Eric's Random Guide

Darla finally made it big time in New York. During the launch of Halo, we were able to take over some of the screens in Times Square. Here's a clip of the video that was shown:
  
Video: Darla in Times Square

Here's a collection of people we shot for a video.

  
Video: EMEA - Recruitment for MDAS

This post created in Tafiti.

In order to get a visa to Brazil, I had to make an in-person visit to to the Consulate General of Brasil in San Francisco. Darla came with me giving us a quick holiday in the City. Hotel Vitale continues to be one of the best, well thought out, hotels making the stay comfortable.

Highlights of the trip were dinner at Town Hall and breakfasts at Boulettes at the Ferry Station (they serve Blue Bottle Coffee in French Presses).

We ate dinner at House of Nan King. I've been coming here since 2000 and watched it grow from a little hole-in-the-wall to the must-see of SF Tourism. The wok is no longer in the front of the restaurant and the seating area has doubled in size. Unfortunately the food seems half as good. In keeping in good form, we ordered by asking for "chicken" and "beef" knowing that they would come out with something spectacular. What was served was lukewarm chicken, slivers of over seasoned beef, and wet rice. The TsingTao beer I ordered never arrived. We ate our food quickly (because we were starving) and left the restaurant with a bad taste in our mouths. It's time to find a new Chinese restaurant in Chinatown.

By the end of the trip, I had my visa and was ready to be back home. Of course, we ended spending 6 hours at SFO trying to fly stand-by on earlier flights. Of course, there are much worse places to be stranded.

Checking in at St Pietre hotel in Copenhagen, I realized that I hadn't eaten the entire day. The hotel reopened the dining room and served me half bottle of wine and an Asian-spiced steak. Needless to say, I was already liking the Danish. Turning to my new best friend, CoffeeGeek.com, I researched the coffee scene in Stockholm. The Europa Cafe was my first stop. This chic little corner cafe is bright and busy. Once inside, I noticed the World Barista Championship trophies behind the bar. Troels Poulsen, the head barista, won the award in 2001 and 2005. I first heard of this award in Portland, Oregon, while visiting the Albina Press. I met a man named Billy who won the competition 2004 and 2006. Small world. Suffice to say, the coffee at Europe was worth writing home about.

After spending my morning and lunch at the cafe, I was wandered through the city center to run a few errands. In the center of the city is a shopping area called Strøget. It was designed in the 1950s to keep the city from being overrun by automobiles. Pushing through the crowds of shoppers and students, I heard the distinct Danish languauge. The sun was coming out so I made towards the park towards the Rosenberg Castle. I wandered around, shot some photos, and just sat and enjoyed the quite.

The city has amazing archecture with old churches sitting right next to moden buildings. I reached the old harbor district just as the sun was setting behind the buildings. The canal was quite, void of ships and tourists. The University of Copenhagen is in the center making it feel like a young city.

Montpellier is a small city in the south of France filled with university students. Far from Cannes or Nice, Montpellier doesn't reak of money or European glamour. It feels like Europe overlooks this place. The fashion seems a year late and the cinemas have old new releases. The public transportation consists of a single train that runs through the centre oddly reflecting the nature of the town: narrow and limited.

Of course any small French city has its advantages, especially one on the Mediaterrian. The fresh seafood, open air markets, and little cafes make Montpellier a good place for a few days. I ate dinner at Les Bains de Montpellier (6, rue Richelieu) behind the Opera House (which was excellent). Needless to say, I didn't bother with CoffeeGeek to find coffee. Everywhere I went served intense coffee.

One oddity of Montpellier is its countless Roman statues and the big shopping center. It gives the city a feeling Athens-meets-MallofAmerica. These statues are everywhere: on the corners, in fountains, lawns...

Montpellier isn't somewhere I would go out of my way to go back, but it isn't a bad place to go.

Norway in November was exactly as I expected: cold and dark.  Oslo looks like one of the cities that is constantly under construction -- much like Berlin in the 1990s. They are investing into the infrastructure -- not just in Oslo but throughout the country (including building these giant bridges in the far north linking islands together. In Oslo, they are drilling more tunnels, paving roads, and making buildings. A friend of mine picked my up at the airport. After the long drive to the city and through the maze of one way streets and tunnels, we found the hotel.

For the sake of adventure, we decided to wander back out to the streets for dinner. At 9:00PM on a Wednesday night, there wasn't a lot of activity. Driving towards to the palace I was reminded of Norwegian history. This is a young country with only 100 or so years of independence. Scandinavia has been swapping borders and kings for the past 500 years. Before that it was clans and collections of small villages.

Due to oil and smart investments (unlike some other countries that waste oil profits), the country now is the richest in all of Europe. There is a whooping 25% tax on everything in Norway driving up costs (beer=$10). I was suddenly not that thirsty. The government has a large enough surplus so that if the oil money disappeared, they could run the government for 10 years without a deficit.

We settled in at a typical international-chic restaurant called John's. The place was empty, service was average, but the food was excellent. My friend told me this was typical for a few reasons: First people don't tend to eat out in Norway. Simple economics (burger=$25 vs grocery bought meal=$5). As far as service, this is apparently something that isn't important. It felt as if is was because they didn't tourist to make their economy work -- so why bother with the effort? At least the food was good.

My favorite part of Norway was the Express Train to the airport. It wasn't the train was anything to write about (although the tunnel system is amazing); what impressed me is that you can pay for your ticket with a credit card as you are leaving the train. Simply swipe a card through a little reader and the gate opens.