Home! (and what happened in San Francisco)

Well, our drive from Vancouver to Seattle was pretty good - it rained a lot, the border crossing was busy (1 hour wait) but the scenery was good. Interstate 5 was really nice.

Took a detour off I-5 to Paine Field, home of Boeing's factory, the largest in the world. The place is really quite humongous but it's a plane nut's favourite place. Place was quiet on a Saturday before Christmas but I can imagine it being rather frantic during the week.

Dad then tried to find Microsoft (he's in IT after all...), we found it and to be honest, it's not that impressive. Looks like something you'd find at Macquarie Park. We flew back to San Francisco, no dramas, Alaska Airlines are quite good, albeit landed about 30 minutes late due to a late departure from Sea-Tac.

San Francisco - awesome city! Which is more beautiful, the Bay or Sydney Harbour? It's a tough one because the hills around the Bay make the view more accessible. The problematic thing is that the Bay is usually foggy, which obscures the tremendous view.

An aunt and her daughter live here - my cousin's kids thought 'he [that is me) speaks funny'. Does that sound like an Ameri-centric education to you?

We got taken everywhere, stuffed full of food (I had a sushi buffet on the last day before I left), shopped (I bought a whole heap of work clothes - 2 suits, 5+ shirts and ties - all cheaper than Oz), ate more food, went up Twin Peaks, ate more food, went shopping on Fisherman's Wharf (tourist trap!), ate more food, rode the cable car, ate more food.

It's like "you're young, so eat more!" Don't they get it? I'm overweight already and I'm not American and I'm 24, which isn't that young! Grr...

I really enjoyed my time there - was good to spend time with nice relatives who chauffeur-drove us around. We went on a day trip to Monterey and 17 Mile Drive - saw one of my favourite golf courses in the world, Pebble Beach - $USD450 a round, I'd do it next time. The fairways were so lush and so green *sigh*.

14 hour flights really bug me. They're painful, particularly when I can only fly economy class - the legroom is painful and I get numb. I'm glad I'm not taller (or fatter) - though I did get fatter in my month over there - there was a noticeable decrease in waistroom...

All in all, a great trip! But I'm still jet-lagged... someone called me a sleepy head this morning :(

Rain, rain, why won't it rain in Australia?

I wish it rained in Australia more. We've been praying about it at church for awhile. The mission I go on goes to a town that is unbelievably dry and I've never seen the town dam more than 24% full.

Why does it rain so much in Vancouver and Seattle and so little in Australia? Only God knows.

Vancouver was fun - sort of - it rained a lot and meant that I couldn't get many good photographs and didn't see much. I wish I had more time there in order to get to Whistler but I didn't get the chance, Dad had friends and relatives to see. I managed to buy a lot of CD's at Sikora's Classical Records (lots of Strauss, Mozart and Dvorak - no Mahler!!!) at pretty cheap prices (30% off).

Vancouver's a very picturesque city with a great location and a laid back atmosphere. It also has the worst traffic this side of Los Angeles and the peak hour traffic is appalling at best and gridlocked at worst. The 2 major bridges, Lions' Gate and Second Narrows, north of Vancouver have 3 lanes and 6 lanes respectively. Considering the 3 lane bridge is the closest one to downtown, it creates unbelievable chaos - even worse is the fact that the speed limit in the city is 50km/h!!! Over the bridge, it's 60. SLOW.......

Dad got to drive but I couldn't because Seattle in Washington state does not let people under the age of 25 drive. Eh well, it was the same car that I hired in Boston - so a big, wallowing, gas-guzzling V8 Mercury Grand Marquis. At least it had comfy seats.

Washington state is really beautiful - the fir trees that line Interstate 5 are pretty. Mountains pop in and out of view of the trees and of the clouds, they were snow-capped and cloud-covered.

Flew back to San Francisco on the 23rd - took the cable car, went to Fisherman's Wharf, went up Twin Peaks blah blah - all the tourist stuff is great, but it's been good seeing my cousin and her husband my first cousins once removed, as well as my aunt and uncle. Dad has met a friend he hasn't seen for 35 years and they drove us around the place.

I'm stuffed after a steamboat Christmas dinner, so I'm going to sign off. I haven't had turkey, ham or anything like for Christmas hehe - we had yum cha for lunch!

Time to hitch a ride to San Francisco...

Again with apologies to the BeeGees, but I'm in San Francisco.

Well, it's been a week since I blogged and I've been updating my past posts with pictures and the like, hopefully that's been helpful.

Well, I loved Boston - ate at Legal Seafoods too many times (4 times) but it's a Boston icon, so why not? I explored Harvard University with Dave and Armanda, a couple from church, it was nice to meet up with them and to get some local knowledge.

My museum "pilgrammage" continued with visits to the JFK Library and Museum - really well done in portraying his life from babyhood to 22 November 1963 - tastefully reduced to a mere minute of footage and none from the infamous Zapruder film.

It's the most liveable city I visited on the East Coast in my opinion. Sure the traffic is appalling, something I experienced firsthand whilst day tripping to historic Lexington (see left) and Concord, but it's a really pretty place. I picked up a car on Thursday 14 December in preparation for my trip to Albany, I was given a Lincoln Grand Marquis V8 (see below). It looks like a cop car and it handles like one. It had steering as light as a feather (could park it with one finger) and the front seats were so big, it was like sitting in a sofa and travelling at 65mph.

Albany was frustrating staying with my aunt. I don't want to talk anymore about it.

Drove back to Boston with Dad in this tank - got lost in Boston because I took a shortcut - but ended up ok.

Flight to San Francisco was alright - it was American Airlines, it was bumpy crossing the Rockies but otherwise a pretty standard flight. Completely full, no empty seats and babies crying all over the place; it is holiday season after all.

Have arrived at my cousin's place which is in a nice part of town, and it's close to the airport which is a bonus. Dad and I fly to Seattle to pick up a car to drive to Vancouver tomorrow. I wonder what car we'll get this time...

I will try to blog from Vancouver, but I'm not able to blog, then I wish you all a safe, fun and Christ-filled Christmas.

If I'm going back to Massachussetts...

I used to be (and still am) a huge BeeGees fan, I used to listen to them everyday on the way to school (dad used to drive me cos we both had to go to the city).

Anyhow, I'm in Boston now and although I've only been here a little while, I really like it.

My 2 nights in New York were great, 1 spent in Carnegie Hall and the other at the Metropolitan Opera. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Pierre Boulez (a very sprightly 81 years old) gave a beautifully balanced, controlled and powerful performance of Mahler 7. The acoustics in Carnegie Hall are quite incredible. The sound was "immediate", the richness of tone and clarity, even in the bass puts the Sydney Opera House to shame. Really. The SOH is awful. And the Sydney Symphony in comparison to these orchestras is, sorry to say, awful as well.

The sound must be heard to be believed, I heard the Vienna Philharmonic in September and these orchestras are in the same league.

A teacher from Grammar was also in NYC so we met up at the concerts and had supper afterwards. The first night, we went to Carnegie Deli, arguably the most famous restaurant in NYC. It's on 55th and 7th (Street and Avenue respectively - gotta get with the lingo) and serves the most obscene (quantity-wise) amount of corned beef on a corned beef sandwich. There is no way anyone could finish it (but some do and no wonder America has a weight problem).

I went to hear a performance of Puccini's La Boheme at the Metropolitan Opera (hereafter known as the 'Met') on Saturday night. I wasn't an opera fan, I dunno why, it never seemed to register with me, in addition, tickets seem exorbitant compared to orchestral concerts. However, I think I'm converted to the opera cause. The sets were astounding, during Act II, the set would have had 100 people on it - the chorus and supers as well. Incredible detailing of the Parisian street scenes. The Act III set was equally impressive, complete with snow. The singing was of the highest calibre and the drama very convincing. There was a standing ovation, which given the frequency with which the opera is performed and the fact that the work is so well-known, gives you some idea of how great a performance it was.

The second night we went to the Benash Deli - just opposite Carnegie Deli - the pizzas looked awful but tasting them, we found them rather delectable. I then ordered the famous New York cheese cake and safely can describe it is quite something. It's not particularly sweet, it is very rich but it is deeply satisfying, it has a most wonderful aroma and a melt-in-your-mouth texture, the base was not crumbly but held together by a lot of grease (shudder!) but superbly complemented the quite-savoury top layer. Anyone going to New York, give it a try - 55th and 7th - opposite Carnegie Deli.

I went to Calvary Baptist Church on Sunday morning, which was a multi-cultural service (a mixture of Asians, Caucasians and African Americans) - the preaching was average, it was biblical but didn't have great exegesis. It seemed to be more of an in-and-out church, not many people stuck around afterwards.

I took the 2:03pm Acela Express out of New York to Boston, the train was sold out - NY Penn Station was a shambles, the Regional Service to Washington DC on the next platform was also booked to capacity and rumours were that people would have to stand up for the 3 hour trip to DC. I sat next to a nice gentleman from Boston who told me about the best places to eat and so on and so forth, very useful. He'd been to Australia 3 times so we talked about that. Adelaide he described as a "dead city"...

I love Boston. I love the juxtaposition of the old and the new; it's even better done than Philadelphia. I'm staying a block from the Boston Common, the oldest park in America (dating from 1634) and I've walked the Freedom Trail, which basically is a tourist walk with all the historical sites along it. Boston has done it really well because they paint this red line that you follow. There are parts when it goes to red brick - either way it's extremely easy to follow and a fantastic do-it-yourself walking guide.

I'm going to Back Bay and Beacon Hill (sort of like the Mosman or Paddington of Boston) - a lot of history tied up there as well.

Hope to hear from some of you - I'm having a great time but what's happening with you people in Sydney?

Washington DC - Capital of the Free World (!?)

I commented on the history of Philadelphia previously, Washington DC is a completely different place. It's newer but it's more important. Not only does it look more important, it feels more important. People stride about with far more purpose than in Philly.

Though I enjoyed the laidback style of Philly, the Washington humdrum is exciting in its unique way. Traffic is atrocious, walking is faster than driving at 5pm at night and there are police and fire trucks EVERYWHERE, car horns are used with abandon and it's never quiet.

Except on the Mall.

The Mall contains some of America's most "sacred" memorials. The Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial (see photo right), the Korean War Memorial, the Vietnam War Memorial, the World War II Memorial and the Washington Monument (the pointy photo). If America does anything besides steaks and ribs well, it's symbolism and connecting their history with their present and future. Americans have a great understanding of their history, where they have come from as a nation and although this has meant they think America is the only place on Earth (again stereotyping), they know and love their country.

Quite simply, Australians know very little about their own country. We might criticise Americans for not knowing about the rest of the world, but for goodness sake, I think far too many Australians know too little about our own history. How come we keep moaning that Australia has no history and yet we don't think America has no history even though it's a scant 100 years or so older? It's because we haven't braced our past and instead try to ignore it - to our detriment I believe.

Anyhow, how is my rant relevant? Well, the historical sites and clamour to reclaim sites because of their historical purpose has generated huge amounts of tourism and fascination. To illustrate this, I'll talk about Mt Vernon.

Mt Vernon was George Washington's estate. He inherited from his father and then older brother and now it has become a bit of a national shrine to the man himself, particularly as he is buried along with his wife in a tomb on the estate. The mansion which has this most wonderful view over the Potomac River has been restored so carefully, it has about 40% original furniture in it. Fat chance of Edmund Barton's house being kept up to date.

That aside, I've been to the major Washington attractions, the notable exception being the museum I most wanted to see, the Smithsonian Museum of American History - which has been closed for renovations until 2008 - GRRR!!!! The National Air and Space Museum is really quite incredible - the amount of detail and the care with which they've designed the exhibits is astounding. They've hung World War II fighter planes from the roof and have a display cabinet carrying every single type of aerial ammunition used by the major air forces in World War II. They have an original Lunar Module that was used as a backup for Aldrin and Armstrong - and other remarkable things - and of course, the 1903 Wright Flyer.

It's an easy city to navigate around - I wish Sydney was like this. Streets are numbered and lettered - the higher the number and letter the further you are from the Capitol - easy.

It's supposed to snow tonight (30% chance) and I'm train-ing to New York, so your prayers are appreciated. The wind coming off the Potomac River is very very sharp - and walking to the Jefferson Memorial and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial was very very cold.

Philly and Washington DC

This trip has been an eye-opening experience. I guess there's the stereotype we have of Americans, that they drive big cars, they eat big and they are big around their waistline. Well, as much as I hate placing people into stereotypes, it couldn't be closer to the truth.

The Yanks serve huge portions of food. I went to this place in Philly last night, and being a tapas place, I thought I could eat 2 plates worth. I ordered some lobster mashed potatoes that was piled higher than Mt Everest and a crab pad thai that was bigger than Canada. And they called that tapas!!!!!.....

Fortunately their "bigness" extends to some good things. I went to Tenth Presbyterian Church in Delancey St Philly and it was a traditional Presy service. Good solid, exegetical preaching with hymns accompanied by a full brass choir (at least 5 piece) and timpani and tubular bells - pretty much orchestral in nature - was quite inspiring. Bigger can be better after all. I was welcomed by an American sitting next to me in the pew, that was encouraging - he has a son in Australia - in "Mell-BORN".

I then went to the Philadelphia Orchestra - a boyhood dream fulfilled. One of the greatest orchestras in the world - it was a pity they only did Mozart, so they couldn't unleash their full power, but their delicacy shone out yesterday. Superb ensemble in a hall that leaves Sydney for dead. Sydney's exterior may be awesome, but any musician worth his/her salt knows that the Opera House Concert Hall's acoustics are deadset awful. The Verizon Hall in the new Kimmel Center [sic] for the the Performing Arts is a modern classic, wonderfully detailed on the inside with great sight-lines and clear acoustics. What a hall! And to think they're doing Sprach there on Thursday night........grrr

Washington DC is freezing - my legs went numb, I couldn't feel them walking through the Mall this afternoon. Plenty of tourists around, and plenty of people wanting me to help them take photos. I hate shooting with point and shoots though - i find them harder to use than an SLR. Grr.....

I lost my beanie too - dropped it whilst trying to wrestle my bag out of the doors of a train on the Washington Metro. Not happy!

I'm looking forward to the Smithsonian museums tomorrow - should be awesome - and a tour to Mt Vernon on Wednesday, that will be great.

Blog Restarted - for the USA!

It's been ages since I blogged and this seems to be the only way to keep my written communication other than spam emails which I can do because I have free wireless internet at my hotels in Philly and Washington DC (hereafter referred to as DC).

I flew into NY's JFK airport with the plane running an hour late from Los Angeles - not unusual, and spending 30 mins taxiing to the gate (again not unusual). Took the bus into Manhattan, was dropped off at Grand Central Terminal (out came the camera) and i found a taxi that took me to the YMCA Westside.

The YMCA Westside is a very interesting property. Having just spent 2 nights there, I'd prefer not to have to stay there again, the decor is pretty basic - but it does have all the TV you could want - including NCAA games, Fox, CNN, Weather Channel (enthralling watching - really is - proved very useful) blah blah.

A lot of Poms frequent the place, their accent is sooooo not like mine, I sometimes wonder how these Yanks confuse my accent with Poms. Honestly! I went to a "drugstore" and they're like,

"You from England?"
"Nah"
"You Chinese yeah?"
"Sort of"
"Where you from?"
"Australia"
"How come you don't speak like Chinese? Where are ya folks?"
"They moved to Australia a long time ago"
"Oh..."

I did a lot of walking - from 63rd Street and 8th Avenue to 54th street, then up to 57th, across 9 avenues to 1st avenue to see the Queensboro bridge (there you go Anna! :D) - then down to 44th St where the UN Headquarters are. I got there early so I walked down to 42nd and Lexington to take pictures of the Chrysler Building, my favourite building (in aesthetic terms). I then went back to the UN and took a tour. There was a session of the General Assembly taking place and so was able to sit in for about 5 minutes - it was about the Syrian, Lebanon conflict - (there you go Pete, something to aspire to!)

I went lens shopping at 33rd and 9th Avenue at B&H, probably the largest photographic store in the world - they are huge, taking up an entire NY City block. I bought a macro lens there, 2nd hand, yes, but in immaculate condition.

The NYPO was fantastic, but I was so tired that i did start to nod off at times - dunno why, maybe the Mozart was so dreamy that I almost went into la-la land? Salome was fantastic - I stayed awake for that - so it must have been the Mozart.

I find New Yorkers a friendly lot, they're pretty good when people ask for directions and all and without sounding like Holden Caulfield and all. Customer service is non-existent in the States, have to deal with rude people all the time. I suppose if the work is menial etc, then people get a bit nasty.

Anyhow, I should sleep, it's midnight here and I have to do the Philadelphia tourist stuff today (I went to Liberty Bell this arvo).