Mussels in Brussels

Flying to the Netherlands on my company’s priority carrier KLM is boring. I prefer to fly the local national carrier although the space and seats are smaller. Of course the main reason is I get to socialize with attendants that are more to my liking.

Anyway, after a boring, uneventful flight, got in to sub-freezing temperatures with ice on the ground. Met up with my local friendly (Spiky) and immediately shot off to Brussels. We didn’t take the Intl. express though so it ended up being a boring 2hr train ride. Damn, this has been a weekend of extensive traveling! At least we got there in time for lunch… so lotsa nice Belgian beers, mussels au vin blanc and yummy chocolat.

Anyway, back to why I’m really here in the Netherlands… besides freeze my ass off, that is. According to my boss, I’m expected to spend some time and work out of the NL & US offices as well as meet with key business contacts. It’s a nice change though to be visiting for no other purpose than to work out of the office and to be able to meet the people face-to-face. Usually inter-continental trips involved massive amounts of meetings, weeklong conferences or long and full-day workshops. For the next couple of weeks though, it's business as usual, just out of the NL & US offices...

And of course to meet up with friends and party! Brussels & NL this week, next up… Madrid. Speaking of friends... met a colleague of Indonesch-Chinesch-Buitenland descent... I like! ;-) (smile when you read this Graduate!)

On a side note, the 78th Academy Awards handed out the Best Picture award to Crash. If some of you remember, I brought this movie up some months back in my postings on Crash & Crash and unfinished projects when I first came across it. Back then I thought it was an awesome movie. I guess the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences agreed with me and I'm glad they did. I mean seriously, I would have been pretty upset if a movie about 2 sexually confused cowboys won the Best Picture as everyone was expecting. (gives new meaning to "yeehaawww", doesn't it? *ouch* - mental note to self... bite my lip and keep an open mind when visiting the rodeo...)