Happy Thanksgiving!

I know I'm a few days late, but our Thanksgiving celebration was a bit delayed this year. Our original plan was to go for a hike and then make Thanksgiving dinner. Well, it ended up being cold and rainy that day, and to boot, we forgot to take the turkey out of the freezer in time. I was so disappointed in the day I was ready to burst out in tears, but my husband reminded me of how good we actually had it - even without the turkey. Everything turned out alright in the end. The actual Thanksgiving day was a bit of a wash, but the rest of the weekend turned out pretty nice.

Friday started off with my first ever Black Friday experience. I had avoided it all these years, but I wanted to get my husband the $3 coffee maker. I didn't even try getting up for 5am doorbuster tho (not that desperate to save money), so I didn't get it :( But, I did get there early enough to walk away with a few other goodies that we wanted, all at a very good price. I was so excited about my shopping experience that my husband claimed he had never seen me look so happy.

Later on Friday, we checked out the National Harbor. It was the first time there for both of us. We went there primarily for the Christmas Tree lighting ceremony but also had a bit of a walk around the area. They had moved the Awakening statue from Haines Point to here. There is also the Gaylord National Convention Center which had very nice Christmas decorations and a short fountain show. There was also the ICE! exhibit, which looked pretty cool, tho we didn't go to it. I also had fun taking pictures of Brad with silly characters like Mr. Peeps, the Christmas Tree Lady, and Scrooge. The ceremony itself started at 5pm with some musical performances. It was a very cold night out tho, so we decided not to stick around for the actual tree lighting or fireworks. Oh well.

On Saturday, we did a bit more shopping, taking advantage of the continuing sales this weekend. Then we prepared the meal we were supposed to have on Thursday. I gotta admit everything came out of a box. I don't usually make Thanksgiving dinner since I typically crash someone else's house on this day. Still, it was a nice change of pace from the meals we normally make. Very filling indeed. We gave thanks for our newly wedded life together, and finished the night off with a bit of karaoke.


Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day - perfect for doing the hike we were going to do on Thursday. We did the Section A hike of the Billy Goat trail. It had been 2 years since I first went to Great Falls on the Maryland side. I had forgotten how much more interesting the trails are there. Brad enjoyed the rock scrambling a lot and we had a good day out. We also started talking about traveling again towards the end of the hike. As usual, we got carried away thinking about our travels. It finally dawned on us though that we would never really get to see everything we want to see - at least not in the next few years like we want :P We decided we should stop obsessing about traveling, and just concentrate on enjoying our everyday life here. We can still throw in the occasional trips as time and finances permit. As travel-holics with a thirst for adventure, neither of us thought we would ever be ones to say such a thing, but we both agreed, now that we have each other, life is great no matter where we are.

Terracotta Warriors Exhibition in DC

One of the countries I have been wanting to visit for a long time now is China. It's been high on my list of places I want to go since 2003. Unfortunately my husband recently went, so it is likely to be a while before we make it out that way. So when I heard that the Terracotta Warriors were on exhibit at the National Geographic Museum I thought I should go see them. When I found out that they were giving away 200 free tickets on Wednesdays @1730, I thought I should definitely go. Given today was Thanksgiving eve, I was able to get out of work just in time to pick my husband up and drive into the city by 5. I dropped my hubby off while I looked for a place to park, annoyed as hell about having to drive in rush hour traffic (even though it was not as bad as it normally would be) and look for parking (no street parking was allowed during rush hour). Eventually I gave in to garage parking right by the museum, which worked out just fine since it was only $5 for the evening after 5pm. When I hurried over to join Brad though, I was very disappointed to find out we would not be able to get tickets for that day. Apparently people have been standing in line since 2pm or so and there were more than 200 people already in line - at least according to the staff working there. On top of that, all tickets for purchase were sold out until December 1. I debated for a bit about whether to purchase the $12 tickets for the first weekend in December, but when I found out there were only about 15 of the warriors (of the 8000+ in China), it seemed kinda silly. So we gave up on the exhibit and decided to go check out the photography gallery at the museum.

Whilst looking for the gallery, we accidentally ended up in the Terracotta Warrior exhibit through one of the back entrances. Once we realized where we were and that no one is chasing after us to get out, we figured we'll stay and check it out (especially after all the troubles of getting there). Perhaps because of the advertisement for "free" tickets, there were many people in this tiny exhibit. Yes, tiny. Well, to be honest, we only saw half of the exhibit because it was split into two sections and we didn't try to sneak into the other half. In any case, the half we saw consisted of roughly 5 warriors and 1 horse statue, along with other small artifacts like weapons, armors, accessories, etc. There was also plenty of information on the Qin dynasty - not that you couldn't get the same information from a book or online. I pretty much left the exhibit glad that I didn't drive into DC for nothing and that I didn't pay to get in. Maybe there was something really awesome in the other half of the exhibit, but I couldn't imagine what. Regardless, I do plan on visiting China someday, and for what people pay to see this exhibit, I will see the warriors in its original setting (nevermind the fact that I have to fly over there). For those of you who have no plans to visit China though, it might be worth a visit if you have nothing better to do with your $12. The exhibit is on through end of March.

Lake Accotink

Today was a pretty balmy day for November, so we made plans to do a nice walk in one of the areas parks. Usually, my trail of choice is the one around Burke Lake. However, today we thought we'd drive a few minutes further to Lake Accotink since we hadn't been there. This lake isn't quite as big as Burke Lake, but still has all the nice charms and facilities. The trail around the lake is probably an easy 3.75 miles. There were many bikers whizzing by, but for the most part, not a very crowded time of year to visit. We were surprised to see some nice colors still lingering also.

Dancing Ninja Nomad

I have a tendency to procrastinate when it comes to coming up with a Halloween costume. This year was no different, so on the day before Halloween, I went to a shop to look for a costume. It was hard enough that selections and sizes at the last minute are poor, but to make matters worse, most women's costumes are on the slutty side. I'm not generally one who tries to look sexy anyways, but I didn't think my husband, who had to be out of town for the week, would approve. I probably spent an hour looking through women's costumes before a man's costume caught my eye. Yep - a ninja costume. I had always wanted to do ninja for Halloween one year. I love martial-arts and read a lot of mangas about ninjas. The last one left was a men's size small - and it (almost) fit. Woo-hoo! So I went to my two parties happy with my costume. At my second party, I got to swing my sword and kicks around a bit. Check out the clip below. You'll see a glimpse of me in the beginning and a slightly longer cut around the one minute mark.

I Got Married!

By now, most of you have probably seen my status update and pictures on Facebook. I got married on October 5th, 2009 in the Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

The Beginning

The whole thing started in April of 2007. I went on a tour of Egypt and Jordan. There was only six of us on the tour, including myself, and two friends. Aside from us, there was one other American woman on this trip, an elder gentleman, and a young man from England; Brad. They were all very nice people and we had a fantastic time on the trip. However, who would have guessed that two and a half years later I would be married to that guy from England!! As I was seeing someone else at the time, I didn't give him much thought during the trip. I did think he was a nice and fun guy on the cute side, but because I was with two friends of my own, I spent most of my time hanging out with them (though, upon reflection I do wish I had spent more time talking to Brad throughout the tour :P). Brad and I kept in touch after our trip. Brad had just joined the British Army so I often heard about his tough times. He also has a passion for travel though, so once I moved back to the U.S. and was single, we talked a few times about doing a trip together. He wanted me to visit an ice hotel in Sweden but I had just moved back from Europe and didn't want to take a trip that way so soon. Then I invited him to the Utah trip but he had a bum knee at the time and couldn't hike. I also invited him to Guatemala but military obligations interfered this time. Then he asked if I would like to go to Greece, but I had already been. So I suggested the Canadian Rockies - and apparently he had always wanted to go. So we went, and had a fantastic time together! We hit it off pretty quickly, and he told me early on that he didn't want this just to be a holiday fling. Although I had been wary of long distance relationships and resisted the idea at first, Brad's optimism and strong interest in me won me over, so I decided to give it a try. He had just gotten out of the military and was in between jobs, so the general plan was he would come visit for 3 months and we would see where things lead....

Getting to Know Brad

Some of my friends already think I'm crazy, and going to the extremes of cohabitation after such short courtship probably ranks high up there in the list of things my friends would consider crazy. Well, I may make quick decisions, but I always think things through. And I've never regretted anything I've done. Besides, isn't spending 24/7 on a week long holiday with a guy like the equivalent of, say, over 30 dates?? I guess because we started off as friends, there was no awkwardness. I already knew he loved traveling, but we also had a lot of other things in common: we both spent time in the military, we both like the outdoors, we both trained in martial-arts, and more. Despite his younger age though, he is very mature and has high moral values. He also likes cracking silly jokes and makes me laugh all of the time. Even grocery shopping is fun when Brad is around. The fact that he is fit and that I find him cute and sexy is simply a bonus. We've also been able to overcome any issues that cropped up as we quickly got to know each other more. Perhaps more importantly, he doesn't play games with me and communicates his feelings well. A lot of times when it comes to guys, it's hard to tell what they are thinking and how they feel about you. I knew from the very beginning he cared about me and I have never felt so loved and cherished. I trust him with all my heart and feel secure in our future together. I love him very much.

Planning the Wedding

The craziness hasn't stopped yet. We decided pretty early on we would like to get married. There was no formal proposal, but as we discussed our options for a future together, this was the most favorable one. The independent and logical side of me did at times say "it's a gamble", but even then, I felt the odds were more than good enough to put my happiness on the line. My heart and my gut told me it was right.

Once it was decided to go through with this, we became busy with planning. We entertained several ideas and what was supposed to be a simple elopement turned into something a bit more. All my fault really. I got so excited at one point and decided that I wanted to wear a proper wedding dress and have a few family members attend. I felt a bit bad that we could not give Brad's family ample notice to attend, but we were glad my brothers and their families were able to come. In the end, I think it turned out perfect. Even our choice of Las Vegas for location, for convenience sake, turned out well. Rates at 5-star hotels were dirt cheap (we stayed at the Encore), and there was enough to keep us occupied during the honeymoon week, but not so much that we felt it necessary to spend every minute of the day doing something.

The Wedding Day

The day started off with a sleep in until about 10ish. I didn't have much to do really except shower & eat before heading down to the hotel salon for manicure, hair, and make-up at noon. All was going pretty well until I hit the make-up woman. She spent about 20 minutes painting me and when I finally saw myself in the mirror - I couldn't believe what I saw! I looked like something out of a kabuki theatre. Are you kidding? How is this anything but the natural look I asked for?!? I had these awful purple shadows up to my brows, clumpy mascara that made my eyes look small, and foundation that was laid on so thick it cracked at every smile line. If I was the crying type of girl I would have been in tears. Instead, I calmly asked her to redo some of it. When she failed miserably to improve on it, I decided I would do the make up myself. I couldn't do anything more than what I normally wear with what I had, but at least I didn't look like a freak.

By 2:30 or so, my family arrived at the hotel and Brad and I were just about ready to roll. We headed down to the lobby at 3 for our pick-up. We had arranged our wedding with the La Bella Wedding Chapel at the Hilton who sent us a 10 man limo for the 1 hour ride to & fro the Valley of Fire State Park where we had our ceremony. We arrived a tad late to our spot in the park so as soon as we got there, everything happened quickly. By the time I rolled myself out of the limo and over to the minister, he had my brothers sign as witnesses and we were walking to where the ceremony would take place. There's no rehearsal or preparation of any kind except a small advice on how to do the ring exchange. The minister started rattling off his speech and all I thought to myself was pay attention to what he is saying so I don't screw up my part of saying "I will" or repeating after him. I did almost cry with happiness when it was my turn. It all went fine though, and it was only after the ring exchange that I finally could focus on why I'm there and what I'm doing and there on out I was all smiles :)

After the ceremony, we had the photo shoot. We had a very good photographer who made the whole thing easy and fun. He guided us on what to do, and was very accomodating for any additional photos we wanted. We had a good time getting our photos taken. For one particular shot, the photographer wanted all the guys (Brad & my brothers) to go up from behind to this ledge a bit high up. They all looked so scared up there that all the girls watching from the bottom were hysterical. Except for the brief moment where this photo was taken, the boys wouldn't even stand up. Needless to say they got made fun of even more after I waltzed up there perfectly stood up with my wedding dress on, right to the edge hands-free. At this point Brad had no choice but to stand up ;)



After the photos we headed back to the hotel and had dinner with everyone at the Okada, a Japanese Restaurant at the Wynn. The food was great, but portions were a bit small. My brother had to order a second meal. By then though, I was in so much pain from my wedding dress. I was so bloated that it made my dress very tight on me (maybe I gained some weight :S). By the time I finished eating, I felt my whole body was being crushed by my dress. My husband and I ended up excusing ourselves a bit early and I bolted back to our room hoping that I didn't pass out before we got there.

The Wedding Night

Once back to the room, all I wanted to do was get out of my dress and collapse. Brad, on the otherhand, looked preoccupied- pacing all over the room. He suggested that I hop in the bath, and when I asked if he would join, he ended up having to spoil a surprise he planned for me. Apparently he had ordered in advance some roses, champagne, and chocolate covered strawberries. How sweet of him :) It was supposed to be waiting in the room by the time we got back from dinner (we got back well after the scheduled delivery time). Instead of joining me in the bath, he had to call down to the concierge expressing his disappointment with the screw-up. Well, as good hotels do, they expressed their apologies by immediately bringing up the strawberries and champagne, compliments of the hotel (they brought the flowers along with a box of chocolates and another bottle of sparkling wine the next day). With this, we had a very nice evening enjoying the view from the room and each other. This was definitely the most romantic day of my life.

The Honeymoon

We stayed in Las Vegas for our honeymoon. It may not be the most romantic place ever, but we still had a very romantic time. We spent some time walking around Vegas, catching a show, chilling by the pool, and gambling. The show we caught was Le Reve at the Wynn, which was excellent. The fountain show (free) at the Bellagio at night is a must see. We sat through two of them in a row (it goes for about 5 minutes every 15 minutes after 8pm.) It is very well done. As for gambling, we did mostly the roulette and slots. I was down a bit at first, but I ended up winning most of it back on the slots - yay. Brad wasn't so lucky tho :S We also took a helicopter and boat trip out in Grand Canyon's West Rim. I got to sit in the front seat next to the pilot so I got some great views of the canyon. It was an awesome trip. The time in Vegas was also great. Now we are back home enjoying each other's company and looking forward to a very bright future together!


Wedding pictures are here.
Honeymoon pictures are here.

Spa World (Korean Bath House)

This past Thursday I checked out this place called Spa World. Apparently the DC metro area has the 3rd largest Korean population in the U.S., and a popular thing to do in Korea is to go these "bath houses". I've been to something similar in Japan - public bath houses where everyone gets naked (no swimsuits allowed) to wash up and soak in very hot tubs. The similarity ends there tho. The Koreans seem to focus more on saunas and spa treatments. I've heard that their body scrubs take off every dead skin cell off of ya. I didn't go for it this time around, but it's something I'd like to try at some point. In Spa World, you enter sex segrated changing areas and washing areas where you can enjoy several different types of tubs (cold, warm, hot, very hot), as well as dry and wet saunas. There is also a coed section where you can go in wearing uniforms (shirt & shorts) provided to you. Here you can lounge around watching Korean TV and enjoy a snack bar and a little restaurant. There are also like 7 different sauna rooms with different healing properties. Or so they say. I particularly liked the one with red clay balls that you could lie on. Felt really good for the back. Otherwise, most of the saunas all pretty much feel the same (hot), but with different decors. I think I half expected something more along the lines of Tokyo's Oedo Onsen Monogatari, where you get many types of good restaurants, shops, shows, in a traditional village like atmosphere in addition to the baths. Spa World isn't as touristy tho, so I wouldn't say it is as fun, but instead it focuses more on the actual services I think. Definitely worth checking out for a unique experience. Just make sure you're prepared to strut your stuff in front of strangers. I've grown up accustomed to such Asian cultures, but might be a bit uncomfortable for those who are not.

An Annapolis Wedding

I went to a wedding on Saturday, which for me was a big deal because I didn't care for the institution of marriage or weddings. I've met too many guys in recent years that were being unfaithful to their wives and also heard so many horrific divorce stories. It would take someone really really special to get me to marry. Even then, I have no plans to hold any kind of "dream" wedding. I really don't understand why people spend their life savings or go into debt to do one. I suppose everyone have their priorities in life. Mine of course is in travel units so I think, "Well, if I don't spend that $10k on a wedding, I can go on a really sweet honeymoon." Or, "For $20k, I can spend a year backpacking around S. America!" Yeah, ok, it doesn't mean I shouldn't go to other people's weddings, but you gotta admit, it can be a hassle, and even costly. In this particular case though, the wedding was local so I thought I'd attend one for a change. Plus, it was a military wedding and they are cool. In the end, I was really glad I went because I had a great time.

The wedding was that of my friend, Mo, whom I knew from NAPS (yikes - so many years ago!). The ceremony was held at the Naval Academy Chapel so I got there a bit early so I could show my boyfriend around campus. It was fun going through the visitors center and seeing the exhibit on the Academy and Midshipmen. It reminded me of the similar thing I went through at the Coast Guard Academy. The wedding itself was very Christian, but very nice. The military escorts and ushers, and the sword arch that the couple goes under as they leave the chapel add a unique touch to the event. The best part of it all was Mo's happy smiley face as he walked down that aisle with Celine at the end of the ceremony. Put a big smile on my face, too. Perhaps sharing your special occasion with family & friends is not such a bad thing after all.

Mo & Celine held their reception at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Crofton, MD. It was very nicely done without being extravagant in any way or sacrificing class. A very reasonable arrangement in my opinion. The speech that the best man and maid of honor gave were very nice I thought - they were funny and touching. The food was good and the cake cutting with the sword was pretty cool. Also got to catch up with another NAPS friend, which was a bonus. The music selection for dancing could've been a bit better, but I still had a blast. My boyfriend, Brad, pulled out his crazy moves and I thought to myself... "Yep, worthy of being the Dancing Nomad's partner in crime."

Legwarmers Concert - Reliving the 80's!

Funny how things work sometime. There's this girl I went to school with in the 6th grade who found me on Facebook. So I was flipping through her pictures from the 80's and saw a name I recognized along with a face that looked familiar. I gave the guy a shout asking if he was related to a certain someone I knew, and lo 'n' behold, he was the brother of a guy who taught karate when I was in high school. We had a good streak of chat in which the topic of 80's came up & he mentioned the Legwarmers. I had never heard of the Legwarmers before this but apparently it's a pretty popular concert to go see around here. It sounded like a lot of fun so I started asking people if they wanted to go. Turns out a lot of people have already been and said it was a great time.

To be honest, I was not big into the 80's when it was the 80's. For whatever reason, I tend to be behind on all the latest fads. (I think I lived in a box as a kid.) It was only after I'd gone on to college that I started listening to 80's music. A friend of mine is all over the 80's thing tho, so once she was on board to go, I had my tickets. I managed to round up several other people to go also, and it turned out to be a really great time - as expected :)

Entertainment began as soon as we walked into the theatre. Everywhere everyone was dressed like the 80's. It was quite fun to see people dressed up in headbands, pony tails, tennis player outfits, leotards, as Michael Jackson, George Micheal, Guns 'N' Roses, etc. I almost felt out of place not dressed to the decade. Clearly, dressing up is the thing to do & I wished I had. Oh well. Next time. The fun turned up a notch with the band's opening song - Eye of the Tiger. One of my favorites :) From 9:30 to 1 am, the band belted out hit after hit from the 80's - Livin' on a Prayer, Like a Virgin, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Total Eclipse of the Heart, Glory Days, Summer of 69, Karma Chameleon, Sweet Child 'O Mine, Jack and Diane, 99 Luftballoons, Hit Me With Your Best Shot, It's the End of the World, Jesse's Girl, We Built This City on Rock & Roll, Jenny (867-5309), Hey Mickey, and more. Closers (encore) were Fight For Your Right and Pour Some Sugar on Me. Particularly fitting for me since these were songs I actually listened to in the 80's and not of the many I came to enjoy after the fact.

A whole evening of entertainment for $17. You can't beat it really. Definitely a must do if you've lived in the 80's or like 80's songs. Just be prepared for the massive crowds.

Canadian Rockies - Banff, Jasper, & Yoho

After my whirlwind tour of Chicago, I made back to the airport with plenty of time to spare. I got into Calgary about 9ish, and was a bit dismayed that my luggage didn't make it and the only convenient way into the city from the airport was a $40 cab ride. Oh well. I checked into the hostel and the first thing I did was look for my friend who showed up the day before. Took me a while to find him but find him I did & boy was I glad that he didn't take off without me :) Although it was late, we went out for a bite and a drink to catch up. The next morning we got up early to get our rental car and head to Banff. Here was how the rest of the trip went:

Day 1: Banff - Castle Lookout

It was probably noonish by the time we got into Banff on this day. We grabbed a bit of lunch, saw the Fairmont, and walked around a bit looking for a change of clothes for the night so I can put my only set in the wash (else I would have had to borrow my friend's clothes again). After hanging around the town a bit, we headed out to do a 3 hr hike up to the Castle lookout (~520m) and back. It was not the most spectacular hike, but still had great views and was a good warm-up hike. After the hike, we checked into our hostel at Castle Mountain, got cleaned up, and headed back to the town for dinner & a walk around Fairmont at night. No luck with the luggage yet, so tomorrow would be my 4th day of wearing the same clothes - fantastic!

Day 2: Bourgeau Lake Hike

Today we did a 5 hour hike up to Bourgeau Lake and back. I really enjoyed this hike since the terrain and views varied so much on it. The trail took us through trees, places with views, and by a waterfall. At the waterfall we had a short river crossing, but fortunately I got a piggy back ride across the ankle high water. Soon after we crossed, a group of 6 women came along and trodded through no problem and made me feel silly, but I justified keeping my boots dry since it was the only pair of shoes I had until my luggage showed up. And why bother getting my feet cold if I don't have to ;) The trail continued steadily up for a bit longer and then openned up to the tundra after roughly 700m elevation gain. There were some snow on the trail, and the Bourgeau Lake was still mostly frozen over. It started to rain while at top though, so we didn't linger too long. After spotting a marmot or two and grabbing a bite to eat, we headed back down. From there, we headed up to Lake Louise hostel for the night. By now, I wasn't sure if I was ever going to get my luggage, so I decided to do some proper shopping. The village of Lake Louise is very small tho, so I had one shop to choose from. I guess that made things easier. Not a whole lot going on in terms of nightlife there either, so we ended up at the bar in Lake Louise Inn. Not a bad place. It had dart boards so that's what we did for a while and then turned in.

Day 3: Lake Moraine, Lake Louise, and Lake Agnes


My luggage had finally arrived - but in Banff :S So I had to backtrack an hour to go get it. Stupid airline. I'm glad I finally got my luggage, but by now, I really didn't need much of anything in here since I got so used to dealing with what I had. Having the CDs for the road was nice tho. Once back in Lake Louise area, my friend really wanted to do a canoe ride on Lake Moraine, but the weather was pretty crappy. It was quite cold and overcast, so we opted to do a walk around the lake instead. The trail ended part of the way around, at which point the sky cleared some and we could get better shots of the lake. The sky never really fully cleared, but at least it didn't rain. We also took a little hike up to the tea house at Lake Agnes and back (~3 hrs). The trail was not so exciting, with Lake Mirror being the only thing worth seeing on the trail, but the tea house is kinda cool. They don't have any running water or electricity there and the people who work there live there.

Day 4: Icefield Parkway - Bow Lake, Petyo Lake, and Wilcox Pass

For some reason the weather always tends to be the best when we are spending the most time in our car, as was the case today. Today we had to head up to Jasper, but not before checking out the Bow Lake & Peyto Lake. Both are very beautiful. We also stopped at the Icefield Center, but didn't really do much in terms of looking around since we couldn't get a hold of our B&B host to tell them we would not get there in time for a 5pm check-in like they asked. We had just enough time to do the hike over Wilcox Pass, which I liked very much. You get a nice view of the Athabasca Glacier (tho it can be seen from the road also), and we also saw couple of Bighorn sheeps along the way. Btw, just a note about driving in Canada. People here tend to drive really really really slooooooooooooow. I suppose with all the wildlife around, that is the smart thing to do. I didn't have much patience for it tho, and found myself speeding and passing a lot. Also, Canada doesn't do signs very well. Their roads aren't always marked well, and neither are their trails. We found ourselves backtracking a few times to get where we want to go.

Day 5: Jasper - Maligne Lake, Maligne Canyon, and Mt. Edith Cavell


Today was a bit of a packed day. We started off with a canoe ride on Lake Maligne, but it was a bit overcast. We only went out for about an hour and headed over to Maligne Canyon. On the way over, we got a close-up look at an Elk along the side of the road. We stopped here a while trying to get some nice shots. Once at the Canyon, I really didn't know what to expect here, but I enjoyed it a lot. A short trail takes you on a walk along the canyon. I think there's actually a proper hike associated with it but we weren't planning to spend so much time here so we turned around after an hour. Our next stop was Mt. Edith Cavell. The weather kind of turned again to rain, and it was getting a bit late, so we decided to skip the hike to the meadow and did just the glacier loop. This was also a very neat walk since you got to see two glaciers: Cavell & Angel. The Cavell glacier came right up to the ground where it melts into a lake. On the way back, the sky started to clear and we could hear some avalanches rumbling behind us. We sat around hoping some of the big chunks of snow up top would come tumbling down, but not much luck. We only saw a trickle of an avalanche.

Day 6: Yoho Valley & Takakkaw Falls

We had a looooooong drive back to Banff today from Jasper. So of course, it was a gorgeous sunny day. I guess the point of it being nice when we're on the road is that it gives us an excuse to stop along the way to look at things. We stopped at a few view points along the way and it was a very nice drive. Still, sitting in the car all morning was a bit tiring. We decided to check out Yoho Valley on the way so we stopped there for lunch. Afterwards, we headed over to the Takakkaw falls but we were both so tired we ended up taking a nap in the car for a few minutes before getting out the car. It was a nice nap :) We strolled around the falls a bit, and then headed back to Banff for the night. We didn't last very long into the night either. I think the long days and lack of sleep at night have been catching up to us. Oh, btw, today was another good day of wildlife viewing. We saw a Coyote and bear!

Day 7: Banff - Hoodoo Trail and Lake Minnewanka


We started the day off on the Hoodoo Trail. It wasn't supposed to be a long walk to the hoo doos, but the trails weren't marked very well so it took a bit longer than expected. I think we ended up off-trail, although we never really did figure out exactly which was the main trail. At some point the trail ends up splitting in every which direction, and the one we took led us by the water. The grasses here were high, and we almost needed a machete to bushwack our way through (ok, a bit of an exaggeration). I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. It wasn't a highly recommended hike by the book, but I think it should be. The hoo doos are interesting to see, and if you get up high over them, the view below to the river is magnificent. But you could also get this view with a short walk from your car.... We just didn't know it. By the time we got back to our cars, we didn't think we had enough time to do a 3 hr hike like we planned. Instead, we grabbed lunch in to go and had a picnic at Cascade Pond, and then headed over to Lake Minnewanka. Lake Minnewanka is the largest lake in Banff. We didn't have much planned before we needed to head back to Calgary, so we sat in front of the lake a while enjoying the view, but half disappointed we had to leave. Once back in Calgary, we had a nice dinner out to finish the day off.

I have to say this was one of the most enjoyable trips I've ever had. I really like being out in the mountains, getting away from people, and hiking. I gotta admit though that my travel partner had a lot to do with it also. We were pretty much two peas in a pod so everything went really smoothly. We had lots of fun together. So here's a shout out to my boy Brad - thanks for a great time & I miss you!


Pictures are here.

Chicago

After talking to the guy in the bar, I decided it was worth while to venture into town to see the aquarium, and perhaps the Science & Technology museum. I ended up with a bit of a late start tho, and I underestimated how long it would take to get into the city and get to the aquarium. By the time I got to Shedd's, it was 1145. It took about 2 hrs to get there, which means I had to leave the city by 2ish to get to the airport by 4ish to catch my flight at 6ish. On the way to the aquarium tho, I got a glimpse of Chicago's waterfront and parks, which looked really nice. It was a very nice day to boot, so I decided I would try to see a bit of the city as well. I ended up running through the aquarium in 15 minutes. As good as the aquarium was (comparable to the one in Baltimore), when you are sharing it with a load of tourists, it's not as enjoyable. Once out of the aquarium, I debated whether or not to go into the Field Museum next door, since I like natural history museums. By the time I finished lunch tho, it was 1230 and I knew I had very little time left so I gave it a pass. My plan was to walk all the way up through the park to the Navy Pier. Along the way, I unexpectedly found the Buckingham Fountain and Millenium Park with the "bean". To be honest, I never really knew what Chicago had to offer. It turned out to be a very nice city tho so I guess I'll never have to wonder why people go there. In any case, by the time I got to the Navy Pier, I had just enough time to get some Italian ice and work my way back to the city center to catch the train back to the airport. Although I lost a day in Banff, I had quite an enjoyable day running around Chicago. I may never have come here if it weren't for the cancelled flight.

Flight From Hell

We've all seen those news reports, especially during the Winter, how people are stranded in airports due to weather. In all my years of travelling, I have never encountered a serious delay like that... until yesterday. The day started off just fine. A friend dropped me off at the airport, breezed through check-in and security, and flight was still on-time. Well, after we've all boarded, the flight was delayed 45 minutes so they let us off the plane. After we got back on the second time it was delayed another hour... at least. So they started de-planing (i.e. getting everyone off the plane), only to get the go-ahead to pull out in 30 min., so they hurridly kicked everyone off the plane so they could re-board everyone. We took off at 1630, which would get me in Chicago at 1730... just in the nick of time to catch my 1800 flight (which was likely to be delayed anyways). As I sat on the flight, all I could think of was how annoying it was that I did not get flight insurance this time. Usually I do, but I was so busy leading up to the days of my flight that I didn't get around to arranging it until the day of, at which point I was told it would not kick in until midnight. Since I usually get coverage in anticipation of flight delays or lost luggage more than for the medical stuff, there was no point in getting it if I could not get covered for my flight out. Sure enough, the one time I don't get it, I could've used it.

My first flight got into Chicago at 1730 as expected, but it turned out that my 1800 flight was delayed to 2330. The airline had apparently re-routed me through Denver (i.e. I would have to fly to Denver, then to Calgary) but I did not know it. So when I got an automated call telling me my Denver flight was cancelled, I had no idea what they were talking about. In any case, I thought my flight was at 2330 so I was glad at least I was going to get out that day. Until around 1830 when I got another automated call saying my 2330 flight was cancelled. Damn it! I had no idea what to do at that point. The weather in Chicago that was actually so bad many other flights were delayed or cancelled. There was a mob of people in the airport in a simular situation as mine so the lines to any customer service agent was a mile long. I tried calling up customer service by phone, but they said wait times to reach an agent was 20 minutes. I didn't bring my phone charger so I decided not to wait on my cellphone that long to reach someone. So instead I called up a friend asking her to google distance between Chicago and Calgary. It was a whopping 1600 miles. It would take me 2-3 days to drive it so that option was out :( I also ended up giving her password to my United account to see if they had updated my flight info, but it wasn't. I had no idea what was going on, but one thing was for sure - I was stuck in Chicago overnight.

Right after talking to my friend, I went down to see if I can get my luggage. Apparently, no one can get their luggage until their final destination - no matter how long you are stuck in your layover. Fantastic. Now that I am already out of the terminal I couldn't go back in, so I decided to go back to check-in to see if I could get an idea of when I can get out again. After standing in line that did not move for about 20 minutes, I had enough of it and thought I'd walk to a nearby hotel, hit the bar, and pimp myself out to someone for a room. Except I didn't know where the hotels were & there were no signs. As I walked around aimlessly I saw the automated check-in kiosks. I couldn't check-in using it, but I could use the phone by it to talk to an agent. It took 30 minutes to get an agent on the phone. As I was waiting there was a guy on the phone next to me, who was also talking to a friend via cell. I started talking to him and found out that the airport was giving out vouchers for discounted hotels and he had one. I recalled him saying something along the lines of "not sure what to do" to his friend, so I took a chance and asked, "Er, are you going to use your voucher?" At which point he replied, "I'm going to stay with my buddy, you can have this." Sweet! I had no intention of standing in one of those lines for two hours to get one myself so I was so happy I scored one.

I had the voucher in hand, and finally found out when my next flight out was - 1800 the next day :( I thought briefly about driving four hours to see my Dad in Springfield. I'd have just enough time to drive there, sleep, have breakfast, and drive back. I decided it would be too taxing and called the number on my voucher to find a hotel. "Your approximate wait time is... 7 minutes." Ugh. So this time I called up my brother to ask him to go the website on the voucher to book something for me. He tells me, "Comfort Suites, $55, catch the shuttle at Door 3. Shuttles depart every 30 min." I hurry myself to the shuttle stop to find a mob of people waiting. Shuttles from various hotels in the area came and went but no sign of my shuttle. Then I start to get a tummy ache. Damn, I can't leave now. If I miss the shuttle it's another 30 min. By now it was after 8. Finally a shuttle for "Comfort Inn" comes. A hoard of people approach it and I get on. Then I think, "Comfort Inn... Comfort Suites." I ask around and everyone tells me they are two different hotels and that I'm on the wrong shuttle. There are some people trying to get on the shuttle that looked like they were ready to physically throw me out for my seat. I tell everyone to chill and get off. The "Comfort Suites" shuttle finally arrives. I'm on and get to the hotel... only to find out they have no electricity.

Apparently the power had just gone out. Of course they have no idea how long it will be before it is up. I hesitated and thought about getting another room, but at this point I couldn't be bothered. I checked in, went to my room, and feeled my way around. There was enough light coming through the window to see most of the room. Except the bathroom, which was pitch black. I feeled my way around like a blind person would with her hands and feet (since I didn't have a stick). I ripped off the wrapping on the toilet paper only to realize later there was already an open roll. Any case, now it was around 9:30 or so and there was not much to do in the room except sleep, so I went down to the bar. There was a wedding going on. Most things in the bar were candle-lit, with the few important things, like the music, running on the generator. I don't really drink much these days, but I felt like I needed something to take the edge off so I ordered a martini. Soon afterwards, some guy sits next to me so we start chatting. He's actually local and frequents the bar so he got me some chips and another martini on the house (or him). I asked him what there is to see/do in Chicago and he tells me about the "bean" and the museums. The aquarium, and Science & Technology museum caught my interest so I decided I would check those out. After my second drink I decided to call it a night.

Before leaving the bar, I grabbed four of those little candles that were unlit. I lit one and walked toward my room. Of course the darn thing blows out in the elevator so I had to get someone to relight it. Once safe in the room I light all four candles and now I can see!! I got a toothbrush from the hotel, and used the soap to wash up a bit. No shower tho since there's not likely to be hot water. I also washed my shirt since being in the muggy airport made me sweat a bit. I rolled in to bed with a candle lit in the bathroom and by my bed. I feared that they would die out by the morning so I did not sleep well. I think at least on one occasion I transfered the light to another candle to make sure. I also had this wicked nightmare. I was sleeping, and some big black muscular dude smoking a cigarrete comes into my room. I think he's hotel staff but then he asks in a husky voice, "You got your stuff in a safe?" I reply, "No." He says, "Too bad." Then whips out a knife and stabs me right in the chest! At which point I wake up. I managed to get some sleep afterwards but woke up earlier than expected. Luckily power was back on so I grab a quick shower, head down to breakfast, and see what the day has to offer. Skies today are expected to be mostly clear, so I hope that I make it to Canada! My friend is already there waiting for me to arrive.

Manassas National Battlefield Park

The sun finally decided to come out for us this weekend - yay! Yesterday I was throwing a baby shower for my good friend Michiko so I had to make sure I got out today. What I really wanted to do was a nice hike, but I am finding that it is quite difficult for me to get up early on most weekends... and er, days. Plus, I don't always have time to take the whole day out to go couple hours away for a nice long hike. Today I was looking for something closer to home and medium length hike. I had already been to Bull Run, Raven Rock, Sky Meadow SP, and Harpers Ferry - all fitting the less than 1 hour away & taking about 3 hours to hike criteria. Fortunately, there was still the Manassas National Battlefield Park.

The hike that we did was called the Bull Run hike, although there really wasn't much of an elevation to call it a hike. It still took couple hours tho since the trail was ~5.5 miles. Although it wasn't challenging, it was an interesting walk. The trail takes you past canons, Stonewall Jackson statue, stone bridge, stone house, and some deer (well, they were there for us). The view is probably most similar to that of the Sky Meadow SP hike. You don't get anykind of an overlook but that of a meadow. The theme was similar to that of the hike at Harpers Ferry - another civil war site.

White Oak Canyon

Last weekend I went on another hike in the Shenandoah. This time it was the White Oak Canyon trail. The highlight of this hike is a series of six waterfalls! I wanted to do this hike last year, but didn't quite get around to it. Probably just as well though, since I think the best time to go is actually right around now, right after all the rain but before the leaves start coming in an obscuring views to the water.

I started the hike from the White Oak Canyon parking lot inside the park off of Skyline Drive. It's a 7.3 mile round trip to the lower falls and back. Alternatively, there is a slightly longer circuit hike that includes the Cedar Run trail and couple more waterfalls. I also found out during the hike that most people actually start at the bottom from the White Oak Canyon boundary parking lot, hike up to the upper falls, and then back down. I actually hate going down though, so I usually prefer to do that first, get the legs warmed up, and then do the climbing. In any case, the hike was mostly along the water with many views of various sized falls along the way. The beginning and end bits of the hike kinda sucked though (about 4 miles altogether) since there's not much going on the trail closest to the parking lot. This would be a good hike to go on also in the summer since you can jump into the pool of water at the lower falls for a swim :)

Shecky's Girls Night Out

About a week ago I got invited to go to a "Girls Night Out" event at Shecky's. I kinda knew it wouldn't really be my thing, but I wanted to spend time with my friend so I checked it out. It's actually a pretty neat concept. You gather your girlfriends and spend an evening shopping and drinking. There are many booths offering discounted boutique and designer items so you can get that one of a kind look. There's also free alcohol and beer tasting. The only thing that they really need to work on was providing more food. How do they expect a girl to shop for five hours on empty stomach?

Susan Boyle

I'm just now getting around to watching Susan Boyle sing on Britain's Got Talent. She sang I Dream a Dream from Les Miserables and holy cow... it's beautiful. I thought it was so beautiful I kept rewinding the video and replaying her singing. (I'm still listening.) I must have listened to it at least 20 times. I already posted a link to the video on Facebook book but thought I'd post it here too:

http://talent.itv.com/videos/video/item_200081.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Piney River Falls

Today I went on a hike in Shenandoah down to Piney River Falls. The trail head is just past mile 22 on the right going North. The in-and-out option is little less than 7 miles, but there is also a circuit option. It was a good hike to start the season off with since it was a pretty easy one with only about a 900 ft elevation gain. Plus, it doesn't seemed to be a hike that's well-known so it was relatively crowd free. The trail starts out with a gentle decent down into the valley with couple of easy river crossings (due to all the recent rain). The falls is quite easy to miss though since it's a bit away from the main trail. It might be especially hard to find once the trees are full of leaves. I enjoyed the falls a lot. I ate my lunch right in front of it with the above view.

Ekoji Buddhist Temple

Did you know there was a Buddhist temple in Northern Virginia? I had heard about the Ekoji Buddhist Temple last year, but only recently got around to checking it out. I thought it might be a good idea to learn more about the religion since I had been wanting to do the 88 Temple Pilgrimage for years now. I'm actually not a religious person at all though, and my motives for wanting to do the pilgrimage has more to do with enjoying Japanese food and beautiful hikes for days on end. Finding spirituality and reaching enlightenment is secondary. My mom on the otherhand, seems to take this pretty seriously. She has already completed one circuit (by bus) and has started another one this year (she will do it in 2 trips). I'm not anti-religion though, and I do tend to agree with Buddhist philosophies. Perhaps more meaning would be added to my pilgrimage if I made an effort to learn more about Buddhism. Hence, my interest in Ekoji.

Ekoji temple offers regular Sunday services, Thursday night meditations, taiko (drum) lessons, and various other events through out the year. Next week they will begin Buddhism 101 classes prior to service. This is what I am most interested in. I could use some peace and tranquility in my life so the meditation would be nice, but it conflicts with my BJJ/MMA training. I did check out their service, and it was a bit too church like for me so I doubt I will be a regular there. In any case, if you have any interest in Buddhism, it's worth checking out.

So when am I going to do this pilgrimage? Who knows.... I would actually like to do it the traditional way on foot, but that requires 6-8 weeks of time off of work. A drive through version is about 2 weeks. A hybrid of walking & cheating (hitching rides or rail for the longer stretches between temples) might be doable in about a month. This is what I am leaning towards but still requires a nice chunk of time off. If I could actually stop taking vacations maybe I'll be able to save up enough by next year....

Riverbend Park & Bluebells

Hiking in April is all about flowers. Although the cherry blossoms get all the rave around DC, there are plenty of other flowers to enjoy. For example, check out the trail between Great Falls Park and Riverbend Park. You'll find Virginia Bluebells everywhere - particularly near Riverbend. The trail between the two parks is pretty flat and only 1.5 miles each way so it's a leisurely stroll - all along the Potomac. If you don't have a park pass, it's $5 to park at Great Falls, but parking is free at Riverbend.

Cherry Blossom Festival

The cherry blossoms in the DC area are absolutely amazing. I went last year and enjoyed them very much. This year my brother and his kids came up to enjoy them with me. We were a bit unlucky tho that it was windy and really cold so we rushed around the tidal basin instead of taking our time to enjoy them. A lot of the blossoms also started falling already because of the wind, but we found a few that were full. After the tidal basin walk we checked out the cherry blossom parade for a bit. It was mostly high school bands with a few floats with commerical advertisements. Not exactly a Macy's parade. Next was a short stop in the White House visitor's center to warm up on the way to the Japanese Street Festival. Massive crowds at the festival prevented us from doing much of anything meaningful. I was hoping to immerse the kids more in the Japanese activities and cultural stuff so I was disappointed it didn't turn out that way. Instead we headed over to Chinatown for lunch.

There were just way too many people everywhere in DC during cherry blossom season :( My brother says he will never come up to DC again on a holiday or festival weekend. Not that I blame him. Still, it was really great having my family up here. Various friends of mine joined me through out the day also so it was actually a pretty good day for me.

Guatemala

Last week I finally got to do some traveling after not having gone anywhere for over 6 months. Not only did I get to travel, I finally got out of North America (last year my big trips consisted of a snowboarding week in Whistler and a road trip around Utah/Arizona). I decided back in December or so that I needed to get out. I couldn't be the Dancing Nomad and not go anywhere. Unfortunately, vacation days here are at a premium so I decided to do a week long one, which limited me to Central or North America. Had I chosen anywhere else, I would've felt the need to take more than a week. I hate short vacations, but I also hate flying. Long distance flying and short vacations just don't sit well with me. Anyways, I chose Guatemala because I had heard some good things about it, and after doing a bit of research, it seemed like an interesting place to go with a variety of activities. Well, it did not disappoint.

I was already feeling happy happy joy joy once in Dulles Airport. Unlike my previous experiences in the airport - there was hardly anyone there!!! I breezed past check-in and security in no-time. Now this is how travel should be. Boy did I miss those days. With the economy in the shits and all, this is a great time to be traveling... if you can. Anyways, a layover and sometime later, I arrived in Guatemala and hooked up with my friend who was there already. The next morning my other friend showed up and things suddenly weren't going quite so peachy. My friend's luggage didn't make it with him. It would arrive the next day. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait around Guatemala City for it as it would be delivered to our lodging in Antigua. So we hot-tailed it over to Antigua in a cab.

Once we arrived in Antigua, we immediately signed up for the afternoon trip to Pacaya Volcano. The minivan that picked us up packed people in to the max (14 people). On top of that, we had to sit through a scheduled demonstration for about 30-45 minutes in the sweltering heat in a van with no AC. Well, that then contributed to the cause of our next problem: the van overheating as it struggled to go up hill on a full load. We lost another hour on the road side waiting for our replacement ride. We were all getting quite annoyed at losing valuable time on the volcano. Once there, the intial hike through unremarkable terrain was ho-hum, but soon things got more exciting. We came to an open clearing where we could see the sun setting, as well as Pacaya Volcano (we weren't there yet). Even from the distance, we could see the lava flowing from the volcano. The terrain is now all ashes, making the hike more difficult, but now we were all eager to get as close as our guides would allow us. Probably in the US we would be lucky to get close enough to see the lava from afar. In Guatemala, however, we could get close enough to roast marshmallows, which we did :D Of course, the stick we were using was 3 feet long and I could only hold it over the lava for about 2 seconds before my face started burning. In any case it was pretty exciting watching the hot lava flow down the mountain. I was also glad the earthquake we felt that night didn't happen while we were on the volcano....

The next day we arranged a private shuttle to Panajachel. We had no desire to relive yesterday's nightmares. Let me tell you now a little bit about transportation in Guatemala. It sucks. The terrain in this country is very mountainous. Roads wind up and down and are not necessary paved in all places. Therefore, it takes forever to get anywhere. We averaged probably about four hours a day in a shuttle with no AC and no headrests. Sleeping in the shuttle was often difficult, and if you're unlucky enough to be tall and in one of the back seats, I'm not sure that your legs would have fit facing forward. In any case, the less people in the shuttle the better so we were on our way to Panajachel just the 3 of us, and the driver. After a 2 hour ride through some beautiful mountains, we arrive at Lake Atitlán which is surrounded by three volcanoes. While the lake is beautiful, it was mid-day so the view was a bit hazed over. To boot, Panajachel sucks for a lakeside town. There really wasn't much going on there so we decided to hire a boat to take us across to Santiago Atitlán . One of my friends kept telling me that Santiago Atitlán was supposed to be the nicer of the towns along the lake. Well, I soon found out his real motives for wanting to go there: to see Maximón - the effigy of an armless, legless, cigar-smoking, booze-drinking Mayan deity. In the approximate words of my friend, this Maximón was tasked to look after the ladies while the rest of the men went off to fight a war or something. Well, apparently he pissed off the towns people when he took care of the ladies so they chopped off his arms and legs. Then the towns people later found out he was a Mayan god so now they worship him. What makes him more special is that he actually grants wishes of revenge, not a trait found in your usual god. Don't quote me on any of this though. A quick search didn't turn-up anything to collaborate the history behind Maximón. All I can say is that it does exist and I saw it. For more info on it though, do your own research.


Our third day in Guatemala was a painful 5 hour ride up to Cobán. There we sorted out our next day's trip to the Lanquin caves and Semuc Champey. I've seen plenty of caves in my past, but I liked this one because it's not necessarily tourist friendly. The ground and the handrails were often quite slippery increasing the odds that you'll slip and break something. On top of that, the lights in the caves were all hooked up to this one generator. Apparently it's not uncommon for the lights to go out while you are in there. The best part of it all was that I was in the middle of reading a book whose story takes place entirely in caves (Subterrenean by James Rollins). It added a whole new dimension to the story. Anyhow, after the short trip to the caves, we headed over to beautiful Semuc Champey. The river here are cascades of emerald green pools where we swam and had lunch. Our guide even took us on a little adventure down river and to an underground cave where another river flows. I really wish I had a waterproof camera. A steep 45 minute climb gets you to a lookout with the above view of Semuc Champey.

Our fifth day was another 5 hours in the shuttle up to Flores. Now this was a proper lakeside town with the right atmosphere. We had a lovely lakeside hotel with a great view from the rooftop. We enjoyed the sunset from there each night. On the sixth day, we took a morning trip up to Tikal - the famous Mayan ruins. While I have seen a ying yang of ruins, this one was unique in that it was hidden within the jungle. You had to trek through the jungle to get from building to building. What's even more amazing is that they have only uncovered like 5% of all the ruins. It took us 6 hours to walk all around the park. It was that big. The temples themselves weren't too interesting tho, since they all looked quite similar, but it was still fun seeing them. The view from one of the temples (IV) was used as background scenery of the Rebel base on Yavin 4 in Star Wars IV - and we got to see that same view in person.

The last day was pretty much a wash. We did a short hike in a nearby park for the sake of doing something, and then flew back to Guatemala City. By dinner time I was quite exhausted after an activity packed week and many early mornings. It was certainly one of those vacations where you need another vacation to recover. In any case, I got my fix of adventure to hold me over for a little while again.

Pictures are here.

FFXII

Wow, it's been over 2 months since my last blog post. I have been slacking. Then again, there has been little of interest to write about. After having an awesome holiday season, my January was consumed by work. It is not in my nature to work too much, but I felt as though I was working on mission impossible and was actually quite driven by the challenge. After many long hours and ruined weekends, our efforts were considered a success in early February - ending my need to be lifeless. Then I made the mistake(?) of going out and buying FFXII (I know... I'm couple years behind) within an hour after the project ended. If I've ever been addicted to anything, this was it. I knew from my last experience in 2002 with FFX that it would be a bad idea, but during the final days of wrapping up my project I got into a conversation about video games with someone. Well, it revived the geek in me and the rest is history. I went to Game Stop and picked up the game. Luck would have it though that my stupid PS2 wouldn't play the darn game (& its' even the newer slim kind). At this point I should've listened to the higher powers and gave up. However, the darn dude at the shop kept telling me how sorry he was that my console wouldn't play it. Not about the defect with the disc or PS2 (it's a known problem with PS2 that it stops reading discs after a while), but because this is the best game ever... supposedly. He could've been yanking my chain but I believed him. I was so determined to play this game now that I went out and borrowed a friend's PS2 so I can play it. Well, the rest is history. I'm in my happy place. I still have a while to go to finish the game so it may be a while before I resurface again in the social circle, but let me tell you - this is the best $12 I ever spent.

"Best Job in the World"

This morning a friend sent me a job post in tourism industry. Since I was at work I didn't take a look right away, but when a second friend sent me the exact same job, curiousity got the best of me and this is what I found - a posting for the Best Job In the World. It's a 6-month temporary position as a caretaker in the Great Barrier Reef. Your job, if you can call it that, consists of doing stuff like snorkeling, collecting mail, feeding the fish, and blogging (more details here). As if that didn't sound good enough already, get this - you are paid a salary of AUD$150,000 for the six months of work!! You can even bring your family with you.

Now, the old (last year) me would have had the application done and uploaded before I even thought to blog about it. The new (this year) me, though, is thinking how I have finally gotten used to this somewhat dull life in suburbia. I've made new friends, started a new hobby, doing well at work, thinking about taking classes, etc. The last thing I needed was a carrot stick dangling in front of me to go back to my old self.

I really can't believe I am even debating applying but I am. My current lack of appreciation for such an awesome, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, however, should not discourage any of you from applying. Be sure to read the details of the job post and required qualifications before putting your video together.

Tour of the US Capitol Building

First of all, happy new year! Hope everyone had a great holiday. As I mentioned in my last post, my holidays were going especially well. I spent a lot of time with various friends from far and near, as well as with family. While my family was in town, we spent couple of days going into DC. On one of the days, I booked a tour of the US Capitol Building. They recently openned up a new visitors center at the Capitol Building so now you can book tours yourself online instead of going through your Congressman. They did a pretty good job of it all. Tours are free and run pretty frequently. I think they are even open on Saturdays, though you may have to book well in advance for that. When I was there on a weekday, seemed like they even had room for walk-ins. The tour lasts and hour and is very informative. The building itself is also very beautiful everywhere. The visitors center also has an exhibition hall separate from the tour, as well as a cafeteria that had pretty decent pork bbq. A visit is highly recommended!