Rayong, Thailand II

I will never get accustomed to elephants roaming the streets. We stumbled upon a young elephant down the street from the hotel. I dropped 100 baht and bought some food to feed her.



Fact: Elephants feel weird. Their skin is warm but rough, and they have some hair as you can see from the picture, but definitely not full coverage. Also, their trunk is so strange. The end part of it, like a nose, smells the food and opens up, and then the trunk wraps around like an arm with no bones. It was a big meaty muscle. I put some food on her head, and she was able to smell it and retrieve it. Conclusion: Elephants are awesome.

A few more Rayong Pictures

I hope all of you reading in the midwest US are enjoying these pictures from December 21. 85F and it hasn't rained in a few weeks.



Unfortunately, this job is wrapping up within the next week. I don't know where I will go next, so don't bother asking. I might be lucky enough to come back to the U.S. for a week or so, but that's optimistic.

Anyhow, Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving '08

Well, this Thanksgiving was about the same as last year. I spent Thursday at work, went to KFC with a coworker in the evening, and worked again on Friday. One of the few times during the year I wish I was back in the US. I miss out on delicious food, playing football, and watching even more football.

BUT, this year was different. On the following Sunday, another coworker, Bryan, had the hotel cook us a big chicken-turkey. His wife brought back a few supplies from the US, like cranberry stuffing, pumpkin bread, green bean casserole, summer sausage, etc. Dan even made an apple pie, which was really good. So I didn’t miss out on the food…just the football. Don't worry.

Bangkok, Thailand

On the heels of returning from Cambodia, I stayed in Bangkok to meet up with Novotny who decided to fly in from the Philippines. This was a good decision.



For those of you who are fuzzy on the details, Andrew is one of the 3 guys I lived with in Wrigley before traveling. That is him above with his change purse. Inside his change purse he keeps Thai Baht, Filipino Pesos, and a rather disturbing picture of Chase Utley and Ryan Howard wearing only knee-high socks, baseball cleats, and Phillies hats.

Bangkok Pictures

I arrived late on Friday evening, so it was straight to the go-gos and disco. First stop: Soi Cowboy. Good call. At least they aren’t trying to fool you.



A ridiculous night of bar hopping and clubbing ensued capped off with seeing the sunrise over a massive Santa sleigh. We also did some sight seeing...but not too much. Apparently the Grand Palace 'closes' at 3:30pm, but here is a nice view of one of the nearby temples.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

After spending a week waiting to be reassigned and basically living as a road wife in Pattaya, I took a week of vacation and planned a trip with Angela. Angela is my coworker's wife who travels and takes some really sweet pictures with her expensive camera. In fact, most of the pictures you see in all my albums from Thailand are from her. So, Thanks Angela!

Ok, we flew into Siem Reap on Tuesday and lazily watched "Just One of the Guys," on tv. You know that really horrible 80's movie where the main character cuts her hair and pretends to be a man in high school to research for her newspaper? Well, by this point Angela and I realized that we travel well together because neither of us have any sort of agenda to stick to. Besides, we came to Cambodia on one day's notice with nothing planned and 4 days to do it in.

Siem Reap, Cambodia Pictures - I haven't quite finished sorting through all of these yet, but I have posted some.

I suppose many of you don't know, as I didn't until talking to Angela, but Siem Reap is the city nearby some old Buddhist temples at Angkor.

Bayon Temple at Angkor Thom


Bayon is the temple portrayed in Tomb Raider...people say...I haven't seen it. We woke up for sunrise at Angkor Wat, but of course it was a cloudy day, pictured below.





We also visited Ta Prohm, famous for its winding tree and giant roots growing out of rocks, below.



I really liked Cambodia. I can see why Angelina Jolie stole so many kids from there - they were really cute begging for money. There were a lot of restaurant choices in Siem Reap on Pub Street, which also had a good night life. The food was similar to Thai food but less spicy, which is good for me. I like to avoid basement fires if at all possible. Also one really nice thing was how cheap the vacation was. We stayed in a nice hotel and bought a ton of souvenirs from the night market. They predominantly use the US Dollar, so I didn't have to convert anything in my head; plus you can bargain for everything. We got T-shirts bargained down below $2. They throw one price at you, and you counter with something insultingly low (Angela is especially good). Then walk away and they agree. It's beautiful. But it really was weird to get US currency out of an ATM on the other side of the world.

Lastly, in the back corner of the night market was a sign for a fish pedicure. Angela had heard about this before, and apparently somewhere in NY offers this for a ridiculous price, but it is fairly common in SE Asia. These 'doctor' fish don't have teeth and they eat the dead skin off your feet. For the hefty price of $3 (I think), Angela and I treated outselves. It tickles...a lot.

Fish Pedicure


Do you like my jean shorts? Back to work in Thailand.

Koh Samet, Thailand

One luxury of being in Thailand is all the beautiful beaches. (The beaches I go to are free.) One little island just a short trip away is Koh Samet, pictures below.



I have been here 3 times since it is the closest island to our city; maybe 25 minutes by car to the pier and 25 minute speedboat ride. The accommodations of choice are Sai Kaew Villa because we are cheap bastards ($35 per night)…but it’s a decent place. Sai Kaew means white sand, and it is also very soft. Angela has informed me that she read somewhere it is some of the softest sand in the world. I have all 3 trips combined into one album below.

Koh Samet Pictures

Generally these trips consist of arriving just after noon, getting some beach food, and tossing the football and frisbee while trying not to turn pink. After showering while the sun is going down, we reassemble for some grilled food on the beach to watch a fire show in the dark.



Afterwards, we head down the beach to Silver Sands for some more drinking on the beach, with more fire shows, and some late night dancing. Beware…after midnight, the crowd is predominantly gay men, but you can still find a straight section on the dance floor.

Rayong, Thailand

Rayong is the city that we live in located about 40 minutes from where we work in Map Ta Phut. Our hotel is pretty nice – I can’t complain – right on the beach, tennis court, two pools, work out facility, nice staff, more than adequate accommodations.



Rayong Pictures

The town is nice, with just about everything we need; a few bars, a lot of restaurants, a big European grocery store, hospital close by, IT mall, etc. The only downside is that most places are located too far away from the hotel to walk to. But that’s no problem for us; most of the crew bought motorbikes to get around when we do not have a driver. Yeah, that’s me with my sweet ass Honda Waverunner.



One weekend we had a Cook-Out on the beach in Rayong. Some members from the other crews in Pattaya joined us for some burgers and brats before we went out to on the town (choose between 3 bars). We chose the exceedingly classy establishment known as “The Love Club” since it is open past 2am. Thai people love Johnny Walker, so that’s what was flowing. You know what else Thai people love? Lady Boys.



Lakshmi has a knack for finding the most blatantly obvious Lady Boy and calling him/her over for some pictures. Couple that with some shisha and possibly some whiskey vomiting, and you have a summary of our BBQ night in Rayong.

Pattaya, Thailand

Fresh into Bangkok, I am faced with a choice. Should I go to my hotel in Rayong and relax for the weekend, or should I meet my coworkers in Pattaya and party in the sex trade capital of the world? OK, so not a tough decision.



Within the first 2 hours of being in Pattaya, I check into my hotel, meet up with about 7 people, and head to a go-go bar. Basically to sum this up without getting too graphic, the girls dance almost naked/completely naked and perform shows. Despite Thailand being a monarchy and a rather poor country, Pattaya is a city of consumerism where the money flows. You can buy whatever you want, from electronics to cheap knock off clothes to tiny gay Thai men to be by your side all weekend.

Pattaya Pictures

I saw some of the most fucked up shit imaginable in 48 hours in Pattaya, that I can’t even write about it. But I can provide details for the imagination – soapy water, oil, shiny poles, ice cubes, ping pong balls, darts, old men, whips, chains, whistles, yo-yos, my grandmother riding by on a bicycle…giving me the finger…and a duck?!? You can take it from there. If you want some stories, you’ll have to catch up with me for a beer sometime in the next 5 years.


Halloween on Walking Street

Well, I had a sweet weekend, and it was really nice to be with a big group of people from the office. I will be back.

Singapore

Approaching the end of assignment in Brussels, I checked the road map to find a slew of crappy jobs in the near future. I was pretty sure that India was on the horizon, but my luck prevailed yet again. Instead of getting to come home to the US after 4 months or getting a bad assignment, I got assigned to replace someone in Map Ta Phut, Thailand. So I headed straight to Singapore with a brief stopover in London. Upon arriving in Singapore on Tuesday night, I learned of a local holiday the next day, so I was ‘stuck’ until Friday. What a tough situation. Stuck in Singapore waiting for a Thai Visa.

Singapore Pictures

I found Singapore to be quite nice actually. They city is clean, most people speak English in addition to Mandarin, and it was easy to get around. I didn’t do too much besides sleep, eat, and catch up on some paperwork, but I did get out a little bit. On Thursday I took myself to the Singapore Zoo, which is renowned as one of the best zoos in the world. I agree. Although you may think I am quite the loser for attending a zoo by myself, I am really glad I went.



They had some good exhibits with animals from all over the world. Obviously my favorites involved me arriving right at feeding time. These guys above grabbed their fish and ate voraciously, hoarding their food like Nasty Nate used to steal their fruit cocktail in prison. I waited around an extra 15 minutes to see the white tigers eat, and it was worth it.



Good eye-paw coordination when the assistants launched raw meat at the tigers.

On Thursday night I went to Clark Quay, which is a night life hot spot I guess you could say. A congregation of restaurants and bars right on the pier complete with neon lights that filled the sky and reflections on the water invite everyone to come check it out. A lot of Westerners were present within the Quay. There was even a Hooters.



I had a good time, but I’m sure I would have had a lot more fun had I not been alone…would have been a really great place to stay out drinking late with some friends.

On Friday I picked up my Thai Visa, and I headed to the airport.

Belgian Beerfest

OK, I am having some internet troubles, so I will update this with pictures later.

What you have to do in Belgium: eat waffles, eat mussels, eat fries, eat chocolate, and drink beer. The waffles are like candy, and the fries are double fried in beef fat...how can you pass that up. Anyways, the beer is delicious. All different styles, some having really high alcohol content. Some of the lambic ales are kinda nasty, but still have quite a following...just not for me.



Beerfest Pictures

Second weekend in Brussels...huge beerfest at Grand Plaz. Third weekend in Brussels...smaller beer tasting festival. What an awesome place.

Brussels, Belgium

Ciao, Italy. I traveled directly to Brussels for the month of September. The first weekend I walked around a lot checking out all the sights. Brussels is the unofficial center of European politics with the European Parliament here. Also with being located in the middle of Europe, it is easy to travel to and from lots of surrounding countries. Plus it is really easy to meet people since there are lots of short term interns for the EU and many are multilingual...which usually includes English. Hopefully I can take advantage of this, but I am only here for a month.

Brussels Pictures

So far, I find Belgium to be really great. The only down side is that it is constantly on the verge of rain - very windy and gloomy looking. One of the guys from the refinery told me that every country has its faults. In Belgium, it's the weather. In France, it's the people. Spain has bad food...but he rather fancies Italy. OK, so his theory isn't that solid. But the point is that no one likes French people.

As some of you may know, I don't really give a crap about American politics, not to mention International politics...unless they directly affect me. Case and point...last Monday this whole Russia invading Georgia thing...caused the EU to call an 'emergency summit.' OK, whatever. Except that my first hotel was right by Parliament. It took me 2 hours to get home that day. So you can see what influences my political beliefs. They need to end that conflict so I can drive through the city faster.

Except for everyone speaking French here, the job is good. The construction guys are all Italian or Romanian, so I can talk to them a little. I have already identified a favorite construction worker - this real big Romanian guy. Upon seeing me, he says USA? I nod, and he replies 'Pamela Andersons' and gives me the thumbs up. Then he says, I know USA. George Boosh...Obama...Eminem. I'm glad these are the symbols of America. Sorry - I can't have a camera at work or else I would Definitely have a picture of this guy.

Italian Dudes

If I had a nickel for every gelled hair, tight bright-colored jeaned, popped collared, designer sunglass-wearing Italian dude I have seen, I could retire for the rest of my life. You think this might be a stereo-type, and not everyone dresses like this in Italy…but they really do. Even the older men. I’d like to include a few pictures to prove my point.



For some reason rolled up jean shorts are popular. I will never understand, but it does make me feel comfortable knowing that whatever I wear cannot top the ridiculous-ity of Italians. If they can pull women wearing these jhorts, anyone can.

More Venice

I really haven’t been to Venice much since it is no longer alluring to me, but there is a pretty solid beach on Lido I’ve been to a few times. To get there, we have to take the 10 minute bus ride into Venice, then about a 40 minute water bus out to Lido…but it’s worth it. Last weekend, Sveta and I went and on the water bus I just started grinning. She asks me what I was smiling about and I said “I was just thinking about all the people who are stuck in China, India, or Belarus for the summer.” I'm sure my luck of good assignments will run out sometime...but hopefully not soon.



Anyways, we ended up sitting next to a bunch of law school students from Louisiana who were studying in Vienna, Austria for the summer. I threw my towel down, someone spotted my Braves hat, and there we had people to drink with for the entire afternoon – exactly what my summer has been missing. After an entire afternoon of Newcastle, grappa, and some strange rum/orange Gatorade/pineapple juice concoction, Sveta and I took our newly acquired tans back to Mestre.



How was everyone else's summer?

More Venice Pictures
Even More Venice Pictures

I would say just about the only downside to this place is that it is a tourist town, so we don’t have the same kind of interaction with local people as in other locations. The locals are accustomed to tourists coming, asking them for directions and stupid questions about the town, and leaving. So when they see obvious Americans like myself, they don’t go out of their way to communicate with me…even though I am going out of my way to study Italian. The hotel staff and refinery employees know how long we have been here, but I think it’s time to start branching out and driving up to Jesolo on the weekends. They have a huge beach there and a bunch of bars and night clubs. Venice is overrun by cafés and other spots dedicated to Tourists, and it seems that the other young people get out of town when it comes time to go to college.

Zurich, Switzerland

At this point, I have been in Italy for 90 days so I needed to leave the EU. Fortunately, Switzerland is the closest country to the north and is not a member of the EU...so I took myself there for a weekend. I took the short flight and stayed in a hotel with a fitness center...finally! I stayed in Friday and slept in on Saturday morning, which I was really happy about since I worked the weekend before.

Zurich Pictures

Unbeknownst to me at the time, there was a gigantic street parade going on in Zurich this weekend.



This was basically like Halloween and tailgating all rolled into one. There was a ton of drinking on the streets, performers, street vendors, and most importantly: people dressed up like prostitutes. Another great place to people watch.

I piled down some Bratwurst and made my way to the Kunsthaus Art museum...which was lovely. Then it was back out to the parade and walking the Swiss streets.



Overall, I liked Switzerland in my weekend trip of only seeing one city. Almost everyone speaks English and German, so it was very easy to get around. Plus, all I really needed to know how to say was Heineken and Bratwurst.



Plus I bought some chocolate...and it's flippin delicious.

Grom

Grom is our favorite gelatteria in Mestre; possibly anywhere in Italy…and in the world for that matter. Grom’s high quality and large selection, as well as its convenient location across the pedonale from one of our favorite restaurants, Garibaldi’s, make it the logical end to a delicious evening in Italy.

Mariana, me, and Sveta indulging at Grom

Whether in the mood for milk based or fruit based gelato, it goes without saying that we are going to Grom anytime we head west of our hotel. Birthing the phrase “Grom-up” when in need of this delicacy, even a small cone (cono piccolo) comes with two scoops of mouth explosion. I prefer the dark chocolate (cioccolato extra noir), chocolate chip (stracciatella), and raspberry (lampone), whereas many prefer strawberry (fragola) or Crema di Grom, which is a flavor specific to the gelatteria with kind of a cookie dough/butterscotch taste.

Feeling really bold? Try the Scott special; two scoops of lemon (limone).

So if ever in Mestre, I suggest giving it a try...especially if they bring back Blueberry (Mirtillo), pictured below, as one of their special monthly flavors.

I’m going to Grom up right now.

25th Birthday

I’ve been in a different city on my birthday the past few years, but the result is usually the same.

21 – Atlanta, GA – Outback with Tommy, Rey, and Brittney
(totally sober, surprisingly)
22 – Richmond, VA – Various bars, broken window, blood, hospital
(blacked out…hard)
23 – Dublin, Ireland – Guinness Storehouse early & Pub Crawl late
(blacked out)
24 – Chicago, IL – Party in Wrigley
(COME ON, Wrigley?)
25 – Venice, Italy – Redentore Fireworks
(waited til Saturday, but...)

My birthday fell on a Wednesday this year, which isn’t really a party night by any account…well unless you are a raging alcoholic. Birthdays aren’t really a big deal to me, but it’s always nice to get together with some friends and go to dinner. Stephanie deviously plotted with my coworkers to throw me a bit of a surprise party on Monday. I thought I was just headed to Ristorante Dante with her, but everyone was there when we showed up.

On my actual birthday, I just went to dinner with Sveta and Tri and then played some billiards. I saved the blacking out for the Redentore Fireworks Festival in Venice the following Saturday. I don’t have any good fireworks pictures since it was dark, but it was a really good show for about 45 minutes which partially made up for missing the 4th of July. At least I got as many mosquito bites as I would have on the 4th in the US. Aside from that, Tri and I decided to dress up like guidos and blend in. I think we pulled it off.

Well...at least Tri pulled it off...ha.

Capri, Italy

My worst enemy, Stephanie, came to visit and we went to Capri for a long weekend. Without a doubt, it was the most beautiful place I have ever been. This trip was the sort of thing people do once in a lifetime, but I didn’t even have to take any time off to do it (very nice). We flew into Naples (about 1 hr flight from Venice) and took a boat over to Capri (~40 min). Just the journey to get there was probably nicer than most of my previous vacations.

The view from the boat while docking in Marina Grande

Once arriving, we hopped on the bus to Anacapri where our hotel was. The bus ride was a treacherous climb through the rocks, in which the buses almost hit all the cars and almost careen off the cliffs…definitely not good for a person afraid of heights.

The hotel was a nice place secluded from the really high rollers who vacation in Capri, which was about 15 minute ride away.

Capri Pictures

Despite having a hangover from the mid-afternoon, we did venture into Capri for dinner on the last night. Sifting through crowds of well dressed, heavily perfumed, high maintenance Italian women and travelers, we saw just about every expensive Italian store you can think of still open past 11pm…in case any spoiled rotten women wanted Dolce & Gabbana or Prada gear around midnight. It was definitely an interesting stroll through fantasy town and put things in perspective. I will never be comfortable spending the kind of money these people did on a daily basis; but that wasn’t a lesson I needed to learn.

Sunset overlooking Mount Vesuvius in Southern Italy

International Dancing

If this guy isn’t lifting, he’s dancing; Dancing all over the world. Fique sent me this link…maybe some of you have seen it. This guy definitely achieves baller status.

Baller Dance Moves

Mean Dutch Lady

I always thought Dutch people were like the Canadians of Europe…you know…extra nice and polite…Never a bad thing to say…Wear funny hats? Well, I was wrong. I ran into the biggest Dutch bitch on the plane back to Venice. I’ll lay the sequence of events out there for you. First of all, maybe I am ignorant because I didn’t know how to turn the power off on my iPod. What I have done for 2 years is press pause and leave my iPod alone, and it shuts off by itself after a minute of being idle. That’s how I do it. (Tri has since informed me that if you hold Play, it shuts off.)

OK, so I sit on the plane in the aisle seat next to a woman in the middle, and her husband in the window seat (he kinda looked like Conan O’Brien). I put on my iPod and started to nod off with my head on my hand and elbow on my knee. Well, I guess I sort of fell asleep since the flight attendant tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to shut off my electronics. Ok, fine, I have no problem with that. I press pause and set it on my lap.

At this point, Bitchess von Dutchingham reveals her true colors and states that I have to “shut that off.” I say that I know…this is how I turn it off. After a couple lines trying to convey to her that it will turn off automatically, she says “well give it to me, I’ll just take the batteries out.” To which I reply, “No you won’t.” “Well, the other option is to call the flight attendant again,” she says. Finally I tell her that I do not know how to turn it off and that this is how I always turn it off. She calls me a liar by stating “You can’t possibly expect me to believe that.” She continues to inform me that “There is a reason airplanes have this rule” and that I am “being rude and disrespecting everyone on the entire plane.”

I would like to remind my readers at this point, that yes I do have a bit of a temper at times, and yes I would have felt justified in calling this lady a bitch and requesting a seat change, but I did no such thing. I remained calm (mostly out of disbelief) and was very polite. I told her if she would wait another 30 seconds or so, the iPod would shut off automatically, and that I was not being disrespectful. An awkward silence ensued for about 5 seconds until she muttered something under her breath, and filed her magazine roughly into the seat back. I said “I’m sorry”? since I didn’t understand what she said. To which she replied “I was reading an article about American art, but now I’m too disgusted to finish it.”

This was completely unbelievable and offensive. She couldn’t finish an article on American art because I am an American?!? I didn’t even do anything wrong. Around this time, while holding the iPod in a direction so she could see that I wasn’t tampering with it…IT SHUT OFF AUTOMATICALLY. I held it closer to her and said, “There, it’s off. I’m sorry to upset you.”

This was my first experience with someone hating Americans for the sheer fact that I am an American. I can only assume that she pegged me as a teenage American tourist who came to Amsterdam to get fucked up and dump all over her town (she’s wrong about me being a teenager at least). I wanted to tell her that I travel full time and am actually quite respectful, but I decided not to question why she was so ill-tempered and bitchy so I didn’t have to talk to her again. As we took off, I saw her clutch her husband’s hand like it was the last donut at a 4H convention. I can only assume that she was deathly afraid to fly and thought that my iPod’s power being on would bring down the whole plane. Or maybe she was looking for a fight and pissed off at her punani husband (who just pathetically sat there looking out the window during this entire confrontation) and decided to take it out on me. Half way through the flight another woman came to give her some food (I guess she was in a group). Well, the bitchy Dutchwoman actually offered me some food, but I politely declined. I hope she felt bad for the way she acted; however never apologized. Skank.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Nothing like a weekend trip to Amsterdam to recharge…or completely exhaust myself. I met up with the always classy Amy Brooks, one of my friends/classmates/coworkers (/secret admirers) from college. She now works for a company headquartered out of the Netherlands and was there on business for the latter half of the week, so I got to mooch on her company hotel.

Amsterdam Pictures

Ames was busy with customers until after dinner, so I wandered around Amsterdam by myself all evening. I went directly to the Sex Museum, since it was on my priorities list but not on Amy’s. This place was a lot tamer than I was expecting, and actually had some funny stuff too. There were some exhibits with mannequins set up in compromising positions, drawings and comic porn, displays of sculptures and old artwork portraying sex through certain periods of history (ancient Egyptian, british American war sculptures of men still in half their uniform making it with their ladies, etc.), and even some motion activated sensors to have naked mannequins lunge out at you. Of course there were also some graphic pictures of porn from when cameras were first invented. Nothing quite like a 19^th century 3-way to get the blood pumping.

Quick side note: There was a woman, probably around my age…maybe a little older, walking around the sex museum at the same pace as me. She was also alone, and we even watched some of the big animated exhibits together, or once she looked over when I laughed at condoms inflating upon pressing a button (yeah, I know I’m mature). This was very awkward to me because I wanted to be polite and say hello, but there really is no way to not come off as a creep in this situation. It is unintentional sexual tension brought about by the surroundings. I mean…I’m a strapping young man…she’s an attractive, pierced, tattooed woman…we are looking at porn through the ages at the same pace; Very interesting dynamics…I’m not even sure she spoke English. Actually, that would be an even better story if she didn’t speak English and I was able to persuade her to join me in the padded booths with streaming video (yeah, they have those there…I stayed away from that section). What if we ended up getting together and people asked how we met? “So, we were at a porn museum…” Luckily, before it got to that point, we lost each other when I stayed in the fetish room probably 10 times longer than she did…missed connections…

Second Side Note: Why are the booths padded? Are strange creepster guys really tossing themselves around in there? Padded booths should be reserved for solitary cells at insane asylums, not erotica booths at sex museums.

Third Side Note: Did you know that anal sex was “invented” in the US? I find this hard to believe, but that’s what the plaque in the fetish room said. There were actually 2 plaques for beastiality.

…but I digress…

I emerged from the museum a lesser person, and wandered around town some more. This is going to sound dumb, but I ate at Subway and was really excited about it. Even though I was in the US about 7 weeks ago, I don’t think I have eaten Subway in at least 6 months.

I ran into Amy on my way to meet her at the hotel, still with two of her customers; my companions for the evening. We sifted through crowds of people and clouds of weed smoke to have a couple beers at an outdoor café. If nothing else, what is Amsterdam if not a great place to people watch (which happens to be mine and Amy’s favorite pastime from college). The four of us then went to another place to drink closer to the Red Light District.

Of course we took a lovely late night stroll through the Red Light District around 2am. I did love seeing a few guys come out of these booths; the shame in their eyes as they scurry away. I wonder if any of them gave their woman a kiss goodbye?...nastyyyy Anyways, I didn’t get to see all of the Red Light district. We never made it over to the Asian section or the Ladyboy street, so I will have to go back sometime.

On Saturday, we didn’t get going until after noon…oh well…got some pizza and wandered around town some more and took pictures. We made our way to the Anne Frank House, but the line was very long so I didn’t get a chance to see that this time. The four of us then took a water bus over near the Rijksmuseum to see the Van Gogh museum, which was lovely.

Chris and Justin had to leave for Antwerp for some more business time, and Ames and I hung out in a park for awhile before heading to get dinner and drinks again. What fun...a night of Argentine steak, malbec, and more people watching. I saw some of the worst haircuts and interesting looking people...drank some delicious Heineken and Bavaria, and harassed Amy with the "that's your boyfriend" game. Overall, a great weekend. Unfortunately, I didn't go to the Heineken Experience since it was closed for renovations. But really, all this means is that I will have to go back sometime.

Mestre & Venice, Italy

We are working on an isom unit out here in Venice, and staying just on the mainland in Mestre. I really haven’t taken too many pictures since I was here two years ago right before I started working. I hate to sound like a traveling snob, but since I am one, seeing the same place twice definitely is not as exciting no matter how jealous you are of me.

Mestre & Venice Pictures

At first it was just 3 of us out here, but now we have a crew of 8, since Scott and I both have a trainee. (Yeah, I’m training someone…figure that out). The project is going well, and since we just started putting feed in this week, I am in an idle mode. So I am enjoying not being as busy as the first 6 weeks, but also struggling to find things to do this week…hence my blog entries.

Overall, I have no complaints. I wish we had internet access at the refinery and that the dollar didn’t suck ass relative to the euro right now, but everything else is great. I really like the culture, the food, and most of the people I am here with. We have breakfast at the hotel, usually a light lunch at the café at the refinery (panino), and generally go out to eat a few times during the week for dinner.

Sitting at Garibaldi's with everyone

Mestre is a walking city with easy public transportation to Venice (although I also have my own car – sweet ‘08 manual Passat). Italy is certainly not lacking for piazzas, walking areas, outdoor restaurants and cafés, and gelatterias. Even when people get tired of Italian food (which I don’t), there are a few Chinese and Indian restaurants nearby, as well as one brew pub with really good chicken…and beer (I do get tired of red wine).

And of course, it's less than a 10 minute bus ride from Venice. And eventhough I have been to San Marco and Rialto bridge probably 5 times, the pictures are still nice.

Florence, Italy

I arrived in Venice on May 16, and immediately met with a coworker and took a train to Florence for the weekend. I was quite exhausted from the long flight (in which I lost my US cell phone, so if any of you want me to have your number, please email it to me), but decided it would be boring to sit around the hotel in Venice all weekend by myself. Tri and I arrived in Florence, checked into our hotel, got some dinner, and then I pretty much passed out while I was walking back.

Florence Pictures
I wish I had more pictures, but they don’t allow cameras in most of the art museums.

Saturday, Tri’s cousin and his friend met us and we did a bit of exploring. We saw Uffizi Gallery, and Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (il Duomo di Firenze) in the afternoon. Uffizi is an art museum housing a lot of Italian Renaissance paintings and sculptures. I actually recognized a few pieces that I was forced to memorize in Art History in college, such as ‘The Birth of Venus’ by Botticelli, and other works by da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Caravaggio. The Basilica is a beautiful old cathedral designed by Brunelleschi with colorful marble panels.

Later that evening, we came back to the Basilica and climbed to the top from the inside. This provided a great view of Florence.

We went out on Saturday night and found more of an “American” style place to drink. It had a walk-up wooden bar, darts, and in the back was a big karaoke room with a DJ. I know karaoke sounds sorta stupid or more specific to Asia…but since Florence has a lot of college students studying abroad, it was mostly filled with drunk Italians and Americans singing Journey songs, which everyone loves.

On Sunday, we toughed out the ~2 hour wait to get into Galleria dell’Accademia which contains Michelangelo’s statue of David. Everyone’s seen pictures of this before, but it was much better in person. The statue was a lot bigger than I thought it would be, and set in natural light in the middle of a domed type hallway. While moving with the crowd around the statue, people were ranting in awe about how big his hands are, or how well sculpted his butt is, or how sexy his curly hair is. At first, I mistook all of these compliments as directed at me…but I soon remembered the statue.

(Obviously, not my picture)

I bought a language book for travelers at the museum and commenced mastering Italian at this point. You will have to check back in with me later to see how that is going. Tri and I took the 2.5 hr train back to Mestre that afternoon, and I got ready to start work the next day.

Chicago & Atlanta

I thought for sure that I would be sent directly back to China...but I was wrong. Instead I get this posh assignment in Venice, Italy with a week and a half of prep time back in the U.S. I still can' t believe that happened. Lucky for me Senor Berg was also back in Chicago sporting a mustache from working nights in Minnesota. All of us get tired of operators questioning our youth, and Mr. Berg confronted the problem head on in the most civilized manner...by growing a mustache to remove all doubt...and keeping it long enough to come meet me for a drink at Goose Island in Wrigley.

I tried this approach...with less success. (Picture not available).

It was really nice to spend some time seeing some friends in Chicago and finally get a chance to take a trip back to Atlanta to see my family.

This is Rafique on the left with Tim (friends from high school) in between us classing it up as usual. The picture on the right has Nidhi and Tori, two of my friends from GT. Good to see you guys, since I have no idea when I will be back. And...off to Italy.

Yokkaichi, Japan

I had a solid 15 days here in Yokkaichi, and I really enjoyed it.
Yokkaichi Pictures

The town was fairly small but pretty nice and new. There were a lot of places within walking distance. About the only thing I didn't like is the lack of a gym in the hotel. But that seems to be pretty constant.

Japan is expensive, though. We took a taxi to work everyday, and it was about $30 US each way (expensed, of course). Window shopping around the mall I saw hats are about 6,000 yen ($60) and haircut 4,000 yen ($40). I didn't buy much. The food was really good, too. Of course it didn't hurt that I had Sekine-san there to translate and order for me in restaurants. We brought lunch to work everyday, so I bought stuff at the grocery store attached to our hotel each night. This is the plaza right outside the hotel and in front of Apita.

The grocery store (Apita) was a huge place inside an even bigger building, which is quite common. It was a department store with nice places on different levels, a dollar store on the top floor (well, 105 yen store), and the giant grocery store on the bottom level. I mostly stuck to eating Bento (loosely translated - lunchbox)...which were delicious, but I also ate plenty of sushi and sashimi...which was even more delicious. By this time I am pretty handy with chop sticks after spending several months in Asia.

I have eaten plenty of rice.

I still have a hard time saying 'Konnichiwa' without saying 'bitches' after it because of the Chapelle show.