Monday, September 15, 2008

Broken and Battered, But Not Down

So this weekend was our fourth mountain biking escapade. We arrived at Markham Park promptly at 8am. We've done these trails before, but this time was different. Going down one of the larger slopes, my chain gave out and I must have over-pedaled. Mountain Crash 02At the same time, I must have braked because my rear tire came out. That was it. Off the bike, I slid for about 20 feet, and got up immediately.

I walked my bike off the trail and inspected the damage - nothing big, just a bent water bottle cage. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks, I couldn't breathe and became incredibly nauseous. Luckily that only lasted for a few minutes. I fixed the chain and got back on the bike to finish the trail.  My arms, rib cage and wrist are pretty banged up, but I should be back out there next weekend!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Orlando 2008

So I went up to Orlando this past weekend for four days of Disney. We hit up all four parks. P7100029Driving up on Thursday morning, we first went to Hollywood Studios (previously MGM). I had forgotten how much fun Star Tours is. It's a little dated, but still one of the best rides in the park, although every time I ride, it's the pilots first time. Anyway, that's me being a 5 year old on a speeder bike. Also, the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show is one of the coolest shows I've seen (yes, it's better than the Indy one too).  Unfortunately, I picked up a blister on each of my pinky toes so going back to the hotel and taking off my kicks was one of the best parts of the day.

Friday was Magic Kingdom extravaganza.  8 AM to 2 AM with a small break somewhere around 4 PM.  The MK is actually just as much fun as when I was a kid. I still think Thunder Mountain is the most fun ride of all the parks. robotsDuring the break, we had dinner at the restaurant in the hotel where the monorail [read: Wall-e] goes through. There are robots in there - I snapped a shot for your approval. I learned a very valuable lesson this day: chaffing is one of the suckiest things EVAR!!! My thighs were not having fun by the end of the day, but I was too delirious from exhaustion to care. I don't think we stopped laughing for the last five hours of the day.

It was time for Epcot. Among other things, this park is great for eating. There are a total of 12 "countries" to visit including (my favorite) Japan. The store in there is literally endless. P7120068The Japanese have so much crazy stuff, including robots.  Even though I probably shouldn't have, this little Asian woman made me want to buy that kimono. It's surprisingly comfortable and I look incredibly snappy in it (though I look like a total redneck in this picture). Anyway, more importantly, the food in Epcot is fantastic. My diet for the day consisted of the following: Fish & Chips and chocolates in the UK, Chicken Curry with rice, Kirin Light,  and candies in Japan, Mini Chicken Quesadillas in Mexico, Pot-stickers in China, and Bratwurst in Germany.  A very fulfilling day for sure. BTW, at this point I'm ready to cut my feet off at the ankle. I had surgically removed the blister on my left toe (this was not smart) and now it was bothering me more than before.

Finally, our last day at the parks. Off to the Animal Kingdom. Most people would say this is the least exciting of all the parks. Untitled-1However, there have been some really cool enhancements since it first opened. Expedition Everest is an excellent roller coaster, which has a neat twist that I've never seen in another coaster. I won't spoil it, but if you watch that lady on the tube in any of the Disney hotels, you'll learn the secret. I was also fooled into thinking the Dinosaur ride is a calm, relaxing ride through time - not so much. I think this was the only ride I've ever been on where I was legitimately scared. This is a blurry image, but as you can see, I've turned into a sweetly retarded child.

In the end, we had a great time. I hadn't been to the Disney parks in almost 10 years, so this was a much needed happiness-booster. I must say, our guide is one of the best Disney specialists I've ever known. I don't think we stood in any line for more than twenty minutes (we're in the middle of season). This added an additional 2,000 miles of walking, but the pain was worth it. Even with a small issue at the Test Track, we managed to ride and do everything, save for the Journey into Imagination with Figment. The whole weekend was well worth the adventure and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. See ya later...

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Kayaking in Hollywood

So, this past Saturday was my first kayaking trip. We went down to Anne Kolb Nature Center down in Hollywood. Here's some info on it if you're interested: Broward County Parks and Recreation Division

Prices as of 07.2008 are $7 for an hour, or $13 for up to 4 hours, including the kayak rental. At last count, the park has 8 single kayaks and half a dozen doubles.

The water is incredibly calm, as is expected down here. It's also really murky. The pathways are surrounded by cypress trees, but all let out into a large clearing with a horseshoe shaped mangrove island in the center. It's the perfect spot for chilling out.

There are three different trails to take, one accessible from the Nature Center, and the others from another drop-off point. From the map, it seems the other two trails are accessible from the clearing mentioned above, but they were a few miles out so we didn't get a chance to see them.

Overall, it was a good first trip. I'll definitely be going back for another round and probably venture to the other trails.

Monday, June 30, 2008

A second language

I've been wanting to do this for a while, but couldn't ever decide on a second language. My father is Colombian and has been giving me grief since I was young about not being able to speak Spanish, or not wanting to. In college, I took three semesters of Italian - my mother's influence. Needless to say, I don't speak Italian on an everyday basis, so that's scrapped too.

Anyway, today I found this really neat site called LiveMocha. It's FREE, but in Beta, meaning it may be a paid service once it goes officially live - like Mango did. LiveMocha not only provides courses in multiple languages, but also acts as a social networking site to bring people together. You can help out people from around the world who are trying to learn your native language. As far as I've messed with it, the site works well (although the pages don't quite render properly in Firefox - use IE Tab add-on).

Two of my future travel locations include China and Brazil, so I began my 200+ hour course in Chinese today. We'll see at the end of the month how this has paid off.

Baby's first blog

So, it's 2008 and I'm finally entering the world of blogging. I'd like to think this will be something I actually stick with and update frequently (or frequently enough).

I'm at a weird place in my life where I really don't have any idea what I want. So this will kind of act as a median between the achievable and the completely ridiculous. As I progress through this next chapter in my life, I'll be documenting what I'm currently doing, what I plan on doing, and what I actually end up doing (all of which will hopefully be mildly entertaining when I look back).

In closing, "hey" to anyone that reads this, and I look forward to the future. Peace.

P.S. this is to you: keep updating this thing, and make sure this is the last lame title.