Happy Hotelier is now a WSet Level 2 Intermediate Wine Conoisseur

Wset Certificate

Hot from the block: This certificate proves that I know a little bit about wine and spirits. I found I had to study a bit more in order to be able to serve our guests at Haagsche Suites better.

It also goes together with my aim to cover the categories “Food”, “Wine” and “Wining and Dining” more seriously here, rather than setting up a separate blog.

I found that it the Wset course is a decent course. It was given by a very enthusiast couple, Henriëtte Bastiaans and Jeroen Bronkhorst of Wijn studio NL who used to run a restaurant around the corner and who gave the course in a wine shop, Haags Wijnhuis, also around another corner here. So it was very practical: after the courses and wine tasting I could easily crawl back home.

About Wset

Wset stands for Wine and Spirit Education Trust Limited.

The Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) was founded in 1969 to provide high quality education and training in wines and spirits. Since then, WSET has grown into the foremost international body in the field of wines and spirits education, with a suite of sought-after qualifications. We now even have a membership body – the Institute of Wines & Spirits – for those who have passed the WSET Diploma, our top qualification.

About Level 2 Intermediate

This qualification offers broad coverage of all product categories in the field of alcoholic drinks together with basic wine tasting technique.

Overview
This qualification is accredited at Level 2 in the UK National Qualifications Framework. It is also approved as a Technical Certificate for the Advanced Level Hospitality Modern Apprenticeship.

Qualification objective:
Provide vocational training in the broad range of alcoholic beverages to underpin job skills and competencies in the customer service and sales functions of the hospitality, retail and wholesale industries.
Who it is aimed at:
• People employed in the drinks and hospitality industries with little previous knowledge of alcoholic beverages.
• Wine enthusiasts who wish to acquire in-depth knowledge of wines and spirits and want to obtain an internationally recognised wine qualification.

Entry Requirements:
Students and candidates who are under the legal minimum age for the retail purchase of alcoholic beverages in the country where the examination is being held will NOT be allowed to sample any alcoholic beverages as part of their course, but this is NOT a barrier for successfully completing the qualification. (Entry requirements may vary according to Approved Programme Provider)

How to gain the qualification:
You must successfully complete a multiple choice paper of 50 questions.

More at Qualifications

Heading for the Advanced Course by Frank Smulders (site is currently and I hope temporarily not working).

Philippe Starck models Superyacht "A" after a Destroyer

A by Blohm Voss

Apparently super yacht A, named after current billionaire owner Andrey Melnichenko’s wife Alexandra, has been delivered: According to a Times Online article, it sneaked to Norway to take three Monet Paintings on board as extravaganza decorations reportedly to avoid some taxes, but I suspect also to avoid some legislation that prohibits export of art.

A Moored in Norway

The Internet works very fast because here you see a photo posted by a Norwegian as a comment to the Times article to prove A actually was in Norway. Note its razor sharp bow.

A super yackt

At first glance I thought it was a big white submarine.

Philippe Starck Design for A

Philippe Starck conceived the yacht in 2003.

Zumwalt Class

However, more than with a submarine there are similarities in design, especially en profile, with the Zumwalt Class Destroyer. The US Navy is developing this new destroyer class for delivery in 2013. It is named after US Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr..

A on a maiden Trip

Here it is at a sea trial

Some YouTube footage from a sea trial.

Modeling super yachts after commercial vessels was already a trend in super yacht design, but now it becomes more and more apparent that modeling your super yacht after men of war is the new trend in Yacht Design.

I wonder what kind of weaponry the owner has installed in order to fence off pirates and art robbers….
via Monaco Eye

Blogistan @ JoeSentMe.com

Joe Sent Me

Found Happy Hotelier among Joe’s Blog list. Wow!
Blogistan @ JoeSentMe.com

HOW TO USE THIS PAGE TO FIND TRAVEL BLOGS
We’ve come a long way from the Rosetta Stone to the Internet blog. Whether blogs help us decipher the intricacies of travel, however, is an open question. Blogs are the ultimate expression of free speech for everyone. But when everyone speaks, clarity is often a casualty. What we’re attempting at the JoeSentMe Blogistan page is to bring some order to the cacophony. A selection of the best-known (and, we assume, best-read) travel blogs appears in the left column. By executive fiat, we have excluded the promotional blogs penned by travel-industry corporations. We’ve also excluded destination-specific travel blogs. Many are wonderful, but it would be impossible to list even a representative sample here. What appears in the column below is our assessment of some of the best blogs and bloggers in their respective categories. It is, by definition, brutally selective and highly subjective. If we have missed a blog that you think should be listed here, drop me a line. (By the way, if you are looking for a travel columnist–you know, the folks who write on a set schedule in a more traditional format–please consult our Fellow Travelers page.) — Joe Brancatelli

Street Art (6): Digg on its way out (Goobled)?

Street Art Digg

It seems Google has gobbled Digg (Goobled a good term?)

New Blogging Hotelier on the Block: Drop In To The Wyland Waikiki

Drop In To The Wyland Waikiki

Discovered recently started Drop In To The Wyland Waikiki, written by the hotel’s GM, Robin Graf, pictured here below (left) together with artist and self proclaimed celebrity Wyland (right) after whom the hotel is named. Am curious whether Robin will keep up with the usual Blogging requirements. Success!

Graf and Wyland

Update: Oops…since publishing this post the owner of the blog has put the blog on private…you have to be invited and I’m not (-:
Last edited by GJE on January 30, 2011 at 3:37 pm