Not Feelin It

Lately I've been thinking that I might stop the blog. I don't feel like I've really had anything "blog-worthy" to say in a while. It's just me writing about what I did that day and that's kind of boring. Today I went to the movies. Today I went hiking. Today I rode the bus. Boring!

I still want to be involved somehow in the global web community and I'm thinking of different ideas on how to do that, but I think maybe this format is losing it's interest. I know I'll definitely keep up photos and a "photo blog" on my photos page.

Saw "Snakes on a Plane" last night at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre. It was so horribly bad that it was good. Hilarious.

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LA Night Riding

So Friday night I went on an organized bicycle ride through Los Angeles. They do these about once a month and it draws a very big crowd. There were over 1,000 riders there Friday night. Each time they do a theme. This month's theme was pirates. Not sure why, but it was fun to say "arrrrrgh" all the time. I was a bit nervous about the whole thing because I wasn't sure what to expect and if I'd be able to hack it. Because I am just a hack really.

We met up at this beautiful fountain on the corner of Los Feliz and Riverside, near the 5. Most people drove there and parked, but I biked from my house and I was exhausted by the time I got there. There's an incredibly huge hill going up Los Feliz from Sunset. After I got there, I waited around and tried to meet some people, but everyone was in there little biker gang packs and it was kinda hard to break through. Or perhaps it was just that I didn't try hard enough.

So after a while, we took off and rode as a group all through different neighborhoods of Los Angeles. It was a pretty cool experience. I thought the group got a little rowdy at times, but overall it was fun. A cool part was riding through downtown LA in the middle of the night. The trail was about 15 miles long and that doesn't include the 8 miles I biked getting to and from the start/finish points from/to my house.

On the way home I was starving and only drive through windows were open. Now I know you can't walk up to a drive-thru, but can you bike up? I tried first with Jack in the Box and after holding up the line a bit because they didn't see me at the speaker where you place your order, they told me that I had to be in a car. I asked what if I was on a motorcycle? They said no. Car only. I was tempted to debate their exact definition of a "car" and how it relates to California DMV, but I let that one go. I biked on and thought I'd try Carl's Jr. on La Brea and Santa Monica. When I biked up to the speaker, I first said, "I'm on a bike, is that ok?" and they said no problem. I was thrilled. I ordered fish n chips because that's what I was craving. Perhaps it because of the pirate night. I'm glad to know that there's a 24 hour drive through nearby that won't discriminate against me because of my choice of transportation.


argh.
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Trevor's Big Adventure

Yesterday I gave my new bike a workout. I rode down to The Grove at Farmer's Market in L.A. and just hung around there for a while. The Grove is a fun place to be. It's a cross section of L.A. all coming together to eat or shop outdoors. And they have the Apple Store, which is always fun to visit. I'm also learning how to be an L.A. urban biker. I plan to use my new bike as much as possible and drive as little as possible. I don't know why I'm so excited about my bike. Maybe it's just a phase.

Later that evening I met up with a group in L.A. that promotes bicycle events and workshops. It is called "The Bicycle Kitchen". You should check them out. It's a really cool place and they are dedicated to having a positive influence in the community. There is this whole "bicycle movement" in L.A. that is trying to make the streets of L.A. more bicycle friendly and also to try to get more people riding their bikes to work instead of driving.

http://www.bicyclekitchen.com


People with their bikes met up at The Kitchen and then we all rode together to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery to watch a screening of "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" outdoors on the lawn projected against a masoleum. How cool is that? Everyone brought food to share and we got a good spot up front. Before the movie, they show a slide show of old movie posters and a DJ spins some really cool tunes. Then right before the movie, as a surprise, Pee Wee himself, Paul Reubens, came out and spoke to the crowd. Then he brought out some of the cast from the movie to say "hi" as well. It was a lot of fun. Next weekend they're showing "Psycho" and the weekend after that they're showing "The Searchers." Their slogan is "Movies below and above the stars." Ha.

This is the website of the organization that hosts the outdoor movies at the cemetery:

http://www.cinespia.org

P.S. On a side note, I bought a cheap pair of sunglasses while at the beach on Friday and I have already lost them. I have the worst luck with sunglasses. Gotta go get another cheap pair. Ugh.

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Day at the Beach

Yesterday I got up extra early to see some friends off at the airport at 6:00 AM at LAX. I didn't want to have to deal with traffic on the way back home, so I planned to stay in the area and hang out and work on the beach (which is near LAX). I went to Venice and found a free parking spot on the street a block from the beach! Free parking near the beach is gold. There was a Starbucks right across the street from where I parked, so I knew I could work there with my laptop. Every Starbucks location has internet wireless access. I didn't start working right away, I walked out to the pier and walked along the boardwalk to soak it all in. I love the beach.

Around mid-morning I went to a local bike shop and picked up my first bicycle in a very long time. I think it's perhaps been 10 years since I've owned a bicycle. Los Angeles is not very pedestrian or bicycle friendly, but there are factions within L.A. that are trying to improve on that. I'll never be a serious competitive bicyclist whether it's extreme mountain biking or speeding down PCH with a ridiculous yellow shirt with 50 other bicyclists. Laid back is more my style, so I got a black beach cruiser with big handlebars and a basket. I'm looking forward to using it more in my daily life.

So I spent the day alternating from walking/biking around the beach to sitting in Starbucks doing work on my laptop. We'll see, but I'm thinking I might try to make this a regular thing on Fridays. Fridays at Venice Beach. Sounds nice to me.


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Back Home

I arrived home after a very day or two of flying yesterday afternoon. I had forgotten how messy my apartment was. Before I left a month ago, I tore apart my apartment looking for certain things to pack for my trip. I haven't seen the cat around. I hope she didn't give up on me or move on to someone else.

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Angela Aki

I am sitting in a restaurant in the Osaka, Japan airport and I noticed this really good music they are playing. After a couple of songs, I wanted to ask the people working here who it was. Then I thought I recognized the voice. She sounded a lot like a girl I knew when living back in Washington, DC named Angela Aki. I was a big supporter of her music out there. I knew she moved to Japan and was told she was popular out here. I checked, and sure enough, it's her. I asked the waitress and she said she was very popular. I think I'll get her Japanese CD now. It's very beautiful music. It's a bit odd to recognize her voice and piano style, but in a totally different language. I'm so happy for her that she's made it out here. I remember going to some of her very first shows back in DC.

Check her out at http://www.angela-aki.com or I think her myspace account is http://www.myspace.com/angelaaki

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Thailand Trip Day 14 in Osaka, Japan

Today I am in the Osaka, Japan airport. I have a 10 hour layover here and have just been hanging out in the South Terminal. I thought about going out and exploring the local area, but the airport is far from anything and I'd have to go through customs and then come back through. Actually I'm not even sure if I'm allowed to leave because my bag is checked all the way through to LAX. We flew out at 11:00 PM last night and got here 5 hours later, but with time zone change, we got here at 6:00 local time. I slept a little bit on the plane, but not much. As soon as we got into the terminal, I hopped onto a free internet connection and worked for a couple of hours. I've been walking around in a sleepy stupor all day. For a little while I found a little quite place behind a retail shop and laid on the ground and slept as best I could for several hours.

Being in this airport and around Japanese today brings back all the memories of the year I spent in Okinawa, Japan. I was stationed there while I was in the Marines. I totally wasted my time there. I wasn't as adventurous as I am now (I became much more adventurous after the Marines; weird, I know), and so I spent the whole year basically just living on base and renting movies. So pathetic. I deeply regret that wasted year and not going out and learning more about the Japanese culture or learning more of the language. I kinda feel that I want to visit Japan again from a different perspective and really soak it in. But it's very expensive to live in Japan and that might just have to wait. I've wanted to visit Tokyo ever since I saw "Lost in Translation." Perhaps I will meet Scarlett Johansson in an elevator. Mmmm, Scarlett....
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Thailand Trip Day 12 &13 in Hua Hin

Yesterday I slept in pretty late and had a slow day. I went and got another massage and then walked around town a bit. I worked during the afternoon and went out for just a short while in the evening. While I was at a bar next to my hotel a local Thai girl came up to me and started chit chatting. I played along and it was fun and easy conversation. But then she asked if I would buy her a drink. Now ordinarily I would be thrilled if a beautiful young woman comes up to me and asks me to buy her a drink. But this is Thailand. So, I politely denied her request and she left shortly afterwards.

I went to bed fairly early and got plenty of sleep and woke up to some sort of eye infection. It looks like I've been in a fight or something. Plus it makes me sleepy all the time. Very inconvenient. I've already checked out of my hotel and have been working in an internet cafe this afternoon. I leave shortly to go back to Bangkok to catch my 11:00 PM flight tonight. After a very long layover in Osaka, Japan and a long flight back home, I will arrive back in L.A. around Noon on Monday.

I've had a great time here in Thailand. The reason I came out to Thailand in the first place is because a friend was going to be out here for work and he thought it'd be fun to hang out afterwards in Thailand. After some convincing, I got excited about exploring Thailand, so I said I'd join him. His work cancelled the trip after I had already purchased my non-refundable ticket. So, I've been traveling alone, but have been having fun meeting and talking to people whenever I get the chance.

I think maybe Croatia is next....

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Thailand Trip Day 11 in Hua Hin

I started off this morning walking on the beach around 7:00 AM. It was very serine. There was a man doing Tai Chi on the beach and German tourists riding horses. I then went back to my not so nice hotel and walked towards the center of town with my bags and checked into a nicer place. I figured I should treat myself. I deserve it. So I went from the 250 Baht ($6) hotel to the luxurious $1200 Baht ($30) hotel. Now I'm closer to the center of town and a 3 minute walk to the beach. Once I checked into the new hotel I went back out to the beach and got a front row lounge chair with table service. It was difficult to relax on the beach because every minute a local Thai would come by trying to sell you something. I cannot count the times I have to say, "No thank you" every day. Even while I was napping in the chair some boys shouted in my ear "Thai boxing!" and tried to hand me a flyer. After the beach I went and got a massage. It's a little more pricey here. It's 400 Baht ($10) vs the 100 Baht in Chiang Mai ($3). I then went and got a haircut because it's always fun getting haircuts in different countries. I tried to explain cut just a short amount off, but she took that as cut hair short. So now I have a close to military style haircut. It'll be back to normal in a couple of weeks. After giving myself an adequate amount of pampering, I went to the internet cafe to do some work.



Hua Hin is different that the areas of Bangkok and Chiang Mai that I visited. There are mostly just families (usually German) here or there are old creepy men. In the other places, there were tons of younger people traveling or backpacking that I could meet and hang out with. Not so much here. I noticed this fairly quickly when I got here and it has been confirmed throughout the day. I considered traveling somewhere else, but my time is limited and I'll just relax here. I think that perhaps because it is a beach town, you get the people that just want to be lazy on the beach for holiday. And I think it's mostly Germans because everyone knows that Germans are very lazy. They don't like to backpack or adventure. They just like to sit on the beach or play Xbox. Have you ever noticed how Germans are very good Xbox players? This is because they are lazy and don't like to be outdoors.

At night after having yet another cheap delicious Thai meal, I went out in search of a cool bar. I passed countless bars with Thai women sitting out front just waiting for some guy to come play pool. I settled on a place that seemed more popular and had a good mix of people. I started chatting with an American (Americans here are rare) named Farash, a Dane girl named Ida, and her friend that lived here in Hua Hin I think. Ida's cousin or aunt owns the bar. Farash grew up in the Middle East, moved to Philly at 15, and now he works in Australia. Ida goes to business school in Denmark.

Thai's love to play games at bars. Popular ones are Connect 4, Jenga, and dominos. The four of us played dominos and Jenga for a while and then we went out to a karaoke bar. This was the type that several microphones were passed around and the whole bar sang the karaoke songs. It was fun. Farash and I had them play the Star Spangled Banner. I was surprised at what a phenominal singer I am. After the karaoke bar we went to a dance club at the Hilton nearby that had live music. That was the place to be. It was packed. The Thai singers were really into it. They were "super cool." I was the first to bail in the group and I went back to my hotel a little bit after 3:00 am. We're supposed to meet up again tonight, but I don't think I will stay out as late.

There was an information card in my hotel room that I thought was funny and I'd like to share with you blog readers as a special treat:

Dear Guest,

So that you may have a safe and pleasant vacation, we wish to give you a few tips on some of the activities on the beach:

1. The massage girls on the beach to do not have any qualification whatsoever to massage or twist your body and, therefore, risk hurting you. However, if you still would like to try one on the beach, we recommend that you take special care and tell them to stop as soon as they start hurting you.

2. The horses for hire on the beach are not professionally raised and dressed. They are unhygienic and might have skin diseases. We do not recommend that you ride on them so as to avoid all risks.

3. The fishing boats which offer you a trip out into the sea are not equipped with any life-saving material such as lifebouys or life-jackets and do not have any radio contact with the mainland. In case of accidents, there would be no means for rescue.

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Thailand Trip Day 10 in Chiang Mai --> Hua Hin

Today I took off to go to a small beach town south of Bangkok called Hua Hin. I was pretty much traveling all day. I took a flight from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. I chose Hua Hin primarily because it was not very far from Bangkok and I don't have that many days left to spend traveling until I leave on Sunday. My guide book doesn't say much on Hua Hin. It mentions the best way to travel to Hua Hin from Bangkok is to take a minivan service that departs from Victory Monument in Bangkok. That's all I had to go on. So, after much debate as to where Victory Monument was, I finally convinced the taxicab driver from the airport to take me. He dropped me off in the crowded alley next to Victory Monument and directly me to a table where people where selling tickets to Hua Hin for 180 Baht (about $5). I bought my ticket and then they had me get in a 13 passenger van. There was very little English spoken. More and more people started to get in the van and we just sat there for about a half hour waiting for him to load up stuff in the back. I was the only Westerner. I made the tragic mistake of sitting in the back row. When will I learn?! We bounced around so much and they stuck 4 of us back there. We drove for about 3 hours and he dropped of us somewhere in Hua Hin. I got out got my bag, looked around and realized I have no idea where I am or really where I want to go. So, I just started walking. A motorcycle taxi driver asked me where I wanted to go and I said I don't know. He looked confused at that response. I tried to ask him where the guest houses and hostels where that backpackers stayed, pointing to my backpack, but he didn't understand. On a side note, why can't more people speak English? It'd be a lot more convenient for me. Sorry, I digress. So, I then tried to explain cheap room. He didn't know the word cheap. Or inexpensive. Or not much money. So then I settled on a price. That worked. Just say 300 Baht, night, and hotel, and that will get you to where you want to go. He took me to this cute little hotel that said they had wireless internet access when I checked in. I was so excited about that. Wireless makes me happy. As sunlight is to plants, wireless is to Trevor.

I dropped my bags off in my room, exhausted after a long day of traveling. After chatting a bit with an older guy from the UK at the bar, I walked out to find internet so that I could get some more work done for the day. You should've seen me in the minivan earlier. Crammed in the back seat working on my laptop while the bus was bouncing around. So I walked out of the hotel and found an internet cafe in the center of town. I finished my work that needed internet access and was having a phone production meeting with my client as I was walking out of the internet cafe. It was quite amusing to be walking down the bustling night streets of Hua Hin with Thai girls in bars yelling at me as I walked by and then talking to my client on the phone for work at the same time. The Thai girls yell, "Hello!! Welcome!!!" whenever you walk by. They want you to play pool with them. I'm not sure what sort of agreement you enter into when you play a game of pool with one of the Thai ladies. I'd rather not find out.

The hotel had a stupid long cylinder type pillow. It was difficult to sleep at first. I checked out early in the morning and found a nicer place closer to the center of town and beach access.

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