WALK THE EARTH

FLYING to LAS VEGAS

2008-03-06T23:59:00.000-08:00

Las Vegas, here I come. Just for 2 days business trip. But still it is to get into a plane and catch the beauty of a sunset of my way to the sin city ...

UBUNTU

2008-03-05T23:59:00.000-08:00

My thoughts are going back to UBUNTU. "I am only because I am surrounded by other people". "I am nobody without the people around me". "The people around me make me". It is more important what I can do to improve the community rather than what I can do to become richer or more powerful. I think this is an universal truth. And I am glad that it is so clear in fornt of my eyes now.

SEATTLE from ALKI BEACH

2008-03-04T23:59:00.000-08:00

This is a picture that I took in the weekend, it is the Seattle skyilne from from Alki beach. I think we are really lucky to live in a place where beauty is so accessible ...

THE LAST of the MOHICANS

2008-03-03T23:59:00.000-08:00

Today I am totally in love with the them of "The last of the mohicans".Today it randomly popped to my ears, and I totally love it and I can't stop listening to it ... again and again ...

THE CENTER of the UNIVERSE

2008-03-02T23:59:00.000-08:00

It is years now that I am walking the path to happiness. My walking did follow different paths. All of them were just so necessary to my growth. Travelling by itself is a path, all this blog started from that path, and travelling made me and makes me happy. My NeNe is an other path, she makes me happy and she is the dingle most important person I have met in my entire life, she is my soul mate. But today I found an other truth. To be truly happy maybe I shouldn't care too much. Or better, I shouldn't care too much about me, and I should care more about other people. It is so easy to think that we are the center of the Universe. We actually don't even think about it. I think it comes natural. But maybe it is all wrong. Maybe one of the secrets of happiness is to take things less personal, just relax and think that I am not the center of the universe and that everybody around me have the same rights to be happy that I have ... and that my happiness pass through their happiness ...

COOKING for OTHERS

2008-03-01T23:59:00.000-08:00

During the weekend NeNe and I went to the local catholic church here in Capitol Hill to help out for a open doors meal. Also Stefania joined us. I think it was a nice initiative from the church and I guess was meant to give a warm meal to homeless and people who live alone. For us it has been a great opportunity to share a little bit of our free time. Here are some pictures that I took ...

Really a lot of work, but it was more fun than work, actually. Once we were done with cooking, we left just I didn't meet the people who actually enjoyed the lunch. A shame. It would have been really nice to listen to their stories.

HAPPY FEBRUARY 29th

2008-02-29T23:59:00.000-08:00

2008 is a leap year. And today it is February 29th. So happy leap day to all of you. Amazing that we get a free day every 4 years. I like that. We shouldn't waste it. But I guess I did it ... I went to the office today ... :O

READING on the BUS

2008-02-28T23:59:00.000-08:00

As I was saying few days ago, I really love commuting to work by bus, because I have almost 2 hours per day to read all the books that I left behind in the last years. So after I finish "The life of Mahanta Gandhi", I started a new one "Guns, germs and steel". It is an amazing historical book about the evolution of the human kind in the last 13,000 years. The book is trying to answer to questions like "Why in certain area of the planet people created cultures and empires and went to conquer other continents? Why it didn't happen the opposite?" Really interesting. If you are interested in human evolution, you have to read this. BTW ... this is a gift from Jake, my former roommate in LA. Thanks Jake!

THE 1st GUEST OUT OF TOWN

2008-02-27T23:59:00.000-08:00

Martin s the first guest that we have from out of town. He came to Seattle for some meeting and we invited him to our place for a dinner. Although our pace is still a mess and it is tiny, we managed to be nice hosts. Now that we have a couch, we can even take non standing pictures ...

... and of course now we hope that we will have more guests coming to visit us ... :D

I COMMUTE TO WORK BY BUS

2008-02-26T23:59:00.000-08:00

I commute by bus, and that it makes my proud and happy. Proud because I believe it helps the environment, happy because it means that we don't need to buy an other car, because I hate to drive bumpuer2bumper (BTW ... who like it), because it relaxes me and finally because I can finally dedicate time to read that pile of books that I have in my room. And here is how the bus43 looks like at 8AM in the morning ...

... not even too crowded ... there is always room to seat ... :D

WE GOT A COUCH!!!

2008-02-25T23:59:00.000-08:00

We finally got a couch! We bought in the weekend here in Capitol Hill, the Seattle neighborhood where we live. Nice nice couch, and very nice prize as well. I think it was a $900 couch and we bought it for $250 in the "as is" section. Here if when we got it home. The other guy in the picture is our neighbour Stevie, he help us to push it trough our apartment door ...

We bought it in this shop called AREA51. They have very nice stuff, but they have an horrible customer service (they are just jack-ss). I guess it is worth writing the story. In our case they try to charge us $300 for the delivery, and the reason behind that price was that we already got a good deal out of the couch ... so they had to charge us a lot for the delivery ... :O ... smart of them to tell us!!! And they didn't even want to keep it there for 1 day more, after we paid, again because we got a good deal out of it. F-ck-rs! So we decide to walk the couch home. 1 mile away. Ehehehe. It took us 1 hour, but at the end we made. Nene was so exhausted that when we got in front of our apartment door, she gave up. And Stevie help us to made the last push into the apartment door. People was looking at us, like we stole it. Very funny. Anyways when we got home, we realized that the plastic foot of a leg was missing. Of course because we bought in the "as is" section, there was no way to bring it back. And we thought that maybe we lost the "foot" on the way to our apartment. We went back all the way with our camping lamps and we actually found it on the curb! Very lucky! And now we have our new fancy couch ... ;)

PUBLICTRANSPORT+GOOGLE

2008-02-24T23:59:00.000-08:00

I love public transportation and I love also GoogleMaps. And now I found that they are the perfect match for me. At least here in Seattle. If I want to go by bus, I just check the directions on Googlemaps and I select "by public transportation" instead of "by car" ... and there you go it gives you ways to go there by bus. Timetable, waiting time, everything is there. For example this is my way to work ... bus43 and bus 242 ...

... I love it ... ahahaha ... it is just great ... :)

The official GOOGLE BLOG

2008-02-23T23:59:00.001-08:00

If you are, like me, a totally GOOGLE addict ... you have to keep the googleblog. It is supercool. It has all the latest news about GOOGLE products and it is updated almost every day ...

... so if you are a Google addict, you can't miss it!

AN OTHER ADDICTION

2008-02-22T23:59:00.000-08:00

I got an other addiction. This time is for facebook. I was there for more than 1 year, but I never really used it. This week suddenly I started using it. And bang. Now I can't stop anymore. I need to check every hour if is there anybody out there who did something exciting. The good thing is that I found a lot of far away friends in there. Today I was able to speak with a friend, after 16 years! The bad thing is that I can't stop checking what is happening in their lifes. Now I know when they walk their dog and when they go to the doctor. Ouch! Is there anybody out there who can help me to get rid of this stupid addiction?

A PIECE OF WISDOM

2008-02-21T23:59:00.000-08:00

Once Mahatma Gandhi said ... "The things that will destroy us are politics without principle, pleasure without conscience, wealth without work, knowledge without character, business without morality, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice". I read it few days ago and bang, it was like an eureka for me! I am thinking about it everyday now ... and it helps me to be a better person. Or at least try to be a better person.

AN INCREDIBLE LIFE

2008-02-20T23:59:00.000-08:00

Gandhi has always been an icon for me. But I never really read a lot about his life. So, last year when I was in Nepal, I got this book. I am reading it now, I am almost done with it. It is a good book. But it unveils also a lot of the private life of Gandhi. And there is where I was shocked. I discovered how hard he was with his family. Not a bad person at all, but his convictions about education and sex really strange to accept. Anyways, if you have some time, I suggest to give it a try and read this book.

BOOKSHELFing

2008-02-19T23:59:00.000-08:00

Here we are. Driving back from IKEA with the bookshelf in the back of the car was funny. Carrying all that stuff upstairs was not too hard. And now it comes the last part of the game. Put together the bookshelf. Here are some of the phases of the work ...

... it took as a while, but at the end we made it. I have to admit that the hardest part has been to lift it up, as a whole. I was really afraid that it was going to kill me!

MORE IKEA SHOPPING

2008-02-18T23:59:00.001-08:00

Here we are, we have spent only 2 months in Seattle ... and we have driven to IKEA at least 5 times already. Getting almost a familiar place. But maybe this is one of out last trips. We have actually purchased a book shelf and some other stuff ... and even if we had to squeeze our knees against the windshield on our way home, we have managed to fit everything in the car ... ehehehe ... here is it ... our mighty car filled in with a book shelf ...

FEBRUARY 17th

2008-02-17T23:59:00.000-08:00

Febraury 17th is one of these dates that I will never forget. Last year something very very special happen to NeNe and I. And today, one year later, we have decided to remeber that day. And we were lucky enough that it was an incredibly sunny day. It is rare to see the sun here in Seattle in Winter, but today it was a sunny day. We went to Alki beach, just in front of Seattle, and there we met our friends Stefania, Supito, Joe and Kartik. For us happiness is just share our happy moments with our friends in a very simple way. And this is a picure that we took at lunch ...

WE GOT A PIANO!!!

2008-02-16T23:59:00.000-08:00

Our researches on CRAIGLIST bring some result. We found a very good piano. For free. It plays really well, and it is in a very decent shape. The piano is actually for free, but we had to hire some PIANO MOVERS and have it delivered in our 3rd floor apartment. Here are 2 of the 3 guys who did the job ...... an amazing hard job. It took them almost 1 hour to push it upstairs! A very very physical job. The fee for the service was $250, but it was so hard that we ended up giving them $100 tip. Totally deserved. And here we have the new piano. NeNe is really happy, and I am as well. It is such a pleasure to hear her to play ... :D

RUN RUN RUN

2008-02-15T23:59:00.000-08:00

Cathal is a colleague of mine. We work in the same cubicle here in our lovely Redmond, WA office ... and we love to run. So we have decided that going forward every Tuesday and Thursday we will have a lunch break run session. We call it RUN RUN RUN, and the red line in the map here is our first route ...... 3.2 miles here around the office. Overall it take us 1 hour of our daily work, 15 minutes to change and prepare, 30 minutes for running and 15 minutes for stretching, shower and changing again. It is very relaxing, actually. Sneak 1 hour out of the office routine ... you should try as well. You will come back to the office much more relaxed than when you left ... :D

NOT TOTALLY VEGETARIANS

2008-02-14T23:59:00.000-08:00

We are not eating anymore meat, we are not really vegetarian. We still eat a lot of seafood. And it would be really a shame to live in Seattle and not eat the wonderful seafood that we can find up here and with Nene who really knows how to cook the seafood. In this funny picture she is busy to fight against the steam while she is preparing some PANCIT, a Philipino traditional meal made of vegetables, seafood and rice noodles ...

OUR PROTEINS ...

2008-02-13T23:59:00.000-08:00

Yes, we are trying hard to eat healthy. We have basically eliminated all the meat. Lentils and tofu are becoming my favourite source of proteins. This is one of the phase of my lentils dinner ...... easy to make with all vegetables (i.e. lentils, red onion, carrot, tomatoes, spices and extra virgin olive oil) ... ans super yummy ... :D

TRYING TO EAT HEALTHY

2008-02-12T23:59:00.000-08:00

US is not an easy country if you want to eat healthy. There are way too many chances to get your tummy flooded with junk food and forget about what is really good for your body. But things are changing also here. And if you know what you want, you can find it. NeNe and I have decided that we need a healthier diet. So no more animal fat, no more meat, no more added salt, no more added sugar, lot of fruit and vegetables. Extreme? A little bit, but it is really good for you. And after a while your taste gets used to it. And there are tons of options in the market place. One of our favourite new fruit is the pomegranate ... absolutely gorgeous either if you decide to keep in the kitchen or if you decide to eat it ...

PIANO for FREE

2008-02-11T23:59:00.000-08:00

NeNe really knows how to play the piano, but unfortunately she hasn't been practicing a lot lately. Her place in LA was too small to keep a piano in. But we promised to our self to get a piano as soon as we were moving into our new place in Seattle. And so we did. We looked into CRAIGLIST and we realized that actually there is a fair amount of people, that at any given time, is giving away their piano for free. Basically it is people who have to move out of their place and can't take it anymore with them. Or Not too bad, especially for us. We already budgeted at least $1,000 to get a new piano. And these free pianos are in fairly good conditions. Maybe I could open a business. Get free pianos here in US and ship them back to Italy and sell them over there ... :D

STILL A MESS ...

2008-02-10T23:59:00.000-08:00

We have moved in since weeks now, but our place is still a mess. A total mess. This is an example of how our bedroom look like during the weekend ... trying to figure out where to put our cloths ...... totally messy, but it helps you realize how many funny cloths you have been buying over the years ... :D

WE GOT A PACKAGE!!!

2008-02-09T23:59:00.000-08:00

I have been sending out our new address to all our friends, hoping to convince someone to come to visit us or at least to send us a postcard to populate our new fridge. But I think we got luckier than that. We even got luckier that what we thought, we even got a gift ...... this is the first gift, and it is from Mae, one of Tina's best friend back in LA. Of course we will love to receive more and more ... so if you want just do it ... you will feel good and we will feel happy ... :D

HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS ...

2008-02-08T23:59:00.000-08:00

I definitely spend too much time looking at the screen of my laptop. And honestly I don't really like too much. But sometimes I also find interesting stuf. Today for example I found a new (for me) website. It is WIKIHOW. They teach you how do do anything. From how to repair your car to "How to Make Her Fall in Love" to "How to make friends" to "How to Put On a Bicycle Chain" ... and more and more ... pretty funny ... if you have the chance give it a try ... http://www.wikihow.com/Main-Page

HOMELESS in SEATTLE

2008-02-07T23:59:00.000-08:00

I took ths picture the other day, few blocks from our new home, while I was driving down Broadway Blvd. A guy crossing the street with a shopping cart. If you look to the picture, you can see he is handling the cart on the wrong side, quite an imagine of how things can go in the wrong direction sometimes ...It is hard, for me, to see these people freezing in the cold of the winter and begging for your change at the supermarket door. So I did some small research and of course Wikipedia was a good source of information. Apparently in the King County (the count of Seattle) there are around 8,000 homeless on any given night, and many of those live in Seattle. In September 2005, King County adopted a "Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness", one of the near-term results of which is a shift of funding from homeless shelter beds to permanent housing. I am not sure if I will be there in 2015, but if you will happen to be in Seattle around 2015, maybe you will find a cisty without homeless anymore ... that will be a great day ...

PHOENIX AIRPORT SUNSET

2008-02-06T23:59:00.000-08:00

Day business trips are don't really make much sense to me, especially if you have to cross half of the US, just to meet a customer for a couple of hours. Today I was in Phoenix, AZ for a day business trip. Early wake up in Seattle, flight to Phoenix, meeting and flight back to Seattle. At least the sunset at the airport was worth while. You can judge, to me it is absolutely stunning ...

CRAZY for SUSHI

2008-02-05T23:59:00.000-08:00

Because our apartment is really far away from being ready to be used to organize any dinner with friends, NeNe and I are using the excuse to go and visit the local restaurants. Tonite we went to a Sushi bar suggested by Supito. Really a great place and not very expensive. We went completely crazy for Sushi, and this is a picture that I took ...

THE ULTIMATE SUNBLOCK

2008-02-04T23:59:00.001-08:00

I got this cartoon strip today by email .... and I simply love it ... ehehehe ...Seattle is just great ... and it really makes you save a lot of money when you get to sunblock section of the supermarket ... :D

BLOOMING KITCHEN WINDOW

2008-02-03T23:59:00.000-08:00

Our home is slowly getting furnished. And we area also getting some small gift from our friends. This is from Stefania. We love it. And it is our own blooming spring 365 days per year in our kitchen window ...

A GLIMPSE OF SPRING

2008-02-02T23:59:00.000-08:00

A glimpse of Spring in front of our place. In the cold cold Seattle winter these yellow narcissus gave us so much joy ...... but unfortunately they were just a glimpse. Nothing more than that. The winter has been really really long. With a lot of snow. The mountains are completely snow capped. And we really like it, we don't really mind the cold, such a nice change from Southern California ... maybe we will get tired of this cold weather, but for now we really like it ... :D

OUR WEEKLY PASTIME

2008-02-01T23:59:00.000-08:00

A weekly visit to IKEA has become one of our pastimes. And lucky us that we have an IKEA not very far from where we live. We go there we buy something, come back home. We realize that it is not exactly what we need. We go back to IKEA to return it. And we buy something else. For weeks ... but I guess we like ... IKEA is so organized compared with our apartment ... it is relaxing to see that everything one day will fir in some nice bookshelf or cabinet. But what I like the most is this car parked just outside the main gate ...

THE LUCKIEST DAY OF MY LIFE

2008-01-30T23:59:00.000-08:00

One year ago. Exactly one year ago, on January 30th 2007, Tina and I met in Hawaii. That was definitely the luckiest day of my life. And this is a picture of that day. Cristie, the common friend who introduced to each other, took this picture that night. This is exactly that type of day that you think will never happen. You meet a person and you fall in love immediately and you are in Hawaii and everything is like a dream. And you realize that you just found your soul mate. And she lives in the same city where you live. And you spend the rest of your life together! Yes it did happen exactly like this ... :D

SUNSET in PINE Street

2008-01-29T23:59:00.000-08:00

A piece at a time we are discovering Seattle. Most of the time we walk, we just take off from our apartment and we go to discover a new area of the city. But sometimes we drive. This is a nice sunset through the Seattle buildings in Pine Street ...... Pine is one of our favorite streets. It runs from West to East and from Capitol Hill, where we live, it goes downhill straight to downtown, the Pike market and the Seattle waterfront.

GET RID OF THE BOXES

2008-01-28T23:59:00.000-08:00

Even if we packed everything by our self just few weeks ago, every box that we open has a small surprise in it. That book that I forgot I bought. That CD that I really wanted to listed. And that T-Shirt that I couldn't find anymore. And one of the nicest thing is to get rid of all these boxes that kept all our life in the last month. A lot of boxes. At a certain point we collected so many in the corridor that we were not able anymore to leave our apartment. But one of the good things of Seattle is that we need to separate the garbage because they recycle it. Finally someone who cares about the environment ... :D

SEATTLE NITE TRAFFIC

2008-01-27T23:59:00.000-08:00

I really like this picture, especially the yellow spot created by the taxi backing up. So I decided to put it in the blog. Fortunately for us, Seattle traffic is not that bad. And there is no night traffic at all. This traffic was for an expectational event. Such a blessing compared with LA. But still there is not better title for this picture, I guess. So this is the Seattle nite traffic ...

SEATTLE NITE LITES

2008-01-26T23:59:00.000-08:00

This is the Seattle Center (not downtown), with the Space Needle, in a night picture from Capitol Hill ... really a stunning view, especially during the night, when all the lights are on ...... and little by little we are discovering that we can basically walk everywhere in Seattle from our place. Nothing is really far, and with all these hills are keeping us in a good shape ... :D

CELEBRATING

2008-01-25T23:59:00.000-08:00

We have moved to our new place. And we love it. And we already call it home. So we have decided to celebrate. Nothing crazy. But a little bit of fresh (very fresh) air and a good hot coffee in the middle of the night with Supito is what we need. And here are some pictures of our happy faces in the middle of a chilly Seattle night ... it was really cold, but we didn't really feel it ... the magic of happiness ...

NOTHING CAN BEAT FRIENDS

2008-01-24T23:59:00.000-08:00

We are not a moving company yet, but we are getting stronger and bigger. For this last part of this new move we have also four extra arms to help us. Although NeNe and I loaded all the truck by our self, our friends Arjang and Supito will help us to unloaded it and carry all the stuff to our new apartment. The hard working day started with a breakfast in a coffee shop just down the street ...... it continue with some hard work moving all our stuff upstairs to our apartment. This is Supito at the entrance of our new building ...Arjang took it really seriously. This is him carrying up the kitchen table. It is not really the heaviest table ever, but it is not even that light. Anyways thanks to them we did finish everything in less than 3 hours. And these are NeNe, Supito and Arjang cheering in the back of the empty Penske truck. Very tired, but very very very happy because we are done, everything is in our new home ...And of course we had to celebrate. We went all together to a Thai restaurant, just one block from where we live. Even the hardest things look so simple do accomplish when you have friends helping you ...

WE ARE MOVING AGAIN

2008-01-23T23:59:00.000-08:00

We have to do it again. We have to rent again a PENSKE truck, load it and move to a new place. It is just 12 miles away, but it is a lot of difference from the sleeping Redmond to the exciting and lively Capitol Hill, probably the neighbor that we like the most in Seattle ...Hopefully this one will be our last move for a while. And this is the truck all loaded ...... it didn't take much. We are becoming professional movers. And with all this box moving we are getting stronger, and we are saving a lot of money in gym subscription. But we would like also to settle down ... let's how long we will stay in our new apartment in Capitol Hill will ... :D

BRIDGES CAN FLOAT!

2008-01-22T23:59:00.000-08:00

The first time that I read about it, I thought it was a joke. But it is actually true. There are floating bridges. And Seattle has two of them. Actually Seattle has been one of the first places that had built them. They are both over the Lake Washington. One is over the I-90 and an other is over the 520. This is the one that I take everyday to go to work. It is over the 520. Here a couple of pictures, that I took in the last days, of the 520 floating bridge ... one is from the sky and the other from the road ...... amazing, isn't is!? Yes! I love Seattle, also for this small amazing things!

OUR NEW HOME in SEATTLE

2008-01-21T23:59:00.000-08:00

After a research of few days we have finally found our new home in Seattle! And we love it! It is just perfect for us and not top of that ... we couldn't stand anymore the "community" where we were living in Redmond, WA. Everything was just so quiet there, and you really had the feeling to be a chicken in a cage. The place that we have found is nothing like that. It is a 1 bedroom apartment wih hardwood floor and with a lot of character. It is actually in Seattle itself. The area is called Capitol Hill. And it is really super cool. Movie Theatre, Coffee Shops, Restaurants, Grocery stores are just few steps away. And you don't really need the car to go anywhere in the city. You feel like living in a small NYC. If you are curious here is where our new home in Seattle is ... it is the green arrow in the middle of the GoogleMap ...

SEATTLE SURVIVAL KIT

2008-01-20T23:59:00.000-08:00

Yes, Seattle is definitely a rainy city. That doesn't really bother me, even if I lived my last 5 years in Southen California, where it probably rains 10 days per year. Most of the time here in Seattle the rain is just a light drizzle. You don't really need nothing but a hood in your jacket. But that is enough to make Seattle the center of the universe when people think about rain. Today while I was browsing in one of these kid's store with a lot of funny stuff, I found this interesting "Seattle Survival Kit". I loved it! Unfortunately they didn't have my size, otherwise I would have bought it ... ahahahaha ... :D

RAINY DAYS IN SEATTLE

2008-01-19T23:59:00.001-08:00

How many rainy days a year in Seattle? Can you guess? I will help you ... almost 50% of the days are raining. Yep, something like 150 days per year! Depressing? You can think so. An other way to see it, is to think about how much water is important in our everyday life. I found this UNICEF billboard pretty interesting ...... I think they are right! We should realize how lucky we are. It is true that sometimes it is pretty boring to get all this rain. On the other side, though, what would be our life without any rain? Yes, we are lucky up here in Seattle ... :D

LANDING in SEATTLE

2008-01-19T23:59:00.000-08:00

Landing in my home town is always exciting, I can recognize the freeways that I drive, and the main landmarks of the city. This is especially true for Seattle. We have justed moved here, so I know the city more and more every day. And these are some of the pictures that I took just before landing, while we were flying over the city. These are the Seattle airport and downtown on the waterfront of the Puget Sound...And this is the 520 freeway floating bridge over the Lake Washington looking from West to East. And in the background the Cascades mountain, Really beautiful to drive thru it and even better to look at it from the sky. OK, time to buckle up and land in the Seattle airport ... yyyeeeeeaaaaahhhhh ... Seattle is our beatiful new home town ... :D

ABOVE Mt. RAINIER

2008-01-17T23:59:00.000-08:00

Here some other pictures from my flight Phoenix to Seattle. These pictures are of Mt. Rainier, the highest mountain in the Pacific North West. It is actually a volcano, and one of the mountains that Nene and I would like to climb. It is definitely easier to have a look at it from the warm seat of an airplane ...

PHOENIX to SEATTLE

2008-01-16T23:59:00.000-08:00

Phoenix to Seattle by air is a new flight for me. I was used to fly back home to LA, but now my new hone is up there, in the Pacific North West. And of course the scenery from the window of the plane is very very different than the one flying to Southern California. You fly over Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington states ...I was seated in a window seat, and there were not many clouds so I took some pictures. Here they are. I hope you will enjoy them. The winter view, with all that snow down there, is pretty interesting ...... and now I am just curious, what is your favorite one? I personally really like the last one ...

SAGUARO National Park

2008-01-15T23:59:00.000-08:00

Planning this trip to Phoenix, we thought to go visit again Grand Canyon NP. But now that we are here and we have realized that up north in Grand Canyon it is freezing temperature (don't ask me why I didn't check the weather before I left Seattle) ... we have decide to go and visit a new NP. Saguaro NP. Saguaro are these huge cactus growing all over the south part of Arizona, but in particular in the area close to Tucson, where the Saguaro NP is ...The park is pretty nice, although we didn't really have a lot of time to go around. We just visited the Visitor Center, drove around and took some pictures. Not really the way that I like to visit a park, but we didn't really have a lot of time for much more than this. So these are some pictures for your enjoyment ...So now you will wonder how big are these cactus, right? So look at that funny small guy at the bottom of the cactus. That is me! Amazing, isn't it? Yes, they are. Completely! Totally! Like most of the National Parks here in US. They are really amazing. I love love love them ... if you have some vacation ... come here to US and visit them. They will never disappoint you. Promised.

PHOENIX is COOOOLD

2008-01-14T23:59:00.000-08:00

While we are trying to find a new apartment in our new hometown, Seattle ... my boss has decided to send me to Phoenix, AZ for few days. Tina is coming with me as well. We want to relax a little bit together and leave behind all the boxes on our new apartment. The weather in Phoenix is not as warm as I expected. It is pretty cold down here, especially in the evening after the sun sets. In a way would like that he sun would never set, but in the other way, it is really nice every time there is a sunset here in the desert. This is a picture that I took from our office window ...

TRYING TO COOK ...

2008-01-13T23:59:00.000-08:00

Cooking is an other hard thing to do when you have just moved into a temporary apartment like we just did. There is always some ingredient missing. And we don't know where to buy stuff. And we are always late. A mess! But a nice one. And at the end what we end up cooking most of the time pasta every single day ...... but it is lovely. We love it, love it and love it!

BOXES EVERYWHERE

2008-01-12T23:59:00.000-08:00

We though that unload the truck was the hard part. But it wasn't. The truck is finally unloaded, and now we have a bigger problem. We have our new apartment completely full of boxes. At the begin, of course, they were all closed. But of course we started looking for that special shirt or pair of pants or the plates. Where did we put the plates? And the silverware? And the insurance documents? And the waterproof shoes? In two days half of our boxes were open. A complete mess. In a way we don't really care. We knew it was going to be like this. But more the days are passing and more the mess is growing ...... but the real problem is that the apartment where we are staying is a temporary situation. It is a corporate type of apartment in a community. Although it is convenient because it is close to my office, we are looking for something with more personality. We hope to get something soon in Seattle itself ... Xing our fingers ...

THANK YOU Sir HILLARY

2008-01-11T23:59:00.000-08:00

Edmund Hillary was the first one to conquer, with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, the Everest ... the highest peak in the World ...That day was May 29th 1953. Edmund was 33. Today January 11th 2008 Sir Hillary died. During my trip to Nepal and to the Everest Base Camp last year I had the chance to appreciate what Sir Hillary did. And to my surprise the summit of the Everest back in 1953 isn't to me, the highest peak of his. Yes, Sir Hillary did something much more important than that. After the 1953 expedition, he came back to Nepal and he built schools and hospitals in the Himalaya region where the Sherpa people is living. That made me think a lot. I realized that all we do in our life should have as core value the happiness of our self and of the people around us. If this is not the core value of everything we are do every single moment, we are doing something wrong. Edmund Hillary became "Sir Hillary" after the conquer of the Everest summit he could have easily forgotten the people of Nepal, but he didn't. And that made of him a special person ... a model for all of us. Bye bye Edmund. Thank you for teaching us, not how to climb a stupid mountain, but how to put the happiness of our brothers in front of every single choice we take every day ...

UNLOAD the TRUCK!

2008-01-10T23:59:00.000-08:00

And now it comes the fun part. After the 1,100+ miles of drive from LA to Seattle ... we need to unload all this wonderful yellow PENSKE truck! It is a heavy work. Especially because I need to be in the office and the poor Nene is home alone to take care of this hard task. But it is also fun. Think that all our stuff can fit in a small yellow truck, makes us proud. We dream to continue to be this light. So we will be able to move everywhere. But again, for now let's not think about what will come after Seattle. Let's unload this truck and hopefully we will even figure out where our sweatshirts are ... we will need them soon ... it is pretty cold up here ... :D

FINALLY in SEATTLE

2008-01-09T23:59:00.000-08:00

After a preparation of months, and a trip of 1,100+ miles we are finally in Seattle, WA. This will be our new home for years to come, hopefully. Although the weather is not as dry as in Southern California, I am sure that also my Nene will love this wonderful city. Wish us good luck, although we have a temporary place to live, we will have to figure out pretty soon where will go to live. The short list is Seattle itself, Bellevue and Kirkland ... but maybe Seattle itself is the one that i like the most ... I like to live in the city. And the city of Seattle has really a lot to offer. Anyways time to open the truck now and check if everything is still there ... :D

XING PORTLAND, OR

2008-01-08T23:59:00.000-08:00

When we were almost seeing Seattle there just few hours in front of us ... we got stuck in the 4PM Portland, OR traffic ...... and we didn't manage to get in Seattle on time to go into our new apartment. So we had to spend the first night in Seattle in an hotel room ... :D

WELCOME to OREGON

2008-01-07T23:59:00.000-08:00

Bye bye California. Here we come Oregon. Welcome to Oregon. This is the way we celebrated the border crossing between the two states ...But I guess we didn't expect such a dramatic change in the weather. After just 5 miles inside Oregon a thick layer of fog was waiting for us. I guess sunny California is really our past ...

VOLCANOES on the way ...

2008-01-06T23:59:00.000-08:00

Still in California. Almost in Oregon. Our driving to Seattle is nothing but boring. Although we didn't manage to make any major stop along the way, the views from the truck are really stunning and full of surprises. These are two of the mountains that we saw along the way. Mt. Shasta and Marys peak. Mt. Shasta is the snow capped ...Both of them are volcanoes. Actually most of the Pacific North West mountains are actually volcanoes ... Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Elen, Mt. Olympus. I think we will have fun up in Seattle. Tina and I have this secret dream to start climbing. And Mt. Rainier is one of the mountains that we would like to climb ... but who knows, maybe we will come back here to California to climb also Mt. Shasta and Marys Peak ... :D

AMERICANA

2008-01-05T23:59:00.000-08:00

I took this picture in a gas station just north of Redding, CA. And for some reason I really love it. It really gives an idea of the blue sky that we have found so far. And the gas station itself is really the symbol of the road trip. And the size of the gas station is something is giving an idea of the immense spaces that you can find here in the West. And of course our little yellow yellow truck to complete this Americana ...

NORTHERNMOST IN-N-OUT

2008-01-04T23:59:00.000-08:00

We are in Redding, CA and after 560 miles on the road we are less than half of our way to Seattle. But it is dark and we are really tired of driving. Looking at the map, north of us there is really nothing that looks like a city so and we have decided to stop, get something to eat and a bed to sleep. And there the nicest surprise. In little Redding, CA there is the northern most IN-N-OUT of the World! Ehehehe. The fact that IN-N-OUT is only in California, Nevada and Arizona doesn't really diminish our feelings. We really feel we are in a special place. And we are craving for IN-N-OUT burgers. So we park our truck & trolley and we go to enjoy not one, not two, but three double double! This may be be the last IN-N-OUT burger we will have in a long time. This driving is really a funny adventure. A pity that we are so loaded and that we can't take side streets and we can't go and visit the National Parks that are on the way between LA ans Seattle. We will have to do it an other time. For now we just enjoy our double doubles ...

SHADOWS to SEATTLE

2008-01-03T23:59:00.000-08:00

We are still driving on the I-5. Still in California. We just passed the intersection to San Francisco. The sun is setting. LA is our happy past and Seattle is hopefully equally happy future. We would like to look forward, but we continue think about the past. And in the middle of the drive, we notice our shadow. A wonderful California sunset shadow ...

GAAAAAAAS ... :P

2008-01-02T23:59:00.000-08:00

There is no such a thing as a free meal, right? And there is no such a thing like a road trip with a truck without gas stops! And believe me this fully loaded PENSKE truck, pulling a trailer is really crazy about gas. This is one of the multiple stops we had today ...

SNOOOOW ... :D

2008-01-01T23:59:00.000-08:00

The driving trip has finally started. We are driving northbound on the I-5 and now LA is finally behind us. And few hours into the trip we have the first surprise. Apparently it did snow here in the last days. Very nice landscape. Here are some pictures that I like to share with you ...... but hopefully we won't find a snowy path all the way to Seattle. It won't be too much fun to drive this truck pulling the car in the snow ...

BYE BYE LA ...

2007-12-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

And this is the time to attach the trailer with the car to the yellow yellow truck and leave the so well know LA freeways. It is nice to leave LA driving out ...

THE REAL FAREWELL

2007-12-30T23:59:00.000-08:00

This is it. This is the time to leave. The time when my room is completely empty. The time when I have to leave my keys to someone else. The time when I have to close the door behind me. I lived here more than 4 years now. I still remember when I came here for the first time to see a "room for rent with shared bathroom". It was October 2003, and Jake was waiting for me. And after few months Leif came. And Jake left. And Leif left as well. Today Aaron is not even here to say goodbye. Jason is here. He didn't go to the gym, just to give me the final hug. It is time to leave. But I am not sad. I am actually happy for the wonderful time that I have spent here. I have learn a lot in these years. And I have shared a lot of love with these places and my friends. And I just hope that I will be able to be as happy as this also in Seattle ...

A YELLOW YELLOW TRUCK

2007-12-29T23:59:00.000-08:00

At the end it had to happen and it did happen. The I-5 did reopen. And now we don't have an excuse anymore. We really have to leave California, LA, Hermosa, the surf, the pier, the beach and all our friends. The boxes have been ready from a while now. And after 1 week that PENSKE kept on hold our truck, now we really have to go and pick it up. A new adventure is starting. We are moving to Seattle! And we have decided to rent this bright yellow yellow truck. We parked in front the "244 Monterey Blvd Surf Club" and we started loading it ...and after 3 hours we were done. All our was in that truck, but the cloths for the 2 - 3 days trip that is awaiting us and for the gifts that Nene has prepared for our friends ...... the room is now empty and this will be our last night here in Hermosa. We will sleep on the couch.

THEY DID IT AGAIN

2007-12-28T23:59:00.000-08:00

Our friends did it again. They organized an other farewell party for us. This was the 4th farewell party. And this time it was at Loy's place. A pizza party. And probably it will be the last one. Sad, to think that we have to leave. But tonight we have really enjoyed the friends that we have here in LA. And those are some of the pictures that we took that night. Lovely memories. Amazing friends. I love them ... nothing less and nothing more ...

AND NOW BABY SHOWER

2007-12-27T23:59:00.000-08:00

I think we will never be able to leave LA. An other party and here it is, an other party. This is the baby shower for Sheila, Nene's sister. First time for me in a baby shower. It is a funny concept of party. More like a 5th grade party. Of course no alcohol and no lsmoke and no oud music is allowed. And there are those funny games all about how life will be once the baby will pop out. But I really liked it. it was fun. And here a picture of how the baby will most likely look like ... eheheh ...

99CENTS? IMPOSSIBLE!!!

2007-12-26T23:59:00.000-08:00

I have been living here for 5 years, and I always managed to miss all the 99cents stores that are spotting every single community in LA. I am not sure why I missed them. I guess I just thought I didn't need anything over there. And I guess, I was wrong. Today Nene bring me to one of them and there, I realize what I have missed ...... funny picture. It is really amazing how things can be cheap here ... everything 99cents. Anything you can think about that could cost between $1 and $20 in a normal store is here for just 99cents! Anything! Totally amazing! If you will go to LA, don't do my mistake ... before anything else ... go shopping in one of the 99cents store .. :)

WE DID IT AGAIN

2007-12-25T23:59:00.000-08:00

The I-5 is still flooded. And the sun is still warm here in LA. Why should we leave? No reason. Especially when you have lined up an other party with your friends. Today is the time to go to visit Christina in her bar. Drinking a beer at the Redondo Beach pier with your friends. Nothing more perfect than this. This time are Christina, Justin, Dan, Emily, Mae and Jill ... and those are some of the pictures that we took ...

THE SECOND FAREWELL PARTY

2007-12-24T23:59:00.000-08:00

So here we are. Still in California. We were supposed to leave 2 days ago, but the flood of the Interstate 5 just south of Seattle, didn't help us our plans. We should drive 300miles more through a wingding mountain road in order to get to Seattle. And we don't like that. So we decided to wait here until the I-5 will re-open. And because we have wonderful friends, they decided to continue to celebrate us. One farewell party per day, until we will leave. So this is still our California. And this is an other farewell party. At Mae's place with Jill, Geline, Mae, Christina, Emily and Dan ...And those are Emily and Dan playing with Tina's glasses ...
... nice memories our friends. We will miss them!

IT HAS BEEN A WHILE ...

2007-12-23T23:59:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I wrote in the blog. Not because nothing happened. Actually a lot of things did happen. Even if I didn't write about it. But not everything is lost. I still remember most of it, and I have also some pictures. So, I have decided to make a fast replay of those beautiful months. I hope you will enjoy the ride ...

CALIFORNIA WINTER STORM

2007-12-22T23:59:00.000-08:00

The storm that has created so many problems and floods in the NorthWest (and that floodedthe I-5 to Seattle) has found his way here to Southern California ... no rain at all here, but 8+ feet waves for the few dudes who dared to go out there to surf. Wonderful day on the beach for my last surfing memories in Southern California ...

MOTHER NATURE

2007-12-21T23:59:00.000-08:00

This is the way the interstate 5 looks like. Totally flooded. The segment between Portland, OR and Seattle, WA is closed! Why do I care? Because tomorrow I am supposed to drive there on my way to Seattle ...I am not exactly sure what I will do. Most likely we will have to postpone our trip of 1 day. They say that at the earliest it should re-open on Thursday. But nobody knows if it is really going to happen. What can I say? Mother nature wants me to stay some more hours in Southern California. I will have to spend an other day in sunny Southern California ... :D

The LAST HERMOSA SURFING

2007-12-20T23:59:00.000-08:00

For a long time I tried to imagine how the last surfing here in Hermosa was going to be. I thought it was going to be sad. But actually it didn't come out sad at all. It was a perfect weekday morning surf. Not a lot of people around. Not big waves, but who really cared about that?!? The most important thing is that I was in the water with one of my best friends here in LA, Oliver. Surfing is really about getting out there and relaxing. And this last surfing ere in Hermosa has been exactly about like that. The perfect surfing day. I will miss surfing here in Hermosa with my friends. But hopefully, once I will be in Seattle, I will make some trip down to Hawaii. And there I won't even need the wetsuit anymore... :) ...

... and here the last picture ... when we came out of the water we met Kerry and Yama who were coming down for a late morning surf ... and I love this picture ... the icing on the cake ...

SOUTH PARK

2007-12-19T23:59:00.000-08:00

Those are some pictures that I found in my camera the day after the California Farewell Party. Don't ask me what they were doing in the South Park. I just found them really funny ... so here they are ... Jason, Justin, Mae, Amy and NeNe at their very best ... life in Hermosa is really a lot of fun ... I will miss it ...

CALIFORNIA FAREWELL PARTY

2007-12-18T23:59:00.000-08:00

It is all for real. We are really ready to leave California. We are a little bit sad. This is the place where I lived in last 4 years. This is the place that I loved. This is where I lived with wonderful roommatess. This is where I met a lot of friends. This is where I learned to surf. This is where I dared to dream more. This is my California. Sad, yes I am sad. But I am also happy, because in Seattle I won't go alone, I will go with my soulmate Nene. And this makes my happy. So, for our farewell we decided to organize a big party. Nothing crazy, but big enough to invite all our friens. Fifty of our best friends came to my place to celebrate (or maybe to make sure that we will really leave), and those are some of the pictures that I took. Wonderful memories of a special nite ...And this is Jason in front of the fridge with the "244 Monterey Blvd surf Club" hall of fame. Now Jason is the president. In that piece of paper there are a lot of wonderful memories. Every name has a special story. Most of them will be friends forever. Other completely disappeared from my life. I miss all of them, but it is OK. I am happy about the real friends that were here with me to celebrate. And of course in the party we have also some babies. Here are Rene, Hana and Zoe ...

WILD WEST GHOST TOWN

2007-12-17T23:59:00.000-08:00

After a bunch of momerable cold hiking days in Yosemite National Park we have packed all our stuff in the carand we droved across the Tioga pass. The Tioga pass is the highest pass in the lower 48 states, and it is one of the passes that divides the West from the East Sierra, and normally it is closed due to heavy snow after the first snow in October. So we have been very lucky to find it open. Once on the East side of the Sierra we went to visit one of my favourite places here in California. It is Bodie and it is a real wild west ghost town. Founded in 1876 as a mining town its population when from zero to 8,000 people in 6 years. That was the gold rush. From there California took its name. The Golden State. And Bodie was the Sin City of that era. Everybody still associate the name of Bodie, with the phrase "Goodbye God, we are going to Bodie". Its bad name was probably due to its numerous bars where the local men were spending the small fortunes made with the gold mines and of course for its daily shooting. Basically the Wild West that we saw in hundreds of Hollywood movies was a reality here some 140 years ago! What remains of that town are only the ghosts and some building. The visit is really interesting, even if it was the 3rd time for me there. The town now looks like a strange collection of old and weird stuff. You could almost guess that it was the set of a movie or something. But people was really living here ...

... when you walk thru these streets it is easy to imagine that maybe also our cities will be like Bodie in few years ... :o

Hiking GLACIER POINT

2007-12-16T23:59:00.001-08:00

Glacier point has a magnificent view point of the Yosemite Valley. Here you can almost see the glacier that was here and that melted down some thousands of years ago. The way the valley is shaped, the way the rocks are positioned tells you a lot about the glacier that was here. And the view of the Half Dome is breathtaking. It is like a postcard sent directly from the creator. It will never disappoint you. And here it is some picture of from Glacier Point ...and these are Nene and I. We take some pictures after a faily long hike. I think it took us more than 4 hours to get up here ...You can get here wither hiking or by car. We got here hiking from the Yosemite VAlly using the "4 miles trial". The day was really stunning, and those are a couple of pictures that I took along the way...... what can I say? Yosemite is really a jewel. Everybody deserve to see this National Park. If you can just do it. Don't wait for the next life ... :P

Hiking NEVADA FALL

2007-12-15T23:59:00.001-08:00

Nevada fall is an other amazing waterfall of Yosemite National Park. And of course we went to see it. It is a short hike from Vernal fall. But still a lot of people don't do it. Not a lot of people around makes it even nicer. And here are some of the picture of our hike. The waterfall has much more water than Vernal fall and you can see it ...But the hike up there is really really nice. What you will love if you come to Yosemite is the shape of the rocks, that have seen slice on their skin milions of years of glaciers ...

Hiking VERNAL FALL

2007-12-14T23:59:00.001-08:00

Yosemite National Park is famous for a lot of good reasons. One of them are its waterfalls. In spring they are all over the places and they are really wonderful. And if I am not mistaken Yosemite falls are the highest falls in North America. Unfortunately in winter most of the falls don't have much of water. But still they have something to show ... so for a short hike we decided to go and see the Vernal fall. Very easy and very short and very nice hike but also a very very cold hike. It was all in the shade of the mountain. Here are some pictures that we took ...and this a reflection in the lake that is giving the water to the waterfall ...... I love nature and I love the National Parks ...:D

Hiking NORTH DOME

2007-12-13T23:59:00.000-08:00

Here we are. Finally ready to go for some hiking in Yosemite. For the first day we have decided to go to an easy / moderate trail. North Dome. In something like 3 hours hiking we are supposed to get on top of the North Dome and from there see all the Yosemite Valley and just in front of us the magnificent Half Dome. And from there in an other 2 hours we will be back. 5 hours, not bad for the first day. The weather was great. Not too hot and not too cold. Here are some of pictures of our small adventure. This is the last part of the trail. Finally going down. The rock down there is the North Dome ...

And those are pictures that we took from the summit. The gorgeous rock in the background is the Half Dome. That is a hike that I wanted to do, but I didn't do yet. We were planning to go up there, up the season is too cold. There is ice on the trail and the rangers have closed it ...

And this is the a part of the valleys that are in the park. Very very nice. This was used to be all covered by a huge glacier. Now the glaciers are not here anymore, but we can see how it did consumed the rocks ...... very nice and easy hike .... we love Yosemite ... :D

YOSEMITE VALLEY

2007-12-12T23:59:00.000-08:00

I know, if you are familiar with the world class pictures that professional photographers take everyday in Yosemite National Park, you won't really impressed by those pictures. I was not really lucky with the light. Anyways, this is how we saw the wonderful Yosemite Vally. It is really a mother nature masterpiece ...And this is this El Capitan. One of the biggest piece a granite in the entire world. How big? It is an impressive 3,000 feet (910 meters) vertical piece of granite. And here is where professional rock climbers from all over the world are challenging each other ...... maybe, in my next life, I will try rock climbing ... :D

YOSEMITE SUNRISE

2007-12-11T23:59:00.000-08:00

We drove all the way from LA to Yosemite NP in the dark. We were really afraid that the "first come, first served" campground was going to be filled very fast. At the end it didn't really happen. But it was nice to get here at sunrise ...First thing that we did, we did set-up our VE-25. A little bit exaggerated to use an expedition tent for a Yosemite NP campground. But better than the old one, not waterproof anymore. So here we are. 7AM setting up our tent in the Yosemite Valley ...... we are very proud of it. We really like it ... :D

THANKSGIVING in YOSEMITE

2007-12-10T23:59:00.000-08:00

The plan was pretty simple ..."for Thanksgiving let's go camping and trekking in Yosemite National Park" ... at the end NeNe, I, Rhoda, Sheila and I will go ... and believe me ... 5 people trekking camping and trekking for 4 days can really eat a lot ... so Nene and I decided to go to make some shopping at Costco. And this is the result ...And actually this is not all. More food is in the fridge. Mmaybe we have exaggerated ... but better to have a loaf of bread more rather than less ... especially after a day of trekking ... :D

WE HAVE A NEW HOME

2007-12-09T23:59:00.000-08:00

We have a new home. Actually it is not really a home. Actually it is better than a home. It is a shelter. More precisely it is a shelter tent. I dreamed about it for weeks now. And it was really nice when they delivered the tent to my door. So here it is our new home, it is The North Face VE-25 summit tent. And we tested it in my living room in Hermosa ...... this is really a classic for the mountains expedition. And we decided to buy it because the tent that I have is not really waterproof anymore and moving to Seattle ... I am sure that we will have more rainy than dry days. And hopefully we will do also some serious expedition with it ... the first expedition will be in Yosemite National Park ... :D

CALIFORNIA THIN AIR

2007-12-08T23:59:00.000-08:00

San Gorgonio, CA is the highest peak in Southern California. It measures 11,502 feet (3,506 m) above sea level and it is part of the San Bernardino Mountains. NeNe, Olive, Sheila, Rhoda and I plan this trekking for the last 3 months. One attempt failed, in September, because of the first rain of the season. A second attempt, in October, while I was in Nepal failed because during the night NeNe, Sheila, Rhoda and Oliver were attacked by bears. A really scary adventure! Lucky them that they are still alive. An other attempt, while I was still in Nepal, failed again because Oliver, Sheila and Rhoda got here too late to make it back to the car with daylight. So this time is our 4th attempt. The first one for me. But I really want to get on top. I don't have too much time left here in LA. Soon we will move to Seattle. And I really want to get up there. So this time we planned everything all right. Wake up was at 3.40AM. We left Hermosa at 4.00AM. And by 6AM we were at the trail head, ready to go. We took the Vivian Creek trail, and the sun was not out yet, though ...

And these are some of the pictures that I took on the way up. I think it took us 6 hours to go up and 4 hours to go down. A pretty long day for us ...And this is the summit. When we went there we found this American flag ...

The trekking is nice, bit it is not that exciting. It is very much Southern California style, very dry and with not a lot of green vegetation. Maybe I got a little bit spoiled in Nepal. But this really looked like a hill to me. It had also some challenge. The last part, above the 3,300 meters was harder because we were coming from sea level. We definitely felt the change into thinner air ... it was good the feel it. For a moment I felt like I was in Nepal ... :D

WAY TOO MUCH STUFF!!!!

2007-12-07T23:59:00.000-08:00

I started to pack my stuff for the upcoming move to Seattle. And I was shocked from the enormous amount of stuff that I own. I thought I was going to fill few boxes and here I am where the few boxes that I planned to use are just enough for my CDs. What amazed me the most are my shoes. These is just part of the shoes that I bought since I lived here to Hermosa back in October 2003. 13+ pair of shoes!?!?!?!? And I mean, I always use flip flop. I can't believe it! I mean, I thought I didn't buy anything in the last 4 years. Just few TShirts and jeans. And I found myself with hundreds of TShirts! I spoke withe some friends who had to move in the past, and they told me that they had the same shock ... there is definitely something wrong with us, if we can't even understand how much stuff we buy ... :o

Put FLOWERS in your GUNS

2007-12-06T23:59:00.000-08:00

When I saw this picture a smile bloomed on my face. I didn't know such a picture existed. The author is Bernie Boston. And he became famous with this picture ... ... apparently it has taken in Washington DC back in October 1967, during a peace rally. What happened to us? Why are we afraid to do it again?

MAKING MAGIC with FLOWERS

2007-12-05T23:59:00.001-08:00

Each one of us has some gift. Christina, has a lot of them. And one of them is definitely this incredible ability to make magic with flowers. The way is works is this. Loy goes to the farmers market and buys a bunch of flowers. Christina stops to his place and with the patience and the eye of an angel creates amazing bouquets. This is what happened at the end of our "pizza party" on Saturday ...... at the end she gave the bouquet to NeNe ... and I have to say that I really love this picture. I called it "the flower girls" ...

PIZZA PARTY

2007-12-04T12:59:00.000-08:00

The mix of celebrations for my return from the Nepal trip and for my departure have officially started. In the weekend Loy shoot small all friends party in his place. We called it "pizza party", but I guess that a more appropriate name should have been "make your own pizza party". Loy bought all the ingredients and he left us his kitchen. And we went a little bit crazy preparing pizzas. And surprise surprise, all pizzas came out pretty good. Justin had definitely a lot of fun. But really all of us had really a fun time. It was such a joy to see all together again all my friends. And thinking that I will leave them soon, made me appreciate more how much i love them. And how much friendship is bringing into our life every single day. Love and friendship are truly priceless. And pizzas of course are the best way to celebrate them ... ehehehe ...

MY ROOM for RENT

2007-12-03T23:59:00.001-08:00

It is all for real. Just the time to come back from my Nepal vacation and it is time to move again. And this time is for good. NeNe and i are moving to Seattle. I spent 4.5 years in LA, 4 of them here in Hermosa. And it is not easy to move out of here. It is strange to think that my room is for rent. But it is true. I am not sad. I am actually glad that I was so lucky to live here for so long ... and i am sure that also in Seattle I will find new friends and I will be as happy as I was here. So here are the pictures that I put today on craigslist. The title of the ads was ROOM for RENT. HERMOSA BEACH, CA. 2 BLOCKS FROM THE BEACH ...... lucky you if you will get this place ... :D

MOUNTAINEERING DREAMS

2007-12-02T23:59:00.001-08:00

I think I got a disease in Nepal. A very strange disease. That's the the only way that I have to describe my new obsession for the mountains. I always loved the mountains. For for me mountains always meant trekking. Never climbing. But after Nepal, I got this small obsession about climbing. Today I was browsing thru some web sites and I have found the ultimate list of equipment that you need in order to summit a mountain. Here it is. Of course in the picture the most important things are missing. Love for the mountain, some good degree of craziness and a faith that you will make it back to the base camp ... :D

MOUNTAINEERING READING

2007-12-01T23:59:00.001-08:00

I am finally back home. I really loved this Nepal trip. And one of things that I really liked about this trip is the time that I had for reading. I read more books during this Nepal vacation, than during the last 12 months. And I read a lot about mountaineering. I really got addicted. if you have the chance read those books. They are really really nice. And all of those are now part of my favourite books. I have read all of them in special moments during my trip. That's why it will difficult for me to forget them. They will have always a special place in my heart. And definitely John Krakauer has become one of my favourite writers. I really like the way he writes. But mostly I like the fact that he has been there. He describe things that he really lived. It is amazing how much a mountain can give you and how it can take away from you. And John can describe all this in an incredible crystal clear way. And with so much passion. You are really moved by the characters in his books. In certain moments you can really feel the cold in the tent that John is describing, even if you are reading it in your warm bed. Sometimes I dream to have his writing skills. A book that really impressed me is "Into the Wild". A simple story of a dreamer. And I liked the way John Krakauer makes the comparison between his experience in Alaska and the main character of the story. I didn't see the movie "Into the Wild". But I really loved the book. I think all those books made me realized, once more, that the mountain is unforgiving. You can't play with the mountains and with the wilderness. You have to respect it. And I have also realized that climbing is really a dangerous sport. I think I will stick to trekking ... :DAnd if you have the chance, try either to read or to watch "Touching the void". That is really an amazing account of an incredible surviving story. The movie is good, but of course in the book there are more details. That is definitely an incredible story. And I am sure that if you have never been into the mountains you will easily get scared by such a book. And maybe you will decide to an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean for your next vacation. But believe me, the mountains can give you something unique. The more you get close to the wilderness, the more you will appreciate its beauty. And the beauty of this incredible gift called life ...

A WINDOW on INDIA

2007-11-30T23:59:00.002-08:00

Kolkata, India. After an entire night spent in a room without windows, because of my "no visa status", I was gracefully escorted to the check in area and on the way there I had the chance to have a window on India. This is how India looks like ... a long line of old yellow cabs ...... maybe, one day, i will be back with a proper visa and I will be able to visit it ... :D

18 HOURS in INDIA

2007-11-29T23:59:00.001-08:00

Thanks to a real mess that my travel agent sold as a ticket it took me almost 48 hours to get back home, and I had to spend 18 hours in the Kolkata , India airport. Because it was a last minute change I didn't even have the chance to get a proper Indian Visa. So I had to spend all the time in a waiting room in the airport. From 6PM, until 12PM of the day after. The only good thing about it, is that I took a book with me. I guess I have been the last of my friends to read it. And read it in one night has been really an exhilarating experience ...

BYE BYE NEPAL

2007-11-28T23:59:00.001-08:00

It is time to leave Nepal. Wonderful trip in a wonderful country. The last picture of Nepal is for this Hindu holy man. They are called Sadhu. You can meet in the streets of Nepal. Especially in the touristic cities. Some locals told me that those are not real holy men. Are just here to have their picture taken by tourists, and get some tip money. Yes, even Nepal is not the perfect country. Or at least it is not anymore. That's why you should visit it. Before the tourism will ruin it forever, if it hasn't done it already ...

THE COLORS of NEPAL

2007-11-27T23:59:00.003-08:00

This is an innocent picture that I took in a Kathmandu market in my last days in Nepal. And this Nepal ...... a country full of contradictions, but never plain. Always cheerful and colorful. This has been really a wonderful trip. I don't know if I will ever come back, but I hope I inspired some of you to take a trip, in this small corner of the World ...