Lack of Snow in New York

This year’s winter season was abysmal. I was hoping for more snowboarding trips!

Giants Won the Superbowl!

I’m so proud of the Texans making it so far! Since the Giants won, I decided to check out the parade. It was nuts.

Snowboarding at Hunter Mountain

OUCH, talk about being scared of ice. I had one really hard fall that convinced me I needed wrist guards. After the first night, it snowed a bit, so the second day wasn’t as horrible. Afterward, we went to So Kong Dong Restaurant for some amazing tofu.

Rockets at the Nets

We came, we saw, we conquered. There were a bunch of Rockets fans at the game, too. Man, I need to brush up on our team. I barely know anyone now!

Elizabeth, Her Sister and Husband Visited

First of all, these are really good people. Thanks for visiting and everything! I really hope y’all had a good time here.

Snowboarding at Snowbird and Park City, Utah

This was our first time in Utah (at least for me) and Ben has had a five year hiatus from snowboarding. Three days of fun – Snowbird, Park City night time, and another day at Snowbird. I couldn’t really thing of any food that’s specific to Utah, but there are some gems. The burger was my favorite – habaneros!

Off to Lisbon We Go!
4 January 2012

Sarah drove us downhill and into Lisbon. We stopped at at gas station rest area for food and map up the Avis location and hotel area. Each of us had a dish of the beef and some coffee. Beef you say? Hell yes, at a gas station!

Baixa House 1 is freaking awesome!!! Ben and Natalie returned the car at the airport while Sarah and I were left to scout for places to eat. We rested for a bit and then made our way around the area – we found a McDonalds! They got back and we enjoyed a feast of junk food. Fucking Americans!

Belem for the Day
5 January 2012

I immediately realized I left my GoPro in the car when they left to return the car. I tried to call Avis about nine times, but they didn’t pick up and they were closing soon. About six in the morning, Ben and I took a taxi back to the airport. Thank goodness they haven’t cleaned and re-rented the car. Bed time again, crisis averted.

All of us woke up around noon, had breakfast and coffee, and took a cab to Belem.

Monastery of the Hieronymites

This monastery was huge! With all of our technology and advancement in architecture, our generation won’t leave anything like this behind except for skyscrapers – no attention to detail.

The Coach Museum

While walking around, we found this little place. I wish I had another piece of bread since they added a ton of meat. Adding piri-piri made it even more delicious. As for the Coach Museum, it’s not what you think – no purses or bags here. This place had some really extravagant coaches. I mean, c’mon – one of them was painted gold.

Walking Toward the Water

As we got closer to the water, the sun was setting. So what did we do? Grab a beer and watch the sunset on the river. We caught a ferry to visit another place, but after walking around for about ten minutes, we immediately went back to Lisboa.

Seafood Dinner

Dinner was at the highly anticipated seafood restaurant, but it wasn’t amazing as we thought. It’s good, but the service was horrible and the waiter seemed like he didn’t give a shit. Oh well, it’s seafood – NOM. Afterward, we went home to rest and played a game of spades – Ben/Sarah lost to Tom/Natalie. Great game, but time for bed an early rise to go gorging tomorrow!

A Day of Repelling
6 January 2012

This is ridiculous. Everyone should go sometime in their lives. We had a total of three sessions of repelling, each got a little more difficult, higher, and more fun! Afterward, we stopped by to try some torta de azeitao.

Dinner at Alfondega

I debated whether to color correct these, but the lighting was just too much. Anyway, the food here was really different than what I expected. Appetizers were awesome and the burger I was looking forward to having wasn’t of ground beef as I know it. It was a really weird texture I can’t even explain. Afterward, we ended up at the casino. Nothing like Vegas – quite depressing actually.

Another Day in Lisbon
7 January 2012

Once again, we all woke up around noon and had lunch outside in a little cafe out on the street. I was really glad to have rice again, but I wish they gave us more chicken per plate. Afterward, we did some wandering around the places nearby and

Wandering Around the Santa Justa Elevator

Texans Watch Party – Portugal!

It started with four Super Bock 40s and a bunch of chips at the apartment. Around half-time, we left to get some food and returned to find that we reached our Internet capacity. Good thing we found some Internet to borrow out in the hallway to catch the rest of the game!

Time to go Home
8 January 2012

Ben was the first to get to the airport, then it was my turn. On the plane, I sat next up an older man and the lady in front leaned back, he freaked out and motioned her to move up. The lady in front rolled her eyes and under said, “oh, thanks is going to bee a fun flight.” Initially, he only spoke in Italian. Frustrated, I showed him how to lean his chair back, but he still wasn’t happy. Grumpy old man.

The taxi ride back was $70. I’ll avoid EWR flights from now on.

Funchal | New Year’s Fireworks | Porto | Caramulo | Lisbon

4 January 2012

We stayed up pretty late playing Spades, eating more shoe string fries, and planned to wake up early to catch the sunrise. Everyone made it except for Sarah, hehe.

And check out this little video, Sarah since you missed out.

After going back to bed again, we ended up waking up pretty late in the afternoon, just enough time to check out the Museum across the street from the hotel. We weren’t allowed to take pictures, so I took a whole video tour of the place, lol. Just as we were leaving, they ensured we visited another car garage filled with classic cars. Once every year, they take these cars out for a drive.

After some more walking around, we tried to find a restaurant to grab a quick dinner before heading to Lisbon. I was starving.

Funchal | New Year’s Fireworks | Porto | Caramulo | Lisbon

Last Dinner in Funchal

After dinner, we had dinner. Yes, I’m serious. We had two dinners in a row. Definitely great, but also quite filling. Then we were off to the airport to catch a 2:15 flight, in the morning!

Psh, I Was in Porto Last Year…
2 January 2012

Livin’ Like Tom Hanks for a Bit

We arrived so early, we had to wait for the shops to open in order to get a SIM card and locks for Syp’s bags to leave them at the airport while we wandered around the city.

We dropped off our bags at Tiago and Ana’s place and they were so kind to make us coffee and showed us some hot spots to check out. After some relaxing, we headed to the “big” city. We were really just wandering around as we made our way to lunch.

Francesinha for Lunch

Cafe Santiago had francesinha and even what looked like homemade piri-piri. It was amazing! It’s all the crazy delicious things all in one dish. When we’re on vacation, health isn’t on our minds.

What a Feast for Dinner

After saying farewell to Syp, Sarah, Ben, and Natalie all passed out. I couldn’t sleep, so I ended up watching some show about NASA. It was way too cold and their space heater didn’t work as well since there was a draft from the single pane windows. They did have a ton of blankets for us to layer though! We had dinner at Abadia and what a feast it was!

Late Start and We’re Off to Caramulo
3 January 2012

We didn’t wake up until 15:00, so we wandered to look for a rental car place. Maps here suck. After finally finding an Avis and getting a car, we headed back to Tiago and Ana’s place. One thing I noticed is that Santa uses a ladder to get in the house, not through the chimney, HILARIOUS! Graffiti there also abundant – some political, some for art’s sake, and definitely funny ones.

Last Dinner in Porto

Since many restaurants don’t reopen for dinner until 19:30, we found a small cafe to rest at and grabbed some snacks. We were the first ones in the restaurant. It’s kind of weird and definitely shows how hard we Americans work – often seldom taking a break to relax, sigh.

Time for a Drive

Even though we had another night in Porto planned through AirBnB, we packed up and made our way over to Caramulo. Check out this comically small chair.

What a Night Sky

Since we were in the middle of nowhere, the sky was filled with visible stars! We had to stop through the narrow zig-zagging streets in order to take a look. We overlooked a valley filled with lights and definitely made plans to wake up early to catch the sunrise.

Funchal | New Year’s Fireworks | Porto | Caramulo | Lisbon

Pre-New Year Espetada

Syp took us to her friend’s house party to celebrate New Year’s on a rooftop to see the fireworks. I wasn’t expecting food at all, but when I saw the grill, I was stoked. My mind was blown when I went for a closer look: espetada. It was freaking amazing to say the least. It was being served to us on the bay leaf branch it was cooked on.

Best Fireworks Show Ever

After some relaxing, it was time for the fireworks, so we headed up to the roof and they passed out champagne glasses. When the fireworks started, my head exploded. Literally, I could see fireworks from my left peripheral to my right peripheral. They also passed around a small bag of twelve raisins to welcome in the New Year.

Post New Year Snacks

It wasn’t over yet. Pablo’s mom brought out homemade soup and sandwiches for us and others brought desserts and snacks. It was a really great New Year!

And all of us won’t forget that Sarah’s candle-flicking skills dominate. How’d this all start? It was a hurricane that brought all of us together at Teresa’s house. We were bored out of our minds and they had candles to light up the house. Thus, the candle-flicking game was born.

Party Until the Night’s Over

The night has just begun. We made our way to a club, but waited around for a while outside until others met up with us and a few others got back from the ATM. After some bar hopping and street wandering, we ended up having what might be the best hotdogs and burgers ever. Try adding shoestring fries, it’s freaking delicious. Anyway, the night didn’t end until morning. After watching the sunrise, we went to bed.

Stone Beach and Doca Do Cascavas
1 January 2012

After waking up in late in the afternoon, we made our way to Doca Do Cascavas, the world famous pool. There’s a tunnel to take you to a stone beach. It looks really weird – no sand at all.

Known for their amazing pools, there’s also a restaurant nearby with an great view of the sunset. We had grilled lapas, a favorite there. We tore them up!

Funchal | New Year’s Fireworks | Porto | Caramulo | Lisbon

Hurry Up and Make Portals Already!

I spent about 20 hours travelling from Manhattan to Madeira. Not really ideal, but who cares, I cut a layover in Lisbon by about twelve hours and caught an early flight to Funchal, thanks TAP!

EWR to OPO: Newark to Porto
29 December 2011

I left my apartment 3:50 pm and sat in traffic for about two hours (no joke), I finally got to Newark in a cab. Good thing the airport was empty! Security was a breeze and my flight actually left late – 35 minutes late. They were waiting for some lost luggage to be put on the plane, go figure.

Tiago sat next to me (he frequently visits Portugal for family) suggested to get the swordfish from Madeira and to avoid the touristy spots! He also mentioned that Porto is little older than Lisbon, so maybe Lisbon will be more fun for us.

I watched Horrible Bosses and some good ole’ Modern Family to help pass the time. After all, I usually didn’t sleep until one or two in the morning (Eastern time zone).

Surprisingly, we arrived in Porto ahead of schedule due to some tailwind. Good thing since my connection was just forty-five minutes and I had to go through customs!

OPO to LIS: Porto to Lisbon
30 December 2011

This airport was completely futuristic looking. I felt like I was at a spaceport, not an airport. I got to the gate fifteen minutes before boarding and hopped on a bus to board the plane. I felt a little douchey thinking, “they can’t even build this new airport with jet bridges?!”

Everyone was hesitant to get on after getting off the bus, but I looked up at the flight attendants and they nodded and waved us in – I was the FIRST to board, woohoo! I felt so boss.

Right when we got to cruising altitude, we were notified that were were ready for decent. I didn’t realize this flight would be so short!

Pretty much no customs here, there wasn’t even a line. I had to get my boarding pass to FNC and took a short bus ride over the terminal.

LIS to FNC: Lisbon to Funchal
30 December 2011

This terminal is freaking tiny as hell! I was not prepared for a twelve hour layover, so I went to try and an earlier flight. I asked the lady to get an earlier flight and she immediately said no with a straight face, but then smiled and said the next flight out was full. She kept grinning and the printer started spitting out a ticket. She got me an 11:35 flight out (note: times will be military, it’s so much easier and less confusing than AM/PM).

I scrambled to get wifi and let Syp know I was arriving early, so I grabbed a coffee to get free wifi and thank goodness everything worked out just before boarding! Keep in mind, I’ve never met this girl and I have no idea what she looks like.

I snapped a few pictures of the airport while waiting for the bus too arrive. What a great start and I’m only at the airport!

A Quick Tour While Waiting for the Stragglers

I hopped on the bus to town and got off to find a warm smile from a girl I could only guess was Syp. Thank goodness she waited for me there, otherwise I’d be completely lost and it’d probably take me an eternity to find my way to her place by myself.

She gave me the tour and one of the porches looked over the ocean – RIDICULOUS VIEW. I sat outside to enjoy it for a while, despite the scorching sun. We walked around and I got a brief tour of the city while waiting for Ben, Sarah, and Natalie’s flight to arrive later in the evening. I decided to leave my camera and phone and just take in this new place.

We caught a bus to the airport to meet the stragglers and tried to greet them as they got off the plane, but they arrived early. We found them waiting for us outside, boo. I’m so glad I caught that early flight, I would have had seen them in Lisbon as they left for Funchal and have to meet them up again at the airport, whew!

After dropping off all their stuff, resting a bit, and settling in, Syp took us to dinner. After a few drinks, I think we were the loudest group there. Everyone kept eyeing us, looking over, but we just kept having fun!

New Year’s Eve on an Island with FIREWORKS
31 December 2011

It’s New Year’s Eve and I woke up to the smell of coffee. That’s the best way to start the morning. We then just wandered around Madeira, most the same places I’ve already been, but it was much more lively since it was a Saturday.

We kind of zig-zagged our way to a lunch and the wait was worth it. This was probably one of the best places we’ve been to throughout the trip.

Next up, the Gondola ride. The view was great and we even saw a naked man on his balcony looking over the streets – HILARITY. Somehow I even spotted a cat crossing a ledge off a pretty high cliff. After reaching the top we wandered around and ended up walking down some stairs that took us to someone’s house. It’s amazing and really tiring to walk around steep slopes for such long periods.

We took a cab ride down and he opened up the sunroof for some us to stick our heads out! When he saw a straight away, he’d gun it, even if someone was hanging out the sunroof, hehe. The sun started to set and we knew it was time to get back and prepare for the fireworks.

Funchal | New Year’s Fireworks | Porto | Caramulo | Lisbon

Family

We try to have at least one family trip a year and this one was very different. My parents and my brother flew to Seattle from Houston, while I flew from New York. We then we all drove up to Vancouver. I ended up flying out of Vancouver while they all went back to Seattle to get back home.

Food

You should by now that I love food.

Capilano

A short distance away, we found ourselves surrounded by nature.

My Parents Are the Best

Here’s the hotel we stayed at, Hiroshima Kokusai Hotel. Check out our backyard!

After I got back from my morning walk, I took the rest of the gang back to the bakery. Yeah, I had a second breakfast. The lady who served me early remembered me and had ultra smiles when she saw that I brought more people.

Atomic Bomb Dome

After breakfast, we all got ready for walking around. Just a short ride over and we stopped at the Atomic Bomb Dome. The structure stands as a memorial to those who lost their lives on August 6, 1945. I can’t say how many times I got chills down my spine and most of the time my mind was going a million miles a second about the idea of what happened about 65 years ago.

Little did I know that there was an entire park, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, in the surrounding area, so we all walked around.

The Hall of Remembrance

After splitting up for a while, we all met back up around the museum. I have almost all the plaques, but I’ll upload them later when I can piece them all side by side.

Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound

There was a huge open area just in front of the Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound, so I made a panoramic.

Okonomiyaki, Hiroshima-style

We walked across the bridge and made our way to find some okonomiyaki, Hiroshima-style. This was an awesome meal nonetheless. Ray wanted to introduce this, “taco wasabi” to me and I couldn’t imagine what the hell it looked like. When it came out on a little dish, I realized when he said “taco”, it was really, “tako” – octopus. It hit my nose hard, but it was freaking delicious! I need to find a place in the states that serves this.

We made our way back to the hotel, did some last minute shopping, packed up and got ready for our long trek back to Tokyo.

[Japan Trip 2010 | Tokyo 1 | Kyoto 1 | Kyoto 2 | Hiroshima 1 | Hiroshima 2 | Tokyo 2 | Fuji Q]

On these trains, there’s a lady with a snack cart walking around and I found the best candy ever! We had a one transfer and after you know, we got to Hiroshima.

After checking in at our hotel, we made our way to Miyajima Island. It was a really long ride, but worth it.

After getting off the last stop, we walked just across the street to hop on a ferry and head to Miyajima Island!

We were looking for the Itsukushima Shrine and took a short path around the island. Walking through this gave me time to enjoy the sights and just reflect on life.

Some people started getting hungry and others were getting cranky-hungry. We walked back down the path and into a small walkway. This coolest little restaurant’s bar area was completely filled by us.

After dinner we made our way to the five-story pagoda. It was a dark and windy night and I didn’t have my tripod with me. So improvised my beanie as a base, played with some settings, turned on the timer and crossed my fingers.

We made it back to the ferry and the rail ride back to the hotel was a complete blur. I knocked out for most of the ride. Some of us decided to grab another late night meal and Amy learned to use an egg separator for the first time, so you know we had to video record it. On our way back we realized we were right next door to Round1, a 7 or 8 story game place. The other guys knocked out, so Sarah, Amy and I had a little fun playing BilliBowl and darts!

More Hiroshima coming up soon.

[Japan Trip 2010 | Tokyo 1 | Kyoto 1 | Kyoto 2 | Hiroshima 1 | Hiroshima 2 | Tokyo 2 | Fuji Q]

After Sarah got some strawberries, we went down some small alley and found the coolest little grocery store. Everything was perfectly packed – fruits, vegetables, meats, seafood – everything!

After getting back to the hotel we met up with the rest of the group and just decided we’d take a train to the Shijo Shopping District and walk around.

We got really hungry, so we stopped by some Tenkaippin near the Keihan Railway Gion-shijo place where you have to place your order at a ticket vending machine before coming in. There were a lot of these types of restaurants around Japan – so damn efficient!

This is a shopping district, so we shopped!

I was waiting outside of a shop and then all of the sudden a whole fleet of people in traditional Japanese attire walked down the street. Obviously, I had no idea why, can someone translate?

A the T-section of the shopping strip was a park. I still have no idea what the name of it is, but this was where the group of people congregated for a picture. Just inside were a lot of shrines and places with long strings with this prayer paper folded up and tied on them.

While walking down further, we ran in to a huge cherry blossom sitting area fully equipped with tables and tarp. I found a little stand with a ring of fish and had to grab one. It was delicious! We rested at a table and grab a couple beers.

Nearby, we found a really huge cherry blossom tree. It was completely blocked off and everyone stopped to take a picture.

I’m not sure how this park is maintained, but giant ravens flock around this area. Maybe it’s be because of the food. We ran into a group of girls all in traditional attire, a little creek, a teeny tiny waterfall, and walkways with run off on each side – so smart!

We met up with Brent and Kristine and had to wait for the dinner place to open. Kind of lame, but we had time to rest along the river and had some really good food!

After getting back to the hotel, for whatever reason we got hungry again, so we stopped by another ticket vending fast food place…YUMM.

On our way back, we just wandered around and even caught a couple break dancers doing their thing.

Next up, Hiroshima.

[Japan Trip 2010 | Tokyo 1 | Kyoto 1 | Kyoto 2 | Hiroshima 1 | Hiroshima 2 | Tokyo 2 | Fuji Q]