In Costa Rica

I'm too brain dead to write/type anything. So here are some pics fresh from Tamarindo, Costa Rica.

More Places To See

I’ve definitely more places to see. As you can tell with the locations marked of places I've been to, Europe is my favorite Continent. I need to start venturing off to the other large masses of land. Machu Picchu, the Mayan Ruins, the Pyramids, and Petra is still on my list.

Weak in the knees

It didn't take me long to stop doing jumping jacks. After 2 weeks of jumping jacks, my inner knees started to hurt. I busted my knees years ago and I never went to therapy for it. In addition, I'm assuming the years from skateboarding and snowboarding has taken a toll on my knees. So I had to stop jumping jacks and found something new. A friend of mine told me about M100's.

Jumping Jacks

I'm so out of shape and with the Snowboard Season rapidly approaching, I've got to start getting my legs in shape. I do play softball on Fridays but, that's not gonna hack. So step 1: Get my cardio up and start with the basics. Jumping jacks for 5 mins(non-stop). It's really more difficult than it sounds as I only lasted 2:30 min today.

Brian Wilsons Tweet

Brian Wilsons tweet at 10/10/11 10:01, AWESOME:

Brian Wilson (@BrianWilson38) 10/10/11 10:01 Grande Starbucks bold with 40 add'l shots+Benny Benassi's "Cinema" = Golds gym fist pumpin 101 class #thatswhatshesaid http://t.co/8BYWgKP1

Progress

Slow as a turtle, but I'm making some progress! The clip inserts and voice overs have started. Big thanks to iPhilms on the sound conversion. He took a look at my screen shot on my previous post and caught my audio error.

I've still got items to post on my recent trip to Hawaii, so stay tuned.

SFO >> OGG

Posted for Sunday September 18

Upgraded to First Class. What an awesome way to start to my vacation! First stop, the Buena Vista Café. It has basically become a ritual for me at SFO. Get here early and get some Irish Coffee. After several glasses and a nice little conversation with a patron, I headed to my gate. Already fueled with the Irish Coffees, as soon as I took my seat in the plane I ordered a Mimosa. Why the heck not right?! Free drinks in 1st class! Half way through the flight and several more drinks later, it dawned on me that I’ll need to drive my rental in a few hours. I took one more drink and tried to sober up with 2 cups of regular coffee.

I arrived at the OGG airport and headed directly to my rental. With alcohol coming out of my pores, I was surprised they handed me the keys to my rental. Just before leaving the lot, they smiled at me and said, take a couple shot for us. I smiled and took off. The drive to Lahaina from the OGG airport is about 45 minutes. I was here in Maui 2 years ago for my Sisters wedding so I’m familiar with the area and I know what the drive is like into Lahaina. There’s a scenic stretch on a 2 lane highway that hugs the coastal cliff. An awesome view that becomes hazardous from drivers ogling at the oceanic Hawaiian Seas.

I got to my hotel, checked in, and met up with the bride and groom, along with their family, for some food at Da Kitchen. It was located right in front of my hotel. I had a meal on the flight, which I totally forgot till now, and was still hungry from all the drinking. I ordered a Loco Moco and a Hurricane to wash it down with. Mixed with Bacardi 151, the waiter cautioned me how the strong the drink is. My friends laughed as I said, don’t worry, my veins flow with 151. We waited a bit before our food arrived due in part that the Watier, Bartender, and Host was all the same person. Short staffed to say the least. I felt sorry for her and even asked her if I could help. She smiled at me and said that she’s ok. So I downed my drink and ordered another one.

After the meal and drink, I headed back to my hotel for a nap. An hour later I met up with some other friends and hung out at their hotel located 2 blocks away from mine. After an hour of hanging out, I headed back to my room, picked up a 6 pack of beer and Hawaiian nuts, and slept for the rest of the day. Dunzo at 4PM.

Hawaii 2011

Last week, I spent an entire week in Hawaii. If you ask me what I did, that’s easy: I drank, ate, and slept a lot. Aside from that I attended a 10 Year renewal wedding in Maui that was celebrated at The Maui Plantation. I stayed at the Pioneer Inn in Lahaina. The Pioneer Inn is located in their downtown area but unfortunately, being in Maui, everything settles down at about 10pm. Late night partying in Lahaina does not exist. After spending 6 days in Maui, I headed over to Oahu to visit a friend.

More to follow….

New Project

After a year, I'm finally going to work on a project that I've put off for over a year. I'm hoping to turn it into a series of videos, all pending on content. I started it last year, but set it aside due to time - time wasted on other BS; but it came to me the other day, when at home, all I have to do is spend an hour on it each day.

Morning Drive

This is what my morning commute looks like before hitting traffic. It's the quiet before the storm. The picture was taken from my phone.

BFD

Posted for Sunday June 5, 2011
Back in early June, I went to Live 105's BFD concert with a friend of mine. We scored awesome seats. 8 rows back dead center. Snoop Dogg killed it. I was excited to watch The Strokes who were a disappointment and Linkin Park – who was the main act, also a disappointment. On the other hand, Snoop Dogg Killed it as he hammered the stage with the Dogg Pound. Snoop had a couple back ground dancers and put a show that can be described as like being in a Gentleman's club. I’ve never seen Snoop perform live. He has great stage presence and knows how to work with his audience.

Back in Spain

Posted for July 10, 2011
Back in Spain! And to be more specific, San Sebastian. It is one of my favorite places to visit. It’s the way of life, the food, and the wine is what I enjoy the most. If you watch Anthony Bourdain No Reservations on TV, then you’ll recognize the picture above. Haizea - the place where I’ve eaten one of the best Tapas (called Pinxtos in the Basque country) in my life, which is pictured below: A Foie Gras sandwich with the bread substituted with fried apples.

Instagram Of The Day

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"Don't look back.... because it's cloudy"

Last Year at This Time

As I'm itching for my upcoming trip, I was thinking back on what I was doing at this time last year. That was easy to figure out as all I had to do was look back on my blog. With that said, I was in Montana for work and had an opportunity to check out Yellowstone National Park.

Getting Ready for Pamplona 2011

Pamplona 2011 Teaser from Wackymango on Vimeo.

I'm heading back to Pamplona for the Running Of The Bulls this year. And this time, there will be a total of 7 of us.

Chinatown in Singapore

A 3 hour flight from Thailand, I went to Singapore for a weekend. When people explain how clean Singapore is, they're not kidding. It's really, really, really clean. Every Chinatown that I've visited, I've found the streets to be dirty; but not in Singapore. It's spotless.

I headed over to the hawker stands in a quest to eat at Tian Tian. According to all the locals, they serve the best Hiananeese Chicken Rice. How good was it you may ask? After my first plate, I got another one. Tian Tian is located in the Maxwell food stalls in China Town.

Koh Samet

Aside from the scooter mishap, I had a blast in Koh Samet. A 3 hour drive from Bangkok to Rayon followed by a 45 minute boat ride to the island. It’s a small island filled with small beach front hotels and restaurants. The southern part of the island is more a resort area that is secluded from the public. On the north east side of the island - in between the villages of Hat Sai Kaew and Laem Yai - is where you’ll find the ocean front beach parties that begin at sundown. There’s a plethora of restaurants and bars that are lined up on that coast line. Relaxing during the day with tons of kids playing in the beach to a Raging Party scene at night.

Dodged a Bullet in Koh Samet

Posted for March 14, 2011
I took a weekend trip to Koh Samet. It's a small island located in the southern region of Thailand. I rented scooter and had a blast with the exception of one mishap. I fell off my scooter. So what happened:

On a steep downhill dirt road filled with boulders and deep crevices created from the rain (water run off) is where it didn't happen, but rather on a flat straight away, full throttled on a sandy dirt road. I made it down the hill fine. I treated my scooter like it was a mountain bike. My friends on the other hand, jumped off their scooters and watched their scooters roll down the hill.

When I made it down the hill, the dirt road smoothed out into a flat sandy straight away. At full throttle, I peered back to look for my friends. With none of them in sight, I hit brakes; but a little too hard. In doing so, the back of the scooter started to swing out towards the right. Wearing nothing but board shorts and slippers, the hamster in my brain began to spin with images of something real bad that was about to happen. Unable to control the scooter, I waited for the exact moment to ditch the scooter. As I let go, I hit the dirt road scrapping my toes, leg, shoulder, and face on the ground. I don't know how I was able to immediately pop up on my feet, but as I looked ahead, I watched my scooter tumble and slide further down the road. I looked beyond my scooter down the street and saw a bunch of people looking at me in shock and in amazement. I then realized I had just dodged bullet.

Finding Some Good Food

Staying in Bangkok for 6 weeks, I was bound to find an everyday place to go to for my meals. Sure enough, a 15 min walk from my hotel is a little place called Ad Makers. I ate at this place at least 2 times a week. You’ve got mama handling the fryer in front with the rest of the family cooking in the back. The food is a traditional Thai home cooked meal at a bargain price. To feed 4 with beers: 15 dollars. You can even bring in your own hard liquor to enjoy with your meal: my preferance – Sam Song, known as Thai Whisky which actually is rum.

Pictures below: Snakehead fish with a mango salad, Fish cakes, Tom Yum Soup, Crab Fried Rice, and Tilapia with hot chili and sweet sauce

6 weeks

I just got back from Thailand. I was based in Bangkok for 6 weeks for work and was able to venture out during the weekends. I'll post more on my Thailand trip later. The picture above was taken in the city of Ayutthaya in the Ayutthaya Historical Park. The city was once the capital of Thailand.

Walking

These clips were taken with in the past 2 years. I used 3 different point and shoot cameras that was able to capture video and 1 video camera. There were more locations I could of added, but I just got too lazy filming myself.

Back in Florence

Posted for December 27, 2010
Back in Florence again; my third visit here. Its a nice town that is centralized to everything. And not to forget to mention, it's a great region for wine - specifically Chianti and Sangiovese. Last night I met some people and went out for dinner at a restaurant that had a Jazz band playing. I had an Osso Bucco that was cooked in a bolognese sauce. It was good. After the meal, I had a Grappa as we watched the Band play.