MMM, lekker!

I am so excited about this weekend! We have the annual waffle bake at Sarah's mum's. 80 is the total eaten last year over the course of the day, I wonder how many we can eat this time.

I've been in training for it and have my elasticated trousers at the ready.

Cannot wait!!!

Room with a view?

What a beautiful sunrise from a house we rented in Provence in October. Very relaxing. I can't wait to take my bike the next time.

This was taken at the Holiday Inn in Montreal. It was a one night stop over before I flew to Las Vegas. Have to say, it was a rather bad choice. There was a large bird cage full of cockatiels and a Butlin-esque swimming pool right by the restaurant and bar. Nice.

In Toronto. The room came with a kitchen and was described as a business suite. Erm, wrong! When you're travelling for work, the last thing you want to do is to make your own food! Not only that, there was no restuarant in the hotel...hence your own kitchen. The upside was that I got to hang out with my family in Toronto.

This hotel was a nightmare. I decided to stay downtown Minneapolis for the weekend only to be placed next to the loudest-all-through-the-night-guests in the whole hotel. Please refer to this post for more info.

Crowne Plaza Minneapolis. Tried and tested and not far from America's biggest mall - what more can you ask for!

Room with a view

Like many things, I've been meaning to start this for ages now. "Room with a view" is a brief snapshot on the places that I've stayed on my travels this year.

In no particular order:

Ace Hotel in New York. Very cool boutique style hotel. Building was originally a hotel, then an apartment block and now back to a hotel. Some of the residents are still living there. Chic decor and very friendly staff. Very reasonably prices. www.acehotel.com

Dull Holiday Inn just outside NY. Believe it or not this was more expensive than the Ace Hotel above.


Another funky boutique hotel just outside Montreal. More of a destination hotel on the other side of the river. Located in a mall type area with a good selection of restaurants and shops on your door step. www.dix30.althotels.ca

Can you tell this one is from Glasgow. I was slumming, like really. The Travelodge in the city centre, cheap but not particularly cheerful. Handy location though.

Aaah, the tranquil Four Seasons hotel in St Fillans just outside Comrie. This hotel has some of the best views in Scotland being based on the shores of Loch Earn. Worth every penny with the excellent food and very helpful staff. Just make sure you're ready for the weather and that you have your own transport because St Fillan's is difficult to get to. www.thefourseasonshotel.co.uk

I'm hungry and confused. Not a good combination because I can't figure out which symbol starts the microwave in our oven.

I need to learn!

Now that I'm back in the flatlands I have many things to catch up on...mostly good Belgian things like Sarah, beer, chocolate, friends...

Hopefully I'll have some time to catch up on my blogs this weekend!

D'oh!

It was 4.15am when I got up this morning. Can only mean one thing - jetlag! Oh well, at least now I can finish of my Dutch homework.

I'm going to Scotland this weeked, my friend Gill, who we call Ginger Gill cos she is rather ginger, is getting married. I stupidly booked the flights online last night whilst I was chatting on the phone and didn't realise until I'd paid that I'd booked my flights flying out from Scotland instead of Belgium. D'oh! The last time one of my friends got married I booked the wrong weekend on the Eurostar.

The flights are booked with Ryanair who's hours of contact are 9-17:45 each day and who charge 1.50euros per minute for the joy of speaking with their customer service dept. Most people are at work at this time and will not use their company phone for ripp-off euros per minute so they're not really making themselves approachable. I have found a fax number for their customer service dept so I'll try that and see what comes out of it.

Schatje, if only you were here...;)

Next stop for SVS and JM, floor number 2 ;)

Fix

The best cup of coffee since I landed in Canada is Tim Horton's French Vanilla cappuccino.

Well, I've just flown back from Toronto to Montreal for the evening. Tomorrow I fly to Vegas for a week and then I'm on the home stretch.

I'm regretting my choice of hotel this evening when I saw the large bird cage full of cockatiels and a Butlin-esque swimming pool...joy!

Toronto

I'm in Toronto for the next few days and arrived last night from Montreal. The last time I was here I was 9. That was erm, 11 years ago ;)

It's surprising to think how my life has evolved since then.

When I was 9 I wanted to live in Canada, now I'm in Belgium. I knew I was different from my friends but hadn't yet realised that I was gay. I thought I was going to be an accountant, instead I've built a career around my passion.

Time just goes.

You never know what's around the corner.

Who needs fast roller coasters when your life can be just as good a ride.

Grrrr part deux!

Ok, so now i have some party goers in the room below. I've just been to reception and been given some earplugs. Like that's going to work. And the music is still be played across the street.

Well, I'll be pushing for some discount on my bill tomorrow morning that's for sure.

Grrrr!

I'm staying in a very funky hotel tonight. Very impressed with the decor and the staff.

The only downside is that my room appears to be the closest to the fricken noisey bar.

First call to complain to reception has already been made and the noise hasn't gotten any less. Of course now i'm focusing on it so I'm thinking another complaint and a room change is on the cards shortly!

Out of office

I'm pissed off! Some people just don't get the whole out of office thing now do they.

I'm also pissed off because I have 200 emails in my inbox.

I'm travelling with clients so it's impossible to be 100% on your emails. The day is long enough as it is.

Some people are just ignorant. My coffee sucks too which doesn't help! And I've also just scoffed a box of chocolates that I had bought for one of my clients. Oh well. Desperate times, desperate measures he!

And not to forget I can't get the tv in my hotel to work!

Everything but sushi!

Sarah and I were in the mood for sushi tonight for dinner. So we headed out to a restaurant a couple of kms from where we lived. We knew that it would be a buffet set up with different options like teppanyaki, wok, sushi, and dim-sum etc. We guessed that it wouldn't be anything super special when we walked in, but we didn't quite expect to see the following choices on the sushi cart:

Apple tart
Chocolate cake
Corn salad

No sushi rolls to be seen.

We quickly went on to our second choice which is in the market square downtown, next door to my favourite restaurant. Out came our order of sushi. Good.

After I'd eaten 2 rolls that were vigourously dipped in wasabe and soy sauce, Sarah discovered a fruit fly in her soy sauce. Her soy sauce came from the same bottle I'd just used. Closer inspection showed more fruit flies inside the bottle. Grim.

A new bottle was brought out. Sarah inspected again. Same result. Yuck!

Onto the next level

Now that I'm partly a lady of leisure I decided to register for my next level of Dutch lessons. BTW, the partly refers to my inability to move properly not my gender.

I had to take my certificate along from the level 1 course that I took at Gent university. I was quickly informed that the level 1 course 'here' is 120 hours versus my 60 hours in Gent. Of course, I quickly explained that the Gent course was super super intensive and therefore more difficult that the rather slow 120 hours 'here.'

We reached a midway point which involved me taking writing, reading, oral and IQ tests. I think it's easier to get into Oxford. Not that I'm competitive or anything, but I had what would have been a 100% score snatched straight from my hands!

There was a copy of an invitation to a party that started at 20:00. The question was "at what time does the party start?" So I write at 8 o'clock, I mean, everyone knows that parties don't start at 8 in the morning right? I argue that they are both the same. Oh noooo! It had to be at twenty zero hundred hours didn't it. Because everyone in Belgium does army speak right? I think not! Result: 1 point deducted!

End result: all tests passed and I'm onto level 2. Woohoo!

Word of the day

Stofzuiger = hoover

2000 watts of pure excitement

Sarah is on her way home from Vanden Borre with our new hoover. I am so excited! Can you tell?

This is what happens when you're left at home all day without any human interaction.

I wonder how many attachments it comes with...?

Let us pray

Where ever dad goes, doesn't matter which country, as a devout Catholic he'll always find out the times of the local mass. Me, always living in a different country, has left him experiencing many different readings...on his own.

This is the dilema. He's here visiting me, so should I go to mass with him even though it goes against my own beliefs? The last time he was here my little brother was also here, so Johnnie went along with dad.

I'm thinking the seats won't be comfortable so it won't be good for my back...

Pops is bijna hier

Woo-hoo! My dad is coming over to visit for the weekend!

Stranded

In the middle of July I flew out to the USA for a business trip for 2 weeks. I was flying from Brussels to Amsterdam then on to Minneapolis. That was the plan at least.

Whilst sitting in BRU our plane was struck by a rather over zealous baggage truck driver. 2 hours later and we were finally allowed to fly to AMS. By this time I had missed my connection. Not a happy bunny. I was hoping I could catch another flight later in the day. No such luck.

I had to wait to fly out the next day. I was on standby for the first flight of the day and definitley had a seat on the second flight. The first flight was oversold soat least I was on the second flight but this meant I would miss my presentation. *Hmph*

I requested that my luggage be given back to me so that I could change clothes and get freshened up etc. After waiting 2 hours there was still no sign of my luggage and I was becoming more and more aware of the distinctive smell of AMS airport. It kind of smells like sandals in the baggage area...And I was getting thin with "just give it another 15 mins..."

I go back to customer services who officially declare me as 'stranded.' You don't say?! Well, being 'officially stranded' entitles you to a rather delightful *ahem* care pack that consists of many things you don't really need:

Yes, it includes toothbrush, toothpaste, deoderant, brush, creme, blah blah blah which is all great. It also comes supplied with a XXXL tshirt and a pair of socks. But where the hell is the underwear? There wasn't even disposable underwear! So unfortunately for me and the guy sitting next to me on the plane lol, I had to go the next day in the same clothes all the way to the States. Yuck!

As if the thought of having to wear your own nickers inside out for another 24 hours wasn't humiliating enough, they had a 'stranded persons' menu at the restaurant which had erm, 2 choices as opposed to the normal menu...nuff said.