Almost a Family Reunion in SF

Back in July, Gav and I flew to SF to meet up with my mom, sister and niece and my brother (who lives there). My dad decided to care for a sick dog and stayed in Hawaii.

This was our first family vacation since I was a kid, so I was very excited to make the most of it. We hit the city hard and played tourist like you would not imagine. From Chinatown to the Golden Gate Bridge, we explored San Francisco like champs!

Check out the pics below and click on the link for more pictures.



Me, Julia, Kailee and my mom.


Me, Kai, Kailee and Gav.


Kailee and I, exploring the wilds of the Castro.


I love my niece.

San Francisco Web Album

A Japanese Media Feeding Frenzy!

Ross treated us to a wonderful day at the ballpark for one of the best games I've seen in recent history. The Boston Red Sox came to town with their ace pitcher Daisuki Matsuzaka, for one of the highly anticipated match-ups between him and Mariner All-Star Ichiro Suzuki. It felt as if all of Japan's media had descended upon Safeco Field.

A mild Seattle summer day at the ballpark is one of the greatest things in life that I can think of, and a Mariner victory was nothing short of a perfection.


Gavin and the 5-liter Heineken Keg Can. (What does this have to do with the ball game? Nothing.)


Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners.


Ichiro Suzuki. One of the finest baseball players. Period.


Red Sox ace pitcher Daisuki Matsuzaka.

Summer in Seattle

Gav and I weren't quite ready to find jobs after returning home to the US from Argentina, so put our heads together and came up with a plan to relive our youth and have a good ole fashioned Summer Vacation!

Gav made a stop in Norfolk, VA to visit his family and I flew to the Lone Star State of Texas to visit Joe D in the Dallas area. This was our first time being apart in over a year and a half! It felt awkward being alone, but it was definitely needed. In Dallas, I stayed at the palatial home of Joe (honestly Joe ... 3 floors of living?). Joe was a wonderful host and we had a blast during the 2.5 weeks that I stayed with him. Unfortuantely, I didn't have the camera, so no pictures were taken during my stay in Dallas, our trip to the Six Flags waterpark, the weekend trip to Austin with Ross and Rich or our trip to Oklahoma City to meet up with the Air Force Boys.

Gavin and I met up in Seattle in mid-June. We decided to cash in on some of my social-capital and couch surf our way through the lovely city of Seattle, Washington.

We arrived in Seattle just before my 30th birthday, and I had the most amazing time celebrating it with my amazing friends. I love Seattle.


The Seattle skyline looking north.


My first time behind the wheel in almost 8 months.


Seattle-Tacoma International Airport


Grrr ... Seattle traffic sucks!

Hello stranger!

It's been a few months since I've taken the time to write about my life here on the net and I have to apologize for being such a stranger. My summer in Seattle was just too much fun and I didn't have any desire to share my adventures with you cyber-voyeurs on the world wide web. For this, I give you a sincere apology.

Now time for the bad news. I won't be able to blog about my travels because I am currently in Thailand and I don't have a dedicated internet connection for the lap top. I am writing this from a cyber cafe in some seedy alley in Bangkok. Gavin and I got here yesterday after spending a perfect week in Japan with our friend John L (Seattle). We'll be in Bangkok for a few days and then its off to explore Chiang Mai for a week. We'll then cross the border into Laos and then Cambodia and then return to Thailand in mid-October. We'll head south to check out the beach resorts of Phuket and Koh Samui. We're going to hit the full moon party next month in Phang Nga.

I'm not exactly sure what we're going to do after Thailand. There's talk of us going to Hong Kong or China, but I think we may be running out of travel funds, so we'll be forced to head back to Japan and then fly to Hawaii to collect whatever things we have stored there. We hope to be in San Fracisco by Christmas.

I promise to upload pics and bring you up to date on our many adventures (we've been having a lot of them).

Until then, please accept my sincerest apology. I don't mean to be such a stranger.

Culture Shock

After seven months in Argentina, Gavin and I returned back to the United States last week Monday. We said goodbye to the city that welcomed us and took us in and returned to our mother country. Well ... we did fly back to Washington DC, and Gavin and I proudly say that we are from Hawaii (which some would go further in saying is a completely different from Washington DC and most of the east coast.)

We spent two days in Washington DC with our friend Valy and Pink. Unfortunately, I got a small cold somewhere in transit and Gavin was suffering from a bad case of spring time allergies, so we didn't get to enjoy our nation's capital as much as we hoped we would.

On Wednesday I flew to Dallas, while Gav stayed in Washington. I had plans to visit a few friends in Texas, while he was going to do something similar in the DC area, before driving down to Norfolk to visit his dad and grandma.

Well ... I don't really know what to say right now. I know thatI am going through culture shock, so I am not going to get too emtional, but it is very difficult for me to be in this part of the US right now. I am so happy to be around my close friends, but after spending 7 months in Buenos Aires, I am having hard time adjusting to the American lifestyle in DC and Texas.

In a week or two, I will come back to the subject, but right now, I am busy feeling things out and trying to figure out what I want to do.

Pics and more stories from Argentina to come soon.

Fall is here.

Adios summer! When Gavin and I got here back in November, spring had sprung and the city was in full bloom. We enjoyed a great summer in Buenos Aires (nobody loves the summer more than the Argentineans!) and now it's fall. When we got here back in November, we didn't have plans to stay this long and thus, we don't have clothes for the cold. (I also refuse to buy anything else since we are returning to the northern hemisphere and I don't want to carry around anymore shit.)

Here are a few photos from the past month. We've met some great people and have done some amazing things. Words can't begin to describe our experience here in Buenos Aires.

With just a few days left in this great city, I find myself reflecting on the past 7 months and counting the many ways that this has changed my life.

I will miss Argentina. I hope to return sometime in the future.



Buenos Aires "Subte". Incredibly cheap, but often times more packed than a can of sardines.


Kata & Celia (Germany) with Gav and Losida.


Oxtail Stew. Yum! (I know how much you love the food pics!)


Gav at the racetracks.


Opening day at the Palermo Hipodromo.


Ricky & Jonathan (Ecuador) and me in Buenos Aires.


The Tango Show at Cafe Tortoni.


Me, Johan (Holland), Silvana (Argentina) and Gav.


A typical Argentinean fruit & veggie stand.


My favorite pasta maker in the city.


Me, Stephen (UK) and Gav.


Gav and I with Aldo, our spanish teacher.

Flashback: February in Argentina. Iguazu Falls & Misiones Province.

It's almost winter here in Buenos Aires. Yesterday it was 37F/3C and that's a bit too cold for me. Gavin and I are flying back to the US in just a few days, but before we leave, I have a few blog entries to write.

Back in February, Jeff H and Keven H made their way back to Argentina for one more visit. (They just couldn't get enough during their previous visit in November.) This time around, we didn't waste anytime playing tourist in Buenos Aires, but rather, we explored the the northern province of Misiones and Santa Cruz to the south.

At the same time, our friend Jason E from London was in Brazil celebrating Carnival and decided to fly down to BA to visit us and also check out Iguazu Falls. It was great seeing Jason again. The last time we got that opportunity was in London, last September. Jason is an amazing guy and he's always up for a pint of beer, so as you can imagine, we're natural friends. (Hmm ... it's 5pm. I think it's time for a cold one.)

It was a blast living it up in BA with Jason, Jeff and Keven. Fancy dinners, champagne, late nights out on the town and much much more.

We flew from Buenos Aires to Iguazu, which is located in Misiones Province. Misiones borders Brazil and Paraguay and is in the northeast corner of Argentina. It was a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of BA, but the heat and humidity was a bit much.

The actual Port of Iguazu didn't have much to offer, but that wasn't the reason why we were there. The gem of this corner of Argentina is Iguazu Falls. Vastly larger than Niagra Falls, Iguazu Falls rivals Victoria Falls in Africa and is one of the largest waterfalls in the world. Truly stunning.

In addition to the falls, we took a day trip to visit some stupid mine and also the ruins of a Jesuit mission. I would not recommend this day-trip, since it was close to a 4 hour bus ride in each direction and incredibly boring. (Not to mention that Argentinean drivers are crazy. Crazy, crazy, crazy!)


Gav, Jason & Jeff in Jorge Newberry (Aeroparque) Airport, Buenos Aires.


Iguazu Falls.


Gavin in the ruins of the Jesuit mission.

Iguazu Photo Album

Jesus Coming Soon!

A few weeks ago Gav, Losida and I went to "Tierra Santa" which is a Christian theme park here in Buenos Aires. There are no rides at "Tierra Santa" (translated to "Holy Land", but we refer to it as Jesus-Land), but instead there are replicas of famous scenes from The Bible. I pretty much know squat about The Bible, so I can't really go into details over this. (I really wish JL was there with me so he could explain everything to me.)

We took a collectivo (public bus) to Jesus Land. It was a 80 centavo (28cents USD) ride from our house to the park's location near the domestic airport. We were right under the path for the ancient Aerolineas Argentina's Boeing 737-200 (those jets are so old and loud!).

Everything in the park was made of fiber-glass and the people working there were dressed in middle-eastern garb. We saw a re-enactment of The Creation, The Birth of Jesus, The Last Supper and at the top and bottom of every hour, Jesus rises from the giant fiberglass mountain. Gav took a video of it. Check out the youtube video below the fold.

One of the best parts of the park was that they served beer in the restaurants. If that park was in the US, there is no way in hell (no pun intended) that any form of liquor would be sold. That's one of the beautiful things about Argentina: Abusing Alcohol is just not in their culture. (This needs to be written about in another post, but I rarely see drunks here. It's amazing.)

Our day at Jesus Land ended up being a whole lot of fun. We had a riot posing with the fiberglass people that populated the park. Oh good times.


Jesus Loves Us!



Jesus and the air conditioning unit

More Pics!

E.S.L (English As a Second Language)

One of the most rewarding (and definitely frustrating) parts of this trip has been learning a new language. Gav and I have been in Buenos Aires for over 6 months now and I am impressed by the amount of Spanish that he and I have learned. When I got here, I could only say a few words (which I only knew because I memorized them) and order another beer. I am by no means fluent or even conversational at this point in time (my problem is understanding Spanish when I hear it), but I am no longer scared to venture out by myself. I can now go shopping and enjoy a day on the city by myself. Talk about a liberating feeling!

I can't believe how many years I spent learning the Japanese language. I thought that I had a small grasp on the Japanese language, but after trying to learn Spanish and actually living in a place where you are forced to learn how to communicate, I realize that my Japanese was complete crap! Yes, I could read hiragana and katakana pretty well and I knew a bunch of kanji, but I could never survive in Japan. (Granted, if I lived there I'm sure that I could pick it up in a few months). Being thrown into a new surrounding is a giant kick in the pants. Furthermore I have this incredible urge to "feel normal" and thus communicate with my peers, so my drive to learn the language is pretty intense.

We've been taking language classes and I have various ways of practicing my nearly learned skills (I can hold my own in a chat room!). I am going to focus on spending this last month in Buenos Aires on trying to better myself.

I'm going to complain for just a second now and complain about why I don't want to blog. The answer is fairly simple, but its rather difficult for me to articulate my words into English because I've been really busy trying to think in Spanish all the time. Overall, I'm not too worried about this because I know that when I return to the US and get a job, everything will come right back. It's kinda like riding a bicycle, right?

Well, it's been a bit difficult for me to compose my thoughts and put them online, but I'm going to try really hard to do that right now. Besides, won't writing in my blog give me a great chance to practice writing?

Oh the hardships of living in a foreign city and trying to learn a new language.

Heaven's to Murgatroid

I've been thinking about an episode of Drawn Together that I saw awhile ago that had a gay scene with a cameo by Snagglepuss. I was a kid when I last saw Snagglepuss on tv, but after doing a quick look on youtube, I found this gem of a clip: