Deconstructing Devils Lake Hiking Trails

Labor Day is a U.S. national holiday that celebrates the American labor movement. Summer “vacation” in the U.S. starts with Memorial Day, which falls on the last Monday in May, and ends with Labor Day, which falls on the first Monday in September. It usually coincides with students’ first week of school or falls right before school starts. Therefore, to most people, Labor Day is the last “mandatory” getaway weekend of the year.

Me and several friends decided to go to Devils Lake State Park, which is just about 40 minute drive from Madison, Wisconsin’s capital city. The lake is part of a 1.5 billion years old Baraboo natural rock bowl which was formed by a prehistoric geological fold. Because of this, the lake is surrounded by almost vertical hills and it has no visible inlet and outlet, making it looks mysterious from afar. Local people used to call it Spirit Lake, before the name Devils Lake was used.

The park has camping and picnic grounds, beach and boating areas, boulders for rock climbing, and of course, pretty hiking trails that are part of the national Ice Age trail. There are multiple hiking trails with various skill levels circling the lake, totaling about 29 miles. The shortest loop around the lake takes at least 4-5 hours. After paying the $7 park fee for each car, we parked on the north end of the lake and hiked to the south end via the West Bluff Trail, which was rated Moderate /Strenuous. The first half of the trail is a combination of stone steps and steep asphalt path. Ten minutes in and I could already hear my heart pounding. I looked up and saw blocks and blocks of rocks with no sign of reduction in slope. I was intimidated a bit.

Thankfully, this trail has many vista points/scenic overlooks with gorgeous views of the lake- we later called these “narcissistic points”, as we took pictures in almost every single one of them (both staying true to my Asian roots and trying to find an excuse for taking a breather). Curious hikers mistook my iPhone + monopod/”tongsis” as GoPro camera.

There were numerous dogs climbing the bluff alongside our group that day. I perfectly understand people who took their Labradors for a hike, but I was not used to the combination of Pomeranians and rock chasms.

Prospect Point lies on the middle and this overlook offers the best view of Devils Lake. It looks almost exactly like a National Geographic photo spread, just better because it came with sounds of breezes and birds chirping. Asian or non-Asian, everybody takes pictures with the amazing backdrop of dark blue lake and light blue sky. Once in a while, an eagle flew by to say hi.

When we descended the west bluff, the weather warmed up enough to evaporate condensations on the stones, making them less slippery and a lot safer. Then it became increasingly hotter but the trees protected us from the scorching sun.

If you want to hike on an easier path, opt for the Tumbled Rocks Trail, which is parallel to the West Bluff Trail. It takes only about 30 minutes to travel Tumbled Rocks, as opposed to the 1.5 hours you need to hike West Bluff. Tumbled Rocks Trail is paved and pretty level, mostly consisting of winding walkways through amazing quartzite boulders at lake level. The first hundred yards of the trail is even wheelchair-accessible.

I’m again amazed how the builders of these trails managed to construct a path on places that are otherwise inaccessible without taking away any of its natural beauty.

Around the midpoint, there’s a spot where the boulder forms a natural diving board. There were a lot of kids and adults lining up to jump off the lake that day.

Tumbled Rocks and West Bluff Trails meet again at the southeast corner of the lake, just across the street from the south parking lot and next to a small beach marked as “pet swim area”. This area was almost empty although the main beach was full of swimming dogs, from Great Danes to Dachshunds. If I were these dogs, I would choose to swim in a non-discriminating area as well. The dogs wagged their tails excitedly while impatiently waiting for their dads to throw the stick to the lake. They swim as fast as possible to fetch the stick, sometimes racing with other dogs, and return the stick back to the beach; wide grins never left their faces. Two middle-aged guys put their lawn chairs on the water, quietly enjoying the nature while being submerged waist-deep in the water. The main south beach and the parking lot/west trails are connected by a shaded boardwalk along the lake.

In contrast to the quiet trails, the south picnic area was bustling. The most iconic rock formations in Devils Lake, the Balanced Rock and the Devil’s Doorway, are very close to the park’s south picnic area. The Balanced Rock Trails takes you from lakeshore to clifftop in about 0.4 miles of strenuous blocky climb. The steepest way to the clifftop is offered by the CCC Trail. We didn’t dare to challenge its incline forces as it was already late in the day and our gas was running out. From there, we could go back to the northern parking lot via the East Bluff Trail, which is similar to West Bluff Trail in terms of difficulty and length. You could also travel the big loops to the east of the lake (Upland Trail Loop and Sauk Point Trail). Each of these takes 2-4 hours of walk.

We didn’t rent a boat/kayak or play in the beach as it was Labor Day and every inch of the sand was covered with sweaty flesh. Boat rent starts at $12 per hour and kayak tours are also available.

Devils Lake is definitely a beauty, and the fact that it is less than 2 hour drive from home makes it even more ideal destination for a short getaway from my city life. I will definitely keep this one in my memory bank, and come back again to admire its pristine waters and blocky boulders.

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The World's Largest Music Festival!

World’s Largest Music Festival
During my first year in Milwaukee, I thought Summerfest was Milwaukee’s answer to Chicago’s Lollapalooza. I deserved a slap on my hand for comparing the two, because not only Summerfest is larger by 5-6 times by total attendance, it has also started decades before Lolapalooza came to Grant Park in downtown Chicago. Even bigger than the famous Coachella, Summerfest made the Guinness World Records as the “World’s Largest Music Festival”, and it has used the legitimized title as its tagline to this date. According to this list, though, there are two others that are bigger: Festival Mawazine in Rabat, Morocco and Donauinselfest in Vienna, Austria. Putting numbers and stats aside, we know that Summerfest is gargantuan in size and with world-class acts from Aerosmith to Usher, it deserves more exposure!!

Price Tags
Another attractive point of the Summerfest is the price tag. While a day-ticket for Lollapalooza goes for $100 and sold out months before the gig, Summerfest’s ticket is as low as $11 for the daytime admissions and it's easy to find people around the entrance gates selling tickets cheaper than their face values. Park your car within a 2-mile radius is $20, or find free street parking if you don’t mind a 30-minute walk to the venue. There were also plenty of free/cheap shuttles to/from various parts of the town and even to Chicago and Madison, so getting there is relatively easy. The general admission ticket gets you to about 10 stages and each day, the show features a big name act to close the day. Several of this year’s stage headliners are Arctic Monkeys, Ludacris, B.o.B., and The Fray. If they’re not cool enough for you, you can buy ticket for the special stage at Marcus Amphitheater for as low as $65 and see the likes of Luke Bryan, Dave Matthews Band, Bruno Mars, OneRepublic, or Lady Gaga.


People
I went on a weekday and a weekend this year. Both were packed! If the total attendance is one million people over 11 days, that means almost 100,000 people come to the Summerfest each day. Most of them are local Wisconsin residents, but there are also plenty of people driving from other states to come here. From little kids to gramps, everybody loves the Summerfest. Teenagers and young adults make up most of the crowds. Some teenager groups obviously make their annual visit to Summerfest a who-can-dress-the-sluttiest competition, while some probably made pot-smoking by the lake in Summerfest a prerequisite for a “cool kid” label. Last year I sat next to several novice potheads and saw a kid kicked out by a security guard. To my surprise, the kid was back in 45 minutes with a huge triumphant smirk on his face, so I’m not sure if security is pretty lax on marijuana control in Summerfest or what.

Things to Do (and Eat)
When I had my fill of lovebirds by the lake, I segued into booths/tents/trucks that have cool things like:

• Free t-shirts and sunglasses giveaways through a gumball dispenser or spin-to-win game. I got gifts from 88.9 FM, 100.7 FM, and 99.8 FM radios. KISS FM has a karaoke station and another radio has a dancing station.
• Free toothbrush and toothpaste! For some reason I really like the Sensodyne station. You could also brush your teeth here.
• PS4 game stations. This year we have a Sony Playstation truck that has about 20 consoles inside for people that wants to try some of their games.
• Arts and crafts stalls. Because for Milwaukeeans, it’s not a festival if it doesn’t sell arts and crafts. Bouncing house for the little kids.
• Interactive exhibits such as fortune tellers and conga play-alongs.
• BMX and basketball acrobatics.

The music stages located throughout the grounds showcase a gamut of genre from reggae to bluegrass, so feel free to either stick with your favorite stage or hop around and get a sample of different musical flavors. Summerfest has 2 firework shows on the first and last of festival days. Since it overlaps with 4th of July celebrations, you can see the City of Milwaukee's Big Bang on the night of the 3rd of July.



Because I’m a foodie, hungry or not I just have to have some festival foods:

• Funnel cake – I can’t miss this classic dough and grease based obsession, although no funnel cake comes close to the funnel cakes sold in Disneyworld.
• Turkey leg – Not for the faint of heart, the $9 turkey leg is almost as big as my lower leg. If you carry this around, you’re guaranteed to be the center of attention.
• Fried eggplant – A stall named Venice Station sells this. I didn’t remember seeing this last year. The eggplant is cut like fries, lightly battered and fried, and served with marinara sauce and parmesan cheese. It was good!
• Scotch egg – Not sure how this Scottish/English dish made to Summerfest, but I didn’t complain! The hard-boiled eggs are wrapped inside sausage meat and deep fried. If you’re Indonesian, picture a “bakso tenes”, except with a better meat.

As usual, my Summerfest experience was great. It was 11.30 pm when The Fray was concluding its show and we exit the grounds hastily, ears still ringing because of the loudspeakers. We walked 45 minutes to where our car was parked and spent another 45 minutes getting through the traffic, which didn’t die down as quickly as expected because of the construction work on I-794 highway.

Thank you for another great Summerfest, and we’ll see you in 2015!!

(Picture above courtesy of Summerfest. The rest are mine.)

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Summer Soulstice Music Festival

The one-day music festival in Milwaukee's East Side showcases top regional music acts on its 3 music stages for free. Aside from music, it also has exhibits of local artists, non-profit organizations, a local favorite soup truck, lemonade vendors, cigarette stalls, and sponsor stalls. The festival occupied about 2 blocks of Farwell Street and a block of North Avenue so it's not a big festival (they call this a "neighborhood festival".

There were a lot of dogs in the festival (they came with their mom/pop, not alone). The feel was very laid back. If I didn't have the Greek Fest to catch, I would grab a seat on one of the benches they put on the street and enjoy the music while seeing people's dogs and surpress my urge to kidnap them.

This Urban Ecology Center tent caught my eye as they had several barrels being painted by kids and local artists. The barrels will be used for catching rainwater, which can be used later for watering the garden or other activities. It's one of the environmentally sustainable practices promoted by the non-profit organization. The rain barrels are up for auctions. I saw people bidding from $25-$100 for each barrel. The proceeds will go to Urban Ecology Center to fund their operations.

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Greeking out in the Greek Fest

After the Polish Fest, my second cultural festival this summer was the Greek Fest in State Fair Park in West Allis, a suburb of Milwaukee. The Greek Fest had one stage for cultural performances and the rest were food stalls. Compared to other big name festivals such as Polish Fest and Festa Italiana, the Greek Fest is a lot smaller. The Greek Fest doesn’t feel commercial as it is organized by the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church and all proceeds go to the same church. With a mindset of donating money for a good cause, I splurged on several kinds of Greek foods that I couldn’t find in typical Greek restaurants in Milwaukee.

Loukoumades. Almost every culture has their version of fried dough. Donuts, chinese doughnuts, chinese cruller/youtiao/cakwe, beignet, and the many cousins of theirs. Loukoumades, the Greek’s answer to all of the above, is deep fried dough balls (almost like donut holes) that are served with cinnamon sprinkles and soaked in honey syrup. According to old stories, loukoumades were served to ancient Greek Olympic champions. I certainly didn’t take this snack for granted, fully aware that I did not threw any javelin or raced Usain Bolt.

Dolmades. Dolma is quite common in Wisconsin. Some grocery stores and all Greek restaurants offer dolma, which is a mix of rice, vegetables, and sometimes meat, wrapped in grape leaves. The rolled/stuffed grape leaves are usually boiled for 2 hours, so instead of getting stuck in your teeth, the grape leaf wrappings fall apart easily as you bite into it. I found this step-by-step guide for making dolma if you're interested.

NagasakiSaganaki – Good Lord, Saganaki. It’s not related to atomic bombs but the experiece of eating it is not to be taken lightly. To put it shortly, saganaki is pan-fried cheese. Imagine you’re making omelette, but instead of pouring eggs into the frying pan, you would pour.. cheese. Many kinds of cheese. The saganaki was going for $7 at the festival. I thought it’s a bit on the pricey side, but my saganaki consisted of different, untypical cheese such as graviera, halloumi, kasseri, and feta. It’s definitely worth every penny. The flavor is excellent, especially when you take a bite of the browned edges. It’s very savory so it’s served with slices of bread to tone down the flavor. In the States, saganaki preparation is more flashy as they flambéed the pan-fried cheese, creating flames, accompanied with a shout of “Opa!”.

Ancient Greek dresses like chiton and himation (Greek drapes and cloaks) are not worn anymore as the traditional Greek clothing changed considerably during the Byzantine and Ottoman periods. The guy next to me in the first picture above donned a vraka while the girl wore a variation of desfina, a loose white clothing worn underneath a colorful apron decorated with gold threads and bright colors. Also spotted were guys wearing foustanellas (those are the guys with white skirts) with pointed shoes topped with pompoms (tsarouhia).

It rained a bit after I got my third dish, but there were plenty of covered dining seats so we didn’t get wet. Overall it was a pretty decent festival for those who appreciate good ethnic foods. Did I mention FREE admissions? The only time you have to pay is when you park ($5 per car) and buy foods. If the awesome food options did not suit your taste, you can go to a small amusement park located in the same complex and ride a carousel.

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Chicago Botanic Garden

Chicago Botanic Garden is located in Glencoe, IL 25 miles away from downtown Chicago. I went there by car, but it is also reachable by Chicago Metra. The closest station is Braeside, a mile away from the garden. Admission to the garden is free (hooray!) but parking is $25 all day, so if you go with friends, carpooling is a good idea. Whoever managing this garden is pretty commited as the garden is open year round. The best time to visit would be during fall (pretty golden trees) and spring (tulips, everybody?). I visited the garden in early November. Winter had a late start this year so some trees still had some leaves and it wasn't freezing yet.

The garden is very big (almost 400 acres) and separated to 25 display gardens that are surrounded by natural area. There is a free iPhone app that you can use to navigate and look up all the displays in the garden. My favorite by far is the Japanese garden (and islands!). The beauty of Chicago's Japanese garden is on par with the Japanese garden in San Francisco. While the San Fransisco's garden is smaller with lots of pretty details, the Chicago garden's open landscape is more breathtaking, making you forget that you're in Midwest America.

Other recommended spot is the greenhouses, which had tropical, arid, and sub-tropical plants. They also have several banana trees!! When I grew up in Indonesia, banana trees were everywhere, including the neighbor’s lot across the street. Indonesians use banana leaves as food wrapping and doily so I always joke that I’d cut some leaves and bring them home.

A conference center by the Esplanade houses bonsai collections that were not available during cold weather and several rooms for shows, lectures, and meetings. If the sun hits the right angle, you can see rainbows over the lake! We didn’t find any of pot of gold, and the leprechauns prefer to stay hidden that day. But the rainbow and double rainbows were oh so pretty!

I’m planning to come back in Spring or Summer to see the flowers!

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Basilique du Sacre Coeur de Montmartre

On a cloudy/rainy day in Paris, a group of friends and I decided to not wait for a better weather and went to the Sacré Cœur (Sacred Heart) Basilica in Montmarte area. From the closest metro station, it's a short walk uphill through small alley with lots of souvenir shops that gave me a bit of Chinatown feeling (because of it was so crowded), then quite a lot of steps to the top of the hill where the basilica sits. Montmarte literally means the Mount of the Martyrs, and this area has been a place of worship since the Druids of ancient Gauls were still around.

Built in the 19th century, this basilica is not as old as one would think. Unlike other churches in Paris which adopted Gothic architecture style, Sacré Cœur basilica is an interpretation of Romano-Byzantine architecture that incorporates nationalistic elements such as the two bronze status depicting  Saint Joan de Arc and Saint Louis IX on top of its portico. The garden and fountain on the front side of the complex is supposedly used for meditation, although the atmosphere is so touristy that it's hard to imagine anybody meditating here (our friend Bob might have been trying it when we interrupted and rushed him to move on).

It's free to enter the basilica, and for an extra three and six euros, people can get access to the Crypt and the Dome. Even without climbing all the way up to the dome, a big part of Paris is visible from the church's courtyard.

Like other basilicas I've visited, the interior was glorious. The apse features a large "Christ in Glory" image that was actually a mosaic, one of the largest in the world (I didn't know this until later!). Surrounding Jesus were various figures including Saints who were believed to protect France: Saint Michael and Saint Joan of Arc.

I skipped the Dome but entered the Crypt, which contained several tombs and chapels. Below is what the Chapelle de la Pieta looked like.

Sacre Coeur is a unique and beautiful basilica. Considering it's free, this place should be on your top ten list when visiting Paris!

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Polka Dancing in the Polish Fest

Milwaukeeans love their summer festivals, and the Polish Fest is one of the many cultural festivals held in the city this season. Milwaukee itself is one of the largest Polish settlements in the US, behind New York City and Chicago. The Polish Fest is held annually at the Summerfest Grounds, usually for three days in a row.

My Polish Fest experience was enhanced by the presence of a Polish companion, a lovely friend that I met in Paris. We took advantage of the 50 cents tickets that were good for admissions before 5pm. The normal ticket price was $15 at the door and $10 in advance, so we got a very good deal!

It was a beautiful day. The sky was clear and Lake Michigan was very blue.

As usual, I tried as many Polish signature dishes as possible. I really loved all of them and the meat pierogi was the best pierogi I've ever had.

• Pierogi - Polish dumplings with savory fillings (shredded meat, potato and onion, or cheese) or sweet fillings (fresh fruit or jam). They are a bit similar to Chinese dumplings. The half-moon stuffed dough is usually boiled, then grilled or baked. Pierogi was originally peasants' food, but gained popularity with people from all social classes.
• Kielbasa - Polish sausage. Like German sausages, it is big, reddish in color, and very flavorful.
• Golabki - Stuffed cabbage roll with minced meat, onion, and rice/barley filling. The rolls are usually served with creamy tomato sauce almost similar to marinara sauce. 
• Plaki ziemniaczane (potato pancake) - Like pan-fried hash brown potatoes shaped into patties.
• Zupa ziemniaczana (potato soup) - Polish potato soup with very thinly sliced celery stalks and carrots. It's a lot thinner than the American potato soup.
• Kapusta kiszona - Basically sauerkraut (fermented shredded cabbage)

I didn't get to try some foods mostly because I didn't want to look like a pig.

• Czarnina - The name is so beautiful but in reality it's a soup dish made of duck blood and chicken broth. My Polish friend hated it so I was discouraged to buy it (and I would avoid eating blood as much as possible). Some people says that it has a sweet and sour taste.
• Zupa ogorkowa (dill pickle soup/sour cucumber soup) - I knew dill pickles. I knew soups. I couldn't imagine dill pickles in a soup.
• Zupa grzybowa (mushroom soup).

I wasn't busy eating all the time. I stopped by at the sculpture exhibits and learned about several Polish folktales such as the Smok Wavelski (a mean dragon who was slain by a shoemaker, who ended up marrying the King's daughter and ruling the region that became Krakow) and Syrena, the Warsaw's mermaid (a love triangle story between a mermaid, a very handsome human, and a thunder god). It was very important to note that Syrena was the only known mermaid with a butt.

There were multiple stages showing Polish bands playing Polish songs and Polish songs translated in English. There were also fashion show with traditional costumes and traditional dances. Like Indonesia, my motherland, each regions have different costumes and dances. Generally, the traditional men's costumes involve white shirts and embroidered pants. Women would wear full skirts with bright colors, sometimes white leggings underneath the skirts, flower wreath on the head (for unmarried women), or white scarf/kerchief similar to hijab to cover their heads (for married women).

Like other American festivals, festival-goers danced freely to the music played by the bands. They danced on the dance floor in front of the stage, between tables and chairs, on top of the tables and chairs, just everywhere they wanted to. A random guy was asking every ladies to dance with him (he somehow managed to convince every ladies and changed dance partners every 5 minutes). American people like to let it loose. You won't see this in Indonesia (Indonesian people are very self-conscious).

Speaking of Indonesia, Polish white-and-red flag is the inverse of the Indonesian flag. The Polish crest is also somewhat similar to Indonesia's crest, the Garuda. I almost wanted to buy a t-shirt or jersey because it's hard to find cool Indonesian outfits.


Keep visiting my blogs to read about other summer festivals in Milwaukee!

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Time-travelling to the future in Rotterdam

Long time ago, early settlers came to the lower end of the Rotte River. In the 1100s, early developments were destroyed by large floods so in 13th century protective dams were built on the Rotte, hence the name "Rotterdam".

Maybe it's because the city's rich history, or because of something I read in my middle school history books, but I didn't expect Rotterdam to be an ultra-modern cosmopolitan. You can put some flying cars in the city and they wouldn't look out of place.

Welcome to Planet Rotterdam Central Space Station

A lot of the older buildings and windmills are preserved in the city's historic places (I didn't see them because I've seen enough old stuffs in the rest of Europe), but the rest of Rotterdam is like a Museum of Architecture that gives you a good sample selection of what the 20th century architecture has got to offer.

One of the city's main icon is the Erasmusbrug (Erasmus Bridge). This assymetrical cable bridge connects the northern and southern parts of the city and is nicknamed "The Swan". I took the metro and get off on Wilhelminaplein station to get close to the white swan. I didn't have enough time to walk around to find its best photogenic angle so it looked like a broken clothespin in my picture.

I probably didn't spend enough time in Rotterdam to explore all the neighborhoods, but from first impressions, this is my favorite city in Europe so far and I probably would be ok with giving up driving because the city, the tram, the metro, and the people are that freaking awesome. I mean, look at this tunnel entrance to the rocket launch portalmetro lines. They had warp technology too, but they turned down the speed a few hundred notches so people had more time to enjoy the space voyage. Since it's very futuristic, unlike Paris metro system, Rotterdam metro system had air conditioning, too.

My jaw kept dropping at every block as I walked briskly through the space scrapers while doing mental math, making sure that my time-limited "jump" ticket (a kind of hop on-hop off system) can take me back to the Central Space Station before I run out of time. I got a bullet train to Paris to catch. I was bummed that I didn't find this gem until the last days of my trip, but I promise myself that I will come back and stay longer.

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Touring the FC Barcelona Stadium

Benvinguts! (Welcome!)

L'Estadi Camp Nou, the home base of Futbol Club Barcelona, is located close to the city centre and easily accessible by metro. It was a walking distance from Pere Tarres, the hostel where my friends were staying at. I took the metro and get off at Les Corts station, walk 20 minutes to the hostel to meet up with my friends, and then walk to Camp Nou for 35 minutes. It was around 8am, so we got a healthy dose of the morning sun. I had to catch a flight to Amsterdam at 3pm so I wanted to go to Camp Nou as early in the day as possible.

To put it shortly, I didn't expect touring the Barca's home to be that much fun. I wasn't there for an actual match, but they designed the tour so that we felt like we were there for the real deal. With a capacity of almost 100,000 people, the stadium was just spectacular.

The tour took us to the stadium's conference room (where I got to touch their latest UEFA Championship League Trophy), player's changing rooms and massage rooms, lower bowl and upper bowl, praying room where the players get blessed by a priest before every home match, VIP section, and the commentator box. At the beginning and the end of the tour was the museum and FCBotiga, the club's official merchandise store.

We got to stood on the grass where the greatest soccer player ever, Lionel Messi, were being molded into who he is today. Look at my shirt. I really dressed for success that day (and so did my friend Bob).

Pictures from FC Barcelona's Museum and Store:

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Roland Garros 2014

The 113th French Open Tennis Championship, which is fondly referred to as Roland Garros (after a famous French aviator), was held in Paris from 25 May to 8 June 2014 (with qualies started a week before that) and this lucky person just happened to be in town for the second grand slam tournament of the year!

After purchasing ticket from the official website/Viagogo ticket exchange, a process that was a bit more complicated that I had hoped for, I'm all set to spend a Saturday in the sacred terra battuta grounds located at the Auteuil neighborhood. My ticket granted access to all courts, all day.

Every big tennis tournament has a unique atmosphere, and Roland Garros isn't like any other at all. Main Court Philippe Chatrier only holds a little over 14,000 spectators. In comparison, US Open's Arthur Ashe stadium holds 24,000 people and Cincinnati Master's main court holds 11,000 people.



The special event that day was a fun exhibition games to benefit children in Serbia and Slovakia (Novak Djokovic Foundation was a part of it). Most, if not all, Serbian, Slovakian, and Croats players took part, including Goran Ivanisevic (former Wimbledon champion), Jelena Jankovic, Kristina Mladenovic, and the Djoker himself. There was also dance battles, and Jo-Wilfred Tsonga (the French "Muhammad Ali") was cool enough to participate. He kept losing weight so he looked like Muhammad Ali less and less.

I made sure I visited every single courts: Philippe Chatrier (main court), Suzanne Lenglen (second biggest court), Court 1 (a.k.a. the Bullring, because of its shape and the life-and-death matches that were played on it), and the rest of the courts. In tournaments, official matches are played on the largest courts/televised courts. The smaller courts can be reserved by players for practice. Public can access these courts, so if you're lucky you can run into top players practicing on these courts.

Compared to big tennis tournaments in the States, the Roland Garros felt a bit unorganized, although that did not reduce my enjoyment. There were no schedule for special events and some of the staffs were not familiar with their own procedures (such as lunch tickets). Still, it felt very homey and laid-back. I spent quite a bit of time walking around the beautiful grounds which were adorned by the iconic white roses.There were a lot of shop stalls and a lot of ATM machines (because the tourney's primary sponsor was BNP Paribas).

I couldn't stop smiling all afternoon. I finally went home at 7.30pm, when they started closing the venue to get ready for the next day. I wished I could stay long enough in Paris to watch some semi-final/final matches because the tickets were shockingly affordable (I found women's final ticket selling for 99 euro only), but I had to come back to the States because my beloved coworkers were waiting for me. I went home alone by the metro, oozing with a sense of gratitude for being able to be a part of a Grand Slam tournament.

Next on my list: The US Open, Wimbledon, and The Australian Open! :)

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Training Dragons in Ghent

It was a free weekend so I bought a high-speed Thalys train ticket from Paris Gare du Nord Station to Bruxelles-Midi Station then to Ghent-Sint-Piters Station situated in a small Belgian town west of Brusells.

The Thalys roundtrip ticket from Paris to Brussels was about 120 euro and the Belgian local train from Brussels to Ghent was only 10 euro roundtrip (50% discount on weekends!). The local train looked like it came straight out of a factory: it was sparkling clean and it looked very modern. I was planning to go solo but I found a lovely companion at the last minute.

After 2 hours of train ride from Paris, I suddenly found my self surrounded by Medieval Castles in Ghent, Belgium. This couldn't be real.

Back in the days (i.e. Middle Ages), Ghent was the most powerful city in Europe. Until the present time, Ghent is still adorned with elegant and imposing medieval buildings that are remarkably preserved. Unlike Brussels, where French is mainly spoken, Ghent is located in the Flemish region of Belgium and its primary languages are Flemish and Dutch.

The public transportation (tram) was exceptional and the people were just amazingly pleasant (a guy at the station walked us to the tram stop and a guy at a chocolate shop gave me a piece of Belgian chocolate for free).

The city breathed an atmosphere that was a mix of laidback locals and classy tourism. After seeing people all dressed in the same demure fashion in Paris, all rushed to wherever they had to be, it was a joy seeing people walking around Ghent in pretty colorful spring dresses and high heels and with normal pace.

The city centre was bustling on that Saturday morning. Local artists were painting and selling their crafts along the river. Just 2 blocks away from the city centre, Het Gravensteen (Castle of the Counts) stood tall. The castle was built in 1180 by a count after he got home from the Crusades to intimidate potential attackers. It also has a well-equipped torture chamber inside.

I skipped the torture chamber this time and opted to go to the Belfort et Lakenhalle, a belfry that holds great bells that have rung throughout the centuries. The entry fee was only 5 euro per person, and after climbing some stairs and riding an elevator for a very brief time, we were rewarded with such amazing views of the Sint-Niklaaskerk (St Nicholas' Church), a Schelde Gothic church that dates back to the 13th century.

I forgot to mention that I did meet the dragon at the Belfry.

This was the very dragon that used to be on the very top of the tower. Do you know how in the States some buildings have a chicken that spins on top of the roof? Why go for chickens when you have dragons. It's not that the chickens in Ghent were not awesome. The people just knew the best place to put their chicken on: the plate.

Gentse waterzooi is one of Belgian signature dishes. It originated in this city and I only needed a spoonful before I decided that this was my ultimate comfort food. The heavenly soup base of egg yolk, cream, and vegetable broth complimented the fresh herbs, leeks, tomatoes, potatoes, and chicken thrown into this unearthly concoction. I will report when I successfully recreate the dish in my American kitchen.

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Imagining I'm a Versailles Princess

When I grew up in Indonesia, I read a Japanese comic book (manga) about French royalties that live Versailles Palace. Sounds random? Yes. It wasn't until I was adult that I learnt that the comic had a lot of lesbian elements in it. Sexual orientations aside, visiting Versailles felt like jumping into the fairy tale.

The Palace of Versailles is a symbol of absolute monarchy, which was experienced by the nation in the 1600s. It was the residence of Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI (which can be differentiated by their wigs' shape and color) until the French Revolution began and people thought enough is enough and forced the royal family to move back to Paris, which is about 12.5 miles away from the palace.

It was raining a lot that day but we got lucky and got nothing but a bit drizzles when we toured the palace. I came with my University of Wisconsin/Novancia classmates as Versailles was one of the trips arranged by the school. For some reason, the program coordinators always managed to find the best tourist guide for us (or were all tourist guides in France that awesome?). For easy communication between the guide and the group, the tour guide provided us with radio receivers and earphones. She would then whisper to her radio and that way we won't confuse her with other tour groups, and the noise level in the palace was kept under control.

After 5 minutes, I decided that I really loved our tour guide! She was pretty and fun and schooled us about the history of the palace without being annoying, and every few minutes she would quizzed us.

"Who was being crowned in the "Coronation of Napoleon" painting?" Josephine.
"This Greek deity had a sun symbol on top how him. Who is he?" Appolo.
"What time does the king wake up everyday?" 7.30 am.
"What time does the public would come to his bedroom and watch the King pretend to wake up and get ready?" 8.00 am.

I wish my history teacher in school was this awesome.

The most awesome part of the Palace itself is, of course, the gardens.

The downside of being on a guided tour is that you have to follow their schedule. We were given only   30 minutes to roam around the gardens. Had it been a sunny day and no schedule, I would have spent maybe close to two hours in the gardens alone! To say that the gardens were big was an understatement. I wonder how much time the Louises spent in their gardens?

Here are some pictures of the exterior of the palace. I will update this post with pictures of the king's and queen's bedrooms, the Hall of Mirrors, and the ornate details on various parts of the palace.

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