Thursday, September 4, 2003
The World Trade Center Memorial...a visitor's thoughts
As I've mentioned in other postings, I traveled to New York for a national volleyball tournament over Labor Day weekend. That's on 9/2/03 for those who don't know. I was especially anxious to visit the remains of the World Trade Center because of the enormity of the event. Ironically, I had a chance to visit it in 2000 when I was in New York for work, but I was as sick as a dog on the only free day I had, so I spent all of the daylight hours in bed. Ah well. We stayed at the Marriot in the...
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Friday, July 25, 2003
Lancaster, California
If you haven't heard of this city, don't be surprised. 99% of the world will never hear about it, but it does have a claim to fame. The construction scene from Lethal Weapon 3 was filmed there, as was the desert ammo depot scene in Terminator 2. Nearby is Edward's Air Force Base where they used to occasionally land space shuttles, and the California poppy reservoir. Other than that, it's the biggest city for about 60 miles. A close second might be Victorville or Palmdale. Incidentally, Lancaster...
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Wednesday, July 2, 2003
Monterrey's People
It's been a few weeks now since I've been back from my visit, and my memories are a bit less poignant, but most of my impressions remain intact. I had the opportunity to meet and get to know a great many locals. Everywhere I want, I stood out like a sore thumb. In my entire visit of six days, I never saw an Asian local. The next to last day was the first time I even bumped into an Asian tourist, not that it bothered me. When you live in an area predominantly Asian, you tend to notice these...
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Thursday, June 19, 2003
Monterrey's Foods
This place is in Mexico, so what kind of food would you expect them to have? Mexican, of course, but all Mexican food is not the same. Every meal I had was loaded with meat and carbohydrates. I was hard pressed to find anything on the menu that didn't have either, chicken, pork, or beef and refried beans, guacamole (or some other kind of mole), and was not served with a tortilla. Every meal was accompanied with corn or flour chips and that establishment's version of salsa. I don't think any two...
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Wednesday, June 18, 2003
Monterrey's Nightlife
What can you not do at night in this city? I knew from reading up on tourism websites that Monterrey boasted a large number of clubs and bars. On any given night, they're all open until 12 midnight, but on the weekends, they are open until 3am on the average. The nightlife is centered in the Barrio Antiguo, or Old Neighborhood. This is the region of town, merely a short walk away from downtown Monterrey, where a high density of clubs and bars are located. On Tuesday, I visited a Mexican sushi...
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Tuesday, June 17, 2003
Monterrey: the Reality vs. the Myth
Prior to leaving for Monterrey last week, I was armed with the knowledge that I would need to watch my back every moment of every day and beware of the corrupt policia. I have since returned in one piece, and I am ready to compare my experiences against what I had heard. Actually, I will not be able to place all of my thoughts into just one post. I so fell in love with the city and the people that I will need to write a series on the vivid memories I have of this place. The Myth >>Be sure to...
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Friday, June 6, 2003
Monterrey, Mexico, here I come! 3rd world country?!?
This Monday, I will be leaving the beautiful Bay Area of California and heading off to Monterrey, Mexico. That city's less than a two hour flight away (south?) from Dallas, Tx, so it's pretty close to the US border. Isn't there a border city near there that was written up in Time? I remember reading something about tourists going and never coming home, and mass graves being discovered. I wonder how far that is from where I'll be. You'll love this. Here's the advice I've been given from...
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Wednesday, May 28, 2003
Off the beaten path and to the Kennedy Gold Mine
So this Memorial day weekend, I was pretty unhappy that the weather was so crummy. Friday afternoon, I left work at 1 pm PST to enjoy the rest of the day in San Francisco. I changed out of my work clothes and into shorts, packed an overnight bag because it was going to be a guy's night out, then headed off to San Francisco. I reached my friend's home just after 3pm. The first thing I did when I got there was to pull my pants out of my bag, put them on, and then grab my sweatshirt. Nice weather!...
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