Tuna Harbor San Diego

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Catching up

I have had a few people ask me lately have I traveled anywhere recently and do I have any big trips planned? I haven't been very good at updating my blog on all my travels this year, so I am going to try a little catch up here.

It has been a busy traveling year. Since February, I have traveled to some location within the 50 states each month. It has been a combo of personal and business travel with a little mixed into together.

February- I traveled to cold Minnesota. How anyone lives there during the winter months is beyond me. My father has a jacket that is supposed to protect him up to -65F weather. If I need a jacket to protect me from that kind of weather, I do not need to be there. I went to go visit the parental units, my grandmother, and our dog Slick. My dog Sebastian, who had been staying with my parents for health issues passed away at the end of January. He was 13. I was totally bummed and wanted to go back to mourn a little. Sounds a little much for a dog, but if you have ever lost a pet, you know what I am talking about. Sebastian was the best little friend a girl could have, and was mine for 10 years (I got him when he was 3 1/2). He had more frequent flier miles than most people. He even received a co-captain certificate and wings from the captain of one our flights we took. The airline stewardess's adored him and carried him everywhere. I hardly saw him during the flight.

March - Well it was time for some fun and sun. Two of my girlfriends from work and I went to Cali. We flew to SF via Virgin America. They just started service between Seattle and SF, and were offering some great promos for 1st class. So we took full advantage of that. Which was nice since we took the 7am flight. If you ever get the opportunity to fly Virgin America, I highly recommend it. We spent the day in SF. We went to Golden Gate Park, and went to the Japanese Botanical Gardens. Where we enjoyed an hour walking through the gardens and enjoying the sunshine. It had been awhile since we had seen it. We then sipped some tea in the Tea garden. Then managed just to get finished up when the big tourist bus arrived. We then made our way over to De Young museum. The museum has been in the park since the early 1900's, and has been severely damaged by a couple of earthquakes. They recently built a new one and it is built out copper. The architecture it very impressive. For those of you that have been to the Tate Modern in London, the same architects were used for the De Young. Another must see if you are in the area.

We then made our way to Monterey. My friend was participating in the Big Sur marathon. Albeit the marathon had some beautiful scenery (along HWY 101) it looked really tough and she had to get up 3am, I don't know how people do it. I guess they train alot, but still. We had a great time. Our hotel was right on the beach. So at night we would pull the chairs out on the deck, mix up some cocktails, and watch some beautiful sunset. We also enjoyed some great eating and wine tasting. There are plans to return next year.

April - I went to NYC for work, but was able to spend a beautiful weekend there before I had to go to work. This trip I actually was able to blog about while I was there (scroll down)

May - When I thought I was going to have a break from traveling for a month, another trip to our office in NY. I went Sunday of the Memorial Day weekend, and got to do some of the things I didn't get to do in April. I went to the Guggenheim. They had a special exhibition by Cai Guo-Qiang. He also has a permanent installation at the Seattle Art Museum. The main piece is 9 cars that cascade down the center of the Guggenheim from the top floor down to the bottom It is supposed simulate a car explosion using light sticks that surround the cars. I think what the most impressive part is just thinking of how all of this was put into place. I then walked a little through Central Park, and then worked myself down to Madison Ave.

So the following weekend was the release of the Sex in the City movie. My girlfriends and I were all going to the movie when I returned the following weekend. So I decided I would walk down Madison to see if I could locate Carrie Bradshaw's apt. I knew, by watching too many episodes, that it was at 73rd and Madison. I was around 80th and Madison. I forget how long NYC blocks are. I took a pleasant stroll down a fairly quiet Madison Ave, window shopping in all the high fashion windows. Periodically weaving back and forth between the residential streets that run between Madison and Park. I love the brownstones and the tree lined streets. Since it was fairly quite, due to the fact it was a holiday weekend, you forget you are in the middle of this huge city. I finally reached 73rd, but was unable to locate the right walk-up, but snapped a few pics anyway. I found out later the actual walk-up that is in the show is in Greenwich Village. By the end of the of the day I had walked over 5 miles and my feet were not happy.

Unfortunately, I was not able to see more places while I was there. However, I did go to Les Halles. This is Anthony Bourdain's restaurant. No Reservation's is one of my favorite shows. It incorporates my 2 favorite interests, traveling and eating. I did not spot Anthony back in the kitchen cookin up my steak and frites, but I did have a sidewalk seat. Which as far as I was concerned was the best seat in the house. It allowed for some great people watching and I eased dropped on some very interesting conversations. Sometimes eating alone is far more entertaining then dining with someone.

Unimportant Things about Me!

OK Christy...this is for you!

1. I love to travel and have traveled alot, but I hate to pack and I am really bad at it. If I could just take my entire closet with me I would be just fine. Now the airlines are charging extra for extra bags??? I'm sooo screwed!
2. I'm so annoyed with the organic movement. Not everything you need to eat needs to be organic. Except when it comes to my dounuts.
3. I love vegan dounuts. Who would have thunk! Go Mighty O! http://www.mightyo.com/
4. I know one day Bono is going to want to meet me! :)
5. I have a huge craving for a cherry limeaide drom Sonic. I will be visiting Sonic multiple times a day when I am back in the panhandle state next month.

Get your Slang On!

http://www.urbandictionary.com/

Espresso twinkie

From bette's bakery in berkley CA.
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Views from the Empire State Building.

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Park Ave

Pics from our office on park Ave in NYC. The office is on the 12th floor.
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I was planning on going to the Guggenheim, but ended up sleeping in instead. It was supposed to rain today, but it was quite sunny w/ a bit of a chill, but still nice. So I decided to go hang out in Central Park. It is only 2 blocks from where I am staying. I put on my unfashionable tennis shoes, and headed out. I went to ice rink, the carousal, and the boat house. The boat house was too crowed for lunch so I went back to the crepe stand and got a crepe and coffee and sat by the fountain and watched people row their boat in the pond. Central Park is a very interesting place to people watch. In addition, you hear so many different languages being spoken. It is very interesting.

There were these guys putting on a show not far away. I couldn't really see or hear them too well, but they were getting quite the applause from the crowd. I went up the hill to watch since I could not get close. They were very funny and talented. http://www.ticandtac.com/

After several hours in the park, my tired feet and I headed back the hotel. I went to the Burger Bar which is supposed to have some of thee best burgers in town. They were pretty good, but was even better was the chocolate shake! YUMMMMM!

The Met

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More MOMA

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From the MOMA

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NYC

This week I am in NYC. I am here for work but arrived this AM to have a little fun. This afternoon was spent @ the MOMA. The pic is from their sculpture garden.
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Well I didn't think we would get to Boston yesterday. There were major flight delays in Boston Thursday. After several delays we finally landed in Boston around 4am. Then after several wrong turns out of the airport and many recalculations on our GPS we pull into Amesbury @ 6am.

Why Chrissy and Paul could not have stayed in Hawaii is beyond me. There is a ton of snow and it is cold. BRRRR.... Amesbury is a very cute historic town. There alot of nice old houses that are all decorated for Xmas. Driving around, you feel like your are driving through one of those Xmas cards. We just needed a sleigh instead of an Impala.

We went to have lunch @ Phat Cats this afternoon (after driving several circles around a bunch of roundabouts). The place is in an old brick building,but it has alot of character. They have decorated very nice. It is very cozy. Well of course the food is great!! Paul whipped up a nice seafood soup w/ a lobster stock and a very tasty chicken soup.

I took a few pics. They are posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/jaraeho/PhatCatsBistro I will add more over the weekend.

Well I was awake for just about 30 hours in order to get home, and I believe that have slept about 24 hours since Friday night. After not seeing a Starbucks for 3 1/2 weeks, I have visited them quite a few time since being home. It is not that I really missed their coffee per se, just the convience of it really.

All pics are posted now. We have 1567 pictures. http://picasaweb.google.com/jaraeho Enjoy!

We are home

I am happy to report that Kyle and are home. Kyle arrived Fri am and I waiting for my ride at the airport. It is good to be home
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Then there was one. Kyle left Jo'burg around 2ish on Thursday bound for Brazil. He then flies to Houston and then home Friday afternoon. I had a couple more hours to hang out at the hotel before my flight. I entertained myself by watching non-stop music videos on VH-1. Go figure...they actually show videos and not reality tv. I saw some good classics from the 80's that haven't seen since MTV actually showed videos.

It is now Friday and I am now in Paris. Since my layover was several hours, I was hoping I might could get a taxi and go see the Eiffel Tower. It took me 2 hours just to find and get to my gate. Then a friend who is familiar w/ Paris said it was too far for a taxi, and to take the train. This required for me to take 3 trains. Since I haven't really slept in the past 24 hours that was too much for me to try to comprehend. I will just have to see it another time.

I am still in the process of posting pics. I will let you know when they are all posted. 18 or so hours I will be home!! Whoo-Hoo!!!

Aug 3rd

Today was a travel day. Third world airports are just as bad as the US, except on a smaller scale. They are crowded, disorganized, and people are annoying. You have to pay to get out of Zambia. We asked the porter where we paid, and he said once we go through the metal detector then they will tell us where to go. Once we get inside there are 3 checkin counters w/ no info above them, so of course we chooser the shortest line. Once we finally get to the front of the line, we are told we are at the wrong counter. She can only check us in for the 203 flight not the 205 flight that we are on. When I glance over to the counter they say we need to be at it is probably 10 people long. Since these people do not move very fast, I was like no way we are goin over there. I informed the the lady behind the counter that no one was around to inform us that we were to be in a specific line. Someone instructed her to assist go ahead and check us in. I received my first hand written boarding pass. As we proceed through customs we get to the guy who ensures you have paid your money before you exit the country. Well we had not, and thought we could pay him. OH NO! This should have been done before we had gone through the metal detector. So we have to go out and pay our $30. Then go back in and show him our receipt.

We have been flying Nationwide airlines while traveling within Africa. I have never heard of this airline before. However, I do not recommend traveling with them. Every flight we have flown with them has been late. When we flew to Zambia, there seemed to be plenty of people checking people in, but they kept yelling at one another, and running around with their heads cut off. We made it to the front of the line, because if we did not we have missed it. We had 3 people assisting us, and it still took forever. We finally make it to the gate, and the woman taking the tickets was one of the people in the front helping us check in. Then we have to take a bus to get to the plane. When we get there another girl that was helping us to check in was at the plane to greet people. No wonder they were all disorganized. They are all doing several jobs. I was surprised not to see one them as a flight attendant.

We finally got to Cape Town and our hotel around 9pm. We walk into our room, and it is just 1 double bed. This is not what I requested. I had to share a bed w/ Kyle at Zulu and all he did was kick me. Oddly enough I have several bruises up and down my leg, which I have no idea how I got. However, I am just gonna say it is because Kyle kicked me all nite. When we were in Zambia, we had our own bed, and it was so nice to sprawl out and sleep sideways across the bed like I normally do. All I had to deal with was Kyle snoring. Although he will say he does not snore, and I am making the whole thing up. So we went back down and got another room with 2 beds. Everyone is happy now.

Aug 4th – Cape Town

We had a Walk to Freedom tour scheduled for our first day. Our guide was Craig, and he was from Cape Town. His mother was from India, and father was black. Our first stop was the District Six area. He had a lot of insight on the area, because his family lived there, and was moved out when the whites moved the out to the Cape Flats. The whites decided this area should be just for whites. They moved everyone out, and completely demolished everything. This was back in the 1960’s. Since then nothing has been built except for a few homes. Apparently, the land is very expensive, and not very people can afford to build there. What is interesting about apartheid is just wasn’t the whites being prejudice against the blacks, they were prejudiced about anyone against anyone that was not white. Even if whites dated or married outside their race they were discriminated against as well. We then went to the District Six museum, http://www.districtsix.co.za/frames.htm which gives you a history of the area and the people that lived there.

We then went to the Langa township, http://www.capetown.at/heritage/city/langa.htm which is probably about 20 minutes outside of Cape Town. It is the oldest township in the Cape Town area. We visited what would we could call a community center. They teach people certain skills. They were making pottery in the back, and then they sell them at the center. There were various other artist there selling their goods. They get funding from various organizations, but not the government. Steffi Graff funds a dance program for the children of the township, http://www.stefanie-graf.de/sgm-en.html The Gates Foundation has also donated computers and internet access. Our guide then walked us through the neighborhoods, working class and upper class. Most houses were very small, and constructed of cement. Within the last 20 years electricity and indoor plumbing have reached the townships. Everyone now owns their houses. Some were nicer then others. They can add additions to their house if they want, and some people had done that. While other houses looked like no one had done anything to them in 20 years. We then reached the hostels, that just look like cheap apartments. They used to be men hostels because they would not let women or children live in the township. So the men lived there while they worked. Now families are allowed, and these rooms that were designed for 4 or so men, are now packed w/ families. Needless to say the rooms are cramped and do not have many modern conveniences. They are in the process of remodeling the hostels, which is half way done and so far as taken 5 years to complete this.

We then visited a primary school. The children sang and danced for us. No matter where we go where children are and no matter what age they are, they always want their pic taken and then they want to see it. They were all very cute.

At the people back of the township is shanty town. The people that live here cannot affor a house, and do not want to live in the cramped hostels. So they take any scrap of metal, cardboard, plastic. Wood and whatever else they can find and construct a shack of a house. The government finally put in toilets, but before that there was just a hole. We were able to go into 1 house. It was a portioned into 3 rooms, living room, kitchen, and bedroom. It housed a family 5, 3 children and 2 adults. Kyle looked around, but I felt like such an intruder. However, from what we have been told they are not ashames\d of their living conditions. This is their life. The government has built some new apartments in the area, and plan to build more. However, people can not afford to live in them. So they just move back to Shantytown, because it is free to live there. I can’t even imagine.

We drove through the center area of the township which was the shopping district. There were wood shacks all setup along the road with people selling food and goods. They are also chopping the heads off of chickens, plucking and cleaning them right there in the open. They then just sit out in the open waiting for someone to buy them. I guess salmonella is not in the African language? We did not eat lunch here!

August 6th

The weather was pretty crummy today. It poured rain and was really windy. Kyle wanted to go see The Simpsons, so we went to the movies. I wanted some chocolate, so I went to the concession stand. There were not huge bags of chocolate to be found in anywhere. When I asked if she had something like milk duds or m&m's the girl looked puzzeled. She opened up a cabilet and there were 2 boxes of m&m's. I said I would take 2 bags. She then walks over to another woman, and then returns and says she cannot sell them seperatly. I have to buy a kid combo. I had to buy a small popcorn and coke to get chocholate. Can you believe. The popcorn was horrible. Lesson learned, buy your chocolate before you go to a movie in South Africa.

Dreaming in Africa

We are stuck in Africa for another day. We got to Jo'burg and found out our flight was cancelled. The rebooked us 3 hours earlier before we showed up on another flight. However, it would be nice if they called you to let you know!!! Well they at least set us up w/ a hotel that includes dinner and b-fast. So we took full advantage of dinner...well at least Kyle did. I'm sure he will have some colorful commentary on his blog.

Things I learned...
> I despise airlines
> They have no sympathy that you are stuck, and they will not pay for your alchohol
> I hope Cape Town expands their airport before the World Cup 2010, because that place is small and claustorphobic.
> Porters take off on national holidays
> I miss jet ways. I have had to take a shuttle bus to and from the airplane, and they are crowded.

It is time to say goodbye to Africa.

We had lunch outside @ the waterfront that has an amazing view of Table Mountain. Of course our last day is the nicest day and it makes it difficult to leave. hopefully on the long plane ride home I can catch up on my blogging.
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