Eurocup

vs.

So FOOTBALL is the big game over here. And that's European football (soccer) not American football. I'm not really into sports, in general. Other than really loved following the Lakers back when Shaq and Kobe were together. But anyhow, my friend Sun is a huge AC Milan fan so I followed him out to a pub to watch the Eurocup game. We went to the Montague Pyke near Leicester Square where they have these huge screens and there were a shitload of blokes gathered in a queue outside to pay £3 to get into a pub. I got bored with the game before it even started. But I sat down at a random booth and made friends and got fucking pissed.


Darfman, Marcel (Liverpool fan) and Sun (AC Milan fan).


VJ, a 17-year-old who snuck into the pub on a fake ID to get piss drunk rather than study for his A-levels this week. Liverpool fan. Can you tell? This is him screaming LIVERPOOL!!!! He convinced me to root for Liverpool because Americans own the Liverpool football club now, but then he blamed me when they lost. Damn Americans!


My new friend Hannah, one of the only other girls in the pub. She doesn't care about football either so we just drank pint after pint...this is me after a few. We were thinking since there were so few girls in the pub, it would be the first time the guys toilet would have a longer queue than the girl's. BUT they turned the girls bathroom into the guys and gave us the shitty one downstairs! DAMMIT!


Hannah and Siyed. We just got drunk and took pictures with sunglasses on.


Me and AJ, VJ's older brother. Ironically, VJ didn't get carded, but his older brother did. I got carded too! WTF?


Sad look of anticipation after Milan scored two points. Guys get so emotional watching football.


But joy after Liverpool scored one point. There were only like 5 minutes left in the game so it was pretty much screwed though.


So tears when Liverpool lost. Final score, 2-1 Milan.


Didn't really matter so me, though, since this was my view of the whole game. I had 5 or 6 or possibly 7 pints. And I hadn't eaten anything all day other than a bag of crisps...eeks!


Sun was really happy, but Marcel wasn't. This is Marcel choking Sun with his Milan scarf. Misplaced frustration.

Afterwards, we went to eat Chinese food in Leicester Square. I was pisssssed, in a good way. I like football! It's a great excuse to get drunk...although I've been hung over all day.

Michael Moore's SiCKO

Me and my lil bro's favorite person, Michael Moore, is releasing a new documentary about the American health care system. The American health care system is one of my personal causes, too, so really excited to see this. I f-en love Michael Moore.

The clip above is about the UK health care system, NHS, and how when you go to the hospital here, you don't pay a thing. No co-pay, no private insurance, and all prescriptions are £6 regardless of what it is. Yeah, it's a little amazing, no? Since moving here, I haven't really gotten much out of the NHS because I haven't had anything beyond a cold. When it comes to flus and colds, the NHS is a bit annoying because you go and they can't do anything for you (since there really isn't anything you can do about a virus other than let it pass). What I realized though was that whenever I go to the doctor in America for a cold, because I'm paying the bill or at least my co-pay, I think doctors feel like they have to give you something when you leave or otherwise, we'd get mad because it's like paying for a shirt at the mall and then leaving empty handed. So notice that in the States, they ALWAYS give you a prescription for antibiotics, regardless of what's wrong with you, just so you have something in your hand when you leave. So when I moved here and got sick all the time because of the damn weather, I would go to the NHS clinic and be like, aren't you going to give me anything? And they'd be like "no," because you can't do anything but rest and drink fluids for a virus, and it'd make me feel a little cheated, until I realized that I wasn't paying anything to be there in the first place and that taking antibiotics when you don't need them is actually not good health care at all!

People here complain about the health care system, saying it's inefficient, but I actually get really mad when they say this because compared to where I'm from, I think NHS is amazing. If you get shot in London, which is rare because they don't really have guns here, and you go to the emergency room, they'll fix you for free! When my friend's boyfriend got shot a few years back, they slapped him with tens of thousands of dollars in debt for saving his life. Another time, I had a friend get stabbed and then the ambulance arrived and took him to the emergency room, they tried to charge us $300 for the 10-minute ride (a limo would have been cheaper). COME ON GUYS! How can you put a price on saving a human life? It's barbaric. Also, people complain here about the queues (lines) at hospitals, but hell, we have them, too. And yeah, the wait at NHS hospitals is a bit longer than for American hospitals, but if you're dying, they'll still make you priority one, so is waiting in line a few extra minutes when you have a broken bone THAT much of a sacrifice? And really, if you're unhappy with the quality of free health care in Britain and you're rich, you can always hire private doctors. And honestly, when you're bleeding out, I don't think you'd really care that you have some expensive specialist. I'd just want someone to save my damn life.

Also, because the government is responsible for footing the bill for health care costs, they have a higher stake in the well-being of their people. There are very few gunshot wounds here because guns are so rare, and so reduces the medical costs. So, the government has a vested interest in reducing obesity in this country because fat people make health care costs increase. It was to the point that they were considering putting special labels on plus-size clothing to discourage obesity. They also have a vested interest in reducing smokers, since lung cancer is expensive, too. I think this makes so much sense, whereas in America, the government sides with Big Tobacco and McDonald's, because that's where their campaign money comes from. Imagine if every fat person or smoker caused taxes to increase. Trust me, the government would not be as lenient on people eating Big Macs and smoking 2 packs a day. Imagine if America had to pay for mental health costs. There would be a lot fewer kids on Ritalin and a lot fewer overworked Corporate beancounters.

AND despite the fact that the government is paying for people's health care, the British pay less than us in taxes! They pay about 20-30%, compared to our average 36% for federal income taxes, not to mention state taxes (11% in CA). Their taxes on day to day stuff (VAT) is a lot higher though, but STILL, at least they get something for their money. Do you realize Americans pay almost as much as the Swedish do, and that's a socialist country where the government provides almost everything! You'd think after paying half your income to the government should guarantee you're ability to live a healthy life.

I don't know what Michael Moore's movie's going to talk about, but I really hope his movie brings a lot of attention to American health care the way his previous movies did and that this topic is taken seriously in America. WE NEED HEALTH CARE REFORM. At this point, I don't even care what kind of reform as long as it's something. I think if the U.S. government were held accountable for the health care costs of our nation, they'd do things a lot differently in terms of their relations with Big Business and it'd be a huge step in improving our country. Citizens deserve health care and social security. Those are basic needs that should be fulfilled by our government.


So June 29th, peoples.

Lazy London

IT'S RAINING AGAIN!

I thought the weather would get better now that we're practically in summer, but it's still raining. DOES IT EVER STOP? (Only when Julie's here, I guess.)

Anyhow, I just wanted to let you guys know that I made a whole $4.01 last month through Google Ads. WOW! Thanks for helping me make money, guys. And just so you guys keep reading (and please click too!), I'm going to post more pictures of my cousin Julie's trip to London and France.


Us in front of the National Gallery. We didn't actually go in or anything. Just took pictures. :D (National Gallery sucks, by the way.)


I live off the Piccadilly line and one end of the Piccadilly line ends at a place called "Cockfosters." NO JOKE. So whenever I'm on the Tube going home, I hear a British accent saying: "This is the Piccadilly train to Cockfosters." HEHEHE...Cockfosters. So I made Julie take this picture. I made Bryan take one when he visited too. Bryan actually wanted to ride all the way to the end of the line to see the "land that fosters cock," but it's an hour away...


The classic red phone booth shot. Here's the thing, these phonebooths are disgusting! If you actually go inside, there's all these flyers for prostitutes and the only people who actually use them are pervs who don't want their wives to see the call on the phone bill.


Me and Magda. Magda's being Korean in this picture with her peace sign.


Julie in front of the travel bookshop from the movie Notting Hill. Yes, it really exists. No Hugh Grant isn't inside...I checked.


Julie can find Cham-i-sil anywhere. This is in a Korean restaurant in Paris.


Me on the water boat thing on the Seine.


Le Eiffel Tour. Note to Shelly: It's hideous!


My cousin on the water boat as we passed the Eiffel Tower. Seriously, the more I see the Eiffel Tower, the more I hate it. It really is hideous!!!


Why are there so many pictures of my cousin Julie by herself? Because there were only two of us and so one had to hold the camera and since I've already been to Paris and taken my pictures there, I figured bleh.


But every now and then, I managed to convince her to hold the damn camera.


But then of course, it's her turn again!!!


Julie with a dinosaur in Monte Carlo.

I WISH IT'D STOP RAINING!

My Cousin Julie

My cousin Julie visited a couple weeks ago and I took her around London for 3 days then to Paris and the Cote d'Azur. For reasons to be explained later, I'm not really going to go into full detail on it, but here are some pictures.


Me and Julie at Piccadilly Circus.


Julie in Leicester Square.


Julie and Magda at Hyde Park.


Julie at Tower Bridge.


Julie at the Louvre.


Me eating a crepe in Notre Dame.


Julie at the Concorde with the Eiffel Tour growing out of her head.


Julie in Monaco.

I took Julie to the following places:

LONDON
Russell Square
Covent Garden
The Strand
Trafalgar Square
Leicester Square
London Chinatown
Somerset House
Enbankment / Waterloo Bridge
Piccadilly Circus
Regent Street
Oxford Street
Selfridges
Tower Bridge
South London Bank
Borrough Street Market
Fortnum and Mason's
Portabello Market
Harvey Nicks
Harrods
Sloane Street
Hyde Park
Buckingham Palace

PARIS
Champ Elysees
George V
Avenue Montaigne
Galeries Lafayette
Jardins des Tuileries
Seine River
Notre Dame
Rue de Rivoli
Eiffel Tower
Champ de Mars
Trocedero
Louvre

COTE D'AZUR
Rue de Massena
Promenade des Anglais
Monte Carlo Casino
Cafe de Paris
And accidentally, Carnoles
Avenue Jean Medecin

I am a very good travel guide! Julie's husband's best friend Bryan was also in town for a day before he started the Contiki tour across Europe. In about 12 hours, we covered:

Westminster Abbey
Buckingham Palace
Trafalgar Square
Covent Garden
Tower Bridge
South Bank
Borough Market

COME VISIT ME!

Eurovision

Part of the purpose of this blog is to teach my American friends about life in Europe. So here's something I came upon this week. My Austrian friend Sonja introduced me to the hilarity that is called Eurovision (www.eurovision.tv). It's an annual singing contest in which all the European countries (except a few that opt out because it's retarded) compete.

This is how it works: each country has a singer/group represent them and sing a song. Most of which are in English. Most of which are really gay. Then at the end, people get on their cellphones and vote for the acts. You cannot vote for the country you're in (so I can't vote for UK). Then each country "calls in" and submits their votes. Each country gives 12, 10, 8, and 7-1 votes. At the end, the votes are tallied and the one with the most votes wins.

It's like American Idol meets the World Cup meets the E.U. It's hilarious because in the end, it's not really a singing contest, but really more of political contest. You watch the votes and realize that they're not voting for the best song, but voting for their neighboring countries, allies, where huge immigrant communities are from, etc.

This year's winner was SERBIA, with this entry:


It was TERRIBLE! But you have to realize that Serbia is strategically located around lots of little Eastern European countries and therefore, had a geographical edge. All it's former Yugoslavian and USSR country buddies came in and voted for them.

My personal favorite was UKRAINE:

Ukraine got 2nd place. :D I voted for them on my cellphone. You have to check this out. They're fantastic.

Another great one from ESPANA:

Ricky Martin x4!

I learned a lot from watching Eurovision. You find out about all these little Eastern European countries you've never heard of like FYR (Former Yugoslavian Republic of) Macedonia and Lithuania. This year was dominated by the Eastern European countries, primarily because there's so many little countries over there that have the equivalent votes. Also, all of them being former USSR countries, they tend to vote for each other.

Poor United Kingdom did not fare well in this competition. Their entry Scooch was not that bad (relatively):


But they scored second worst, just above Ireland. Only two countries gave us any points: Ireland gave us 7 (since their our neighbors) and Malta (WTF is Malta?) gave us 12. Messed up thing was that we didn't have Ireland any points. Oh shit, the IRA is going to bomb us any minute now! Also, Israel (don't ask how Israel is European) didn't give us any points! I think it's time to withdraw the troops, mate!

Hope you enjoy watching the clips.

The Governator's Hometown

So remember my friends Sonja and Thomas?



Sonja is my classmate from Kings and Thomas is her boyfriend who I call the Governator. They have become some of my closest friends in London over the past few months. Sonja and Thomas are from Graz, Austria, also the hometown of California’s great leader Arnold Schwarzenegger. So when Sonja and Thomas invited me and Cathy to come visit them in April, of course we had to go!



I’m trying to get more travel guide like with my blog so that if anyone wants to ever go to these places, this blog can be a source. I’m going all around the world soon and I figure my website can be a good travel guide to people. I sometimes get random Google search clicks, too. ALSO, if you end up at my blog because of travel, check out my Google ads. They change all the time, but if you click on them, I get like 1 cent or something. I know it’s not much, but maybe if enough people get clicking, I’ll make some money. And I need money now because I’m getting poor and I think I’m going to start wearing down Daddy’s patience.

GRAZ is the second largest city in Austria, but it’s actually really small. The population is around 250,000. It’s part of the region called Styria.

GETTING THERE: Cathy and I took Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) there from Stansted Airport. There is only one flight each day to Graz from London each day. The flight is really, really cheap! Graz is also about 3 hours away from Vienna by train. (Lonely Planet says it €26.90.) If you’re in Vienna, it’s worth a little trip down south to see a different side of Austria. Vienna is fantastic though.



WHERE TO STAY: I stayed with my friends Sonja and Thomas. They’re fantastic hosts. They even throw you a barbeque. But I don’t know if that applies to strangers.


Thomas and his cousin grilling...


...Until we gave up and used the electric grill.

If you’re a hot girl, you can always stay with Mike, but warning, he’s married and has a kid.


Says "Heartbreaker" in Deustch. Face not necessary.

GUIDEBOOKS: I got the Lonely Planet guide for Austria when I went to Vienna last time. IT SUCKS. I do not recommend Lonely Planet guides. If you want more information on Graz, I recommend my friend Thomas, who is like the Wikipedia of Graz. A lot of tour guides take groups past his house so he knows the 411 on Graz. Email me if you want his contact info.


That's why they call him "Captain."



TRANSPORTATION: There are trams that go all throughout this area. Sonja and Thomas don’t pay for trams and just wait until they get caught and pay fines. If you’re a tourist, I recommend you pay for a pass. Trams are really cheap.


Sonja and Thomas on the tram with their Korean poses.

LANGUAGE: In Austria, they speak German or Deustch. Most people speak some English, so it’s not difficult to get around. Here are some key words and phrases:

Hello: Hallo (ha-lo)
Thank you: Danke (dang-ke)
Bye: Tschau (chow), often said as “Tschau tschau” (chow-chow)

If you’re me…you might need this phrase as well:
“Bevor wir uns näher kennen lernen, muss ich etwas klarstellen. Ich bin Buchhalterin.” (be-fawr veer uns nay-er ke-nen ler-nen mus ikh et-vas klahr-shte-len ikh bin bookh-hal-te-rin.)
which means “Before this goes any further, I must be upfront. I’m an accountant.”

Or if you meet Mike, you might have to learn this as well:
“Du leidest wohl unter Größenwahn.” (doo lai-dest vawl un-ter grer-sen-wahn.)
which means “Your ego is out of control.”



If you’re a cute little Chinese girl like Cathy, you might need to learn:
“Es wäre mir lieber, du würdest mich in Frieden lassen!” (es vair-re meer lee-ber doo vur-dest mikh in free-den la-sen!”)
which mens “I’d rather you left me alone!”



Or some other helpful phrases:
“Ich krieg ihn nicht hoch-tut mir Leid!” (ikh kreek een nikht hawh toot meer lait.)
which means “I can’t get it up – sorry.”
Which warrants the reply “Gib dir keine, Mühe, ich mach es mir selbst.” (geep deer kai-ne mu-e ikh makh es meer zelpst.”
which means “Don’t worry, I’ll do it myself.”

Great phrases courtesy of the Lonely Planet phrasebook for German.

FOOD: Food in Graz is great. Especially when you have all these Austrian friends who constantly feed you. We went to Thomas’s Oma Gertie’s (grandmother) place for lunch, and she fed us until we almost exploded.


Oma Gertie's Austrian Home Cooking


Me and Cat with Oma Gertie.

Graz also has a big breakfast culture, which Sonja and Thomas made sure we got a feel for with huge breakfasts!

Coffee-wise, Sonja recommends Tribeka as THE place to get the best lattes.

SHOPPING: There’s a lot of shopping to be done since Continent is cheaper than in London. Then again, anywhere is cheaper than London. They have the usual high street shops, H&M, Zara, etc. but the best part is that there aren’t queues here like there are in big cities.

Best find in Graz, however, is this tiny little shop that’s in Thomas’s family’s building called Lena Hoscheck. She’s a fantastic local designer who worked with Vivienne Westwood and she incorporates traditional Austrian style into her designs. Cathy nabbed a great skirt. If you know Thomas, you get the “Thomas discount.” She also has stores in London.

DIVERSITY: Like most small towns, this place is almost all Austrian. Cathy and I were the only Oriental people in the whole place, which made us easy to spot. This is probably the first place I’ve visited without Japanese tourists. We did see a little Asian girl in a class of kids jogging through the park (yes, kids EXERCISE here!) but maybe she was adopted by Angelina-esque people. But really, the people here are most racist towards Germans.


Cat and me...the only 2 Oriental girls in all of Graz.

PLACES TO SEE:
Uhrturm Clock Tower: The big clock tower which overlooks the city. The town paid the French a ransom in 1809 to keep the clock tower when they were invaded by Napoleon. Get there on the Glass Lift which is the coolest! But first, get to the elevator through the tunnels.


Through the tunnels...


Up the glass elevator...


To the clock tower.

Murinsel: Also called “the Island.” It’s a metal structure in the middle of the Mur river. Take a shit in the mirrored bathroom.



JEN IN GRAZ
Here's some pictures from Graz. I took sooo many pictures and had such a great time and did so much stuff. But here's some highlights.


George W. in "Blood Street"...how appropriate?


This is the Meeting Point of Graz. Here's me, Cathy and Sonja "meeting" here. Yeah, it's cheesy, but you know you LOVE IT!


I love doors that are shorter than me. Makes me feel tall.


Us at the Clock Tower.


Thomas said if you find a horseshoe in this, you have good luck for life. I can't find it, can you?


The women cooking in the kitchen. Yeah, except me. I don't cook.


Being in Austria makes you feel like jumping and singing, "Doe...a deer..."


Drinking at TomTom's house. Mike's getting spanked...


Mike...the morning after...


Sonja and Thomas. They had their first date here.


Cathy in Oma Gertie's garden.


Sonja and her niece.


Cathy on the way to Sonja's brother's house in the countryside. Cathy's a Hong Kong city girl. She's never seen grass before.


Sonja's sister-in-law's horse exercising on a treadmill. Just thought it was funny.


Me and Cathy at the lake. We went to go wakeboarding, but the machine was broken so we couldn't. :(


Cathy, Sonja, Mike, Thomas.


Me in the country side.


Cathy got on with the horse real well.


Cathy on the horse. Sonja's brother walked the horse around the track for each of us. We couldn't really go off and ride the horse because none of us know how to ride and also because the horse is a competitive jumper so it's not the tamest one to start learning on.


Me on the horse.


Sonja.


And so Thomas decided to do it too.


But just to prove he's still cooler than us, he jumped off the horse all gangsta.


Then Cathy, being the good Chinese cleaning woman, brushed to horse clean.


Me on Sonja's brother's Vespa. He's had this for over 30 years. I look cool huh?


Me..."The hills are alive..."


Cathy learning Deustch from a 4-year-old.


Graffiti on the University walls..."Schwarzenegger for President."


But it also says "Sex in the morning, sex in the evening, sex all day long." Hmm...Ä


In the park...


Peek-a-boo!


Me and TomTom and Cathy. Ich liebe TomTom.


Cathy booked her flight for the wrong day, so I went home alone. AWWW..."So long, farewell..."

Thanks so much to Sonja and Thomas, our gracious hosts, for the FANTASTIC time in Graz. I love Austria! Also, thanks to their friends and family for their hospitality. :D Love you all. Danke!!