UMTravels

Forced march today begins with butts on bus at 7 after bags out at 6 with breakfast sometime in between. The reason… a seriously FULL day.

First stop, the floating market 90 minutes out of town — a least there is a little nap time on the bus. Long boat rides from the bus stop to the market — passing through narrow canals dug in the 1900’s. I need to look up the James Bond movie that was filmed in Thailand using lots of long boats. The market itself a mass of humanity, mostly tourists it seemed to me. A couple of hours at the market (both sides of the river), and there was a huge traffic jam in one of the canals that thankfully we weren’t involved in.

Next stop was the largest temple in Thailand — where they run prayers up to the top on a pully system, and there are enough vendors of food and consumer goods that it warranted more than a 30 minute stop. I’ll add it to the list of things to come back and spend more time at on another trip.

One of my favorite food stalls was the stall selling fried bugs.

Yin, our groups purchaser and eater off all things odd, bought two bags of bugs — silkworm and mealworm — I think I liked the silkworm better, of course, you could fry shoe leather and I’d probably like it. I think our other guide Eric tried one of the grasshoppers — which I would imagine would be like eating the deep fried shrimp head left over from making sushi that Dan taught me to love.

Another reason for more time at the temple (Fluffernutter has some great shots from the tunnels under it) would be to have a lunch stop… as the bathroom/Kwikie Mart stop an hour later really wasn’t enough of what I would call “real” food. Flip side — if you are advising people to be careful about street food, and then have them eat street/vendor/stall food for lunch… yeah, it’s an issue but damn that chicken satay looked good, and the duck, and the….

A restful 90 minutes back to the city to the SkyTrain terminal — destination, the Weekend Market — which Fluffernutter and I went to 15 years ago. Getting 40 people to move in the same direction at the same time is pretty much like herding cats. Now add public transit. I like that it is part of the itinerary as it gets us out of busses and into the way the city really works (or now that it does since the Skytrain started in 1997 — wasn’t hear when Fluffer and I were here 15 years ago… they were just starting to build it).

So, Weekend Market. Huge. It really requires a map to get around it, and not get lost. I didn’t have one. I was looking for license plates… which would probably be in the “antique” section — since they didn’t have a “junk” section, but on the map (borrowed) it was half way across the warren of small alleys and shops… all I found was clothing and shoes and the stink of masses of humanity and open sewers. Guess that means I’m willing to pay a little more before the trip is over.
 
Next transport — the subway (2002 vintage). Man this city is easier to get around from the last time I was here. Still huge… just less need for motorcycle taxis. Off to the train station for our 7:35pm train to Chang Mai — when our itinerary was printed it was a 6:00pm train that got in at 7:30, now it gets in a 9am.

NOT. Small fire for smores, or other problems with the other 2nd Class Sleeper Car with air-conditioning. Delay — two hours. No problem, we all have dinner boxes, and lots of booze (and for me, two bags of ice and cups) to pass the time. Some of our group have been to the KFC and are passing around buckets of chicken — for once I am jealous, KFC is a weakness that goes denied 99% of the time… I just had a couple of nuggets while eyeing Fluffernutter’s drumstick (that sounds DIRTY).

At 10pm (by Thai Time Standards) they came around to convert our seats into sleepers — for those Amtrak roomette folks — same thing, no wall. So much for the single supplement. At least it was Fluffernutter.

By this point — we had had a two hour delay, drunk lots of booze that we all brought on (Vodka, Tequila, Scotch, Rum, mixed drinks, the lot). This group is fun when it loosens up a bit!

I pity the monk (complete with saffron robes) and the other folks who were in our car… I think we could have filled a complete car (not for next trip — reserve car) since some of our folks were in the next car. Having said that… Thai Rail, well, we will leave it at that. We were a noisy bunch who really needed a full nights sleep.

[96 kilos!]

Scheduke: 7am wake-up call… out the door at 9am. Why is it that I do these forced march tours? Oh, that’s right, to actually see something of a country other than a hotel room. Great breakfast buffet — I went more towards the Asian end of breakfast rather than the Western. Lots of dim sum, some thai noodle dishs, to compliment the eggs and bacon.

9am — butts on bus — we got a palace to see. A Wat (that’s a Thai joke — a Wat is a temple) a Palace it is.

I have to say that is the nicest camera phone self-portrait I’ve ever done… as the comedians say, it’s great to work with good material. After two hours of walking and lisetning to history, it’s off on the river tour of Bangkok. Lots of temples along the way, but what strikes me most is the sandbags and flooding from the monsoons that is still evident.

But what is sad to say, the most fun of the day was the trip home from the river tour. We were on tuk tuks (3-wheelers) coming back from river tour, and they only hold two passengers (plus the driver, so we had 20 of them — fucking police escort racing through the streets of Bangkok, they were shutting down intersections — amazing. Still trying to figure out if it was planned or the police around the pier just noticed that there was a caravan of 20 tuk tuks and decided to speed us through.

An afternoon of shopping for some, tailoring for some (5 suits, 12-15 shirts ordered)…

napping — wish that were me, I was catching up on email and shopping for odd Thai liquor…

and that didn’t include a four-pack of Johnnie Walker and Soda Mix 00 god knows what the hell that is (other than a marketing test product — revview to follow).

Followed by a river dinner cruise. Great food — amazing if you consider that it came out of the bottom of an old rice barge. And it was lovely to see the palace lit up from the water.

Many drinks, much laughter, and now I have to get to bed — as I am truly exhausted, and would like more than two hours sleep.

[96.5 kilos — god I love that scale]

1pm flight — set the alarm for 6, what was I thinking. Snooze, snooze until 7:30 and out of the house at 9 when Mick picks me up — GOAL — not sit in crappy preassigned middle seat, but sit in bulkhead aisle.

Goal acheived. Got bulkhead middle… but then someone on the other side of the plane wanted to trade for my seat.

Seattle – Seoul. Exit row aisle, four movies, drank them out of scotch, which sometimes was Jack Daniels, apparently Koreans aren’t particular about their scotch, and just assume it’s all whiskey.

Hour layover — Dalmore Grand Reserve for too much money, but it comes with a free laptop case which will fit the computer I don’t have with me.

Five hours to Bangkok — and my boarding pass wouldn’t scan at the boarding gate…. oh, you’ve been moved to an exit row aisle. It pays to call a week before, beg then to put your Alaska number in, and take them up on the offer to put a note in your record — would like bult head aisle seat.

Fluffernutter and some hottie tour guide waiting for me (and the other 37 people on this tour) outside customs. I’m not sure, but I’m thinking it’s been 15 years since we were last in Bangkok together — and that was one VERY differnt trip.

Herding kittens into busses and then onto the hotel. These are the things I’ve learned from the Holiday Inn Silom….

• Dial 6 for ice made from filtered water
• Internet is basically $10 for 24 hours — hence you are getting a blog report for tomorrow as well — better than $3 for 30 minutes.
• Dalmore Gran Reserva is awesome

It is now 4:10am, an I have a wake up call for 7am for breakfast, palace tour, emerald buddha, tailor made clothes, maybe meeting up with a buddy who lives here… damn. Full day coming, no like today wasn’t a killer.

Should have some nice pics on tomorrows post — while I still have the web.

[99 kilos — do the math, 100 kilos is 220, so I’m loving this scale in the hotel room]

It looks so small… 11 days in Thailand. Rolled and wrapped all the t-shirts, socks, etc. Electronics in the day pack. Still looks small. Reference is that’s a double bed and the suitcase is smaller than a carryon. Wow.

I can’t believe that’s 11 days worth of stuff. The shoe is for reference. It’s a 10.5.

Lots of billable hours today – didn’t get the website launched today… but did get the new logo posted on FaceBook. Check it out at:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=130653760321326&set=a.130653756987993.33500.128761587177210

Been playing with it for days – and since it’s on FaceBook I guess it’s OK to share it. Still likin’ it.

Gotta go to bed. It’s a mid-day flight, but an early check-in.

[220.7]

What an exciting morning… I’m working on preparing a nice omelet for breakfast when the FIRE strobe light starts going off. I’m in the handicapped unit so there are strobes for FIRE, CO2 and something else. My response… get the hallway – the big airmovers had kicked on, which forces all the air in the elevators and stairwells out through the rooms to the outside. Fine, everything is working, and there were no sirens going, either in the building, or on the street.

I did start to shut down the computer and pack up while eating my omelet on the run. If I’m leaving this room, I’m taking everything I need because it’s going to be a zoo getting back up here just to check out.

Firefighters finally arrived (I had a view down to street level), but the weren’t exactly hustling into the building. Still not looking forward to walking down 20 floors because you know the elevators have been shut down.

By the time I was fed, packed, alarms had started going off… and then… stopped. Apparently I was at the elevator just at the moment that they turned them back on. Lucky me. Made my way through the packed lobby, checked out and walked around the building to the garage – and left Vancouver.

What a fun morning.

Stopped just pas the border to call Johnnie to see if he was around. He lives in Bellingham. Turns out he’d gotten home from a “ramble” at 1:30am, so I swung by for an hour of so of chit chat. Sorry, no pictures. He showed off his latest totaled Subaru (two in the last year – neither his fault). He nailed a deer in Wyoming. There is still hair and poop on his car. He bought it back from the insurance company, will fix the body damage and spend the rest of the cash on a new banjo.

Next stop groceries and lunch, home for a nap at 4.

Evening just puttering around the kitchen, freezing and sealing ½ cup pucks of chicken stock, prepping some chicken soup of tomorrow, and generally thinking about who the hell to take to Thailand on Thursday.

[? ? ?]

Work in the morning was the plan, but it turned into work in the afternoon with Nathan – nice to have some fresh eyes on the logo that I’m working on.

And we got a show as well…. Window washers working on the building.

Window washer gal… late twenties is my guess, quite amusing.

Next up for the afternoon was the JapaDog stand a couple of blocks from here:

Nathan had the one with grated dikon and wasabi mayo, I had the one with fish flakes on the top. Interesting, but not cheap — $7-8 each.

And here is today’s clergy picture – taken before Tom arrived….

Dinner was salmon steaks, grilled asparagus, salad, wine, conversation, bread and laughter.

Back to Seattle tomorrow.

[? ? ?]

Hello Daylight Wasting Time! I actually remembered to set most of my clocks back – except for the two that I happened to look at in the morning… my wrist watch and my MSFT 5-Year Seiko…. And thought I’d slept in until 10am. Silly rabbit.

Declined a breakfast invite from Mick, who got cancelled on by Swanda but still wanted to try out a new place in Rainier Valley….I had packing to do for the trip to Vancouver (and as it turned out still forgot a ton of stuff, like Canadian money, a clipping, the condo confirmation).

Left the house at noon – one motorcycle in front of me… which I think really wasn’t a Nexus card holder since he had to show documents, but still managed to be at Safeway shopping for groceries and wine by 3 and to the condo a little before 4.

Oh what a mess they have made of Hornby street – they have removed one lane to create an Amsterdam style dedicated bike lane. Talk about a traffic mess.

That’s not all that has changed here at the WorldMark at The Canadian….

New carpet, paint, honkin’ flat screen TVs in both living room and bedroom – the new furniture arrives in January according to the front desk. Speaking of the front desk, they no longer ask for ID… seems I’ve been here enough that they now recognize me.

6pm brings the call from the front desk… a bit of stuttering as she says “Father Gilbert is here to see you.” I guess they didn’t realize I often had priests visit, but he was in full church drag having just come from a service.

A lovely dinner of lamb, baked potato, salad, and sacrament. I’m thinking about joining him in Iceland in March for part of his 7 ay trip.

Good food, good conversation, what more can you ask of a priest.

[227.5]

I love it when inspiration takes over and creates billable hours. I just wish I could show you the result – sent it off to the client, and the project is still under wraps. I also have a concept for a placeholder site until we get product shots… of course now I have to figure out how to spin a logo in 3-D.

Plans for Vegas getting firmer…. Need to start collecting money from people for lodging! Speaking of lodging, looks now like we are split between two of the three WorldMark locations in Las Vegas:

Luckily we will have a couple of rental cars – and I’m still trying to get us all into the one resort. That would be number one of the map.

Dinner with Mick this evening… a roasted chicken on a bed of potatoes and onions… why chicken? I am running low on chicken stock – and I use a fair bit of it with all the bread baking – yes, there is chicken stock in my bread, makes it richer.

Spent the rest of the evening changing operating systems on Swanda’s old box in an attempt to make it run a little more stable. Cheaper than buying a new one.

[229.0]

Today’s Facebook Post: Mark Stephen Souder is feeling melancholy so he put the CD player on the Christmas/Gospel random track at full blast. That would be Group 8 on the 200-CD Nakimichi that I got from Joe.

Speaking which, here is the final Black Tower of Power Stack:

Maybe it’s time to write that cranky letter to Amtrak to complain about our trip to Portland last week. On the way down – no Parlour Car – well, there was a standard lounge car for First Class, but no meal service, no Wi-Fi, and no power since the thing was leaking like a sieve from the rain. On the way home – the Parlour Car, but the Wi-Fi was down – and since it was running late, the Parlour Car attendant FORGOT that people would be getting on in Portland and wanting dinner. Too bad I didn’t get his name as when he wasn’t shooing people away because he had paperwork to do, his head was down on one of the tables. And no ice buckets in the sleeping cars – either way, even though I saw empty containers in one of the porter’s rooms.

Or jump in the car and go put my paycheck in the bank – yes, a pay check, the third one in the last couple of weeks! Nothing like speeding around town listening to Black Fuck Music at high volume.

Or come home and deal with all the phone calls I had making… Alaska to get Javier a free first class seat, Korean to get my Alaska number in the record and find out that I’m in row 56 in the middle… hopefully changable at the airport 3 hours before (cross fingers), but did find out that the seats are 18″ wide as opposed to the 17″ on most overseas airlines, and more importantly, that the seat pitch is 32-35″ rather than 30″.

An early dinner with the news tonight… as I’ve got a 10^th anniversary celebration to attend – wow, they made it to the “tin” or “aluminum” anniversary, woo hoo! Better than me (record was two year) but doesn’t hold a candle to MoonSong and DeeDub at 30 years (they are in Acapulco celebrating) or my parents at pushing 60 years.

But a nice early dinner. 3oz of salad, 20oz of steak, and a little red wine to cut the cholesterol.

And no trip to Seaside tomorrow. Damn. Maybe Wednesday, maybe not until December.

[229.8]

Good news – the empty CD boxes are cleaned out of the kitchen, meaning it’s time to start working on the “miles of wires”…

Before:

Yep – that’s what’s been lurking behind my stereo – getting worse each time I pull it out and swivel it towards the bedroom for movie watching. Four big components, Ethernet cable, and speaker cables for kitchen, both bedrooms, and living room (2). And I need to add the Nakamichi 200 CD player that Joe hauled up from Tucson as carry-on (without box, but with remote!

The after picture of the wiring:

Ah, the joys of zip ties and adhesive Velcro (for the power strip). The picture is complete minus the two sets of speaker leads (one to the switch box by the TV and the other the front left and right for movies).

So, other than billing a couple of hours of work and eating leftovers, that’s how I spent my day.

That and arguing with the possible BF.

[230.6]

Well, the kitchen is still a mess – still stacked high with used CD cases… looks like I’ll just eat around it since no Swanda for dinner. Faulty phone on his part, no follow-through on my part. Nothing special for dinner, just sausage stuffed portabella mushrooms and a little salad.

Spent most of the evening going back and forth with Javier and Joy about birthday plans, who coming, what bed, what room… now WHY did I volunteer for this disaster? Oh yeah, that’s right, for the last few miles I need to get to MVP Gold.

Not much of a picture day…

Just my usual travel bag (the FligTable) getting a couple of new stickers. Using different bags for the Thailand trip next week – ones that I don’t care about. One small checked, on small backpack that will hold the netbook. Leaving the good computer at home. And packing light. Intra Thailand luggage 44lbs and one small carryon. It will be fun to see which members can actually pull this off. I’m taking my smallest roll-aboard and checking it – it has a gusset I can zip out for the way home if I go shopping crazy.

Guess it’s going to be tomorrow when I put the nw stereo rack together and get the boxes out of the kitchen.

[228.8]

A day filled with work and leftovers for dinner – at least they were healthy leftovers. Probably healthier than some of the leftovers elected last night.

Oh well – at least I got the new (to me) CD Player loaded with 200 discs – so something worked out last night.

[229.8]

Odd items that keep slipping through the cracks… did four logos with a set of variations on each… and last Friday I got the word that one of them was a definite possibility for moving forward … still lots of refinement and tweaking to do, but that we are at least headed down a path, that is nice, especially on the first time out of the gate.

And then there is the mileage whore thing…. After my trip to Hawaii, guess I don’t need the trip to Vegas, more like a one-way to Bend, Oregon:

Mileage Plan Information

Member Name: MARK STEPHEN SOUDER, MVP Gold
Mileage Plan Number: 329XXXXX
Available Miles: 52,064

Elite Tier Status Qualification

YTD Alaska/Horizon Miles

Flown: 39,865

135 Miles to Gold

YTD Alaska/Horizon/Qualifying Partner* Miles

Flown: 39,865

10,135 Miles to Gold

YTD Alaska/Horizon/Qualifying Partner* Segments

Flown: 39,865

35 Segments to Gold

Alaska/Horizon Miles toward Million Mile Flyer  Learn more

That’s sort of how today feels… made brunch for MaryBeth and the kids:

• Pull-apart rosemary challah rolls
• Pork sausage rounds
• Maple smoked bacon
• Roasted potatoes and onions
• Eggs which when I put them into the convection oven poofed up like a soufflé (and then fell as it cooled – wonder how to keep it up?)
  
• Champagne and cranberry juice for MB and myself, just the cranberry juice for the kids.

Then put in a few hours of work while the dishes were running so that I could start on dinner with Swanda at his place:

• Caraway dark rye bread
• Wilted spinach and bacon salad
• Baked potatoes
• Boneless rib-eye steaks
• Red wine

With a day of food like that I shouldn’t have to eat for a week.

Happy Halloween everyone – and that’s the reason I’m cooking at Swanda’s place…. No trick or treaters.

[230.2]

Woke up late in Olympia… the usual state after a dinner at Curt’s place – home by noon so laze around the day until heading to Wonderful’s place to catch a ride to the opera. Easier to park one car on Queen Anne than three if we all drove separately.

Dinner at Tom Tuk Thai, or something like that – too lazy to look it up, but it’s on Mercer with a name something like that.

Free opera ticket for me tonight in my usual seat that only cost me $65 in cocktails (pre-show, and both intermissions).

And what did we see you might ask? Lucia di Lammermoor.

Murder, madness, and melodies permeate this exhilarating, high-drama masterpiece. Complete with secret rendezvous, political intrigue, a duel at dawn, and the most famous mad scene in opera, Lucia remains Donizetti’s most popular work and one of the most thrilling evenings Italian opera can offer.

And this quote from the Seattle Weekly on the production:

Blood and stripping in a fearless mad scene….

Here is the full article: http://www.seattleweekly.com/2010-10-20/arts/opening-nights-lucia-di-lammermoor/

So that’s my pre-Halloween, filled with blood and stripping. How appropriate.

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Work in the morning while baking a loaf of caraway dark rye to go with dinner.

Left the house at noon for a relaxing drive south – relaxing at that time of day, wait an hour and it starts to get messy.

A couple of stops in Olympia before Curts:

• Safeway – found a ton of mark-down meat to have Rich seal and freeze for Seaside poker in December
• Fabric store that I’d never been in – turns out it’s slanted towards upholstery, but has tons of foam
• Liquor store for some brown booze

Arrived at Curt’s to find an acorn squash to be added to dinner with a note…. 350 degrees for an hour, butter or/and brown sugar.

It would be tasty, but sort of plain. And he had fresh sage in the fridge… how about this:

Roasted Butternut Squash with Sage

• 1 medium butternut squash (about 2 pounds)
  
• 1 bunch fresh sage
  
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  
• Salt
  
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Halve squash lengthwise and peel; remove seeds and pulp with a spoon. Place flat side down on cutting board and slice into half-moon pieces, about 1/2-inch thick.

Chop enough sage to equal 1 tablespoon; set aside remaining sprigs. Combine squash, chopped sage, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Spread out in a single layer on a large jellyroll pan. Turning once halfway through, roast squash 30 to 35 minutes, until tender and caramelized.

Meanwhile, line a large plate with paper towels. Remove stems from remaining sage. Pour 1/2 cup olive oil into a small skillet over medium heat. Fry 1/3 of sage leaves 20 to 30 seconds, until crisp. Remove from oil with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt. Repeat process with remaining sage.

Arrange squash on a platter and garnish with fried sage leaves.

Thanks Oprah (or whoever does your recipes)… pictures are here: http://www.oprah.com/food/Roasted-Butternut-Squash-with-Sage

Add a marinated briskety thing, and some pan fried (the the oil left over from frying the sage leaves), and several bottles of fine wine, and you have a lovely end of the week meal.

[231.2]

Well, it is definitely winter…. rain, rain, rain. The perfect day to do four loads of laundry, run to the bank and deposit checks that came in while I was gone, sew a table cloth, refill the meat locker, abandon dinner plans with Swanda (now on Sunday), and generally chill out and catch up.

Among the items on the agenda – altering (to add tags) a photo from last Saturday of Aviation Geekfest 2010:

I think you could put us all inside that engine from a 777.

I alternate between wanting to be a homebody, and wanting to be a travelbody. FYI – a ton more of information arrived today for the Thailand Trip (Nov. 12-22). Don’t think there is much hope of upgrading the flight (thank god for drugs), but at least I can check in WAY early and try for a better seat – electronic records come this weekend.

Chicken Kiev, or was it that other one, for dinner tonight – with a spinach and bacon side (salad? But it’s hot).

Off to Oly tomorrow for dinner and to deliver Hawaii presents.

[231.2]

With the bus taking an hour plus from condo to airport… the alarm was set for 6am, and I was out of the condo with the key dropped off at 7:15…. And through security and in the Delta Crown Room by 8:30 – go “Gold Lane” for MVP Golds and First Class passengers, it made it a breeze. I did get frisked… and they have the new body scanners installed but not in use.

Before I forget – LOVE the Honolulu Crown Room (though it might be called Sky Club now that Delta and Northwest have merged), over the years of my visits, the staff has been anong the friendliest of any of the clubs I’ve visited.

At the airport I did some last minute shopping – a couple of postcards for Steve and Florence (Swanda’s sweet mom), and gifts for Curt and the Maybe BF. For Curt:

And for the BF Maybe (that would be the maybe boyfriend):

I was looking for a temporary tattoo of this image, since it’s what he wants to tattoo across this shoulders….will have to settle for peel and stick. Hopefully I can send you a picture of it next week when I see him.

Unlike the trip to Honolulu, on the return trip they took my first class upgrade coupon… now I’m down to one. Now I’m wondering how/when to use it. Oakland is on sale, and I wouldn’t mind seeing the guy in Santa Cruz… guess I’d better figure out if this is an “exclusive” relationship that I’m in the middle of.

With the transfer in Portland I was home by 10:30… made it through the news, but not much further before sleep took over.

[? ? ?]

I thought about getting a hold of the folks that I know in Honolulu… and decided against it. As Swanda might say, I need a little quality ME time.

Yummy bagels and cream cheese for breakfast, then take the New Yorker down to the pool…

Hang out for an hour, head back to the room and look out to see this…

Which is a 20mph driving mist. Guess I planned my sun time correctly.

DIFFERENT TOPIC: Should anyone want to see the plant floor tour at Boeing last Saturday, here is the official Fickr photostream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/futureofflightcenter/sets/72157625123849327/with/5118914688/

Lovely dinner tonight of chicken and marinated cabbage – was much better than it looks in print.

Another early morning tomorrow – and I still don’t get back until late.

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I know you all have heard the rant… early flights, so I won’t repeat it other than to say 6am puddle jumper to Portland – slept all the way.

Small layover time so it was the long walk from commuter right onto the plane bound for Honolulu that was already mostly boarded.

And back to sleep – they woke me up for breakfast thankfully, and then it was back to sleep again. I was so exhausted from Joe’s whirlwind weekend that I didn’t even have a cocktail until 4 hours into the trip when they brought around those freebie MaiTais – which I took if only to remind myself how much I dislike them. Damn those things are sweet – I finally cut mine in half with some soda water to get it down.

But, as I back up for a moment – the oddest thing happened at the airport checking in… again (just like St. Louis a couple of weeks ago, and Boston last January), the agent didn’t take my upgrade coupon even though I had it out and ready to go. The only thing I can assume is that there were actually gold upgrade seats still available on the Portland flight, but I’m not exactly sure how I’m going to be able to use them in the next two months since the Las Vegas flight with Mick is already in First Class. And that reminds me that I have to start getting some dollars/commitments out of those birthday travelers – or cancel the second room (or add a third) since we are at 6 weeks out.

Back to Honolulu… disembarked much more rested and headed to the Delta Crown room for an early lunchette and a couple of cocktails while reading the local papers, catching up on email, and basically killing time waiting to the condo to be available for check-in. Left there noonish and caught the city bus into town ($2.50 and 75 minutes). Needless to say, the condo (not a WorldMark but an affiliate… Vacations Internationale) wasn’t ready, and wouldn’t be until four.

Wandered around for forty-five minutes in the occasional misty downpour (think mist blowing at 20mph) looking for a place to eat. There is an L&L just a block from the condo, but it’s cash only (and I’m down to $3, plus the emergency $100 rent-boy bill), and the bank was all the way across the street, so I just kept walking, finally ending up at Cheeseburger in Paradise – well, at least it’s a Hawaiian chain, and the cheeseburger was REALLY good, as was the Mojito. Really I was just looking for a place to sit down, read the New Yorker from September 27th, and kill some time.

Got checked in at four after killing more time reading in the lobby – here is the view from the deck (lanai) southwest towards the ocean. Straight south and you can see chunks of Diamond Head.

First order of business was a nap, second was heading four blocks south to the Food Pantry – a full-size grocery store which was defiantly cheaper than the ubiquitous ABC or Whalers General Stores that seem to dot every corner. $52.00 later we have:

• Ahi Poke
• Tako (octopus) Poke
• Whole chicken for roasting
• Lime (for the chicken cavity)
• Tub of Japanese cabbage salad (sort of like a non-spicy kimchee)
• Bottle of Jameson ($15.99 marked down from $32.99)
• Liter of caffeine free Diet Coke
• Bag of “everything” bagels from Einsteins
• Tub of cream cheese

That would be dinner for two nights, breakfast for two mornings, and snacks in-between. Ate the first dinner after 8:30 and was in bed by 10… still exhausted, and now on a time zone three hours off my own.

[? ? ?]