Kevin restaurant

Our annual AIS fiscal year end dinner was at Kevin restaurant this year. Since we were allowed to bring our significant others, JJ was able to come along. AIS had bought out the place and so we had a set menu based on the pre-determined selections of the chef's offering from his regular menu.




For starters, I got the roasted sea scallop and they weren't kidding. You get ONE scallop and it was amazing!


JJ got the grilled asparagus as his appetizer and it looked really fresh and delicious.


I ended up with the halibut as my entree. It had an Asian flair to it and the ingredients was super fresh.


Though I didn't like lamb, I tried some of JJ's rack of lamb and I'd have to say it was excellent!


Apparently, the tuna entree is the dish to eat there but unfortunately, there wasn't enough tuna to go around for our entire group so chef Shikami made it up with an amazing tuna tartare hors d'oeuvres that I have no pictures of.

For dessert, JJ and I both had the phyllo bundle and it was quite unique.


I did wish that I had Maracaibo chocolate mousse once I tasted it! I normally don't like mousse because of how fluffy it is but this was the densest mousse I have ever had and it was definitely of utmost chocolate quality!

Eurotrip 2007 - Avignon, Arles, Monaco, and Nice

After Paris, we took to the trains and headed south. We went to Avignon first, a very medieval looking city.

The Palais des Papes where the Popes used to live.


Overlooking Avignon.


The Pont d'Avignon.


The next day, we stopped at Arles, where Vincent Van Gogh spent the later years of his life. You can find many of the scenes from his paintings here.

Cafe de Nuit


There's a little place that reconstructed Van Gogh's bedroom painting. Tacky, but funny.


We also had two of the most incredible meals ever, Le Caveau du Theatre in Avignon and La Paillotte in Arles, thanks to Elise's excellent restaurant recommendations. Something of note that neither of us had ever seen before was an appetizer called an asparagus cappucino, which we had in Avignon. We were both weirded out by the description of it but went ahead and ordered it anyway. When it came, it had the most interesting mix of texture, flavour, and presentation! The best part was that it was DELICIOUS!


We ended our France tour with two nights in Nice. We actually used Nice as a launching pad for our full day excursion to Monaco. The weather cooperated with us that day too. A good thing, since Monaco was one of the most beautiful places we saw on the whole trip.



In all the other cities we visited, we had to rely on maps and travel guides to get around, but not in Monaco. Maybe it had something to do with playing F1 on the PS3 for countless hours on the Monte Carlo track? The F1 race was held just days before we got there so most of the stands, signage, and even the pit row were still up. We knew every turn of the course and didn't need any book to tell us where to go.


The famous hairpin turn, which the F1 cars take at 50km/h.


The next day, we saw a little more of Nice and the French Riviera and relaxed by the sea before heading back to London.


We ended up back in London for a night before our flight back the next day. We took it easy and did some limited leisurely touring. We have to come back here another time to see Wimbledon so we're saving the real touring for another trip.


The London Bridge.


More pictures!

Avignon - May 31-June 1, 2007

Arles - June 1-2, 2007

Monaco - June 3, 2007

Nice Cote d'Azur - June 2-4, 2007

Eurotrip 2007 - Paris

The whole point of our trip initially was to see the French Open. We applied for tickets late last year and when we were finally told we got them, we planned out the trip around the French Open.
We stayed only 3 nights in Paris and one of those days was at Roland Garros so our time in Paris was very limited. But as they say, it's quality, not quantity. We will never forget our first night in Paris.

Our first night was wet and cold but our hotel was very close to the Arc de Triomphe so we still went out to see some sites near the hotel.

The Champs Elysees


We climbed to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. It doesn't look that tall, but there are some serious stairs. When we finally got to the top, we had no idea the view would be so amazing.




It was here that I proposed to Donna, and she said yes!

Look how happy we look right after we came back down.


So, from one memorable day right to the next: the French Open. This is what we came here for. We had tickets for the third and final day of the first round.


When we first got the tickets, we were hoping that we'd get to see just one of Roger Federer or Raphael Nadal. We knew they wouldn't both play on the same day so there was a 1 in 3 chance that we wouldn't get either of them. When we got to Europe, the weather was horrible. The forecast said rain pretty much everyday and we were really worried that our day would get rained out. But to make up for the cruddy weather we had all trip, the rain Gods decided to rain hard on the first two days of the Open so almost all the matches got canceled and then the weather cleared up completely on day 3. That meant that we got to see all 3 days worth of matches including both Federer and Nadal. A bunch of other top name players also got pushed out to the smaller outer courts so we got to see them up close.

Nicole Vaidisova


Mr. Federer


Lleyton Hewitt


Rafa


Us at Court Philippe Chatrier


I still can't believe how lucky we got with the matches being canceled before and then having perfect weather on the day we were there.

With just one full day left in Paris, we did the most abbreviated tour of the Louvre you can imagine. In just about 2 hours flat, we saw the top 5 highlights of the Louvre and got the heck out of there. Hey, we were short on time.


Goofing off outside the Louvre later that night.


The time we picked to go up the Eiffel tower also had the worst rain of the entire trip. It was a downpour and gave us very little opportunity to take pictures.


From the top, there were just brief periods when the rain would lighten up enough for us to take out our camera and get a little visibility.


There was so much more we want to see in Paris, we will have to do another trip back.


Click on the albums to see more pictures!

Paris - May 28-31, 2007

Roland Garros - May 29, 2007

Eurotrip 2007 - Amsterdam

For our summer vacation, we took two weeks off to go to Europe. Our trip started with Amsterdam, but we flew in and out of London. We had to travel around to several cities in our trip so we decided to carry backpacks instead of trying to roll around luggage. Our flight from Chicago landed in Heathrow early morning but we were flying to Amsterdam out of Gatwick so we had some time to look around London.

10 pounds for the train into the city and then 4 pounds for a 5 stop subway ride? How do people afford to live here?


We had enough time between flights to do some quick sightseeing.


A short flight later, we were in Amsterdam. We stayed 4 nights and did all the usual tourist things. Before leaving for the trip, I asked Kush for a recommendation on where to eat in Amsterdam. He told me I had to eat at Maoz. It turns out it's a chain of falafel sandwich stores and stands. Who sends someone to a falafel store when you ask for a restaurant recommendation in a city half way around the world? Well, it turns out it really was the best falafel sandwich I ever had and I crave it all the time now.


Over the next 4 days, we saw a lot of Amsterdam.

The red light district.


We took a canal boat tour to see the disturbingly crooked buildings.


Another fine example of a house I would not feel comfortable in. If you stare long enough, you think you can actually see it tipping over.


Me in my size 50s.


Amsterdam was every bit as beautiful as people said it'd be.


The canals at night.


We knew they liked to ride their bikes in Amsterdam, but this was just crazy. They all look identical!


Some people told us we had to see the Heineken Museum. It turned out to be one of the better surprises of the whole trip. The Heineken bottle simulator is a must.

Rock Star.


Decoration at one of the 3 bars found inside the museum.


For 11 euros, you get a really fun tour, 3 free beers (extra fresh), and a really cool souvenir to take home. An excellent deal even if you went there just for the beers.

We also did a day tour outside of the city to see the countryside.
We saw some windmills


and stopped to see a clog factory


and also visited a cheese farm.


Other highlights of Amsterdam included the Van Gogh Museum and the Ann Frank House. I wanted to, but I could not get myself to try the raw herring sandwich. Perhaps next time.

That's the end of Amsterdam.


Please click on the albums to see more pictures!

Amsterdam - May 24-28, 2007

Zaanse Schans, Volendam, Marken - May 26, 2007

Next up, Paris!