Motorcade

Here is the back of ted Kennedy's hearse. The best I could do with the
iPhone.

Live from the Kennedy motorcade

My dam decided to see the motorcade

Things I will miss about Orlando:
weekly maid service
palm trees
never having to buy TP
A/C
Cable TV

Reasons why I am happy to be back in Boston:
no more spiders dangling over my head
public transport
friends!
less humidity
Copley mall
fave restaurants

Sloanies on the Daily Show

Here is a clip of 4 of my classmates on the Daily Show. Doing us proud!

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-august-12-2009/mba-ethics-oath

Bay lake towers

Here is the view from celeste and jeff's hotel room in the newest time
share on Disney property. It opened about a week ago and it has a
great view of the magic kingdom. However it can get kids noisy with
the monorail so close. Kinda reminded me of NYC. :)

Shippin' up to Boston!

Due to a change of plans, looks like I'll be returning to Boston earlier than planned! I expect to come in either August 22nd or 23rd. Can't wait!

Obama-bot

Here is the new Hall of Presidents show featuring Obama in the middle.
It's a pretty cool addition.

Epcot

We ate dinner in the german restaurant. Here is olivia dancing all by
herself to the band!

Disney 2

Ready for Disney!

My niece Olivia!

Iced Tea

You know it's a slow news day when I'm blogging about my iced tea, but really! This thing is the size of my head!

Also, the best thing about living in a hotel- never having to clean or pay for TP!

Black Hammock

I've had some fun with my weekend adventures taking my Versa and GPS on the road into the unknown. That's why I've saved the most classic Floridian experience for last before Celeste, Jeff and the girls arrive next week after which my internship will feel like it's practically done!

So as I've been speaking with the executives in my company, many of them have suggested I go to Black Hammock, a converted Harley Bar on Lake Jessop that has the most gators per square meter or something like that. However, just my luck I didn't see a one in its natural habitat. But here are some fun pics of my day!














Here is the store front of this very shabby attraction. But I think the camp factor really added to the authenticity of a dude named Earl boating you around a swamp!















We coasted along the banks to catch sight of some gators, but alas, no sightings.



















I took this pic with the wind blowing in my face. I'm glad I got our tour guide in the pic as well! The air boat ride was really loud, hence the air traffic control ear muffs, but the ride itself was surprisingly cool and relaxing.



Here is some video of the air boat ride. I was surprised to see we went right into the weeds as well as doing some spins in the lake. I was talking with one of my fellow riders who asked about MIT. We got to talking about Lockheed and it turns out she was ex-CIA. cool.














The price of the ride also included a pic with the resident gator. So here I am trying to control the critter as it tried to squirm. yuck! However, it felt quite cool on this hot day, something you might want to put over your eyes early in the morning to reduce puffiness. But after this, I woud rather have my gators in purse form- perhaps a sophisticated clutch. And no, I did not have the stomach to eat gater nuggets in the attached restaurant. I think it had more to do with hygiene than ethics :)

Mount Dora

This weekend I went to Mount Dora which is northwest of Orlando for lunch and to do a little shopping. Above is a picture of the cute side streets, restaurants, and shops.














After lunch and shopping, Silvia and I went for dessert at an English tea room. It was very cute with kitch stuff all over complete with British import foodstuffs. The chocolate cake was big enough for a doggie bag!














And to make you even more jealous, I took a close up of the meal.

Lift-off!

After 5 failed tries, Space Shuttle Endeavor was sent into orbit yesterday a little after 6PM. Here is my best try to get a picture of it from my hotel balcony, but it was so humid that my camera had condensation all over it. However, you can just make out the white trail in the sky. My overall thoughts, "Wow! That is fast!"

Because I was so close, it lasted only a few seconds. It's something you don't see everyday considering they are retiring the shuttle program in 2010.

Kentucky wedding

Got back from Richmond, KY last night. Here are some pics of the wedding and reception. It took place on the bride's sister's house on over an acre of rolling green hills. However, it was a bit cloudy and rained during the outdoor ceremony, but we lived.
































Yay America!



















The newly weds kiss after the ceremony. The closing line from the pastor was written by the newly weds and stated, "Be excellent to one another."
Party on, Wayne!



















"someone left the cake out in the rain..."

Male manicurist!

I am getting all primped for the wedding this weekend and for the
first time in my life I have a male manicurist. I used to think I was
destined to marry a chef, but now I'm thinking this guy will come in
handy!

SunPass

Today I bought my Florida SunPass. I feel like a proper floridian. Now I don't have to ask for change in quarters considering I have to pay $6 in tolls when going out to and about... oh wait, I still have to pay though!

My neighbors

Meet one of my neighbors. I kindly refer to him as Cletus. Harmless I am sure, but I've never seen him with a shirt or shoes. Unfortunately, I do not think they would serve him at our local 7 Eleven.

Anyway, living in this hotel is kind of funny because I get to see the types of people that come and go. Sometimes we get local college kids trying to party it up, other times you get families in town for maybe the parks. But mostly it seems that we get fishermen with their pick up trucks who are gone by the break of dawn.

But in the event there is an annoying routy group in the building, I just roll my eyes and wait it out because, surely, I will still be here.

Celeste soda

This one is for my sister. I got it from the gas station next store.
They also have celeste branded cola and water.

Jai Ho!

Here is the video of my classmates and me performing the dance "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire in Bangkok at our friend Amit's wedding. It's quite hilarious!

storms and troopers

Well, I'm witnessing one of the worst storms I've seen in a while. Lightening everywhere, thunder, birds falling out of the sky. It's a bit crazy.

On a different note, today I had a tour of my company's training products facility and it was nuts! I was in a 360 war simulation in a room with an old refurbished humvee with wireless guns of some sort and it was honestly terrifying. Once the front humvee in our convoy blew up in front of us, all hell broke loose. We started being fired at and all the interns with the guns went bat sh*t. Of course I wanted nothing to do with holding any firearms, but these 16 year olds went crazy firing at civilians and enemies alike. They were like "where is the shooting coming from?" and I responded, "Oh I don't know, maybe that burning TRUCK in the corner?!"

Needless to say, my company does produce some realistic stuff that put the fear of god into me and left me a bit quesy. Hopefully, the products we make are for the greater good helping our troops prepare for the real deal, but in the meantime this little miss New England liberal elite came away shell shocked.

Orlando observations

So I've been in the Sunshine State for a week and I've come up with some observations in comparison to my familiar way of life up north. Here are just a few, as this will be a growing list I'm sure:

The Good:
weather is nice
palm trees everywhere
driving into work is like driving into a resort
Steak N' Shake
good traffic planning
the drivers are somewhat polite compared to MA
entertainment resorts (Disney, Universal, etc.)
A/C everywhere

The Bad:
it rains almost everyday
i sweat at my desk
spiders at night
rednecks here and there
morning coffee is not a way of life!
mostly chain restaurants
TOLLS everywhere!

The Indifferent:
Publix
Winn Dixie
many PT Cruisers

spiders!

So I finally met our security guard tonight, and this was while I was outside with a big can of Black Flag killing the gross colony of spiders living right outside my door. I swear it is like living in Charlotte's Web. Every morning I run through my doorway hoping to not get dive bombed.

The security guard just laughed and said people try this all the time but they always come back. However, it made me just feel better to be spraying them dead one by one. Towards the end, my fingers were soaked because I was spraying so much; it was a bit like how Lady Macbeth must have felt.

On the bright side, I went out to dinner with some coworkers tonight. They are pretty funny and welcoming. I've come to the conclusion that pretty much every office must have pockets of fun people that are maybe even replications of other offices. I'm glad I found a good group of ppl so quickly!

Studio 2

I might just invest in my own bed spread.. :)

My studio

Here is it. Home sweet home.

My car

It's a great car with character. Much cuter in person!

Far from home

Well, I made it safely to my new place in Orlando. It's an extended stay hotel where I have a studio with kitchenette, full bed, and bathroom. It's not a bad set up and in a few ways it's better than my nyc apartment. It's pretty clean, I have cable and air conditioning! On the bright side, I get housekeeping every week where they change the linens and throw out my trash. Also free wifi!

Last night I went to super Target and ate at a diner next to our location. I also left my camera cord in Boston so I will have to use my iPhone for picture taking. I'll try to upload pics of my new cute car (an electric blue Nissan) and my studio. It's kinda like an upscale version of the hotel in No Country for Old Men.

I start work tomorrow! I more day of rest!

Homeless

For someone who technically is in between homes, I sure do have a lot
of keys! Thank you to all my friends who have opened up their
apartments to me, entrusting me with their keys!

more pics

Here is us at the end of the reclining Buddha. You can get a better idea of how large it was!

More of my classmates on the Grand Palace tour.

Me in my element at the floating market!

Us at the tailors as we get our bespoke suits made!

Thailand miscellany

Last day on Koh Phi Phi before taking the boat back to Krabi.

Don't be jealous of my Pad Thai wrapped in egg! Yum Thai Iced Coffee in risque glass!


Our friend Joe pays 3 bucks to have be wrapped in a snake. No off color joke needed.

This struck me as a really detailed don't walk sign. The dude has heels. Lady boy, anyone?

Thailand miscellany

The view from the lobby of our LUXURY resort hotel in Krabi.

Grabbing a Thai Iced Tea in Thailand! That's the life!

We got hooked up with ringside seats for Thai Boxing thanks to our classmate Akrim who we are convinced will run the country some day. Too bad these kids were around 15 years old, but it was quite a spectacle.

This was one of my favorite sites, the reclining Buddha. This pic doesn't do it justice to show exactly how large it is. Something along the lines of 60 meters long?

Grand Palace Tour. We are definitely in Thailand, baby.

Thailand, cont.

Here is our dear friend Amit riding the horse to the wedding ceremony. We had to dance in celebration to welcome him and throw money in the air while the marching band played.

I don't know why tuk tuk's (seen above) get such a bad rap out here. It was actually the most fun ride I had the whole time albeit we actually feared for our lives. We were on route to a night market.

Here is us on our tour of Bangkok temples, the Grand Palace, and the Emerald Buddha.

This statue at the Grand Palace was awesome.

My friend Christie and I wearing sari's to Amit's Sangeet the night before the wedding. We got on stage and danced to Jai Ho for all of his guests.

Jetlagged Blogging

Well it's 2:30 am on 5/31 and my body seems to be in Bangkok time. I returned on Saturday at 1:30PM after the following flights:
Krabi tp Bankgkok
Bankgkok to Tokyo
Tokyo to Chicago
Chicago to Boston

After 30+ hours of straight travel, I wanted to pass out. Next time I will splurge for more direct flights. This was insane. But on the bright side, the trip was awesome and went without a hitch! Here are some pics for all you patient readers!
This is a pic of the floating market right outside of Bangkok. We rode a boat paddled by a person who brought us from floating vendor to vendor. I think we all got a little queasy from the mango slices we bought from a boat vendor who probably washed the fruit in the dirty water. D'oh!

After Bangkok, we went to Krabi then a boat to Koh Phi Phi. I look pretty wind swept in this one. The views were amazing!

This was my idea of paradise. In fact, this was my pose for the whole time with a big smile on my face.

The sun came out for our last day. Hooray!

On our last night in Krabi before returning to Bangkok, we went to a great restaurant for the spiciest food imagineable. It took a tole on everyone else's stomach but mine. Also, our table was over the water so these weird moth bugs kept dive bombing into our food. Gross!