Day 1: Amsterdam

in

Whew...what a day. Pulling an all nighter on Wednesday was quite an adventure. Trying to stay up and not knowing when exactly my flight would depart was a little stressful. As always, I was having trouble packing only because I just didn't know what to do. Adelle made a me a checklist and as I went through it, I thought that I had everything. I definitely just didn't know what to bring. So, I ended up forgetting a couple of things here and there, but nothing too important. I mean, there's only clothes anyways.

I went to the office one last time, then headed to Miami with Manoj and boarded the aircraft. Thanks Manoj for taking me and helping me out. Hope that your back is feeling better. All the luggage that I had was just too much for me. I had the help of Jimmy and everyone else. I was off to a good start. I got to work right away on some computers, distributing badges, and making sure that the crew had the right plates. Exciting stuff. I got to watch the takeoff and landing and observe throughout the entire flight. Everytime I get on board, it still gives me the chills thinking that one day I will be able to fly the whale. I can't hardly wait to push those levers to take off power. During the flight, I didn't get much sleep at all as I was still ansi and excited along the entire way. The sunrise was amazing.

Getting through customs was easy but the bags were just too much. The Sofitel is an amazing hotel. Beds are comfortable and soft, the internet is quick, the technology works and the food is amazing. I walked around downtown with the Captain and Load Master and even got a chance to stroll around the 'museum.' You'll see the red light lamp post prior to entering the corridor in the photo gallery. Surreal sums it up just about right. I ate some ribs for a great price (12.50E) and the sites were nice. The coffee bars were interesting as well as the Cannibis museum.

Enjoy the pics and I'm off to Luxembourg tomorrow.

I'm going to updating my blog more often as well as the photo album. I'll try as much as I can to keep it updated. The more comments you leave, the more I'll write!

monday 2

in

At one point today, I was going to fly out on Thursday from Fort Lauderdale, then it changed to Miami, now, I'm going out on one of our aircraft on Wednesday morning from Miami. It's going to be exciting, but I still have yet to pack. It seems like I'm missing so many different things. How do I pack for such a trip?

sidenote: I might end up in Frankfurt for all I know, stay tuned.

[food]

in

I think that I gained a good 5 pounds from going home this past weekend. Eating dinner at the new house, an awesome lunch at Ranch 99 Sam Woo BBQ, dinner at my aunt's house, lunch the next day at mom's new house, and sushi for dinner before the flight... Mmmmmm ....good stuff! I can't say that I've eaten that well in quite a while. I didn't have the appetite to actually eat an In-N-Out Burger, but I still remember the taste.

Catching the flight last night was rather smooth although I was coming close to them closing the flight on me. Sushi with Greg, Brent and Adelle was just too much fun. Tempura Ice Cream...we definitely have to do it again soon fellas. Thanks a lot to a friend for the gift. More or less, its was always more symbolic than just face value.

I haven't been in such a low seat count flight in a while, but I guess it is the low season. I got on, actually got some sleep, arrived home around 5:30 AM, got more rest and made it to work right on time. Now, the biggest problem is how and what to pack for this trip. Anyone have any ideas?

by the way...what do you think of the new layout? I just finalized the banner with a couple of random images that change on refresh. I also added the time in Lux and the wather map has changed to correspond to where I'll be. Click around and don't forget to check out trelijah from time to time. It might change though when I get to Lux because my treo probably won't be operational overseas.

the last kiss

in

After a fun filled morning of sleeping and talking to a friend for a while, I finally got out of bed waking up at 1300 PDT. I got ready by 1400 PDT and headed out to Sam Woo BBQ with Adelle, Corinne, Marella, and Jojo for some Chinese. I chose not to eat In N Out because of all the burgers I've been eating while in Florida. I'm sure I'll be eating that before I leave tomorrow night or something. We ordered up the restaurant at Sam Woo! We had Chef's Special Fried Rice, House Chow Mein, Honey Walnut Shrimp, Beef Broccoli, Salted Fried Pork Chop and Watergrass with garlic sauce. That was an awesome feast.

I finally got a good haircut that didn't result in shaving my head from a Vietnamese guy that Jojo recommended and then headed back to Adelle's Apartment. Chilled for a little bit then went to my aunt's house in Scripps Ranch to hang out with the cousins and eat more! Got to relax a little bit over there. Good times. I'll post some pix once my cousin Nicki sends them over! ~grrrr

We decided to watch "The Last Kiss" but on the way to the theater after talking about Frosty's at Wendy's I decided to make a detour and pick one up. Mmmmm, it was good. So, on to my little review: It was pretty good. I didn't know what to expect other than a Garden State 2 remix but I was rather impressed. I wouldn't give it a nine or ten, but it was done well. A strong 8 is on par. A story about 20 something year olds on the verge of family life or on the road already is something that we all could to relate to. I didn't really personally but I definitely see it everywhere. Friends getting married, some having kids, things just "ending." I like to always think of it as a beginning to the end of loneliness and a start for lifelong friendships and family. Go check it out! I wanted to bring my cousins but it was a little late and when she told me it was rated "R" I was surprised. After watching it, I guess that some scenes were for 13 year olds, but man...not a lot of things are. Off to sleep now!