Does this thing work?

One Week Removed

Does anyone still read this?



I've been home for a week now and have yet to redo my blogs in order to better remember what I did for 2 months. I wanted to try to remember everyone I've met and all the things I saw and did and I feel like the more I procrastinate on it the more I'll forget. But I'm too lazy to do that now.



One thing I did remember was a converstation I had with a Canadian backpacker named Dustin. He was cool but seemed a bit of the loner type. Anyhow, he's taken a couple of backpacking trips with each taking up a couple of months at a time. One trip he took kept him away from home for nearly 2 years (it was a "work-here, travel-there" sort of trip). I could never do such a thing but we got to wondering about how much things change in the time you're away from home. Being away so long, he was afraid that people would've forgotten about him or when he got back, things would be different.



He found out that things, for the most part, don't really change. And I think I have to agree. In some ways, it's sort of discouraging but at the same time, it's awesome. I know two months is nothing when compared to the years people spend away for college and what not but it's the only thing I can speak of with experience.



Haha. Another we talked about was talking about our travels with the folks back home. I probably haven't done a good job as far as describing things I saw and what not but the hope is to encourage more people to go travel because not enough people from home do such things. Haha. I probably bore you guys with all that but yeah - go travel!



I'm honestly itching to go on another backpacking trip. I wish I had the money. I'd love to even redo the same itinerary that I already went on. If I'm ever able to do it again, I think I'll try. And this time I'll be more careful with my stuff.

Home

I'm back. But I think I may be jetlagged a bit.

Back in London

Crazy. I'm less than 24 hours away from finishing up my trip here in Europe. I'm back in London where I started. The weather is the typical dreary London weather you expect. No rain but tons of clouds. It's so different from when we first got here when it was still nice weather.



While I was still in Madrid I was thinking "Wow. It's amost time to go home." I know I've said how excited I am and how I can't wait to get home, but there's also a part of me that doesn't want to leave. Discussions with other backpackers have made me interested in so many more cities not only in Europe but around the world. Three people from the group of people I had been hanging out with in Madrid were heading to Morocco - a place I was thinking of going to before my stuff got stolen.



There's too much to see.



When I get back home I plan to do a huge blog trying to remember everything I did and the people I've met in various places. I know I should've done this right after my journal got stolen so I wouldn't forget more, but I'll wait till I get back and I'm in a contemplative mood.



So... I'll be back this weekend. I have a family party to go to on Saturday. Anyone down for breakfast, lunch, or dinner another time? You can't believe the number of foods I miss from home.

Madrid

I've finally gotten to Madrid. I really consider it the last city of my trip although I fly back to London and stay there for two nights. I've already been to London what seems like ages ago. Madrid is new. Since the beginning of my trip, these two cities in Spain (Barcelona and Madrid) were like the grand prize of a big race. I just wanted to get here and reap the rewards. And here I am. Finally. Awesome.



It's sort of strange. At the beginning of my trip, I was honestly homesick. It was sort of a sad mood that I was in and it happened again at one or two of the cities I wasn't excited about. I wouldn't say I'm homesick now because I'm in a suprisingly good mood and in a city I'm really looking forward to exploring. But I just want to get home. I think I've hit my backpacking-saturation point. The grand prize is now my own bed, a closet instead of living out of a backpack, and being able to rest my blistered feet.



Barcelona was a great additional prize that I picked up along the way, too, though. Despite what happened it has to be one of my favorite cities in Europe. I didn't even get to do all the things that I wanted to. I was still awake when the sun rose this morning and that wasn't the first time that happened. Barcelona was awesome but I am dead tired right now.



I can't say much about Madrid, yet. I haven't gotten a real chance to explore it. It's just weird to me that my trip is sort of starting and ending the same way, with just a slight difference. Maybe I'm being a big pansy about it - I miss home but this time I'm okay with that.

Barcelona Still

First of all, thanks for the support from various people who've emailed or blogged. Haha. Don't worry about trying to make me feel better. I've heard other horror stories that have done the job and I'll get to those later.



Yesterday I booked a flight to go home earlier. After I did that though, a phone call made me realize that if I went home earlier, I'd be disappointed in myself later on. So I cancelled the earlier flight and I'm coming home as originally planned.



I have roughly ten days left - two more nights here, six nights in Madrid, and two more nights in London. I feel like it's a long wait to get home and at the same time, a short duration left here in Europe. I still don't know what I'm going to do with so much time in Madrid but hopefully I'll find something that will keep me from getting bored.



I'm in a better mood today, determined to finish this time here. Haha. It would still be nice to go home but it's cool staying here. Regarding those other horror stories, I thought this one was crazy and sucked ass:



So I've been hanging out with this Australian guy from Melbourne named Andy. He was with me when my stuff got stolen and went with me to the police station. (By the way, the theft is a very unexciting story.) He was staying at the same hostel I'm currently at but had reservations at another better rated hostel. And he also moved because the Filipino ladies that work there and are really nice to me are rather mean to everyone else. So anyway, at his new hostel he met this other Australian who has been in Barcelona for the past 3 months. He was originally planning on staying here for only 5 nights.



It turns out that for the past 11 weeks, this other Australian guy has been in jail. Early in his stay he went on a Pub Crawl and had a bit of a spat with this obnoxious and drunken American (go figure). The story goes that the Aussie pushed the American back and the American, in his drunken stupor, fell over and hit his head. The American was in a coma for six weeks while the Australian was arrested and thrown in a Spanish jail with no English speakers for 11 weeks. Although he paid the 20,000 Euro bail and 500 euro per hour attorney fees, he has not gotten his passport back since being released and because of that, can't really get home yet. That sucks major ass.



So... it's a good thing that I, or any one of my friends, didn't catch the guy who stole my stuff and beat the living shit out of him. My Spanish is horrible and I'm a little too pretty for jail. Haha. Not really, but yeah - 10 days is better than 11 more weeks. See you guys in 10 days.

Barcelona

Firstly, Barcelona is a great city. I was so excited to get here and when I finally did I just soaked in the atmosphere and was really enjoying myself. I still love it. But while here, the stuff most important to me on this trip got stolen. With the quickness my daypack with my new camera, my dad´s videocamera, my ipod, and other stuff was gone. And it´s not that that bums me out the most. It´s the 700 or so pictures, the two tapes of video and various little souvenirs that I wish I still had. Those are the memories I wish I could´ve brought back to show everyone and the ones I wish I still had for myself when I look back on this trip.



After the incident I was just ready to go home. I called my mom and asked if she could look up flights to just get me the hell out of here. But after a bit of cooling off and some helpful and supportive conversation with various people, I decided I´m going to stay a little while longer. For sure I´ll be staying 2 more nights but beyond that, I´m not so sure. I woke up this morning just wishing I was home.



Whether I´m home in a couple of days or back when I originally planned, this trip has been an unforgettable experience and I´ve loved pretty much everything about it. I´ve learned a lot and I won´t let this incident ruin what I´ve done and what I have yet to do.

Nice

Nice is nice. Haha. As the joke will usually be. Not a very funny joke, though. But anyway, I'm here in Nice and it's pretty cool. For those who love to shop, this - and the cities surrounding - is your area. They even have guided shopping tours available for those interested.



Some random stuff happened today. Haha. Cool, fun stuff but nothing very exciting. I was hoping to find a place to play some Hold 'Em but the three casinos in Monaco/Monte Carlo didn't have anything. They had Poker but if I read it correctly, there was a $25 minimum bet. Uh. Yeah. I'm not a high roller.



Anyway, I think I'll be here another night and then I'm off to Montpellier. Au revoir.

Riomagiorre, Cinque Terre

Riomagiorre is the southernmost village of Cinque Terre. I think it may also be the smallest of them, but I could be mistaken. I'll be staying here tonight, like last night.



Today I hiked from Monterosso, the northernmost and biggest of the villages, down back to here. It took about 4 to 5 hours total, and I am freakin' pooped. Beautiful scenery, though. There were times when I doubted why I was up there, but I'm really glad I did the whole thing.



I really like Cinque Terre. I know I said Florence was what you might imagine Italy to be, but I really think that applies moreso here. Obviously not all the ocean stuff, but the little villages. The food here is great; It's the best Italian food I've had so far. If anyone ever has a chance, come here to Cinque Terre.



Tomorrow I plan on exploring the little villages and probably buying some souvenirs. I think I'll only be staying one more night after tonight but plans could change. I guess we'll see.

Cinque Terre

I'm pretty pleased that I left Florence early. I've only been in Cinque Terre for a couple of hours and already I think it's an awesome place. I'm planning on being here for the next 3 or 4 nights, so there's plenty of time for my mind to change. But I think I'll enjoy it here.

Florence

Florence has the opposite effect on me from Rome. It's a cool city and in some ways may be more of what you might imagine Italy to be, but there's something about it that doesn't impress me; I almost want to say I don't like the city.



There's a lot of artwork (it's the birthplace of the Renaissance I'm told), but I don't know. I'm just not feeling the atmosphere. This was true when I came here with my family a couple weeks ago. I don't really know why I came back. Maybe it's one of the cities I'd rather be at with people I know. Anyhow, I decided to cut my time here short so I'm only here for tonight. Tomorrow I'll be heading to Cinque Terre. Hopefully that'll be fun.

Rome(ing)

Just an interesting tidbit: There's this Aussie guy who I may be hanging out with later but has also been on some of the Rome(ing) Tours (that's the company name) I've been on. He decided to call me Jezza (sounds like Jizza) because "every Jeremy he's known has been nicknamed Jezza". Haha. Crazy Aussies.

Vatican City

So it's almost 4PM and I'm pooped. I was hanging out with JP2 (you might know him as Pope John Paul II) and took a tour of his city and pad. But I didn't have the pimpmobile that he does so I couldn't get around as quickly and he sort of left me behind. He said whatsup to the folks from back home in the United States, so I'll be sure to show you guys the video. It's funny because he gets rock star status here when he goes through a crowd. You know, where the women faint and throw him their panties. They also call him Big Poppa. Haha.



I'm not in Vatican City anymore (back in Rome, now) but yes, I was there earlier. Every Wednesday the Pope comes out and greets the public. Haha. I don't know that women actually fainted but I did see one set of panties flying in the air (just kidding). They do yell out "Papa", though, which I think is how they refer to him as in Italy. It was pretty cool. I was maybe 10 feet away from him and his popemobile. It would've been cooler if I could find a wind-up popemobile toy, but I don't know that they exist. Supposedly, there's a bottle opener (beer or wine, I'm not sure) with his holiness on it. Haha. I should look for that one.

Rome, Again

Whoa! What's that I hear? Tagalog!? Could a Filipino restaurant be nearby?



For those of you who know, I've had a craving for good ol' Filipino food for the past couple of weeks. I'm in an Internet cafe right now and behind me there are international phone booths. There was an old Filipino lady talking in there but unfortunately, I was shy and kept to myself at this computer. It was weird, though, because when she went to go pay she started talking in Italian.



I'm in Rome again and I don't know what it is but there's something about being here that's cool to me. Maybe it's the history, the art, the food, or whatever - Rome, despite some of the dirtiness that's here, is a cool place.

Munich II

I've eaten well here. I just had me one of the best rotisserie chickens I've ever had. Yesterday and the day before, I had me the best pizza I've tried in Europe. I had some really good pasta and had a hot dog with saurkraut. I don't know if it was really only satisfying because I was drunk, but I think everything really is that good. The Bavarians/Germans really know how to live. I don't know how authentic the Italian food is, but that's ok. It's good eating after I really haven't been eating as well as I could be in other countries. I'd definitely like to come back to Munich at some point.

Munich

Ok. Call me a woman. Call me weak. Call me pathetic. I am perfectly aware that I cannot hang. Four liters of beer is my limit. Anything beyond that is asking for trouble. But with that said...



OKTOBERFEST IS F***ING AWESOME!



It's totally not what I expected. I still had a ton of fun and, with it being the last weekend for it, I wasn't even able to get into one of the beer tents. Next time I'm around Europe and it's Oktoberfest time, I am definitely coming back and aiming to be in one of the beer tents.



I'm rather drunk right now. In fact, I left my German friends who were telling me to drink some more. Rather than embarrass my country and vomit, I told them I'd be back because I was going to look for my other friends. I have no idea what I'm gonna do now. I just wanna sleep. Haha.

Salzburg II

First and foremost - holy moley, Jeff! I'm surprised I didn't hear that shirt all the way here in Europe. It's so... eccentric. Awesome, man.



After that shirt, my day doesn't look as fun. This morning I went on Salzburg's world famous "Sound of Music Tour". Haha. Believe me, if you come to Salzburg, you probably won't be able to avoid the ads for it. Originally, I wasn't planning on going. I hadn't seen The Sound of Music in ages, and now that I think about it, I don't know if I've seen the entire thing. But I was talking to my mom and she said I should try to go to various tours and what not, to really be able to see a city and know what you're looking at rather than seeing it on my own. She said I should go on this one for the hell of it.



So I did and it was actually pretty interesting. Salzburg and the surrounding towns have such picturesque scenery with lakes and beautiful green hills, I was actually glad I went because if I were on my own, I wouldn't have seen it. And now if I ever watch that movie again, I'll have been to some of the spots in it.



After the tour I explored the Salzburg fortress thing (I forget the name). It was pretty cool, but again, another beautiful 360-degree view of surrounding areas, all the way to the Alps.



Tomorrow I leave for Zurich to meet up with Blake, an Australian that my family and I met on our tour. From there we'll be heading off to the last weekend of Oktoberfest. I'm pretty excited about the beer festival. I've heard so many fun stories about it and I'm looking forward to it. Anyhow, I'll get going now. So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, good bye.

Salzburg

Just checking in from Salzburg. I'll blog more about it tomorrow.

Vienna II

It's almost like one of those damn jokes...



So a Spaniard, an Australian, and an American walk into a bar... and whatever. I'm too drunk too complete the joke.

Vienna

I don't really have much to blog since I just blogged last night. I just thought I'd let everyone know I'm in Vienna now. I'll be spending tonight and tomorrow night here, and then I'm off to Salzburg.



One thing that is a little interesting, though: You notice pretty quickly from the various buildings and how everything looks when you come from an Eastern block country in Europe like the Czech Republic and Hungary to another country like Austria. Although their's graffiti everywhere, there's isn't as much. Budapest had a bunch of broken glass on various buildings. Maybe I was just in the wrong part of town, but things look newer and what not in Austria. And changing from the Firent (Hungarian currency) back to the Euro was welcome. Doing conversions when Firent notes are in multiples of 100 and 1000 are tough. I really wish I had found that calculator watch.

Budapest

Crazy adventure in the last 24 hours or so.



So last night, a travelling buddy and I had planned to take the night train from Prague to Budapest. We figured it would be cool since it was like a nine hour train ride and we could sleep on the sleeper trains and not have to pay for a hostel.



At around 10:30PM we leave the Prague hostel and head to the train station. We get there at around 11:00 and board the train at around 11:10 for an 11:35 departure. I thought this would be great since all the trains I had gotten on thus far usually started boarding like 10 minutes before departure. We'd be able to hop into our compartment and just take it easy. Goodness was I wrong.



It turns out they had overbooked the sleeper carriage we were on. After giving our ticket to the young, little conductor guy, we got onto the train and entered one of those super small hallways you see trains with rooms might have. Two people walking in opposite directions have to go sideways to pass. Imagine me with my huge ass backpack. Going sideways doesn't help. And to make matters worse, there's a crowd in the hallway because of the mixup. Two foreigners end up leaving before the train departs. There are two people in the room that me and my travelling buddy are booked to be in. This isn't good.



While trying to figure out what the hell is going on (everyone is speaking in Czech and we have no f***ing clue what anyone is saying), this fat guy is trying to walk down past us. He's able to pass by my friend who is asking the guys in our room what's happening. But I'm thinking to myself, "There's no way in hell this fat guy is gonna pass me." We try to figure it out. I back up a little and luckily, it seems, there's this open room with a lady in there wondering what the commotion is about.



I back up and try to get the guy to go into the room so that I can pass. There's a little bit of pushing going on when I think to myself, "Do I have my wallet?" So I check for it. It's not there.



"Hey! Where's my wallet!?" And then I shove the guy into the room. I set down my backpack and ask again "Where's my wallet!?" It's a bit easier to move now that I have my backpack off. Then suddenly he pulls out this little pocket knife. I ask him where my wallet is again and then in an instant he sort of comes toward me. I grabbed the arm holding the knife to keep it away and then elbow him in the nose. And then I pull down his head into my knee and he drops the knife and I quickly pick it up. He stays hunched over and gives me my wallet back. Then we waited for the police to get there.



That's the exciting story.



Haha. The real story goes like this: The fat guy got my wallet and I yelled "Hey! Where's my wallet!?" and pushed him. Then he gave it back to me and he just kept going. I warned the others behind me but I didn't want any trouble so didn't call the police or anything. Haha. Way more boring, huh.



But that was just the beginning of our interesting night. Because of the overbooking, my friend and I and the chinese couple are the only ones left without a room for like an hour. Eventually, the conductor guy figures out a way for us to get a room and we get one. We're able to settle in and go to sleep.



But then there's a bunch of knocks on the door. It's passport checking time. They bang on your doors loudly. Then my friend went to go use the toilet and the conductor tells him that he's going to have to add another person to our room (it sleeps 3). So we're waiting for a new roommate when someone knocks on the door again. It's the conductor and he says "Problem," and then closes the door. Another banging on the door comes. This time, it's a guy maybe 4 inches taller than me. He doesn't see me because I'm on the top bunk but he asks my friend for help. "Do you have a weapon? Help me fight."



The fat guy tried to strike again.



After that, we just closed our door and locked it up. My friend slept with his knife by him. I just slept. Haha. Crazy night. I was pooped.

Prague

Hey folks. So meeting people has been pretty cool. What I've learned so far is you have to stay at the right hostels. Staying at the wrong ones is trouble. My first night in Berlin was rather bad because the hostel I ended up staying at was pretty small and seemingly catered to only Germans. Everyone I met there spoke German so talking to them was tough. I ended up sleeping early that first night.



But then I moved on to a better hostel in a better location and actually met people there. There's some interesting characters at these hostels. I've met a ton of Australians, a good amount of Americans, and various other Europeans.



It's been fun for sure. But yeah, seriously, I have until October 28. Someone really should come out here. I just keep thinking it would be fun with friends around. All these people love to travel and it's just amazing some of the stories they've told me. This one guy woke up hungover and decided to quit his job. He put his resignation in that day and has now been travelling throughout Europe for 4 months. Money is replaceable, the experience isn't. Haha. Be young. Email me for my revised itinerary. Hahaha.

Berlin

I´m in Berlin right now after having spent two nights in Amsterdam. I know it´s only been three nights that I´ve been on my own but occasionally, like right now, I get homesick. I´m hoping this feeling will pass (really soon) but right now, I think I´m just too use to having familiar faces around, especially family and friends. It sort of sucks having to make friends only to leave the next day and then try to make new friends again in a new place.



Right now, I know I´m just being cynical but I want to get out of Berlin, rush through Prague, and get to Oktoberfest in Munich already. I think I´ll still swing through Vienna and Salzburg, but I just want to get through to Munich. And then Italy, France and Spain, where I think I´ll enjoy the scenery more. Yeah, the weather makes it gloomy with the clouds and stuff. Someone meet me up! Haha.

Amsterdam

Hallo, folks. I'm here in Amsterdam for my last night. It's been a really fun time. I've met some cool people out here for sure. I hope everyone's as friendly at other hostels but I won't keep my hopes up.



So last night I got pretty damn wasted. I was with these very cool people I had just met and we were just going around. For two hours straight I was on mute. Everytime they asked me a question, I'd say "Dude, I'm fucked." Good times. I felt obligated to apologize for being unsociable so I did the next morning. And also said sorry for the snoring. It's a good thing I've only been staying at places one night at a time so far. Haha.



Tomorrow I'm headed off to Berlin then Prague. I think this is the scariest part of my journey just because I'm worried about any possible racism. Haha. Maybe I'm just being dumb. Anyway, till next time. Take care everyone.

Paris

Bonjour. So I hopped into an internet cafe to post a quick blog. I'm on my own and right now, I'm actually sort of bummed. My family just left and it was great having their company. And I just spoke to some folks back home, too (Happy belated Birthday, Ei!). Now I shall roam the streets of Paris by myself until tomorrow when I'm off to Amsterdam to... stock up. Haha. The past two weeks or so have been really fun despite the early wake up calls and fast pace. Now I can take my time but without the great company. I miss everyone out there. If anyone has a free long weekend and is fortunate enough to find a good, cheap airfare deal I'd appreciate the company. Anyhow, I'm off to see if I can stay at a local hostel. Au revoir.

Rome I

The albatross is a vicious bird. We were in Venice (Venezia), Italy the other day in La Plaza di San Marco when we saw an albatross attack a pigeon. The albatross is a bit bigger than the pigeon and it was such an unfair fight -- unless the millions of other pigeons ganged up on the single albatross. But this albatross, goodness gracious. It grabbed hold of this pigeon's wing and just went crazy. And then it kept stabbing it with its beak so much that its beak was caked with blood and feathers. Viciously disturbing.



We're in Rome now, just a couple of meters away from the Spanish Steps. We went to the Vatican, Colosseum, Pantheon, and Roman Forum. And we still haven't seen everything. Tonight's our last night here but I definitely plan to come back here when I'm on my own.



Anyway, we're just wrapping up a pizza meal in front of a computer so I thought I'd blog. It's also September 11. It was rather nice of our tour director from Holland to ask for a moment of silence and nice of the Australians, British, and other assorted nationalities to oblige. Anyhow, till next time.

Brussels

Our family is the dark chinese family on the tour. Haha. Not really, but occasionally it seems that way. While we were taking a taxi around London, we were chatting with the driver. It was the six of us (my siblings, parents, cousin Cheryl and I) and we were just asking him what sites he would recommend, places to shop, and restaurants to eat at.



"What's some English food that we should be trying?" we'd ask.



"Well, if you're able to remember, I'd recommend a good place to get some good mash and fish and chips in the morning. But they're closed now. We have a great little China town with good Chinese food. I can show you where."



"Are there any other places open right now to get some fish and chips?"



"Not that I can think of. But I can show you where China town is if you like."



Haha. I forget how the conversation went but it seemed he kept trying to steer us to go to China town. Hahaha. Despite this, the few taxi drivers in London we were able to speak to were pretty cool. London, in general, is way overpriced from what we saw, though. The taxi driver was saying he laughs at us Americans when we complain about paying $2 a gallon for gas. They pay about 3-4 pounds a gallon or so for gas. The conversion rate is roughly 1 pound for every 2 US dollars, so that comes out to like $6-8 per gallon. Absoultely ridiculous.



Anyway. I haven't blogged since my first London stopover I think. Since then, we've spent a full day in Amsterdam, a full day in London, and now we're here in Brussels. I had a belgian waffle. Pretty good. Haven't had belgian chocolate yet and it doesn't look like I'm going to get to try it unless I come back on my own. I have to get up in about 6 hours so we can head off to Switzerland.



Hm. So I sort of stole this Internet time, too. They're not very bright. They have this glass case with the cards with passcodes on them for Internet access. I memorized the top card and jumped online. Haha. I'm not about to pay 10 Euro for 45 minutes of Internet time. That's crazy talk. But yes. I'm going to sign off now. Ciao.

London Stopover

English accents are pretty cool. My siblings and I arrived in London Gatwick a little while ago. I'm keeping this blog short since it's only a stopover till we head out to our first real destination - Amsterdam. But yes. As little a thing as announcements over the intercom or conversations I've eavesdropped on have been all the more interesting because of the accents. I guess I'm just being a dumb dope though.



This airport is pretty big and super busy. There's not much more to say beyond that, yet, so I'm signing off. Perhaps a blog from the Netherlands will be next if I'm not... uhm... inebriated.



P.S. My blog times are still in Pacific Standard Time. It's probably a little past 10AM here but I don't have a clock.

Gone Till (November)...

Alright. I sort of made a calendar for those of you who are interested. I don't know how closely I'll be following it because it really only allows one day to enjoy each city with the exception of a few. I may be throwing some cities out and possibly (but not likely) adding other cities. You can find the calendar here.

Revised Travel Info

So I'll probably be reversing that order I mentioned the other day so that I can make it to Oktoberfest in Munich. Oktoberfest actually starts on Sept. 18 and ends Oct. 3, so it's better if I had there after I finish that tour with my family. And I sort of made up a better itinerary so here it is:



Tour with family...

Paris

Amsterdam

Berlin

Prague

Vienna

Salzburg

Munich

Venice

Greece

Rome

Florence

Nice

Barcelona

Ibiza

Valencia

Madrid

London



I don't know that I'll be able to do all of those, but that's the plan as of now.

Travel Information

First of all, if any of you have like a week off and can join me, please do. That would be awesome. I'm gone from September 1st through October 28th and the last six weeks of that I'll be going solo. Let me know where you want to go and I'll meet you up (I have an unlimited Eurail pass so I think, given proper notice, I can make it to wherever you are).



For those of you interested, this is the itinerary I have thus far:



Sept. 1: Depart San Jose, CA (12:10PM)

Sept. 2: Arrive London Gatwick, United Kingdom (9:00AM)



From here I'm on a tour with my family for two weeks visiting various countries.



Sept. 16: Paris, France



After that, I plan to visit the following cities. I'll probably spend at least 2-3 days in each place with another day for travel. I think for the most part it's in about the right order I plan to follow.



Madrid

Barcelona

Florence

Rome

Venice

Possibly Greece

Austria

Berlin

Possibly Prague

Amsterdam

London



Oct. 28: Arrive San Jose, CA (7:11PM)



So if you can meet me up, that would be awesome. I won't expect anyone but it would still be cool.

Eurotrip

So my regular site (www.riskingabsurdity.com/jeng) isn't working properly. I can't post any blogs. Rather than try to fix it and all that, I was lazy and created this new boring one using one of the blogger templates and even using their blogspot. So this is more of a public blog now, too. In any case, I think I'll be posting stuff from here. I wonder if anyone will actually read it.



Oh. And one thing that's cool is you can add comments. So for those of you who want to comment on my adventures, feel free.

Is this crap working yet?

testing.

Firstly, congratulations to Jason and Aileen on their wedding.



Secondly, everybody chant:



"CHRIS' BIRTHDAY! CHRIS' BIRTHDAY!"



Repeat loudly while driving.



Happy birthday, bro.

Damn it. When was the last time you bit your tongue? I was driving on my way home, chewing on a piece of gum and for some reason I bit my tongue. But this time, I bit my tongue hard enough to cut it and produce blood. I've never done that before. Weird.

Alright. I'm bored.



So I'm roughly four months removed from my undergraduate work. And pathetically but perhaps expected, I have nothing to show for it. I haven't done jack shit in these four months of unemployment. I do have my Europe trip to look forward to, but I feel like I should've done more. Actually, I know I should've done more. I've just been unmotivated and lazy. Not good qualities to have, kids.



So what should I do for the next month before I leave? Be active only to have to take a 2-month break from that activity? For now, I think I'll stick with the laziness. Maybe. Hmmm.

So I haven't really blogged a real blog in awhile, huh.



Let's keep the streak going.

"Dude. Go to the speaker and you tell him you have twenty-six dollars and then you tell him to surprise you. You want a baker's dozen of burgers. A couple'a sourdough jacks, maybe an ultimate cheeseburger or something. Whatever he feels like cookin'. And then whatever money we have left, tell him to turn them into tacos."

Support your fellow Filipinos - the Black Eyed Peas' The Apl Song.

Sick cover (right click to save). Tomorrow, by Rivers Cuomo of Weezer.

Uh... So that movie was way pretty damn f**ckin good. Agh. When's the next one coming out?

Haha. My kid's name is going to be this.

You don't read this, but happy birthday anyway, Mom.

Mr. JJ Sabangan, welcome to the world of the 21+ year olds. It's not as cool as becoming 21. It's just aging now.

Remember Yahoo games? Graffiti ring a bell? Anyway, my bro got me playing it again. If anyone wants to throw down, let me know and I'll meet you up in a room. Hahaha.

Alright, folks. Looks like everything is finalized; Europe is a go. Flights are booked and I'm leaving September 1 from San Jose. Kind of weird that I'm leaving from there, but I have a stop over in Minnesota and then I'm off to London. For the first two weeks, I'll have company in the form of my younger siblings who will stay with me until Sept. 16. Actually, we may part ways earlier since they need to be back in London.



Anyway, my return is planned for October 28. That means at this moment, I'll be exploring Europe without company for about 6 weeks. Anyone want to join? Meet me up somewhere? Oktoberfest starts at the end of September and -- surprise, surprise -- ends in October. Sounds like a perfect time to go, doesn't it? I think Mr. Defensor is on board for that leg of the trip but for how long, I'm not sure. But yes, any other interested parties are more than welcome to join. In fact, I think it would be really cool if more people could go.



I haven't come up with an official itinerary yet, but the cities I plan to hit up are London, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Venice, Florence, Rome, Athens, Prague, and Amsterdam (ha). Not necessarily in that order but looking at the map, I guess it sort of makes some sense. Maybe. I dunno. Anyway, I'd like to add more cities and possibly cross out some that may not be worth my while. Any suggestions, please let me know.



So that's that. If you're interested in going and want to try to get on either of the flights that I'm on, I can forward you that information. I guess I'll go read my Europe book now. Woo hoo!

So Chris and I were invited to a pretty cool, unexpected concert on Friday. My cousin and her boyfriend invited us out to Live 105's BFD. It was supposed to be an all day thing but we couldn't meet up until later, when the main acts were on stage. We missed a couple of bands that I've heard of and more bands that I hadn't heard of (full lineup).



We ended up catching the Violent Femmes. Then we caught the main act and the big reason we were there - the Beastie Boys. It was pretty sick. Kind of weird seeing how old they were and their grey hairs and what not, but it was still pretty cool. Mixmaster Mike was pretty dope. After that, the final act came on, The Strokes. I don't have any of their CDs but they're a pretty cool band. The lead singer was f**kin' wasted, it was funny. Good stuff.



Anyway, that concert was at the Shoreline, where Maroon 5 and John Mayer will be playing next month. Anyone wanna go?

Haha. From yesterday:



"Do you know what time it is?

TENACIOUS D TIME! YOU MUTHA F***A, GO!

F**K YEAAAAAAAA!"



Haha. That's sick.

Anyone interested in a trip out to Reno or Lake Tahoe? I have 2 free night stays at either location but there's a couple of catches. First, it has to be during the week from Sunday through Thursday. Second, I have to use it before July 31 this year. Any takers? Some gambling? Perhaps some exploring in Tahoe? I don't think I've ever really been there during the summer. Maybe we could go rent a boat or some jet skis or something and cruise the lake?

After waking up earlier than expected after a long night of laughs, I decided to finish up this painting. It's my first real attempt at painting something other than a character. Like previous paintings, it didn't come out the way I wanted it to and you probably can't even really tell what's going on but here it is. The paper I use tends to warp a lot because I use this cheapo thin paper. I have this other bigger paper that I was going to save for something I really want to work on but haven't decided on a proper subject. Any suggestions?

Yet again, I've started another project of sorts. This time it's of Batman. I kind of like the way it looks and I'm scared to add color. I added color to the last Metal Gear Solid one I did and ruined it. I feel like if I don't add color to this one though, then it feels like I might as well have just inked it instead of using paint. I wanted to play around with shading again and negative/dead space (is that the correct term?). Anyway, here it is thus far.

I started a new painting. I don't know if you'd really consider these paintings actually. I'd say they're more like little projects and experiments. I wanted to play around with some shading and lighting but it's not turning out the way I'm wanting it to turn out. I still plan on adding more depth and perhaps more color so stay tuned for other updates. I stuck with darker colors because the other day I let my nieces and nephews paint and they mixed everything up so it's all pretty dark. Those of you familiar with the Metal Gear Solid games from your PlayStation might recognize the character I tried to paint. Yep. That's a mullet and a head band.

Haha. So you get back home and you're sitting in your room. Then your dad strolls in wanting to talk. Haha. Sorry. Not happening, pops. He leaves, then your mom comes in trying the same thing. Sorry ma, not happening either. Haha. Goodness gracious.

Last week I started trying to paint in watercolor. It was probably a bad choice of medium to use because I find it to be tough to work with and sort of unpredictable. Although it's discouraging at times, I think it's cool. I figure if I try hard enough, maybe I'll get good at it and maybe I can eventually paint what I imagine rather than painting crap like I am now. In any case, my first subject was Spider-Man. I thought it would be an on-going work in progress but I'll leave it be for now and see what happens and if I ever feel like coming back to it. Without further ado:





"Spider Sense"

Watercolor

May 26, 2004

Happy birthday, Thomas Ko.

My parents are out of town for the weekend.

Happy birthday, Mich!

Sorry for the down time, folks. Risking Absurdity should be back online soon. As of now, not all links will work but I'm still tinkering with it so please be patient.

So I just joined Google's email service, Gmail (it's in beta right now) and I must say, I think it has a lot of potential. Haha. Those people at Google are always thinking. And they give you 1GB of storage, too. Nice. I think I may start using it as my "professional" email but I keep accumulating email addresses like I'm a collector and it's my hobby. I was just starting to use my djeremyreyes@hotmail account (I didn't like djeremyreyes@yahoo.com as much) because my djreyes@scu.edu was going to be phased out soon. I could use my jeremy@riskingabsurdity.com one but I'm not confident in the server's reliability. So should I use djreyes@gmail.com or djeremyreyes@hotmail.com? Hmmm...

Last Friday I picked up my bike from the repair shop. They replaced the bike chain, gear wires, and brakes.



Today I went biking. I went over one of the freeway overpasses and everything was fine. Then I got to the bottom of the freeway pass and changed gears. Then the chain got tangled somehow and bent rendering my bike un-rideable. So I had to turn around and walk back up that damn overpass. And then walk my bike back home the mile and a half or so. Weak. I guess on the bright side, I didn't bike too far.

Ok. So does anyone know of anyone who hates me and/or my family? I found my car this morning with sugar and raisins all over it. In the past year or two, my bro's car radio was stolen in front of our house, our house was egged and TP'ed and now this. Any ideas? I'm about ready to kick some ass.

Why the hell does William Hung have music selling on the Apple iTunes music store?

It is with great sadness that I announce the 'hawk is no more. So long, fair 'hawk, I barely knew thee.

LOL. Hey, Rich, I'm glad you got a camera. Now we can accurately remember the rock that we throw down. And you're actually posting pics, too -- a welcome change of pace.

Haha. I just remembered this from NO and thought it was funny.



"I don't play magic! Not anymore!"

First of all, big happy birthday shout out to Mr. Richard Cayetano. Secondly, after reading your blog and seeing those pictures, all I gotta repeat is that it was an awesome trip and yes, we really need to go do something like that again. Definitely gotta do a scavenger hunt. Man. Fun times.

I'm thinking this is going to be a rather long blog so don't say I didn't warn you. The events below are not necessarily listed in chronological order. They're just what I remember as I'm thinking about the trip.



"You wan' sum buttah on yo' grits, baby?" asked the portly, black lady behind the counter at Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits. We had a three hour stop over in Atlanta and just like that, we were introduced to Southern hospitality and began our Southern adventure.



When we arrived Friday morning in New Orleans, we were pretty tired. A three hour stopover will do that to you. But nonetheless, we ventured off to Bourbon Street. Only a "short walk" away, we found several routes to take from our hotel to the French Quarter over the course of our vacation. We had lunch and quickly found out that drinking alcohol is not something you do once in a while. It's a way of life. Alcohol is sold everywhere, obviously the most prevalent place being Bourbon St. Little shops everywhere in the French Quarter serve alcohol. You'll be walking in the mall and Hot-Dog-On-A-Stick is serving "lemonade". The church serves wine in shot glasses. I'm just kidding about the last one but seriously, alcohol is everywhere. After lunch that Friday morning, we had ourselves a 3-for-1 hurricane (3 shots for the price of 1, all in one drink) from Red Rhino and then walked a block down and had a hand grenade from Tropical Isle. I must say, mixed drinks in NO are deadly -- they taste good and have a good amount of alcohol. We continued exploring the French Quarter and eventually met up with Brian and his friends. Haha. We had ourselves a good buzz going and as he said, our rock was inspirational so after we parted ways with them, they started drinking, too. We, on the other hand, went to our hotel to change so we could come back to Bourbon St. later in the evening.



Believe the hype. Bourbon St. can get crazy (as we saw Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night). We saw our share of the female chest region in full glory. We went on the balconies. We walked on the filthy streets. We had one of our own arrested (the youngest of the group in fact). And all I can say is that it was some of the most fun I've had. It was an awesome, awesome trip.



The weather was perfect. At night, it provided the perfect environment for drinking. The only bad day was when it rained, and that was on Monday. But even though it rained, we still had fun. Haha. Oh, and when it rains, it pours. We were in the middle of our Cemetary/Voodoo/Ghost tour and was walking through the French Quarter when the rain started coming down. We got our refund and started walking back but after ten minutes or so, some streets were flooded up to the sidewalk. It was crazy. So we went to go drink some more.



I never imagined myself on one of those paddleboats going down the Mississippi River, but after this trip, I can say that I've done that. It's probably weird and something that only amuses me, but that was fun and relaxing. And we also ventured off into the swamps and took an airboat tour. That was definitely fun and one of the things I'm really glad we were able to do. Our tour guide was entertaining and we even saw an alligator, albeit a small one.



Food. Goodness gracious. Food. Most of my expenses went toward the great cuisine we had. All we did was eat. We ate free breakfast. We had snacks afterward. We had lunch. We had dinner. Then we had chili and breaded macaroni and cheese bites. Then we went to sleep only to repeat the same eating schedule the next day. But the food was awesome. There wasn't a food that I tried that I didn't like. We had catfish, jamabalaya, crawfish, oysters, gumbo, etoufee, filet minon, duck, lamb, and so many other foods. Although it took a chunk out of my money, I think it was well worth it.



In fact, even though this whole trip was more expensive than I had planned, I think it was worth it. And despite all those expenses above, it wouldn't have been much without the company that was there. BIG, BIG, BIG thanks to Mich for not only showing us around, but also showing me that I am too old and can't hang when it comes to drinking. Haha. Thanks to my roomies for the trip, Rich, Eileen, and Chris. Sorry if my snoring kept you awake but the trip wouldn't have been the same without y'all. Brian and the rest of your friends, fun fun times. Cesar, you made me jealous by getting arrested. I should've pissed on a cop, too. Haha j/k. A lot of good memories and I guess insiders like Ei mentioned: "Eggs!" "Awesome." "Game, blouses." "Look at those poor kids, passing around their dessert." "Look at those poor kids, looking through the window." "Baby" "Sweetheart" "Absolutely" "Definitely" "Out of State License" "Nose completing the circle" and many more.



Goodness gracious. Fun times. When's the next trip, y'all? And by the way, can you pass the saucebitch? Hahaha.

Blogs tomorrow. Sleep today.

Happy 20th birthday to my sister, Erica. Way to go.

Oh man. I need to find myself hobbies... A lot of them. Quickly.

Mother freakin', hell yes. Finally.

Jasmine. You're pretty damn good, though. Haha.

Haha. Sorry, Jasmine (and the couple of other really good folks on the show), but right now, my votes go to Camile Velasco on American Idol. She rocks.

Alright folks... I think I've settled on some dates for my backpacking trek through Europe. If you're available between August 18 and October 13 of this year, let me know. Also, if you know of any cheap deals, let me know. I haven't decided on where to fly to and out of, but I think I may start and end in London. These dates aren't set in stone so holla if you have any suggestions or events that I may be forgetting.

So in about 5 minutes I'm going to complete my last official undergraduate course. Sort of eery.

From our discussions last night - so are you folks really down to go to Reno or Lake Tahoe for some sort of weekend trip? Haha. Cuz I'm really, really down for that. Let's do it!

So barring some sort of monumentous disaster, this is my last week of undergraduate studies. I think that's pretty cool. What am I supposed to do now?

"I was in the bathroom and felt something kind of wet in my pocket so I thought I peed but I checked and I had rice in my pocket. Why did I have rice in my pocket?" asked Brian on Sunday morning.



"Cuz you were saving it for later."



For those of you in attendance last Saturday, just wanted to let you know that my bro thanks you and I thank you for coming out. Fun times (possibly some video to be posted) but unfortunately, for those of you who showed up late, my bro doesn't really remember you arriving.



Also, he really liked the gift we got him (it was a guitar amp). He always borrowed his friend's before so now he has one of his own.



Haha. And for those of you who chipped in, feel free to pay me back anytime, preferably soon though. Or, if I didn't ask you and you still want to chip in for this gift, contact me. It'll be around $25 each (unless more people decide to contribute). Thanks!

Yo party people - don't forget to swing on by my place tonight for some alcoholism.

So in some spare time (ie boredom) I thought I'd redesign my site and figured I'd go with a western sorta theme. The cowboy hat and bandana were suggestions from others. Kinda different so I hope y'all like it. Go ahead and let me know what you think.



Also, just to recap what's been done so far, here are my first and second designs for this site (if memory serves me correctly).

Whew. Just got back from a crazy and somewhat random snowboarding "day" trip. Good times.

So no takers for some boarding tomorrow? I'm leaving at 8 AM so if you wanna come along, contact me beforehand. Northstar's the destination and the weather is looking mighty fine.

Haha. I say Garcia is going to Tampa Bay.

Hi. How's it goin'?

I usually have Tuesdays off. It would've been a nice day to go boarding but I thought I'd hang out with my goddaughter, Cessa. She's cool. She said my hair is crazy. I think she wanted to go snowboarding today, too, but I think we're gonna go roller skating instead.



So yeah. It looks like the weather is perfect for some boarding. Anyone down for Thursday?



Also, birthday party for my bro on Saturday. Call me for details.

Big, big, big birthday shout out to my brother, Brian. I guess I won't be able to call you my designated driver anymore. Happy 21st birthday, bro.

Hmm. So I figured I'd bum around today and thought I deserved a day off from class so now I'm home doing nothing. Probably not the best idea I guess. Ah well.

Anyone wanna go snowboarding tomorrow (Saturday)? Conditions are supposed to be pretty good. Gimme a call.

Haha. So I guess it can't get much better than this, huh. Tons of fun.

It's hailing.

Before I forget, happy birthday to Mr. Jero Sabangan.

For some reason, I have a craving for donuts. There should be a donut delivery place around here. Actually, there should be an "every food" delivery place around here. That would be cool.

So due to the storm weather, I decided not to head up to Tahoe and instead of a full day of boarding, I get a full day of boredom at home. Ah well. This should be interesting.

A couple of thoughts:



As many of you know, I continue to take my damn Electric Circuits class. Yeah, yeah, yeah - I know it's my second and a half time taking it so it's not quite something to be proud of but after seriously hoping to get a 30 out of 150 on the midterm, I was pretty damned happy for a 68.7%. I don't think I've ever been happier for that kind of percentage. I would've totally been happy with the 20% I was striving for. And not only that, the class average was a 54/150 with a median at 45/150, so I beat out a class of Electrical Engineers at their own game. So now I'm getting cocky and complacent and don't wanna go anymore. Hahaha. Go figure. But seriously, after seeing that grade, I just wanted to yell out and tell that bitch of a professor, "Look you assface! I know half of the material so do I really have to take the rest of the class?" But that didn't happen.



In other weird news, I forgot to mention this but the other weekend, my brother and I went with my mom, three of my aunts, and my cousin from New Jersey to an Indian Casino near Sacramento. I thought this was really, really weird, and I don't know if it's because of age, or the atmosphere, or whatever, but we were sitting at some slot machines (I never really played slots before but my aunts lured me in) when my mom offers me a cigarette. I didn't take one but my bro and I just looked at each other with the same wtf-look - "Did she just offer you a cigarette?"



Speaking of my bro, we went snowboarding last Thursday. Really good conditions and an awesome way to introduce our new boards to snow. If you're expecting the name of my board (as some people have chosen to do), I have yet to give it one. Well actually, I had come up with one but apparently it's unacceptable. My bro thought Tim would work for his (his board is made by Burton). My board (it's a Palmer Classic) really reminds me of Thundercats and Lion-O's sword but I thought Lion-O wouldn't be a very cool name. Likewise for Panthro, Cheetara and other assorted Thundercats names. Hahaha. So I was gonna start calling it the "Board of Omens". Hahaha. You know? Like the Sword of Omens? Haha. But I guess it's a weird name. Ah well.



That's all folks.

For those of you without work/school or would like an excuse to skip either of those, I plan to go boarding this coming Thursday, February 19. Hopefully conditions will be good. If conditions deteriorate for Thursday, I plan to go sometime this weekend. If you're interested in a day trip, let me know.

Big happy birthday to our 16th President of the United States - Honest Abe Lincoln. It's been a while since we last saw you, but you've been a great friend and I'm really looking forward to getting your ass drunk and slurring like a mother f****r. Can't wait to hear that Gettysburg Address.



Also, happy birthday to Jeff. The same applies to you.

By the way, friends of mine who have been subjected to the wonderful and soothing noises I tend to make when sleeping - The doctors have determined that my sleeping pattern is Minimally Abnormal (that's what it said on my report). Hahaha. So there you have it.



To further explain: they were trying to determine whether or not I have sleep apnea. I may be using the wrong terms and stuff, but your oxygen saturation level is typically between 90-100%. This includes when you're sleeping. If you have sleep apnea, you stop breathing for a couple seconds while sleeping and your oxygen level is supposed to drop.



On the average, I had a saturation level of 94% (or somewhere around that) however, I did dip as low as 86% and stopped breathing for a total of 38 times over a 8.2 hour period. Hence, I am minimally abnormal.



The doctor said there would be cause for concern if I dropped to around 70% and stopped breathing around 80 times or so.



So what does that mean? He thinks it might just be some sort of nasal congestion (which I won't argue with because my nasals tend to be congested). Hopefully, his prescription will soon quell the savagery that is my snoring. And when everyone is crashing somewhere, you can all sleep as well as I do. Haha.

On our way up to Lake Tahoe back in January, we saw this sign and thought it was pretty interesting and totally random to see in Sacramento, California:







It turns out that in Ocean City, Maryland there's also a sign back to Sacramento.

Ok folks. Can you imagine rolling down the street in your phat ride with over 700 minutes of music at your disposal? Imagine no longer. I am selling my 10-Disc Sony CDX-65 CD Changer. It's not in the best shape but it definitely works. I don't know how old it is but it came with my car. It's a little banged up, but again, it works. The reason I'm getting rid of it is because I no longer have any use for it. If you, or anyone you know, is interested, let me know before I put it up on eBay.

Haha. So my sister regularly records "Saved by the Bell" with our Tivo. I've watched a couple of episodes and find them pretty damn funny. Haha. I used to watch that show all the time. Goodness gracious.



Hahaha. So anyway, today's show was called "No Hope With Dope". Some teen idol actor named Johnny Dakota chooses Bayside to be the high school setting for a commercial he's shooting against drugs. There's a round table discussion where they get all serious and thoughtful.



"I just don't get it. I don't know why people do it," says Kelly Kapowski.



Haha. I don't know why either, Kelly. But later on in the show, they find that Johnny Dakota isn't as hot as they thought he was because at a Hollywood party they all go to, he's smoking pot and asks Zack and Kelly if they want to also:



"Come on, everyone does it," he says.



"I don't," Zack shoots back.



"And neither do I," says Kelly.



Haha. And then they storm out of the place. So the next day, they're all serious and Johnny wants to shoot the commercial (the kids are acting in it) but they refuse to because they don't feel right doing it because of Johnny's lies. Hahaha. How noble of them.



So yeah. That was funny.



Also, my sister recorded "Saved by the Bell: The College Years". Hahahaha. Did you know A.C. Slater's last name isn't really Slater? Apparently, his dad changed their name to Slater because if he kept Sanchez, he felt he wouldn't have been accepted. Hahaha. And then Slater goes and gets all cultural and fights for his heritage. Hahaha. You crazy, Slater.

Janet Jackson's Super Bowl flash grabs TiVo users

"Users of TiVo, the digital video recorder system that lets viewers pause and 'rewind' live TV broadcasts, apparently couldn't get enough of pop diva Janet Jackson's 'wardrobe malfunction' during the Super Bowl halftime show Sunday. TiVo reports that the controversial baring of one of Jackson's breasts was replayed a record number of times by TiVo users."



Hahaha. We just wanted to try to figure out if it was intentional or not... in slo-mo.

Ok. So I know I'm not a film major and all that stuff and what not, and movies don't always have to have happy endings, etc, but I just watched Requiem For A Dream and I must say I was rather disappointed. After watching it, I read a couple of reviews and so many places give it great reviews. I found the movie pretty disturbing and depressing. However, the performances were really good. Maybe I'm not smart enough or whatever to appreciate the movie, but it's not really a movie I would recommend.

I'm considering taking a day trip up to Tahoe this Saturday for a snowboarding trip. Anyone interested?

So I got back from a Reno/Lake Tahoe gambling/snowboarding trip to help celebrate my cousin's birthday yesterday. It was a lot of fun hanging out with cousins and all that stuff. But I just gotta say that the Blackjack gods must hate me. Or I'm just an idiot and don't know when I should leave a table. In any case, I lost.



But in other news, other people in our party enjoyed good winnings. We weren't even checked into our hotel rooms yet when my mom hit a slot machine and won $1000. Another aunt won a couple hundred on slots, too. And so did another cousin of mine. But the big winner was another aunt on our last day there.



When I woke up I was told she won $1200. So I was like, "Whoa, cool. $1200 is a good amount. I wish I won that much money." Then later I'm told she didn't win $1200. She won $12,000. Now that's a pretty good amount, too. I should play slots more often. It turns out this is her second big winning off of slots in the last month or so. A couple weeks ago she won $4500. When I played the slots before we left, I won $3.50. Then I lost it trying to make it into more. Haha. Ah well. There's always next time I guess.

I find myself slowly cheering for the Atlanta Falcons. But I'm still a bigger Niner fan so they better not get Julian Peterson and Ahmed Plummer. I'm just not a John York fan. The should take him.

Ok, folks. I'd like 2004 to be the year of travel for me with the culmination being a 2 to 3 month trip in Europe... and then getting my own custom Samurai swords made in Japan. But in the meantime, I'd like to go do touristy stuff and just see other places. Anyone interested? I get Jan. 19 and Feb. 16 off so those are 3-day weekends for me. Any takers?

When I am utterly, filthy rich, I will donate money to Santa Clara University's engineering department - only on one condition, though. That they fire you, Shoba Krishnan, and condemn you to the seventh circle of hell with their holy Jesuit might.

I don't know if many of you know, but after last year's rather surprising turnout for our New Year's party, I thought it would be better to not invite as many people. This year, it was mostly a family party but we decided to change it up a little more than usual and made it a Disco/70's theme party. My dad even sprung for a hardwood dance floor to put over the carpet; we got the disco ball and assorted lights. And we, of course, dressed up in the appropriate attire. In keeping with the theme, I didn't really use a digital camera so I scanned a couple of the polaroids I took. Only two pictures, but I'll let you enjoy.