Hualien

10/27/13 Taipei

The morning I was to leave Hualien, Sunny, my host, took me around the city itself, which I had not yet previously explored. We first had breakfast with her parents aft a cafe, where I demolished a rather decent eggs Benedict, before hopping on her scooter and getting on our way. We first visited an old train yard turned cultural park. A very small cultural park.

There were some restored Japanese Colonial Era structures containing historical displays, surrounding a small square where some aborigines were holding some kind of event. While that was going on, I investigated the structures. The displays were quite interesting, one of pre-metal civilization artifacts, one of colonial era china, one was a smithy, and the last was a pair of holding cells for drunks.

Our next stop was a still standing neighborhood of Japanese era residences, though for some of them, standing was about all they could handle. A few of them were in good condition, solely for tourism purposes.

We finished our morning at the Pine Garden, a structure on the heights overlooking Hualien's harbor. Unsurprisingly, it used to be the headquarters of the Japanese Navy in the area. A few snapshots later, we went to lunch(steamed buns), returned to her house to pick up my pack(where her parents presented me with honey cakes for omiyage), and she dropped my off at the station to catch my 1300hrs train. All in all, I endjoyed my trip to Hualien. I didn't get cuddled or laid, but that was already unlikely.

Getting off the train 3 hrs later in Taipei, I immediately hopped on the MRT to meet my cousin in Ximen, where we watched Gravity in IMAX 3D. Exciting and beautiful. We had dinner at his place, and I caught the MRT home afterwards.

10/26/13 Hualien

We went to Taroko Gorge today, Sindy, Sunny, and me. I had visited there once before many years ago, but my memories of that trip are more than fuzzy, so this trip was both welcome and fresh. I had breakfast twice this morning, once being turnip cake with Sunny's grandparents, once being bread and gyoza with the rest of Sunny's family.

My host and I left son after our morning meal, meeting Sindy on a taxi to the train station, where we bought day tickets for the Taroko bus line. We rode the bus to the end of the line, determined to make our way back along the line.

At our first stop, again, the end of the line, there was supposed to be some kind of Catholic church or something to hike to. After hiking in a big circle, we found a not so impressive building with extremely deceptive steeple. Disappointing, to say the least.

Our second stop was lunch, followed by a longer hike(3km) along the river gorge. The water was a beautiful shade of bluegreen, much different from when last I came. Then, it was just after some heavy rainfall, causing dirt and other particles to muddy the water, so today was a welcome change.

Our last stop on the Taroko line was a beach, with seriously strong waves. As opposed to most beaches I've been to, this one consisted mostly of pebbles, as opposed to sand, so it wasn't at all annoying.

Returning to Hualien proper, we had dinner with Sunny's family at her home. Eight people around the dinner table makes for a more raucous dinner than I'm used to, but it as enjoyable. We took a short ride to the local nightmarket afterwards, again meeting up with Sindy's mother, before we headed home and bunked down for the night.

10/25/13 Hualien

Currently staying at a friend's house in Hualien, after taking a three hour train ride south east of Taipei. the odd thing is apparently, there's a faster train, but it's not like I'm in a rush. Still, while I've plenty of time to spare this go around, it's useful information for the next time I come back.

My friend, Sunny, who I met over the summer, has been most gracious in inviting me to visit her hometown of Hualien. Suuny, her boyfriend(name loosely translated as Champion), and our other friend Sindy ferried me around on scooters all day. I'm not sure on exact locations, but after a quick lunch of wontons, we visited a new residential development, part of which is being build alongside an artificial lake. The water was a very turquoise blue for some reason, butt there were many tourists around checking out the development. This was a first for me, as I've never seen a normal residential development be used as a tourist attraction before.

This was followed by a visit to an old sugar factory, where we ran into another friend, Uncle Sam, our bus driver and tour guide from our trip during the summer. He refused to take a picture with us, so we had to console ourselves with ice cream. It was starting to get dark, so we got back on the scooters and set off for dinner, that being hot pot.

We spent the rest of the evening at Starbucks chatting after being joined by Sindy's mother. Conversation was easy and contained very few awkward silences.

Scooter backseat riding was today's new experience, and learning that Hualien county is long and thin, some 200km long so I hear tell, is today's fact of the day.

10/24/13 Taipei

I'm sitting in yet another cafe in Taipei, this one much newer than the one I last went to, being a chain store with franchise standards. I've been back a day, this being the second, having slept most of the first away. I was woken up pretty early by my dearest grandmother, who now sits next to me while we wait for breakfast. What's for breakfast? Hot dog, spaghetti, and a mango slush. Really. She got salad, bread, and coffee. These were the breakfast specials.

I now know how to take the bus from Taoyuan Airport to Taipei, which will undoubtedly prove useful in the coming weeks. especially since I'll be flying in and out of the country so goddamn often. It'll save my uncle some time.

Final thoughts on the trip to Czech and Austria: Over all a very good experience, despite not understanding what the tour guide and other participants said half the time, speaking Taiwanese(which I do not understand) instead of Mandarin(which I do understand). I still saw a lot and experienced a lot. Given a chance, I would certainly come back. Prague is a more culturally interesting city than Vienna, even with Vienna's sauna clubs giving it a boost in my mental ratings.

Speaking of which, if I do go back to a club, I'll need to bring something to occupy myself during downtimes. If I go with friends, maybe I'll bring cards or portable Catan or some other board games. And a lot more money.
Assuming I even decide to go back. We'll see how desperate the situation is in my own bed when the time comes.

Cesky Krumlov is a very picturesque spot, but could do with more of a night life, lack of said night life being its biggest flaw. I hope to get up that tower next time I come. Of Salzburg, I didn't really get to see the salt mines, so I could do that next time. Point is, there's still so much for me to see and experience, and I'll be sure to come back again. Life is short, but it ain't that short.

Salzburg and Vienna

(Transcription note: I'm pretty behind on Transcriptions, but worry not, I'm keeping up on the writing side.)

10/21/2013 Vienna

How quickly time passes. To think I'll be back on a plane to Taiwan in a few short hours. Life is too short for me to experience all that I wish to, but it'll have to be enough. I'll make do.

This morning, we visited the Schonbrunn Palace, a giant cream yellow edifice with two bronze eagles out front flanking the gate. A tour through the palace informed us a bit about the history of the Hapsburg dynasty, though it mostly focused on Maria Theresa and Sisi. Today was also the first time I've seen wooden tiles(basically, tiles made of wood set just as regular tile is, with grout and mortar), apparently to keep down the sound of horsed carriages traveling upon them. After Schonbrunn, we hopped over to the Hundretwasserhaus, apparently designed by a man who abhorred straight lines. I was equally abhorred by his resulting structures, and believe that said structures are a danger to visitors.

Lunch was at the same dance Chinese restaurant where we had dinner the previous night. After lunch, we were lead to the shopping district surrounding, yes another cathedral, St. Stephen's, and left to our own devices. I wandered around for a bit, visited the cathedral, and decided that while the exterior of this cathedral was charmingly Gothic, the interior was rather plan compared to previous cathedrals I've visited, especially for a cathedral in a city the size of Vienna.

Dinner was a fried pork chop in what purported to be a Mexican joint. Bout the only thing actually Mexican about it was the tequila.

I figured to myself, can't come to Vienna without listening to Mozart concert, right? Wrong. 50€ lead me to an old concert hall after dinner. The décor was certainly beautiful and antique, and the orchestra was certainly dressed to match, in powdered wigs and embroidered coats, but the seats...were a travesty. I don't mean the position of seats, that was fine. No, the seats themselves were bent wooden constructions made with the ergonomic know how of Dali and the spacing of that quack Hundretwasser. There was no possible comfortable position in the damned things, and even when seated properly, my knees were pressed heavily into the wooden back of the seat in front.(I wouldn't sit a goddamn masochist sub in it, it was so bad) I barely heard a note through the two hour long concert through my discomfort.

Toward the end of the concert, another member of our party, a panicky woman, rushed up to us after having received a message on her phone saying our hotel had caught fire. This resulted in our leaving in a hurry, and while I was thankful to leave my seat, I didn't see a reason to rush. Either the fire was burning down our hotel, and emergency services was taking care of it, or someone set off a smoke alarm and it wasn't a big deal. Either way, what the hell were we going to do about it? But Panicky Woman was Panicky, so we rushed back to see the firetrucks no longer there, and that everything was fine. And thus I ended my first trip to Europe, on a very anticlimactic note.

10/20/2013 Vienna

As far as the tour goes, today was probably the most boring. We left Salzburg in the morning, driving to the nearby lakeside town of St. Wolfgang. It's a small town with a church as it's centerpiece, though most come for the stunning lakeside views. The lake is pretty clear, leading to me to believe that it likely fills from snowmelt. As is my custom, I walked through various parts of the town, leaving the tourist districts behind. The small size of the town leads me to believe that I actually walked through the entire town, residential streets and all. As it was Sunday, the church bells were tolling for Mass, and shops were most definitely not open(which was a pity, I did see some bronze statuettes through a shop window that I was interested in).

After leaving St. Wolfgang, we immediately headed off to another lakeside town, Hallstadt, situated by a different lake. Unlike St. Wolfgang, which is built more traditionally, on flat land, Hallstadt is built on a steep slope, creating terraced layers of structures on the hillside. We had backed trout for lunch(probably because there was no Chinese food to be found, thank the gods.), followed by my normal wandering. If I were to differentiate the two towns, besides the lay of the land and the consequential city planning differences, I would say that St. Wolfgang has gondola lifts up a nearby mountain, and Hallstadt is built on the side of a mountain.

After these two pleasant lakeside destinations, we drove some 4 hours and 300km to eat Chinese food, visit a park with creepy statue of Strauss, followed by checking into our hotel for the next two days, where I promptly dropped off my bags and headed out on my own to the real highlight of the day.

A 5min cab ride from mine hotel lies the Goldentime FKK Sauna Club(FKK stands for free body culture or something). 90€ gets you a towel, a bathrobe, and a key to a locker and a safebox in the lobby. You go in, put your valuables and money in the safebox, and have yourself a shower in the locker room before donning your bathrobe and wandering into the club proper. The club facilities include saunas, swimming pool and whirlpool, a buffet, more showers, a bar, and lots and lots of lounging chairs and sofas. Said facilities tend to be populated by young, nubile, and very under dressed girls. I only say under dressed rather than stark naked as each of them have at least a pair of high heels strapped to delicate ankles, if nothing else.

Let me tell you, there wasn't a single girl in there I would kick out of bed. Some were certainly more beautiful than others, but I would not say that any one of them was ugly. European girls already tend to be more thin than girls in the States, and this is especially true among sex workers. English language skills were more or less universal, and while many would not be able to carry on a decent conversation, their language skills are able enough for your needs. Prices are set at 60€ for 30mins per girl, non-basic “special services” to be and additional, negotiable cost. Most girls are of Eastern European origin, and the majority of those tend to be from Romania, though there is a sizable Ukrainian contingent, and several Bulgarians. I also spoke with an Italian, so I expect most of Europe to be represented in that room.

Odd thing I noted: There is a single stripper pole in the lounge, and for the three hours I was there, not a single girl danced on it.

Had my first threesome experience with a petite blonde and a thicker(relative to the blonde, so therefore still thin) brunette, with hard to remember stage names. Meh. While threesomes are off my bucket list, I will say that next time I have a threesome, I will make sure it is with two long term partners, and all participants will be more familiar with each others' wants and put more effort into the act. Overall experience was positive, though there was much to be desired, which was a statement that would apply to the rest of the night. As a man, I heartily approve of such an institution, and dearly wish someone would do the same thing in the States. Personally, I feel like only some of my needs were being met, as it lacks the casual intimacy and affection I'm used to with those I am intimate with. Also, with long term partners, I would expect much more familiarity and acceptance of my particular needs and wants, eg. I like it when my girls cuddle up to me after I beat them, neither of which is available without a large increase in price at the club. It can therefore be said that for me personally, quality of sex is an issue here.

Do not let all the above turn you off to such an institution, however, as the club does have several things going for it. It is likely both cheaper and less time consuming than an actual girlfriend, and said girlfriend is likely never going to have skin as soft nor be as physically attractive as one of these girls. Also, to be certain, while quality of sex is an issue, for some, variety is a quality of it's own. While all these things are certainly not able to overcome it's faults, they are enough that I could honestly be enticed to go again if it were extremely convenient for me to do so.

10/19/2013 Salzburg Wals

I spent the day wandering around the city of Salzburg today. Apparently, the town was named after the salt mines in the hills nearby, which accounted for the great wealth of the city. In fact, the city was so wealthy, that when the city burnt down, they built it right back up even better than before. Said wealth also explains the huge fortification on the hill the city surrounds, as well as the cathedral in the city center.

As Salzburg is the first Austrian town I've spend any amount of time in, I did a little reading about Austria in general, then tried to look up something to do at night, when I discovered something amazing. Prostitution is legal and regulated in Austria like it is in Germany. (I should have realized this before, since they're basically one country. No, I didn't immediately set off to for a brothel, though I admit that the idea was tempting. Actually, the more I read the more curious I became. Apparently, some brothels in Austria are actually controlled by the police, ostensibly to prevent human trafficking. I can't help but draw comparisons to our own US government, which, when attempting to run a brothel and casino in Nevada, ran both into bankruptcy. How on earth does someone run a casino into bankruptcy when people go to lose money there? (Then again, how did I expect a bureaucracy that spends twice as much as it takes in to be able to run any kind of functioning business.) But enough about brothels and government.

Salzburg architecture is more simple that that of Prague and the cities we previously visited, with the notable exception of the Cathedral. The Cathedral was actually rebuilt several times, ost recently after having its dome bombed in WWII. I actually rather dislike this particular cathedral. Externally, it's quite nice and cathedral-y, but inside, it's decorated with white a multitude of white plaster figures on it's walls an ceilings in a Baroque style that gave me a heebee jeebies. The rest of the castle town is a high class shopping district, mostly filled with shops selling Mozartkugel. Did I mention that Mozart is big in Salzburg? Because hes's goddamn everywhere. Mozart bridges, Mozart buildings, Mozart candy, Mozart streets, and Mozart parks. Everywhere.

I spent an hour sitting along the banks of the Salzach river at sunset. Pretty calm end to the day.

On an unrelated note, about something I'm not really entitled to complain about, since I didn't spend a dime on this tour, but going out with a Taiwanese tour group is particularly painful in the dining aspect, since they always want to eat Chinese food. We eat Chinese food whenever possible, in fact we ate at a particular Chinese place twice, because it was the only restaurant in town. Goddamn annoying.

Prague, Karlovy Vary, Plzen, Cesky Krumlov

(Note: Transcribing in Salzburg tonight, but will transcribe Salzburg entry another day, getting late now.)

10/18/13 Cesky Krumlov

Woke up early this morning to use the internet in the Marriott lobby. I must say that this is the only hotel so far that doesn't have free internet in it's rooms. Internet exists, but must be paid for. Of course, I din't pay, and went down to the lobby about 0500-0530 to use free lobby wifi. Iddly enough, right when my watch beeped 0600(atomic watch), the hotel fire alarms went off. I paid it just about zero attention, reasoning that no fire takes place at 0600 on the dot, and that it was a technical issue. (It was.) The lobby filled with annoyed people and I continued to use the internet. Eventually, I went upstairs to get away from the noise and pack my bag, then came downstairs to a much emptier lobby.

Visited a Czech Tesco after breakfast. Reminded me of a smaller, cleaner Walmart will less people. Found some Haribo gummi bears and purchased a regret filled sachet of the new flavored ones(the flavors could have been around for some time, but they were new to me: pear, peach, raspberry, lime). Eventually, we made our way to Cesky Krumlov.

Cesky Krumlov is an old town with an Oldtown. The entire place is crowned by the Krumlov Chateau and its very distinctive tower. We were going to climb it, but unfortunately, said tower was closed today with no given reason. I spent most the the afternoon and evening wandering about the Oldtown and its shops, as well as the chateau and its gardens. Had lunch at the only Chinese restaurant in town(getting tired of Chinese food), and also had coffee at a small shop along the banks of the river running through town. Dinner was a pork knuckle cooked Bavarian style(not all that delicious, but a welcome change from Chinese). I was going to find a bar, but they didn't much exist, or at least, not in a form interesting enough for me, so I retired after dinner to my hotel room to work on photos.


10/17/13 Plzen

I just got kissed by a beautiful Czech girl. I mean, sure, it was just on the cheek and I had to crawl through a goddamn hole but s- actually, I'll explain later and run through the day in chronological order.

The day started in Prague, with breakfast at the hotel. Did I mention that the breakfast was actually quite good? American hotels take note, NH(pronounced n-ha?) Hotels got it down right. My tour group loaded up the bus after breakfast, then took a hour's drive west to Karlovy Vary. The fall foliage was out in force, though mostly yellow; rarely did I see reds or browns. Karlovy Vary is a vacation town, and has been since it was founded when hot springs were discovered there. For some odd reason, someone decided that drinking the spring water was healthy, and even came up with a cup for the purpose, basically a mug with a hollow handle, to be used as a straw to drink from.(fill mug as usual, tilt back from handle and sip from straw protrusion from said handle).

An interesting thing I encountered here was a musical contrivance built into the ground. It consisted of nine square bronzed plates arranged in a square. Each plate is depressed by weight(ideally from someone stepping on it) which then causes the bell attached to said plate to chime. This device was brought to my attention by the sight(and sound) of two cute little blond girls in hot pink jackets dancing about on the thing, and being quite happy about it. Cute as hell.

Lunch was Chinese food in Marienske Lazne, at a restaurant with quite the talkative owner. Apparently he grew all the vegetables used in the restaurant himself. Visited a musical fountain after, was not at all impressed.

Evening activity was the highlight of the day: a tour of the Pilsner Urquell brewery. Our guide, Nicole, was a beautiful dirty blonde, mid 20s. We had a pretty normal tour around the brewery, seeing lots of copper equipment, explanations as to how beer is made, short video presentation about barley, hops, and the history of the brewery(actually rather interesting, that history). We finally arrived in the old fermentation and lagering cellars underneath the brewery, basically 9km worth of tunnels carved into the chalky limestone. We saw beer fermenting in wooden casks(made there especially for the tours, since fermentation and lagering takes place in a new facility now). We then tasted completed beer from other wooden casks, while some of the other tour group members offered Nicole some interesting Taiwanese drinking snacks(vegetarian beef jerky made from beans, her face said she didn't like it).

Finally, on the way out of the tunnels, Nicole led us to a cask lid held upright with a small hole, about a foot and a half tall and about 10 inches across, cut into it. She asked if anyone could crawl through the hole. I immediately dropped my pack and did so. Then, on my way back around to retrieve my pack, I tapped my cheek and asked for a prize. There was a smile. It was quick, little more than a brush of her lips, but altogether pleasant and made my trip to the Czech Republic that much better. I can honestly say that I will be much more fond of Pilsner Urquell now when I drink it, enough so that the company should really consider making the entire thing SOP.

Just don't tell me it already is SOP, and let me keep this fond memory as it is.


10/16/13 Prague

Visited Prague Castle this morning. A walled fortresses turned seat-of-government overlooking the city, I thought it impressive as hell. It was interesting to see how the government buildings enveloped and replaced fortress walls as time went by and the place became more focused on governance and less on military power.

Spent most of the afternoon running about the city center. As a city that has a great focus on culture, and thus tourism, there were the expected plethora of shops and such to explore. I had wanted to try and see if my Starbucks card worked in a Prague Starbucks, but the line was long enough for me to not bother with it. The day ended with a sunset climb up the Astrological Clock Tower in the city center, which offered an astounding view of the city. I managed to figure out the panoramic function on my X100 pretty quickly just for that(the trick is to keep the shutter speed high).

Taipei to Prague

10/15/13 Prague

It was a 13 hour flight to Vienna International Airport. I'd never flown with China Airlines before, and while I can't say much for the service, I will say that they had the nicest personal entertainment screens I've ever used. (I've only ever sat economy, so there really isn't a high standard.) VIE isn't as big or glamorous as LAX or TPE or Singapore, but it has a grocery store, and that already makes it more functional for passengers than any of glitz filled airports mentioned above. I bought myself some sausage, a wedge of cheese, and an orange drink of some kind for my first meal in Europe.

Made it to the town of Telc in the Czech Republic(we'll be coming back to Vienna in a few days to enjoy that city) with a short stop at what seemed to be a Dragons and Castles themed truck stop along the way(the less said about that the better, was kinda ridiculous) Czech doesn't use Euros, so I changed out 50Euros to Czech Krona. It was about 1000hrs local when we arrived, too early for most of the shops to be open in the town square. Said square had its main entrance blocked off by a film crew, so we had to make detour through a park and come through a side entrance. (Not a bad thing.)  What were they filming? Dunno, but it had armored soldiers, mounted men with spears, and a horse drawn carriage, so must have been something historically before firearms.

I took some pictures, explored a bit of the town, and had lunch accompanied by Czech beer, another first, but not the last first for the day.

Back on the bus after lunch, destined to Prague. A very architecturally impressive city, having not been touched by war in centuries. Buildings that did not survive elsewhere are in fine form here. Most that I've seen have been Baroque styles, though there are many others. Lots of palaces and bridges and such to admire, something on every street. It was already early evening when we arrived, and only had time for a short boat tour before dark. The tour served beer and snacks, so all was not lost. Said tour basically took place around the Charles Bridge and was very enjoyable. (The boat's launch was actually under the bridge itself.)

Dinner was Chinese food. Not too bad, but will hope for something more local tomorrow when I explore the city.


10/14/2013 Taipei

Went for a long walk with my Uncle, Aunt, and some of their friends yesterday evening. The entire experienced served well to underscore a conclusion I came to long ago: Taiwan is a far superior place in convenience, transportation, leisure, safety, and  cost, when compared to LA, or really, any other city in a the US, and my parents should retire here.

We took the MRT to Guandu Station, a 20 minute trip that cost about a buck. A comparable car ride would have taken twice as long, then another 20 minutes to find parking, and would have cost enough in gas to make the trip unreasonable for less than a full car. We walked along the banks of the Keelong River, on a well maintained walkway/bike trail, which consisted of a mixture of wood and asphalt sections. The entire thing was supported along the top of the river levies. Hundreds, if not thousands, were out taking in the scenery: mangroves, rice paddies, other agricultural fields, the occasional coffee shop, it was all very calming and probably perfect for most people trying to find some relaxation on a Sunday evening.

The entire trail took about 3 hrs and was probably 5-6 miles in length, considering the hour long coffee break we took at the midpoint. We ended up at Shiling Station, not to far from the night market, well after dark. It was a good way to spend an evening.

I hop on a plane for Vienna tonight. Tomorrow, I set foot on a new continent.

Quiet Afternoon Habits

10/12/13 Taipei

I can now report with certainty that US Starbucks cards cannot be used in Taiwan; Taiwanese cards are embedded with smart-chips, unlike their US magnetic strip equipped brethren. Quite unfortunate.

I watched a movie with my cousins this morning. MALAVITA. De Niro and Tommy Lee Jones, snarky humor, whats not to love? Finally getting better at writing in this tiny notebook(not that my actual handwriting has gotten any better). I only hope my ink refills will last(I got more, but left them in the truck at home, silly me). Also, I need to remember to keep up with transcriptions to my blog(and not double post, as seen in this particular post).

I believe that I've gotten a better idea of my Fuji X100's capabilities and functions, but have yet to come up with a name for it. I like the thing, but only time will tell if she's a capable replacement for my DSLRs during my travels.

10/11/13 Taipei

I'm sitting in a small mom & pop cafe in Taipei. It rained pretty heavily this morning. The smell of mold permeates the stale air. Being a born and raised LA boy, its a strange odor, one reserved for the oldest of houses, most decrepit of houses, or those with recent plumbing issues(of course, the two are not mutually exclusive). Piano jazz emits from what sounds to be a ancient speaker(and truly, by the sounds of it, ancient might be putting it lightly), giving the place an even more dilapidated feel.

Surprisingly, despite smell and sound, the place looks just fine, with a pretty good crowd for a Friday afternoon. The plane ride over wasn't particularly special; I caught up with recent movies; The Heat, WWZ, a few Hong Kong action flicks...I did my best not to fall asleep on the plane, and ended up with less jet lag than usual. My shoulders are pretty tight though(a situation that's been ongoing for several weeks now) and would like a massage. It's very unlikely that I'll get one though.

I'll make do. I always do.

Embarking

10/09/2013 Los Angeles

About to embark on the longest trip of my (admittedly short life. I believe the longest continuous trip I've yet taken is the three weeks this past summer. I'm not feeling very excited about the trip(then again, not usually excited about anything). Pensive passivity is the emotion of the day.

The new Villaragiosa terminal is quite impressive. Very shiny, especially the new floors. I'm not quite convinced it was quite worth the cost, but it is a suitable face for the biggest city on the West Coast. The architect did a good job: lots of glass, arching ceiling, etc. Biggest annoyance? Billions of dollars spent, power plugs on new seats don't work. Ridiculous. Most impressive feature? Projection clock tower in departure hall.


I'm quite taken with it.

Handwriting is as difficult and as terrible as it was last week in this tiny notebook, but I have confidence that I will improve. Other things to improve on this trip? Maybe I can finally start and stick with a workout of some kind. (Unlikely.)

Last meal in LA? In-n-Out.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:World Way,Los Angeles,United States

Pre-Trip Notes and Blog Changes, Transcription Begins

There is now an travel equipment list that I will (hopefully) keep updated on the right hand side.

I will now begin all posts with a date and location. Why? Because while traveling, international dateline says that location dates will vary with blog date.

Transcription (with corrections) Begins(parentheses are direct to text additions):

10/4/13 Los Angeles

I've picked up 3 Picadilly Medium Primo notebooks today. Also picked up a pair of gel refills for my Schrade Pen. So far, the combination of the two seems to work well enough.

I've spent a lot of money this week, purchasing a new laptop (Sony VAIO Pro 11), some new clothes, bags...All of this because of an announcement my father made a few weeks ago:

I'm to spend the next year(maybe two) Traveling the World(minus Africa, because my mother doesn't want me going there, but maybe Antarctica).

My mother had wanted me to apply for a some kind of graduate program, but I was of the opinion that such a thing would matter little in my occupation. My father shared my opinion(somewhat, but still thought I needed some seasoning and education) and told me two days later that he signed me up for a series of tours over the next few months. Any work still pending needed to be rushed to completion, put on hold, or otherwise pushed onto someone else.

Father explained that rather than spending $100,000 of perfectly good dollars on a degree that I most likely would never use, he had devised his own way of furthering my education. Throughout the next year, he would pick out destinations throughout the world, and send me to tour them. (Also, when asked why tour groups, he replied that I wouldn't need to spend the time figuring out what to do when I got to a destination. Also, he said I could go back again in the future if I wanted to explore on my own. "Company will pay ticket. No worry.") All that I need to do is bring myself and my camera. My only homework assignment would be to keep a log.

I've decided I would keep said log the old fashion way, using notebooks. Then I would transcribe(such as I am doing now) to digital format later. This might seem tedious and unnecessary to some, but I've discovered that since leaving school many years ago, my handwriting and grammar has deteriorated to an unacceptable state, and that this would be an excellent opportunity to bring both up to a more satisfactory level. (One issue I did not predict: It's difficult to write in a small notebook.)

I leave in five days. Here's to hoping my Amazon order arrives in time.

Travel the World, Meet New People

Going on a two month trip. I'll explain in a later post.

Gonna see parts of the world I ain't seen before. Should be all kinds of exciting.

Need to get a new laptop. Torn between several different options. Kind of a bad time to be purchasing new laptop, as new Haswell Ultrabooks have yet to be released, but the power draw improvement would be significant to previous generation.

Looking at the Sony Vaio Duo 13 at the moment, it being one of the few Haswell units currently on the market.

Working on shifting my workload onto other people. Need to figure out what to do about my rental listings.