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.

• Statue of a peeing boy
• The Main Square
• A la Mort Subite - a famous pub known for the worst beer I've ever tasted
• A street with all of the restaurants (all French of couse) 
• Statue of a peeing girl
• A waffle stand

Once again, I was grateful for Quicksilver and The Confusion because it explained the long sorted past including the French, Netherlands, English, Spanish, and anyone else establishing a trade route in the past 300 years. While the Dutch and French continued their tug-o-war in the early 1800s, they simply didn't notice that Belgium decided to become its own state. As a result, the country has quite the divide between the Dutch and French speaking citizens. (Now all of those Dutch jokes make sense!)

The second night, Silvio gave me a tour of NATO, the European Commission, and EU Parliament. As an interrupter for the EU Commission, Silvio was able to differentiate the seemly monotonous government buildings. There were building for deliberations, buildings for creating new taxes and fines (solely dedicated to Microsoft at the moment), and other buildings to prolong any decisions (joke...sorta). The European District -- as it is called -- is isolated from the rest of vibe Brussels. It feels international -- but in a cold way. It's more like Corporate Cafeteria meets Hospital Lobby.

 The three of us went to a few more pubs to try various Belgium beers. We ate "French" fries -- rather Belgium fries -- from Masion (apparently the best fries in the world). At the end of the evening, we drank vodka and pivo at their flat -- served as a digestive aide (from all of those fries!).

With the gray clouds and misty air, Brussels seems dreary. Government buildings everywhere don't help. The beer is good -- although a bit sweet. The chocolate is good.

However, the waffles are incredible.

I arrived in Stockholm Thursday night. It was the fourth city in my fourth country in as many days. Dinner was a quick bite at the Dubliner, an Irish pub located on Birger Jarlsgatan. On Friday morning I awoke at 6:30am to reach the office in time to give my presentation. By the end of the day, I was exhausted from presenting so much during the week and the intense travel schedule. However, everything took a turn for the better...

My friend Sandro, from the Czech Republic, joined me Friday afternoon. Having not seen Sandro in four years, we had quite a bit of catching up. Our first stop -- naturally -- was a Czech pub in Southern Stockholm on Ostgotagatan and Kocksgatan. After several pivos and fried cheese (my favorite Czech dinner) we headed to a jazz club in Old Town. In a blink of an eye, seven hours had passed along with many beers.

Keeping good form throughout my trip, I looked for the best coffee in Stockholm. The Swedes are known for drinking lots of coffee but not necessarily good coffee. Turning to CoffeeGeek.com again, I found Sosta -- a little Italian cafe with excellent coffee. The cafe looks and feels just like one in Italy including the florescent lights, no chairs (stand while you sip your espresso).

Other highlights included the Vasa exhibit: the story of a Man-of-War ship that sank 10 minutes into her maiden voyage because of bad engineering.

 This ship sank in the harbor in 1628 during the 30 year war. It wasn't until 1958 that it was found. It's hard to imagine but near perfect this ship in perfect condition sitting inside a museum.

The nightlife in Stockholm is great. Lots of clubs and Swedish people running around. The queues are intense so make sure to go out early or be a beautiful tall blonde woman.

I look forward to coming back to Sweden. Hopefully it will be a bit warmer and brighter. The summertime must be absolutely beautiful.

The moment you arrive in Amsterdam, all of your expectations are met. like a good dish, there are only a few indgedients but when mixed together they create an amazing experience. The  canals. The bicycles. The houses. The cafes.

Given the city is below sea level, the canals bring a functional design to the city and create a maze of streets. alleyways, and bridges. With this layout, all of Amsterdam's treasures are both in plain sight and tucked away. Throughout this maze you'll find a steady rotation of: cafe, sex shop, bar, house, restaurant. Threading all of this together are a million black bicycles chiming their bells to weave through people traffic.

The open use of pot in cafes, girls dancing in windows in the Red light district, and bars would make this city seem like a non-stop party. However, there's a mellow tone that says "big deal, haven't you seen a naked woman before?" Of course there are the frat boys who act like they haven't but for the most part I found the center to be calm.

The best way to spend your time here is hanging out at a cafe or  resting on the sidewalk. I'm here during a cool and sunny free weekend. It's the type of weather where you can sit outside in a jacket and scarf while sipping coffee. The sun -- when it pokes through the clouds-- is warm and bright and the air is cool. It's the kind of day where you order wine at lunch and stay for a couple hours.

Must see places (so far) include:

• de koffie salon - Utrechtsestraat 130
  best coffee in amsterdam
• Restaurant De Belhamel - Brouwersgracht 60
  great lunch on the canal (pic above)

Places on my list:

• Restaurant Oud Holland - Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 105
• Kadinsky - Zoutsteeg 14

Great resouce for coffee shops: http://www.coffeeshop.freeuk.com/

Equipped with a heavy laptop bag and a head full of knowledge, I get ready to head out for my northern European trip. The BMI lodge is smokey and stocked full of cans of Boddingtons, Guinness, and stale cookies. Heathrow security is a pain (had to check my carry-on). Note to self: Always take the train out of London -- even to America. Maybe they'll make a Channel Route to NYC? 

I'm addicted to Indian food. Even after two dinners at the Red Fort, I still crave Munghi. I would move to London just for the Indian food. Certainly I understand why the French, English, and Dutch went to war over the India Trading routes -- and given English cuisine compared to the French, it is quite obvious why the English fought harder. They had a lot to lose.

Best tool for travel: www.coffeegeek.com -- providing forums on coffee especially WHERE to get the best coffee anywhere in the world. If you are looking for me, best to check the Amsterdam listings.

While walking by Westville, located in the quiet neighboorhoods of West Village, a customer of the restaurant came out ranting and raving about the food. We decided this was a good sign. Once inside I order a cheeseburger that was out of this world.

http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/37628631/

Finally an app that allows you to use music that you bought any way you like. I've legally downloaded a number of albums that I cannot access now, or convert to play in my car stereo.

Link to FairUse4WM 1.1 Free Download - Softpedia

 Here is a quick map of the tennis courts that I could find in Seattle. I need to update more on this map, but it is a good start.

Seattle Area Tennis Courts