Putting the city to music

Last night Paul and I went to see Julian sing. When she's not being a Customer Account star, she's a singing star.

We made it out of the hotel around 9pm and were faced with a huge queue for taxis. Being the antsy Americans we couldn't wait, so instead called a cab - $1 more, but so worth it.

At the lounge where Julian was singing, Paul made the mistake of letting me order the food. I couldn't figure out what half of the things on the bar menu were so I asked what the local favorites were and proceeded to order all three. Just over 30minutes later, we see a delivery boy coming in carrying boxes of food ... odd. At first I thought the staff must be sick of what they served and were eating out themselves, but no - it was our dinner. When the plates were put in front of us, two looked like Trader Joes special sets, and one was just gruesome. Sea-snails. I gusted up and tried a few of the snails - they tasted like foot so I quickly ditched this attempt at trying new things.

Schooled

No, I'm not going to start speaking K-Fed language - I'd get laughed out of the country. As it's time to go back to school for all those I'm so envious of ("those" being young adults and little people who get to enjoy breaks and holidays), I think it's only fitting I write on schoolisms.

Last night while bowling, one of my team-mates was telling me about his kids. His 9-year old son is on a diet. What does this have to do with school you may be thinking - lots! In Singapore, if the school thinks a child is too chubby they put them on a diet. It's thought that one can't think as clearly if they're on the larger end of the spectrum.

At lunch today education was the predominant topic of discussion - alright, I admit it, I brought it up. It was interesting hearing generalizations about schooling around the world. In Singapore, Simon mused, schooling is all about "social modifying." Schooling is very regimented and children are taught to tests instead of being taught to ask questions.

San went to school in Burma where he was hardly able to pass classes because the grading was so strict (on Burmese and on the curvature of writing - no joke). San wound up moving to Singapore for primer and then the UK for college.

Chris grew up in Australia where he thinks schooling is a good balance but still has some to be desired.

Because I don't want to make enemies, I'll refrain from commenting on US schooling :)

Bowled over

Last night after work I went with a group of people from TIBCO and Citibank for a bowling night out. In the ally you feel like the world truly is flat - it's the same as anywhere else in the world. Cheap beer, loud music, games to win stuffed animals you don't really want, and hooting people trying to look rad while unleashing an 11lb ball down an ally. Gotta love it.

Although I bowled a 50 (no, there's no digit missing on the front of that), my team came in 2nd! Turns out one of the players used to be sponsored - he had a score of 207. I told him it must've been TIBCO (software so good you have time to bowl all day instead of worrying about work). I know, I just went running past my no-work writing rule. It's a one-off.

Maybe the world really is flat...heh, only a "pin" head would think that!

Placed

I'm starting to feel a bit like I'm in Dolly Parton's movie Nine to Five. My office is in a bank building that houses a bank, a law office, and our office here in Singapore, so it's always interesting riding up in the elevator with all the bankers and lawyers and their clients. Elevators in Singapore are an entire ism unto themselves but I'll save that for another entry.

Riding down to the rainy streets for lunch this afternoon, I shared the elevator with two men and two woman. The men nodded and shook hands and then, as if it were scripted, introduced their secretaries. They each did it in the same manner, too, which was funny, "This is my secretary XYZ," one would say and the other would nod, smile, shake the secretaries hand, and proceed to introduce his secretary.

On floor 24 a woman got into the elevator and one of the men looked up. "Ah, Gina, how are you? How is your boss?" Gina nodded, smiled, and said, "Great." Then, man 1 turned to man 2 and explained who Gina worked for and that she too was a secretary. "Gina?" "Yes?" "Where is your bosses old secretary?"

I'm telling you, it's a secretary world. In the US I think that word has just gone out of style and people now say Assistant or Executive Assistant. For male assistants they say Helper.

When the elevator made it to the bottom floor, the women scooted out in front of their bosses, each holding a notepad and an umbrella.

I think I'm making this sound more sexist or harsh than it is - everyone seemed quite happy and content. Just an interesting observation.

And yes, it was a very long elevator ride - 36 floors down stopping on nearly every floor.

Poshism

After work I couldn't catch a taxi so I walked home. By the time I arrived at the hotel I was ready for an ice bath and a nap - done. Instead, I met up with some co-workers downstairs and we decided to head back out for dinner. Even at 8pm it was boiling out.

We walked around the water and past four or five malls to the waters edge. Then, spotting one of the colonial barges-converted-to-diners on the water we decided to posh it up a bit. At the hostess bar, the hostess looked at us with confusion at first. We asked if it was OK to go in dressed in jeans and she nodded, then pointed to one of my co-workers and said, "he'll just have to sit in the corner." ("He" was in shorts).

Eye contact isn't always great

Last night Paul, Al, and I went out to dinner in Boat Quay. I took a taxi to meet Paul and Al because they had been with a customer all afternoon (another reason I couldn't do sales - you have to be on call and work on Sundays - oofa). The taxi dropped me about 4 blocks from Boat Quay - I think because people don't tip here the concept of above and beyond is lost on people.

We wound up going to dinner at a fish restaurant where everything was fresh (I knew this because I could see many of the menu offerings in a tank just outside the restaurant). We all ordered fish, of course, and when I placed my order I asked what was the freshest.

My fish came with the head and tail still on, mouth opened toward the sky. For some reason looking my dinner in the eye is just not appetising.

Four seasons

Yesterday I pampered myself and enjoyed a facial. It was funny, the facialist was touting their great "American made" products - in the US I feel like facialists are always saying what great Asian or European products they use. As long as it's from somewhere else it must be good I guess.

At the start of the facial, just as I was dozing off, the facialist asked: "You from USA? Yes?" "Yes," I replied. After a few minutes of cooing about how great that was she said, "Do you have 4 seasons?" It took me a minute but then I realized, being on the equator Singapore has 1 season - hot/rain. "Yes," I replied again and went into describing how CA's seasons (SF specifically) are different than other parts of the US.

I can't imagine 90 degree rain year round. I love it now, but can't imagine...

Poolside

The gym at my hotel is just next to the pool which makes for some fun people watching. What's better is the one-way windows where those inside the gym can see out but those outside just see themselves which makes for great entertainment watching people watch themselves.

The pool crowd:

It seems like everything here is in twos:

• 2-girls in pink: I'm not sure why with the 90 degree temperature, but two girls at the pool showed up dawned in ping wetsuits with pink water caps. They did everything in tandem - jumped in the pool, swam across, they even seemed to come up for air in tandem. Water ballerinas in the making?
• 2-boys in red: I'm not even going to go into what I think of the colors. The boys in red were much less graceful - they too did everything in tandem but in a young boys way. They raced around the pool, yelled, and tagged each other almost mirroring each other the entire time.
• 2-speedo men: thy style here is definitely speedo. Two men perched themselves in front of the mirrored gym windows. Periodically they'd stand up and adjust their speedo while ab flexing in the gym window.

Funny.

So much to do ... so little time

In between working and sleeping I want to adventure as much as possible - I'm not sure if I'll ever come back to Singapore, so I'm trying to soak it all in. Last night, after a long day shopping, Paul and I met up to walk around Singapore. As I had walked home on Friday I became the "leader" in the walk supposedly knowing where I was going. After getting lost in 3 malls and walking in numerous circles, the leader became the follower.

We made our way down to Boat Quay and along the water taking pictures the entire way. Just as we got to the water's edge, the sky opened up and it started dumping rain. With no over-hang in site, and no umbrellas, we found the next best thing - a boat ride across the water. Hopping in a small wobbly boat, our tourism took to water instead of the streets of Singapore.

After a 20-minute boat ride we made our way to another Quay (whose name is evading me). The area felt like North Beach - lively and filled with restaurants. Perfect for dinner.

Now I'm off to adventure more before the sky opens up again.

Sushi grove

Tonight I enjoyed the hotel sushi restaurant for dinner - it's a 20% discount and just 25 floors down so it's perfect. After I told the hostess "table for one please" I was seated at the sushi bar - I think solo diners at a table must be a nono. The funny thing was the restaurant was sprawling with five rooms and three sushi bars. I was put in an empty room at an empty sushi bar - more for me!

After stuffing myself with uni, crab, and fish I can't name, I started chatting with the chef.

Chef: "are you here for business?"
Amber: "yes ... and to explore Singapore - I'm so excited to be here."
Chef: "ah - yes yes. But Singapore is small, not much to explore."
Amber: "are you from here?"
Chef: "no no - Japan."
Amber: "ah, how'd you wind up here?"
Chef: "first I left Japan and moved to L.A., then Germany, then around Asia more, now here."
Amber: "I'm jealous."

The chef at dinner was enlightening and inspiring - he decided at 24 that living in the same place his whole life wouldn't teach him about the world. So he took off - to explore the world. Now that's what I call rad. BAM!

Malling

After work I decided to walk home instead of cab - it was 6:45 and just cooling down so it was perfect timing. As I made my way along the water the clicking sound of two tap dancers on a dock serenaded me.

Further along I came to an underpass and proceeded to cross the street. Once underground I was surrounded by tweens and teens dancing and clapping and stomping their feet. It was interesting - groups of kids were huddled in different parts of the walkway all practicing dances - all to their own beat.

Emerging from the walkway I found myself in a mall - the first of 4 malls that I walked through to get home. Not only is Singapore the "Switzerland of Asia," according to Simon, but it's the mall spot of the world. Malls here are like Vegas - once you get in, you can't get out...but to be honest, I have no problem with that :)

Fly trap

This morning I got up early for a 7am call. The nice thing about working from a hotel room is you can dress business casual - in my case, a blouse and pajama bottoms. After the call wrapped I finished getting ready for work and headed out the door.

Upon getting at work - my first day in the Singapore office alone - I walked through China Bank (the building our office is in) and made my way up to the 36th floor in an elevator packed full of people. As I arrived at the office at 9:30am, I was still quite early and only one other person was there. Around 10:30 the office was bustling (with all 10-people) so I decided to make my rounds and properly introduce myself to all the folks who were out on sales calls yesterday.

During this round I chatted for a long time with one of the higher ups. After all the corporate socializing, thoroughly exhausted, I grabbed a coffee set it on my desk and made my way to the loo. Once inside I realized ... my fly had been down the entire morning! Perfect - in a discrete country where first impressions mean a lot, while meeting new people at work and trying to prove that marketing folks are not nuts, here I am.

Well, at least the embarrassing part is out of the way.

Clean glorious clean

Today was my first day working in the Singapore office and it was beautiful - literally, not in the Russel Crow movie kind of way. To get to work Alix and I took a taxi - work is less than a mile away, but walking just a block leaves you drenched (in either sweat or rain - depends on the time of day).

The office looked just like any other - sterile - but somehow there was an added sense of 'clean.' I'm not talking about clean in the tall bald guy white t-shirt way, or clean in the Dr.'s office waiting room sense. Nor am I insinuating it was clean in the modern-try-to-sit-down-and-you'll-be-bruised-for-a-month sort. Just clean.

At lunch we made our way to a wrap deli where the wraps were named after American fame-cons - my favorite being the "Ike and Tina Tuna." I didn't try this wrap because I just didn't have the legs for it (insert laugh here) but I did enjoys my salad and kiwi juice.

The one and only problem with eating out in Singapore is the AC - you need to carry a winter coat just to walk in-doors. As tomorrow is Friday I think I will treat myself to an after-work shopping spree - big surprise - for a wrap. I feel ridiculous walking around mid-day with my jacket, but at the same time my teeth chattering gets in the way of work.

I have arrived!

To Singapore that is. Last night I slept most of the way through the flight here and hit the ground running. De-boarding the plane I came to two woman at the gate holding signs with my name. I've never seen that before - I felt so special - the little things. 20-minutes and a beautiful car-ride later, and I arrived at the Pan Pacific Singapore. The city is beautiful, and hotel is amazing. I'm ready to move. Matt?

All day it was raining - a hot periodic rain - aka, the perfect weather. This afternoon I worked from the hotel - I gifted myself that after sleeping only 3-hours per night for the past week. My room overlooks the city, the pool, and the island's edge. The view was somewhat comical today while the pool was packed with loungers - sleeping and "bathing" in the rain.

This evening Alix and I made our way to the night zoo. When we first walked in I was feeling the grown-uppy "heh - zoo schmoo." First stop at the zoo was the night show. OK, I'll admit it, I freaked! Animals were walking on ropes over our heads and then the zookeepers pulled a snake out of a box in the row in front of us. I hope the blue leaves Alix's hand (I was squeezing so hard).

Looking forward to working, learning, exploring more!

A tale of a shipping

While in India I did my requisite shopping - hey, just trying to support the economy. Laden with tunics and cloth as well as my already overstuffed bag, I decided to ship most of my new purchases instead of carry them.

After packing everything up and preparing the FedEx paperwork, I had to meet with the FedEx carrier to clear my shipment prior to sending. That was new. First, he reviewed my paperwork. Then apprised the box. Then the paperwork. Then he proceeded to open the box and unpack all of the contents and finally re-tape on top of the now torn open tape. Odd. I guess a good way to save money on x-ray machines?

Always an experience!

It pays to Mastercard

At the Mumbai airport, a platinum MasterCard gets free admittance to the VIP lounge - woo hoo! So, here I sit in the VIP lounge with free snacks and refrigerators filled with pop, Kingfischer, and juice.

Love it.

Since it's India of course an ism is fitting. To get on the Internet you can do one of two things - have an SMS sent to your mobile with a user name and password OR pay - but they only take Visa. If only these two credit cards knew.

The boom

Funny thing about strange and unknown places - you're ready for strange and unknown things to happen but aren't always ready with how to handle them. Usually it's just to smile and pretend 'oh, yeah, I'm used to being stuck in a traffic jam because 50people painted orange decided to go dancing in the street.'

Tonight just as I was falling asleep there was a horrific BOOM outside. Not the monsoon summer boom that would insight me to run to the window eager for rain. Not really 100% sure what the boom was - the only time I've heard gun booms is on TV ... ok, and that one time at 4H when I joined the rifle club (but that was a long time ago and I've put it behind me).

Just after the boom, the whole house shook. This was a shocking act of something considering all the floors are marble and sturdier than Arnold's flexed arm in the 80s.

So, here I lay awake at 1:50am more scared than a 4year old who just watched her first scary TV show and can't dangle her feet over the side of the bed. Seriously. I've locked the door, checked the mothball filled closets, tightened the curtains, and looked in the drawers under the bed. You never know - boogy men can be small.

What a wimp! I think the curry is getting to me.

Powerism

There's something in the power over here (forget the water - I don't want to know what's in that). The other night I wanted to watch a movie (this trip I wised up and brought DVDs from home - old sitcoms and dubbed over films just don't entertain me as much). I noticed a mini-DVD player next to the TV and went to work trying to set it up. Getting halfway through (OK, just the red/white/yellow wire part) I realized the end of the cord was cut off and the bronze wires were hanging out. In the middle of my sorrow (hey - I had my hopes up for those DVDs) Deepak came running over and took the cord. Before I could say a thing, he sat on the ground and got to work jamming the exposed wires into the wall. Hm - I guess safety isn't always first. Miraculously, 5minutes later I had "The Devil Wears Prada" blaring in the living room.

Divorce me please

Don't worry Matt! This is the name of the show we went to last night. Last night I joined Ashu, Rajan, Aniket, and family for the comedy "Divorce me please." The play was definitely comical ... but I'm sorry to say it wasn't the intended comedy.

The setting was beautiful - in the back of the Taj hotel a blue tent was set up (to fend off the monsoons) over the gardens strewn with blue lights. The play started at 8pm (a half hour late - but I guess that's early India time). Prior to the play waiters came around serving brown and orange food (still working on learning all of the names) and drinks.

I feel so cultured :)

Walking in the rain

People here just chill - they go at their own pace and go with the flow. Yes, I know, two seemingly contradictory statements but trust me it's fitting. I went walking this afternoon and came across a few Indiaisms:

• Man sitting in front of house: a man down the street is sitting in front of his house on a small plastic chair. He was there yesterday too. Just watching the world go by. There's not that much going on on this street so there's not much entertainment for him, but surely he's seen plenty. The only thing he had with him was an umbrella - ready for all occasions I guess.


• The mimic: a bit further down the street is a small girl also sitting in a plastic chair. Comically her chair is bigger than the man's while she's about 1/4 the size. I guess she's practicing - someday she'll fill that chair and then she too can sit for days and watch. Across the street from her was a small boy - brother I'm guessing - straddled on the back of a motorcycle. Not patient enough for a chair, but wanting to do what sister does, I think he too is in practice mode.


• The donkeys: I was missing the donkeys. This week I've been surprised at the number of goats but hadn't seen many donkeys. During my walk I came to a busy intersection (one of millions) and there in the road were my long lost beloved donkeys. They kill me - cars are swooshing past and they don't seem to care at all - they're just one of the moving things in the road. I was thinking they were hilarious until one stopped in front of me and I couldn't get by - on one side was a wall, the other cars wishing by, and in front of me the pausing beast. As soon as he finally moved it killed me again - the funniest part is that donkeys in India seem to have India's patience ... or something like that. My American self just wanted to rush by to go no-where in particular. I did know I needed to get there quickly, though. That's American for you.


• The rain: As soon as I was about half a mile from the house and without any covering, it started dumping. It poured for 2-minutes then stopped. Then, 1-minute later kicked up again in full force. Hot rain. Stinky rain. OK, I guess it's not so much the rain that stinks as the gook it's stirring up on the road.

Tonight I'm off to a show with Rajan and family. That should prove for some good fodder - can't wait!

A day at the mall

Shopping at Pyramid today (India's version of Macy's) I struck gold. Sales throughout the store! I'm seriously, sickly, on clouds.

1st stop - diamond section. Walking up to each counter clerks jumped to serve "may I help you madam.". As I leaned over one counter looking at earrings another came over and pointed - I tilted my head - US version of 'eh, they're kinda ugly actually' and all the clerks got excited thinking a sale was near. Oops.

His nap

On the ride home from work last night we came across a man sleeping (or passed out in the middle of the road). Rajan said some Hindi word that I couldn't even spell phonetically if I tried and he and Aniket laughed. What did the word mean? Well, while I may not be able to learn and teach Hindi phrases, as least I can pass on the meaning - \hindiwordican'tsayorwrite\, transitive v: a summer time nap after one has had too much to drink.

After walking today I came across the same sleeping man - a creature of habit I guess.

Lunchism

So here I am in my favorite Chinese restaurant listening to Elton John, drinking French white wine, waiting for my Dannon water, and enjoy all the India-syncrasies going on around me.

What heaven - one giant ism.

Fried egg

I know its not the most Indian sounding title, but it will be in a minute. I decided to start this blog with the punchline.

Every morning for breakfast I eat eggs and fruit. Every morning I ask for fried and get scrambled with vegetables. This morning, after a futile attempt to act out fried, I realized the worlds dictionary was nearby. I Google-imaged "fried eggs" and BAM- 5min later the perfect fried egg was set in front of me. I mean perfect - mirror image of the picture.

Gotta love Google.

Car conversations

I'm learning that car-rides are the perfect time to learn more about Indian culture - given that 1-mile takes about 45-minutes there's plenty of time for observation and questions.

This morning on the way into work - conversation with driver:
Amber: "People in Bangalore seem to drive in the lanes but not here, why?"
Driver: "Because we don't have to. No-one does it. The police don't care."
Amber: "If there were lanes in the road here, would people follow them?"
Driver: "No no, madam, it's just crazy on the road. Even with lanes people wouldn't pay attention and they'd go all over the place. Also, the police don't care and wouldn't enforce lanes."

On the way home - conversation with carpool buddy:
Amber: "One of the interesting things about working in another country and interviewing is I get to learn even more about different cultures."
Carpool buddy: "Yes, it's interesting."
Amber: "Culture question for you - I noticed a lot of folks say "yea, yea, yea, yea" over people when they're talking. Why? If they're saying it they can't hear me."
Carpool buddy: "Yes, it's weird I agree."
Amber: "Is it that they're saying 'yes, I get it - I can do that,' or 'yep, still listening'?"
Carpool buddy: "Yes, it's just to say they're still listening - still there. Not necessarily that they understand - they just hear you. OMG, I said yes again. Oh man I'm paranoid now."
Amber: "heh"

And then he gave me power

The title of this blog sounds a bit ominous...religious even. Well, its far from that. After India Independence Day yesterday, I finally made it to our new office and its beautiful. After finding my office, I asked the office boy for an adapter for my computer. Without saying a word he climbed under the desk, stuck a pen in the socket, and jerry-rigged my American plug in the Indian socket. Well, that's one way to do it.


Around 11 I realized I left my wallet at home so I coordinated a driver to bring me to pick it up. Turns out 11:30 on is rush hour and the donkeys, mopeds, cars, people, and carts made the drive almost triple our ride in this morning. Don't worry boss, I'll be on late to make up for it.


Now, time to find something to eat. I think I'll go for a green dish today (since I can't pronounce most things I've reverted my mental menu to colors).

And the beat went on ... travel beat that is

After my layover in Frankfurt, which really wasn't too bad, I got ready to board Air India for the final flight. Arriving at the gate I realized I was the only white person - a complete non-issue except for the fact that all heads immediately turned when I got in line to board.

As soon as I sat down I crashed - hard. 4-hour nap and it was pure bliss. The only interruptions to my nap were the flight attendant who was positive I needed to eat - she woke me 3-times - twice for meals and once to force a bag of chips in my lap.

At just after 11pm India time we landed. The brief bliss quickly faded as I realized I a) couldn't find my driver and b) was been pushed and solicited by other drivers wanting a tourist cab fair. An hour later, Salim showed up and it was such a relief.

Now that the travels are over - it's time to enjoy this monsoon season! I say that in gest but honestly, this is rad - raid + heat - it's like Hawaii in a sauna.

Tales from the flight from the H-word

It’s finally T-day – travel day that is – as I make my way to India to enjoy the monsoons and jet lag. I’m actually quite excited as I do love(ish) Pune. Maybe it’s just the fodder it provides for blog land, but there is something about it there.

This round I’m on Lufthansa, cheaper than BA and a friend told me “all great business people negotiate and wizen each other on Lufthansa. Having a seat near the restroom, I got to the airport early to position myself closer to the front. The ideal is aisle/emergency row, but millions of travelers have caught on to this ideal and have agents who jockey for the seats well in advance. After being seated I realized I did myself an injustice … kids, lots of them. Molly, don’t get me wrong – I do enjoy these mini people – it’s just the yelling, crying, and food throwing that I can’t quite get used to.

Finally settled in with my Financial Times and US weekly at hand (gotta have something for both ranges of the reader spectrum) I was ready for the entertainment. I looked up eagerly wanting to flip through the free movies and TV shows to find nothing but chair. Lufthansa does not tout the hours of brainless entertainment BA did – instead there’s one small TV displaying cartoons and Backstreet Boys music videos. Drat.

On to the food. One thing I often surprisingly enjoy about travel is the food – little cookies with a small salad and chicken perfectly packaged and accompanied by mini bottles of fancy water and soda. Mmm. Not this trip. Salted chicken with salted rice and a side of salted risotto with a piece of cheese and a cardboard-esque piece of brown something. Hmmm. After attempting to dig bits of vegetable out of the risotto, I succumbed to pulling up the garnish lettuce and enjoying that with cheese and bread. The redeeming treats? The cheese was Tillamook (delish!) and the on-flight beer bottled Hoegarten. The problem here, though, the man next to me is clearly lactose intolerant and flaunting it (yeah, I’m going there … sorry).


..............................................


Too many hours later...

The journey continues and I'm in the Frankfurt airport. I think I just lost 2-years off my life from second hand smoke. Also, I have yet to see one smile. Then again, who really smiles when travelling.

Rock me mama

Last night we went to Old Crow Medicine Show - hands down one of the best concerts I've ever been to. Matt's parents were in town and after a long birthday dinner (it's Matt's birthday today) we walked over to the Fillmore to enjoy the show. The theater was packed with blue grass fans and city folk alike. Steve was there with his parents, and Rob and Emily came, and we rocked out for hours.

Now, it's time to pack for my India/Singapore adventure.

Perfect day

It was the perfect day in Marin. I drove over the bridge this morning to meet up with my mom so I could borrow her suitcase for India. Then, after meeting up at her house and finding her knee deep in the tomato patch in her garden, we starting walking downtown. Halfway downtown we found ourselves in the middle of Drake high school - I didn't even recognize it at first - I felt like a giant in a far off town. Finally making it downtown we settled into Comforts for Chinese Chicken salad. The cafe was filled with marinites, enjoying the warm weather. Finally, ambling back home, I got some peaches off of my dad's tree, loaded my car with mom's suitcase and drove back to San Francisco. Roof open, windows down, Paul Simon blasting - pure bliss.

India-isms getting ready again

Monday I fly off to India again for more work and more adventures. Today I (finally) made it back to the Consulate to renew my Visa. Now, the Consulate seems like familiar grounds - the line to wait in line, the people trying to cut, and the doctor-like waiting room.

Adventures to be continued...

Game of Chicken

Running in San Francisco is always an event. Yesterday at 7:30pm (we made it home from work early) I set out for my usual jaunt around Ft. Mason and down to Chrissy Field. Running down the hill I dodged tourists, swerved past cars running stop signs, and lept over stuff on the sidewalk that I won't write about. Halfway down the hill I saw a homeless man who was ambling up. I weaved right - he darted the same direction. Left - same again. This was a serious game of chicken seeing who'd jump first. I'll cut to the finish line ... I did. Typically I would have held ground better but with the smell and the fact that the air around him just seemed thicker it just seemed like the right thing to do.

Mt. getaway

This weekend we're enjoying Matt's parent's 35th wedding anniversary with Gabe and Amanda in Mammoth. We've been here two days that already went too fast - I think it's going to take another day just to get 'the city out of me' but unfortunately then we're headed back. By the city, I mean the need to have something going on every half second.

Mammoth is beautiful. We're surrounded by mountains and lakes - pure bliss. Yesterday Kathleen and I made our way up to one of the lakes for a nice hike. Tonight it's off to the Blues fest - beer and blues, can't beat it!