Hyde Park

On sunny weekends in London (which are few and far in between), everyone flocks to London's famous Hyde Park... and I mean everyone! A few weekends ago, I saw my boss there with his dog! Granted, Hyde Park is slightly smaller than Central Park, but it's still huge - what were the chances?! It's not as if I know many people in London, but of course, the one person I could go without seeing on a weekend... I saw :P

At a low 72 degrees, women get in their bikinis and men go shirtless. You think that's lame too, right? I know I did last year. But this year, I'll take all the sun I can get! Call me weak, but I'm tired of looking green. Instead, I look forward to warm weekends of lazing around in the park!

Keelung - Taiwanese Street Food

Authentic Taiwanese street food served in a tapas style format.

(Starting with top. Kung pao style sea bass. Crab and pork soup dumplings. Salt and pepper shrimp. Fried Oysters)

This place has a major identity crisis. Its suppose to be taiwanese food but most of the menu is typical chinese. Suppose to be street food but they really try to highlight the place as a seafood destination. The food is casual enough but the setting is white table cloth and the restaurant looks like it was maybe a french or italian in a previous life. Overall the food was good but the ambiance and service were sub-par. The kung pao sea bass was good though. I don't usually like chinese-american food much but I do have a weakness for anything Kung Pao! Hiiiiiyah! ::shrugs::

600,000 bikes

With over 400km of dedicated bicycle paths, Amsterdam is one of the world's most bike friendly cities. So while I was really nervous about taking the city on 2 wheels, it had to be done! I kept asking the girl at the bike rental shop if she had a smaller bike since I was certain I'd fall and break my head (no helmet) - my tippy toes barely touched the ground! I hadn't ridden a bike since the 8th grade, but Charlie hadn't ridden one since he was in 3rd grade, so that gave me some comfort. If I was going to fall, I was dragging someone down with me :)

Since we couldn't really navigate the streets while riding (I could barely use a hand to scratch my butt cheek without wobbling out of control), we rode around aimlessly instead - regularly pulling over for drinks, snacks, and ice cream. I'm pretty sure we made more stops to eat, than we actually spent on the bikes that day :) We did however, manage to find the Anne Frank Huis, or the annex, which was where Anne Frank spent 2 years writing her famous diary.... looking at this picture below now, I realiz only I could muster such an inappropriately cheezy smile at such an observed site!The 3 of us finished our 2nd day in Amsterdam fairly unscathed and I was actually sad to return our bikes. It felt so free and fun - I can't wait to do it again! Although my butt did feel so sore the next morning, I thought my @ss was bitten by a huge mosquito.

KFC in Amsterdam

Carrying on our tradition from country to country...

Here's the Colonel in Amsterdam, chillin' on the canal.

What a poser!..

... we all know it was Charlie who ate all the chicken! hahaha!

Amsterdammers

Windmills spinning in the backdrop of colorful tulip fields, little girls running around in wooden clogs, and huge cheese circulars are some iconic images that come to mind when people think of Holland. Its capital city Amsterdam however, holds a less than modest reputation, famous for its Red Light District and pragmatic outlook on drugs. But during our trip to Amsterdam over Spring Bank Holiday (or Memorial Day weekend :), we found Amsterdam to be nothing short of splendid!

I don't even know where to start writing... mainly because it was 2 weekends ago, so I barely remember (and no, I wasn't smoking... or "eating" :) Just know that I love Amsterdam so much, I'd move there if someone gave me a job! I know I almost always say this when I travel, but seriously, the people there (Amsterdammers) are lovely! I love the people, I love the food, I love the culture! I think I'm gonna' move there one day (Michael's coming too)... in the meantime, here are some pictures for you to see how enchanting Amsterdam is!.. although pictures really don't do it any justice.