Thursday, November 29, 2007

Hockey Tradition









Yesterday Anne and I went to a hockey game. San Jose Sharks versus the LA Kings. It was a good game but the Sharks lost in overtime during the shoot-out. They don't have the best record of winning during a shoot-out but that is okay because the Sharks still got one point out of the game. Going to a hockey game after Thanksgiving is becoming a tradition with us.

We had to leave Modesto early so that we could take our time on the road. First we stopped at the Barnes & Noble in Livermoore and peruse the shelves. Then we ate an early dinner at Boda (this great Chinese food place that my family used to eat all the time when we lived in San Jose). Dinner was deep fried oysters, salt and pepper squid, house special fried rice and prawns with snow peas. Delicious! Then we stopped by the mall near the HP Pavilion since Anne wanted to do some Christmas shopping. The last thing we had to do before going to the game is Christmas in the Park. It is a San Jose tradition right in the middle of downtown at Ceasar Chavez Park. Various schools and organization have Christmas trees they decorate on display at Christmas in the Park alongside some Christmas dioramas and displays. It is pretty cool to walk around and look at the various displays.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

I'm Alive

Sorry if I caused anyone to worry. I was unable to get internet access from my laptop during my last 3 days in Thiland and the whole week in Cambodia. But I updated my www.offexploring.com/travelingchamelon blog now that I am in Hong Kong and have internet access again.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Waiting

Seems like when you travel you tend to do plenty of waiting. You wait in line to check in the bags, you wait to go through security, you wait to get on the plane, then you wait to get off the plane, you wait in the immigration line and you wait in the baggage claim. I spend about 3 hours just inside Bangkok International’s Baggage claim waiting for my cousin. Do you know what three hours of doing absolutely nothing to someone like me does? It drives me bonkers! By the time my cousin showed up I was jumping up and down trying to not look like a crazy person. Of course when you start talking to a stuffed bear, people do give you the LOOK. LOL

Once my cousin collected her bag we went out to find our ride. Pastor Acosta was nice and very patiently waiting near the information desk. Stepping outside in the warm weather of Thailand was a surprise, of course wearing a dark black jacket didn’t help reduce the heat. But I found it was surprisingly not humid like in the Philippines. The traffic can be compared though the fact that over here they drive on the ‘wrong’ side of the street was enough to make me grab the seat and hold on tight. I found that the cars tended to obey the lanes and was nothing like the traffic in Manila. The place where we are staying is the Bangkok Christian Guest House, which is located near one of the main roads in the business section of Bangkok.

There are plenty of shops around and we found several malls connected together via overhead walk ways. Plenty of street vendors provided many opportunities to see things you don’t normally see i.e. uncooked meat out in the open, sticks of fish balls and little noodle shops on the side walk. Speaking of which there much of a side walk isn’t to begin with so walking is very much a people touching sport.

We ate dinner at a nice restaurant that the guy at the front desk recommended. Looking at the pictures you can only imagine the delicious taste of the food. Yummy!! It wasn’t too spicy since it is our first night here and we do want to enjoy being able to tastes the food for the next few days. Overall after a day spent waiting it was nice to finally settle in our new home away from home.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Off Exploring

I'm going to have to put this blog on hold while I travel. My brother is unable to read this blog and so I am going with a different website. You can check up on what I'm doing during my vacation by going to http://www.offexploring.com/travelingchamelon/

Please feel free to leave messages or comments! It would be wonderful to hear from y'all. So I will post updates when I get back at the end of this month!