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A Case of The Hiccups

I must apologize for my sudden absence.  Since moving here and starting a new job, I've been a little distracted...  Not to mention, I'm launching a new food blog with some friends starting in January and have been busy putting together ideas for that.  (More on that later... I will be sure to pass on the link once we have it up and running!)

But on top of that, there's been another slight hiccup...

Apparently I've reached my capacity for free photo storage on this blog and if I want to continue, I have to pay a monthly fee.  Unfortunate timing since I really wanted to share photos from my Pinterest party this past weekend.  Let this be a lesson for those of you like me who upload a ton of photos and are too lazy to shrink them down first...  mostly because I don't know how to do it and can't be bothered with learning when I have more important things to do like watch the Food Network and play Anipang, this addictive Korean game on my phone that's similar to Bejeweled or Zookeeper.

[This is the part where I would normally post a photo of Anipang for a visual aid... maybe a screenshot of my highest score or a fun action shot of me playing the game.]

SO I'm going to take the remainder of the year to decide what to do... pay the fee or move to another domain (the more likely of the two).  Either way, SQUOOSHED will remain alive in some form or another... and I promise to get back to regular posting in January!  No more hiccups :)

But for now, let's enjoy the rest of 2012 and all of its remaining splendor...  Hey ya!


(At least I can still embed videos.  This one never gets old for me.)

Have an amazing holiday season and New Year!  I look forward to sharing more with you next year!

oo,

KWEST: URUGUAY Part One

Before starting school at Kellogg, it's customary for the students and their significant others to take a trip (known as KWEST) with some of their incoming classmates in order to get to know other students right away and form a core group of friends to engage with throughout business school.  

Our amazing group.  The KELLOGG formation is a tradition for every KWEST trip.

Trips are offered from all around the world, and for our trip, Patrick and I chose Uruguay.  Neither of us had ventured to South America before and Uruguay sounded like an obscure enough place where we would probably never think to go on our own.  Truth be told, we didn't really know anything about this mysterious country, and I wasn't even positive on how to pronounce it correctly.  Yur-uh-gu-way?  Er-uh-gu-why?  

I'm still not 100% on this... although what I can tell you now for certain is that Uruguay is located in the southeastern part of South America, between Argentina and Brazil.  Also I was surprised to learn that there is a very strong European influence here.  According to Wikipedia, about 88% of the population is of European descent, mostly from Spain and Italy.

After an exciting 24-hour stretch of traveling between three different flights, we landed safely in Montevideo - Uruguay's capital.  Again, it took me awhile to realize that "Montevideo" was not pronounced Mont-vid-ee-yo but Mont-ay-vid-ay-yo.  It's much more fun to say it that way anyway.

Luckily we did not have to fight any jet lag while we were there.  By the time we finished checking into our hotel, it was lunchtime.  After perusing the menu, we quickly realized that people really love their meat in Uruguay and were thankful that none of us were vegetarians.  

In fact, beef is a staple in Uruguayan cuisine, and according to Wikipedia, Uruguay is one of the world's top consumers of red meat, per capita.  So naturally I embraced this and went straight for the ribeye... you know, for the cultural experience :)

It was phenomenal.

To complement their meat in Uruguay, chimichurri is often served as a condiment.  I used to make chimichurri when I worked in the restaurant (for our steak salads), but I hadn't seen it much anywhere else, so I was very excited to learn that it was a staple here.  It mainly consists of chopped parsley, red wine vinegar, garlic, red peppers flakes, and olive oil.  

Here I am with Louise, aka "Dos" as we came to be known to each other since we were buddy system buddies :)

After lunch we took a walking tour of Montevideo.  It was Sunday so all of the shops were closed and there seemed to be no other souls in the city other than ourselves.  It was a bit eery.

We learned about Uruguayan history and saw plenty of this guy, Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, aka Uruguay's founder.

After our walking tour, we dressed in white from head to toe for "White Night" (costume parties are another KWEST tradition) and headed to Bouza Winery.

Here we took a brief tour of the winery and had an exquisite dinner, starting with this amazing charcuterie platter featuring different types of cured meats, cheeses, and caramelized onion jam.  Mmm..



Since I had steak earlier in the day, I opted for the ravioli, which was covered in a rich cream sauce.

 

Patrick, on the other hand, was not deterred from eating two steaks in one day.

For dinner, we were served two types of wine - a white and a red, and our glasses were basically filled the entire night to our heart's content.  

In Uruguay, the grape of choice for wines is Tannat, which I had never heard of before this trip.  Historically this grape was grown in Southwest France, but over time it seems to have flourished in Uruguay where it is known as the national grape.  Bouza Winery happens to make an excellent Tannat wine.  I know this because I sampled it plenty of times.

For dessert, we had this frozen, custardy pyramid with a caramelized sugar garnish.

I should also mention that the owner of Bouza Winery also has an impressive collection of classic cars.

I wanted to take this one home with me.  It seems just my size.

Speaking of cars my size, the next morning we took a bus to Colonia del Sacramento, a nearby historic city, and drove these little golf carts around.  Colonia is the oldest city in Uruguay.

It started raining during the tour (did I mention that it was wintertime in Uruguay?) but luckily we had this cleverly constructed windshield wiper.  *Not*



Along the way, we stopped at this structure - Plaza de toros Real de San Carlos - an abandoned bull-fighting arena.  We were forbidden to enter because the structure is no longer stable.  Bull-fighting was introduced to Uruguay in 1776 by Spain, but this structure was not built until 1910.  As it so happens, bull-fighting was abolished in Uruguay in 1912 and only 8 fights were hosted here.





Moving right along, we were also able to stop and enjoy the lovely scenery.



Uruguay is known for its beaches, although since it was winter, we didn't really get to take full advantage of them.

I don't remember why the tops of these trees are cut off.  I'm inclined to say it is disease-related...???  It adds an interesting aesthetic, don't you think?

For lunch, we dined at this cute little restaurant.  It had a lot of character.

Of course there was more red wine (although not nearly as good as the Bouza wine)...

And this interesting salad made with chicken.

This time Patrick ordered the ravioli...

And I chose the chicken.

And to top it off, there was ice cream for dessert. 

After lunch we continued our tour of Colonia del Sacramento on foot.

It was a beautiful day outside (although still coat-wearing weather).

We wandered around the Barrio Histórico (historic quarter) which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of the attractions of this area is this historic lighthouse, which is more than 150 years old and built over the ruins of a convent from the 17th century.

We braved the steep stairs and made it all the way to the top to admire the view.

It was a bit windy, but worth it.

Near the lighthouse is also where we met Eduardo, the stray dog (aka Kanye depending on who you talk to).

Eduardo followed us around for awhile.  He wanted either food or companionship or both.

We at least gave him companionship.  Can you see him hiding in the photo below?

I should probably mention that Eduardo is not his real name.  I just like to think that it is.

And guess what we had for dinner that night?  Yep, more steak.

Oh, and we were also dressed in our disco costumes.  There was a lot of rubbernecking going on in the restaurant.  This was after returning to Montevideo.  Dinner was promptly followed by our disco party.

Day three was another beautiful day.

We traveled to Punta del Este and visited the home of local artist Carlos Páez Vilaró.  Highlighted among his unique artistic works is his own house, known as Casapueblo ("House-Village") which looks out onto the Atlantic Ocean.  

For me, it was reminiscent of the Gaudi architecture in Barcelona.  Although I hear his inspiration came from Mykonos and Santorini.

Currently, this structure houses a museum, a hotel, and an art gallery.  And this section remains private living quarters:

For his other artistic works, he drew inspiration from European and African influences.  He was also good friends with Pablo Picasso and Brigitte Bardo.

For the next couple of days, we remained in Punta del Este.  A resort city, Punta del Este is known for its tourism during the summer, when the population quadruples.  Since we were there during the off-season, we did not have to fight any tourist crowds :)  We even stayed in a really nice hotel, the Conrad.

For lunch, we ate at a restaurant near the beach.

I ordered the Paella - another trace of the Spanish influence here.



And we also met another stray dog friend (I don't remember his made-up name).

Later we even got to see a wild sea lion... 

... and another stray dog (Jay-Z).

Behold, the ultimate photo: me, wild sea lion, and Jay-Z.

Perhaps the most iconic tourist spot in Punta del Este (and Uruguay as a whole) is the "hand in the sand" or the "five fingers," known more accurately as Monumento al Ahogado.

To give you an idea of its scale, here we are standing in front of what I believe is the index finger.

I like to think that it's not actually a sculpture, but a giant buried beneath the sand.  If my hand were big enough, I'd reach down and help him up, but alas...

After a long day of sightseeing, we broke off into small groups for dinner.  My group chose a lovely beach-front restaurant called El Secreto.

For an appetizer, we ordered these little toasts topped with various meats, including blood sausage which is a specialty in Uruguay.

I ordered the pasta with tomato sauce as a welcome alternative to steak.

We concluded the night with a Prohibition-themed costume party and casino night, which was right in our hotel.  I had the pleasure of losing all of the money that Patrick won.

Ahem, are you still with me?  I hope so, because there's still PART TWO of our adventures coming soon :)

oo,