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Uncle Markie out and about.

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Fri
22
Jan '16

Trip Report:

Pigletté In Vietnam – First Leg: SEA-SFO

Planned this trip months ago, and as the timing turns out, perfect since my buddy I’m going to visit is returning state side in a month…but first I have to get there.

The bag is packed with 10 short-sleeve Hawaiian-esque shirts, all nicely rolled in a line:

Add cotton bathrobe, shorts, sandals, a few socks, toiletries, beef jerky (request from my buddy) and we are set to go.

The first leg is Seattle to San Francisco for an overnight and dinner with friends. When you redeem miles to get a free ticket in business class, you aren’t picky about the routing. The other request from my buddy, that Pigletté join me for the first time in years (13 to be exact, though I had to look that up), leaving BóBó and Mr. Lobster to hold down the home front:

Pigletté looks pretty comfortable with a Red Baron in the Board Room…

And the plane is here…

Now just the weather needs to clear in San Francisco to get all the backed up planes in safety – add 50 minutes to the departure time.

At least Pigletté and I are in my favorite seat – 1C – doesn’t he look comfortable!

Sadly, the seat next to us does get filled, so Pigletté has to ride as a “lap pig” – think “comfort animal”.

A nice Cobb Salad on the way down – healthy food!

Luckily, Alicia and Devon pick me up at the airport and off to Bernal Heights for Peruvian food (Piqueo’s) with Pigletté in tow.

GREAT COMPANY!



GREAT FOOD!


With a fine meal over (and the pitcher of Sangria – best damn Sangria I’ve had in ages), it time to head up the street to a neighborhood institution – a gay bar called The Wild Side:

It’s a cash-only bar, luckily Pigletté has cash and a desire for a Manhattan or two:

The bartender “warms” to Pigletté when there is money on the bar…

Running low on cash, time to head to the WorldMark San Francisco to tuck in for the night.

I just got the Studio Unit since it was just for one night…

A little tight…maybe I should have sprung for the one-bedroom, two-bath that was only $20 more (studio was $68 which is CHEAP for being just off Union Square).

Up too late, but luckily tomorrow’s flight doesn’t leave until 3:30pm.

[? ? ?]

Wed
27
Jan '16

Trip Report:

Pigletté In Vietnam – Fifth Leg: Cần Thơ to Mekong River

Slept well last night – those beds are wonderful! But breakfast calls – and it’s a huge buffet (included in the room):

And this isn’t even the bread/juice/cereal/pastry stand – I didn’t get much there, so why bother – well. I did get a slice of paté.

Pigletté had some peach juice (he doesn’t eat much, really)…

And Sean and I filled our plates!

After breakfast we had time to stroll the grounds. They have a nice booklet describing what all is planted where, including their bull named Bronco.

And speaking of Bronco –he gets walked three times a day along with three showers – and I’m guessing he’d still prefer to be rolling around in some mud…

They even have displays of all the rice cultivation tools – above, those would be two small “on hotel grounds” rice paddies.

Our driver is waiting for us as we check out – and this being Vietnam, if we wait for 20 minutes, the credit card machine will be working again. Once again Banker Sean bails us out for our Million Dồng bottle of wine the drinks and snacks we had.

What is kind of funny is that the driver took us back to the exact spot that they launch dropped us off last night! We made a pit stop for more Scotch and Diet Coke – and onto the boat we go! Said boat:

Actually, it’s the outer one, so we have to take a boat to our boat…

Here is a shot of the “sister” ship to ours…

I’ve got to say that so far I’m liking the accommodations…

Bed for us, a bath for Pigletté…

I love these kinds of shots… footies I guess that would be…

And Pigletté enjoys the view…

But it’s time for lunch. We get three meals on our cruise – lunch, dinner, and breakfast tomorrow morning.

And it was all really good!

The rest of the passengers are mostly English speakers, with a handful of French speakers, and a lowly German coupe. That would mean three tour guides on board as well.

It’s a hard life at sea…

Here is a photo of the map our tour guide used to show us our route for the next 24 hours….

I finally unpacked my “real” camera – the one with the 16x zoom so that I could get a bunch of close-ups of life on the river.

We are not the only tourist boat on the river. I’ve seen boats that were loaded with bicycles for multi-day trips that had a cycling component.

Small ferries are located about every mile up and down the river – moving goods and people from side-to-side.

Everything gets transported by river. Here is a load of Pigletté’s cousins…

And a load of coconuts headed to market…

And bridge components headed up river…

I’m thinking that these are bags of rice husks which are then used for fuel.

And wood…FYI, if there are “eyes” on the front of the boat – the boat’s captain is Buddhist.

Anyone need some hay?

Or rice?

And guess where those boats get built? We saw LOTS of boat yards lining the river:

And lots of boat traffic.

Lots of ways to make money off the river – like fishing…

And tending their nets…

For many of the boat captains, their boat is their house as well as their job…

Mom driving the boat while Dad takes a bath…

Or resting out of the afternoon sun…

Random pictures of boat people…

Random pictures of shore life:

And random building shots…

Not as much bird life along the river as I’d expected, but some:

In the late afternoon we had an excursion up one of the many channels and tributaries that feed the Mekong. A was a little surprised that they gave us life-jackets – but a bit relieved as well.

Up river we go:

Really thankful for the lifejackets:

At the start of our “walk-about” our guide gives us our intro to the fruits of Vietnam:

And flowers …

And spices like peppercorn:

As we wandered further inland it turned to protein:

OK – the dog isn’t for eating – it’s to chase off predators. As you can see – they can pretty much grow or harvest most of what they need to live on – save for some cooking oil.

Next up on the agenda was a little snack…of the fruits we saw, and some hot tea:

Followed by a tour of their house…

And on the way back to the boat – rice fields. Please note the burial crypts on the right hand side:

And speaking of burial crypts, here are some more:

Tour over – back to the boat we go, with enough time for a cocktail or two before dinner – good thing we stocked up in town!

Off to dinner we go…

Looks yummy doesn’t it.

And we even sprang for a little white Bordeaux:

Nothing like a full moon to complete the evening:

It was an early to bed night for all three of us after a very long day.

[? ? ?]

Fri
5
Feb '16

Trip Report:

Pigletté In Vietnam – Eighth Leg: The Long Trip Home

The trip is winding down – time for Pigletté and Uncle Markie to head back to Seattle. The flight to Dubai is scheduled for a little before midnight – and when the check-in counter opened, I was the third person in the business line…this is what the economy line looked like:

And there is a shared lounge for Emirates business class passengers…not bad, but no open bar, just unlimited wine. Sigh. But there is a big open buffet:

My office for a couple of hours:

Wine, seltzer, beef noodle soup…a little post dinner, pre-flight food.

Another 777-300ER on the Saigon to Dubai flight. Pigletté gets settled in:

But he has to share his seat with Uncle Markie. Thanks to the lady in the window seat for this shot:

Soon it was movie time (Specter – a 007 movie):

We watched the movie while the flight attendant worked on my Manhattan:

Which came with some hot nuts – Uncle Markie LOVES hot nuts:

Even Bond, James Bond, enjoys a drink with us:

Before long, it was dinner time – and NO, that is NOT a potato, that’s a dinner roll. The starters:

The main:

Time for some more movies:

And the controller that also runs the system (in addition to buttons on the phone) – WAY too many options:

Here is a partial list of the movies I watched on the return flight:

  • Spectre (007)
  • Martians

And then there was a little sleep before arriving in Dubai at 4am in the morning – 4-hour layover, but the lounge is comfy and has “quiet areas”:

Don’t I look comfortable?

After a nap it’s time for a little breakfast before the breakfast on the Dubai to Houston flight:

Got to love Emirates Business Class Lounges in Dubai (they have three, each of which are the length of the terminal) – and how is this for boarding. The Business Class lounge is on 5 (in this terminal), First Class on 4, 3 is god-knows-what:

I love the “Upper Deck Boarding”, “Lower Deck Boarding” buttons, which correspond this this:

Yes, that is THREE jet skyways to the jet…Emirates A380-800 from Dubai to Houston is configured with

  • 14 First Class closed suites
  • 76 Business Class lay-flat seats
  • 399 Economy seats

With almost 500 seats you got to board these things from every orifice.

Wonder what economy looks like?

That would be a wild-body seating configuration of 3-4-3 (10-across). Upstairs, well, these are the back stairs – the front stairs go to First Class:

And the Business Class section which is a 1-2-1 configuration:

And my pod…

This was before I moved across the aisle so that I didn’t have to squeeze past the end table (which the feet of the person behind me slides into. Fresh flowers even:

Which was right above my 22″ tough-screen display…more reasons for changing seats.

Lots of charging opportunities…(and noise-cancelling headphone jack):

Add reading material (and Champagne) ….

And leg room …

And seat controls ….

Bye-bye Dubai …

A shot from above …

Time to settle in:

And then the food begins….

And yummy it is… another breakfast!

I opted for the Middle Eastern version of the main breakfast course… when in Rome (or Dubai) ….and more drinks:

Rob Roys with 18-year-old Chivas:

And since it’s a 15-hour flight, mid-flight mini-sandwiches:

And mid-flight work….

The flights movie list:

  • Life with father – William Powell

5 hours of sleep (Ambien washed down with Rob Roys)

  • The Man Who Knew Too Much – Kimmy Stewart, Doris Day
  • Philadelphia Story – jimmy steward, Cary grant, Hepburn
  • Desk Set – Hepburn/Tracy

Along with some hot appetizers:

At the back bar:

I think there was lunch in there someplace —

And the cheese course with a 2000 Warre’s Tawny Port:

I love some of the FaceBook comments on the cheese course photo:

Catherine: A GLASS glass?! METAL silverware!? An actual ceramic PLATE?!

Alexis: it looks to me like you are having too much carbs, only one cracker please ! x

Carlotta: Your cheese COURSE? There’ a vegetable, meat and dessert course? Soup too?

Retta: I could live off that.

Mark: I opted for the cheese and port over the chocolate lava cake, espresso and Cointreau. And yes, three courses before that. Redeeming 75000 miles gets you good airline food.

Kathy: I need to charge more on our mileage credit card, clearly!!

Mark: Happy to be anyone’s mileage consultant!

Carlotta: Well dear, you Are The Expert!

Mark: Catherine, that was a real piece of wood under that cheese.

Sean: It is so painful to see a man suffer

Jonathan: Not used to seeing you consuming grapes that haven’t been squashed and left to ferment for several years…

David: I approve!

Mikal: Pigletté loves cheese …

And then the party ended. Arrived in Houston with a two-hour layover which included customs/immigration, a terminal change, another round of security. Thank you Alaska for digital boarding passes that kept me from having to produce TWO quart bags since I’d collected all these toiletries from Janet to put in her church’s homeless packets. The downside of the Alaska gate in Houston is that there is no lounge access. Luckily I was exhausted because this was my seat for the four-hour Houston to Seattle run, in coach. At least it was bulkhead aisle:

One free drink, one bought drink, 3 hours of sleep which I dearly needed.

Cab home from the airport (about $30) about 9 in the evening – and here what was in the mailbox:

And what remained when I pitched all the junk:

International trip number one of four planned this year (next is Greece [June], then Mexico [September], then France [November]).

Next up is Victoria, British Columbia (which because it’s so close I don’t consider to be international).

[? ? ?]

Fri
22
Jan '16

Trip Report:

Pigletté In Vietnam – Second Leg: SFO-DBX

In some ways this section of the trip excites me almost as much as checking off Vietnam from my “bucket list”. It will be my first ride on an Airbus 380-800 – and it’s upstairs (the A380 is a two-level [three with cargo] passenger aircraft).


But first I need to get to the airport (thanks BART!), through security and into the lounge. And that’s the first snag of the trip – turns out my Vietnam Visa is for next week, not this week. Luckily I have copies of the “invitations” from the tour company but it’s a 30-minute delay in getting me checked in – at least I have a fair warning that I’ll need to apply at the airport when I finally get to Saigon – and yes, I call it Saigon rather than Ho Chi Min City because the airport code is still SGN.

Though security in the mid-fast lane (Premium Customers – Business/First/Gold) but not TSA-Pre – so it’s shoes off, laptop and liquids out, all the shit out my pocket for the body scanner.

But once past the gauntlet, it’s off to the Emirates Lounge – wish Alaska was using this as their temporary lounge rather than Cathy Pacific’s Lounge in the same terminal – and it’s nothing to sneeze at. Link here to posts about that lounge.

Nice to be able to have a nice buffet lunch on the ground before eating on board:

Pigletté and I started with a little champagne and some nibbles:

Veuve Cliquot for Pigletté, Jack and Diet 7-up for me – we split the Ahi tuna tartare salad and went back for the shrimp and the potato lobster cakes:


Nice facilities here in the lounge:

Like a help yourself bar…

And even a shower room in the bathroom if you are sticky…

Rough life – and about to get rougher since San Francisco to Dubai is a 16-hour flight, but at least the seat is comfortable, and look, more Veuve Cliquot:

Here are what the seats across the aisle (would those be the Republican seats?) look like:

And of the larger section of Business Class…

I’m in seat 23J – though for the flight home I might move to 24K so I don’t have to crawl over the nightstand to get to the aisle. Refer to the seating chart at the beginning of this post for location – I chose the back section of Business because it’s closer to the stand-up bar…

This should give you an idea about the amount of leg room with this seat:

And yes, that’s a 22-inch diagonal touchscreen TV. And then there is the amenities bag filled with nice razors, and Bvlgari products:

Hell, even the toilets on this plane are swanky – I swear it’s heated:

Even the towels are cloth!

But I’m really here for the food…


And the drink…

Espresso and Cointreau (yes, they have an espresso machine built into the galley):

The basically free internet (while watching the Blue Brothers):

Something like 3000 channels of entertainment on their ICE system (this would be the detachable seat side controller for the TV):

And the bed…

Landing in Dubai and getting through customs and immigration (I just had carry-on) was fairly painless other than their “automated” entry system where you scan your passport and stare into the camera once again failed to work, but there was nobody in line in front of me, so no big deal other than the airport itself is HUGE to it was lots of waling to the cab stand.

When I booked my overnight hotel in Dubai I accidently booked the Holiday Inn Express that was further from the airport (hiccup number two in the trip). At least in Dubai the cabs are fairly reasonable – it was about $20 bucks to get into downtown. I would have cancelled and changed to the correct one (I knew about this hiccup before leaving the country) but there was a 3,000 Amtrak Guest Rewards bonus that I would have lost bringing the points total from 4,000 down to 1,000. 4,000 Amtrak Guest Rewards points under the new schedule which goes into force on the 24th means that is worth $120 worth of Amtrak spendable dollars. Well worth the longer cab ride.

And the room isn’t bad. I left Pigletté in the room while I went for dinner – not sure how a pig would be treated in a Muslim country, guessing not well.

Not a bad room for one night.

Odd thing at the hotel, yes, it had a bar, basically unmarked behind the reception counter, and filled with Arab men smoking cigarettes and drinking.

Off to Saigon in the morning.

[? ? ?]

Tue
26
Jan '16

Trip Report:

Pigletté In Vietnam – Fourth Leg: Saïgon to Cần Thơ

One of my biggest worries of this trip was that a delay in arriving into Saïgon would screw the trip to Cần Thơ the following morning as there was only twelve hours between landing and getting picked up for the tour. Alas, no worries, even with the delay at the Visa Desk.

In the morning Sean and I head out for an early breakfast – leaving Pigletté at home since it’s Pork and Rice for breakfast (and iced tea):

Here is the guy cooking our pork on the side of the street at 7:30am in the morning…

And the end product. I think I could get used to this. 34,000 Dồng (Vietnamese Monetary Unit) a person ($1.52 USD):

Our driver was right on time at 8am – and even came down the narrow street to pick us up in front of Sean’s apartment:

He had to back down the alley as there was no room to turn around. But off we go for the 4-hour drive to Cần ThÆ¡. After we got out of the city, there was a bit of tollway that quickly turned into two lanes in each direction separated by a “Jersey Barrier“, with scooters/motorcycles going both ways on the shoulder – all accompanied by various small businesses lining the road, with the occasional break for rice paddies, banana farms and other agricultural stuff.

Part way in we stopped at what I call a “tourist rest stop” that all the tour buses stop at (though we were in a chaffered car) – a “shopping opportunity” as The Colonels would say – and a chance for a freebie for the driver. Sean mentioned that he prefers to stop in “hammock cafes” where you have your tea (or whatever) while lounging in a hammock in the shade.

All said, Pigletté enjoys his Vietnamese Coffee (Robusta-bean brewed coffee with sweetened condensed milk):

And the surroundings are pretty – but it took us a bit to find our driver again…

Before you knew it – and Sean snoozing after his tea — we are approaching the new (as of 2010) bridge over the Mekong River to get to Cần ThÆ¡. The old method was a ferry that added HOURS to the journey. This and another bridge at the Cambodian border makes it possible to drive from Saigon to Phnom Penh, Cambodia in six hours.

First stop when we arrive in Cần Thơ is our lunch stop of the day with a set Vietnamese lunch:

And it was tasty:

Luckily this was all part of the “package” I got from Luxury Travel Co., Ltd. So far, the tour isn’t disappointing. With the lunch we had some Vietnamese Red Wine (Vang Dalat, served chilled and considering it was 90 degrees outside, a good thing) by the glass (50,000 Dồng each — $4.49 USD for both glasses, NOT included in tour price). There is a review of the Van Dalat STONG wine (16% being fortified with Mulberry Wine here), but I don’t think it’s right to compare a fortified wine to a regular table wine from the same producer, but it is an interesting interview.

After lunch (and an ATM stop for Sean – he’s my “bank” this trip so far, not having changed any money at the airport on the way in), we are off to check into the Victoria Cần ThÆ¡ – a Colonial-era hotel (think French occupation of Vietnam). You have to love a check-in process where they say, “take a seat”, turn over your passports, and while they do all the paperwork, you get a shoulder massage:

Again, part of the “package” apparently – and there is a spa on premises if we want a “couples massage”. We have the afternoon free, so we settle into the room to craft a plan…

Even the bathroom is nice…they even put a condom in a little envelope on the top of the toilet…

They even sent up a fruit basket!

We had to call down for ice for the flash of whiskey I brought (flask was included with the liter of Jameson that I bought at Dubai Duty Free):

Internet and nap time rule for the afternoon – at least until happy hour in the bar downstairs…

And a little reading time (unless you want to play billiards):

We could have played Backgammon as well….

Happy hour wasn’t THAT good a deal – 2-for-1 Gin & Tonics at 4-star hotel prices, but we did need the nuts and a little snack before taking the water taxi to Cần ThÆ¡‘s city center…

Our objective was to find some supplies – whiskey and diet for me at retail rather than hotel prices…and explore some of the city center. The water taxi is run by the hotel and they just need 10-15 minutes’ notice on the hotel end, as the boat is moored in the city. Turns out we stumbled into one of the few shops early in our stroll that sold both – but hoping for a better deal, we explored further. Note the Microsoft Storefront in the background…

And a picture from Sean’s collection. GREAT picture of me.

Fresh shrimp anyone?

Or may some Tết (Vietnamese New Year) stuff – we bought some!

But soon it was time to head back to the hotel with our Scotch (Johnny Walker Red – not my first choice, but the best of the lot) and some Coke Light (Diet Coke for those in the US). We have a 6:30pm dinner reservation (also included in the tour price), so time is of the essence…

I thought I’d show you some shots of where we were staying – stunning grounds and facilities. Headed to the resort from the dock…

The river side of the place…

The view from the lobby to the pool…

The lobby (open-air – rooms have AC).

Time for dinner! Listed in the brochure as “candlelight dinner” it was true to description – complete with a custom printed menu for us:

Guess that makes Sean “and party”… love the attention to detail:

And the food was a stunning as the napkin. The “starter” – Eggplant Tartin with Mozzarella and fresh garden salad (please notice the “balled” butter):

Green pea soup (soup de legumes verts)….

Chicken leg stuffed with mushrooms, and mushroom sauce, Duchess Potatoes, and a faggot (bundle of sticks) of green beans….fagot de haricots verts as they say in France.

And dessert…. chocolate cake served with coconut ice cream…

All washed down with a little rosé from Provence (that’s in France you know – and Vietnam was a French Colony for a couple of year). It’s a Saint Roch Les Vignes which is sustainably-farmed 50% Cinsault, 50% Grenache from 225 acres from select domains in the villages of Cuers, Puget-Ville and Pierrefeu with the average age of vines at about 30-years-old.

Love a good rosé in a hot environment! Even if it did cost almost a million Dồng. Fun fact – the Dồng has the second lowest redemption value right behind the Iranian Dinar.

That said, the USD total was $44.45 – like I said – 4-star resort prices. At least I know what the mark-up at the restaurant is – that bottle would be $15 on the shelf at my shop. Considering how little we have been paying for other things on this trip, it was nice to have a nice rosé in hot weather.

The restaurant also has an enclosed, sit-in wine cellar/bar:

We got back to the room to find more attention to detail – a bedtime story scroll, and a couple of star fruit jelly roll snacks….but no new bucket of ice…that will make the third call today, or is it fourth:

Also, please note that the bottled water has a cloth “cozies” around it. Condoms in the bathroom, cloth sleeves on the water bottles – they are serious about “protection”, or is that “glove before you love”.

Off to bed – driver comes at 11:30am for us, and breakfast is served until 10am.

[? ? ?]

Sun
31
Jan '16

Trip Report:

Pigletté In Vietnam – Seventh Leg: Saïgon Museums & Markets, Second Day

Just a reminder to those readers arriving here from FaceBook. Links from FaceBook
are a direct link to this post, so you miss the previous posts. You can see all the posts by either clicking on the UMTravels banner, or HERE.

When I travel – I’m not one of those people who does stuff in the morning, then has lunch at some Michelin-rated restaurant, afternoons seeing some other museum before dinner at another Michelin-rated restaurant prior to the opera – that kind of pace exhausts me just thinking about it. I’m more the one museum/one temple-church-graveyard a day kinda a guy.

A little dim sum for brunch….

And we start today with a Buddhist temple:

Temple. Check.

Next up, our museum for the day. This one will be the opposite of yesterday’s time capsule – The War Remnants Museum (formerly the Exhibition House for Crimes of War and Aggression)

The grounds are littered with old military equipment…and Sean got this picture of me with my Hello Kitty motorcycle helmet still on my head…

And more equipment…

These two shots should give you an idea about the “theme” of the exhibits:

And my favorite – the listing of “puppet” a.k.a. South Vietnamese forces:

Not just the US that is represented – there is an entire exhibit devoted to the French occupation and their Prisoner of War camps. Hence, the guillotine:

The rest of the exhibit was quite graphic including cells with posed emaciated dummies, so no pictures of those. Also – no pictures from the room detailing the atrocities from the use of Agent Orange. To be honest, I grazed over the exhibits rather than wading through the propaganda – I did find the section of War Photographers most interesting.

There was a little more military equipment inside:

Three floors and outside exhibits – a bit on the depressing side, but defiantly on everyone’s agenda. I heard, French, Russian, Spanish, and of-course, English and Vietnamese.

Museum. Check.

Must be time for our coffee shop stop – back to yesterday’s chain since Sean’s favorite shop seems to have closed (turns out it just moved). And Pigletté gets to try on some traditional hats be bought at the museum:

That would be hats for Pigletté, BóBó, and Mr. Lobster. Today’s Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf branch is a two-story affair, so we get a bit of a city view:

Home for a nap and cocktails – the former didn’t happen, the latter did.

Tonight – Indian Food delivered to the door – these days of sightseeing are leaving us exhausted and unwilling to leave the comfort of the apartment:

Damn tasty.

Tomorrow Sean returns to work, and I’ll explore the city on my own.

[219.8]

Thu
28
Jan '16

Trip Report:

Pigletté In Vietnam – Sixth Leg: Mekong Delta, Cái Bè, Saïgon

Who would have thought I’d be up at 6am…guessing that it has to do with “early to bed”. Or maybe it was the fact we pulled anchor and are under way again.

Breakfast is at 7, we need to be off the boat at 8 for transfer to smaller boats to explore the Mekong Delta a little more. At least there is coffee ready for us:

And a beautiful sunrise:

Good Morning VIETNAM! R.I.P. Robin Williams. I loved that movie – and Apocalypse Now. Maybe I should re-watch those on my return to the states. We still have more time on the boat – but I’m already thinking I didn’t book enough boat time.

Pigletté is already at breakfast by the time we get there! No coffee for him, just juice.

They advertised a “continental breakfast”. I’m not sure what continent, but the options were English-style (beans, scrambled eggs, broiled tomato), American-style (omelet, bacon), European-style (breads, meats, cheeses), or Vietnamese-style (pho). When in Rome!

Yum!

When it’s time to off-load, it’s funny to watch the French people who each have one HUGE bag, and one roll-aboard – PER PERSON trying to get all that stuff into the boats. Here we are, headed away from our home of the last day…

One headed up one of the many tiny waterways of the Mekong Delta:

A word to the wise – a little mobility is required for this portion of the journey…think narrow ramps.

The poor lady from Singapore (on the English presented tour with us) was having some difficulties on this portion of the tour.

First stop was an open-air barn that they were roasting something…coal fires underneath, and pig pits above that guys with plastic shoveling moving product around – it didn’t look like a fun job:

Even the back channels of the Mekong Delta are crowded with boats as I discover on the way to our next stop:

Next up – Vietnam’s most pampered animals – Fighting Cocks!

They are kept in wire cages to keep them from fighting with each other before there is actually money on the ground.

Here is a chicken getting a bath and a massage…

As in the rest of Vietnam – scooters EVERYWHERE…

Even on the narrow village paths…

It surprised me that this one was concrete – the one yesterday was asphalt – but I guess in a country that has a monsoon season, paved is better than mud. My guess is that this village is doing OK judging by some of the houses:

Next up is a sugar cane processing “plant”:

Remember I mentioned that rice husks are used as fuel? Above, there is a sloping pile of husks that is used to feed the fire below. And the pile outside that feeds it.

Lots of sloshing around…

Before it gets poured in to plastic pots to cool and then be stacked and wrapped for shipment:

Apparently, it’s a family affair judging from the water bottle above, and this scene below:

Before you know it, we are headed to Cái Bè and their floating markets – you can tell what they are selling by what is on a bamboo pole sticking from their boat:

There is a lovely cathedral in Cái Bè – alas, it isn’t on our itinerary.

What is on our itinerary is a one-stop “folkloric” shopping opportunity – MUCH lower key than most. It features snakes soaked in rice liquor (I’m sure customs would LOVE that in Houston), and displays of candy making (using ingredients like we saw earlier), paper making, and rice popping (think rice krispies).

From there, we are off to meet up with our driver for the ride back to Saïgon – and here is a picture of our driver. Not much in the way of English skills, but Sean has some rudimentary Vietnamese.

Confession – the picture was taken in Cần ThÆ¡, but it just didn’t fit the narrative.

Got back to Sean’s apartment a little after noon – dropped bags and off to lunch – with this amusing photo-op on the way.

Everyone is gearing up for Tết (the New Year).

And lunch!

Did you need some hot peppers? Those were sitting on the table next to us.

I just let Sean order – it’s simpler, and I eat most anything. And I get to try all the local favorites.

One of my favorite things about third-world cities is the “amusing” wiring hanging off poles.

I’d hate to trace a wire in that jungle.

After lunch it’s nap time – something about travelling Vietnam highways/streets is exhausting, even if you aren’t the one driving. Then off to the store with a fistful of Dồng!

That 2000 note is worth 9 cents USD. The print bills up to a million Dồng– which is equal to $45 USD. The smallest note is 200 with a value of less than a penny USD. And look – you can buy casks of wine at the grocery store for about $30 USD.

Sean is cooking tonight, which turns out to be a rarity with the inexpensive nature of going out to eat.

And it’s tasty as well!

Time for a little work before bed…

Didn’t last that long before it was “hit the hay” time. Another big day planned for tomorrow.

Thu
4
Feb '16

Trip Report:

Pigletté In Vietnam – Seventh Leg: Saïgon City Impressions

Just a reminder to those readers arriving here from FaceBook. Links from FaceBook
are a direct link to this post, so you miss the previous posts. You can see all the posts by either clicking on the UMTravels banner, or HERE.

My last two days in Vietnam I’m on my own to explore the neighborhood (5th Ward or whatever it is). Sean is at work, I sleep in.

Welcome to sights and scenes from Saïgon. Let’s start with traffic – on the back of a scooter:


There are other clips on YouTube at the same location of other experimental traffic shots. Breath deep, assume it will all come out right.

When I’m staying with folks in a different city, I just tend to pick a street and walk 5 or 10 blocks in each direction to see what I find…and with the maze of Saigon streets running at angles, I’m going for straight lines.

Hello Kitty! I found this store on the first walk:


They were having a 50% off sale and MAN was I out of place. Lots of pretty pink dresses, nothing in the laptop sleeve that I was looking for – luggage – they had that.


I should have spent more time looking for bargains – but I got the feeling they were a little freaked out by a 50+ year old white guy in their store.

You can get everything on the streets – plane tickets:


CDs/DVDs from guys that have their own battery mounted sound system:


Random food:


Then there are the random cathedrals:


Mixed in with upscale buildings wedged between crumbling ones…


And forget walking on the sidewalk, it is filled with scooters:

Walk, and you are in the street. Speaking of the street – I have a collection of “party” billboards – Vietnam still is a nominally communist country:

I’m sorry, but in the one below, Ho Chi Min is looking a little too much like Colonel Sanders, which is in Vietnam at this point.

To me this reminds me of the YMCA song so popular at weddings in the US:

And then there is TinTin – apparently he crosses all borders:

Other amusing street scenes include auto dealerships where there is a 200% import tax on cars that are not manufactured in Vietnam – FYI – Vietnam doesn’t manufacture any cars:

Public parks have exercise equipment for everyone to use. Hello USA!:

Random shot of a street restaurant:

It is the year of the monkey after all. Apparently I’m a FIRE MONKEY:

And the “party” is still alive – this Jeep waiting to go on Communist Patrol:

As my last night in town, Ming shows up for dinner, and to pick up a painting he is taking to his father as a house-warming gift – this isn’t the painting (which I should have taken a picture of), but a large 3-6 foot mural in the showroom – which happens to be on the corner of where I’m staying. “Painting” is a bit of a stretch – unless you call painting with ground up gem stones painting.

And then we were off to dinner – s hot pot place:

A nice final meal for Vietnam for late tonight I’m at the airport headed home.

[215.8]

Sun
24
Jan '16

Trip Report:

Pigletté In Vietnam – Third Leg: DBX-SGN

Trying to keep on top of this trip – and slipping further behind. Cause: too much fun. Damn fun!

5am wake-up call…I don’t really like those, but I don’t set the schedule, I just pick the cheapest redemption values.

It’s a little hard to get pictures of Dubai when you arrive after dark and you leave before it’s light, but here’s a bizarre shot from the cab in the morning…

And of the departure lanes at DBX:

Luckily, the upside of getting to the airport early is time in the Emirates Business Class Lounge. And it’s a lovely facility (though not as nice at the C-terminal one, but B-terminal has a post-security hotel as well. Maybe I should have stayed there. Here is a sampling of shots, starting with the route to customs…it’s a long walk (and from there it breaks off into three different terminals, luckily I’m at B, which is just beyond security):

A little duty-free shopping (Tullamore Dew with a free flask) and then it was off to the lounge, which stretches the entire length of the terminal (but doesn’t have elevators like Terminal C):

It’s one level above departure level and is quite nice:

This would be the buffet from the front:

Which for lunch included a specialty oven just for baked potatoes:

And the back:

Cooked up by this kitchen:

Here is what we started with….

Moet Champagne this time, with chicken sausage (it is a Muslin country after all), scrambled eggs, hash browns, lox, cream cheese, capers. Tried to be moderate after filling up yesterday in the lounge and then not being able to eat all the food on the plane.

Unlike the lounge I was in last year (post here) on the way to Japan, no elevators directly to the gates in this lounge…and not only that – I have first-world problems…no jet-way – but really nice leather seated busses to the tarmac. No wonder they need to build a new airport in Dubai:

Nicest transfer bus I’ve ever been on…and then there were the stairs….

Business Class did have its own dedicated stairs… but still – stairs, with luggage. My first-world arms and legs were complaining…until the champagne came (again Moet), though it hadn’t arrived by the time of this photo:

The 777-300 series Business Class seats aren’t nearly as nice as the A380 seats…10-year-older technology, but the business class section isn’t bad. I know, more first-world bitching:

And this is what the entry way looks like – and honest – the rest of the flight she was smiling:

And we had just two of us for 6 seats in the mini-section at the back of business…

Off we go after settling in…

Today’s flight is only clocking in at about 7 hours – so not the level of service as the overnight runs. But first, some shots of the Dubai skyline for Mr. Whippet (who requested Dubai shots, and with late in, early out, this was the best I could do – and that would be the single Mr. Whippet, not the married Mr. and Mrs. Whippet):

That would be Dubai in the background, and below, an example of pollution problems in Dubai – notice the spire from the tallest building poking through the smog:

But we are settled in, watching movies….

And eating food – this would be the appetizer:

And then the main (Chicken Biryani):

And snacks if we get hungry:

And a light meal before we landed – chicken meat wrapped around lemongrass root – I might have to try that at home:

And then it was all over – the fun that is. Time to fix the visa problem. Line, get form, fill out form, cut in line to turn in form, wait 30 minutes, pay $25 USD (really felt like a government foreign currency making scam since EVERYONE paid in dollars, including the French). Bottom line it was an hour from getting off the plane to meeting up with Sean who was picking me up and giving me a place to sleep. Go Sean!

A cab ride home, crack the duty-free, have a snack, and a reasonable to-bed time.

[? ? ?]

Sun
31
Jan '16

Trip Report:

Pigletté In Vietnam –

Seventh Leg: Saïgon Museums & Markets, First Day

Just a reminder to those readers arriving here from FaceBook. Links from FaceBook
are a direct link to this post, so you miss the previous posts. You can see all the posts by either clicking on the UMTravels banner, or HERE.

Sean took Monday and Tuesday off so those are out museum days…and with him working Wednesday and Thursday, I’ll be making my wondering tours of his neighborhood. Who know where food will end of in this.

First up Is a little breakfast – turns about its cracked rice and chicken – should be a nice base for a day of sightseeing.

Maybe I should have had something other than tea — morning cocktails were $1.50 – were is Magnatroia when you need him!

Next up is a little shopping at one of the oldest Colonial-style
markets left in Saïgon. That would be Bến Thành Market

Getting there through Saïgon traffic is what we need to do first. More on that in the next post, but here is a preview (next post will have scary traffic videos). I’m in the bitch seat on Sean’s scooter wearing a Hello Kitty helmet. It goes with my Hello Kitty watch.

I’ve been to markets like this around the world – lots of touts hawking their wears – I did see an interesting domino set for Salamander – but no real time to look/bargain/haggle – just not into the markets as I once was. Just show me a price, that’s all I want.

I did see some humorous shirts I’ve have gotten if I didn’t know that they would last one washing.

Next up was to swing by the post office – Sean
had wanted stamps, but the lines made it hard – no stamps, but another cool old colonial-style
building.

Across the street is one of the Cathedrals in town:

Alas it being noon, the church wasn’t open to the public, so we settled on one of the oldest Indian-based Hindu Shrine around the corner. Apparently the original member-base were all Indian bank workers.

As mot much is open for lunch, so off to a coffee shop for tea, blood orange bubbly, free Wi-Fi, and clean bathrooms.

Rested, cooled off, relieved we next check into the Reunification Palace, also known as the Independence Palace.
It was a time building that my friend Russ really needs to see – I’m surprised the North didn’t just level it after the war, instead, they turned it into a time-capsule.


It feels like a monument to late 60’s design – love some of the rooms:

And my favorite – the game room with bar…

I think Jill would like this room as well…or maybe the theatre with its chairs:

They even preserved the projection booth:

And if you needed to get out in a hurry, grab a Huey from the roof:

Under fire and can’t get out on the chopper – head to the bunker:

And when the attack is over, have company over and have the catering kitchen whip up a meal – yes, I had kitchen envy:

On the grounds there are examples of the rogue South Vietnam plane that bombed the Independence Palace (a pilot switched sides), that has a black “X” over the country logo:

And one of the tanks that stormed the palace:

Totally museum’d out for day, it’s off for a city tour…Graham Greene wrote “The Quiet American” in this bar of the Hotel Continental, across from the Opera House:

Said Opera House:

Last tourist stop of the day is the top of the tallest building in Vietnam to have a drink. They devote the lowest floor of parking just to scooters!

It was a little convoluted to get to the bar – query the front counter (it’s a mall and food court for the first couple of floors), take an escalator to the reservations desk, be escorted to the elevator to the reception desk on 50, put on another elevator to the 51st) – all to get to a fairly tacky bar with a killer view:

With expensive drinks – by Vietnam standards:

I had a Manhattan – decent ingredient selection, but 220,000 Dong –$9.89 USD, and it was Bulleit Bourbon (I’d have preferred their rye). Plus, add 5% service charge and 10% VAT and you are really at $10.04 a drink. Much more than the $1.50 per cocktail advertised at the restaurant we had breakfast in.

Sean had a beer – also overpriced:

But there is the view:

And the Heliport…

Done with cocktails it’s time to head back to the apartment – I’m meeting up with Ming who I met online. The plan is drinks and appetizers at the apartment which means a run to the “supermarket” around the corner for supplies. Meet Ming – medical equipment salesman:

Never did get a proper meal, but I did check out the Yacht Club Scotch!

It’s “old”, though I doubt as “olde” as me.

[219.6]

Mon
3
Jan '11

First Workweek Of The Year.

And Nothing To Do.

Well, it seems that none of my clients are “back in the saddle” yet from the holidays… and it’s too damn cold to be working on outside projects. I guess that just means more eye strain at the computer for no particular reason – which is dangerous as I’m likely to start shopping for air fare, WorldMark last minute deals, toys… you name it.

Today’s picture is of a slightly repurposed “snuggy” that Swanda gave me for the holidays… you know it’s plenty big when it can serve as a blanket on the bed (handy in this cold snag):

For those of you in the know, in the background are Pigletté and Bobo, now retired from their travels. If you need any additional Pigletté and Bobo travelogues you can get them from Amazon at this link: Pigletté & Bobo On Amazon.

A run to the grocery store… scored some veal shanks for the upcoming Veal-O-Rama with Jimmy and Suze on the 22nd – which is good as I was down to two shanks and a whole bunch of veal for scaloppini, and at 30% off, even better.

But tonight’s dinner for me is flat iron steak over a bed of romaine… simple, and missing most of the starch that seems to be sticking to my belly.

[231.9]

Fri
27
Jan '12

A Good Libboo Day.

It was a good day for getting books into the Libboo system. I completed:

  • The Anthology of Sign of the Times
  • One issue of Sign of the Times — A Chronicle of Decadence in the Atomic Age (Volume 5, Number 3)
  • Piglettè Issue 17 (Kansas City)

The Piglettè issue will be Libbo’s first ever graphic novel. Hopefully in the next couple of days, these will post to the Amazon and Barnes and Noble sites. I have all the files from Piglettè Number One (Argentina) converted and ready to assemble.

Today’s Swanda health update:

After a couple of rough days, Chris is back in the saddle again. That saddle being about to have normal paced conversations (45 minutes with his boss, 15 with me) rather than the winded couple of words at a time conversation of the last week or so. He is regaining some strength through his Physical Therapists which means he’s been able to start standing (though it doesn’t sound like for long periods of time) and moving to his wheelchair to sit for a couple of hours. They have also been working on getting his legs and feet cleaned up (lots of cracking and calluses) so they are looking better than in the previous months.

Truly, I was amazed in the change in just the last day, I saw him Thursday afternoon as he was sort of in and out of nap zone, but today on the phone he sounded like the Chris from early December. He is still on the oxygen mask at night, but during the day he’s back to just the oxygen tube.

His sister Janet showed up this morning and will be with him through the weekend.

Dinner tonight with SurfBetty whose computer has been in my “rehab facility” to free up more space on his QuickBooks machine. Yep, a laptop devoted to one program. Cheaper than upgrading QuickBooks 2003 to QuickBooks 2010 (which runs on Windows 7).

Marinated flank steak, slaw, saffron rice for SurfBetty. Nice meal.

[209.8]

Wed
28
May '14

Trip Report: Il Etait Une Fois L’Orient Express, Part Three – Paris

Landed in one piece, pretty much on time. Welcome to Gay Paree. Okay, that’s a bad pun.

Logistics: Landed at Terminal Two which is really about three terminals connected by underground trams…it’s like half a mile to even get to immigration and customs which in the Speed Lane (business Class ticket) is not an issue.

Luckily there is an RER (French Train System) station at Terminal Two (and Terminal 1/3 as well).

The directions I pulled says it’s an easy EU8.70 ticket to the city…turns out it’s EU9.70 ($13) but I still have than much in Euro Change (thanks Julian, and previous trips by me). Then I just have to put up with pushy people while I feed the machine like the slots in Vegas.

A dozen stops on the B-Line to get to the Gare de Nor (North Train Station), walk across the platform to the D-line, go two stops to the Gare de Lyon (Lyon Train Station) and I’m a block from my hotel….at a little after 11AM in the morning. Hello Gare de Lyon…and oddly enough, a food-truck fare in front of it:

That takes care lunch… The Big Apple Hamburger Truck…I wanted the “French” which was goat cheese and caramelized onions (as my bad French told me) but they were out – I had to settle for the “Memphis” which was bacon, cheddar, and BBQ sauce. Not bad, better yet, not over cooked. Luckily I just got the sandwich as the “frites” looked more French than American.

After a walk around the neighborhood just to get the feel I checked in (actually, the burger was after I checked in) I popped into the lobby of the Hotel Terminus Lyon to see if my EU50 single room was ready, fully expecting to just store my luggage (and go get that burger).

To my surprise, the bloody thing was ready and waiting for me at 11:30 in the morning. The view from my 10 square meter room (35 square feet approximately):

And my single bed, and desk…

And the shower in the loo…

Mind you, there are some downsides…the “odd” toilet paper dispenser and its product:

Now how many pieces does that take you to “wipe”? But there is a real cocktail glass on the nightstand.

Went back across the street, got the burger, ate it, and crashed HARD. 6 hours’ worth of hard. I guess I should have slept on the plane.

Got up around 8pm, went searching for food and was amazed that the food trucks were still there – what the hell… Phad Thai (not the best). I just didn’t feel like sitting down solo in one of the many cafes that lined the streets. It felt more natural (for me) to get take out and get some work done. Still a little more planning for tomorrow Exhibition.

Around midnight (after the last post), popped an Ambien and crashed until 7 (even though the wakeup call was for 8). A little more work and then it is was off to the reason for this trip…The Orient Express.

It was a twenty minute walk to the Arab Institute where the Orient Express Exhibition was staged, and the massive Botanical Garden (and Zoo) was on the way, though I didn’t explore much:

It felt like it would have been a day to explore on its own – luckily I found a nice bacon wrap in the rare convenience store as apparently Paris isn’t up before 10.

But I digress… pictures from the Exhibition at the Arab Institute (after one picture of the Institute itself since the building style mixes East and West):

I think it’s Stainless Steel, but again, back to the reason for this trip….

This was from the film, though it never was on the tracks. Yes, that would be steam.

Three cars and a diner are on display – though the diner is only available for EU120 ($165) for the light dinner and EU160 ($220) for the heavy dinner. That’s a little RICH for my budget.

Here are some of the interior shots from the cars – which I’d love to have been on, except for the constant smoking…

 

If you are a fan of Lalique, here is some of his work on the train:

If you want to see more of my Lalique travels, check out this church on the Isle of Jersey (http://www.glasschurch.org/Glass_church_jersey_glass_church.htm). If you want to see the church from the Piglette & BoBo perspective (another project of mine), check out the PDF of that issue here: http://unclemarkie.com/PDFs/Piglette%20In%20UK.pdf. We (they boys – Piglette and BoBo) had a lot of fun on that trip. But back to Paris!

I did the exhibit hall as well, but everything around the Exhibition was only in French, including the ticket site (thanks Niece Emily for getting my ticket) so that went quick since I couldn’t read the info cards.

Nothing left to do except explore Paris on a spring day…look, it’s Notre Dame just a bit of a walk…

Of course to get there I have to cross that bridge to the left…on of the “locks of love” bridges:

And if you need the detail….

Cropped that might make a nice screen saver or background.

Alas – I didn’t make it into the cathedral… the lines, the lines. For the “tour”:

For just the cathedral:

Mind you from this angle it looks small, but its 45-minutes of zig-zag to get in. However, I’m amused by what I’m assuming s the parson’ house off to the right. I wouldn’t mind living there…

I took the lazy way back to the hotel to pick up my bag (having checked it with the desk before my ramble)…

Started at Gare De Lyon (lower right, 97 in a square), the to the Institute Du Monde Arabe (across the Seine, up river), then further upriver to Notre Dame (256 in square), then to the Bastille Monument (18 in the square), past the Opera Bastille, (also 18) then back to the Hotel Terminus Lyon to pick up my bag and head to the airport hotel.

Time to retrace my steps to the airport, I love the fact that in both directions you just step across the platform at the Gare De Nord to make your connection. What I didn’t realize is that there is actually an EXPRESS train to the airport – it cuts out 12 stops, putting me at the hotel before I expected. One of the reasons I chose this hotel even though it’s twice the cost of the Hotel Terminus Lyon which was EU50 ($68), actually at $145 its more than twice.

Yes, it’s twice the size, from the bed to the shower:

Oddly enough I liked my tiny room a little better – maybe it’s because it had a real drinking glass rather than a fake drinking plastic…which brings us to ice.

Those of you who follow my ice blogs and the weird receptacles that I’ve gotten my requests for ice filled, we have two more entries. Ice run number one, no we don’t have an ice bucket:

Yep, two Imperial Pink glasses filled with cubes. Luckily there is a fridge.

Round number two when the bartender sent me to the restaurant saying his stash was too small… I’m guessing a food prep tray:

That should hold me for the evening.

The up-side to this hotel is that there is food by telephone, though not when I wanted it at 2PM. At 2PM I had to walk to the station (it’s attached to the hotel) and pick up a sandwich at Broiche Doree (they are in every train station). The nice thing about France is that even the convenience store this morning with the bacon salad wrap to the train station sandwich shop – the stuff is three times as good as convenience store food in the US. At the station I got their “Paris Mexico” – if they’d had a sense of humor it would have been a “Paris Texas” as it was basically a shredded chicken sandwich with the addition of avocado.

As for my dinner tonight, being in a “food desert”, here is what room service offered up:

Baby Octopus with Chorizo, side salad and bread. Why can’t US hotels deliver interesting food?

My last two photos are rather random… the view from the Novatel CDG:

Yes, that is the airport in the background…and one of my “tools of the trade” that I picked up in Macau… the “octopus” international power adapter with every USB plug known to mankind:

A great way to make friends on the road when you can charge their devices…and it goes into just one USB that plugs into the international adapter.

Bedtime for Bonzo – got a flight in the morning.

Oh, did I mention the fire alarm going off a midnight?

[? ? ?]

Wed
12
Sep '12

Dinner With BrightHeart And Lynda-Jei.

Apparently I brought Seattle weather with me… rain, rain, rain – though they do need it.

Lazy day around the house working on the computer, uploading the new Adobe Suite 6 Master Collection and downloading my e-books off the Libboo site as they rework their business model that doesn’t include a publishing engine (or at least from what I can tell). Dan turned me onto this great program for managing (and creating) eBooks – it’s called Calibre (link included). It’s free software (donations appreciated) that lets you (among other things) turn ePubs into Mobi files (Kindle uses Mobi files), or can create an ePub/Mobi from a PDF file. I spent an hour or so figuring out how to eBook one of the Pigletté & BoBo books. I don’t have one of the Piglettè series in final form, but I do have two other titles converted for Kindles.

Just click on the above for a link to the .mobi file which you can just drag to your KenDoll (my spelling) and dump in the books folder and it will show up on your bookcase (assuming you have your KenDoll connected to a PC).

A great dinner with the Loveland (Colorado) crew. Much talk, much wine, much munching of pork, grilled peppers, broccoli, grilled onions, and yams. Yum. Sorry, no picture.

But we did get into the Grappa de Solear Manzanilla Extra Dry Jerez Xeres Sherry that I brought — though we did run it through their Britta first.

Maybe tomorrow I can figure out how to make a .mobi of a Piglettè upload – it’s much harder as each of the pages is a “graphic” rather than flowable text.

[206.0] Analog, but doctor’s scale.

Tue
31
Jan '12

Another Day In The Publishing Business.

Another of the books in the Pigletté series is on its way to becoming an eBook:

The Anthology, Pigletté and BoBo Visit Kansas City (#17), and Sign of the Times — A Chronicle of Decadence in the Atomic Age Volume 5, Number 3 are now all available on the Barnes and Noble Nook site. Still waiting for notification from Amazon about the Kindle versions.

And on the health front, my father is weak but home from the hospital, more as I know it. For Swanda, here is the update:

I talked to Chris late yesterday afternoon as he was getting up from his afternoon nap. Sounded a little winded, but not surprising since he’d had two rounds of physical therapy during the day.

MINIMUM time for his return home is three weeks which would be another week in the hospital and then two weeks in a rehab facility. Again, all this is dependent on how his strength is returning.

He did log into email for the first time since his trip to the hospital and spent most of the time deleting emails and trying to clean up his inbox. My guess is that it will take several days before he’s actually sending out any emails.

DancingBear come over a little at 5 for cocktails and then dinner. Brown sugar glazed pork chops, slaw, mashed potatoes, and a little wine rounded out everything.

[207.7]

Mon
19
Nov '07

Cleaning and Clients.

After the demolition of yesterday, it was time for cleaning and getting the house ready for the turkey day weekend guest who’s coming on a composing retreat (RandyInAllWorlds). Pack away all the shower stall parts and tools up in the attic, load up the reading chair in the van along with all the SOTT and Piglette back issues for the Washington State Archives (they want my archives since I’m an alternative publisher based in Washington state).

On the way to the 1:35pm ferry – it’s off to visit Susan of Blue Toad Designs so show her how to work the video projector that she is interested in picking up — a quick half hour of lessons (like take the lens cap off) and then we are off to Odlin Park to show MoonSong the camping spot that’s open year round.

Got to the ferry an hour early — but better safe than sorry. Gas in Anacortes at Safeway for $2.99 after discount, and back to the city.

Leftovers for dinner, blogging, email, and surfing after. TV blaring — that would be the free over the air HDTV with 22 channels. Sort of like 2008 already (the year they turn off analog TV signals — and probably analog cell phones as well).

Boring day — sorry.

Tue
12
Aug '14

Visitors Report: The Colonels Come To Town.

What a lovely couple of days with The Colonels in town on their epic journey from Kentucky to Alaska (and back):

BTIIMap

Now THAT is an epic trip. And as full disclaimer, I’ve raided their trip blog for some of the photos (and the map above).

I’d arranged for The Colonels to stay at the WorldMark Seattle at The Camlin for their three day stay:

The Camlin

The unit I got via the “waitlist” was a Courtyard Studio Plus – which means stairs to all the units. Luckily, they got a unit with only one set of stairs, AND had the bell-staff schlep all the bags and boxes into the room.

They arrived at 5PM from Eastern Washington, and I got stuck in traffic so I didn’t make it until 5:30. As the room was a little warm (no AC, but a fan), we had snacks and drinks in the courtyard. Had I thought about it I would have brought steaks and salad since there was a BBQ unit right across from their room.

gallery_12

We were at the table to the left (WorldMark photo).

After a couple of drinks – and a tour of the property (the museum in the basement and the Cloud Room on the top floor) we were off to Dragon Fish Asian Café which is walkable for all of us. Here is a picture from The Colonels blog:

P8080277

The Lady Colonel took this photo as they were passing in front of Dragon Fish Asian Café on their way to dinner on Friday (that story to come later). His blog comment had to do with the ladies in blue dresses dragging huge crosses down the street:

Now, I know I’m an old white guy, rather conservative, and from a small town, but there were lots of folks in Seattle that just left me shaking my head. We didn’t get to photograph many of them, but the following photograph of two women in long blue dresses, each woman carrying a cross, might give you a sense of what I’m speaking of.

Our dinner at Dragon Fish was wonderful – I’d worried that the menu might be a little adventurous for The Colonels, but it turns out they like everything we had and shared – and then back the next day for lunch – that’s a testament to the quality of the food (or the close proximity to The Camlin). Here is what we had (as best I can remember):

  • CHICKEN POTSTICKERS 7
    garlic, ginger, cabbage, sweet hot soy sauce
  • ASIAN CURRIED STEAK FRIES 3
    curry spice, ketchup
  • KOREAN BULGOGI SKIRT STEAK * 8
    pickled cucumbers, sesame seeds
  • GRILLED MISO RIBEYE * 11
    tempura onions, sweet miso sauce
  • WAWAII ROLL WITH TOASTED COCONUT 12
    smoked salmon, macadamia nuts, blueberry wasabi sauce
  • CHICKEN YAKISOBA (wheat noodles) 8
    vegetables, yakisoba sauce, sesame seeds, pickled ginger
  • LIME RICKEY SHRIMP ** 8
    quick fried. peanuts, hichimi, lemongrass vodka sauce

Hung out at The Camlin with The Colonels for a bit after dinner, and headed home for tomorrow we are doing The Museum of Flight, then a tour of Madrona Wine Merchants, then dinner at my place.

Here are a couple of photos from our adventure at The Museum of Flight. But first a stop at The Taco Truck:

WP_20140807_001

It was pronounced good – and a good thing I talked The Senior Colonel into only one burrito – those things are HUGE. Beef for The Senior Colonel, Spicy Pork for me (we both had burritos, a rare treat for me), and Lady Colonel has three tacos, one each beef, pork, and spicy pork.

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Not a bad selfie with the three of us. First stop was the new building that I haven’t seen which is on the “air park” side of the museum, over the new bridge over East Marginal Way that I haven’t been over. The new building houses the mock-up of a space shuttle that we got from Houston – alas, no retired shuttle, just the full-size mockup. This will give you an idea of size:

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And then to go crawl around some planes:

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In front of a retired 707-based Air Force One – think ancient technology. And The Colonels inside a retired Concorde – like one I flew on several years ago.

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The aisle is only 12″ wide, and seats more like 16″, and if you are over 6 feet tall you didn’t want a window seat since you’d have to bend your head for the entire flight. Here is photo from Pigletté Takes The Concorde for pictures from that trip:

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piglette-1piglette-1That would be with the appetizer of caviar, smoked salmon and a lovely 1986 Pol Roger Cuvée Churchill Champagne.

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Or doing Mach 2 (which is 1380 miles per hour) at 51,000 feet….while feasting on lobster rings with cucumbers accompanied by a 1994 Château Petit Village Pomerol. Damn tasty – don’t remember what the main course of wine was:

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But enough of my old travels, let’s move back to the present – a final shot of The Senior Colonel in the grand hall of The Museum of Flight:

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All tuckered out we headed back to my house to hang out in the semi-air conditioning (the bedroom, with a fan to push it into the living room). We chatted while I worked on dinner, figuring that a 6PM start would be better for The Colonels. The menu was:

  • Fresh home-made bread
  • Salad
  • Rib-eye steaks off the grill

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The plan for The Colonels the next day was to visit The Living Computer Museum, partly funded and supplied by Paul Allen of Microsoft fame. But alas, trying to track down medical information kept them in their room until it was time for dinner with Swanda – and quite a spread it was:

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And the group shot with The Colonels camera, somehow minus The Caveman:

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It was a fun dinner with The Lady Colonel bonding with The Caveman, Swanda’s partner. I left before The Colonels did which might be a record.

The following morning The Colonels were on the road to Kamloops, British Columbia. Guess it’s time for me to plan another trip to Kentucky, but not until they get back home.

For The Colonels blog of this trip, you can visit: http://froghollowfollies.blogspot.com/ once they are back from their trip (it’s private for the moment).

[223.2]

Sun
3
Mar '13

Good Day At The Shop.

A good day at the shop for a Sunday, not 4 digits, but triple last week’s terrible Sunday. Half the sales in the first hour, half the sales in the last hour. Too bad there wasn’t a place to take a nap in between.

Closed up at 5 and headed back to the hood for yet another rib eye steak and salad dinner – three nights in a row, but at least it’s quick and easy after a full day at the office (I mean shop).

The rest of my evening was spent packing for tomorrow’s trip to Hong Kong to visit an old buddy of mine (and Fluffernutters).

  • Cameras – check
  • Tote bag – check
  • Pigletté books to fill out Michaels collection – check
  • Clothes for transit – check
  • Clothes for the city -check
  • Clothes for the beach – check

Actually went to bed after the news as it’s a 5:30am wake-up call.

Ick.

[211.4]

Wed
22
Feb '12

Errand Day.

Today’s hospital run was timed for noon to hopefully avoid having to hang out and wait while he has procedures done (and having to pay for parking).

After running more stuff over to Swanda stopped by the Habitat For Humanity ReStore to look around. Ended up with four end bolts of fabric for $10. Not that I have any projects in mind, but you never know.

And I left one very big thing out of yesterday’s blog post. Booked the TransCanada (Vancouver-Toronto) for an amazing $575 which is a third of what it normally costs… and thats in a Sleeper Compartment (not one of the bunks). Now I just have to figure out how I’m getting back from Toronto without having to use a ton of points.

This evening I completed another of the issues of Sign of Times into eBook format. That means Volume 5 and the Anothology are all available now. My Hope is to have Volume Four completely by March 5th when a marketing push by Libboo as part of the case study I mentioned before where they are teaming me with a promoter. We are still trying to figure out how Pigletté and BoBo will fit into this mix as they are a little more of an “odd” audience.

Pork chops and slaw for dinner. Yum.

[212.1]

Mon
9
Jan '12

18 Hour Day

Or At Least It Feels Like That.

Up at 5am and out the condo door at 5:30, butt on light rail at 5:48am, and off to the airport.

Considering the crush at security I was surprised at how quickly the lines started moving once they shut down the damn full body scanner. What a boondoggle that is.

I really must have been still asleep… got to the Board Room only to find I was missing my Driver’s License and Board Room card.

Back to security. As I’m close, a TSA guy says, “Mark?” Yes — go see the guy up that set of stairs, the guy on the phone. They were in the process of paging me. I thanked everybody repeatedly and headed back to the club. Had I not needed to check in at the club, I would have been in Boston before I realized. I travel with my Nexus Card and Passport Card so it wouldn’t have been a huge thing trying to get back on the plane in Boston.

Uneventful flight — 14D, the non-reclining exit row. After the long night last night, I probably slept half of the 4.5 hour flight. I did get most of a digital edition of the New Yorker finished on the trip. So much for low-carb with the bagel and cream cheese in the Board Room and the half a slice of French Toast and the cinnamon apples (the eggs and sausage were fine) on the plane. Hitting 205.0 yesterday morning is sort of a milestone since I started back on the low-carb stuff when I’d inched back up to 232 (which is still down from my all-time high of 242).

Flight arrived 20+ minutes early and Fernando was still in meetings when I texted him. The plan was that he’d come to the airport and meet me and we’d go to Harvard Square for dinner and a long business talk about creating a win-win situation with regards to Studio 403 and Libboo. It looks like at the end of a 3 hour plus dinner at Daedalus that Studio 403 is going to be a test case for backlist publishing on the Libboo royalties’ engine. One of the positive outcomes will be all the Sign of the Times individual issues and anthology, along with the Piglettè and Bobo series will be available as eBooks on Libboo and Amazon, possibly Barnes and Noble as well.

As for dinner, I had the steamed mussel appetizer (huge, could have been an entrèe) and the haddock stuffed with crab, Fernando had the soy marinated steak bits over a tomato risotto, which looked good as well. Add a likable bottle of Sangiovese (Italian) which was light enough to go with my fish, but not too light as to be overpowered by risotto. Good food — entrees in the high teens, low 20’s, great service, hot long-haired food runner.

After dinner it was more talk and more cocktails. It was amazing how three and a half hours passed until Pucci was due to show up. It looks like I’m going to be busy for the next couple of weeks prepping materials for Libboo along with redo (once again) the Studio 403 website to reflect getting back into the publishing business. Fernando is a big fan of Sign of the Times and even brought up re-launching the magazine as an eZine using the Libboo engine. Interesting concept. The Libboo engine would solve one of the problems with the old engine, how to track rights and payments (not that it ever made of profit unless you consider a “tax-loss” as a profit).

Pucci showed up at 9:15, but with his best (and most expensive) bass in the car, he wasn’t about to leave it parked on the street to come up for a drink. It was back to his house to settle in for the rest of the night, chatting and drinking whiskey.

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