Washington, DC Adventures
Posted by Stuart at 06:16 PM on May 03, 2006The last three days have been spent in travel to and from Washington, DC, and hanging out with friends there. My main reason for going to DC was to try to get the 60-day tourist visa at the Thai Embassy that other expats had told me about. Sure enough, I was able to get a 60-day, single entry tourist visa to Thailand. The embassy warned me that if I didn't have a return ticket from Bangkok, then the Thai Immigration staff might give me a hard time. I have never been asked to prove that I had a return ticket before, so hopefully they won't ask this time as well. (Since I basically live in Thailand, I don't have a return ticket!)
I also took the opportunity to hang out with a few friends in the area. I stayed with Clayton, who was nice enough to let me crash at his place in Capitol Hill. (Or else he was just paying me back for his stay over in Bangkok a few months ago.) I also had a chance to have dinner with Kenley and to see his new home in Columbia Heights. I had never been to this area of DC before, so it was a new experience for me.
Last night I had dinner with another high school friend that I haven't seen in forever - Eric. I also got to meet his adorable 3 year old daughter for the first time. Eric and his wife Lacy (but mostly Eric) cooked us a fantastic dinner of teriyaki steak with portobello mushrooms. After dinner Eric and I had a chance to sit out in his back yard and talk. It was as if the 20 years since high school never happened, as we talked about some of the same things we used to talk about. After meeting with him and meeting with Kenley, I realized that even after all of the experiences we've had over the past few years, we are still the same people inside. Betsy and I talked about some of what we considered to be radical changes that have happened, but they were relatively minor changes because our core personality and beliefs haven't changed. We are who we are, and we will always be who we are.
After I picked up my Visa this morning, I had lunch with Tom, an old friend I met over the Internet years and years ago. (I'm not actually sure when we first met, but it's definitely been a long time.) It was good to catch up with him and to have a chance to make fun of his ridiculously huge Hummer in person.
This afternoon I drove my rental car from DC to New York, picked up my parents at LaGuardia, and headed back to our hotel in Flushing. We had dinner near the hotel at a fantastic Thai & Malaysian restaurant called Green Papaya on Prince Street in Flushing. After three steak dinners in the past four days, Thai and Malaysian food was a nice change.
So, I am not sure what we have planned for the next few days, but basically I'll just be hanging out with my Mom and Dad in the Big City. Should be fun!
Faces in the Crowd at Barnes and Noble Union Square
Posted by Stuart at 11:29 AM on May 04, 2006I'm sitting in the 3rd floor cafe at what is perhaps my favorite Barnes and Noble Bookstore in the world -- at Union Square in Manhattan. A diverse crowd fill the many tables here. So, instead of working, I spend most of my time just watching people working, reading, talking, thinking.
A young Asian fashion designer with a jacket, vest, and scarf all of three different colors and patterns and textures makes notes and sketches in a drawing book.
Behind the mix and match style of the designer, a round-bodied elderly gray haired man takes the monochrome approach with matching grey shirt and black pants as he flips through a comic book.
Two Japanese ladies thumbing through eclectic product catalogs and home design books sit next to me. I can only make wild guesses as to what they are chatting about in Japanese.
A long haired girl in a t-shirt and dark rimmed glasses sits by the window. An earnest concerned look is etched into her face as she makes her points to her male companion. Is she saving the world?
Across the large room, a table of Indian business men, sharply dressed in designer jackets and ties and glasses smile and nod and speak of important things. Perhaps they are tacking the same problems as the girl by the window, but I would guess that their approaches might be quite different.
Saving the world is definitely not on the mind of the pot-bellied middle-aged caucasian guy a few tables over. But I do wonder what he is thinking as he studies a Thai kickboxing book.
And perhaps a mirror image of myself sits facing me a few tables away. On his table is an open laptop that he glances at now and then. But he is seemingly more interested in scanning the room around him as he thinks, paying more attention to the comings and going than to what is on the computer screen.
Driving Through History on Long Island, New York
Posted by Stuart at 08:43 PM on May 04, 2006My mother, father, and I have spent most of the day in the car, driving through Long Island. It's been a very educational trip for me, as my impression of Long Island was nothing like the reality. My lack of knowledge of the area showed through at the very beginning of the trip. We started from our hotel in Flushing, Queens, and I soon asked: "When are we going to cross the bridge to the island?"
My Dad was quick to rescue me from my ignorance: "Queens is on Long Island". Oh. Duh.
I was also expecting to see mostly urban or at least suburban areas. But most of the island that we saw was small-town rural, full of history that stretched back to the very beginning of the European experience in North America. There were centuries-old homes and churches and cemeteries around every corner it seemed. It reminded me a lot of the drive Piyawat and I took through Cape Cod a year ago.
But no complaints here: the drive was wonderful. We went out to the end of the South Fork of the island and then crossed two ferries and drove to the end of the North Fork. The day was capped off with an amazingly good dinner at a Greek Restaurant. With the amount of great food that I have eaten this week, I must be gaining weight. Oh well, I'm going to enjoy it as long as I can.
Catching a Game at Shea Stadium
Posted by Stuart at 05:17 PM on May 06, 2006There are many things that I enjoyed in my "past life" as an American that I don't necessarily miss, until I experience them again on my trips back to the U.S. Driving on smooth highways with wide shoulders that are free of motorcycles, vendors, and chickens is one of those things. On our way back from Long Island today, I could really appreciate the convenience of the American Interstate system.
Today I realized that baseball is another one of those things. We spent the afternoon at Shea Stadium watching a great game between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves. I just love baseball, especially when I am watching it live, on a warm summer day. Unfortunately, though, soulless Shea Stadium leaves a lot to be desired (I've been spoiled by Pac Bell Park in San Francisco).
As I watched the game I thought that perhaps being a Major League baseball player is the best job in the world. And one that I would never be able to do. I had flashbacks now and then of my less-than illustrious Dixie Youth baseball career as a kid. For some reason, I was never any good at baseball. I wasn't too bad at shagging fly balls in the outfield, but my hitting skills were non-existent. I guess part of the reason I love to watch baseball so much is that I have so much respect for the player's ability to actually make contact with a small round object coming towards them at 95 miles an hour.
But not only that, the game was, in my opinion, as perfect as today's weather. The game started out with a bang, with a few runs in the first inning. The middle innings went by quickly. (As much as I love baseball, I admit that the games can get a little long sometimes.) And the end was an exciting one, as the Braves battled back in the ninth inning, only to fall short by one run. Even though I wasn't really cheering for either team, it's always more fun when the hometown team wins.
So, it was another stroll down memory lane for me today, this time it was compliments of Major League Baseball.
National Geographic Traveler Writers Workshop and One Last Night on the Town
Posted by Stuart at 08:50 AM on May 08, 2006Yesterday was my last full day in the U.S. My parents and I spent it at a travel writer's workshop put on by National Geographic Traveler magazine. I must get my love of travel from my parents, and obviously I enjoy writing about the things I have seen and experienced, so my Dad (who is a communications professor, by the way) thought that a travel writing workshop would be a fun family activity.
And it was. It turned out to not be quite what we were expecting. And we were able to come up with a long list of ways it could have been improved, but it was a good experience for the most part.
And since last night was, in fact, my last night, I stopped a few stops short of our hotel to meet my friend Eddie for one more night on the town. I had seen Eddie when I was in New York a week ago, and my worst fears came true when one of the first things he said to me was, "You look fatter!" Thanks, Eddie. I swear I'll be back on the treadmill the first day I get back to Bangkok.
Looking at the Past and at the Future
Posted by Stuart at 12:16 PM on May 10, 2006Back home to Bangkok safely and fighting the usual jet lag, I can look back at this past trip to the U.S. and see that it gave me a chance to reminisce about my life, and to think about where I have been and where I am going. From catching a Mets game and thinking about my short-lived baseball career, to chatting with my high school buddies Betsy and Eric who reminded me of my time as a high-school nerd, and meeting up with various other friends here and there who saw me through college and my working life in San Francisco.
That was my past, but what about the future? Should I come up with a 10-year plan like Betsy has? What kind of work should I do? Do I want to be an academic? Or a travel writer? Or a major league baseball player? (Ok, maybe it's too late for that one.)
In any case, I think I will be taking a small break from all the crazy traveling I've done so far this year. I think it's time to concentrate on taking the next step, to moving towards the next chapter in my life, whatever that might be.
