Gin and Tonic Lollipops

I'm still looking for a lollipop pan so once I've made these I'll add pictures...but until then I thought I'd post the recipe so you can all enjoy!

Ingredients
2 cups (440g) caster (superfine) sugar
2/3 cup (230g) glucose syrup
1/4 cup (60ml) gin
1/2 cup (125ml) tonic water
a few drops of food coloring (whatever color you desire) - I think these would make a fabulous St. Patty's day treat

Place the sugar, glucose, gin and tonic water in a medium saucepan over low heat and cook, without stirring, for 8-10 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat to high, bring to the boil and cook for 8-10 minutes or until the mixture reaches 150C (300F), hard crack stage, on a sugar thermometer. It should be a light golden color. Remove from the heat and stir through the food coloring. Lightly grease 12 lollipop molds. Carefully pour the sugar mixture into the molds and press a lollipop stick into each. Allow to cool at room temperature until set. Makes 12.

Source: Donna Hay Magazine, Issue 41 (I wish I could take credit, but I can't)...you can find this magazine at most major book stores or grocery stores

Cooking in Chiang Mai

To change things up we decided to take a cooking class in Chiang Mai. Many of our friends recommended the Thai Cooking School, which is run by a famous Thai chef who has his own TV show. The class lasted 6 hours (from 10-4pm) and we made 6 different dishes throughout the course of the day.

We had three different instructors who helped us throughout the course of the day, all very sweet Thai women. For each dish we watched the instructor cook the meal and then we took our turn...then we got to eat our food! Needless to say we were all very full!

Below are some pictures and a brief description of our dishes...

Thai hot and sour prawn soup (Tom Yam Goong) - super easy to make and oh so tasty :)

Thai Style fish cakes (Tord Man Plaa) - good, but not my favorite dish. I think I'd like this dish better if it weren't deep fried. It lost a lot of its flavor.

Green Chicken Curry (Gaeng Kheo Wan Gai) - I was pleasantly surprised with my ability to recreate this dish!

Thai Fried Noodles (Pad Thai) - surprisingly, very few of us got the sauce right for this dish...I thought my noodles were flavorless

Minced Chicken Salad (Laap Gai) - super easy to make and very tasty...probably the closest thing I've had to Thai lettuce wraps. We ate this dish with cucumbers but you could serve it with any fresh vegetable.

Water Chesnuts with sugar syrup and coconut milk - very light and refreshing. This was super easy to make and quite good!

Various pictures along the way

Since I'm a bit behind on my blog posts I'll just post a few pictures until I have time to write a full update

Halong Bay

At times I felt as if I was in another world. Though I enjoyed Hanoi, my time in the city brought about mixed experiences...little did I know what was in store. On June 14th we boarded a bus to head to Halong City, where we would board a boat to tour the islands. We decided to take a 3 day/2 night tour of Halong Bay. We spent the first night on the boat and the second night at Cat Ba island, one of the many islands in Halong Bay. Along the way we had the chance to explore several of the treasures in the area (which included kayaking, swimming, visiting the floating villages and viewing several caves)

The floating villages were quite interesting...these people literally live in houses smaller than most house boats and the entire town is comprised of this. It appeared that the livelihood of these people was based on us tourists!

After kayaking and swimming we anchored for the night...we were extremely lucky because we had a great group of folks on our boat. Most were between the age of 23-31 and came from all over the globe. If I am remembering correctly, there were people from England, Ireland, France, Germany, Denmark, Australia, Canada and America...pretty impressive! It made for a fantastic night and the scenery could not be beat!

The next day we got up for an early breakfast and then headed to Cat Ba island for the day. Meera and I were supposed to go trekking, but some how this got lost in translation and we didn't get to go...frustrating, but not much we could do. The island is a cute little beach town that thrives on tourists. In the afternoon we headed to the beach for a couple of hours...It was absolutely fabulous! White sandy beaches and the water as warm as bath water. At first we had the beach entirely to ourselves, but within an hour the scene quickly changed when tons of others joined us...I've never seen anything like it...

Vietnam Adventure - Week 1

So I realize I've been absent for a while, but it's been so busy since I arrived in Vietnam. Since leaving San Fran I've technically visited four cities, though I'm not sure an airport stop-over counts. We (my partners in crime for the next 6 weeks, Meera and Christy - both class mates from Haas) all arrived in Saigon within a few hours of each other...Christy and I met in Tokyo and we then met Meera at the Mme Cuc hotel in Saigon; a hostel in the backpacker district. It's super cute the staff are super friendly and love to practice their English.

We decided to take it easy our first day and let ourselves gradually get used to the time change and heat. After a quick cup of coffee at the hostel (coffee with condensed milk...I'm pleasantly surprised by how tasty this is) we headed out for a day of exploring, but first we satisfied our hunger with what soon became our morning breakfast...streetside egg sandwiches with cilatro and chilli sauce on a baguette...so tasty! and only 10,000 dong (about 80 cents). We also found a cute smoothie bar called the Juice Box and discovered a wonderful drink called Sinh to (can't go wrong with fresh tropical fruits!)

During the rest of the day we made our way around the city visiting the Reunication Palace, the War Remnants Museum, the local city market (for a few local goodies) and the Notre Dame Cathedral; while doging motorbikes in the streets...this city is crazy...one tour guide told us that the population in the greater Ho Chi Minh City area is about 10 million and there are 5 million motorbikes...at times the streets are wall to wall with just motorbikes, forget about driving a car in this city. We soon learned that the bus companies allocate atleast an hour to leave the city.

After a whirlwind tour of the city we ended the day at the Vietnam Traditional Massage Institute, which was coincidentally a few doors down from our hostel. Little did we know the Institute is co-located at a school for the blind, so I just got one of the strangest massages of my life from a blind Vietnamese women.

Stay tuned for more from the first week (and I promise to post pictures)...Mekong Delta, Cu Chi Tunnels, Hoi An and Hue!!!

Graduation Weekend

Well the time has now come and gone. I'm now an MBA!!! Hard to believe that I could jam so many things into 2 years time. It feels like only yesterday that I packed my car and made the drive south to Berkeley. So much has happened in the last two years, from classes to case competitions to exciting travels around the world...Business School has definitely been an adventure!

Graduation was at the Greek Amphitheatre on the Berkeley campus on Friday, May 16th. The weather was gorgeous, perhaps a little too warm. We all melted under our black robes during the two hour ceremony. Bengt Baron the CEO of V&S Group (Absolut Vodka is one of the most well-known brands) gave the commencement address.

After graduation there was a celebration by the clock tower. It was great to see everyone with their friends and family. My mom and sister made the trip down for the weekend and my uncle even flew up for the day. After the reception we headed to the Claremont Hotel for a cocktail before my uncle had to leave for the airport. Later on, Jean, my mom and I had a fantastic dinner at one of my favorite spots, Wood Tavern.

Check out a few picts from graduation.

A few more pictures from the weekend

Amusing Running Article

Though most of you may think I'm nuts for running as much as I do, there are a few folks who understand my love for the sport. While I was searching for upcoming races, I came across an article that describes 10 types of 'runners.' I hate to admit it, but I've seen most of these types of runners at some point in my running career...take a look and vote for your favorite or perhaps most obnoxious runner.

1) The Frightened Dog Swatter - love the description (especially the tiny pack of Paris Hilton purse dogs)
2) The Human Cybertron
3) The Loud Runner
4) The Desalination Machine
5) The Salination Machine
6) The High Five Twister
7) The Stink Bomber
8) The NBA Pro
9) Doctor 90210 - perhaps the most amusing
10) The Gazelle and the Sloth

http://www.active.com/running/Articles/The_10_Types_of_Runners.htm

Upcoming Races

Race Calendar for the Spring

Thought I'd start a post tracking my race activity and results for the spring

Race Date Time
Marin Trails 20k March 8th, 2008

Battle of the Bay Tri Relay April 5th, 2008

Napa Sprint Tri May 5th, 2008

More info and picts to come!

Race N Case

Race N Case

Case competitions are often a common experience in business school. Teams from business schools across the country against one another on various topics ranging from finance, strategy, marketing, ethics and other business topics. In most competitions, teams are presented a case and given 24-36 hours to prepare a solution and power point slide deck that is presented to a panel of judges.

The Race N Case competition was slightly different. Hosted by the University of Denver, organizers decided to put their own twist on the competition by dividing into two parts. The first part consisted of the typical case competition, though teams were given a case ahead of time and asked to prepare a slide presentation on a business ethics situation. In our case, an investment fund was forced to decide whether to divest when an investment company did not meet requirements of the fund. In our first presentation we discussed our analysis and recommendations to a panel of 5 judges. In the afternoon we presented to the entire panel of judges (over 30 in total)...

The second part of the competition was a ski race. Saturday morning we all boarded buses (one day late, thanks to high winds which closed I70 for much of Friday) and headed to Vail ski resort. Not only did we get to ski Vail for the day, but we also got to race against the other teams. Little did we know what we were getting ourselves into...Though we were all experienced skiers/boarders we could not compete with the likes of UCBoulder, UDenver and BYU...some how the Colorado mountains just don't compare to the Sierra's

In the end, we just barely missed the top three, due to our ski performance, but we all had a great weekend. The competition came to an end on Saturday evening with a catered dinner at a restaurant at the top of the Gondola. Oh, did I mention that we stayed at a Vail resort with its own ski lift...let me tell ya, it gives a whole new meaning to skiing! :) Nothing like waking up and being on the slopes 15 minutes later!

Since we made the journey to Colorado the team decided to take advantage of an extra ski day on Sunday before we all headed back to Berkeley.

I think everyone would agree that it was a great weekend. Check out some picts from Denver, the UDenver campus and Vail!

Random Photos

A few of my favorite picts

Can you guess where each picture is from?

Oh Argentina

As some of you know I changed things up this Christmas vacation and instead of heading north to Whistler I jumped on a plane and 23 hours later I arrived in Argentina. Yes I realize it doesn't normally take quite that long, but my trip consisted of three flights and a six hour layover in Lima. Despite an entire day of travel it was WELL worth it! For any of you considering the trip, I highly recommend it!

The trip started out in Buenos Aires. I arrived in the wee hours of the morning on December 28th. After collecting my luggage, clearing customs and finding a taxi it was nearly 5am. Our first day was a planned day of sorts. Marcelo, our gracious host and guide for the trip had arranged for us all to go to an Estancia for the day. This turned out to be quite a treat and exactly what I needed. Before I keep going, I should probably introduce you to the group. I traveled to Argentina with 20 of my business school classmates from Haas. Marcelo, one of my classmates used to live in Buenos Aires so he graciously volunteered to help coordinate and arrange lodging, transportation and other logistics for the trip...basically he was amazing and did far more than we can ever thank him for :)

So I'll start from the top:

Day 1, December 28th:

When we arrived at the Estancia we wandered around the grounds for a while before getting ready to go horseback riding. It was a beautiful day, nice and sunny with patchy clouds. We rode the horses out as a group around a few open fields and then returned back to the stables. It was a short ride, but still fun none the less.

After horseback riding it was time for a big Argentinian style lunch complete with all types of meat, wine and other miscellaneous foods. A few hours later after we were all content I wandered around the grounds some more before heading to the pool for some sun and relaxation.

Around 7pm we all piled into the vans to head back to BA for dinner and a night of dancing.

A Few Picts from the Estancia:

Once back in BA, we headed back to our apartments to get ready for our first night out. My apartment was on Guatemala street in the Palermo Hollywood district. It was a great area because it was close to fun restaurants, shops and clubs. Our first night we ate at a restaurant nearby before meeting up with the rest of the crew to hit the town. I must admit the first thing I had to get used to was the fact that dinner doesn't start until midnight! We were still eating at 2am.

Below are a few picts from the night out.

Day 2, December 29th:

One thing I did not realize was that my days would start much later than at home. Instead of rising around 8, I was lucky to go to sleep at that time...ok that's a bit of an exageration, but it was not uncommon to rise around noon, as we did on Day 2. Though we got a late start we still made the most of the day. Our apartment decided that we needed to explore our own neighborhood, the Palermo district.

Palermo is a fun, upbeat neighborhood with lots of shops, restaurants and bars. The eight of us started out together just browsing the area until we found a cute place for a late lunch around 4pm. Afterwards we soon split up as Ayse, Tanya and I decided it was time to check out some of the local shops!

Later that night (and when I say later I really mean that...I think we headed to dinner around 11pm), we met up with the rest of the Guatemala crew and headed to Campo de Fiore for dinner. We tried to see a Tango show, but couldn't get tickets so we made due with dinner and drinks afterwards. We even closed the restaurant, which is pretty hard to do in Argentina. After a tasty dinner of pasta, wine and even limoncello we all headed back towards home. A few of us decided to venture out and explore our 'hood' a bit more, but I'm embarrassed to say we ended up at an Irish bar...all and all we had a great time.

Day 3, December 30

Having gotten a late start on the 29th, we decided to make up for lost time. We started the day in La Boca. This area is known for the vibrant buildings and tango dancers you often see on the street. La Boca Jr (one of the many soccer teams in Argentina) also plays in this area. Check out some of the picts of the area. As a whole, the area was a bit too touristy for me, but it was neat to check out.

After La Boca, we headed over to San Telmo. Sunday was the perfect day to visit this area because the famous antique market was in full effect. The market was located in main square and there were various other antique shops around the area. We actually didn't spend a ton of time here but I did manage to come back at the end of the trip.

At this point, the day was just really beginning. Tonight's activities included drinks & appetizers hosted by Marcelo and his parents (including a scavenger hunt),a Tango show at the famous Cafe Tortoni followed by a classic steak dinner at La Cabrera. The tango show was great, though it was more of a performance than actual dancing. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to visit a tango hall as well. After the show we headed to dinner, which proved to be one to remember. I think we all over estimated the amount we could eat, but how were we to know that the meat would be the size of my head... :)

Day 4, December 31 - New Years Eve!

The highlight of New Years was clearly the Haas celebration. Anita and Jenna graciously hosted the entire gang for dinner and drinks to ring in the New Year. We all pitched in and brought something to share, so as you can imagine we had plently of food and drink to go around.

Around 1-1:30 we all headed out to hit the town. I ended up at a club called Cafe de Cuba. Unfortunately the whole group didn't make it in, but we also ran into other Haases from the 1st year class.

Day 5, January 1, 2008!
Happy New Year! Can't believe it's already 2008! Since most shops and restaurants were closed on New Year's Day, the day was pretty mellow. After lunch we took a self guided walking tour through downtown BA and down Florida street. Florida street is definitely a touristy area, so it was nice to see it when it was a little quieter than usual.

After that we all packed our bags and called it an early night because our flights to Punta were at 7am. It's on to Punta del Este! Check out the next post to see more!