One year later...

Strange how things happen.

I'm on the same computer, same lounge, same airport, and writing in this blog on the same date, one year later.

My flight back to Chi-town leaves in an hour and a reflective state begins to take over.

Another whole year is about to go past and I think again what I've accomplished and what I've achieved.

But before I even touch that subject I must say this.

How cool are cab drivers?

I always take a cab to the airport when I go home around the holidays because I lug around a large piece of luggage that I choose not to take up and down the stairs of the underground.. Anyway, I distinctly remember both cab drivers I had a year ago, and one I just had on the way to the airport today.

What a vast wealth of information cab drivers can be! Last year I remember distinctly learning about the Lincoln statue by Parliament. Apparently, there was some "law" or ordinance that Lincoln's statue could never be resurrected on non-US soil. But obviously, there's a Lincoln statue just outside of Parliament. Well it turns out, apparently, that soil was actually brought in from the States before the statue was resurrected and place underneath the statue! True or not true, I'd have to google it. But how cool is that if it were true?

Today I learned about the whole Arsenal and Hot Spurs football rivalry. My driver is a big hot spur fan and explains his reasons behind it. He talked about how the English stick to their teams through thick and thin and if its one game a team will win throughout the season, it should be against their rival. In this case Arsenal. Every game he not only checks the Hot Spur score and see if they won, but straightaway checks if Arsenal lost!

The whole conversation was spawned by my observation that the English love their sport. They are passionate about it. Especially football! (soccer) We talked about how the NFL had a game here in London and it was completely sold out, even though, he reckoned, that probably most of the people watching did not know the rules!

Not only if the knowledge I gain from the driver is enough, but the cab route is scenic as well. The ride takes you through all the major sites: London Eye, Parliament, Buckingham, Westminster Abby and the posh neighborhoods of the West.

Anyway, for my lovely friends that read this blog, hopefully I'll see you all soon! Give me a ring or a mail! Cheers!

Yankee doodle dandy

So I was drawing out cash in my drunken stooper and commented to another drunken lady about using the ATM and she says..

"Okay.. Mr. Yankee Doodle Dandy."

nice.

Yay for my American accent.

Snow, slush, and socks.

I keep having these blogworthy moments.. and I'm not writing them down!

Speaking with another friend that is also in London, who used to be one of my interns, and who also lived in Chicago... we had a great exchange about our former cities..

"Chicago is an amazing city. And you know that when you live there. But you really REALLY appreciate it when you move away. There is a greater appreciation for Chicago once you live in another city. Its like you know it when you live there, but you REALLY REALLY know how GOOD it is when you move away."

Its not like you take it for granted, you know how good something is, and you appreciate it. But once you don't have something for a while, you know its there, and you don't think about it so much.. but when you do think about it.. it really hits you.. wow.. that IS something I really enjoy and love!

Kind of like Portillo's cheeseburgers. When I lived in Chicago, I KNOW I loved it. I know how much I enjoyed it. But you really don't "appreciate" it as much because its just there and you can eat it anytime. Then sometimes I'll have this craving for it over here. And you know what? I can't have it. This is frustrating. You then think to yourself... wow, that really is a good cheeseburger. Chargrilled, dripping with grease, bread gets all soggy if you don't eat it fast enough.. Mmm Mmm good.

Or like snow. My parents told me that Chicago finally had its first proper snowfall this year. I was thinking to myself. Wow. Snow. It doesn't snow here. Yeah, sometimes snow is annoying, especially when it starts melting and turns into slush and then you don't wear snow boots and it gets into your socks. Then your socks are wet all day and this is the absolute worst. I can't think of anything worse than wet socks. Well maybe getting a paper cut between the webs of my two fingers, although, that's instant pain, whereas if you were in public you can't just take your socks off and walk around barefoot. You have to just bare the cold wetness of it all after each and every step.. URGH.. But anyway, I digress.

So yeah, snow, I miss looking outside and watching snow fall. It doesn't happen here. And if it does, all hell breaks loose and apparently the city completely shuts down. I think that would be funny. After all, people wear scarfs here when its like 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Its not that cold!! Sheesh.

Anyway, I guess I'm just mentally excited since I'll be home in two weeks. Sorry for the ramblings, but like Abby mentioned, I need to "just write."

I'm crap.

Happy December!!

Yeah, I know, I haven't updated this as frequently as I want to. I always try to keep it London-centric, but perhaps I may take a different approach and even blog about my stupid daily experiences that are not so london-centric... and maybe that will inspire more blog posts...

Surprise!

I love surprising people. I love the expression of people's faces when they experience something totally unexpected.

My latest attempt was last night.

I surprised my family by coming back home for Thanksgiving. I'm happily back in Chicago!

I haven't been back home for Thanksgiving in 2 years. For my family, its the biggest holiday gathering we have for the year. Even bigger than Christmas. For some reason, the family attendance is a lot higher in Thanksgiving, so I'm excited to be part of it this year.

I didn't really tell anyone that I was coming back as I didn't want to take the risk of the secret being revealed. I bought tickets a while back and pretty much kept it to myself. At the end, it was all worth it.

The look of my family's faces when I walked through the door was priceless. One of those images you don't forget for the rest of your life. My sister was screaming so loud as if I was Justin Timberlake or even Rainn Wilson!

I'm not here long, but I'm already taking advantage of the break. Yes it cold, and its snowing, but its home and I'm with family. I've been relaxing, doing some sudoku, blogging, and reading and just loving the slower pace of things. I'll be looking forward to the big Thanksgiving spread tonight, catching up with family, and the hectic shopping of black Friday tomorrow!

Hopefully I'll have time to catch up with some friends. If not, I'm back in a month anyway!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Anything for Now

A very memorable night.

I participated in a charity event for the Make-A-Wish Foundation in a "Theatersports Cup" Exhibition Match. If you don't know anything about Theatersports, its basically another show format for Impro by Keith Johnstone.

The format is very simple. Each Impro team takes turns challenging each other on different scenes. One team issues a challenge, and the other team accepts. At the end of each team's performance, the audience rates the scene from 1 to 5. 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest.

Our team was called "Anything For Now" simply because we couldn't think of another team name for ourselves!

Anyway, we challenged the other team with "A scene that is inspired by a Beatles song."

We asked the audience for song titles, and the Beatles song we chose was:
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey.

I volunteered to participate in the scene and I'm glad I did!

The scene was short, sweet, and ended with big laughter! I'll never forget it.

The audience even rated us a resounding FIVE! Writing about how exactly the scene unfolded won't do it justice, so you'll have to ask me about it next time!

In any case, tonight's performance revalidates my love of being on stage!

Luckily I've got two more performances in the next week! I wish you were all here to support!

Not it!

So I was talking to a colleague about planning future work, and we came to a task that I didn't want to do. We were already in a joking mood, so I yelled out:

"Not it!!"

And involuntary raised my hand and place my thumb to my forehead.

My colleague busted out laughing...

"What the hell does that mean!"

I guess she's never played "Not it" before.

I then said,

"Hmmm.. maybe its some game only played in America?"

We both laughed and I thought to myself how stupid I must have looked from her perspective. =) Happens to me all the time.....

NFL in London

Okay, so I've gotten a few emails asking if I was attending this past weekend's event, the NFL game at Wembley: Miami Dolphins v. New York Giants.

To clarify, no, I didn't go to the game. Although, I seriously considered it. I was searching for tickets online and even considered joining a bunch of Americans to watch it in a pub, but at the end of it all, I didn't care and ended up staying home watching the Bears online.

Not that I didn't care about that the NFL was in London, but it was mainly my disinterest in the two particular teams.

A few thoughts:

1. English prefer rugby. Mainly because its nonstop and no one wears pads! Those are the two main complaints with American Football. The starting and stopping of each play, and all the protective gear all the players have to wear! And of course, it goes without saying, the strange name for the game, "Football."

2. I didn't feel the "hype" of the NFL visiting London. Perhaps because I live in East London and didn't venture off to the west end to see the 26 foot robot version of Jason Taylor. I did see 2 people with Giants jackets and 1 person in a Miami jacket. Yay.

3. I did enjoy explaining the whole concept of the NFL to a few colleagues today which was quite entertaining. They were interested in the process of how two teams could end up in the Superbowl. I described the AFC formally part of the AFL, and the NFC! I went into detail about the different divisions and wildcard teams. But I realised that I forgot to mention that the Chicago Bears were in the last Superbowl! (Far from it now, that's for sure)

In any case, I have no regrets missing the game at Wembley, nor did I buy into the hype. I do hope that the NFL come to visit again, perhaps with 2 teams I'd actually be interested in seeing!

Umm.. do you work here?

I finally joined a gym. I was really picky because most gyms around here con you into a year contract and well, I'm not ready for that kind of commitment. In fact, I tried out a handful of gyms and the Reebok Sports Club in Canary Wharf caught my eye mainly because of its location, size, and its biggest selling point, no contract!

Anyway, going to a gym in London is interesting mainly because everything is measured in the metric system! Kindly enough the gym has conversion charts everywhere that remind you that there are 2.2 kgs to 1 lb and that there are 1.6 km to 1 mile.

I'm finally getting use to this whole "metric" system after 3 weeks, and I'm also getting use to the whole "men's locker room" experience.

I don't care what anyone says, a men's locker room experience is always awkward. Half naked guys walking around, some guys deciding to cover their junk, while others, disgustingly, walk around freely.

Thankfully the locker room is huge and there's more than enough room so that there won't be that slight chance of a guy's arse in your face while you're trying to put on your shoes.

It has nice wooden lockers with built in electronic locks. You type in your own combination and it automatically locks! Gotta love technology! Gone are the days of bringing your own lock and key, or combination lock where you have to remember some odd combination.

I'm always paranoid when setting the combination on my locker. Its bad enough that I have to remember my locker number! I always press the numbers really slow to make sure I don't accidentally press the wrong number and enter the wrong combination.

Anyway, one night I come back after a nice shower and I enter my combination. It doesn't work the first time, so I try again. It won't open. It just beeps at me.

I must have pressed the numbers too fast so I try again. Nothing. Just more beeping. Looks like I'm locked out.

What's funny is that I keep trying the same combination when knowingly it didn't work the first time! It just keeps beeping at me.

I'm dripping wet, sporting a towel around my waist. A little part of me starts to panic, but I calm down since it could be worse. Its not like my clothes were stolen and I didn't have anything to change in to! Imagine that!

I walk around trying to find help. There's no one to be found. I even consider asking another guy to find help. No matter how much I tried to phrase it in my head, I still sounded like an idiot if I did ask. I figured it was best that I take matters into my own hands and find help.

Let's be honest, walking around half naked and not knowing if you'll have access to your clothes is not the best feeling. I couldn't exactly leave the locker room and walk back into the gym looking for help. So I decided to stay in the locker room.

Luckily, after walking around in a towel for 15 minutes I walk back into the shower area and find someone who looked like he worked there.

"Ummm.. do you work here? I locked myself out of my locker."

"Yes, show me where it is."

We walk over. He looks at the locker.

He pushes the locker door closed, my jacket the reason why the door was slightly ajar in the first place.

I enter the "same" combination and it opens.

Damn technology.

"Oh, so the reason why it wouldn't open is because the door wasn't fully engaged with the lock?"

He nods and walks away.

"Oh that's why it was beeping at me."

Even after this incident, knowing that I entered the right combination the whole time, I enter the combination a lot slower that I ever have before.

Eat, Drink, and be Merry

Good food, good beer, and many laughs!

I've never seen so many happy and drunk people in my entire life. I've been to Chicago's version of Oktoberfest a couple of times, but it obviously doesn't compare to the real thing! Walking around Oktoberfest, guys are dressed in their Lederhosen, while the women are dressed in their sexy Bavarian dresses, or Dirndls.

Oktoberfest is known as the world’s greatest beer festival and after this weekend, I have no doubt that it is. In fact, Germany is by far the world’s largest producer and consumer of beer, with almost 1300 breweries – 40% of the world’s total! Beer halls and tents were filled with many people enjoying this wonderful occasion!

I met up with Abby and Jeff on Friday and we immediately hit up Hofbräuhaus, Munich's largest, most famous, and most tourist-packed beer hall! I've never been to a beer hall before, and I must say, its a sight to be seen. We luckily got seats outside in the beer garden, but it turns out that all the action takes place inside! Nevertheless, we enjoy our 1 litre stein of beer, and in fact, had a couple! You can imagine how after a few litres of beer will do for the rest of the night.

The next day we try and get an early start. Unfortunately, little did we know, Saturday was quite busy and when we arrived at the fest at 10AM, all the tents were closed due to full capacity! We're talking about 14 tents here. Each tent can seat an average of 3000 people! The largest tent holding up to 9000 people! In an case, we do get into one of the tents, the Löwenbräu tent! I've included a picture just to get a feel of how large this tent is. This sits 5,700 people inside! Unbelievable. And when the brass band comes on at noon, the place goes absolutely nuts! We find out later that people queue up as early at 6:30 in the morning. (Tents open at 9)

On Sunday, we continue our drinking again and decide to start early to make sure we get a good seat. When I say start early, I mean getting up at 7AM and showing up at the festival by 8:30! We end up going into the Armbrustschützenzelt tent on the recommendation of our friend Kristoff who we met the day before. I must say, it has been a long time since I had a whole litre of beer for breakfast. I believe the last time I had beer for breakfast was during Spring Break in Daytona Beach during my early days at Uni!

For what its worth, we did get a good feel for the city of Munich. It wasn't all drinking as you may think and we did get to do some sightseeing! (For those of you who are in the know, another new city, another robot!)

Overall, it was a great weekend with good eats, good drink, and lots of laughs! I got to catch up with some old friends, talked about unforgettable memories we had in Uni, and experienced one of the greatest beer festivals in the world.

Oktoberfest!

BEER.

LOTS OF BEER.

I've been meaning to go to Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany ever since I moved here. In fact, it was "supposed" to be my first weekend getaway 2 years ago. But alas, it never happened. But its better late than never!

Its been a while since I took a weekend trip outside of London so I'm quite excited!

Can't wait!

I fail to be inspired.

Delete delete delete....

I start typing.. and then.. hit it again...

Delete delete delete....

Since I fail to be inspired lately, I'm just going to work on some free association (i.e. ramble) and record my latest experiences so I can look back at it in the future.

Today I spent most of the day in bed. Hungover. I was thinking about how I should really appreciate this time since I can actually do this - In bed, doing nothing, being lazy, sleeping, and catching up on episodes of Californiacation with no worries in the world.

I'm annoyed by this choppy p2p feed of the Bears game. Not exactly HDTV. Instead, pixelated, choppy video, using a program that crashes once in a while, viewing the game on a 12 inch laptop screen.

Impro has started again, but most of the "players" I started with from the beginning did not sign up for another term. =(

While some of my friends will be enduring probably one of the toughest mental and physical challenges of their lives next weekend in the Chicago marathon, I will be drinking copious amounts of beer in Oktoberfest in Munich. Best of luck to all of them. I wish I was there to support all of you, but instead I'll raise my stein of beer to celebrate your successful finish!

The problem with the indoor smoking ban in London is when you go to a very packed club like Tiger Tiger. The air circulation is so bad you can really smell the BO and vomit. Ironically, I prefer the scent of cigarettes smoke.

I wish I was in Chicago to celebrate the Cubs clinching the division. Instead I take it all in by reading all the articles I can find and searching for images/video capturing the celebration on the internet.

I've watched two foreign films in the last month. Not just on DVD, but actually going to a proper theater! Nothing like trying new things!

I enjoyed the 5 hour visit from Heidi and Jenny last night. They "stopped by" in a layover on their way back to Chicago. Activites included: Fries at BK, hitching a ride in a cycle rickshaw, drinks at Hakkasan, walking aimlessly, and Chinese food. Sorry for my drunken ramblings!

And finally, I bought my tickets back home for the holidays for half the cost I paid last year! Speaking of which there is an American Airlines Europe Fare Sale going on right now! $428 + tax to London. That's cheap! So come and visit!

Good weekend after a rough week.

It was one of those dreadful weeks. It was about a 50 hour work week, and I was just wishing for the weekend to come sooner than later. In fact, the past two weeks have been pretty rough, which explains my lack of blogging.

Fortunately, the weekend started a bit early with a bit of partying on Thursday, which led to the longest day ever on Friday, especially with a hangover! But no rest for the weary as I hit the pub again on Friday and went clubbing on Saturday.


I'm knackered.

Highlights?

Watched England get rocked losing in Rugby 36-0 against South Africa in the Rugby World Cup. (Did you know the rugby world cup was going on? Didn't think so.) The best part of this was a colleague attempted to explain to me what the hell was going on. Ironically, it was his first time watching a rugby game when a team had scored nil. In this case, sadly, it was England. Despite gaining some understanding of Rugby, American football is way better! And just in case you wanted to know, America is also participating in the world cup. Unfortunately, they are 0-2.

Watching European sport continued as I went to my 2nd Football game! (First one being in February watching Fulham) A former colleague invited me to watch West Ham vs. Middlesbrough. Unfortunately, Middlesbrough lost 3-0. But they had three really close goals. It was an away game for Middlesbrough, my colleagues favourite team, and well, we were in the visitor's section. Very interesting to say the least! Lots of chanting against Middlesbrough and well, the good ol' banter! I wore red to mix in with the other away fans. And the weather was brilliant!

A good time clubbin at Favela Chic! For some reason, its a big difference when you go clubbing with the opposite sex! Maybe because you're guaranteed a dancing buddy for the whole night!
It was a good crowd and awesome music.

And finally, Sunday, watched some F1, caught a movie, and now staying up late, blogging, and watching American Football, cheering on the Bears on p2p streaming video on Sopcast!

I haven't had a nice well rounded weekend in London like this one in a long time.

Tube strike and 2 years

You don't really know how important the "underground" or tube is in London until you experience a tube strike.

Luckily I live in the docklands and take the DLR into work. I transfer to one of the lines that are affected, but I also have the option to walk instead of a transfer.

10 lines or about two-thirds of the tube network are affected by the strike and you can really see the difference. Traffic is absolutely crazy, and the sidewalks are full of so many people walking to work. I think its estimated that 3.2 million people use the underground to get to work. The tube strike is considered the worst in a decade!

In other news, last Friday marked my two year anniversary since my move from the States. I have a handful of goals in mind that I'll probably list here for sake of reference in the future:

Travel Hitlist:

• More Italy: Florence, Naples, Pompeii


• More Spain: Bilbao, Toledo


• France: The Alps!


• Istanbul, Turkey


• Edinburgh, Scotland


• Lisbon, Portugal


• One of the Scandinavian countries

That's my shortlist anyway. If possible, I'd like to hit one of the major Asian countries. Another visit to the PI, and perhaps a stop over to visit an old colleague in Tokyo. We'll see.

There are other goals as usual. Take more fun classes, just like impro. Picking up a new language such as French/Italian is in the works, maybe cooking courses, or more acting!

Of course, I'll try to keep up the blogging as much as I can! Here's to another year of memorable experiences!

Thanks again to all my loyal readers.

True Wingman II

Its no surprise that when it comes to the responsibility of being the "wingman," the chances of you hitting on the "hotter" girl is very slim. I mean, where in the history of the wingman support system has the "wingman" been left with the more beautiful of the two? Let's face it, it wasn't going to happen this time.

Not to say that the other "woman" was fat and ugly. She wasn't. Just old. And wrinkly. And drunk. And had yellow crooked teeth. Suffice to say, I was going to "wing" it and just enjoy the moment.

First off, my mate was right. They were Russian. I introduced myself, and well, I don't quite remember their Russian names because to be honest, it didn't matter.

Attempting at becoming the best wingman I could be, I tried to engage on a one-on-one conversation with this woman so that my mate can concentrate on the task at hand.

To start off, the woman was absolutely hammered. This made it quite easy. She started with a nice comment of asking me if I was Chinese. I can't tell you how annoying that was. Because even after I told her the first time what my ethnicity was, she kept asking me again and again. I guess that's what happens after a few glasses of wine.

She then proceeds to ask me what my astrological sign is. All of a sudden, her eyes light up. She suddenly claims she's a psychic!

She asks me about my history and why I'm in London. Then she reveals that my true roots are not here, and that I'm looking for deeper meaning while I'm living here. She tells me that I won't be satisfied while I live here until I find this out this deeper meaning!

I'm floored at this point. Now, that could be a "typical" response from a psychic, finding "deeper meaning in life" and all that, but man, she wasn't too far away from what I felt!

So as I proceed to talk to her, and she even tells me the year I was born! Now this was scary! (Well, maybe its because I told her my Chinese sign, but who knows.)

I was so shocked at this point and started to believe her and I wanted to know more!

Of course when I ask this, she gets belligerent! She starts cursing me out and calling me a "typical American!" She tells me she's already given me 10 quid's worth of her abilities!

What was I supposed to say at this point! The lady was obviously drunk, so I shrug it off.

So, as we continue to discuss some random topic, all of a sudden, she puts her hands around my neck and starts strangling me! She rings my neck and I laugh nervously in shock! I don't quite remember what we were talking about, but I think the violent drunk in her was in full force! I didn't know what the hell was going on.

I remove her hands from my neck and ask her what is wrong with her. At that point, I should have got up and left. But for some reason, I found it entertaining.

A few minutes pass and all of a sudden she gets serious. (Now my friend already warned me about this earlier when his "lady" went to the restroom) She takes both of my hands and tells me that there's only one reason why we're talking. At this point, I play ignorant. She asks me if I'll buy her more drinks. I pass. Then she then asks me...

"So, would you be interested in my services?" (No, not her psychic services)

I jump so quickly out of my chair, I can't even describe it. Services? Are you serious? UGGHHH!!!!! Gross!

As I try and get up and leave she tells me that I should have known this whole time, etc etc. Which frankly, I honestly didn't know! She was old and warn out like a dirty rag!

Suffice to say, my mate owes me big time. He did get the other woman's number.

Mission Accomplished on my part. The only downside was that I was strangled by an old, drunk, violent, Russian psychic prostitute with yellow crooked teeth.

True Wingman

Summer has finally arrived in London. Well, at least for the long weekend. And what better way to enjoy the summer weekend than sitting outside some pub - drinking, and enjoying the sun.

We decide to stay local and enjoy the view of the river Thames. We find a bar along the riverside and take a table outside.

Typical of many single heterosexual males, myself included, my mate is constantly checking out women. He's always on the lookout, particularly of the eastern bloc type. Its especially funny when we're having a conversation, perhaps about the meaning of life, and all of a sudden he'll completely lose concentration and his eyes would wander off to the left or right. At that instant, I don't have to question what had just distracted him.

This is more of a problem if there is an attractive woman sitting nearby. Just like what I experienced this past weekend.

We're sitting enjoying the sun, multi-tasking between drinking our pints, bs'ing about some random topic, and of course, people watching.

Sure enough, two blonde women approach this fine establishment, taking a seat outside, nearby our table. Immediately I get commentary from my mate. Complimenting one of them and basically describing to me what kind of woman she is just by looking at her for the first 5 minutes.

As we continue to enjoy the sun, he keeps telling me that she keeps looking over. We'll talk about some random topic, and every 10 minutes he's obsessed with the fact that they keep exchanging glances. I'm facing the wrong direction so I move my chair strategically to confirm. As the afternoon moves on, I eventually confirm this myself. There were no doubt blatant eye contact and an exchange of smiles!

Sure enough, just like any "true wingman" I egg him on to go up to them and introduce himself. She's given him the obvious "green light" so how could he not. I had to encourage him because if he didn't take action, I'd hear it for the rest of the day on how he didn't do anything!

With the right amount of encouragement, I knew he was going to do it. After all, I've seen him in action before, and it was just a matter of time before he stood up and walked over...

And he did.

As he proceeded, I quickly looked away and hoped for the best. Sometimes I just can't stand to look when a mate gets rejected. I guess I could have accompanied him at first, but I told him to wave me over if he needed reinforcements.

Walking over like he did took a lot of cajones. Personally, I probably wouldn't have been able to do it. But he did. Sure enough, not even after 5 minutes, he waved me over.

I was called to perform my duties as wingman!

Little did I know what I was going to get myself into.

To be continued..

Back in London

Back home safely.

The past 2 weeks went by so fast. As always, I wish I had more time to spend with friends and family. Apologies for those I didn't get a chance to see. Maybe next time in December!

I think this last trip is starting to make me realise what is important in my life. I think priorities in life change from time to time, and I think for me, a shift may happen sooner than later. Its harder and harder to leave Chicago each time I visit. I thought it would be more easier after each visit but it doesn't.

Coming back each time I see how things have changed. Each time I come back things are a little different. It could be a friend's new purchase of a home, a new relationship developing, or even as simple as the awning changing in my favourite tapas restaurant! When I leave for London for months at a time, its easy to think that things don't ever change. But they do. And its strange not to be part of it.

Overall, it was a very fun and hectic 2 weeks. It was nice to experience a bit of summer since it never arrived here in London. And most importantly, its was nice to spend time with friends and family.

California - Future home?

I've made the trip to California for my cousin's wedding. The wedding is near the Bay Area - Vallejo, California. I was quite excited to make the trip because I wanted to get a feel for the area since I am seriously considering it for my next "move."

I've told myself that if I ever leave London, I'd try living in the East Coast or make the drastic change to move to the West Coast, particularly the Bay Area.

Some of the things I've noticed so far include:

• Traffic - lots of it.


• Shaved heads - All the asian guys seem to have their head shaved here.


• Baggy Clothes - A fashion phase I went though during high school seems to have stood the test of time here. Again, its an asian thing again.


• Lots of Asians - Maybe its the area I'm in, but man there are a lot of Asians! Seems like the Philippines, but in America.


• Bouncers - At least in San Jose, are complete d!cks. More on that later.


• Weather - A little cooler than the valley and the rest of California, but no winter and lots of sun!


• People - Laid back and friendly.


• Language - "Hella" - When I use this word, I sound "hella" weird.

A good impression so far, though, its hard to compete against London.

I can't believe I'm saying that, but that's my initial thought. London is the launch pad to continental Europe. Its known for its strong presence in the financial industry. Granted, it may not contain the most friendliest of people, nor the best weather, but it has so much history and character.

A lot of people have been asking: So how much longer are you going to stay in London?

Right now, I've been saying a couple more years. But what's after that? I don't know. Go back to Chicago? I think I'd like to try out either the East or West Coast. So far, the "west side" is not bad. I just have to shave my head, bust out my baggy clothes, and embellish my language using the word "hella" from time to time.

Sweet Home Chicago

Its good to be home.

The weekend started off with a bang with my rare decision to go out straight away after arriving Friday night. I had this urge to go to Funky Buddha for some reason. I wanted to listen to some good hip hop and people watch. What better place to do so.

Funky Buddha, throughout all my experience in clubbing, has been the one consistent place that guarantees a good time and good hip hop. Would it be as good as I've remembered it?

Of course.

Its one of those clubs that stands the test of time. Its definitely has hit.. LEGEND... wait for it...and I hope you are not lactose intolerant... DARY! LEGENDARY status as far as the club scene goes!

We walk in and drop a name at the front door, hoping to get in for free. We were out of practice as we should have called ahead. Unfortunately our "hook up" did not ring a bell with the people working the door. We pay the $20 cover anyway and walk in.

As we enter, we are greeted by ol' school hip hop, just as I remember. I notice straight away the multicultural/diverse feel of the place. Wow, everyone isn't tall and white! (No offence to the scene in London, but this is what I'm use to.)

We order our drinks and enjoy the sounds of an ol' friend I invited to Battle of the DJ's 10 years ago, DJ Boy Wonder.

QTip, Boyz II Men, Notorious B.I.G., 2Pac, would fill the room just like I remembered in my early clubbin' days.

Going to a club in the west end back in London, I'd be king of the dance floor, or at least compete to be. But in Buddha, I was nothing but a peasant in a kingdom where most members had rhythm! I kept telling my sister..

"Wow, everyone can dance!"

As the night went on, our "hook up" turned up and treated us with drinks the rest of the night. It definitely helps if you work there! A few red bull and vodkas and a few tequila shots later, my jetlag and drunkenness were not a good combination!

All in all, a very memorable night as Funky Buddha had yet again proved that its a staple in the Chicago clubbing scene.

And what a perfect night to end it all but a stop to White Castle for sliders! Its what you crave!

End of Term

Another wonderful 8 week term of Impro has ended. After 4 shows, the 4th show was probably my best.

I finally made it into the final four and while I didn't win it all, I enjoyed this show more than any of the other three!

I'm definitely going to sign up again next term. Performing on stage has turned into an addiction!

In other news, I'll be home on Friday for 2 weeks!

The fantasy ends..

She's engaged.

It was a shock at first, and an ending to my fairy tale in my head finally comes to an end.

She inspired some good writing, we had some amazing memories, and the kiss that I will always wonder about, fades away.

At least I learned something from that experience. Or at least reinforced something I already knew.

Just do it.

Snog.

It's fun. Especially when you find out that they're an amazing kisser. =)

Gambling in London

Ironically, with all this talk about craps, this past weekend, right before a night out at the Embassy Bar in London, my mate and I decide to hit the Casino at the Empire located in Leicester square.

Nothing like starting a night out by gambling, and finally, after a long while, getting to play my favourite table game, Craps!

The Casino at the Empire promises a Vegas-Style feel in the heart of London. We'll see about that. I haven't been gambling at all since moving here, so I didn't know what to expect. How can it compare to Vegas?

Unlike in the States, where all you have to do is show your ID, you actually have to be a member before entering the casino. You have to fill out a membership form and even get your picture taken! It took a bit of time, so it was a bit frustrating and killed a bit of the excitement that was building up.

But once we entered, it didn't look bad at all! It wasn't anything close to Vegas, but hey, the layout was nice. 3 bars, different restaurants, and with the non-smoking ban in London, clean air!

Time to play craps!

We grabbed a drink in one of the main bars and walked the floor. I felt pretty lucky so I was keen to look at what the minimum table bets were. Unfortunately, all the tables were only on the ground floor, so it didn't take us long to make a round. There was a decent sized poker room, so that didn't look to bad. As we continued to tour, I started to use my sense of hearing and tried to listen for a big crowd around one of the tables. This usually reveals where the craps tables are located.

One of the first things I noticed was the amount of roulette tables. There were easily 10 roulette tables on one side of the room, with different minimums, and video roulette games occupying the other half! There were also a handful of blackjack tables as well, with minimum bets going at 10 quid. I also noticed the amount of Asians!

We continued to walk, searching for a craps table. I was really excited to show my mate how to play since he's never played! What could be more lucky than a first time shooter!

Oh what's that? Punto Banco? What the hell is that? Oh Baccarat! Strange how its called something else. Oh, what's that over there? Oh more, roulette tables! How about over there, oh.. more roulette! Oh, more Asians!

Sadly, to my chagrin, not a single craps table existed on the floor. I even walked around a few time just to double check because I couldn't believe my eyes! A few Punto Banco tables, a handful of blackjack tables, a couple of 3 card poker games, and a million roulette tables. Hey at least it was a European Roulette table! (better odds since only one "0")

Alas, how can I be in a casino in London for the first time and not gamble?

Roulette it is!

After a few ups and downs, and winning a few split bets, I doubled my money! Not bad for the first time in London. Just enough to pay for cover at Embassy! doh.

Overall, not a bad experience. They even had showgirls perform! If only they had craps tables. (I actually did a bit of research on this, and it turns out there aren't many casinos that have craps tables in London!)

The night at Embassy Bar?? Running man you say? The robot? Indeed. I'll save that for another post. =)

8 years ago..

I started working at the same place I am today. I celebrated that momentous occasion by working an 11 hour day.

So when do you cut your losses?

Inspired by Bri's posts on craps..

Let's say you start with $100 and bet on the pass line. Perhaps you play the odds, make some place bets, but the table is just too cold. You take out another $100. Lose that. Then pull out $200 just in hopes of turning it around, and at some point, all you want to do is break even. It doesn't happen. So what do you do? Do you walk away, cut your losses? Play the dark side? Do you embrace your gambling problem, and decide to walk over to the ATM and pull out that extra $400 you didn't plan on gambling away in the first place?

You invest time and effort on something and its not turning out the way you want, when do you walk away? When do you realise that enough is enough and its time to cut your losses? Or do you keep the faith and hope there's a shift in the wind that will blow wind into the sails? Maybe change the strategy? Play the "Dark side?"

I just came back from the ATM and put money on the "Don't pass line." Guess what?
Come out roll turned out to be a 3.

Could things be looking up?

Parallelism on relationships? Perhaps. Cryptic? Indeed.
Portuguese

I love you... I love you... I love you...

Class this week focused on how impro shouldn't be about "thinking" what your "offer" should be, but just trusting your instincts and what comes obvious. One of the exercises was using a mantra to distract your mind.

By distracting your mind, you don't sit there and analyse what your next "line" should be... with the distraction, you tend to just say what comes to you more naturally...

Luckily this class included a new student. A really beautiful, blonde, English girl. Let me tell you, I was dying to do a scene with her.

Fortunately I got my chance.

Teacher asked for two volunteers. She stood up and I quickly followed.

We were to focus on using this "mantra" technique. Basically, we were to choose between two mantras.

1. Repeating "I Love you.. I Love you.. I Love you..." over and over again inside your head.

or

2. Repeating "I hate you.. I hate you.. I hate you.." inside your head.

While you are performing the mantra of your choosing, you are supposed to "push through" your lines while you repeat this mantra in your head.

We first had to perform the impro scene without the use of the mantras. That was fun. Nothing like an excuse to talk to a beautiful blonde but to perform a scene with her!

Next, we have to perform the scene again, but this time repeating our Mantras! Our teacher asks us to pick between the two mantras: "I love you" or "I hate you" but we weren't supposed to reveal it to the class or to people in the scene. In this case, the beautiful English chick.

Ideally, by repeating these mantras, it really shouldn't make a difference right?

I chose the "I love you" mantra. So I repeated it over and over again in my head right before the scene started, and continued until it ended.

As I started the scene, can I just tell you how big of an affect that makes! My body language, my speech, and my mood completely changed!

As I was reciting my lines aloud, with the mantra "I love you" repeating over and over in my head, I really felt the difference in my performance. I swear I could have just started snogging her if we were alone!

As the scene continued, we locked eyes intensely, and I started talking to her like she was the love of my life. She returned the favour and looked at me like I'd just come back from fighting a war. I know it was all acting, but man, its been a while since a woman has looked at me like she had during that scene. It was so hilarious because we busted out some nervous laughter during the scene.. but man was it intense. It was so much fun though!

At the end of the scene, the class had to guess the mantras we picked. It was too obvious that both of us picked the same one: "I love you."

So next time, if you have a bit of trouble talking to the opposite sex that you are interested in, try and pick a mantra that you think will help that confidence!

It's over.

I guess it wasn't meant to be. At first I didn't know what to expect, but it was worth trying anyway. It was something new. Something I hadn't experienced for a while. Going into it I didn't know how long it would last. It was complicated. I would honestly think about it a lot and sometimes it was torture. I didn't know how faithful I was going to be, but I had to end it this weekend. The situation presented itself, and it just felt right to do.

I ended it all in Gundel!

I mean seriously? What better place to end it all then one of the 1000 places to see before you die? How could I leave this place without ending it?

One look at the buffet display and I was like...

How could I not eat meat in Budapest? Let alone one not eating it in one of the nicest restaurants in the city?

And man it was good... I forgot how filling beef/veal/pork could be!
The first thing I noticed was the texture! Yeah, it was only a little over 3 weeks, (if you don't count the one time I cheated) or 10 straight days, but still!

Yeah, perhaps I should have cut out the fish and ate less pasta/noodle dishes, but hey, I opened up my appetite to dishes I normally wouldn't have tried!

I think I'll try it again one time.. next time perhaps a true "vegetarian" (no fish, embracing vegetables) instead of a "no meat" diet! =)

And don't get me started on dessert...

I don't want chinese food.

I think this vegetarian thing has really hit home tonight. I met up with an old friend Carol tonight and decided to eat at my "go to" Chinese restaurant, Jade Garden.

It was a group of 4 and guess what everyone decided to get? The good ol' set menu which included the aromatic duck with pancake.

Can you say torture?

I stood my ground and announced that I was practicing the art of being a vegetarian. I watched in agony as they enjoyed one of my favourite dishes - Aromatic duck with vegetables, wrapped in a nice pancake with hoisin sauce! They continued with their meal with plate after plate of non-vegetarian dishes. What did I get?

I ordered the sweet and sour prawns with special fried rice.

Special fried rice you say? It was an innocent choice.

I forgot it had pork. Oops.

But I was true to my word and picked out every single little piece of pork out of the fried rice. Its amazing how many pieces of pork add up after you pick every single one out! In the end, I had a nice pile of pork right next to my rice bowl. It was not very appetizing quite frankly.

Oh the sacrifices I make. 8 days and counting.

My 4th..

Nothing like spending my July 4th with other Brits!

I spent the evening in the pub with a couple colleagues including the big boss. It was good catching up with them and I'm glad I didn't just go straight home.

Its so funny because we talked about the weather a lot. Its a bit crap. It feels like November. I'm wearing a fleece in July for heaven sakes. I complained about the summer last year, when in fact, it was probably the best summers in England for a while. This year would be a typical summer.

It wouldn't be July 4th if I didn't get pissed. (drunk) I had about 5 glasses of white wine which took its effects as the night went on.

Hungry for food, I went to my "go to" place and ordered Thai at Laughing Buddha. Vegetarian dish of course! Its cool because they know me now by first name.

Anyway, I proceeded to drunk dial a few friends. Apologies for those who I hung up on and those who I left "pleasant" voice mails.

Pretty fun considering I didn't spend it with any Americans!

Living in the Moment

My mind is constantly in motion. There's so many things going on in my head that I'm beginning to think its not normal. I think about work the next day, where my next trip will be, what I'm going to do when I go back to Chicago, what my next blog post will be... etc. But before I scare you any further, let me try and focus.

Ah yes. Living in the moment.

Stop reading and simply take a look around you. What the hell are you doing? Why are you wasting your time reading this damn post anyway? Take in your surroundings. Perhaps you are in the comfort of your own home, sitting in your bed with your laptop, or maybe you're slacking off at work, looking at the clock, hoping the day will end soon. But for one second, take it all in. Live the moment.

I only bring this up because I've had conversations with a couple people about this exact topic.

I think living in the moment, for me, is something I really need to work on.

Rewind a month back. I was on holiday with my closest friends. And, yes, now I think about it, I wish I took more of an opportunity to live the moment.

What's my interpretation? What's "living in the moment?"

Clearing my head of any thoughts of the future or past. Being in the present. Focusing at what's happening at that moment in time. Appreciating it. Enjoying it at that second. Visually capturing it. Remembering and loving it in hopes to share that exact moment as a story with others years from now.

That's what comes to my mind initially. Granted, you can't "live in the moment" for every moment. Its not like you can really "live in the moment" when you are sitting there waiting for the tube to arrive. But you get my drift.

I mention this because I know I should have done it more often while I was on holiday, and I hope to focus on this moving forward. I think its really powerful because I distinctly remember when I was "living in it" a month ago.

Perhaps that's what makes the most memorable memories... when you consciously are, in fact, "living in the moment."

Eat, Pray, Love

Bri beat me to this blog post, but I'll post it anyway. (psychic bastard)

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.

I can't put this book down. I read it waiting for the tube, I read it when I'm in the tube, I read it when I'm going up the escalator, and I read it during my freakin' lunch hour.

I'll leave it to you to decide what you think, but for me, she serves as an inspiration.

I'm behind on my blog postings as they are all in draft mode, but I'll publish soon.

July 4th you say? Yeah. I have to work.

Vegging out

I told myself I'd try something new once in a while. Seeking new experiences makes life interesting.

Rewind about 2 weeks ago. At work.

I go to lunch with 2 of my colleagues more or less everyday. They are vegetarians. Its interesting eating with vegetarians because they always have interesting food to eat. I find it mind boggling how they can constantly not eat some form of meat! I always have to have some piece of flesh in my meal!

So we were having our casual conversation and I told them I'd try being vegetarian for a week.

I started on Monday. How am I doing?

Not bad! Well, out of the 15 meals I've had this week, I slipped once. And that was so unintentional!

First off, when I say vegetarian I mean: no chicken, pork, or red meat! Fish, would be the exception. I had it once this week.

Monday and Tuesday were easy. Unfortunately, on Wednesday, I didn't have lunch with coworkers, so it totally slipped my mind and I had a chicken sandwich!

But since then, I've been good!

I had my weakest moment last night when I went out with a colleague for drinks and we ordered a appetizer plate that included chicken, sausages, and pepperoni pizza! URGH. I held to my guns and only at the onion rings, veggie spring rolls, and potato wedges. It was torture.

I'm not sure how long I will go with this. I want to see if I can last a week. But here are a few things I've come to appreciate and realised:

• Tofu is pretty good. Especially with Pad Thai and Pad Si Yew


• I didn't appreciate how good Eggplant is until now.


• Indian food is perfect if you are vegetarian.


• Vegetarian = more cheese = more gas. Nuff said.


• I'm eating more vegetables! Who would have thought!


• Vegetarian dishes are pretty creative!


• I get hungry quite quickly.

I think this weekend will be the biggest test as I'm sure I'll be craving chicken or beef very soon.

Nothing like making life a little challenging sometimes! I think this whole experience will force me to try new dishes that I normally wouldn't try!

inhibitions

I think its funny when you are drunk and you free all inhibitions. Why is that? I'm sure there's some weird scientific reason... perhaps its because your blood thins out in your brain and you really can't over analyse what you are thinking or saying.

So I was thinking..

How in the hell did I end up in London? I mean, seriously. This is some crazy stuff. I seriously thought I'd be one of those guys that got into those serious relationships and probably be one of the first to get married.. but man... talk about taking a different path in life. I'm not complaining by no means... its just amazing what you have pictured in your head, and what really happens sometimes...

I mean, who in the hell thought I'd end up here! The first time I visited London, I hated it. But here I am, almost 2 years since my move, and I'm still here!

I seriously think about going home from time to time. I think about how convenient it is back in Chicago and how all my friends and family are there. Even the past couple of weeks I'll admit, I've been having the itch to go back.

But then I think about what I've accomplished in the past 2 years and how amazing my life has been because of my move. Sure, my best friends in the world are miles away, but what I've gone through now has changed my overall outlook in life. The things I've seen and experienced have been priceless.

I think there's going to be a point... when I wake up one morning and say...

"That's enough. I'm going home."

I think tomorrow morning won't be one of those times.

I think it will be like..

"Wow. I have a headache. I drank way too much."

Imagery

I think one of the most powerful things the human mind can do is remember an image. It could be anything. It could be the first time you've seen your favourite band live in the middle of the scorching summer. Perhaps it was the last time you saw a rainbow after a spring rain. Or maybe even a piece of artwork that you checked out in a gallery with a best friend. Images can be very memorable.

Bri and I were talking about everything and anything as usual, and I was telling him about the latest image that was playing in my head lately. It was of a smile.

Have you ever looked at someone, just by chance, and they look straight back at you, as if they knew you were looking the whole time, and they just flash you a smile?
At that moment, you get caught and all you can do is either smile back or sometimes even look away?

Its an image that's so hard to forget. Especially if that person's smile is so contagious, you can't help but smile back!

The image is so powerful that all you want to do is click "File->Save" in your head and keep it forever.

It so funny because you'll be randomly doing something and then unconsciously, you'll play that image in your head and just smile to yourself! Its so hilarious.

As much as you have it in memory, I realised that sometimes that image in my head is not enough, and I just wish I could see that person again and have them smile back at me the way I experienced it the first time!

So next time you make casual eye contact with someone, be it a friend or the opposite sex; without saying a word, flash them a smile and give them an image they'll never forget. =)

Wow. That's deep.

What a night. I wanted to make sure Bri remembered his last few days of this Euro trip by partying hard, as well as what we are so famous for: engaging in deep, thought provoking conversations about love and relationships..

In the risk of sounding gay, he and I click when it comes to

1. Partying hard
2. Deep conversation

Partying hard.
I'll confess and say that there was one time in my life where I drove down to UofI from Chicago, at 9pm in the evening, just to make it to a party that Bri was throwing at his apartment.. 2.5 hours away. There's a selected few of people that I can party really hard with and he's one of them. When I mean partying hard, I mean... waiting in line for 1.5 hours just to get in a club and staying till the break of dawn, completely exhausted by the physical strain of dancing all night long.

Its called Fabric. Probably one of the top clubs in London. It was probably one of the more memorable club nights that I have had for a while, probably because we experienced the sights and sounds of DJ Qubert and DJ Goldie in one night entirely on accident! Legendary DJs of our time. What a memorable night of hip hop, ol' school and drum and bass.

Deep conversation
After having a short amount of sleep, we were hungry for thai. We headed to a restaurant about 5 minutes away and had one of the longest lunches I've had for a long time. I think we got there around 2pm and left around close to 7. We went back and forth about so many topics, including our past and relationships in general. We compared notes on what we looked in a woman and how our past has made us what we are today.

I remember telling him about what I was thinking lately and I'll never forget what he responded with:

"Wow. That's deep."

Deep conversation is refreshing. Its a skill. Being able to engage with someone and having the ability to share what your thinking can be so powerful and at the same time cleansing to the soul, especially if that other person knows where you are coming from and just understands. Its just nice to unload all these thoughts in my head once in a while and have someone there just to listen.

Writing can capture what you are thinking at an exact moment in time and indeed, can be therapeutic. But bonding with someone and sharing what you are thinking and having them engage in your deep thoughts and opinions on life, can sometimes be so much more powerful.

Life is simple

I've been lucky enough to have SkyTV in my flat. This gives me the benefit of watching Fast and Furious 3: Toyko Drift every day this week at 9pm.

I'm not a movie quote freak like my other good friends, but I just love these quotes from the character Han:

"Life's simple, you make choices and you don't look back."

I know in the past that once I've made a choice, I'll sit there and analyse my decision and whether or not I made the right one. But man, just like Han said, make a choice and just live with the benefits or the consequences!

Also,

"Who you choose to be around you lets you know who you are."

Brilliant! I tend to surround myself with improvisational actors. I guess this is a good sign. Although, when we sit in the pub they talk alot about Artsy stuff - like what shows they've seen or theater performances they've attended. And I have nothing to contribute! Guess I have to work on that.

Not sure what's better though. Talking about theater or thespian-like topics with my fellow players, or meeting up with colleagues and talking about geeky stuff like Macs or the latest NP Complete problem. I'd say the former.

But I guess that's the power of "who you choose to be around" because one can run with many social circles! Just have to keep reminding myself of that.

The cure to Homesick funk

Admittedly, a good amount of homesickness took over me after the two week holiday with everyone. I got into this weird funk of introspection and why I was here. I started to think about the importance of a support system and how it wasn't as strong as it is here than in Chicago. Being surrounded by close family and friends started to weigh heavily on me, more than it did in the past.

This familiar "funk" comes and goes, and it was pretty bad last week. But I think I'm off the funk after impro class yesterday.

The impro class gives me a familiar sense of belonging. Its probably the closest thing I can get to friends and family back home and gives me a chance to be my goofy self. I had missed the first week because of the "funk." But decided last week I needed to sign up for another term after a 3 week break. Sure enough, my instructor mentioned that people were asking about my absence.

I turn up yesterday and familiar faces were happy to see that I was back for another term. I can't explain how powerful this is. Just small comments about how people are happy to see you again goes a really long way. A true cure to the homesick funk.

So next time you haven't seen someone for a while, remind them how nice it is to see them again! Its a very powerful compliment!

Guest Blogger: Qualifications for the Amazing Race

The trip had many memorable experiences and what better way to share more of these memories than to have one of members of the trip who also happens to be a one of my loyal readers guest blog! DK shall follow up on my last blog post and share his #1 overall experience.

Its basically composed as a short story, so sit tight and enjoy the ride. =)

--

Chris, already made his rankings on his blog. As for me, what was Chris' #1 experience on his Honorable Mentions rankings, my #1 overall experience was the 17 Hour "Qualifications for the Amazing Race" Day. I even already gave a speech on it on the Wednesday that we got back. Here is quick recap of that faithful day from hell which really challenged us, obstacle after obstacle, trying to bring our spirits down but failing to do so because of our perseverance and great positive attitudes.

Wednesday night was a great night, drinking wine and watching photos till the wee hours of the night between 10 sweaty, smelly, intoxicated friends, who somehow found themselves blessed with having delicious pesto, pasta, and seafood in Vernazza and drinking wine in Monterosso after 8 hours of cliffside, oceanside hiking through the terrains of Cinque Terre, Italy. With the view of the aquamarine blue waters of the Ligurian Sea, the taste of banana and strawberry gelato, and the smells of the delicious pesto still lingering in my senses, it was sad to face the harsh reality that we must depart the following Thursday morning on one of 2 trains: either the 7:30 am train (way too early - no way - we need more sleep, we don't want to miss the wonderful free breakfast at our hotel, and we would end up waiting at the airport for our 1:20 pm flight for over 3 hours) or the 10:45 am train (way too late - as we would miss our 1:20 pm flight). We decided to figure out an alternative train that would take us back to Genoa from Monterosso the next morning. We got our extra 1.5 hours of sleep, had our breakfast, and the hotel manager told us that we could hop on a 10:18 am train back to Genoa. It's not supposed to take us back to Genova Principe (the train station we need to go to), but rather it would take us to a different train station, Genova Brignole...however if we stayed on the train and not get off at Genova Brignole, we could still end up at Genova Principe. Wonderful!

10:18 AM
(1) We get on our train from Monterosso station to Genova Brignole.

12:00 PM
We arrive at Genova Brignole, and to our surprise, the train conductor kicks us all off the train as it is the end of the line, and no! they will not take us to Genova Principe station. CRAP! This is no good, as we need to get to the Genoa Airport by 12:20 PM to check-in for our 1:20 pm flight back to London. We have 20 minutes to get to the airport. There are only 2 ways one can get to the Genoa Airport, and that is by the Volabus, which is a bus that runs once an hour from the Genova Principe train station to the airport (no time for that as we are at the wrong train station), or by taxi cab...alright, I guess we have to use our contingency plan and hop into taxi cabs to drive us straight to the airport. There are 2 taxi cabs waiting around right in front of us. I ask the cab driver for 2 taxis to take 9 of us to the airport....AND...to my shock, we get the following reply "NO TAXIS! WE ARE ON STRIKE FOR THE NEXT 2 HOURS!" This is the case for all of Genoa. Was this a cruel joke from God? Were we on candid TV? The blank stares from each one of us with luggage in hand and backpacks on backs produced a feeling of initial dismal terror. Well this was quite an unfortunate turn of events...we did not have a contingency plan #2 ready for our failed contingency plan #1. The mad scramble started. Nobody in this city speaks English, and we have to figure a way out to get to the airport before our flight leaves. It is DEFCON 5 for us. Chris manages to buy Volabus tickets for all of us, and after the purchase, when he asks the ticket counter lady where we get on the bus, she says at Genova Principe Station!!! not here at the Genova Brignole Station!!! So, how do we get there? Based on local maps, people are thinking about walking/running to the airport from where we were when we had absolutely no idea how far we really were. Panic? Maybe. Darlene manages to speak to a local who explains where we need to hop on a Metra Bus that would take us to Genova Principe train station.

12:15 PM
(2) We get on the Genoa Metra Bus as we're packed in there like sardines with our luggage and backpacks hoping to God, that this bus gets us to Genova Principe train station. While on the bus, we hear Tagalog being spoken, so Jim and Darlene manages to strike up a conversation with fellow Filipinos on the bus to make sure that we are indeed on the right bus. A big "Salamat" to them.

12:30 PM
We arrive at the Genova Principe station and we have to quickly find out where we board onto the Volabus - the bus which takes us to the airport. We find out that we just missed the bus by a few minutes, and the next one doesn't arrive for almost another hour. (sigh) Realization has now settled in to know that we will not be making our 1:20 PM flight back to London.

By missing this flight, this unfortunate turn of events could potentially create a cascading trickle effect to not 1 travel itinerary, but to 4 different travel itineraries. Aside from Chris, Allison, Tim, and Darlene getting back to London, Jim and Phuc had pre-bought return train tickets from London to Paris for that afternoon right after we land in London. Similarly, Dan and Brian had pre-bought plane tickets from London to Amsterdam for that late afternoon. I had planned to take a train to Manchester that afternoon too. However, there was still hope that if we miss this flight, we could find another immediate flight back home. We shall see when we get to the airport.

1:15 PM
(3) The lavender colored Volabus finally arrives, and we depart for the airport. I find out that our flight back to London is delayed by 10 minutes, so it doesn't leave till 1:30 pm. It doesn't help, as we finally make it to the airport at 1:40 pm. We look a bit dejected, but still remain hopeful. We go up to the ticket counter, and they tell us that our return ticket on Ryan Air has been forfeited. Since we arrived after the flight had already departed, our tickets become garbage. What a waste. We would have to buy brand new one-way plane tickets to get back to London. Well...we soon found out that the 1:20 pm flight from Genoa to London was the ONLY flight back to London that day on Ryan Air. YIKES! There were no other flights back to London without having to pay over $1000, so we had the new challenge of just getting back to London on that day. We leave the ticket counter, and we find an internet kiosk.

2:00 PM
All of us are huddled around this red internet kiosk in the middle of the airport. We start feeding coins of Euros into this internet kiosk as we get onto kayak.co.uk to start searching for one way flights back to London from other nearby major hubs like Rome and Milan. We also tried to get tickets for going straight to Amsterdam, Manchester, and Paris for the other itineraries. We were doing searches for that evening, the next morning, the best fares, departing from various airports, etc...we did this for Milan to London, Rome to London, Milan to Manchester, Rome to Manchester, Milan to Amsterdam, Rome to Amsterdam, Milan to Paris, Rome to Paris, multiply this by 2 as we checked for both that Thursday evening and for the following Friday morning. Once we wrote down all the various options. We focused on the cheapest fares. While we have people at the internet kiosk, we have others finding out train schedules from Genoa to Milan. We find out that there is a train that goes to Milan from Genoa every half hour from the Genova Principe train station. We first book a flight for Jim and Phuc departing from Milan's Malpensa airport at 8:45 pm to Paris on Vueling Airline for the cheapest available fare of $190 per ticket. Now, that they have their flight booked, they need to get themselves back to Genova Principe train station via the Volabus (which runs only once an hour) and then get on the next train to Milan which leaves at 3:47 pm. We tell the reluctant couple to go on without us so that at the very least, they can make their flight from Milan to Paris. The clock is ticking and the internet kiosk meter is running a big bill as we keep throwing in Euros to buy more minutes. Next, I realize that there are no affordable flights to Manchester, so I give up on flying directly to Manchester. Instead, I decide that I will just take a train from London to Manchester. We find a flight on Air Alitalia from Milan's Malpensa Airport to London Heathrow departing at 8:40 pm for the cheapest fare of $264 per one-way ticket. It was the best we could find; I need to purchase 5 of these (for Chris, Tim, Darlene, Allison, and myself), but I keep getting an error page when I try buying the tickets. ARGH! So, at this point, I try going to the Air Alitalia ticket counter, and they quote me prices that are more expensive than the internet!!! Well, that won't work, so I head back to the internet kiosk. Dan and Brian chose to buy a $130 ticket on EasyJet from Milan's Malpensa Airport to Amsterdam, but departing at 7:00 am the following morning. They would need to sleep overnight at the Milan airport. They successfully buy their tickets, and now I get back on the kiosk, and I decide to go straight to the Air Alitalia website. I see that I can only buy 4 tickets at a time...maybe that's why we were getting the errors before. So, we decide to buy 3 tickets (Chris, Allison, and me) together, then quickly buy 2 more tickets (Tim and Dar) together. We luckily get the same price from kayak, and we successfully book the first set of tickets. Now, we quickly try to buy the last set of tickets, but wait!...is anyone watching the meter on the internet kiosk?!!....it's down to 30 seconds!...it would be terrible if we lost internet connection at this moment in the middle of the ticket purchase transaction. Tim yells out we need more money! Allison throws in a Euro in the kiosk, but it doesn't take the coin! Who put a damn cup on the kiosk which is in the way of the coin dispenser hole?! Tim yells out, "Get that cup out of the way!", we put in another Euro and with seconds to spare, the meter is back up to 6 minutes. Thank goodness. We successfully finish purchasing the last set of plane tickets. YIPEE! After spending maybe 20 Euros on the internet kiosk and being our own travel agents, we finished booking 4 separate itineraries. What time is it now?....It is 3:33 pm. The next train for Milan departs 3:47 pm. If we hop into taxi cabs (which by this time, the damn 2 hour strike is over), could we make it to Genova Principe train station from the airport in 14 minutes? I say YES! We have to try because if we miss it, we would have to wait another 30 minutes for the next train....at the luck we've been having, those 30 minutes could mean another catastrophe, so we are now in full Amazing Race mode. Where are the camera-men?

3:33 PM
(4) We hail 2 taxi cabs down, and we zoom off on the way to the Genova Principe train station. As the minutes quickly tick away, we determine that we will just buy our train tickets on the train. We call up Phuc and Jim who are sitting on the train, and they tell us the platform number. When we arrive there, we will need to jump out of our taxi cabs and sprint for the platform and jump on the train. We finally arrive at the train station at 3:47 PM. The 7 of us with backpacks and luggage race through the train station like mad banshees as Dan's big backpack plows over and through innocent pedestrians in the station like an NFL runningback breaking tackles to reach the endzone. We sprint in the train station going down the stairs, up the stairs, and Chris is the first to make it to the train platform. He yells "THE TRAIN IS STILL HERE!!" Jim and Phuc hears his voice and they see us. By the miracle of God, all 7 of us safely get on the train. As the last person gets on the train, the doors close, and the train departs. It departs not at 3:47 PM but at 3:50 PM. It was 3 minutes late, and it was those 3 minutes that bought us that extra time of making this train. We're out of breath but have smiles on our face as Jim and Phuc had their doubts of us making it.

3:50 PM
(5) The 9 of us are once again all together, and we are now on our merry way to Milan...a city that was not on any of our travel itineraries, but is now. We seem like we have created some good buffer in time as our first flight of the group leaves Milan at 8:40 pm. That is until Darlene asked Brian to see his "Let's Go Europe" travel book. Now, we're thinking that the airport would be somewhat close to the train station....OH...how wrong we were! The book shows us that Malpensa Airport is actually a whopping 47 km away from the central train station. We had a new challenge of figuring out the best way to get from the Milan train station to Malpensa Airport. We tried to figure out the Milan rail system by reading the travel book.

6:00 PM
Our train arrives in Milan, and we go into the subway system. We are in the fashion capitol of Europe and I can definitely see the high fashion sense by noticing numerous women who look like models with endless long legs that the eyes cannot avoid. Milan also has Il Duomo and the Last Supper painting, but sadly we had no time to do any sight-seeing. However, Brian and Dan had time as they didn't have to depart Milan till the next morning. We have to say our goodbyes to the two of them...but wait! We needed to get the train directions out of Brian's "Let's Go Europe" travel book, so we proceed to write down some of the major train stops onto Darlene's hand. I'm trying to figure out where to buy tickets for the express train to the airport, and I find out that I'm in the line for express buses. Chris patiently observes the locals buying their subway tickets from the ticket machines, and he copies the process to buy a subway ticket for 1 Euro for himself; he tests it out, and it works, so the rest of us buy our own subway tickets too. We say our goodbyes to Dan and Brian, as the 7 of us head for the airport. We don't know which way we're going or which subway to take as we're trying to figure out the rail system. (6) We hop on the first subway train which looks like is going to where we need to go. Once on the train, it takes us 3 subway stops to figure out that we were going the WRONG way. (7) We hop off the subway train, and then we hop back onto the subway train going in the right direction. We figured out which train station we need to go to in order to get on the Malpensa Express train. Tim, Dar, Allison, Chris, Jim, Phuc and I arrive at the Cadorna Railway Station by subway at 6:35 pm. We're starting to breathe a little bit easier.

6:55 PM
(8) The Malpensa Express train departs Cadorna station, and the 7 of us are on our way to the airport. There is no rest for the weary as we all need to check in at least one hour before our flight departure. Jim and Phuc depart at 8:45 pm for Paris, while the rest of us depart at 8:40 pm. The train arrives at Malpensa airport at approximately 7:30 pm. We say our goodbyes to Jim and Phuc as they are off to check-in with Vueling Airlines, while we have to check in with Air Alitalia. The 5 of us (Tim, Dar, Al, Chris, and I) successfully check-in and get our boarding passes at 7:40 pm. Now, you can imagine how important it was to catch that 3:47 train from Genoa to Milan; if we had missed that train, we would be running over 30 minutes behind, and we would be in jeopardy of getting on this last flight out to London from Milan.

We arrive at the gate and we wait in line to board. There is no jet way for us to board the plane, but rather, we have to hop on a bus from the gate which drives us to our plane parked in the middle of nowhere. As we wait in line, I get a phone call from Jim and Phuc, and they tell us that they are on their plane and getting ready to take-off. We wish we were in their shoes at that moment as we were still waiting in line at the gate. All of a sudden, we look up at the monitors in the gate, and it says that our flight has been suspended! Then, we see the first group of people, who boarded the bus, getting off the bus and coming back into the gate. Through word of mouth, we find out that the plane is having mechanical issues as a piece of the plane is broken. At this moment, I have a flashback, and I can recall one of my co-worker's stories. My co-worker/friend, Markus, had flown on Air Alitalia to Italy for his honeymoon last year, and after that trip, he vowed to never ever fly Air Alitalia again because of all of the delays dues to mechanical failures. He didn't get home back to the states until the following day of his scheduled return date. He warned me about them, but nevertheless, with our current desperate situation, we didn't have many other choices outside of Air Alitalia. Now, we're sitting in the gate waiting and waiting. It's been one hour, and we notice the first group of people get back on the bus...wonderful, they fixed the plane, and we might be departing soon. But! Alas! We see the monitor say that the flight has been suspended again, and we see that group of people come off the bus again! We find out through word of mouth, that the airline decided to change planes! We're not sure why, but we hear that they had to change to a smaller plane, and that they need to kick 6 people off the flight, as the smaller plane doesn't have enough seats for everyone. Mind you, there are no public announcements on the loudspeaker system because with the bad reputation that Air Alitalia has with on-time departures, they don't want to alarm the passengers, and they decide to just keep quiet about it. We know what's going on just through word of mouth. At this point, I really don't know if we'll be sleeping over night at the airport. Almost 2 hours have passed as we continue to wait in the gate with some very irritated waiting passengers. Finally, we start boarding the bus standing on the tarmac. (9) The bus drives us from the gate down the tarmac to the middle of nowhere. Our plane awaits us, and we board the plane. While I'm looking for my seat, I see that my seat doesn't exist on this plane. Of course, we're on a totally differently configured plane. The flight attendant tells us that it is open seating - first come first serve, so therefore, the 5 of us immediately grab the emergency row seats. I can understand why open seating was not announced back in the gate; there would've been a mass riot of people trying to mob their way onto the bus to get first dibs on seats on the plane.

10:40 PM
(10) After a 2 hour delay, our flight finally takes off and we are in the air. This was the first flight I had ever been on with an all-male flight attendant crew...strange. Also, I finished off the worst airplane meal; it was some sort of sandwich with 2 layers of cheese and green colored bread inside 2 white bread. The flavor was just simply very foreign and odd to me. Maybe I shouldn't have eaten this meal because of what to come later on.

11:30 PM
We manage to gain an hour by changing time zones as we land in London Heathrow. Chris' flat is on the opposite side of town from London Heathrow as this is the most inconvenient airport for getting to and from Chris' flat. We understand that the London Underground shuts down at around midnight, but we race through customs and we hope we can grab the last tube train from London Heathrow to the city center. When we arrive at the Underground, we dejectedly find out that the Underground is closed. Our next option is to take the night buses from London Heathrow Airport to the city center. We make our way to the bus stop, and wait for the N9 bus.

11:55 PM
(11) We hop on the N9 double decker red night bus. We sit at the top level, and we start a new 2 hour journey to Trafalgar Square in the city center. We are very, very far from the center of London, and Chris tells us that it will take 2 hours to just get to Trafalgar Square and then another 1 hour by bus to get to his flat. Wow! The day and night of travel seems never-ending. At some point, our bus comes to a complete stop, and the driver tells us that we all must get off the bus and transfer onto another N9 bus. Huh?! We are absolutely baffled. This is a very odd occurrence. We're transferring from one N9 bus to another N9 bus. Did our bus break down? Well, nothing would surprise me at this point. (12) So now, we're on the 2nd N9 bus of our trek to Trafalgar Square at the city center. We have a long ways to go still, so Chris pulls out his Nintendo DS and Dar/Tim pulls out their Nintendo DS, so we can all play some one-on-one Mario Ware games. I take my turn, and I'm playing Nintendo DS while in the moving bus. This was a mistake on my part. For me, personally, I get motion sickness whenever I read or focus my eyes on something small like playing video games in a moving train or car. Well, I started to get sick in my stomach, and remember that messed up green sandwich I had on the Air Alitalia flight?...well, that wasn't helping my symptoms of nausea. I had to stop playing Nintendo DS, and just try to control my nauseous stomach. We've been riding on this bus for almost 2 hours, and I'm a little afraid of hurling up my green sandwich on the bus.

1:45 AM
The bus finally comes to the end of the line at Trafalgar Square. We get off the bus, and I graciously welcome the cool fresh air to help rid my nausea. This is when I inform my travelmates, that I may vomit at any point. Luckily, I did not. Chris says that there is another bus we would need to hop onto for another 1 hour ride to his flat, and I said NO!....let's get into a black taxi and try to get home as quickly as possible. (13) We find a black taxi, pay the extra quid, and head for Chris' flat.

2:18 AM
We arrive into Chris' flat at 2:18 AM. We are greeted by his sister and her boyfriend who had just flown in from the states. After a day that started in Monterosso, Italy at 10:18 AM, we finally arrived at our destination 17 hours later (including the 1 hour from the time zone change). It was quite an experience to remember. For many, it was all just a blur, but for me, it was quite vivid. As for me, I still needed to get up early the next morning and find a train to Manchester and I arrived in Manchester 16 hours behind schedule on the following Friday afternoon.

In summary, what was supposed to be a 6 hour travel day from Cinque Terre to London, turned out to be a 17 hour travel day, and a $305 breakfast after adding up all of the additional on-the-fly transportation costs. As you read through the journey, you may have noticed parenthesized numbers - these represent each form of transportation which totaled up to 13 different transportation vehicles we had taken by the end of the 17 hour trek. Based on my experience, that is unprecedented. Disclaimer: some times are not accurate, but rather estimates.

So, in conclusion, was this most-memorable experience a good one or bad one? hmmm...I'll let you be the interpreter and judge on that for yourself. As for me, honestly, I wouldn't mind doing it all over again. After all, it makes for a great story to be told for years to come. There is conflict, villains, suspense, surprise, underdog heroes, triumph, and conclusion.

After speaking to other people about the taxi strike, which triggered our doom, I found out that these strikes are a very common occurrence in Italy. There are train strikes too. Even the semi-trucks go on strike, and when they do, they stop in the middle of the highways and roads to block all traffic. It's just a way of life that people deal with in Italy. If that is indeed the case, well then, we can certainly proudly say that we lived through it too.

As you may all remember, before the trip began, during the preparation stages, when Phuc asked what should we bring to Europe, Chris and most of us all responded with one of the most important ingredients needed for a successful trip - that being an open-minded, positive attitude. Boy, did this come in handy during our most challenging moments. Smiles, laughter, joking, and our care-free spirit really helped make light of the more potentially stressful situations. I can guarantee you that this was not the first time we missed a flight, and it won't be the last time either. I'm looking forward to our next Amazing Race.

And then there was one.

The silence is deafening.

What was once a virtual hostel, full of luggage, make-shift beds and filled to capacity of 8 of my lovely friends, my flat has started to transform to its old self.

Evidence of its formal self are everywhere. Left over toiletries, collected souvenirs, a pile of blankets, pillows and towels, folded up and deflated airbeds, and a hard drive full of memories.

It was an amazing two weeks with many lifetime, unforgettable memories of the trip. There were many blogworthy moments on this trip.. its hard to keep them straight in my head but here are my "unofficial top 5"

1. Conquering Cinque Terra - over 9 km of hiking, all 10 of us made it to the end.
2. London Eye - Meeting up with Jim and Phuc to make the group complete, the London Eye ride was unforgettable.
3. Dinner, Drinks, and Wine in Cinque Terra - The 2nd night after the long hike we went out and had a brilliant dinner and wine by the beach. We headed back to the hotel to continue the party. We clicked.
4. Budapest partying - Partying till the break of dawn. We all got a little closer this night.
5. London Partying - After a whirlwind tour of London in the rain in one day, Bri, Dan and I chugging redbull and vodkas in a empty club before the rest of the crew show up.

There are many more memories, but these stick out in my mind. Honourable mentions:

1. Missing the flight back to London - resulting in rebooking flights/trains on an internet kiosk in the Genoa Airport. Damn taxi strikes. Unforgettable.
2. Prague Police - Getting caught without train tickets and being fined 2500 KC.
3. The 10 Euro Bribe - "Shhh!" Without "train reservations" for the train ride to Prague, we had to negotiate the 45 Euro charge to a reasonable number.
4. Running for the Milan train. - After booking all flights, we had to make the train to Milan. Taking a cab and running for the train just like the Amazing Race.
5. 35 and white wine. - Nuff said.
6. 9 is enough - Fitting 9 people in my flat, coordinating shower orders, and making the early flight out to Genoa.
7. Krakow clubbing - Women outnumber men yet again!

I'm already going through friend withdrawal. Being surrounded by so many close friends in two weeks, then returning to reality is painful. I was spoiled by the constant hanging out of laughing and bonding. Its sucks to get back to reality sometimes, especially after a trip like this.

It smells like Poland

Crazy Itinerary. Partying till the sun comes up. I'm just getting too old for this.

Krakow didn't let us down with a repeat of my Warsaw experience. Girl/Guy ratio: 16:1. Sheesh.

Budapest - Beautiful city. Too short of a stay. Partying till the break of dawn.
Palinka shots! Bri and I were brave enough to ask a Hungarian bartender what shot he recommended.

Its called Palinka and it burned like gasoline. Probably the worst shot I've ever had in my whole entire life and I think the rest of the group would agree with me. Its was one of those shots were you try and swallow it but it comes right back up.

Partying in Budapest was crazy. It ranks pretty high in one of the top memorable moments so far on the trip. I just wish I had more sleep. =)

2nd leg countdown..

2nd leg begins at 3 hours and 20 minutes..

Cab picks Al and I bright and early at 4:30am to catch a 7:25AM to Krakow. From Krakow, we're going to hit up Budapest, Vienna, then finally Prague in 6 days. Should be interesting.

Jim and Phuc left early this morning at around 5am... and I was up to wish them goodbye after staying up till 3am. I thought holidays were about sleeping in and relaxing... its been pretty hectic so far... but oh so fun!

Quick recap of last few days:
Yesterday: Missed train to Bath, ended up going to Oxford and hitting up a sightseeing tourbus and catching afternoon tea and scones...then off to Notting Hill and Portobello Road in search for the "bookstore" from the movie. Ended up eating at Gourmet Burger with 15 minutes before closing...

Today: Finished up Al's sightseeing list with Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, Texas Embassy's Tex-Mex, St. Paul's Cathedral, shopping at Virgin, and performing my custom "South Bank walking tour" as performed early this week...

I'll try and recap during the week.. but if not, see you in a week!

9 to 6

With Bri and Dan moving on to Amsterdam and Dublin, and Mike and my sis arriving on Thursday, we were still 9. But today, 5:19am, Dar, Tim and Dave have just left for their morning flight back to the States.

Quick Recap of the last two days:

Friday - Late start after a grueling 17 hour journey from the night before. Covent Garden, Blue Elephant Thai Food, Koko club and Old Street kebabs.

Saturday - English Breakfast in Limehouse, Riverside walk to Canary Wharf, Westminster Abby, Big Ben / Parliament Pictures, St. James Park for Ice Cream and Don Johnson, Quick Walk by of Buckingham Palace, Harrods, Oxford Circus with a Tori Spelling sighting, Jade Garden Chinese food, and Pearl Drinks.

Next few days will be hanging out in London before the Poland departure. Hopefully the weather stays nice and sunny!

I promise more detailed blogs later! For now, I'm off to bed.

Back in London..for now.

What a trip. I think one of the best things in traveling is not only the destination, but the people you are traveling with!

Cinque Terra is definitely on my recommendation list of destinations! I will have pictures and stories very soon!

We got home late last night after a grueling 18 hour trip back home, covering over 9 methods of transportation, all due to a taxi strike! But that's a story worth telling later! For now, I continue my hosting duties for the next few days until Poland!

and its 5:30am..

Okay, my sleeping schedule is completely out of sync.

Just yesterday, I went to bed at 5:30am, and now I'm waking up at 5:30am.. its pretty crazy. People are slowly getting ready for the trip out to Genoa, Italy and the shower order is set.

The night shower crew, consisting of Phuc, Jim and Dar started first. After a short nap for some of us, the morning crew have just started with Allison leading off. I think we set the pace at 20min a shower to get a 7am departure from the flat to make it the airport a littler after 8am.

For me, this is when my real holiday begins as I've taken a 2 week break from work! Although, the weekend was when the real fun started.

I think I'm getting the hang of the tour guide thing. After a few visits from past friends, I know what places to hit and restaurants to eat at.

We hit up my favourite restaurant yesterday, Shampan, in Brick Lane. It was well received and one of the key stops in the tour. =)

As I said in the past post, London Eye was probably one of the more memorable moments this past weekend. This is where Jim and Phuc joined us to make the group offically complete. We were lucky enough to get our own observation capsule and everyone was so high on caffeine! We took in the beautiful sights of London from up above while taking group pictures! It was very memorable taking it all in especially with Bri yelling in euphoria every 5 seconds as the caffeine took over his whole system! Some would say he was in a state of Euphoria, others could say he was in the brink of insanity!

The adventure continues as we head off to Cinque Terra today!