier Champagne, MasterCard,
etc. According to one internet page I looked at, Woods makes
$185 million a year.
So why second best? Think about it. Which
golfer does every joe know? Right, "Go on, be a Tiger".
If Tiger Woods walks the streets, I'm sure he'll have hordes
of people following him around, harassing him for autographs,
pictures, etc. Now take Vijay Singh. "Who?" you're
asking? Exactly! The world's second best golfer, but virtually
no one knows his name, let alone his face. Still the man makes
$125 million a year. That'd do nicely, thank you!
I've had this ideal job already in my head
for a long, long time, but today I made the first step towards
making it happen. I had my first golf lesson! Bart, my Belgian
friend in Manila, hooked me up with his trainer, Peter Marcos,
at the Army Golf course. The driving range was pretty basic
but as Bart said, it's cheap and it's all you need. I played
for an hour and I have to admit, it was great fun! The trick
is to do everything with your left arm which is a bit awkward
in the beginning but I got the hang of it pretty quickly and
shot 100m balls pretty consistently after 15 minutes or so.
If Peter's remarks were anything to go by, it will only be
a matter of a few years before I will have Vijay's job...
Peter knows little mercy. Tomorrow is lesson nr 2!
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Friday, April 16, 2004
Hollywood on a shoestring
Today after a great Japanese lunch, Bart
showed me around a music store and dept store, more specifically
the DVD/VCD areas. DVDs are around 10 - 15 euros here, but
of course all region 3. VCDs on the other hand are only 1.20
- 2 euros! For those that don't know, a VCD is like a DVD
with slightly better than VHS quality. If you want to know
more, click
here.
So I couldn't help myself and within a few
minutes the following VCDs changed hands in the opposite direction
of a few pesos:
- Bad Boys II
- The Blues Brothers
- Jackass, The Movie
- The Others (reco from Bart)
- The Italian Job (came with a sports water bottle)
- 24. This is a series with one of my favorite actors, Kiefer
Sutherland, where every minute of the story lasts a minute
in real life. I have the first 2 episodes: 12:00 AM - 1:00
AM and 1:00 AM - 2:00 AM.
What surprises me is that VCDs are apparently
legal. I guess they are a cheap alternative for DVDs in poorer
countries. It's amazing how popular movies are in the Philippines.
If you go to the cinema once per week, it's considered infrequent!
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Thursday, April 15, 2004
Takin' a break... Easter holidays
Hardly a week and a half in town and there
you go, 5 days off like it ain't no thing! I'm
not sure how I'd have liked it had I been a lone lonesome
cowboy, far away from home, but fortunately I got to know
Lucy, a Northern English girl who used to work for P&G
but now is fighting
tuberculosis for WHO. We met up on Wednesday afternoon
here in Makati and basically spent the whole day talking and
drinking. I'm really happy that there's someone here who's
in the same situation, meaning unmarried and childless...
On Thursday we went to the oldest part of
Manila called Intramuros. It was the old Spanish stronghold,
walled on all sides and it still holds a wonderfully ancient
atmosphere. We visited a beautiful church that reminded me
completely of Italy - I think it was called the San Agustin
church. It gave me the first good shot of homesickness since
I left from the office in Rome to the airport. The convent
of the church was transformed in a little museum of little
interest (at least to me) but when we went round the back
we unexpectedly came upon a wonderful garden with ancient
ruins. Intramuros wasn't really big but what's there looks
very nice. Next time I want to walk the walls and visit the
fort as well! By the way, at night the church really 'came
to life' as the little lights were switched on including a
big flashy star with all kinds of funky patterns.
I took a movie
of the church facade as well as the a close
up of the funky star...
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The beautiful San Agustin Church
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Friday was pretty quiet, just sat in watching
movies (hooked up the PC to the TV, not bad!) Lucy was really
dying to get out of town and I didn't mind a breath of fresh
air other than from the air conditioning, so on Saturday we
hired a car and driver and went off to Pagsanjan river. This
is a popular tourist destination (also among Philippinos)
where you get into a canoe and have 2 guys towing you up the
stream. In rainy season there are supposed to be 12 waterfalls
but we only saw 3 I think. Still, it was very nice. Halfway
we stopped for BBQed chicken and at the end we got on a bamboo
raft that was pulled straight underneath a big ass waterfall.
Weird and exhilarating experience! And that water comes down
pretty damn hard too. I suddenly have a lot more respect for
all pretty models who wash their hair in waterfalls...
At the end they tried to make us pay extra money for the boat
riders. In all fairness, these guys worked their butts off
towing the boat upstream and all, but in the past prices apparently
had gotten out of hand so the government had set the rates
(about 8 Euro/person.) Still, we knew we were supposed to
pay the guys some but when they suggested 30 dollars... per
person...!!! Anyway, we ended up paying 15 Euro in total (thanks
for some tough negotiations from Lucy.) Still a lot of money
but fine. What surprised me though was that they remained
completely friendly. I sort of expected them to play the role
of unjustly hurt victim but instead they kept smiling and
walked us out to the car. So in the end I can't blame them
for trying and I don't mind so much - go Philippinos!
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Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Touch down in Manila (March 31, 2004)
Arrival in Manila. I thought I would be picked
up from the airport by a driver waiting for me at the exit
gate with my name on a plate, but when I came out no one was
there. Turned out I had to be at a small office outside where
they handle all 'arranged' transport. They got me a car pretty
quickly and I was on my way to Manila.
The first thing I noticed was that the trees
near the airport were still decorated with what we initially
assumed were Christmas lanterns. It looks very pretty, I will
see if I can find some for a good price to take to Holland!
The shag in shanty town
The shag they selected for me is called Oakwood.
A 'premier' shag, mind you! They initially checked me into
a smoker's room. After being inside for a while I didn't really
notice anymore, but every day when I entered the room and
it'd stink of smoke. So I asked them to change it and finally
on Saturday a non-smoking room became available on the 14th
floor. It still has the same great view of the city as well
as the tennis court where it nearly always looks like a game
of chess, something I still have to get used to.
The room itself has all you can ask for.
I have a living with armchairs, couch, cable TV, VCR and stereo,
a kitchen opening to the room with oven and large fridge (free
bottled water, yeeeh), hotel style bathroom and bedroom with
TV, high speed internet and... my new PC! That's right, I
bought a new PC with flat screen LCD monitor (geeky huh? )
And of course a web cam to make sure no one has to do without
my handsome face even though I'm on the other side of the
world... |
Sunday, March 7, 2004
Bep's birthday
This morning it was Bep's 54th birthday.
We had to get up really early as my flight back to Rome left
at 15:00. I hadn't told anyone my parents and Oma were also
coming and it was great when they showed up on the doorstep
at 9:30. We had breakfast and then I pretty much had to leave
already... Mom, dad and Oma dropped me off at Schiphol and
I slept all the way in the plane. Damn, was I tired! Still
am so signing off and going to bed...
Oh yeah, Marieke and Eltjo told me that I
really have to get rid of the Music section... I don't know
yet, I'll first try to do something different with it. Don't
want to give up just like that!!!
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Saturday, March 6, 2004
Kaat
Saturday I flew to Brussels where Alex picked
me up from the airport, Marieke drove down from Losser and
we all met at Alex and Kristin's house (after Marieke spent
about an hour trying to find the place - apparently A&K
try to make it as difficult as possible to find them!)
We saw Kaat, my godchild, again after at
least 6 months, probably more. It's incredible to see how
fast she grows. She's almost 2 now and she's such a cute little
girl, not shy at all, curious and very talkative (Alex and
Krisin she talks the ears off their heads at times ;-)) We
brought her a present from Italy from a great wood shop, a
little bird that if you wind it up makes music (knick knack,
paddywhack, give a dog a bone...) which she really liked.
I've put some pictures
up in the photos section. Be warned, she looks a lot better
than Marieke or me...
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