The best beer in the world

This is another post about beer. Please don't complain - my topic choices for today was either beer or my ingrown toenail. I think beer is a better topic. Also, the beer pictures look better than the ones I took of my toenails.

Search for "the best beer in the world" using Google, and it will show you a picture of the beer I am drinking in the picture above. If Michael Jackson says so (I know what you are thinking - I am talking about the writer, not the singer), you better believe him. According to his article, Saison Dupont is "impossibly delicious." Mav is holding a chocolate beer - that one was "impossibly undrinkable." She liked it though. I am not a big fan of chocolate anyway, so I guess I am a bit biased.


I also had a bottle of 1 year old Orval. As you can see from the label, this particular beer was bottled in 2005! When I got it, it was old and dusty. I had a "new" bottle of Orval before tasting this aged one just for comparison - the aged one tastes a lot better.

This bar I went to had over 2,000 kinds of beer - they are in the Guinness Book of World Records for this. Most bars in the Philippines have only 4 or 5 kinds of beer - and they are all from San Miguel. How's that for freedom of choice.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get my hands on Westvleteren - you could only buy this at an abbey somewhere, and you're limited to 1 case per year (they take down the plate number of your car to make sure you don't go back and buy another case). There is so much demand that you need to "book" your visit in advance by calling a call center.

Kinda reminds me of those donut shops in Manila, where people fell in line for hours to get their hands on a box. Those donuts were good.

The question now is that is this beer really that good? Hmmm...

Ilan ang panganay?

That's my most common follow-up question, after I ask somebody how many children they have. It seems like having multiple first-born children has its advantages:

Firstborns found to have higher intelligence

From this article:

"Wading into an age-old debate, researchers have found that firstborn children are smarter than their siblings — and the reason is not genetics, but the way their parents treat them, according to a study published today."

Why am I not surprised? Hehehe.

p.s. sorry I haven't been posting lately, I promise to put up some more stuff this weekend.

What do you do?

"I am a doctor, but I am studying to be a nurse so that I can go abroad and earn in dollars."

"I work for the family business."

"I have my own business. We sell (soap/cellphone load/purified water/lechon manok/zagu-or-similar-type-drink)."

"I work as an (IT person/HR person/salesman/marketing guy) for (large multinational company)."

"I am the son of (name of a mayor/governor/general/senator/congressman)."

"I sit around the house all day, watching downloaded TV shows from the internet. My parents give me all the money I need. Hey did you see my new car? Its really quick and shiny!"

What you do defines who you are. Your answer to this question, and how you answer it, tells other people what kind of person you are, what you are interested in, what your priorities are, what's important to you. At least in my book, what you do tells me more about you than the clothes you wear, the car you drive (or what modifications - if any - you've done to it. Case in point - my neighbor removed all the "Kia" badges on his new car, and changed them to "BMW" badges. See what I mean?), or the company you keep.

I ask this question a lot, especially when I meet new people. I ask this also when I see old friends who I haven't seen for a long time. The answer to this question, and how it is answered, changes frequently - for some people, it can even change daily. This is because priorities shift all the time - when you think you have too little money, then studying to be a nurse when you are already a doctor so that you can go abroad suddenly becomes appealing. If you have too much money, then your priorities shift too - now you want to run for public office so that you can get even more money. Hehehe. (That was a joke. Seriously, it was!)

If the answer is interesting, I usually follow it up with "What about your job?" Most people, like me (as evidenced by this blog), love to talk about themselves - so be prepared for a long answer. Sometimes, the answer to this follow-up question is predictable - for instance, I haven't met a single call center CSR who liked what he did. I'm sure they exist - there are tons of folks who pay to talk on the phone all day (just take a look at the success of Sun cellular), and being paid to do just that would be their perfect "dream" job - I just haven't met any of them.

My problem is that I've never had a straight answer to this question. I tell them that I work for a large American multinational corporation in Makati, and that I work with computers. This is usually followed by "ano ka programmer?" I tell them no. "So ano, technician?" Again I say no. Then I tell them that I work in the IT support organization (well at least I used to work in support, I shifted now to something different and more confusing), and they say "ahhh, parang call center!" Again the answer is no.

Head-scratching follows. A lot of head-scratching.

When I was working from home one time, my younger brother was observing me work. He then asked me, "what do you do? All I've seen you do is send emails all day!" Aha - to that, I can say "yes." I send emails, IM messages - I even attend meetings. And we talk about computers! All day!

More head-scratching.

So what about you, what do you do?

Dutch Maiden/s

Sorry I haven't been posting in a while - I've been pretty busy enjoying my stay in Manila. Anyway, a lot of you have seen this picture already - don't I look so pretty? :)

While I was putting on these clothes (there were about 4-5 layers of them), I could hear kids asking their parents "mommy, why is that man wearing the ladies' costume?" People would also shriek whenever I raised up my skirt to get something (I was wearing maong pants underneath hehehe).

The guy with me is Anton, our half-Dutch, half-Pinoy family friend. He drove me around Holland with my tita to see how cheese is made (in Edam), and what a traditional Dutch fishing village looks like (in Volendam). Here is another picture of us with some real Dutch maidens:


When we got to the cheese factory pictured above, they asked us where we were from. We told them that we were from the Philippines - so these girls started speaking in Dutch. They said stuff like "hey come out here - there are 2 hot, young guys out here!" (that is not a lie - they actually said "2," so they thought I was hot and young as well hehehe). Of course, Anton was fluent in Dutch.

When he demostrated this ability (which he did eventually, after listening to a good part of their conversation), the girls were blushing so hard that they looked like tomatoes! (well they didn't really look like tomatoes, but their faces turned so red that...well you get the idea!)

I am back in Europe, by the way. I just got here last night, after a long (12 hours!) and bumpy no-smoking airplane ride. I had to lug myself and my large maleta from Amsterdam to Brussels - it was a smooth but crowded 2 1/2 hour train ride.

On Sunday, I am flying back to Warsaw from Amsterdam, so that's another 2 1/2 hour maleta-carrying train ride for me. I am really looking forward to this leg of my journey (that's a lie). If I keep this up, I'll probably lose the 10 kilos I gained during my last stay in Europe (another lie).

I'll be back in Manila on July! See you all again soon!

Home Sweet Home

I am back in Manila! Its soooo hot!

Actually, I arrived on Tuesday (May 15, 2007), so I didn't get a chance to vote. Oh well, I guess that means for the next 3 years or so, I have no right to complain about our politicians.

I'm staying in Manila for work until Friday, I'll then spend all my weekends in Angeles. I've already booked the manicurista for Sunday - my toenails can't wait!

The past 3 months have been amazing. Work was very stressful (but surprisingly fun), I saw a lot of changes in my personal and professional life (just to set the record straight - NO, I did not "propose" when we were in Paris a few months ago - please stop asking me hehehe), and I saw so many beautiful places and met so many interesting people. As you can see from the picture above, about half of the places I've been to are not even in this blog. I actually have some more magnets I haven't posted up - they broke in transit and I have to repair them using super glue.

There were just too many things happening at the same time - it was just an amazing whirlwind of events.

It's so great to be back home - call me (my cellphone number is the same), let's go for a beer (or lunch, dinner, whatever). I'll be here for the next month (or so), then I'm flying back to Warsaw for the last "leg" of my journey.

See you all soon!

Berlin

Saying that Berlin is an exciting city is a gross understatement.

All I knew about this city before I came was that it was once home to the infamous Berlin Wall - which split Europe (and the rest of the world) into two halves. After a lot of research, I discovered 3 things about this city which I didn't know before:

1. Kebabs - Berlin is home to the inventor of the Doner Kebab (we Pinoys know it by its Arabic name: Shawarma) - the most popular fast food in the city. Serving it wrapped in pita bread was the brainchild of Mehmed Aygun, a 16 year old Turkish immigrant who set up his first Imbiss (or snack bar) in 1971.

2. Zoo Station - one of the major bus/tram/railway stations in Berlin, it served as the inspiration for one of U2's most famous albums (Zooroopa). This album was obviously recorded in Berlin - and the station is obviously next to the city Zoo (which is the official home of Knut the Polar Bear).


3. Dirty - it is a surprisingly dirty city - there are cigarette butts everywhere, and picking up after your dog is not a popular practice. As a result, you will sometimes encounter dog poo on train platforms, sidewalks, and even inside the train itself. Also, like Warsaw, Berliners love to smoke (cigarettes, that is) - and they do it everywhere.

I took a sleeper train from Warsaw to get to this city - I had no choice really, my Polish visa's 30-day limit was expiring in a few days and this was my last weekend to get out of the country (read this post for a background on my visa situation). Since I had a Schengen Visa, heading to Berlin was the cheapest (and easiest - but not the safest I heard) way to get a fresh stamp on my passport. The journey took about 8 hours - I had my own bed, and spent the night bunked in the couchette with 5 other Russian guys. It was a relatively uneventful trip - I was a bit buzzed (I had a "few" beers in Warsaw before boarding the train hehehe), and the only thing I remember about it was waking up a couple of times in the middle of the night to show my ticket and my passport (to a guy with a funny looking hat).

If you are a tourist, sightseeing is very, very convenient. Two double-decker buses (numbers 100 and 200) leave from Zoo station every 15 mins. They go around the city, passing through every major tourist attraction - you can get on and off anytime you like. These hop on/hop off buses are quite common in touristy places - the difference here is that you don't need to buy a special ticket for this - the regular public transportation ticket (which is valid also in all of the subways, trams, and trains) handles it all.

Quite cheap, a day pass costs only 6.10 euros (p384 - wow ang mura nga! Hehehe!).

Ok then, why do I think this city is so exciting?

It's the party scene of course - Berlin is THE home of techno music (or "Ugs-ugs" as my brother calls it). In fact, Paul Van Dyk who is the god of trance, grew up in East Berlin. Berliners party in empty warehouses and converted power stations - you'd never guess there was a club there by looking from the outside. There are no signs, and the entrance is usually located in some strange backalley that taxi drivers cannot find. Once you enter, it's a different world.



Astig no?

Money and happiness

Money can't buy happiness:

Low earners top job happiness poll

But it can buy a lot of things that can make you happy, for example:


Wala lang, just my stupid thought for the day. :)