Friday, December 23, 2005

O'Hare After Dark


O'Hare After Dark
Originally uploaded by /k.
On my 11 hour journey home from Columbus, Ohio, I learned three things:
  1. The bars at O'Hare actually do close.
  2. Even very little dogs get pretty vicious when they've been made to wait on the tarmac for two hours. People get pretty vicious after about 30 minutes.
  3. There are are suprising amount of people at the Sacto airport at 1:30 AM.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Home Again


Home Again
Originally uploaded by /k.
As you can tell from the location column, I've travelled to artic Ohio this week on my yearly Christmas voyage. Not much to report - cold, but decent coffee at my Its A Grind away from home, Cup O Joe.

Friday, December 16, 2005

Scottish Invasion


Scottish Invasion
Originally uploaded by /k.
Just sitting in Gordon Biersch in Palo Alto, minding my own business when we were invaded by a Scottish marching band. Bagpipes, drums, kilts, the whole nine yards.

And just as suddenly, they were gone.

Apparently, it was some crazy guys birthday and he does this every year.

Thursday, December 15, 2005

James Squire @ BevMo


John Squire @ BevMo
Originally uploaded by /k.
Spotted this at the BevMo grand opening in Folsom last week. They are now importing Australia's finest James Squire Amber Ale to the U.S. !

Amber Ale is a key component of my Australia working environment and sure way to keep away from VB.

Friday, December 02, 2005

Juan Valdez


Juan Valdez Coffee
Originally uploaded by /k.
Yes, there is a Juan Valdez (I think he's passed away though).
Yes, they do sell his coffee (actually Juan Valdez cafe are the Colombian equivalent of Starbucks).
And, oh yes, I am that big of a sucker to actually buy it (one each of Vulcan, Sierra and Cumbre 8.8 oz. whole bean bags for about USD$11 total).

Yes, it does smell muy bueno.

And no, I did not get strip-searched coming back through Miami.

FFF Bogota


Bogota McDonalds
Originally uploaded by /k.
I am actually kinda disappointed with my FFF hunt in Bogota. Although the McDonald's menus were strange and colorful, they really just had the same stuff as the United States (Desayuno Completo ? Si !).

There was one jewel though: McQerta for 7200 peso (2200 peso = $1 USD).

Not sure what this actually is, but it appears to be a burger with some sauces and possibly eggs.

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Brava vs Club


Brava vs Club
Originally uploaded by /k.
In the Colombian beer wars, after much sampling and reflective thought, I have come down squarely in the Brava camp.

Ningun gracias Club Colombia.

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Zona Rosa


Zona Rosa Bogota
Originally uploaded by /k.
After a hard day of meetings and presentation (todas en Espanol), Jorge and I went out to dinner in Zona Rosa (Pink Zone) near our hotel in Bogota. Zona Rosa appears to be a generic Latin American name for nightlife districts and Bogota's lived up to the name.

Although slow for a Tuesday night, we went to dinner at H. Sasson Satay and Wok Bar. Yes, I know I am in Latin America and eating Asian food, but it was good. Even by Asian standards. While there, I decided that Brava is my favorite local brew.

We ended up hitting Cerevesa Station before we called it a night.

Destinación Bogotá


Bogota Downtown
Originally uploaded by /k.
Estoy trabajando en Bogotá esta semana, satisfaciendo con a algunos clientes. El vuelo aquí estaba muy bien, pero no tengo bien dormida debido a la altitud (Bogotá es cerca oche miles pies).

Esta foto es la visión desde mi oficina.

Escribiré más adelante esta semana.

Mi Español está mucho mejor.

Friday, November 25, 2005

Day Trip To The Brewery


Sierra Nevada Bewery
Originally uploaded by /k.
It being the first day of winter (it's 60 degrees and rainy here) and having the day off, Shelley and I decided to take a day trip to Chico, California to visit the Sierra Nevada Brewery. Chico is about two hours north of here and famous for two things: Chico State University (twice named top party school in the USA by Playboy) and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. This is probably not a coincidence.

Sierra Nevada Brewery is one of the nation's oldest microbreweries, started soon after Jimmy Carter re-legalized small scale brewing. Besides their trademark Pale Ale, the brewery bottles seven other beers and serves seven more at its on premises restaurant, The Tap Room.


Sampler
Originally uploaded by /k.
We took the obligatory tour, which although mercifully short, still was peppered with inane audience questions like "How many pounds carbon dioxide does the plant release each year ?" and "What is the bottling efficiency of the main line ?" (The answers were "I don't know" and "6 people run a line for quarter million bottles per day"). I did get some good pictures though.

They have a pretty cool setup and showed us most of the operation including the worting, kettles, fermenting and bottling. They even grow their own hops for some of the beers in a field across the street from the brewery.

While the tour may have been less than ideal, the brewery did make up for it with their onsite restaurant. It was pretty close to my collegetown brewery, The Free State, except they brewed more beers. We got one of their beer samplers -- it had 15 beers that they claimed only added up to two pints. I think I liked the Stout or Brown beers best.