| my dislikes |
[Jan. 8th, 2009|04:03 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  calm | ] |
...and most of all, I hate pretentious people. You know who you are. The ones trying to tell the world how smart/well read/exciting/beautiful/sexy/traveled/successful you are. Well, we are very impressed. But you will not get more love from the world because of this. Your significant other might still dump you if you leave the toilet seat up. You will be impressive and alone. So stop it, we got it, you're cool. |
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| freedom |
[Nov. 1st, 2008|03:40 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  bored | ] |
I wanna be young again, and rich too, so I can plan fantastic three-week-long vacations to Thailand or Australia and be able to actually go there with my young rich friends, see the world and be happy ever after. The funny thing is, I can already see myself as my teenage kids come to me with this same idea. I would say, 'why don't you get a job and an education and then we'll talk about it'. I would be worried my kiddies are becoming richie-bitchie brats. Then they would grow up without seeing the world... Maybe I can raise my kids to be the photographers for National Geographic... they could even take me with them on photo shoots in the African jungle or the Galapagos Islands.
Damn it, it sucks not to be free to take off wherever I want on a random Wednesday. Do I have to vacation in Mexico my entire 30s? |
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| Still whining |
[Aug. 18th, 2008|12:06 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | sore | ] |
Now I totally get why people get addicted to opioids. I'm laying in bed in horrible pain, and the nurse says, "honey, would you like something to make you feel better?" and I say "sure, bring it on, i could use some fentanyl about now." And then I'm floating, and I'm still in horrible pain but I just don't care. It's kind of an interesting feeling... |
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| Regarding wine |
[Aug. 1st, 2008|07:28 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  bouncy | ] |
So, I wonder how do people actually become wine snobs? Does it happen only after you've spent some time working at a winery, stomping some grapes, smelling the earth and barrels, and what-not? More likely, it happens like this. You go to France... or Italy... or Napa... or your local wine bar with little descriptions on cards for each glass. You come back a wine enthusiast, drunk as a skunk on some 55 varieties of local flavors. You are now officially a wine snob. Especially if you've spent lots of money on expensive bottles. He-he, it's fun. |
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| Blondie's Cakes |
[Apr. 5th, 2008|08:13 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | excited | ] |
So my sister finally decided to take my advice and came up with a little website to advertise her wonderful cakes. There is a little story behind each one, it's so cute! She takes orders and can customize your perfect cake. You won't be disappointed (maybe only at all those extra pounds you've gained after eating a whole cake all by yourself). I recommend anything hazelnut, and also the peach butts.
http://blondiescakes.blogspot.com/ |
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| the goddamn metric system |
[Dec. 15th, 2007|03:06 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  quixotic | ] |
I just realized I was writing "feet" instead of "meters". It's a slight difference, yes?
And what the hell does "quixotic" mean? I'm going to go look it up, and try to use it in a sentence tonight. Imagine the scrabble points! |
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| Day 8 - Tihuanaca - home |
[Dec. 8th, 2007|03:09 pm] |
Our taxi driver drives us 1.5 hour to the ruins of Tihuanaca, waits for 2 hours, and then drives us back - all for $40! The place is an ancient temple of sorts, still in process of uncovering (there is no funding for archaeologists). There are three temples - one underground, one ground level, and one raised. Some of the huge monoliths remain, the details on the stones showing the snakes, the llamas, the pumas, and the condors once again. We paid a tour guide to tell us about all the pottery and potatoes yet again. These people are sure proud of their potatoes. I'm so sick of potatoes!
Hope I will never see the town of El Alto ever again - this place is scary and sad. A couple more hours, and we fly back. See ya there. |
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| Day 7 - La Paz city tour |
[Dec. 8th, 2007|02:48 pm] |
Our tour guide is an Idian dude who was adopted by a German family who lived in Bolivia for a while because of some contract. When the contract was over, the family moved back to Germany, but our Indian friend found that the country wasn't very tolerant of people with dark skin, and decided to go back to live in Bolivia. So, the resulting accent was really cool - a German/Bolivian mix in English.
La Paz sits in kind of a hole in the mountains - the highest point about 4100 ft, the lowest 3100ft. The lower you get, the richer the inhabitants, and the poorest folk lives on top of the mountains with the best views of the canyons. A little outside the city is "Moon Valley" - the place looks kind of like Bryce Canyon, with huge natural rock formations all over. The middle of this thing was destroyed and made into a golf course with a view onto the Moon Valley. Sad, huh?
Back in the city, we visit a couple museums and an art gallery. If you close and open your eyes at the right moments, La Paz seems sort of livable. Our tour guide shows us the official Bolivian soccer stadium, and informs us that Bolivia is now prohibited in participating in the World Cup because the other countries thought it inhumane for their teams to play at 4000ft elevation.
The Witch Market sells llama fetuses, armadillo carcasses, and wildcat skins as amulets and treatments for various ailments. The rest is more or less colorful crap.
At night our tour guide escorts us to the cheesiest dinner-and-show thing, where the ladies dance traditional dances in the shortest miniskirts, much to the enjoyment of the old geesers at the next table. Shoju gets drunk as a skunk, and tries to drag Mike and Alex with him. Mike takes a vodka shot from a bottle with snakes in it. Alex is suckered into drinking a shot of what he describes as a shot of acid - but Shoju tells him it's just venomous spider liqueur. Alla and I are afraid to eat of drink anything by this point, our stomachs too tired from the last several days. |
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| Day 6 Isla Del Sol - La Paz |
[Dec. 7th, 2007|02:54 pm] |
Today is a day of constant movement. We had to wake up at 5:15 again - this is ridiculous. The view from our hotel onto lake Titicaca is gorgeous but completely lost on us at this early hour. We are now at about 3800-3900 feet elevation. Nobody can sleep, Alla looks like a ghost, and says she feels like bricks are tied to all her extremities.
We take a three hour bus ride with a nice view of Lake Titicaca (which apparently means Rock of the Puma because everything in Peru is named after either llamas, pumas, snakes, or condors). Arriving at the Bolivian border (looking like your aunt Flora's country house backyard) we are scared to death when the border guards look at our visa stickers with amazement, and try to get another $100 per person. Finally, we get through - for better or worse.
Another 30 minutes, and we are in Copacabana. There are many Copacabanas all over South America, the name means "water viewpoint". There is a nice plaza with a church, and a few festively decorated cars up front. Apparently, every day the priest comes out and blesses the cars, then there is a great celebration. People bring cars from all over South America to this church. Looking at these decrepit cars, I can see why they need blessing.
The cruise ship on Lake Titicaca is for 40 people. Today, there are only five (including the four of us and this Australian girl who has been traveling for a year!) The weather is gorgeous - it hasn't rained once so far. We visit Isla del Sol, which is the island where the mom and pop of the Inca Empire came out. The tour is quite cheesy, with a shaman prayer demonstration and a ride on the reed boat (we all take turns rowing). This is still lots of fun, and there is almost nobody else here - only two more ladies join us. We are at 4100 feet elevation, and walking three steps up causes dizziness and shortness of breath. Potocusi mountain was probably 2600-2800 ft elevation max. Next to Isla del Sol is Isle of the Moon. This is where the Incas kept a bunch of virgins before the Spanish came. The virgins either jumped into the lake or mated with the Spaniards - and so is the origin of many Bolivians.
We get off the boat and back on the bus. The 2.5 hour ride to La Paz is scary - this looks somewhat worse then Peru, especially the numerous police officers on every corner. La Paz itself is supposed to be safe, though, and is not so scary. We have dinner in the local Omega - good food for about $7-8 per person including beer and coffee. By this time, I'm getting used to the restless rumbling in my stomach after every meal. |
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| Day 5 Cuzco-Sillustani-Puno |
[Dec. 6th, 2007|08:48 pm] |
We finally get to sleep more than 5 hours, and everyone still gets up exhausted. The goddamn altitude messes with sleep patterns. Our morning is free, and we visit the Inca Museum in Cuzco. It's kind of sad - there is so much history and culture in this town, but they have almost nothing to show for it. Most artifacts are very small and/or broken, otherwise space is filled with huge photos of the cool sculptures and other stuff that the Americans took away. The museum used to have a few gold figurines of gods and llamas and such, but someone stole them in 1993!
Hop on the plane to Juliaca, then on the bus towards Puno. The city of Juliaca might be one of the ugliest city in the world. This is apparently where stuff is made for export into the USA and also everything contraband is made here. The people start building houses and don't finish, because they don't want to pay property taxes, so you can imagine the ugliness. It's impossible to breathe - this is the most polluted town in Peru? South America? It's sickening. Outside the city, we get a taste of the real Peru. Little adobo houses spot the landscape, llamas and sheep and cows and pigs stroll through the front yard. Little kids help herding the sheep. Women plow the fields of potatoes. A volleyball court - kids and adults in their traditional outfits throwing the ball around while llamas stand around looking amazed.
We visit the Sillustani tombs on the shores of a small lake. These are huge stone constructions where the pre-Inca people buried their dead. Each construction had food, clothing, and the rest of the stuff that the deceased would need in the next life. They wrapped the corpse in a blanket with their knees by their ears - in a fetal position. These tombs were obviously looted of gold by everyone who came through the area later on, however it's still an impressive sight to see.
Arrive at Sonesta Posada in Puno. Collapse. |
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| Climbing Putucusi Mountain |
[Dec. 5th, 2007|07:39 am] |
An unpleasant surprise – Aguas Calientes doesn’t have any aqua caliente. Our stupid (and very expensive) hotel runs out of hot water within five minutes!
We didn’t feel like paying Disneyland prices to go back to Macchu Picchu, so we decided to explore another mountain nearby which had good views of Macchu Picchu from above. Today was the day I climbed my first mountain, Putucusi. It took us 2.5 hours to get to the top – the way up was 90% stairs with 10% vertical ladders. There was one ladder going up about 400ft. Surviving several moments of clarity (“this is insane, let’s go back), we got to the top for some spectacular views.
Back in Cuzco, we went to Cuzco’s best restaurant – MAP café, where guinea pig actually tasted good. Gourmet Peruvian food rocks! We even had Peruvian wine which was very reasonable |
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| Day 3 - Macchu Picchu |
[Dec. 3rd, 2007|10:32 pm] |
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Woke up at 4:30am with a hangover-like headache from sorocha (mountain sickness), a stomach ache from the food poisoning (why did I add seaweed to my salad), and a full bladder (goddamn Diamox had me going all night). Took a 3.45 hour train ride up to Aguas Calientes, then another 30 minute bus ride up to Macchu Picchu. Yes, this is the cheater’s way of enjoying this experience. The authentic way is to save the $60 and do the 3 day 10 mile hike up to Macchu Picchu. Why, you say, the train ride takes almost 4 hours? Well, it’s 68 miles long and zigzags down from Cuzco VERY slowly (kind of like the El). And, you know, we like to save my oxygen supply for breathing and stuff, so we did the lazy ass trip up to the entrance. My god, Macchu Picchu is even more amazing than I expected. The mountains are pristine, the air pure, and even the hoards of tourists don't quite spoil the magic too much. There is a lot of made up history here, nobody really knows what kind of town this was and who lived here. Some American guy in the 1950s discovered this place - he was going around asking the locals where the last city of the Incas was. The reason why, probably, is because the last city of the Incas was supposed to be covered in silver and gold. Anyways, he found some native Indians here, and they pretended they didn't know where this place was. So he asked their little son, and for one sole (like 33 cents) the little traitor showed him the way to Macchu Picchu. It's kind of sad, really, the Amercians found this place, made it presentable, and looted all the ancient artifacts back to America.
That's it for now, you really have to see the pictures to appreciate the beauty of it all.
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| Cuzco - coca tea and diuretics |
[Dec. 2nd, 2007|06:27 pm] |
I love coca tea! Unfortunately, you need to drink several hundred gallons of it to get any kind of high. We are now high enough, though - it's like 3700 feet elevation here. Mike actually tried to smoke :) big mistake, he could barely breathe the rest of the day. Walking up 5 steps feels like I'm about to faint. Chugging down cup after cup of coca tea, hoping to ease the descent.
On to the Cathedral in the Plaza de Armas - it's much more fun to see this kind of thing with a guide. Otherwise, I wouldn't have noticed that Jesus and the saints in the Peruvian Last Supper painting are eating cuy (guinea pig) for their last supper. It also seems that in Peruvian culture, the Virgin Mary is a more dominating figure then Christ. The temples are full of very pregnant Virgin Mary statues. The chair arms are carved in a shape of a pregnant woman's torso. Another curious thing in the Cathedral is a huge pulpit made from a 700-year-old cedar tree trunk. Apparently, there were hundreds of these ancient cedars all over Cuzco, but each temple wanted a nice carved pulpit (and doors, windows, etc.) made out of the biggest trees available. So now, there are only 120 cedar trees left. Owned by a temple. Way to care for the environment.
We had a dinner and show in the evening in a very touristy spot near the plaza. Sounds cheesy, but the local band played amazing music, and the woman singing made me cry with one of the songs (which apparently is not so hard, I cry during some commercials :)
Time for bed now, I'll see if the Diamox will have me going to the bathroom all night. |
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| Peru Day 1 Lima |
[Dec. 1st, 2007|09:27 pm] |
So, we've arrived in Lima. Thank god, no funny stories here (yet) about how we missed our flight (although that almost happened), got robbed, or were stranded in the hotel with food poisoning. It's pretty here, in a very "these slums are so cute" kind of way. The architecture varies between beautifully colored old colonial mansions to gray clay little houses. The begging children kind of bum me out... there are SO many!
On a lighter note, there are a lot of happy couples all around. We visited the Love Park, where in the middle stands a statue of a fat guy and girl making out on a pedestal, the girl's huge toes hanging off one side. All around is a Gaudi-inspired bench where the inscriptions read "Masha loves Sasha" and so forth. Walking through the park, looking down at the beach, there seem to be some huge words made with stones down below. Looking closer, it says something like "Rosa fucked Miguel y Arturo". How quaint.
Leaving for Cuzco at 6:40 am tomorrow. Ouch. |
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| Piano question |
[Sep. 17th, 2007|11:41 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | relaxed | ] |
OK, unlikely anyone reads this, but if you do then here is my question. I want to buy a piano keyboard - something cheapy but sounding like an actual piano. I don't want any fancy stuff on it - I'm not planning to compose anything or arrange a pretend orchestra. I just want to brush up on my skills well enough to play some songs for my kiddo and maybe learn "Stairway to Heaven" :) So anybody with suggestions are welcome. I'll take your old keyboard off your hands if you have extra!
P.S. this is me trying to make my life worthwhile while barely working. Last week I was reading a book (not THE book, I have more than one!) This week I'm starting to do Pilates. Next week I'm hoping to play the piano. He-he, my life rules! |
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| Perfect Ending to a lazy weekend |
[Feb. 25th, 2007|02:13 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | amused | ] |
This year I don't have to stare pointlessly at the TV, feeling my useless life slip away as I waste 4-5 hours of my life watching the Oscars. I'm having an Oscars Party!!! There is now reason to the madness. And, I'm itching to try out a few new martini recipes on other people before getting blissfully drunk myself (I'm still trying to disinfect myself from the inside and cure that god-damned cold). The sad thing is, I think I've watched less then half of the movies nominated. I do want to check out the shoes and the dresses, and that's the whole point of the exercise, right? |
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| ...the blues |
[Feb. 17th, 2007|09:00 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  tired | ] |
We meet again, my nemesis, the month of February. The stale air of my bedroom and the fake warmth of my car have replaced fresh air. Again, I don't feel like thinking about what to wear and put on the same pair of pants and the same shirt over and over. The call room stinks of my sweaty coworkers and old scraps of food which they hoard in the corners. I'm getting weird skin reactions from the bleached sheets and the voice of paranoia is telling me that I'm about to become septic like the rest of those gomers. My only day off in two weeks - almost gone. The only thing worth remembering this past week is the yummy bottle of 2001 Castello Banfi Brunello - and it, too, is gone. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 25th, 2007|12:52 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | relaxed | ] |
Best advice we received on this vacation "You know, the cheapest doesn't mean the best." Said by a hippy renting scuba gear. Oh really? I always thought the cheapest stuff WAS the best, huh, I guess I was wrong.
Best advice for others visiting Maui. Forget the volcano. Stick to the beach, you can't go wrong. No use getting sunburned at 10,000 feet elevation away from the ocean just to get tired and see some black rocks. |
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