Below are the 5 most recent journal entries recorded in cad3's LiveJournal:

Monday, December 11th, 2006
4:33 pm	Egypt, (okay so I'm over a year late with this post) Okay, so I am WAY ass late on posting this. So sue me. July 2005 This was quiet the trip. Very hot, worst time of year to do a trip like this but it was also a very interesting experience. On the 24th, arrived in Cairo late in the evening (having transferred through Milan). Straight through to the Hotel. The hotel was a bit removed from the busy streets, which was nice as it was quiet (unlike what other people experienced, that we met along the way). Early on the 25th, awoke and had an interesting breakfast (pretty good too), and then departed for a full day of activities, including the Cairo Museum, the mummy exhibit, the pyramids, a camel ride, climbed inside the 2nd largest pyramid, saw the sun boat, enjoyed a lovely afternoon buffet, and concluded with the sphinx. Afterwards, we went shopping and picked up a few fun items (like my Halloween costume). In the evening we saw the light and sound show with the pyramids in the backgrounds and the sphinx up front. On the 26th another breakfast (rushed), and then we got into our van, except this time, 2 men with submachine guns and berettas got in. 1 in the front seat (I wasn't so upset with this, because he would have to turn around to shoot me) and the other in the back seat (right behind me). It was at this point I had visions of the last thing I would see being my brains flying past my eyes. It was a 2 hour drive to Alexandria with the strange armed man sitting behind me. We saw the Museum in Alexandria, the Quietbay Citadel, Katacomp, Popay's Sipllar, a papyrus store and a perfume shop. Another nice lunch, and we off to see our final attraction of the day. Montaza Palace, in which a small palace was set up on an island so the King could have tea. At the entrance, we encountered a large bus that was parked or something so we were currently unable to get in. As we were already running behind schedule, our guide told the driver to try and find another way in, like the exit. So our driver drove to the exit, and then started 'backing in'. Now it's a long one way street, and we were a good amount of the way through it went a taxi pulled down and started honking his horn. He was refusing to back up and a shouting match ensured between the two drivers. It was at this point that our new passenger got out of the car, walked back toward the taxi cab, and had a somewhat quieter conversation for a moment. The next thing we know, the taxi cab is backing up. It turns out that these armed men are actually police officers and they randomly escort tourists through the country. Well... I would have certainly felt a lot better had I known this BEFORE the guy with the automatic weapons was sitting behind me for the day :P And uneventful drive to the train station were we boarded our sleeper car for an overnight train trip to Luxor. On the 27th, I got to experience new levels of hot. I've been in 104 degree 90 percent humidity hot, but there was always someplace to escape to that had A/C. Here we were dropped off by our guide at our hotel. Settled in, had breakfast, and then were picked up for a sailboat trip on the Nile. Except that the relaxing sailboat trip ended up being a motorboat trip up and down the Nile. Not exactly the relaxing trip I was hoping for, but okay none-the-less. After that, we were not even picked up, but had to find our way back to our hotel. Add in that something I ate was disagreeing with me terribly made for a very unpleasant first day. Now I'd like to mention that it was around 104 degrees 90 percent humidity, and we had no place to escape to, except our room, and it took us over an hour to find. Once that passed,... and passed it did!, things were at least a little better. We were picked up for an evening tour of the Karak Temple and the Luxor Temple. Our Temple Guide was great. He was in a movie called Death on the Nile, and was quiet the celebrity with all the locals. It was amusing watching him interact with everyone, everywhere. He was also very knowledgeable about the area, as he grew up in this area, playing around the boulders before it was dug out and ruins were found underneath. Our main guide tried to talk us into the Light and Sound show (because that's extra $$ into his pocket), but after the last one sucked so bad, and we were simply not in the mood, we opted out. On the 28th, we awoke very early in the morning to watch the sunrise from the hot air balloon, but really we watched it rise from the boat, as we were crossing the Nile to take us to the place where we would get on the hot air balloon. The balloon ride was a lot of fun, and it was fascinating to see the tops of all of the building, as no building has a roof where we were... they just build until they... well stop. So all buildings have walls but very very few have roofs. After the hot air balloon, we went to the Valley of the Kings and saw Ramses and a number of other tombs. Even sneaked a couple of short videos, which is highly illegal and kinda got caught but managed to talk my way out of it. Then we went into the Valley of the Artists as the only interesting tomb in the Valley of the Queens was closed for renovations. The Valley of the Artists was incredible and we saw 2 very well preserved tombs that had incredible artwork. The last tomb we saw was that of Queen Hatshepsut. Our "Full Day" tour ended around noon. Having checked out of our hotel room, we had no place to go and nothing to do. So we got to spend the next 8 hours in 107 degree, 95 percent humidity. After a couple of calls to the main guide we basically told us that we shouldn't have checked out and we were on our own. That's fine. I have never ever not tipped before. It's amazing how two full days of false promises plus suffering in 107 degree heat for a day can really put someone in a, shall we say, dour disposition. All the money that I would have split between the two guides went solely to our Temple/Tomb guide (who really was great). We boarded the plane and flew to Sharm-el-sheik. On the 29th, (at about 1 in the morning) we flew to Sharm-el-sheik. That flight was a bit delayed but finally we were on our way and arrived. Then a super speedy tour through the middle of the desert at high speed got us in around 3 am or some craziness to our hotel. After a short nap, we woke, and drove to the Monastery. We hung out because the drivers didn’t want to stick around, and we caught a ride back with a Dutch group. Apparently a few of them had gotten sick on the hike. I don’t know why but I guess it was altitude sickness. We went back to the hotel, had breakfast. Played w/ the super-sick cat. It was the most disgusting cat in the world. Totally emaciated and starving literally to date. It didn’t even have the energy to clean itself and have fecal matter all over its swollen rump. It had crap pretty much covering an eye… We felt really bad for it and we gave it some water, and a little bit of meet and cheese. It devoured both greedily. Then proceeded to puke and shit itself thoroughly. When it finished, it devoured ‘both’ greedily. We actually had a tough time trying to clean it up, without getting either on us, while keeping it from eating it… it was more interested in eating ‘that’ than fresh water or food. We stayed around the pool, rested for what would be an early morning. We left in the middle of the night. And started our long long hike up the Mountain Moses walked to get the 10 commandments. On the 30th, we’re still hiking to the top. I would have been fine w/ a Camel ride, but given the camel ride back on the 25th, I accurately figured my partner would not. So on foot, we hike. Get to the top and its freezing cold. Maybe not freezing but pretty damn cold. We huddle together waiting for the sun to rise. I grab a few shots and then, much like everyone else, it’s down to the bottom. We walked around the inside of the monastery; and we picked up a couple of candles to give to family members. My favorite was the ‘location’ of the burning bush. Now obviously this bush wasn’t burning, and I highly doubt it was the original bush (from 2000 years ago)… but what I found terribly amusing is that there is a fire extinguisher next to the ‘burning bush’. After a short walk around the monastery; we rush back to the hotel… gobble down some food and head to Nuwebaa port for out transfer to Aqaba (we do this to avoid having to pay additional fees for traveling through Israel.) Well, it was suppose to be a ‘jet boat’. But it ended up being a ‘slow-ass ferry’. The 1-2 hour event ultimately took like 8 hours (as we were delayed by 3 hours to begin with). Once again it’s well into the 100s with high humidity. It’s packed and so there are VERY few places to sit… We finally find something outside in the shade w/ a slight breeze. There are people everywhere (including just sitting or lying in the middle of walk-ways etc. I find the Customs agent and give up my passport (to hopefully be returned to me when we arrive in Aqaba). In the end, we choose to sit inside as it’s less crowded. Meet a nice couple and swapped some stories of our current travels. Late in the evening we arrived in Aqaba… but that is a story for another time… (Comment on this)
Thursday, August 25th, 2005
3:44 am	Home Sweet Home Well, I've finally gotten home.  Been gone way to long but have seen many interesting things along the way.  many many many interesting things.  Not the least of which is the fact that I am up to 43 countries.  Interestingly, I increased the number of countries I've been to by 33% in just this trip alone.  I really do NOT recommend doing this.  I spent 9 years getting to this point.  Doing over 3 years (avg.) worth of travel in one go is just excessive. So, I suppose I should post highlights: Le Meurice, Paris - Favorite new restaurant.  Incredible food.  They had a white cream reduction sauce made from some sort of vegetable puree that was simply to die for.  And we were very lucky to have it served with 3 of our courses. ;) Le Cinq, Paris - Favorite new restaurant.  Incredible food.  Ironically it wasn't the food that impressed me.  They gave me water.  No, no, no.  Hear me out.  This water had no flavor.  No, I'm serious!  I know most of you will say, water doesn't have flavor, but it does.  It's faint but it's there.  This water had nothing, no trace metals, no anything at all.  It was simply wet.  *Sigh*  Fine, don't believe me.  Frankly, I wouldn't believe me either, I guess it is something you just have to experience.  And no, I don't know the brand name.  It comes from an exceptional small company in France that sells only to the most extremely expensive restaurants.  But I've digressed badly and should at least plug the food one more time.  Service was exceptional but it's what one has come to expect when dining at a restaurant of such caliber.  Actually, and interesting thing happened.  When our main course came (Squab and Rabbit), my date and I, having tried each others dish, decided we both preferred the others meal more.  Now, it is not that hard to "pick up a plate and pass it to the other person", even if there is a table full of glasses and a lot of silverware.  Even so, a nearby wait-staff-person jump to our table to assist us with this procedure.  A whopping 2 seconds later and it was complete.  Approximately 15 seconds after that, our head waiter stopped by to see how our meal was and instantly realized that we did not have our 'proper' respective meals.  After making doubly sure that we were very happy with our meals, he left us but I have to give him serious kudos for so quickly recognizing the situation.  Well, this became longer than intended. Barcelona - Favorite New City.  Very much like London but warmer.  Great public transportation.  Very very friendly people that don't hassle you.  Just really loved my time there.  Oh, and it was the only hotel on the entire trip w/ free internet. Tour de France - Favorite Bike Race.  Okay, there is just something about seeing the greats in person.  Particularly when you are at the finish line.  Awesome. Venice - Favorite Overpriced City.  It was incredible, but from a financial point of view, some place I could have totally skipped and hit in the off season when it should be "in theory" just "way more expensive than it should be" instead of the "bleed you to death" that it was...  But that should not take away from the fact that it was incredibly beautiful, and the hotel was a mere 2-3 min walk from Piazza San Marco.  And maybe 5-10 min to the Riallto (sp?) bridge.  And the food was good (but really expensive too ;) Wedding #1 - Fun, Beautiful, and got to see some old High School friends.  A little crazy.  Good times, good times. Egypt - See next post. Jordan - See post after that. Wedding #2 - Fun, Beautiful, and got to see some old High School friends (again).  HOLY CRAP CRAZY.  I was practically drunk when I got to the ceremony.  5 serious shots of this homemade apricot brandy stuff that was around 100 proof.  At that was at 3:00 pm, the cocktail hour before the ceremony.  Then at the reception... things got worse! :)  Donnie drank so much he almost passed out into the cake.  Zollie, up and decided he wanted to go back to the hotel and didn't tell anyone.  It's like a 5 miles walk.  We spend some time looking for him in nearby alleys and gutters and finally decided to check the hotel.  Well, he didn't have the key, and sure enough we found him asleep, outside, on the park bench! *LOL*.  I'm probably on about 1/2 of the wedding video just because I was sitting next to those 2 guys and the videographers were filming them constantly for all the crazy stuff they were doing.  Good times, good times. College Friends.  I ended my trip with a visit to an old college friend.  Stayed a little too long, but that's what happens when you book your tickets w/o having much of a plan.  Really loved it there.  Beautiful beaches, warm water, friend people, exceptionally safe.  It was just great!  Plus I got a fair amount of great business advice from a friend who is now running his own company of 8 employees.  It's very do-able.  And I am seriously thinking of doing it.  Pictures will be forthcoming in the next days/weeks.  Well, a link at any rate. And with that I bid you goodnight, or morning, where ever you are in the world. Yonaput, Kalispera, Adios. (Good Morning, Good Night, Good Bye). Ps.  Best bad translation from a foreign language into English on a Menu.  Item #211.    Gay ice cream-surprise for children.  Message me if the pic fails to load and you want a copy.  Needless to say, I opted for #202 Capri Chalice. Current Mood: Awake but needing to sleep Current Music: Crazy Frog (Comment on this)
Friday, February 25th, 2005
8:54 pm	So, I never up this... except now... Down in So. Ca, visiting a buddy of mine, clayemore and he has been gracious enough to put me up and show me around. Good times good times. And did I mention the proverbial "hotties" here? Wow! It's been a while since I've seen this many beautiful women in one place. And I've gotten to meet a few really nice people. See the beautiful Irvine area. Hit the beach. Fun. Fun. Current Mood: content Current Music: movie: Collateral (Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 17th, 2004
10:16 pm	Hmmm... What's new? Well, as I've not updated in a very long time (read: ever)... I suppose I could do a pseudo update. But then I ask myself why? It's not like anyone is reading this thing. And if you, upon your travels find yourself here, at this moment, reading this, why not ask yourself... why? Why not do something more productive with your life? Get out! Read a book! Sleep! (hey you have your dreams and I have mine :P *sigh*... I've been traveling a lot. I've been gone about 1 week a month for the last 4 months, and this pace will continue for the next two or three months. The downside to being gone for a full week is that I do about 2 weeks worth of work before I go because so much needs to get done. This is followed by another 2 weeks worth of work when I get back. So in any given week, I've really only allocated about 5 days of just 'average' stress. ;) Since mid-Sept, I've been gone ever single weekend. I'm really looking forward to my next weekend home. Not entirely sure when that will be, but I'm excited. Jan is really looking like it's got possibilities. Not that I've missed out on my fair share of fun. I've been in San Diego 1 weekend, McLean 2 weekends, I'll be in Mclean in a couple of weeks, plus NYC, plus San Diego again. Toss in several trips to the S. Bay, plus many more to the City, and it's a lot of fun. Much thanks to the mighty Panda for his original help in moving my up to the second floor. It's now on its final resting place, a 30" high, 25"x40" platform. All sub-components have been allocated space within the structure: VCR, 2 DVD players, Receiver, Amp. I even have a universal remote to control them all... if I only had the time to program it in... until then, it really only takes 3 remotes to watch a movie. :) Well this is enough random pyscho-babble for one evening. Reviews are coming up and I've got much to work on. Ciao- -C Current Mood: Twitchy Current Music: 6 hours worth of Christmas music for the office party :P (Comment on this)
Sunday, March 28th, 2004
2:56 am	First entry... Well, I've finally created an LJ account. Not quiet all that I was hoping for. Lets see what the future will hold. Until then, it's 2:58 am, and I'm heading to bed. Expect better things to come... Current Mood: tired (Comment on this)