Wednesday, April 27, 2005
At Least It’s Not Snowing
So it’s raining here in Maine. And all everyone can tell us is “At least it’s not snowing.” Sure. But I did all the things I wanted to earlier today. We went to Denny’s for lunch. Woo hoo. My client thought it was really funny that we were going to Denny’s. But he happily gave me directions. So after finishing up with the client, I finished packing and then dragged the guys to Wal-Mart. I know, I’m sick. Denny’s and Wal-mart. I so want to live like a local when I am anywhere. Tee hee.
Anyways, now I am back at the hotel and my damn connection to the work VPN is crapping out, so I am blogging in the hotel lobby. The things I do for you people!
I have to get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow (hello 4.40 wake up call) so we can get to the airport by 5am. Our flight leaves at 6.45, but my client told me that since this was one of the 9/11 airports, security is super strict. And since I am one of the five Asian people I have seen since I have been here, and one of the guys I am with is a total mutt, it would behoove us to get there early. I’m not getting stuck here.
So....goodbye Maine, hello California. I’ll be so happy to be home again.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Adventures in Maine
I had a very productive day at the client site, so around 4pm, off we went to get stuff done for our meetings tomorrow. This entailed a trip to Kinko’s, which happened to be in Monument Square. I am sucker for monuments and such, so I made the guys take a picture of me under the monument, which was a Civil War memorial. We drove down to the port and had dinner at DiMillo’s Floating Restaurant. Totally an upscale dinner place. As we were walking back to the car, we ran into what we thought was public art, but it was actually an authentic piece of the Berlin Wall. History all around.
It’s been fun driving around this place. You can’t really get lost here, though we have taken a few wrong turns and have had to pay a couple of tolls because we didn’t go the right way. But the trippiest thing is that it’s a law that you have to stop for pedestrians when they are in the crosswalk. And people really do this, and are totally nice.
I’m not quite homesick yet, but I am sure that will come tomorrow when I get the itch to sing after Alias. The guys are threatening to find a karaoke place for me, but I reminded them we have to be at the airport at 5.30 am. So probably not.
Tomorrow it’s supposed to rain. But I am sure we’ll find some adventures to get into. I need to go to Denny’s so I can cross one more state off the Denny’s across America list. Seriously.
Greetings from Maine
Well I made it here in one piece. And flying first class was pretty cool. It’s all the little things they do that make it such a different experience. Like getting you a drink as soon as you sit down. Or hanging your coat up. And I have to say the food was actually really good. Oh, and no peanuts. You get a “fancy nut mix” with sesame sticks, almonds, and cashews.
We are staying in Portland, Maine. It was really funny because we had a hard time getting to our hotel even though it was only 3 miles away. Damn hick directions. But we had a great dinner at the brewing company across the street. And today after we go to the client’s for the day, we are headed out to the port where we are going to have dinner at the floating restaurant. I’ll take pix for sure.
Alright, I need to jet so I can get ready to get out of here. More on the adventures later.
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Travel Plans
Girl From Ipanema was talking about her upcoming trip and it just made me think about the trips I have confirmed for this year. I am itching to get out of here, and these trips won’t get here soon enough.
I have two business trips, one in April and one in June. I am heading to Portland, Maine in April. That one will be stressful as far as work is concerned, but I am going with a couple of cool people, so that shouldn’t be too awful. In June, it’s a conference in Hershey, PA. I was thinking about spending extra time in Philly while I was there, but it looks like I may try to swing a weekend in Florida to see Ted. Yes, we are already talking about when I can go visit. But that’s so tenuous. Either way, I will probably stay on the East Coast for a few extra days. If it’s not Florida or Philly, I may head to NY to see Kazan for the weekend.
Then in August, it will be my annual trip to Northern Cali. Kazan is getting married in Santa Cruz, so I'll fly into San Jose and rent a car. Then drive down to Santa Cruz and spend a couple of days doing the wedding thing. Then head to San Francisco to spend time with James. After that, head to Windsor in Sonoma County to drink wine and eat good food with Ivonne. Just mellow times with some good friends.
My big trip for the year will be a trip to New Orleans in October. I haven't been there since Mardi Gras in 1999 and I have been jonesing to go. I will be staying in the Garden District instead of the Quarter. Which is still cool. I have it booked for 6 days and planned it for the weekend after Karaoke Heather's birthday, so she'll be there with me for a few days. I doubt she'll be there the whole time, so I may have someone else meet me for the rest of the time. We'll see.
And I'm still thinking (dreaming) about Fiji for when I meet goal weight. I know I can't swing it this year...the weight loss is *so* slow right now and with all this crap in my life going on, who knows when I'll meet goal. And I want to do this trip right. So I'll just tuck it away in the back of my mind and when it's the right time to think about it again, I will.
It's actually just nice to think about getting away in general. I may have to sneak in another trip to L.A. just so I can get out of here for a little bit. And there's always Vegas.......wonder if I can still get tix to the NIN show there....hmmmm....
« rawk off
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
The Itch To Wander
I don’t know what is going on with me, but I am totally itching to get out of town. Maybe it’s because I’ve been trying to plan my trips for next year. I try to get out of here every 3 months and next year’s schedule is starting to come together.
First on tap is New Orleans in March. The plan is to go for St. Paddy’s day and stay through that weekend. Boytoy is heading out there for spring break, so it’s my perfect excuse to go. I think my friend Carri from high school wants to go as well. Which will be cool, because she and I have a good time partying together. I’ve been to NOLA a couple of times, but there are some things I still haven’t seen - like the Oak Alley plantation and the National D-Day Museum. And I have to take Carri to do a couple of my old favorites, a ride on the Steamboat Natchez, the New Orleans Museum of Art, and a good old fashioned stalking of Trent Reznor in the Garden District. Good times.
Then in June, I have to go to
Hersey, PA for a work conference. Since a train ride to Philly is only two hours from Harrisburg, I think I am going to head into Philly for a few days before the conference. I lived in Philly when I was a kid. Just for a year when I was five, but I remember a lot about living there and have always wanted to go back.
I will also be heading out to NYC. Not sure when yet because I may go out for my cousin's wedding, which she hasn't set a date for. But even if I don't go out for her wedding, I will be going sometime. I haven't been since 2001 (I got back right before 9/11) and I need to go back.
Another wedding that will make me get out of town is Kazandra's wedding in
Santa Cruz. Depending on when that is, I may extend the trip and head up into SF to visit some friends.
I usually would take a week off and head somewhere through my timeshare, but I think I may skip it this year as I want to go to Fiji when I meet my goal weight. But the best time to go to Fiji is in the winter and I can't swing Nov/Dec of next year because of work and what have you. So I think it's going to be a January Fiji trip.
Of course, there's always a Vegas trip and there may be a Mexico trip as well. Dude, I need to snap out of the travel daydreaming and get through the holidays and my birthday and then I can concentrate on getting out of here. Maybe I can satisfy the wanderlust by heading to the bookstore to get some travel guides. Hm....
« rawk off
Friday, October 08, 2004
Two Nights Worth Writing Home About
I made it to Vegas in one piece! Hooray!
But let me get back to Wednesday night, since I have to say that the Pinback show at the Belly Up was really good even if I didn’t get to hang with The Guy I Really Like. On Monday night when I went to FM 94/9’s CD listening party, I met Sara, the band’s rep from the record company. She’s from Chicago and seemed really nice. So I saw her at the show and we ended up hanging out for the night. Good times. Except we were hanging out in the reserved section with some VIP’s (read Halloran and Tom Delonge from Blink) when some sort of scuffle broke out and there was broken glass and people getting 86’d by security. That was not cool. Eh, it didn’t distract me from how good the band sounded. My favorite songs from their set were “AFK” and “Fortress”. Of course, the crowd went wild when they did “Penelope”. But that was to be expected since that is their most popular song.
Enough of that, you want to know about Vegas. We (Heather, Randy, and I) left for Vegas at 1pm and got here by 5.30pm - excellent time. And we all had a beer and then I left to go get groceries. I made fried rice and we grilled a few steaks and then it was off to the Nugget. After a couple of hours playing video poker and slots, we headed to the Horseshoe and played blackjack until about 2am.
So Heather’s man, Randy is super cool. I don’t always agree with her taste in men, but this one’s a winner. And all my apprehension about this trip dissolved somewhere between Barstow and Primm. I have had a great time so far!
And as an added bonus, I did get to talk to The Guy I Really Like. I feel kinda lame that I called him but I am glad I did. It just makes for a perfect ending to a stellar day.
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Vegas, Baby, Vegas
I am leaving for Vegas tomorrow. And I cannot muster up any enthusiasm about going. I know, what is wrong with me? It’s not like I am going with lame people, I’m going with Karaoke Heather. Today is her birthday and we usually go somewhere to celebrate. So we’re staying at my timeshare resort, which will be super nice. But I’m just not into it this time. She’s bringing her new man and I asked The Guy I Really Like to come with, but he couldn’t work out the logistics to go. And then Boytoy was going to meet us there, but now his dad is coming into town so there goes that idea. So just me, Heather and this dude she’s seeing. I don’t know if I am just really disappointed that The Guy I Really Like can’t go or if I am a little apprehensive about hanging out with Heather and this dude. I think it’s more that I really wanted to spend more time with The Guy I Really Like. Sigh.
Now I don’t doubt we’ll have fun, because we will. I can’t have a bad time with Heather. And I decided to bring the first season of Alias to watch since I missed that season and also my photos from this year since it’s October and I haven’t even started on my photo album. So I’ll be busy during the day. And we’re planning to go to House of Blues on Friday night. That’s always a good time. So I just need to quit my whining and pack and get the hell out of here. Yeah, that’s it.
