SWITZERLAND!!!

I'm off to Geneva tomorrow!  Woohoo!

Sunil, the Ultimate Warrior

Sunil, my erstwhile workout partner, reminds some of us of the Ultimate Warrior, of ye olde WWF.  Ajith found an old clip of Sunil doing his Ultimate Warrior routine.

Oh, and they both make about as much sense!

Ben has a crush.... on me

Xavier was taking some artsy photographs during Mike's gig at the Brain Wash in San Francisco.  Ben apparently got a man-crush on mine

He thinks I'm Saif Ali's alter ego in Race 2 (a Bollywood movie)

Workout Sunday

I swam with Nikhil, Divya, Adit and Chhavi. The pool at their apartment complex (behind Ranch 99, Foster City/ San Mateo) is like a resort pool!
We estimated the pool's length to be 25 meters.
I completed 40 laps (a lap being a round-trip instead of just one-way), so swam 2 km.

I was so tired after the long week and the amazing Saturday and Sunday workouts, I fell asleep on the couch by midnight!

Workout Saturday

Amazing workout today; Biceps and triceps, each with 5 exercises of 4 sets.  So a total of 40 sets, and all within 1 hour.

Restaurant Review - Belgian Fritz, San Francisco

I met my cousin Diya and her hubby Kuru this Friday. They're a lot of fun, and like good food.
We had originally planned on eating at Dosa in SF, which I had wanted to try out. However, the wait was long (45 minutes), so we went to the Belgian Fritz place.

My opinion:  I like the place.

Fries:  Quite good. Not at the same level as the fries I had in Belgium, but close enough to not matter.  And I wish you got more varieties of sauces included in the order - for small fries, you get one sauce, for large - 2.  My favorites include the Thai Chilli, Ponzu-based, and Wasabi-cream based sauces.  And I really like their chilli fries.

Beers: they've got an ok selection, not extensive by any means. But for those who like the old standards Chimay and Duvel, that shouldn't matter.

Crepes and sandwiches: Quite good again.  The ham sausage crepe in particular is very, very good.

Ambiance: I like the white/black colors, but in trying to be too modern (post-modern) and hip, they have succeeded in making the chairs not too comfortable. 

Here are some reviews on Zagat, and some photographs -

Video: Great Teacher performing at BrainWash

Here is a video of Mike's band Great Teacher performing at Brain Wash in San Francisco in the past

Musical Roomie

Roommate update: Mike is playing a gig at the Brain Wash in San Francisco (1122 Folsom St) this Saturday, June 28th, starting at 9 pm.

He is debuting some new songs, and had teamed up with some mystery musicians instead of his Great Teacher band for this one.

Mike's site has more details, as well as free music, videos, etc.
He has just started building this site, so it is still a bit sparse. Send him feedback (michaelianhill@gmail.com) on stuff you'd like to see on the site.

Saturday: 600 Miles to Solvang

After a long week light on sleep, Saturday brought the chance to celebrate with friends... and take my car for its first long-distance drive.

Aileen, a good friend from my days at LifeScan, got married to Neil. The wedding was in Solvang, with the ceremony at the old mission, and the party afterwards at the Crossroads Estate across from the Firestone winery.
The wedding was fun, I got to meet a lot of old friends. The temperature made it interesting - it was 116 degrees!!! I met a 95 year old man, who had moved to Solvang after retiring 44 years ago - he mentioned it was the hottest day in his memory.

Since I was running late, I drove on 101 instead of highway 1. The drive was amazing; I did however drive all the way with the top down, so ended up getting nicely sunburned.

I found out another thing - when the temperature climbs above 100 degrees, any speed below 80 mph in a convertible means you sweat continuously.

I left Solvang around 9:30 pm. Since I didn't want to drive while tired, I again had to take 101. (Highwa 1 takes an extra 1.5 - 2 hours). Having a new car has made me more careful - I even stopped at a strip mall after King City to take a nap. It wasn't the smartest idea; I had planned on napping for 30 minutes, then buying a coke from McD's and driving home. When I went to sleep, the strip mall was full and quite busy. I woke 40 minutes later, parked under the only street lamp that was still lighted, and with the entire area dark and deserted. I have to admit - I was awake and alert very fast.

Finally got home at 2:15 am. A long drive, and a very enjoyable one. I would recommend you all have a lot of friends, and buy a BMW 335i hard-top convertible. Then convince those friends to get married in Solvang. This gives you the setting for a perfect Saturday!

Workout Sunday

Shoulders, 5 exercises with 4 sets each. I'm getting old - still tired from Saturday day-trip to Solvang and little sleep all week, so less intense workout