September 30, 2006
[boobylicious pix] OK bitches, *ONE* more comment about how I can write shit about Bush but not post pictures from Thurs night, and I swear I'll cut off your vodka-cran for the next... err, week!
BBBBB was a 6-hour drink-a-thon that centered around JR's (not just Brett's favorite gay bar, but her favorite bar, period... go figure) with a few side trips - dollar drinks at Cobalt, chicken wings at Annie's... you know, the essentials.
TWO dozen wings, that is (LOL). I'm such a fat cow.
Anyhoe, the evening started way early and Brett went from zero to blitzed in 3 shots. But why write a dissertation about it when you can see for yourself:
Birthday Girl: Boobylicious Brett herself!
One Tequila: The night got going *really* early (note time)...
One Jaeger: ...and went straight downhill
Fetch Quartet: aka Fetchtet aka Fetch Trinity Plus One (yes it took us two days to come up with that moniker)
Lovebirds: Aww, so sweet it's giving me a toothache
Birthday Boy: Blaze, the other b'day boy (at twice Brett's age though, LOL) with (L to R) Adrian, Gary, Peter and Evan
Fetch Trinity: Why do I always have a drink in my hand? *giggle*
Aaron: Another birthday boy! His is today...
Shawn & Brett: Victory Fund ho's!
The Head: Rick: "My head is so fucking huge!", Kiat: "Yea, they should call it Pluto"
Shawn & Rick: Mentor and mentee, top and bottom, dirty and filthy :-D
The Boobs: If Courtney Love is "The Hole", then Brett must be "The Boobs". We love big tits!!
Boobylicious: Gary and Rick making a McBoob sandwich
Boobylicious: Gary and me *eating* the McBoob
Jose: And so the kissing begins - Brett's favorite activity in a gay bar. Jose was first up... (Brett, he's not str8!)
Tom: ...followed by Tom... (eww!)
Joe: ...then Joe... (double eww!)
Jason: ...and finally, Jason! (uber eww! They're ALL gay!)
Hot Matt: And the "cream" of the crop, Brett kissing her favorite gay bartender in her favorite gay bar... and she's str8!
A gaggle of gay boys gathering at a gay bar to celeberate a straight woman's birthday, grabbing her tits and making out with her.
It's either an alternate universe, or we were super hot messes that night! (der, every night) @ 12:39
September 29, 2006
[morally bankrupt] As part of a record Pentagon budget, the Senate unanimously approved $70bn more for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The record-setting defense bill totals $448bn. Another infusion of money will be needed next spring (estimated at up to $32bn more).
Congress has now approved $379bn for the war in Iraq and $97bn for the conflict in Afghanistan. The heinous and frivolous war in Iraq is costing America $2bn a week or $200,000 per minute. Imagine spending $280mn+ *per day* on bombing a nation into submission.
Or imagine if we injected $379bn into one priority like we did in Iraq, what would we get?
107.8mn insured ppl (1 out of every 3 Americans)
6.4mn elementary school teachers (1 for every 5 kids)
38,024 schools (accommodating 19mn schoolkids)
62.4mn college scholarships
8.5mn police
2.95mn affordable housing units
Instead of fighting poverty and educating our children, President Bush thinks it is SEVEN times more important to wage war and build bombs ($448bn), than it is to build schools and buy books ($64bn).
And now they're saying that the Iraq War could end up costing us $1 trillion. Those estimates, as you might recall, will turn out to be wildly wrong. Remember way back when the CBO estimated that the Iraq War would cost $85bn - $200bn through 2013?
Besides financially bankrupting the nation, this Administration is morally bankrupting the nation.
Sickening. @ 14:04
[shame] The Military Trials Bill was passed by the Senate (65-34) yesterday, after the House did the day before.
This bill is disgusting in its nature.
From the NYT's Editorial:
"[The bill]... would give Mr. Bush the power to jail pretty much anyone he wants for as long as he wants without charging them, to unilaterally reinterpret the Geneva Conventions, to authorize what normal people consider torture, and to deny justice to hundreds of men captured in error."
From the WaPo's analysis:
"The military trials bill approved by Congress lends legislative support for the first time to broad rules for the detention, interrogation, prosecution and trials of terrorism suspects far different from those in the familiar American criminal justice system."
Just how different?
In the bill, "illegal enemy combatant" includes legal residents of the US (me!), and foreign citizens living in their own countries. And they are all subject to arrest and indefinite detention without ever having to face charges, get a trial, or any hope of appeal. The President gets to decide what abusive interrogation methods are considered permissible, and that decision can stay a secret. Detainees in US military prisons would lose the basic right to challenge their imprisonment (habeas corpus) or treatment, not to mention their right to assert Geneva Convention claims in courts. Evidence collected through hearsay or coercion will be allowed, if the detainees are able to see or face any evidence at all. And finally, the courts will have no power to review any aspect of this new system.
Yes, Congress rushed this bill through to strip jurisdiction from the courts in response to a politically created emergency. Shocking. This is so that both the White House and Congress can avoid those embarassing Supreme Court reversals that have become so common in this legal war on terror. The last time Congress rubber-stamped a major terrorism-related law no one had bothered to read in the first place, we got the Patriot Act. Go figure.
With this bill, if you are a US citizen, you have access to one set of courts. If you are a green-card holder or a foreigner, you are bound by the system set up in this bill. The 14th Amendment (equal protection) is gonna have a field day with the dual systems of justice.
Oh, and the bill conveniently immunizes US officials from prosecution for cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment of detainees who the military and the CIA captured before the end of last year. Why convenient? Coz all those abuses (Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, etc.) occurred before that date.
Andrew Cohen summarizes the "beyond sad" situation in the WaPo today:
"In short, things will go on as they have for the past five miserable years in this epic struggle between the branches for balance in a time of terror. That is to say, the White House has all the power and the other two branches wallow in submissiveness. For federal judges, at least they will be able to tell their grandchildren that they didn't have much choice in the matter. But what slimy excuse are our national legislators going to use? They could have made a difference, could have given us both a strong terror detainee bill and a fair one, and instead they punted, as they usually do, so that they can cut crisper campaign commercials. It is beyond sad that the Congress could not muster up the courage to stand up for what America has stood for to the rest of the world for nearly a century. It is beyond sad that this is the best we can do when the stakes are so high."
This pro-torture and anti-Constitution President was accused of authorizing criminal torture. Instead of reining him in, Congress is standing behind him.
Frankly, I would much rather a do-nothing Congress.
How can they sleep at night?
Shame, shame, shame.
But there's plenty of shame to go around. Dahlia Lithwick from Slate.com says it best in "The Blind Leading the Willing":
"For the five years since 9/11, we have been in the dark in this country. This president has held detainees in secret prisons and had them secretly tortured using secret legal justifications. Those held in secret at Guantanamo Bay include innocent men, as do those who have been secretly shipped off to foreign countries and brutally tortured there. That was a shame on this president."
"But passage of the new detainee legislation will be a different sort of watershed. Now we are affirmatively asking to be left in the dark. Instead of torture we were unaware of, we are sanctioning torture we'll never hear about. Instead of detainees we didn't care about, we are authorizing detentions we'll never know about. Instead of being misled by the president, we will be blind and powerless by our own choice. And that is a shame on us all."
The Imperial Presidency prevails again. @ 13:24
September 27, 2006
[alkie streak] Tonight's the first night since last Thursday that I haven't had a single drop of alcohol :-D About damn time! Coz I totally need a break.
Last Thursday was no-dinner-and-majorly-wasted @ JR's - see first two pictures below. (Yes, you've heard it all before)
Friday was the Tour of Gay DC. I wanted to go check out the new Be Bar - which is so far East it might as well be in NE - so off we went to meet Jason, Brett and Aaron there. It was Happy Hour, so the martinis were half-priced and they were killer strong. The other thing I remember (which is not much) were the drippingly hot bartenders, OMB.
Anyhoe, after Be Bar we went to JR's to hook up with Brett's friends. Who knows how many drinks we had there coz before we knew it, we (me, Jason, Brett, Aaron and Evan) were piled in a cab headed towards Wet. We rode the cab there... and back. Wet was closed! Grr. Another victim of the new baseball stadium. We didn't even bother to check to see if it was still opened but apparently it had already closed *sigh*. So no, no dick for us, thank you.
And the Tour of Gay DC continued (led by Jason with his little black-dar leading the way), taking us across the Circle to Fireplace, then Apex, and finally Alberto's. I know... we're pretty hardcore. Oh and I mustn't forget the "Alberto's guy". Brett and I were in line for pizza and I noticed this guy standing behind us kept staring in my direction. I thought nothing of it. Brett and I left, I said goodbye to her, I started walking towards the house when the same guy catches up to me, taps my shoulder and starts talking to me. The nerve. Anyways, I was muy drunk and passed out at 4.
The next night we partied at Rob/Mikko's till 2am for Alan's 40th. It was another blitzed out session. I started out fine with white wine, but when they started to pour the champagne, I got tore up coz I have an affection (affliction?) for champagne and I just couldn't stop drinking it. Plus, there were a whole bunch of Finns there and, as we all know, the Scandinavians are a whole bunch of enablers, LOL. Love 'em. I met some hot Finn chicks (pic #3 below), some Dutch guys, and everything in between. And we partied. Hard. Mikko put out a fabulous spread, and all in all it was a fun and kwazy evening.
Sunday, we met up with Jason, Brett, Rick/Jose and Evan at JR's for $2 Sundays (pic #4 below), and I don't know what possessed me but I let them convince us to walk TEN blocks to Be Bar (pic #5 below). Be Bar was dead, but we met Tom/Joe there and had a good time. I was home in time for Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters (which was quite good).
Speaking of good shows, this TV season is chock-full of quality dramas. So far, I'm liking Heroes, Brothers & Sisters, and of course, Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives. I missed Six Degrees last week, but that looks fun. There's also Amazing Race 10. Not sure about Studio 60 though.
Anyhoe, Jason and Brett came over for dinner on Monday night. They stayed to watch the TiVo-ed episode of Grey's Anatomy's season opener that aired last week. We had wine. Lots of it.
Then last night, Tony's parents stopped over in DC en route back to KC from Italy/Switzerland. They stayed over and we got them totally drunk at dinner on wine and Limoncello (yum).
I am determined that tonight is gonna be a sober night, dammit! So far, so good LOL. @ 22:04
[random pix] From the past week:
My favorite bartender - Matt!
(L to R) Tom, Brett, Jose, Jason, Paula, Me!, and Joe @ JR's all-you-can-drink Boys' Night Out last Thursday
Jonna & Erika - The Hot Finnish Chicks - at Rob/Mikko's for Alan's 40th last Saturday
(L to R) Rick, Jose, Me!, Jason, Brett, and Evan @ JR's $2 Sundays just past
Boobylicious Brett! @ the new Be Bar
We're so eff-ing hot, LOL! @ 20:08
[bbbbb] The invites are out for the BBBBB (Brett B's Boobylicious Birthday Blowout) tomorrow:
That's right queens, hags, tricks and treats....it's our favorite hag, Ms. Brett's, 24th birthday tomorrow - Thursday, September 28th!!!
In celebration, Brett has requested the honor of your company (aka your cash to buy her drinks) at her favorite home away from home...um, dah JR's of course! There will be lots of drinking; Kiat will be judging everyone with bitchy comments, and Brett will most likely be showing her enormous breasts at some point in the evening (so bring Mardi Gras beads!)...that is if she isn't making out with Jason on the pool table upstairs or being bored to death by one of Evan's stories about how many dicks he took in his ass from the night before.
ALL that aside, Brett would be tickled in her spot that hasn't been tickled in a long time if you would join us to celebrate her 24th year of being fabulous, blonde and breasty. The plan is to meet at JR's at 7 p.m. and avail ourselves of the drink specials...then move to Cobalt for $1 drink night. And please, no straight friends...this is Brett's night..she doesn't want to have to compete with any other straight girls when it comes to making out with gay boys. If we're lucky, there will be competition vomitting in the trash cans outside Jr's with Kiat and Brett, Shawn will be re-enacting his amatuer night performance from Wet a year ago (if he man-scapes) and Jason will most likely hump a telephone poll thinking it's a black man (another SoCo Cran please??). It should all make for great pictures and/or blog posts on Friday.
If you get lost, or need an emergency contact number for the hospital, call my cell (xxx) xxx-xxxx.
Otherwise....
See you at JR's!!! and HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRETT!!!
Rick ;-)
ROTFLMAO!
I think Rick took the whole "The Truth Shall Set You Free" thingie a little too seriously.
But in the end, she was right about most things except for one - We didn't have to wait till Friday for the first blog posts about the BBBBB to come out! ;-)
Let the games begin!
PS: If you weren't invited, you're just not fetch enough. @ 17:50
[moderate my ass] Harold Meyerson in "The Moderate Republican Scam" in the WaPo today:
"[Rhode Island's] Chafee and Maine's Olympia Snowe and such deathbed converts to moderation as Ohio's Mike DeWine are seeking reelection to the Senate by claiming that they represent a Republicanism less rabid than the Bush-Rove strain. They point to individual votes in which they broke with the president and flouted the party line. But those votes have been negated a hundred times over by their votes to make Bill Frist the majority leader, just as they would be negated when the new Senate takes office in 2007 if the moderates backed any Republican unwilling to make a fundamental break with Bush and Bushism."
"The issue isn't the individual voting records of Frist and McConnell, which are indistinguishable from each other and define the mainstream of today's gorge-the-rich, drown-the-poor, stay-the-course Republicanism. The issue is that under the control of the Republicans, both the Senate and the House have abandoned their constitutionally mandated obligation to oversee executive branch endeavors, most especially endeavors gone as awry as the war in Iraq. The issue is that under Republican control, both houses have abandoned any effort to address America's real problems."
"The House and Senate vote to ban flag-burning and gay marriage but never quite find the time to slow the rising costs of health care or raise the minimum wage or mandate fuel efficiency standards lest the polar ice cap melt. Chafee, Snowe and DeWine readily admit that a melted polar ice cap would be troublesome; they will fight it tooth and nail. But come time to vote for majority leader, they always vote for a leader of a party in thrall to big oil."
"Gorge-the-rich, drown-the-poor, stay-the-course Republicanism" - ROTFL!
I love the next paragraph:
"Problem is, Chafee and his moderate band are an ever weaker force in a party whose very essence is extreme, whose electoral strategy is solely to mobilize its base, whose legislative strategy is never to seek votes across party lines. And unless these moderates boldly go where they have not gone before and cast their vote for majority leader... for someone other than the nominee of their party caucus, they are not moderates at all. They are loyal and indispensable foot soldiers in the Republicans' continuing campaign to drag the nation rightward and backward."
I think "rightward and backward" should be the new Democrat attack line against the "Let's ban everything in the name of the Bible, and if we can't ban it, we'll kill them" Republican Party.
And the final zing:
"And guess what. The moderates will vote for the extremist... Chafee, Snowe, the whole lot of them, are moderate enablers of an extremist party. That leaves those voters in Rhode Island, Maine, Ohio and other states where these self-proclaimed Republican moderates are running only one choice if they seek a Congress to check and balance the president, if they want a more moderate nation: Vote for the Democrat."
Moderate Nation, not Moderate Republican.
Vote for the Democrat on 11/05/06! @ 10:21
[3oz, 1qt] Yay! Just in time for my trip to Malaysia/Singapore in two weeks (yes, I'm going away... AGAIN).
Finally, the TSA has come to its senses and relaxed the ban on liquids on airliners. Not that it was strictly enforced - nor did I follow them - to begin with :-)
But now, I can bring 3oz worth of hair gel, cologne, and all that good stuff in a 1qt see-through plastic bag *happy jig*.
I have no eff-ing clue how much 1qt is, but that's roughly 90ml per item, in a 1l bag.
Me thinks it's about time the US adopted the Metric/decimal system. @ 10:07
[hillary v cunti] Sen Clinton (D-NY) struck back at Secretary of State Cuntileezza Rice today:
"I think my husband did a great job in demonstrating that Democrats are not going to take these attacks. I'm certain that if my husband and his national security team had been shown a classified report entitled 'Bin Laden Determined To Attack Inside the United States' he would have taken it more seriously than history suggests it was taken by our current president and his national security team."
You go, gurl! Fight!
And from the National Intelligence Estimate which was declassified yesterday:
"We assess that the Iraq jihad is shaping a new generation of terrorist leaders and operatives; perceived jihadist success there would inspire more fighters to continue the struggle elsewhere."
"The Iraq conflict has become the 'cause celebre' for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of US involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement. Should jihadists leaving Iraq perceive themselves, and be perceived, to have failed, we judge fewer fighters will be inspired to carry on the fight."
This incompetent Administration fucked up the War in Iraq, and fucked up the War on Terror.
President Bush: Putting Americans in Harm's Way. @ 09:56
September 26, 2006
[#26 & 27] On January 1st, 2007, the EU officially expands to 27 member nations. After 7 years of accession talks, Bulgaria and Romania will be the newest entrants which completes the absorption of former Soviet Bloc states into the EU. Amongst previously Communist countries in Europe, Only Albania and all the former Yugoslav states (excl. Slovenia) remain outside the EU.
Bulgaria and Romania missed out on the EU's big eastward expansion in 2004 which brought in, for the very first time, former Soviet Bloc nations such as the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Both the newest members will be the poorest countries in the newly expanded EU, with GDP per capita of only 1/3rd the EU average in PPP terms, and less than 1/5th in nominal terms.
Next year marks 50 years since Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Netherlands (the founding 6) signed the Treaty of Rome to establish the European Economic Community which led to the birth of the EU.
After two World Wars in the 20th century, the idea of a free and democratic Europe with 460 million citizens living in the world's largest economy (by GDP) from the Atlantic to the Baltic and the Arctic to the Mediterranean is now a reality.
It's cool to be European :-) @ 15:15
September 25, 2006
[global 500] The Fortune Global 500 for 2006 was recently released. The top 500 companies in the world grossed $18.9 *trillion* in revenue last year, making up fully one-third of the globe's GDP. The revenue cutoff to even make the list has risen from $12.4bn to $13.7bn for this year's list. Twenty-two companies made it to the $100bn club.
As expected, the US has the largest number of companies on the Global 500 with 170, followed by Japan with 70, UK and France tied at 38, and Germany 35. Malaysia has 1 company on the Global 500 - Petronas (yes, of the Twin Towers fame). The US dominates the Top 10 spots, with Shell, BP, DaimlerChrysler and Toyota being the only non-US companies in the Top 10.
In the Top 100 (revenue cutoff = roughly $50bn), Asian companies take 15 spots - 9 in Japan, 3 in China and 3 in S Korea. European and American companies have 51 and 31 spots respectively. Latin American companies make up the remaining three.
In case you're wondering (and you're non-Asian and aren't very good with numbers), $50bn equates to almost $100,000 per minute.
Tokyo has the largest number of Global 500 companies headquartered in the city - 52 - almost double the runner-up, Paris with 27. NYC (24), London (23) and Beijing (15) round up the Top 5. Yes, Beijing. A definite sign that China is emerging rapidly and making a huge impact on the global economy.
By revenue, Air France-KLM is the largest airline in the world, followed by Lufthansa, AA, JAL and United. The largest computer software company in the world is Microsoft, which ranks a lowly 140 on the list. Google doesn't even make the cut. IBM, HP and Dell round up the Top 3 computer hardware companies, with Apple squeezing in at #492.
The largest employer in the world is Wal-Mart with 1.8mn employees. Wal-Mart is also the World's second largest company, topped only by Exxon-Mobil. Wal-Mart is also the only non-oil or -car company in the Top 10.
Why are the world's two largest companies evil? ;-) @ 10:38
September 24, 2006
[does it work?] Two powerful articles in WaPo today regarding torture - "Does It Work?". The mere asking of that question shames us all as Americans. George Bush's America is one of the low points in human history.
From "Are We Really So Fearful?" by Ariel Dorfman:
"It is a story that our species has listened to with mounting revulsion, a horror that has led almost every nation to sign treaties over the past decades declaring these abominations as crimes against humanity, transgressions interdicted all across the earth. That is the wisdom, national and international, that has taken us thousands of years of tribulation and shame to achieve. That is the wisdom we are being asked to throw away when we formulate the question -- Does torture work? -- when we allow ourselves to ask whether we can afford to outlaw torture if we want to defeat terrorism."
"I will leave others to claim that torture, in fact, does not work, that confessions obtained under duress... are useless. Or to contend that the United States had better not do that to anyone in our custody lest someday another nation or entity or group decides to treat our prisoners the same way."
"I find these arguments -- and there are many more -- to be irrefutable. But I cannot bring myself to use them, for fear of honoring the debate by participating in it."
"Can't the United States see that when we allow someone to be tortured by our agents, it is not only the victim and the perpetrator who are corrupted, not only the 'intelligence' that is contaminated, but also everyone who looked away and said they did not know, everyone who consented tacitly to that outrage so they could sleep a little safer at night, all the citizens who did not march in the streets by the millions to demand the resignation of whoever suggested, even whispered, that torture is inevitable in our day and age, that we must embrace its darkness?"
"Are we so morally sick, so deaf and dumb and blind, that we do not understand this? Are we so fearful, so in love with our own security and steeped in our own pain, that we are really willing to let people be tortured in the name of America?"
Are we? @ 15:33
September 23, 2006
[funny] Overheard on Bravo TV today:
"I've been married to her so long if I had killed her back then, I'd be out on parole by now."
LOL!!! @ 13:30
September 22, 2006
[1, 3... and 5?] In July 2006, for the first time ever, Toyota outsold Ford (excl. Mazda) in US monthly sales by 487 vehicles, AND, Honda outsold Chrysler (excl. Mercedes). The numbers are boosted by record high oil prices which reduced demand for pickups and SUVs (GM/Ford/Chrysler's bread and butter), and increased demand for America's top-4 selling cars - Camry, Corolla, Accord and Civic. Foreign automakers claimed 48% of the US market in July, a record high, with Asian automakers taking 41.4%.
Domestic (US) auto sales for 2005:
General Motors - 4.45mn
Ford - 3.17mn (not incl. Mazda's 258,339)
DaimlerChrysler - 2.53mn
Toyota - 2.26mn
Honda - 1.46mn
Toyota has been outselling DaimlerChrysler in the US since April of this year. Back in August 2003, Toyota outsold Chrysler (excl. Mercedes) and Honda's feat two months ago is a harbinger of a major realignment of the "Big Three". Year-To-Date 2006, Toyota has outsold DaimlerChrysler domestically by 90,000 units - 1.71mn vs 1.62mn - and looks set to keep that #3 position for the first time ever by year's end.
The "Big Three" is no longer.
In another significant development, China is on track to pass Germany as the world's 3rd largest automaker - with 6.4mn vehicles made - in 2006, behind the US and Japan which both made 11.5mn and 10.1mn vehicles respectively in 2005.
Japanese cars good, American cars bad ;-) @ 15:54
[i'm baaa-ack!] No dinner, lost-count-after-6 drinks, massive hangover this morning.
I got so wasted last night:
1. My shoes reek of smoke coz I was at JR's *that* long. Note to self: Wear different shoes to work the next day.
2. I forgot to put on my (plastic) jade necklace this morning. I very, *very* seldom forget.
3. I momentarily forgot how to put on my belt. No, it's not one of those buckle ones. You gotta do a loopy-loop to get it to fasten, etc. Yea, I stood there and froze for about a minute trying different ways to tie the knot, under pressure from my maids who were already in the house!
4. I don't remember taking pictures, but there are lots of 'em in my phone this morning! Gaysian with camera phone = Lots of (ugly) drunken memories!
It was nice to see my bitches at all-you-can-drink-a-thon last night: Jason, Brett/Shawn, Gary/Adrian, Evan, Chad, Leo, M2+1, Jose/Paula, Tom/Joe, the Mean Girls, etc... Did I forget anyone? Lord knows I've forgotten lots of things this morning. And no, I still haven't eaten, lol!
I'm baaa-ack! @ 10:21
September 20, 2006
[mayor fenty] While I was in Italy, a very important election took place in DC.
The result? Young, dynamic, native-born, 35yo triathlete Adrian Fenty won the DC Democratic primary on Sept 12th, sweeping all eight wards and all 142 precincts in an extraordinary display of organizational might and unification politics trascending race, income and demographics.
Fenty pulled the same number of ballots from predominantly white and affluent Ward 3 in Northwest as he did across town in predominantly black and poor Anacostia (Wards 7 and 8), en route to amassing 57% of the vote and defeating Council Chairwoman, 58yo Linda Cropp who got 31%.
Barring an impossible upset at the General Elections on November 7th (Democratic voter registration outnumber Republican by 10-to-1), Adrian Fenty will be the 5th Mayor of Washington DC, replacing Mayor Anthony Williams - the bow-tied technocrat who lifted the District out of insolvency and into an era of civic affluence and bureaucratic competence.
Fenty inherits a city at a turning point - The economy is booming, the population is rising and basic services have improved dramatically. But a host of challenges persist - Failing schools, a spike in crime, lack of affordable housing, gentrification, the new baseball stadium, and after years of rapid expansion, tax revenue may be starting to level off.
I was initially skeptical of Fenty (though all my friends liked him coz he was cute, lol) not because he lacked experience and political gravitas, but because he gave the impression that he was anti-business. His opposition to the baseball stadium annoyed me to no end. And business - both development and re-development - is the only thing that's gonna put enough money into DC's coffers to fund the ambitious ideas of the incoming Fenty Administration. But what he lacked in experience, he made up for with spunk. And also, apparently, a good sense of what's needed to keep the District on the right track.
Six days after his primary win, "Mayor" Fenty reappointed Natwar Gandhi as DC's CFO for another five-year term to manage the city's $7bn budget, ensuring fiscal responsibility and stability in a city that has a history of fiscal mismanagement.
I'm sold :-) @ 21:33
[war criminal at the UN] Bush at the UN General Assembly in NYC yesterday, appealing for agreement on "a world beyond terror" by reaching for a landmark UN document - the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
"This document declares that the 'equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom and justice and peace in the world."
Newsweek writes:
"That's the same Universal Declaration that prohibits torture or 'cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.' It's the same Universal Declaration that promises everyone 'a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.' And it's the same Universal Declaration that promises everyone charged with a penal offence 'a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense.'"
He makes me sick to my stomach. But let's face it, being a hypocrite on the world stage is the least of his failures. Far worse is the war crimes he has committed by lying to the same audience at the UN four years ago, and dragged the entire world into a war of choice.
The Independent published a shocking article - "The bitter legacy of 9/11" - on the fifth anniversary of 9/11:
2,973 Total number of people killed (excluding the 19 hijackers) in the September 11, 2001 attacks
72,000 Estimated number of civilians killed worldwide since September 11, 2001 as a result of the war on terror
How many more civilians outside the US need to die because of the actions of the Bush Administration and its false claims to make America safer?
No, Bush doesn't deserve a place in a dustpiles of history, nor at the podium of the United Nations General Assembly.
He deserves to stand trial at The Hague. @ 20:19
[bloody crazy] NYT article today (which I won't reference to, coz the link will expire in a few days anyway) lays out the costs of living next to Harrods, Hyde Park and Harvey Nichols in London's uber-chic and ultra-desirable Knightsbridge area.
The verdict? £2500 or $4500 per square foot.
:-o
The average home price in Knightsbridge is £892,100 or roughly $1.7mn. Parking spaces are going for £130,000 or $250,000 each.
And on an even more ludicrous and shocking scale, the new Mandarin Oriental Residences at One Hyde Park will go on sale in 2009 for at least £25mn, a sale price of about £4000 or $7500 per square foot.
Can you imagine paying $7.5mn for a 1,000 sq ft apartment?? @ 18:26
September 19, 2006
[zurich weekend] Zurich, though one of the world's leading international cities, is really quite small. We kept seeing the same peeps over and over, including people who were on the same train as us that came from Milan. Especially in the pedestrian district of Niederdorf on the right bank of the Limmat (which splits the city in half).
So it was no surprise that even though there were quite a few gay bars/clubs in the city, it never really got crowded at all the venues we went to. Saturday night, we checked out Cranberry Bar around the corner from our hotel. Oh, lemme back up. We stayed at a "gay establishment" for the very first time in our travels, eschewing the luxuries and comforts of the American chain hotels (i.e. Starwood).
Well, it was both good and bad. Good coz the location was excellent - stumbling back to the room drunk was a piece-a-cake. Bad coz there is a reason why the hotel room was cheap (half the price of the Starwood property in the tony left bank/Bahnhofstrasse district) - the room was tiny, had no A/C (not that it was necessary), and the bathroom was just adequate. It did have a bathrobe though, but no fluffy slippers. And free breakfast, which was quite cool. It really wasn't that bad. Great location.
Anyhoe, Cranberry Bar... Cute little JR's-like bar. Well, more like a cross between JR's and Halo. Switzerland is pretty diverse, so the boys in there were from the whole spectrum of skin/hair/eye colors. Drinks were startlingly expensive, as expected. Vodka-crans were $10, mojitos were $12. We met up with a bunch of locals (pics to follow); surprisingly a Malaysian and a Singaporean plus a few mixed boys, an Austrian, and some Swiss, etc. Quite a melting (fondue) pot.
We're there for three hours, getting quite plastered. And then we move on to T&M disco, which is literally IN our hotel. Fetch. AND, no cover charge for hotel guests! Double fetch. T&M played the fiercest music - Beyonce, Madonna, Shakira, Eurotrash, you name it, they played it. As with Torino 2006 with Jason seven months back, the song that brought me to the dancefloor (shirts off as well, and yes I have pics! :-o) was "Hung Up". I *heart* Madonna.
Newayz, we - Tony, me, Bernie, Kim and Wolfgang - dance for three hours before collapsing in a pile of sweat and exhaustion. We had a blast. It was quite the needed let-our-hair-down, shake-our-bootay release after an entire week with the family.
Oh before I forget, dancing in no A/C = sweat-a-thon = need lots of water. Bottles of water at T&M? $7.50! *faints*
Sunday night, we went to Sunday Trash at Labor Bar in Zurich West after our fetch dinner at the glassbox restaurant La Salle. Labor Bar has all the potential of Lizard Lounge, but none of the gay (resident or tourist) population base to support such a venture. Drinks here were even more expensive - $12 (!!) vodka-crans. We were there for 2 hours, and it never really picked up. They played lounge music instead of Eurotrash or disco music. The crowd was having none of it. But we did run into Wolfgang and Freddie there, and they decided that we should all head to T&M instead. That put us at our hotel instead of 15 mins away so we readily agreed. Well, T&M was even deader. But it was fun to hang out and party with the locals.
Zurich = not so bad after all! ;-) @ 22:34
[one night in bangkok] September 19th, 2006 - Bangkok, Thailand. Shocking scenes of tanks rumbling through the choked streets of this City of Angels on Tuesday night, surrounding the Government House (the Prime Minister's office) and the Grand Palace. For the 18th time since WWII - and the first since 1992 - Thailand's military launched a bloodless coup d'état today, seizing the capital city of Bangkok while Prime Minister Thaksin was in NYC for a UN meeting. The coup, which deposed the Thai PM, is led by Thai army chief Gen. Sonthi who has now assumed the acting Prime Minister position.
Military chiefs met with King Bhumibol Adulyadej - who celebrated 50 years on the throne 3 months ago - to declare that they were taking over the country. Martial law has been declared, the constitution has been suspended, and both the cabinet and the parliament have been abolished. Tomorrow has been declared a holiday, with schools, banks and the stock market closed. Foreign news networks, including CNN and BBC, were blacked out.
Thaksin cancelled his speech at the UN and declared a state of emergency from NYC. It is still unclear if he would even be allowed back in Thailand.
Change is in the air. The mood is, for now, surprisingly calm in the capital where the anti-Thaksin urban elite dominate. It will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow when the pro-Thaksin rural population wake up to news of this military coup.
The shocking turn of events comes after the country's constitutional court ruled that a vote in April was unconstitutional. That election was called after regular massive anti-Thaksin street protests erupted due to accusations that the billionaire tycoon profited from his involvement last year in a multibillion-dollar sell-off of the country's main telecoms supplier. New elections were scheduled for November before the coup happened. For a military coup to happen in one of Asia's leading democracies is stunning indeed.
It's been almost 10 months since I was last in Bangkok. Having visited thrice in 2004/5, I am anxious to see that all will be well in this most graceful of nations. @ 20:29
September 18, 2006
[schweiz, suisse, svizzera, svizra] Since we just left Zurich, lemme tell you all about Switzerland; my first time there. Here are the highlights:
1. You could fit all of Zurich's people in DC alone, and still be short about 200,000 ppl. Zurich happens to be the largest city in Switzerland. In fact, you could fit all of Switzerland's population in the DC metro area and still come up short. Zurich is also surprisingly diverse.
2. Two-thirds of the country speak Swiss-German, including Zurich. The rest speak French (Geneva), Italian (southern Switzerland) or Romansh (??). All four are official languages i.e. signs are bewildering. Swiss-German is weird. They say things like "si", "merci" and "ciao" instead of "ja", "danke" and "auf wiedersehn" (of course when Heidi says it, it sounds sooooo sexy). The difference (in spelling, vocabulary and pronunciation) is slightly more pronounced than Brit- and American-English.
3. Zurich is relentlessly clean - the Limmat river is swimmable (probably drinkable too) and so is the Lake. The city is also very clean, graffiti notwithstanding. Zurich is also a very international city relative to its size, and very livable as well notwithstanding hyper-expensive prices (see below).
4. Swiss efficiency and timeliness is not a myth. We took a tram last night to dinner, and the tram arrived at the posted time at the tram stop to the minute. The same thing occurred this morning for the airport bus. Neither early, nor late. Quite remarkable.
5. Zurich is hideously and coronary-inducingly expensive. The tram was $2 (same price as the NYC subway which goes a much longer distance and way faster). A taxi to the airport would've cost $40+ for 7 miles. Food prices were outrageous - two entrees and a 1/2 bottle of wine for $80, $3 bottles of water, $3 cups of coffee, etc. Alcohol is insanely expensive (to be discussed later).
6. The Swiss Franc (CHF) comes in shockingly large denominations, and spends just as shockingly easily. CHF100 notes ($80) dissolves out of wallets like water in super-expensive Zurich. They use coins up to CHF5 ($4)!
7. The Swiss Alps are as beautiful from the ground as they are from the air. We took a train from Florence to Zurich via Milan, and the scenery was jaw-droppingly beautiful as the Cisalpino train wound its way up from Milan into Zurich. Gorgeous lakes, perfect green pastures on slopes with cute little Swiss villages, soaring peaks, beautiful valleys. They were all fascinating, especially for a first-timer such as myself.
8. Swiss infastructure was decidedly first class after coming from Italy. Highways criss-cross the mountainous nation through precisely blasted mountain sides and unending series of tunnels. The rail system is supremely efficient and stitches the whole nation together - you can get anywhere very easily in very little time. If Italy had a dearth of signs in train stations and on roads, Switzerland has an overabundance. The signs even tell you which train carriage position is 1st class or 2nd class. Amazing. Times are posted at all Swiss train, tram and bus stops. Italian public transportation is a joke. And most importantly, cars stop for pedestrians voluntarily in Zurich! In Italy, you would be run over if you dare to put man against steel.
9. BMWs and Benzs rule Zurich. They were pervasive considering that there were very few on the road in Tuscany (and if there were Bimmers and Benzs there, they were A- or 1-series). Zurich's streets, shops and people ooze riches and sophistication. But when it comes to laissez-faire and La Dolce Vita, Italy wins hands down. The air is definitely more romantic in Italy.
10. Swiss food is meh, especially coming from a week in Italy. The bratwurst does not compare to Italian sausage or Italian cured meats, IMO. I tried fondue at one of the nicer restaurants in Zurich. It was basically bread and cheese. Nothing noteworthy. Swiss meat (veal, pork, chicken, beef, etc.) tastes really good though, since they have strict controls on the import of meat products i.e. almost all meats are organic and local. I missed Italian food so much that I had risotto with porcini on our final $100/pp blow-out dinner in Europe at this beautiful restaurant-in-a-glass-box-in-a-former-shipyard (all four walls and the ceiling are glass) called La Salle in the chic, trendy and edgy warehouse district area of Zurich West. Loved it.
11. Like most Northern European countries, *EVERY*thing is closed on Sundays, which was quite annoying considering we were only there a full day on Sunday. It was both good and bad. Good coz I didn't feel obligated to spend money in uber-expensive Zurich. Bad coz I really wanted to shop on Bahnhofstrasse!
You'll hear about the nightlife later. We are currently over NYC, on our descent into Dulles. 40 more minutes. Home soon! @ 20:09 Frankfurt or 14:09 DC
[don't nein me, bitch] I almost forgot to tell you about my close shave with getting arrested for disorderly behavior at Frankfurt airport. As I predicted, security was a BITCH. They were doing pat downs for all passengers headed to the US-bound gates i.e. no metal detector. You had to remove *every* item from your pockets before the pat down, and yes, wallets included. Naturally, the KY bottle-sized hairgel was confiscated. So was the lotion, but it was just airline lotion so I didn't really care. Curiously enough, they didn't take (or find) the toothpaste and the cologne. Oh well...
But anyhoe, I had purchased these two products from L'Occitane at the Zurich train station - one is a "perfume" (green tea, of course) and the other is a lip gloss. They are both "solid" in the sense that they are the same consistency as chapstick, which I *know* is allowed. And not to mention that they are both in tiny glass jars that, combined, is the size of a stick of gum.
So it kinda surprised me when this nasty security lady told me that they weren't allowed. I pleaded my case but this Nazi bitch was having none of it. She pointed to both my products and said "nein". To make matters worse, the X-ray machine guy kept shoving this placard at me telling me that gel and creams are not allowed.
Oh NO you DIIN'T just do that, bitch. I *know* the rules, and you are not shoving any made-up rules and regulations in my face, regardless of how tight your ass is. Plus, I ain't taking shit from two lowly German airport security scanners, regardless of how thankless and useful their job is in life.
I got infuriated. I purposely bought those hideously expensive (which compounded the problem) products to take with me on the plane. When the Nazi bitch grabbed both jars and was about to dump 'em, I protested - with fury, I might add. I was like, "You are *NOT* throwing those away. I want to see a manager *NOW*". I was pretty fierce about it.
The manager came over and I pleaded my case with her, going so far as to bring out my chapstick and comparing the three products side-by-side. She didn't give me a "nein", which was comforting. But she then walked over to the German police and started consulting with them. I was panicked. I was like, "uh-oh I'm in deep shit now", LOL!
I was quite relieved when she came back and said I could take my L'Occitane products with me. I scowled at the two Nazi security scanners (yes, it made me feel better :-p) before walking off. I am definitely glad I stood up to those security Nazis who were clearly just in a foul mood and wanted to ruin my day.
I know I'm right, dammit, and I ain't gonna take "nein" for an answer! Don't mess with the gaysian, 'nuff said.
Oh, and then it got worse. When I arrived at the gate area (not the boarding machine), the entire gate was blocked off and they asked me for my passport (ID) AND Green Card, which I thought was quite abnormal (I had already shown that at check-in which is the normal procedure). But no matter, I am fine with that. They then proceeded to single out all non-US citizens, and this guy insisted that I put down the address of where I'll be "staying" in the States and to jot down my Green Card number on this scrap of paper.
WTF? I am not "staying" in the States. I eff-ing *LIVE* there! Grrr. I shot him a "hell hath no fury" look and was like, "I don't need to give you that information".
:-o
I'm surprised I'm not in a German jail right now, LOL!
A few huffs and puffs later ("if you want my Green Card number, you can photocopy the damn thing yourself"), they obviously knew that they weren't gonna win this battle with me so they relented. I was having nothing to do with writing down anything for these self-important ID-checkers at the gate. So, they wrote down the number of my Green Card and let me through. I never gave them my address - bitches, you can look it up using my Green Card. Yay, I win.
It was a matter of principle to me. I live in the States and I can prove it and I don't have to put up with your invasive shit. It's all about standing up for what's right, and standing your ground.
As long as that ground doesn't lead you to the closest detention facility :-D @ 19:01 Frankfurt or 13:01 DC
[UA917, seat 17A] I watched The Da Vinci Code again during the 2.5 hour lunch. Not really an airline movie, but there was really nothing else to watch. Lunch was unimpressive. Perhaps I am finally sick of airline food. Then I slept for about 2.5 hours. Sleep came very easily - no sleep aids, eye shades or ear plugs - probably because I am quite exhausted.
And I spent the past hour filling out the customs declaration forms and writing. We are each allowed to bring in $800 worth of products purchased overseas. Well, let's just say I had to fib a little on both forms to make sure we don't get levied a duty at Dulles. What? I love shopping and we bought an assload of souvenirs, clothes, leather products and food (it is Italy after all), chocolates (hi, Switzerland), and a really fetch messenger bag from Mandarina Duck. We definitely exceeded the limit, but I ain't gonna own up to it ;-)
2 hours to landing. We entered the North American continent about 3 hours ago.
I know I sound jaded sometimes when I don't even look forward to my trans-oceanic Business Class flights anymore, but I've gotta say that the upper deck on a 747 is oh-so-fetch. It's like your own private airline cabin. Only 26 ppl, served by 2 (unfetch) flight attendants and you have your own 2 bathrooms. Plus I love the side storage compartments i.e. I don't have to keep reaching for the overhead storage.
I *heart* Business Class :-D @ 18:31 Frankfurt or 12:31 DC
[rainbow tour] Yes, I'm alive (regardless of whether that pleases you or not :-p). Many apologies for the information blackout. A little thing called "gallivanting across Europe with the in-laws" got in the way of writing.
But as always, I find time to write when I'm in airports. We are currently in our pet Lufthansa Senator Lounge in Frankfurt (shockingly overcrowded but with ample food), awaiting our flight to DC which boards in about 30 minutes. You won't get to read this till I get back to DC coz I am refusing to pay for wi-fi in here - Vodafone, yuck.
I am *so* not looking forward to the ridiculously efficient but draconian security checkpoints here in Frankfurt. The US-bound gates are cordoned off so even though we are airside, we have to clear security again. They are going to pat me down. They are going to confiscate my hair gel, cologne and lotion, even though nobody States-side gave a crap about the teeny-weeny bottles of each that I brought onboard. But this is Germany. Everyone is a tight ass. Everything is by the book. I am expecting the worst.
So... how was Europe with the in-laws? I bet you're dying to know.
Florence was pleasant enough; my second trip there and I doubt I will go back in the foreseeable future. Too many other places to go, and other things to see/eat/do. Tuscany - Pisa, San Gimignano, Chianti, Siena - was exceedingly beautiful as expected. The food in Italy was marvellous. I won't/can't tell you how much weight I've gained in that one week in Italy, but you will hear all about it when I get back and get on my (un-)reliable Target scale.
We ended our "Rainbow Tour" in Zurich, spending the past two nights there. It was a gay ol' time. Literally. We partied the entire time with some (quasi-)local folks and completely decompressed from the "all family, all the time" mode while in Italy.
Nine days in Europe and only two were bad weather days. All in all, it's been a pretty good trip. I am looking forward to my bed, and - believe it or not - Asian food! I haven't had any rice or noodles (pasta and risotto aside) since we left on Sept 8th.
UA917, 747-400 (Business Class in the upper deck, fetch!), 8h 34m, two airline meals, lots of movies, maybe some shut eye... and then, Dulles! @ 11:18 Frankfurt
September 10, 2006
[and so it begins] Ugh, jet lag. I slept maybe two hours on the super-short (7h 2m) trans-Atlantic flight, as expected. I was pretty sleepy and groggy when we got to Frankfurt, where we had a 3 hour layover. It took us three tries through immigration to find his parents waiting for us at our onward gate. Long story but Frankfurt is eff-ed up in the sense that it is impossible to figure out which part of the terminal is secure (inside EU) and which part isn't (outside EU) so we kept going back and forth between our onward gate (secure) to find them at their gate located in the non-secure area. Once we found them, we had to go through immigration twice more coz the Lufthansa lounge is located on the non-secure side, of course and by then we were already in the secure side. *eyes rolling*
Anyhoe, we arrived in Florence at noon, made our way via taxi to the apartment. Our landlord, Anne, met us and much to my shock she was neither Asian nor small (she had a Japanese-sounding last name). In fact, she was - how did she put it - "Alta Nera Bella" i.e. Tall, Black and Beautiful (down, Jason). And if I knew the Italian word for fierce, I'd put that in there too. This woman was larger than life, but so congenial and super nice.
The apartment is, in one word, HUGE. The living/dining/foyer area is one big gimonogous living space with fantastically high vaulted ceilings. The kitchen is nothing to shout about. All three bedrooms are adequately-sized with bathrooms to match. Everything is provided for - kitchen utensils, glasses, towels, etc. Even wine/champagne glasses! And most importantly, air-conditioning!! Not that we've needed it, daytime temperatures are sunny, nice and warm, and breezy, nightimes are chilly.
This place is awesome. I so wouldn't mind moving in here. Only a few minor gripes: (1) internet service is only available to her one PC and damned if we can figure out how to get our laptops on her ADSL network as well... in Italian!, (2) the noise from the street level is like sleeping in a bar. Thankfully, only the master bedroom is affected, and Tony's parents are hard of hearing anyway so that's perfect.
I took a two-hour cat nap after settling down in the apartment. And last night, I slept about 5 hours. I need to get more sleep. Toodles! @ 06:54 Florence
September 9, 2006
[back in europe] As expected, it is midnight DC time and 6am in Germany. We have one more our to go, and I am already dreading the landing. I've only had 2 hours sleep on this plane. I am *so* not ready for a full day out and around in Europe after this miserably short, sleepless flight. PLUS, I am looped up on sleeping pills so I am super-draggy (no, not in a fun racing down 17th St way) and super-lethargic. I can't face the day, woe is me!
I spent the first two hours on the plane today eating dinner (pate + smoked salmon, short ribs + rice) while watching Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth. Wow, what a powerful documentary. If you're curious, skeptical, or just a big fan of this whole global warming thingie, you should definitely definitely watch this documentary. Some of the information in there will stun you to silence. Some will make you angry at the politicians, business leaders, and just humans in general who don't care about a global climate issue that will redefine our time here on earth. Some of you may even cry at mankind's ambivalence towards an issue which will change all our lives considerably if nothing is done yesterday. Today is already too late.
The rest of the time, I spent tossing and turning, and making monkey faces at Tony while the entire upper cabin was silently asleep.
Our journey out of DC wasn't that bad. 30 minutes to Dulles, as expected. I stood in the 1K/First Class line which stretched out to the door. Took me about 20 minutes to get to the front. Note to self: The Premier/Exec/Business Class line moves faster.
Tony, being the smart one that he is, checked-in on one of the kiosks downstairs in 3 minutes. Grrr. Anyway, the Premium Passengers Security Line worked like a charm today. We were thru security in less than 5 minutes. Hop over on a moonbuggy to the C-gates, during which Tony regurgitates our entire itinerary to this poor lady who just wanted to fly to SFO. Yes, Tony is Mr. Chatty, if you haven't figured that out.
We didn't have time for anything, so we waltzed right up to our gate and boarded the flight. H20 Cologne spray and Aveda hair gel disguised in a KY bottle, both made it through. Security checks is just a "catch phrase" these days. Nobody actually does it.
Our pilot today is equally as chatty as our Ozzie AirAsia captain on our KUL-DPS flight. Our pilot basically charted our entire course to Frankfurt during his welcome speech. In a gist, we went up the Eastern Seaboard, skirting Greenland, crossing the Atlantic, then skirting the south-side of Ireland, England before going into Belgium and then Frankfurt. Our Ozzie AirAsia captain would've pointed out every little island and city lights he saw along the way, and announced it to the whole cabin in a fun, cute-Ozzie-sounding way. In fact, he was quite cute. But I digress...
And now, our captain (still thinking about hottie AirAsia pilot, phew!) just said we are directly over Brussels, which means we have 200mi to go. He is starting our descent. We're back in Europe, yay! @ 00:23 EDT or 06:23 Frankfurt
September 8, 2006
[new wtc] This is what the new World Trade Center on Ground Zero will look like in 2011/12. Impressive:
From Left to Right: The 1776-ft Freedom Tower by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the 1254-ft Tower 2 by Sir Norman Foster (London), the 1155-ft Tower 3 by Richard Rogers (London), and the 947-ft Tower 4 by Fumihiko Maki (Tokyo).
Daniel Libeskind is the original architect for the master site plan, calling for the office towers to step up in height fromthe southernmost parcel to the Freedom Tower, forming a kind of skyscraping spiral around the memorial plaza which will be marked by a pair of waterfalls dropping into below-ground reflecting pools on the footprints of the original Twin Towers. The memorial marks the nearly 3,000 people killed there in the 9/11 attacks.
Sandwiched between Freedom Tower and Tower 2 will be a new performing arts center designed by Frank Gehry. The new PATH terminal by Santiago Calatrava will be located between Tower 2 and Tower 3.
Libeskind, Childs, Foster, Rogers, Maki, Calatrava, Gehry. Lower Manhattan's skyline will not only be transformed, it's gonna be spectacular. @ 13:00
[trans-atlantic woes] Another week, another trip. This time, we're off to Florence, Italy!
I really dislike trans-Atlantic flights, and tonight's will be no different. I just don't like red-eye flights that don't give you enough time to sleep. The flight is only 7+ hours long, which doesn't even give you a good night's rest. Not to mention we got on the 5pm flight instead of the 10pm flight due to upgrade chances (yes, we got upgraded), which makes it impossible to sleep at that hour. Plus, we land at 7am in Germany which is 1am in DC!
I am seriously thinking about skipping my meal on the plane tonight. Dr Harry tells me that the sleeping aids won't work if I take it on a full stomach. Plus, eating on the plane cuts into my sleeping time. But how on earth am I going to sleep at 5pm??
Trans-Atlantic flights are crimes against humanity, I tell you.
Pasta, here I come! Yummy, yummy. @ 10:59
[my gay doc] I love going to my gay doctor. Mostly coz these days, my doc just reaffirms that I'm in tip top healthy shape. And also coz my visits with Dr Harry are irreverent, and so totally not what they envisioned when they dreamt up physician-patient privilege. Like:
1. When I walked in and said to him, "Why are you all dressed like Bareback Mountain?" and he snaps back, "Why are you all dressed like a gay boy?". He was wearing a plaid shirt, super-fitted black jeans, and Timberlands - totally Heath. I was wearing a white T, blue jeans, and sandals (what? it's not *that* gay :-p).
2. Or when he told me he has had a sore ass since returning from Alaska...
Me:: Aren't you a total top?
Doc:: I'm versatile, thank you
Me:: Yea, right. When was the last time you bottomed?
Doc:: Umm... I don't remember
Me:: If you have to think about it, it's been WAY too long!
Doc:: Actually, I'm trying to think when was the last time I had sex
Me:: [jaw on the floor]
3. Or when he asked me if I knew Brad from Halo. I was like, "der!". We exchanged gossip, of course. What a small gay world we live in.
4. Or when he told me he was faking asleep so that he could rub his thighs all over the hot str8 guy seated next to him on his plane ride home from Alaska.
My blood pressure was slightly high today - 116/72 - coz of the 2+ hour drinking binge last night at JR's with Jason, Brett, Evan and Peter. I drank so much that my doctor did not want to do bloodwork on me today, lol! Now, *that's* some serious drinking ;-)
He did give me some very happy (sleeping) pills, though, after I described blow-by-blow in horrific detail to him about my 30-hour flight sagas to Asia and back:
I am pretty fanatical about keeping my blood pressure low, although you wouldn't know it by the (a) amount of alcohol I continue to consume, (b) the huge helping of beef I had last night coz it was oh-so-yummy when I was drunk, and (c) the amount of weight I gained while in Asia, and surely a lot more when I return from Italy. How much weight, you say? Bitches please, I'm a lady. I would never divulge such data.
Everything else is fair game though ;-) @ 09:59
September 7, 2006
[i dream of gelato] I have *so* caught up on lost sleep over the past few days. I slept a good 8 hours on the flight back from Tokyo (pretty much the entire flight) after eating a HUGE Obento lunch and watching Family Stone which was really a sedative of a movie. I got home Monday afternoon and promptly slept 12 hours that night. Rolled into work at 10am on Tuesday, slept another 10 hours on Tuesday night. Rolled into work at 10am on Wednesday, slept another 9 hours last night. I stumbled into work groggily at 11am today! I'm surprised I'm still employed :-)
Why did I start a project at 5pm today? I'm almost assuredly going to be here at work till 7pm today, grrr.
I'm a little stressed out about my upcoming 10-day trip to Italy and Switzerland that begins tomorrow. Travelling with the in-laws on a cruise to Alaska or to NYC/DC is one thing (familiar territory and all), but taking them to Europe is another.
We're staying in a (I hope) charming little 2,000 sq ft, 3-bedroom apartment in the center of Florence. Check it out. Not bad, huh? I hope it's decent. This is one of those things, you never know until you get there. I'm just glad it has A/C, coz it's ridiculously hot in Florence right now (90s!!), PLUS the all-important internet access.
Then again, it could be dial-up.
It's always a gamble when you rent a villa or an apartment. Especially since the owner has now reneged on the originally agreed upon price (language differences) and is charging us in Euros instead of US$, which pushes the price up by nearly $300 due to the unfavorable exchange rate (€1 = $1.28).
The Italians are crazy. Viva Italia! I'm gonna get so fat on gelato over the next week it's not even gonna be funny. @ 18:37
September 6, 2006
[gordon ramsay] We had the privilege of dining at Gordon Ramsay at Claridges in London's Mayfair about 6 years ago, and it was a blowout dinner. I remember the food to be outstanding (for London, that's pretty impressive), and three other things were of note:
(1) the "walk" to the bathroom downstairs (I can find my own way!), followed by my first ever encounter with a bathroom attendant (good god, do I need help to pee??);
(2) the truffled pate thingie as a bread spread at the beginning of the meal - I will almost never eat bread again unless that pate was present; and
(3) the ridiculously expensive bottle of wine Tony ordered, only recently topped by our $1,000/bottle wine/champagne experience at Le Bernardin for Tony's birthday last year.
Though the Claridges restaurant "only" has one Michelin Star, the original Gordon Ramsay restaurant at Royal Hospital Road is one of only three British establishments that has three Michelin Stars. And he's had it since 2001.
Today, Gordon Ramsay is a worldwide phenomenon; a $124mn gastronomic empire with 9 restaurants in London and one each in Dubai and Tokyo.
So, it tickles me to death that Gordon Ramsay is invading NYC this fall. Gordon Ramsay at The London, it will be called, at 54th and 6th. Mr. Ramsay swears up and down that he will be cooking there 10-days every fortnight. He intends to model the restaurant after Jean-Georges, which is one of my favorite restaurants in NYC.
Check this out:
"Mr. Ramsay described the food only as 'very natural' and 'very proper,' adding that any patron trying to take pictures of it would be banned."
:-o
And this is what he has to say about Paris and the French:
"I'd love to go back to Paris, to be honest. You know how arrogant the French are - extraordinary. They make us all look so normal. I got such abuse there, I was like a tortured child. So the idea is to go back to Paris, staff the restaurant all with English and call it Roast Beef!"
ROTFL!!!
How fierce! I love a chef with 'tude. My mouth is already watering at the thought of dining there! @ 10:44
September 5, 2006
[the girls] The fab eight:
(Clockwise from L to R): Hani, Adelina, Maj, Joyce, Su Ann, Su Lin (1), Farid & Aidan, Su Lin (2) and me!
The "penis horns" that Su Ann is wearing are my doing ;-) @ 23:33
September 4, 2006
[homeward bound] I am sleepy, tired, definitely not hungry, and want to be in my own bed now. My flight to Chicago boards in about 10 minutes, so this will be my last post from Asia until next month when we return for Su Ann's wedding.
I have been through countless security checks over the past week travelling through airports all over the States and Asia. And just now was the first time, someone looked into my bag and threw away my bottle of water. The Japanese are just too damn efficient. Not that I need the bottle of water coz they dole out plenty in Business Class. They still didn't search my pockets for my mini-vials of Aveda and Bvlgari, so I'm still good for the next flight which is where I'll need it most (gotta re-apply hair gel after I wake up, y'know?). They're also giving out toothpaste and lotion onboard so I'm good there as well.
OK, I've seen this before but it still cracks me up each time. I'm sitting by the window in the United lounge, and I just saw 5 Japanese ground workers - lined up in a row with fluorescent vests - waving goodbye to a departing Asiana flight taxiing away from the gate. Like "one hand above the head swinging wildly from left to right" waving gesture. If they had been synchronized, I would've been in a fetal position on the floor laughing.
And then they bowed.
These ppl are sooooo cute.
OK bitches, I'm tired/sleepy/grumpy and I'm comin' home! @ 13:37 Tokyo
[fuji-san] I saw Mount Fuji (Fuji-san) today from the plane! What a treat. I've never seen it before. Not once from 9+ years of transiting through Tokyo multiple times each year. It was so perfect coz Tokyo is shrouded in heavy cloud cover but the area around Mt Fuji was beautiful and cloudless. Awesome.
And after 9+ years of transiting through Tokyo, dreading each time coz I couldn't use my mobile phone to text anybody while I was here (Japan uses CDMA, not GSM), I am elated to find out upon deplaning just now that my 3G phone works here!! I'm roaming on NTT DoCoMo's 3G/WCDMA network. Super fetch! Not to mention free wi-fi in the cavernous Red Carpet Club here. See? Japan's better than Korea *giggle*.
I have had three airline meals so far, and none of them have been bad. I had some Indonesian dish from Bali to Singapore, then the Hainanese Chicken Rice from Singapore to Seoul, and just now I had the (super healthy and delicious) Obento from Seoul to Tokyo. And I have three more airline meals to go. I already feel bloated and fat.
I am pretty much at the halfway point of my journey home. I am into Hour 16, with 16+ more to go. I am definitely gonna catch some zzz's on the next flight (11 1/2 hours), which would be perfect coz it's now midnight in DC. I looked at the entertainment for the Chicago-Tokyo flight (United i.e. non-AVOD) and I've already got my eye set on Family Stone (per Jason's recommendation) which I will watch during lunch. There's also Inconvenient Truth but I might save that for my trip this Friday to Frankfurt.
I know, can you imagine that I am flying off to Europe in four days?? @ 13:20 Tokyo
[3g-less] My first 3G experience is a bust.
Oh, lemme back up. I can't believe I haven't written about my new toy yet. It's black, it vibrates and it gives me LOTS of all-day pleasure.
Yup, I love my new Sony Ericsson K800i mobile phone. I've had it for a few weeks now and aside from the fact that it's slightly bulkier than my previous W800i, I have zero complaints about this phone. It's got a 3MP camera and it takes A-MA-ZING pictures (with flash to boot). I still get to use it as an MP3 player and, best of all (or so I thought), it's a 3G phone! My first ever.
For some reason, I can see the 3G network that I'm supposed to be roaming on but it just won't let me connect to it. I've got full signal, but for some reason this KT Freetel network won't let me bind to it. Grr. I was quite looking forward to 3G-ing for the first time. I guess I'll give it another go when I get to Japan. Japan and South Korea are the only two major countries in Asia that don't use GSM, but use 3G/WCDMA.
Maybe it's just the fact that things are a little sub-par here in South Korea. I'm gonna give NYC Ben a hard time when I get back. And he can fix things when he moves here in 2 weeks' time ;-)
Can you believe he's moving back to Asia? I thought I would be disdainful, but honestly I'm a little jealous. @ 08:27 Seoul
[two down] I just got off the red-eye from Singapore, and I'm now comfortably seated in the Silver Kris Lounge at Seoul's Incheon airport, awaiting my United flight to Tokyo and Chicago. Free wi-fi, yay! There's also dim sum and fried rice in the lounge. I am *so* not hungry though. They fed us two hours before landing and I had BTC-ed the Hainanese Chicken Rice (which wasn't that great), so I'm completely stuffed at the moment.
This is my first time in South Korea. Well, technically I'm still airside so I'm not really in the country. First impressions of Incheon - not so fetch. This airport is nothing compared to HK, Singapore, or even KL. It's kinda spartan and ugly. A little like Narita, but Narita is almost 30 years old. Incheon, on the other hand, is just over 5 years old. Not impressed.
The lounge is kinda nice though. And the flight over here was not too bad. I was expecting the worst. The 747 that plies SIN-ICN is the only one in Singapore Airlines' fleet that does not have SpaceBeds (but it has SkySuites in First though, go figure). I didn't have any trouble sleeping in the old Raffles Class seats (called Ultimo), and the in-flight entertainment was the same Krisworld AVOD (Audio-Visual On-Demand) system that is available on all the other 747s. In short, it was a great flight. I watched MI3 (not bad at all) and Just My Luck (horrible, but Lindsay Lohan is so fetch). I slept for 90 minutes or so, had one meal... and the 6-hour flight flew by really quickly. You just can't have a bad flight on Singapore Airlines.
So, the $64k question is: Why is my itinerary so convoluted? Well, it's Labor Day and a lot of US-bound flights did not have business class award seats available. Hence, the complicated routing. Actually, the story is a little bit more pathetic. I thought I had a four-leg ticket i.e. DPS-SIN-ICN-ORD-IAD. Little did I know that even though ICN-ORD has one flight number, there is a stopover in Tokyo (and thanks to NYC-Ben, that little "slip-up" on my part cost me brunch *grin*).
So, that's how I ended up with a 5-leg journey. Not ideal, but not too bad considering I'm in business class all the way. For free!
Two down, three more legs to go. My next flight is in 2 hours' time and it's a short 2-hour flight to Tokyo, followed by a killer 11 1/2-hour flight to Chicago. I'm just gonna sit in this lovely lounge and abuse their poor inadequate bandwidth ;-) @ 08:19 Seoul
September 3, 2006
[want to stay] Here I am again, at the Internet refuge called Silver Kris Lounge in Singapore's Changi Airport. Only this time, I am in the Raffles/Business Class section.
Apologies for the communications blackout over the weekend - there was no internet service in Bali, contrary to what the resort's website had proclaimed (one in a looooong list of things that the resort failed to deliver). But no matter, I wouldn't have had the time or energy to write anwyay.
The weekend was a complete blast. It was so fun, I am going through withdrawals now and don't want to write about the fun I had coz I'm gonna get nostalgic and probably would not get on my next flight out of Asia.
But yes (and alas), I am enroute back to DC. My flight from Denpasar (Bali) landed about 40 minutes ago. My next flight, which is to Seoul, leaves in 30 minutes i.e. I have to leave this lounge soon. My itinerary home takes me on a ridiculous routing through Singapore, Seoul, Tokyo and Chicago before arriving in DC (see below).
Yup, it's going to be a crazy 33 hours of flying and transiting. I am only on Hour 4 of my journey home.
And all I can think about now is my bed... in KL. Want to stay *pout*. @ 23:19 SGT
September 1, 2006
[27, 84, 33] Wow, I just realized that I flew all the way here - 27 hours flying and transit time here, and 33 hours back - for 84 hours in Asia.
I think I'm gonna file this one under "temporary insanity". @ 10:01 KL
[lost, and found?] I have just been told by Singapore Airlines that my bag will arrive in Bali at noon tomorrow, 52 hours after I arrived in KL. And quite literally, 32 hours before I fly back to the States.
I'll believe it when I see it ;-)
I'm just glad they found my bag!! *happy jig* @ 10:00 KL
[wake me up] WTF? It's September already?! I don't want this month to end. I'm headed to Bali in an hour's time, and Italy in a week's time.
Did I mention my friends and I are flying AirAsia to Bali? AirAsia is like the South-East Asian version of easyJet and Ryanair - no frills. You want to eat or drink anything? You've gotta pay. And no, you can't bring your own stuff onboard. You want to check-in more than 33lbs of luggage? Excess baggage fees, please. Lovely.
The airport authorities here built a dedicated Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) for the likes of AirAsia out in the boonies. I'm not sure this terminal is still in the same state as the main airport. It's ridiculously far away. But for a budget terminal, it's surprisingly nice. Adequate shopping (though nothing spectacularly fancy), lots of food choices (from Asian to fast food), and super efficient check-in/security. Who cares if it's the boonies when the flights start at $2.50 each way, right?
OMB, I just paid $2 for a cup of hot Milo (chocolate drink)! That's criminal considering you can get one for 1/8th that price in a hawker stall.
Hmm, there are a lot of foreigners (OK, cute white boys) in this terminal. Hot. I guess everyone is addicted to cheap travel. Though, did I mention I paid $100 for my one-way ticket to Bali?? Shocking. It being Independence Day and a four-day weekend, tickets are outrageous. Plus, I bought it way late which, according to the laws of supply and demand, means I paid a whole lot more than the early bird.
So... (yes, I'm just trying to come up with anything to say while waiting for my buddies to arrive) Bali is in the same timezone as KL, even though we're pretty much flying due east for three hours to get there. Weird. I've never been to Bali. And I'm probably not gonna see/do much of it on this trip since the primary reason for being there is to embarass the hell out of the bride-to-be. That's our job - me and 8 other girls. Yes, EIGHT girls.
I'm either gonna slit my throat by the end of this trip... "Kiat, can you buy me a drink? Kiat, be a man and hail us a cab"... bitches, I am *so* not falling for your helpless female act.
Or we'd all be BFFs.
Too tired to think about the weekend. *Yawn* I need a nap... @ 09:54 KL
[lucky boy] You probably won't read this before I get to Singapore on Sunday coz I doubt there'll be internet access in Bali. But there really is only one word to describe this short little jaunt to Asia so far:
Tragic
Actually, that's not true. Not at all.
What's true is that nothing has gone my way this trip. Take this morning. I woke up at 7am (crimes against humanity, I say) for a 10am flight to Bali. KL's Int'l Airport is farther away from my parents' than Dulles is from my house. It's ridick. But anyhoe, I get here at 8:30am which I thought was perfectly decent.
My flight to Denpasar (Bali)? Doesn't leave till 11am.
Grrr.
I never bothered to check and I had it in my mind that the flight left at 10. I could've slept an hour more, which would've been MUCH needed since I've only had 10 hours sleep since I left DC 48 hours ago. I am running on my last cylinder. It's not pretty. Startlingly jet-lagged, ugh.
But the biggest thing that has gone awry has been my luggage. It never made it to KL. In fact, it never left NYC. United mis-delivered it to La Guardia (I left out of Newark, der) and nobody knows where it is now. Singapore Airlines, who flew me here and is responsible for getting the bag to me, has no idea. Neither does United. I may not get it by the end of my trip here. In fact, they may not find it at all.
Yes, tragic.
Not to mention the bag is HUGE and maroon! How could anyone fucking lose such a loud bag, gee-sus.
I was in quite a state of misery and moping yesterday. I fought with the airlines for hours to no avail. It put quite a sour note on my stay in KL.
But now that I look back at it, I've had one of the best times. Since I checked everything in my luggage (stupid new security rules which were never enforced i.e. I could've smuggled everything onboard, liquids and gels included), I spent lots of time with my parents frantically searching for essentials at One Utama yesterday. I bought everything: t-shirts, shorts, pants, shoes, socks, toiletries, and most importantly, swimtrunks! *giggle* We discovered stores we didn't even knew existed - all this amidst the most crowded and worst shopping day in KL as it was Independence/Merdeka Day in Malaysia.
It was tiring but quite fun. I love spending time with my parents (though probably not day in day out for extended periods, lol!).
And yes, I've been wearing some funky outfits the past 24 hours and I love it! Not too eclectic or outside my comfort zone, but still pretty unusual considering I'm such a picky bitch when it comes to clothes (and pretty much everything else in life, lol!)
I also met Ann/Stoney for tea at Bangsar Village which was a great time. We burnt a hole in the ground travelling down memory lane so many times. It was great fun. We also discussed lots about their future together - yup, another marriage to attend next June! I miss my buddies here in KL. Wish I could see the more often.
My family and I had dinner at Madam Kwan's at KLCC (under the Petronas Twin Towers), feasting on local delicacies. Delicious. Oh, I forgot to mention my parents and I had Bak Kut Teh (pork stewed in herbs) for breakfast - yes, my THIRD of the day! - which totally rocked.
Like I said, I have had the best time, all the minor/major annoyances notwithstanding. I'm just thankful I can afford AND am fortunate enough to bitch about missing luggage. And be able to shrug it of coz I can pretty much replace everything without any trouble at all.
I'm such a lucky boy ;-) @ 09:28 KL
30 :: boobylicious
29 :: morally bankrupt
29 :: shame
27 :: alkie streak
27 :: random pix
27 :: bbbbb
27 :: moderate my ass
27 :: 3oz, 1qt
27 :: hillary v cunti
26 :: #26 & 27
25 :: global 500
24 :: does it work?
23 :: funny
22 :: 1, 3 and... 5?
22 :: i'm baa-ack!
20 :: mayor fenty
20 :: war criminal at the UN
20 :: bloody crazy
19 :: zurich weekend
19 :: one night in bangkok
18 :: schweiz, suisse, svizzera, svizra
18 :: don't nein me, bitch
18 :: UA917, seat 17A
18 :: rainbow tour
10 :: and so it begins
09 :: back in europe
08 :: new wtc
08 :: trans-atlantic woes
08 :: my gay doc
07 :: i dream of gelato
06 :: gordon ramsay
05 :: the girls
04 :: homeward bound
04 :: fuji-san
04 :: 3g-less
04 :: two down
03 :: want to stay
01 :: 27, 84, 33
01 :: lost, and found?
01 :: wake me up
01 :: lucky boy