Playing tourist

Never fails.  Go off world for a week and I spend 3 weeks playing catch up.  

Slowly catching up on my chores/work/blog readings.  I will be trolling the net trying to catch up on everyone's updates.  In the meantime, I need to finish up my road trip from last week.  So many pictures, so little time...

After spending the afternoon with RC and his lovely wife, I was looking forward to spending some time exploring London properly.  When I was over there two years ago to meet up with RC, it was a weekend "drive by".  I basically had 24 hours in country to see as much as I could see.  This trip, I deliberately planned a few extra day to see the sites.  Woke up at early and had breakfast at the B&B.  Part of the B&B's attraction was free WiFi and a full breakfast service.  That boils down to pretty much anything you could think of.  The first morning, I went for all the marbles - a full English Breakfast.  For those not familiar, this is usually juice, toast, tea/coffee and eggs, bacon, mushrooms, bangers (sausage) and beans.  Normally, I do not eat much for breakfast, but, hey, I figured that, while in England, why not try the real thing?  Way more than I had expected.  I ate so much that I skipped lunch and had an early dinner.

I had planned to hit the town hard, but, took my time getting started (answering e-mails).  I debated buying one of those London passes that allows you access to a large number of tourist sites/spots (Tower of London, Tower Bridge, etc.), but you need to start that early in the day (0900) to get the most benefit.  Instead, I opted for the tour bus tour of London.  I know, cheesy, but I find that, when hitting a new town like London, getting a general tour of the town gives you a foundation to work from.  This was one of those open top Double Decker bus tours that will take you all over town extolling the sites and history of London.  One thing I liked was that it was a "hop on, hop off' deal which meant you can get on or off at any of a number of spots along the route.  Another bus would be along in 15 minutes or so.  While it was campy, it was a good tour, despite the rain.  And, it DID rain.        


Some of the sites I saw along the route:

Trafalgar square

Tower of London (Warder tour)

The Shard

St Paul's Cathedral

Optometrist along Fleet Street

London Eye

From the top of the bus

Blue trees around St Paul (never did get the story on those)

Chinatown 

 The Monument (311 steps to the top)

Sherlock Holmes pub

And while I was out wandering all over town, I had to go check out the Death Ray tower to see if it lived up to the hype.  Easy to spot - just a few blocks over from the Tower of London.

Because of its concave shape, at certain times of the year, on sunny days, the sunlight will be focused on a spot on the street below the building.  Think magnifying glass and ants...

I found the spot on the street where the light was focused and can honestly say it was uber hot!  Was like standing directly under a very intense heat lamp.  Temp difference was at least 10-15C higher than ambient.  I could see why it has become a unofficial tourist attraction.   

I rounded out the day with a pint at the Sherlock Holmes pub.  Had to head back to my room and pack up for my trip to Wales.  

Belgium in the rear view mirror

Time to wrap this up and move on.  I had a great week in Brussels and I am slowly getting caught up at work.  With the holiday and my sudden illness, I figured that I was out of the office for two weeks and that put me way behind.  Already trying to finish up my trip reports (due last week) and get ready for our own internal audit at the end of the month and then my next road trip in August.  This time we are headed in the opposite direction - east.  Another 23 hour flight halfway around the globe to some far, far off land where people eat their Dim Sum with wooden sticks. 

In the meanwhile, let me finish up with my week in Brussels with a few parting shots.  Great city.  Lots of things to see/do/eat/drink.  I love the European culture.  I got the opportunity to spend 4+ years over in Germany and tried to drink up (pun intended) as much of the culture as we could.  The food is amazingly fresh, different.  A lot of the hotels are great/unique (especially the smaller ones).  The people are friendly, if not a bit tolerant to tourists (in certain regions).  Some of my best memories are staying in some out of the way town in a small Gasthaus that was run by family.  The make it feels like you are staying as a guest in their home.  There are plenty of sights to see, some old, some new.  And, of course, there is the beer.  I hate to admit it, but I seem to have fallen in love with Belgian beer.  I used to think German beer vas der best, but my two trips to Brussels has taught me different.  I still love my German beers, but I have grown a new respect for some really fine Belgian Trappist Ales.  

I know I have said this before, but whenever I travel, I make it a point to look for things that make the place unique, interesting.  You will never learn anything new unless you step outside of your comfort zone and try some new things.  You never know what things you may find along the path.      

Me travel long time

Travel can be fun.  You get to see lots of new sights, meet interesting people, visit exotic lands, eat strange food.  It can also be a real pain in the ass.  Long flights, cramped plane seats, long lines, cab drivers who rip you off for 2x the fare, sitting on your glutes for 8+ hours, the plane is either sweltering or freezing, you have good old Ms Bighair who cranks her seat back into your lap, the one time you really, really have to pee, that's when the pilot decides to fly through turbulence and makes everyone stray in their seats for a looooong while.  

Back home after a very long trip and a very short, but fruitful audit.  I was adding up the miles in my head on the plane back and I realized that we spent as much time in the air or at the airport as we did in Manila.  Three long flights with very little time on the ground in between flights.  Added two new airports to my list of destinations.  Honolulu and Manila.  I've done Honolulu once before on our trip to Maui.  Nice airport, but it is weird to me to see an open air set up (no windows).  The Manila airport was definitely at the bottom of my list of places not to visit.  Long lines, surly agents, dirty, general chaos, everything had a price.  We even had to pay an exit fee (540 Pisos) to leave the country.  Found it interesting that one of the main news stories on the local news channel was how the airport had moved UP on the ranking of worst airport.  It was no longer the worst airport in the world, just in Asia.      

We really didn't have much time outside of the audit and we didn't get back to the hotel until late.  Unfortunately, that means no Balut this trip (dang it!).  We did go to an authentic Chinese restaurant for Peking Duck and Kobe beef.  With an hour to kill before we headed to the airport, but it was basically wandering around the downtown mall next to the hotel.  Nothing you could see at a local mall over here.  On the way to/from the plant, we tried to take pictures of some of the sights.  Lots of jeepney's, trykes, general traffic congestion.  Amazing how people can navigate the roads over there without major injuries or accidents.  We came to believe that the lanes on the roads were more a general guideline, not a hard rule to follow.  Still, an interesting trip.  Wish we had more time to explore the area outside of Manila.  

typical Jeepneys we spotted on the streets of Manila

Another Jeepney - they were hundreds of them all over town

Another Jeepney 

A demolition site next to the hotel.  Watched the guys as they removed the debris, rubble and did general clean up.  From what I could tell, I believe that several were living there as they worked the site. 

Security dog at the hotel that sniffs for explosives in guest luggage.
Sort of reminded me of some other "Custard" looking dog.. 

Crossing the International Dateline

Some cheesy looking mannequin at the airport gift shop.    

Airport gift shop - see any interesting gifts you might want to take home to the family?

How about now?  

Half a world away

Good morning, Campers!  Or is it evening?

After three flights, two airports several time zone changes, three first class meals plus snacks, oodles of wine, hot towels, and ice cream sundaes (yes, they serve sundaes after each meal in 1st class), we landed in Manila around 2100 last night.  26 hours after leaving the house, we were in a whole new land.  Lots of reading, got about 4-6 hours sleep on several flights (didn't want to sleep through the sundaes), caught up on a number NetFlix movies/shows(Dark Shadows, Amazing Spiderman, Moonrise Kingdom, the Magic of Belle Island, rock of Ages (1/2h), the Big Bang Theory).  got to look forward to Abraham Lincoln:  Vampire Hunter and Men in Black 3 on the return leg.  

Was late when we arrived and my iPhone battery was dead, so no pictures, yet.  Different voltage (240 volts), different electrical connections over here.  

As for my little test, I thought someone might have seen it before.  Especially if you have ever travelled in the south.  What you saw posed on our patio table was officially called:  Tillsndsia usenoides or as we call it down here:  Spanish Moss.  It is a moss that goes on trees in the south.  If you look at any pictures of New Orleans, it is all over the old plantation oaks.  Looks majestic but it does tend to choke out a lot leaves. 

Maine Mud Bug

The short version:  Long trip, great weather, sucky airports delays, good morning runs, ate too much, had fun, mucho tired.  

The slightly longer version:  Excellent trip, if not long.  I can honestly say I hate connecting flights.  The flight out was good but the layover in Newark went from 45 minutes to 3 hours.  My coworker and I had camped out in a bar next to the gate figuring to enjoy a few Sam Adams while waiting for the flight to Portland.  After a beer (or two) we head off to get something to eat (figuring it would be after 8:30 when we hit Maine).  When we finished up we wandered back to our gate only to find out they had changed the plane, changed the time, changed the gate.  Had to hike back across the Newark terminal to our new gate only to wait another 45 minutes for our new flight.  Needless to say, by the time we landed in Maine, I was pretty much fried.  We got to hotel around 2200 hours in no mood to explore or enjoy the area (aka find a bar).  

Waiting for a plane

The weather was gorgeous.  Clear skies, temps in the 50s.  Made for a great run in the morning.  Good trip, worked out well, got a chance to go into downtown Portland for some fresh Maine lobster.  I even got to play with a overly affectionate, beautiful Golden Retriever in the morning that was staying at our hotel (don't tell Grayson). 

More than a mouthful

Not a happy camper

Was a great trip.  The return trip was fairly uneventful, if not long.  They had a booth at the Portland Airport where you could buy your lobster to take home, in case you wanted a tasty souvenir.  

Back from the west coast

It's been a short week (work-wise).


The trip went very well, supplier's happy, we're happy, ate too much (Thai food, fish tacos), weather was fantastic, flights were packed but ok (not too bad), hotel was very nice, got a couple of really nice runs in, toured the Hearst Castle (again), did a wine tasting, tried out another local brewery, visited a small farmer's market,went back to the Bubble Gum Alley.  Not too bad for a three day gig.  Of course, that left me with 2 weeks of work to do in the remaining 2 days at the office.  On top of that, next week is a short one for me since I am taking off a week starting on Wednesday in preparation for the wedding.  


Playing catch up this weekend.  Need to prep the house for the onslaught of next weekend's festivities.  I'll delve into more wedding details tomorrow, but suffice it to say, we are one week out and the panic level has definitely kicked up a notch or two.       


In the meantime, I'll just have to entertain you with a few shots from the road.

Very tiny & loud

Interesting visual

Casa Grande

The private study

Indoor aquatics 

I keep thinking this would be a bear to clean

Wine store in the hotel

Local farmer's market

Another California tourist attraction

Best toured before lunch

There's a fine line between gross and unique

Doggy chic 

One of the many California Missions

The small river that runs through San Luis Obisbpo

As one might surmise, I took lots of pictures with my iPhone.  I didn't even try to take my camera this trip.  One interesting (or disturbing) visual effect was my picture in flight of the propellers on the small puddle jumper.  The still shot was interesting, but the video was even more strange.