DAYS 18-19, BALTIMORE/NYC
i left jacksonville yesterday and headed for baltimore to visit a couple of friends. it was so nice to see them - they always make me feel so loved. i don't think their cats cosimo and bia care for me anymore, but i hadn't met squeaks until this visit. i think squeaks is now my favorite cat of theirs. she LOVES me :) she keeps coming up to me to request petting her, and apparently, her eyes follow me when i get up and walk out of the room. she's so sweet and has really large beautiful eyes. i almost stole her.
the couple live in a really awesome neighborhood - the surrounding buildings are a little rundown, but they have so much history to them - the difference between east coast and west coast cities. the room in which i spent the night has moldings that resemble what my friend deemed to be neoclassical. there are also small skylights that remind me of a time when electricity was more of a luxury than a necessity as we think of it today. trees line the streets, and when i had arrived, families were sitting on their porches with the kids running around on the sidewalks. it'll be nice to be able to visit my friends again soon :)
today, i finally arrived in nyc! it's a little weird arriving on the 5th year anniversary of 9/11. the george washington bridge had a huge american flag flying over it - not sure if it was something especially done today or if it's always there. betty and i noticed 2 giant beams of light shooting up to the sky from downtown. betty thought it was kind of eery because the beams looked like they were shining from the clouds, like alien spaceships in movies when they're about to attack our planet. i thought it was weird because it reminded me of batman. i had planned on arriving in the city tomorrow, but b was off work only today. well, maybe arriving today will end up meaning something.
the apartment is not too bad - i hadn't had a chance to see it until now. it's a decent 2-bedroom. b generously gave me the bigger bedroom. the water pressure is a little weak - i wonder if it's a cheap landlord tactic. there are so many people here - it's just weird to see people out and about, whereas in la, i guess people are in their cars. my dad took us to dinner in chinatown - it'll be nice to be able to practice my cantonese more often. i wasn't getting enough practice while in la. there's a supermarket and a laundromat closeby, and the train station is only a block away.
not sure if i'll stay here forever, but i think i'll get used to it pretty quickly. since moving out of my mom's house, i haven't lived in any city for more than 4 years. we'll see how long nyc will last...
Showing posts with label cross-country drive. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cross-country drive. Show all posts
Monday, September 11, 2006
Saturday, September 09, 2006
catch up
okay, so i’ve come to the conclusion that i’m not a very good blogger. i’ve made it to my mom’s house in north carolina and am leaving for baltimore tomorrow. here's a summary of the rest of the road trip since my last posting:
DAYS 6-7, DENVER
the rest of my stay in denver did not involve much excitement. i watched the u.s. open and was inspired to subject l to play tennis with me when she came home from work. one night, i made dinner for l, her cousin, and her cousin’s boyfriend – a jamie oliver recipe of tomatoes and chicken. afterwards, we went to a local bar and hung out. the next day, l took me to boulder to have dinner with a friend of hers. the visit would’ve been complete if we had been able to go to the denver art museum – most of the building was closed due to renovations. the art museum was something that we always said we would see when i visited. bummer. regardless, it was nice to see l.
DAY 8, KANSAS/ST LOUIS
drove through kansas and arrived in st louis. kansas is kind of scary – three anti-abortion billboards appeared along the highway within 5 miles of crossing the colorado-kansas state line. i had to stop once for gas within the state, and i felt stared at, like they can just tell that i was a liberal and am going to hell.
thankfully, i had cd’s of ‘this american life’ to keep me sane. at this point, i’ve also listened to ‘skinny dip’ by carl hiaasen, ‘a woman of independent means’ by elizabeth forsythe hailey and ‘good grief’ by lolly winston, books on tape courtesy of my la stitch-n-bitchin' ladies :) ‘skinny dip’ was great – carl hiaasen is now on my list of authors to keep an eye out for – great sense of humor and wit. ‘independent means’ wasn’t as engrossing. i was actually glad when it ended. not sure if i didn’t like the reading of it or the material itself. ‘good grief’ was good timing – it’s about a woman whose life is turned upside down when her husband passes away. her life changes in ways that she could never imagine – it gives me hope about what’s in store for me with my move.
i made it to st louis late that night and then stayed up even later, glued to the television with the agassi-baghdatis match. it was the last time that i would see agassi play.
DAYS 9-11, NORTH CAROLINA
arrived in hendersonville, nc for b’s wedding. she was crediting the event to me – during a visit to la a couple of years ago, she and her now husband had arrived at a cross-roads of sorts, having been on and off since high school. i pointed out to her how obviously in love she was with g and that she needed to give him a second chance for herself. g had been the standard to which she compared every other guy she had dated or even interested in. i hadn’t met g at that point. in fact, i only met g the day i arrived in hendersonville. what was i thinking, encouraging her to concede to him? but having seen them interact now, i truly believe that they will share a beautiful life together, maybe dramatic but wonderful.
the wedding went smoothly. it had been rainy in north carolina because of hurricane ernesto, but the wedding day was beautiful. even mother nature believed it was meant to be. the bride was gorgeous in her stunning dress. the groom seemed nervous but was very handsome in his army formal. a couple of people at the wedding were from my high school so it was actually really nice to catch up with them. kind of funny that i never talked to them when we were in high school together, but they’re fantastic people. come to think of it, i didn’t become friends with briana until college and then got to know her best friend, a, through her. all that lost time, but better late than never.
i left on sunday to proceed to cross the rest of the state for jacksonville, nc. i finished ‘gods in alabama’ by joshilyn jackson, another book on tape, and really loved it. i started it as i was entering the south (around kentucky). it's the kind of story that makes southern literature so enticing.
when i arrived at my mom’s, she had an amazing dinner waiting for me. ah, i was home.
DAYS 12-17, JACKSONVILLE, NC
for the past week, i haven’t been doing much. i know i should be ashamed, but my mom has made dinner every night. and to make it worse, she’s been doing the dishes. to my defense, though, she doesn’t pass on to me what she has in mind for dinner, and i don’t want to mess up her plans, which i've done before, to my regret. and i do try to wash the dishes, but she would jump in front of the kitchen sink and would at most let me rinse.
i’ve been trying to set up the phone line and dsl service for the new york apartment while betty is working, and it’s been the worst experience ever. i’ve placed the order with verizon since august 29 so it’s been 2 weeks. nothing is set up yet. there was some error with our line that took them over a week to discover. earlier this week, i was on the phone with verizon for almost an hour, getting passed to 8 different people - i think i was passed back to the same department twice. i used to think that people exaggerate when i hear stories like this. seriously, 2 weeks, about 10 calls, almost an hour and 8 different people on one of the calls. nada. grr.
all the logistics for me leaving the new car with my mom and taking the old car up north to hand off to my sister’s boyfriend/almost-brother-in-law should be in place. auto insurance in north carolina is immensely cheaper than in la! and i washed and waxed the car yesterday for her to start driving it today (she has some getting-used-to to make) and will give the same pamper treatment to the other car this afternoon. see, i try. (i also patched the chip in the bathtub!)
hope this will do for now. i’ll work on being a better blogger.
DAYS 6-7, DENVER
the rest of my stay in denver did not involve much excitement. i watched the u.s. open and was inspired to subject l to play tennis with me when she came home from work. one night, i made dinner for l, her cousin, and her cousin’s boyfriend – a jamie oliver recipe of tomatoes and chicken. afterwards, we went to a local bar and hung out. the next day, l took me to boulder to have dinner with a friend of hers. the visit would’ve been complete if we had been able to go to the denver art museum – most of the building was closed due to renovations. the art museum was something that we always said we would see when i visited. bummer. regardless, it was nice to see l.
DAY 8, KANSAS/ST LOUIS
drove through kansas and arrived in st louis. kansas is kind of scary – three anti-abortion billboards appeared along the highway within 5 miles of crossing the colorado-kansas state line. i had to stop once for gas within the state, and i felt stared at, like they can just tell that i was a liberal and am going to hell.
thankfully, i had cd’s of ‘this american life’ to keep me sane. at this point, i’ve also listened to ‘skinny dip’ by carl hiaasen, ‘a woman of independent means’ by elizabeth forsythe hailey and ‘good grief’ by lolly winston, books on tape courtesy of my la stitch-n-bitchin' ladies :) ‘skinny dip’ was great – carl hiaasen is now on my list of authors to keep an eye out for – great sense of humor and wit. ‘independent means’ wasn’t as engrossing. i was actually glad when it ended. not sure if i didn’t like the reading of it or the material itself. ‘good grief’ was good timing – it’s about a woman whose life is turned upside down when her husband passes away. her life changes in ways that she could never imagine – it gives me hope about what’s in store for me with my move.
i made it to st louis late that night and then stayed up even later, glued to the television with the agassi-baghdatis match. it was the last time that i would see agassi play.
DAYS 9-11, NORTH CAROLINA
arrived in hendersonville, nc for b’s wedding. she was crediting the event to me – during a visit to la a couple of years ago, she and her now husband had arrived at a cross-roads of sorts, having been on and off since high school. i pointed out to her how obviously in love she was with g and that she needed to give him a second chance for herself. g had been the standard to which she compared every other guy she had dated or even interested in. i hadn’t met g at that point. in fact, i only met g the day i arrived in hendersonville. what was i thinking, encouraging her to concede to him? but having seen them interact now, i truly believe that they will share a beautiful life together, maybe dramatic but wonderful.
the wedding went smoothly. it had been rainy in north carolina because of hurricane ernesto, but the wedding day was beautiful. even mother nature believed it was meant to be. the bride was gorgeous in her stunning dress. the groom seemed nervous but was very handsome in his army formal. a couple of people at the wedding were from my high school so it was actually really nice to catch up with them. kind of funny that i never talked to them when we were in high school together, but they’re fantastic people. come to think of it, i didn’t become friends with briana until college and then got to know her best friend, a, through her. all that lost time, but better late than never.
i left on sunday to proceed to cross the rest of the state for jacksonville, nc. i finished ‘gods in alabama’ by joshilyn jackson, another book on tape, and really loved it. i started it as i was entering the south (around kentucky). it's the kind of story that makes southern literature so enticing.
when i arrived at my mom’s, she had an amazing dinner waiting for me. ah, i was home.
DAYS 12-17, JACKSONVILLE, NC
for the past week, i haven’t been doing much. i know i should be ashamed, but my mom has made dinner every night. and to make it worse, she’s been doing the dishes. to my defense, though, she doesn’t pass on to me what she has in mind for dinner, and i don’t want to mess up her plans, which i've done before, to my regret. and i do try to wash the dishes, but she would jump in front of the kitchen sink and would at most let me rinse.
i’ve been trying to set up the phone line and dsl service for the new york apartment while betty is working, and it’s been the worst experience ever. i’ve placed the order with verizon since august 29 so it’s been 2 weeks. nothing is set up yet. there was some error with our line that took them over a week to discover. earlier this week, i was on the phone with verizon for almost an hour, getting passed to 8 different people - i think i was passed back to the same department twice. i used to think that people exaggerate when i hear stories like this. seriously, 2 weeks, about 10 calls, almost an hour and 8 different people on one of the calls. nada. grr.
all the logistics for me leaving the new car with my mom and taking the old car up north to hand off to my sister’s boyfriend/almost-brother-in-law should be in place. auto insurance in north carolina is immensely cheaper than in la! and i washed and waxed the car yesterday for her to start driving it today (she has some getting-used-to to make) and will give the same pamper treatment to the other car this afternoon. see, i try. (i also patched the chip in the bathtub!)
hope this will do for now. i’ll work on being a better blogger.
Monday, August 28, 2006
days 2-5 in denver
i've made it to denver! the roads were cleared the following morning of the storm in gallup, nm. i was able to stop in las vegas, nm to see a friend and have lunch with her. coincidentally, it was her birthday so the visit was a happy occasion. she and her family moved to the town recently, and everyone seems to be adjusting to the new place well. she seems happy with her new job even though she's exhausted from the long hours.
the rest of the drive to denver was pretty uneventful...except for the brief hail storm in colorado springs. i managed to find my friend l's place quite easily, and we went to a concert that evening - melissa ethridge. neither of us were familiar with her music except for a couple of songs. l got the tickets from someone who had to leave town over the weekend. we enjoyed the show though - melissa ethridge has such amazing energy on the stage.
over the weekend, we took it easy. we saw 'little miss sunshine' and loved it! dysfunctional families rule - otherwise, how boring life would be. on sunday, we went on a hike just outside of the city. the scenery was incredible. giant slabs of red rocks jut out of the ground at an angle, like frozen waves of the red earth, contrasting with the green hills in the back drop and the bold blue sky above. the city created an outdoors concert hall, taking advantage of the accoustics the rocks offer and the fresh air in the openness.
and today, it's been a while since i've had a decent monday. getting to stay home (well, l's home) and watch the u.s. open is not too bad. people in denver seem extremely nice and sweet - it's like being in the south without the drawl. we're going to boulder tonight to have dinner with one of l's friends. the woman is apparently really nutty but an absolute sweetheart. it'll be an interesting evening.
the rest of the drive to denver was pretty uneventful...except for the brief hail storm in colorado springs. i managed to find my friend l's place quite easily, and we went to a concert that evening - melissa ethridge. neither of us were familiar with her music except for a couple of songs. l got the tickets from someone who had to leave town over the weekend. we enjoyed the show though - melissa ethridge has such amazing energy on the stage.
over the weekend, we took it easy. we saw 'little miss sunshine' and loved it! dysfunctional families rule - otherwise, how boring life would be. on sunday, we went on a hike just outside of the city. the scenery was incredible. giant slabs of red rocks jut out of the ground at an angle, like frozen waves of the red earth, contrasting with the green hills in the back drop and the bold blue sky above. the city created an outdoors concert hall, taking advantage of the accoustics the rocks offer and the fresh air in the openness.
and today, it's been a while since i've had a decent monday. getting to stay home (well, l's home) and watch the u.s. open is not too bad. people in denver seem extremely nice and sweet - it's like being in the south without the drawl. we're going to boulder tonight to have dinner with one of l's friends. the woman is apparently really nutty but an absolute sweetheart. it'll be an interesting evening.
Friday, August 25, 2006
day 1
despite the complications that surfaced in preparing for my move from los angeles to new york, everything worked out well. my sister, who's going to be my roommate in nyc, was a little overwhelmed apartment hunting earlier this month. it's her first time looking for an apartment, ever, and if your first time is in nyc, it's quite daunting, if not horrifying. but she pulled through and found what sounds to be a great 2 bedroom apt for us in the upper west side/west harlem.
then, three of my amazing guys helped me load all the furniture and boxes into a moving container/pod last weekend. the truck arrived to pick up the container before we finished loading. thankfully, the driver was super nice and made another run to give us another hour. but the guys not only doubted that we would finish but also fitting everything into just one container. but it all worked out - everything fit and we finished with over half an hour to spare.
but today...mmm...not so well. i am driving cross-country to north carolina to do a car swap with my mom before heading up to nyc and have planned to stop in:
1. las vegas, nm
2. denver
3. st louis
4. hendersonville, nc
5. mom's
i'm seeing people along the way so each leg of the trip gives me something to look forward to (the exception being st louis). but this morning, i started the drive an hour later than i had hoped, having to call new york to find out about setting up a phone line and internet service and loading up more stuff than i thought i had. while driving through arizona, a huge storm decending upon the section of the highway i was on. it lasted for about half an hour. at one point, my car was beside an 18-wheeler, and the rain suddenly fell so heavily that i couldn't see anything out of my windshield for three entire seconds. quite a frightening experience i never want to encounter again. and now, i'm stuck in gallop, nm because the monsoon has flooded the highway, and there are 2 major accidents on each side of i40 (not to mention the train derailing), trapping everyone in this town.
so nevermind about making it to my first stop on my first day as i had hoped. but at least i'm safe and not part of the crazy accidents. and thankfully, the hotels in the area had rooms available so i can rest well tonight before continuing the rest of the drive. so i should take advantage of it and hit the hay now. more tomorrow...hopefully, no more drama!
then, three of my amazing guys helped me load all the furniture and boxes into a moving container/pod last weekend. the truck arrived to pick up the container before we finished loading. thankfully, the driver was super nice and made another run to give us another hour. but the guys not only doubted that we would finish but also fitting everything into just one container. but it all worked out - everything fit and we finished with over half an hour to spare.
but today...mmm...not so well. i am driving cross-country to north carolina to do a car swap with my mom before heading up to nyc and have planned to stop in:
1. las vegas, nm
2. denver
3. st louis
4. hendersonville, nc
5. mom's
i'm seeing people along the way so each leg of the trip gives me something to look forward to (the exception being st louis). but this morning, i started the drive an hour later than i had hoped, having to call new york to find out about setting up a phone line and internet service and loading up more stuff than i thought i had. while driving through arizona, a huge storm decending upon the section of the highway i was on. it lasted for about half an hour. at one point, my car was beside an 18-wheeler, and the rain suddenly fell so heavily that i couldn't see anything out of my windshield for three entire seconds. quite a frightening experience i never want to encounter again. and now, i'm stuck in gallop, nm because the monsoon has flooded the highway, and there are 2 major accidents on each side of i40 (not to mention the train derailing), trapping everyone in this town.
so nevermind about making it to my first stop on my first day as i had hoped. but at least i'm safe and not part of the crazy accidents. and thankfully, the hotels in the area had rooms available so i can rest well tonight before continuing the rest of the drive. so i should take advantage of it and hit the hay now. more tomorrow...hopefully, no more drama!
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