The Mighty Quynh

Happy Halloween!

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Squeekaboo!

Courtesy Mr Pipsie

<3

One month from now, at this very moment, I will be in Nederland checking out the campus of Erasmus University – Rotterdam School of Management. Our base for the week will be in an apartment near the edge of the Pijp neighborhood of Amsterdam.

Why De Pijp?

This description says it all:

Formerly a working class quarter built to ease the overpopulated Jordaan in the 19th century and to house labourers, De Pijp nowadays is a melting pot of cultures and nationalities. In De Pijp 144 nationalities live together. It is one of the most popular residential, shopping and entertainment areas in Amsterdam. Thanks to scores of artists and students in search of a cheap room to rent, De Pijp has become a lively bohemian district. Today, De Pijp is so popular that house prices have gone up dramatically.

Hey, this sounds strangely similar to my ‘hood now… I guess I’m a gentrifying asshole all over the world.

Yeah, we’re going during Thanksgiving. Yes, I know what big event happens during that time in Amsterdam every year. No, we’re not going for that. It just happened to be the time that worked best for the Mister and me.

P.S. I looked for some parties on partyflock.nl to go to while we’re there and here are a couple I thought might be good just because they have trance.
- Flight 69 (NSFW!) – I went on the site to check out more info and BAM, T&A all over the place. I love you, Europe. Here’s the translated dress code pulled from a party site: “Pilot, sexy stewardess, service, business look, or dressed in white”
- Tomb Raider (I’m afraid to visit the site because I’m at work, but I’m sure it’s NSFW) – Dress code: “Lara Croft Style, Army Style, Greek, Chinese or African Style (NO JEANS ALLOWED!)”

Haha. WTF.

Remember when I pined for a certain barbecue rib-shaped pork patty on a roll and found this 7-Eleven alternative?

The wait is over. I finally had a real McRib today.

This one even has pickles and onions!

If you hold your chopsticks at the halfway point or more down the sticks, you look silly. Not only does it mark you as an amateur, there’s no way you will get an efficient angle and comfortable grip if you hold them that low, which means you’ll have a tenuous grasp at best with half the stuff you pick up. See below.

BAD

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GOOD

(Also bad is the disgusting club hands in these horrible MSPaint figures I drew.)

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If you’re really bad, your hand also nearly ends up touching the food which defeats the whole damn purpose. Chopsticks are supposed to make eating food easier and neater, not the opposite.

There’s good news though. Forks and spoons also work with most foods, even ones that originated in the Orient!

Just another Thursday in my neighborhood. Hey, guys, what’s going on?

Oh, just hanging out in Union Square...

Sitting at the top of the stairs...

Sure, the guys can join too.

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Photos from Rich’s phone, 7 Oct.

I’ve complained about the lack of good Vietnamese food in the city a few times now. I finally got tired of hearing myself whine so I took matters into my own hands, got my mom’s pho recipe, and finally tried my hand at it last week. Look! Look!! I did something!

Phở Real!