Hawaii 4-2-12

Hawaii? Really? Why? You and I are right to ask these questions. Sometimes you just find yourself in a place you weren't expecting to be.

What would you do if you were invited to go to Hawaii and the biggest excuse you had was your weren't sure who was watching your dog while you were gone. To be honest with you my dog is kinda a big deal so I'm not sure if that hypothetical question works the way I wanted it to.  I think you can somewhat understand my point though.  I love to travel and see new places and meet new people, but when I think of Hawaii I honestly don't think of it as a new place of unexpected experiences.

But this is what I love about traveling. You never ever know what is going to happen until you see it for yourself. It doesn't matter how many yelp reviews you read, or lonely planet books your sift though, you need to see, feel, and taste for yourself to have a true one-to-five star rating.


The truth is I didn't have any sort of expectation of Kona, Hawaii. I went into this one without any sort of expectations. I was almost expecting to hate this place. But once again I was wrong. It was sunny, warm, and very clean. I kept thinking that I was in somewhere in central america until I saw a sign in English or saw the Super Target or Costco, along with paying an extra 25% more then I normally would in US dollars.

I had an amazing time with my friends who insisted on doing so many things I would had normally passed on.   Some of them I was pleasantly surprised, others I had to smile and just press on until we stumbled upon the magical Queens bath.

So the answers to the questions in the beginning are, yes, and why not, all I have to do is find someone that will let my 75 lb pit bull sleep in their bed.

Costa Rica again....... Gotta be honest that I wasn't super excited about this one. This was my third trip in 6 years to Costa Rica and I really didn't think I would come back this soon........But I did. I just didn't really feel like a third trip was going to be worth the time. Between the first two trips I had spent over three months in the country, and its honestly not that big of a country. I think the population is around 5 million, and it feels like you can get to any point in the country from San Jose in about 4 hours. But nevertheless I went and guess what? Its a pretty great place! 

The first half of the trip I attended a wedding with a friend and enjoyed some company that were also invited to the wedding. The wedding took place in Manuel Antonio. Its a fun little tourist beach and nature park. I had been there before so I kinda knew what was in store. I got a couple beach days in along with some surfing.

I left Manuel Antonio to check out a active volcano and to enjoy some hot springs that I had heard about. This part of the trip was kinda a waste just because I only spent about 12 hours in the town. But the 12 hours were pretty fun because I went to this amusement park/hot spring place that was virtually empty. I was able to go down slides I didnt wait in line for, into pools that were occupied by one or two people. The bar tender told me in the high season they have about 1500 people in the park but today there were around 30.

When my 12 hours were up I headed to a beach town called Samara. This is probably my favorite beach I have visited so far. The town is pretty much perfect as far as I'm concerned. Its probably one mile by one mile in dimension. So there is no need to deal with buses, taxis, or even bikes. There are four or five hotels and the same amount of bars and restaurants. Everyone is super lay back and helpful and best of all friendly. I had a couple good days surfing and burning the crap out of my back, then it was finally time to head back to the airport.

The bus ride to the airport was pretty rough. I basically stood in the bus aisle for 4 hours. The bus was sold out and it was pretty much my only option. By the time I got to my hotel that night I could not be more in love with sitting. I saw a movie the night before I went home for about 5 dollars including popcorn and a soda. I stayed in hostel that night and enjoyed hearing backpackers come in and out getting to where they were heading.

So would I come back for a 4th trip? Probably not..... not because I didn't enjoy myself. But then again that's what I said last time.

Squire Room

From squire and stuff

SQUIRE ROOM

Redding, ca

1336 Tehama St
Redding, CA 96001

Quiet, red, and dark are the best ways to describe the first time I stepped foot into the squire room in Redding, ca. After a few years of build up from my over 21 friends, I had finally had my opportunity to enjoy this magical place of strong drinks that got cheaper the longer you stayed. I walked into the downtown dive to find a medium size bar with three or four forty somethings nursing their well drinks talking to the iconic bartender known to all as frank. We decided to take a seat at a small table surrounded by red suede wrap-around chairs. We sat and enjoyed each others company as we sipped our drinks one at a time, as we told our worn out drinking stories we had compiled over the years. When I finally walked out of the bar late that night enjoying my buzz and cool air, I knew this was my kinda place.

Its one of best feelings walking into a local establishment and enjoying that "cheers" feeling. Walking into squire on any given evening I was greeted by Frank " Hey Mike, gin and tonic right?". Whether I wanted a G and T or not how could you say no to that? Frank is a great guy who always looked out for my friends and I. Whether it was some guy trying to scam us on liars dice, or just making sure we weren't going to drive as he is serving us another free round at the end of a long night of G and T's. Frank was born in Iran and still carried somewhat of an accent even though he had owned the establishment longer then I have been alive. He was probably sixty five and looked it, with his gray curly short hair and his baggy slacks and a button up shirt, with a few buttons missing up top to show off some of that gray hamburger meat. Some nights Frank looked like he had just had enough serving drunks and hipsters, but other nights he looked like he wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

I moved away from Redding about a year and could not have been more excited to see my Sam Malone behind the bar. A couple close friends and I stepped in to see a full bar of people chatting away and watching a new plasma TV mounted right above the bar. I was thrown off by the amount of people and the new television investment. When we found a table in the back of the bar seating area I was shocked to see another giant plasma recapping baseball game highlights. This was not the place I had grown to love. For some reason when I saw Frank I was expecting some sort of a Prodigal son procession to unfold. But instead of a kiss on the cheek and the the servants killing the fattened calf for the feast, I was met with a blank stare.

Squire still holds a special place in my heart, and I will still pop in from time to time when I visit friends and family. I recommend it to everyone that might stroll through Redding that has a dry throat, friends, and their own worn out drinking stories.

Yelp reviews http://www.yelp.com/biz/squire-room-redding

From squire and stuff

From squire and stuff

From squire and stuff

3-30-10

Had a chance to get the camera out to help a friend with an exciting new project. Here are a few pictures that are somewhat of a behind the scenes. Enjoy and DWYBO.

From 2010-04-30

From 2010-04-30

From 2010-04-30

From 2010-04-30

From 2010-04-30

1/29/10 12pm Tokyo

I didn't realize how scared I was of flying. Maybe it was the crazy flight to Bali, but now when I get on a plane i start to panic like I never have before. I never used to do that. Maybe i am passing that young guy feeling on invincibility. But with a few beer in me the turbulence doesn't through me off kilter too much. I was able to catch about an hour of sleep before some security guy wanted to search my bag and pat me down. I got up and got something to eat a grabbed a few beers to get me to sleep before my flight. It was unsuccessfully, I was pretty much a walking zombie for the next five hours. I stumbled on the plane where i listened to music and watched some movies. Japan Airlines is so fantastic with their customer service. They offered me a few more beers through out the flight that still didn't get me to sleep. 11 hours later I landed in SFO safely. Travis picked me up and I talked his ear off for about an hour. I continued to stay up for another 10 hours before I crashed for about 15 hours. I believe I stayed up for around 38 hours.

1/29/10 3:53 AM Tokyo Time

Spent the rest of the day people watching and reading a book I picked up at the store called "Smile when your lying" by Chuck Thompson. The book is pretty good. its about a travel writer who is published in all the crappy travel magazines and books. He exposes the whole industry to the reader. Probably not the best description of a book but I'm tired. I couldn't fall asleep in a flight full of people snoring away. I tried unsuccessfully to fall asleep with my drinking beer method. Through out this diary I feel like i have come off as bitter or unhappy when this is really not the way I always felt. This is just a way to relieve some tension from my surrounding and what I was feeling at the moment. In a lot of ways I had an amazing time meeting some great people, seeing things I have always wanted to experience. I traveled by myself discovering things at its purest and most difficult or somewhat difficult at least. Plus I did it all on my own which is exactly what I wanted from this trip. I had to make all the decisions about the destinations, how long to stay and pay at each hotel, where to eat, who to talk to, when to take risks. I feel Like I learned a bit more about self reliance. This whole last year has made me grow so much. Building my own business, moving to a new area and all the challenges that are involved in that. 35000 feet in the air and 4 beer later with little sleep is making me reflect on the whole year?! So what am I missing the most right this second you ask? 1. Bed 2.Dog 3.Friends and family. Wow that's it?

Day 21 1/28/10

My Last day in Indonesia. Woke up early. I think my window is next to the kitchen, I heard breakfast being made. Went and enjoyed what I heard was being prepared. Had some fried eggs, cold rice, cold tea, Hot crappy coffee. I could only get about half of it down before I gave up. Went outside and sat on the curb and watch people head to work on the moto bikes. I'm just trying to conserve some energy cause i know the next 36 hours are going to suck. i am excited to arrive in the extreme cleanliness of japan. Its almost the exact opposite of where I have been the last three weeks. headed out for a walk before i checked out. Oh wow the smell was pretty bad. The stink of sewer and piss was horrendous along with the smog and dry dirt. I walked along this cannal for a bit and saw the source of the stench. It was full of gray water and trash. I stoped to just watch the traffic go by when some lady started yelling at me and doing an "backward wave" which signaled me to get out of here. So I did, not too sure how safe of an area I am in. I saw a sign for a store i an failure with so I headed that way and saw a women doing the laundry in the gray water. This mad me wonder where my laundry was cleaned the two times I paid to have it cleaned. Later I checked out and made it to the airport after a nice conversation with a guy who works for a cruseship. Sitting in the airport i saw a Muslim guy wearing all while along with a pure white baseball cap which had embroidered on the back of it a etnies skateboarding logo. WAITING WAITING WAITING!...........