NYC trip: That's a wrap

And I'm home from NYC! My flight back to Chicago was on time and very smooth. The only slight snafu was that there wasn't enough room on the plane for everyone's carry-on luggage so some people (including me) had to check their larger carry-on bags. No biggie.

I didn't get to see any shows while in NYC, but other than that my mini-vacation was pretty satisfying. :-) Some things I learned/experienced on this trip:

• Newark Airport is one of the nicer airports I've ever flown into/out of, and it's very easy to get from the airport to midtown Manhattan.


• Staying at a hotel near a subway stop is very helpful. Also, NYC subways are pretty easy to navigate (not much trickier than Chicago's).


• It turns out that the side pockets of my camera bag can hold a small bottle of water. This was essential during the hot and humid afternoons!


• I don't understand modern art, but some pieces are really cool to look at even if they defy explanation.


• While "free-forming" a weekend schedule keeps things interesting and usually works out fine, I still prefer planning things out ahead of time. :-)

As always, I took a bunch of photos. Check out my NYC photo album on Flickr!

Many thanks to Brian, Mel, and Greg for showing me around town this weekend! I'd love to visit NYC again and maybe even explore some boroughs other than Manhattan. :-) Now to figure out if I'm gonna be able to take another trip before school starts back up in September...

NYC trip: Uptown, downtown

I finally got into NYC late Friday night after a lengthy delay. I took the NJTransit train from Newark airport to NY Penn Station and walked two blocks to my hotel on 32nd St. Since it was past midnight already, I just called it a night after letting my mom and my Manhattanite friends know that I had finally arrived safely.

On Saturday I spent most of the day roaming around midtown Manhattan, doing some shopping (mostly of the window variety :-)). I was hoping to meet up with Brian in the early evening, but he had to run some errands with his girlfriend so we didn't meet up till about 11pm. However, the wait was worth it as we hit up a Korean bbq spot on the same block as my hotel. We had a good meal (bulgogi, mmm) and caught up on lots of stuff. We've kept in touch via e-mail but I hadn't actually seen Brian since he left Chicagoland for law school in Philly four years ago.

Sunday morning I took my first NY subway ride up to the Rockefeller Center area to attend mass at St. Patrick's cathedral. Afterwards I phoned Melissa V. and set up a brunch meeting in Union Square. We caught up and lamented our single status over a nice meal at a coffee shop next to Union Square Park. :-) We then rode the subway back uptown to meet Brian at MoMA.


St. Patrick's Cathedral 

At the museum we wandered around aimlessly for a bit until we got the brilliant idea to pick up a museum map, heh. There was some neat and famous artwork on display but I must confess that I don't really "get" most modern art. Anyway, we wrapped up our MoMA visit by checking out the sculpture garden and chatting over some gelato.


OOF? Or GOOF? :-) (Brian at MoMA)  


Melissa and me 

I parted ways with B and M and headed back to midtown to do a bit of souvenir shopping and to recharge for a little while at the hotel before heading down to Chelsea to meet up with Greg. He and his partner Mitch took me to dinner at a neat little Italian place called Tello's (I had penne con meat balls, very tasty). We walked off the meal by trekking through Chelsea to the waterfront, stopping to rest at Christopher St. Pier, and continuing on through Greenwich Village. After a stop at Rafaella Café for some dessert, we walked back to Greg & Mitch's neighborhood where I caught a cab back to the hotel.


Greg and me 

While the weekend got off to a frustrating and slow start, it has turned out to be a lot of fun. It was great hanging out with my friends and seeing more of the city. Here's hoping my flight back home tomorrow goes more smoothly than Friday's ordeal!

NYC trip: Off to a fine start

My original flight into Newark this morning was cancelled (ugh) so I'm now booked on a flight that is scheduled to get in around 8:30pm tonight. So much for my plans to check out MOMA this afternoon/evening. On the bright side, at least I found out about the cancellation before I left home, so I'm not stuck at the airport for several hours.

Start spreading the news

In just over 12 hours (barring unforeseen flight delays) I'll be en route to NYC for the weekend. I'm looking forward to lots of sightseeing, catching up with friends, and taking lots of photos. :-) My knee is feeling better from Tuesday's procedure, so it shouldn't keep me from fully enjoying the weekend (I'll just have to remember to change the bandage regularly). Hopefully it won't be too hot, although the forecast on weather.com isn't looking too encouraging. :-) Anyway, I'll be sure to report back on my Manhattan adventure when I return (and I may even try to post to the travelblog occasionally while I'm away).

[cross-posted to my LJ and my travelblog]

Destination: Big Apple

My travel plans to NYC are set! I'll be there from July 28-31, flying into and out of Newark, and I've reserved a hotel room in Midtown Manhattan in case I'm not able to crash at my friend/former co-worker Brian's apartment. I don't really have a set itinerary of stuff to do while I'm there. I hope to hang out with Brian and/or my childhood friend Mel, who both live and work in Manhattan. There's also a promising new musical called Spring Awakening that "New Yorker extraordinaire" (hehe) Greg has told me about. I would also like to check out the Museum of Modern Art, which I did not get to see the first time I was in NYC (two summers ago). Other than that I'll probably just roam about Manhattan, do some window shopping, take random photos, and such. I'm excited already! :-)

IU baby one more time

I've just returned home from a trip to Bloomington, Indiana, to attend my sister Lori's graduation from Indiana U. with a bachelor's in elementary ed (woohoo!). I drove down yesterday with my parents and grandma. Traffic was really bad along I-80/94 on the way there due to construction. Our trip took about one hour longer than usual. When we got there Lori and her roommate Clarissa had a yummy dinner waiting for us and we had fun chatting and relaxing for a bit, then we headed over to our hotel room (Motel 6 - they left the light on for us ;-)) for some shut-eye. Unfortunately I did not get a whole lot of shut-eye, as both of my parents plus my grandma burst into a cacophony of snores before I fell asleep. :-P My grandma even talked in her sleep a few times (in a conversational tone, even... it was like she was chatting on the phone with a friend in her dreams, LOL). Anyway, I was a little cranky this morning but after breakfast at McD's I was in better spirits.

The graduation ceremony at IU's Assembly Hall was very nice. The keynote speaker was Michael Uslan, IU alum and the man behind the Batman movies. The Assembly Hall was packed to the rafters. After the ceremony it took a little while to locate my sister, Rho, Jaclyn, Ben, and my mom and grandma (they were seated apart from my dad and me, in an accessible area since my grandma can't handle too many stairs) but eventually we all got together and found Lori's roommate Clarissa and her family and fiance. After some photo-taking (picture! picture!) we headed over to Lori and Clarissa's apartment for another home-cooked meal, this time spaghetti with spinach salad and garlic bread, with chocolate pie for dessert (yum). After commiserating with Clarissa's family, we headed back onto the road for our trip home, which thankfully went a little quicker than our drive down yesterday.

So, this was probably my last trip down to Indiana University, at least to visit my sister. It's a really nice campus so if the opportunity arises I wouldn't mind driving down there again some time. But preferably not until after the road construction on 80/94 is done. ;-)

St. Louis wrap-up

I'm back home from my St. Louis trip. The flight home was uneventful... I slept for most of it, hehe. I did end up dropping over $40 (including tip) on a cab from my hotel to the STL airport though. Good thing I stopped at the ATM last night, since the cab driver said he didn't take credit cards on Sundays.

On Flickr I've posted a bunch of skating championships photos and general sightseeing photos from my trip.

Overall I had a great time in St. Louis, watching the skating, doing some sightseeing, and visiting with friends. I wasn't sure if my decision not to get a rental car would hamper me, but most everything I wanted to see was within walking distance or a Metrolink ride away from my hotel, so it turned out fine. And now I can add Missouri to my "visited states" map! :-)



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St. Louis day 3

I made my way to the Gateway Arch this morning. My plan was to hop on the Metrolink to the Arch and take the tram up to the top by 11am, take photos, grab lunch somewhere, and get to Savvis Center by 1pm. I did arrive at the Arch by 11, but my grand plan was thwarted as the first available tram ride was scheduled for 12:15 (oops). Still, I decided to wait around, since I was there anyway, and I wouldn't be too disappointed to miss the first group of skaters at the men's long program event. So, I walked around the Museum of Westward Expansion exhibits before queueing up for the tram ride up. Once up top, I took some scenery photos while trying to not fall down on the curved floor. :-)


The Gateway Arch 


View from the top of the Arch 

I hustled back to the Metrolink after leaving the Arch and made it to Savvis Center shortly after 1pm. Turns out that the men's event started a few minutes late so I didn't miss anything after all, although I didn't have a chance to get lunch beforehand (I made do with a soft pretzel later). The skating was mostly just so-so until the final group. The top four all skated inspired programs that drew standing ovations. Two of my fellow native-Illinoisans, Evan Lysacek and Matt Savoie, finished second and third and will be on the Olympic team with the US champ, Johnny Weir. Michael Weiss ended up in fourth but also gave a strong performance.

The ladies' event wasn't quite as well-skated, but Sasha Cohen won with a nice program that only had a couple of minor stumbles out of jumps. Kimmie Meissner moved up from 4th place to take the silver by landing more triples than anyone, although I didn't much care for her program. Emily Hughes (sister of Sarah) had some mistakes and dropped to third. After the event, I found my SkateFan friends Erik and Catherine and we watched the medal ceremonies for both the ladies and the men. Several of the SkateFan folks headed off to dinner, but since they were going to eat near their hotel which was in the opposite direction of mine, I opted to say my farewells at this point and headed back to my hotel. It was great to see them this weekend though.


Sasha Cohen receives her awards 

Tomorrow my flight home is scheduled to depart around 2:30pm. I think I'll be taking a cab since there is a service disruption on the St. Louis Metrolink due to construction that would necessitate me transfering to a bus between two intermediate stations, and I don't want to have to schlep my bags off the train and onto a bus and back onto the train again. :-P Aside from that though, I have to say that the Metrolink was very comfortable and clean, as was most of the downtown St. Louis area that I saw.

St. Louis day 2

Today I had lunch with my UIUC engineering classmate Diane who lives in the St. Louis area. We met up at the Houlihan's in Union Station. It was nice to catch up. We hadn't seen each other since our friends Steve and Sarah's wedding back in 2003.


Diane and me at Houlihan's 

My left ankle was still in pain from the new boots this morning, unfortunately. Yesterday I had noticed that the Foot Locker store in Union Station was having a sale, so today after lunch I stopped in and ended up buying a pair of casual sneakers. :-) They felt very comfortable, and I didn't have a pair of casual (as opposed to athletic) sneakers yet anyway, so it was $40 well-spent, hehe.

After chilling at the hotel for a bit I ventured back out to Savvis Center for more skating action. It was snowing and windy so it was a brisk walk. :-P The first event was the senior pairs final. I sat with my fellow skatefans (including Erik, Liz, Sylvia, Catherine, and Jessica) for the last three groups. The winners, Rena Inoue & John Baldwin, landed a throw triple axel - the first one done in competition by any pair in the world. It was quite a feat, and they received a huge standing ovation from the crowd.

I grabbed a hot dog for dinner then went back to my assigned seat for the senior ice dance final. As expected, Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto (who's from Chicago!) won easily, but a number of other top teams turned in strong and entertaining performances that got loud ovations. After the event I stuck around for the medal ceremonies for senior ice dance, junior ladies, and senior pairs.


Senior pairs medalists 

Tomorrow I plan to check out the Gateway Arch. The weather is supposed to be nicer so I hope to get some good photos!

Meet me in St. Louis

I arrived in St. Louis today for my first vacation trip of 2006!


View of downtown St. Louis from the entrance to my hotel 

My flight from Chicago arrived on time, and I took the Metrolink (light rail) from the airport to Union Station in downtown St. Louis. From there I walked a few blocks to my hotel. The weather was nice and spring-like today - sunny and warm (for January). My hotel room wasn't ready yet when I got there (which I kind of expected since it was not even 1pm) so I had them store my luggage while I walked back to Union Station to grab some lunch and buy a few souvenir trinkets for the family. :-)


St. Louis Union Station 

Around this time the back of my left ankle started hurting from the new boots I was wearing. I should have brought a second pair of shoes but I when I first put my boots on this morning they felt fine. Doh! Anyway, after I went back to the hotel and checked in I put a second sock on my left foot for extra padding which helped a little. Hopefully the boots will feel more "broken in" tomorrow.

After a short nap, I headed back to Union Station for dinner before making my way to Savvis Center to watch the ladies' short program event at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. I called my friend Erik from Texas who was also in town attending the championships and found out where he was sitting. During the zamboni break, I moved from my original seat in the nosebleed section down to where he and his friends were seated (lower bowl, much closer to the ice). The action felt much more intense from there. I've always been in awe of what figure skaters can do on the ice on those skinny blades! This is the biggest skating competition I've ever been to and I enjoyed tonight's event even though a lot of the skaters had mistakes. I'm looking forward to watching all the senior-level long program events tomorrow and Saturday.


Kimmie Meissner skates her short program 

Tomorrow I plan to sleep in :-) then meet up with my enginerd friend Diane for lunch, before heading back over to Savvis Center. The weather is supposed to be cooler and rainy tomorrow. I'm glad I brought my umbrella!

Welcome! Bienvenue! Bienvenido! Mabuhay!

Welcome to my new "travelblog" which will chronicle my current and future travels for work and (hopefully more often!) pleasure. To get this blog started I have copied over some travel-related entries from my old Blogspot, the RONaround. As of today, I have no major upcoming travel plans other than a long weekend trip to St. Louis in mid-January. I will be meeting some friends from when I went to UIUC and attending some of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, where the 2006 Olympic figure skating team for the USA will be determined. Later this year I would like to visit my cousins in California and/or Maryland, and maybe make a return trip to NYC where I first traveled to in summer of 2004.

I hope to share lots of fun travel stories in the coming months and years!