Yiiiiikes

Sorry to all those loyal readers out there. I've been a total delinquent blogger!

I spent 3 weeks away from Aceh. First was in Jakarta for a team building session, which turned out to be pretty fun. Saw some friends before hoping on a plane to Singapore, where I met up a relative that I haven't seen in years! Then, 7-hour plane ride to Tokyo and 9 more to San Francisco, where I was greeted by dim sim, trip to Napa, chocolate bouchons, and yummy duck (all within 12 hours of landing). Went to Alcatraz for the first time ever and drove up to Davis (where I lived from '89-'94) and had lunch with a friend who's a soon-to-be mommy. Heaps of thanks to ChoiboyX who let me crash at his place, searched for the perfect fish taco with me (although I ended up having an enchilada) and took me to the airport at 5am!

DC was fantastic as well...well aside from all the medical appointments to make sure that I'm not dying from some asymptomatic tropical disease. I was able to catch up with friends, family and coworkers. It was great timing that a friend from Chicago was in town for law interviews and another from SF was in town for training. Other highlights included a wonderful Sunday afternoon with Can Attack and company where wine consumption paired with experimental and competitive cooking started at 2pm. Went bowling with 3 high school buddies at this new posh bowling alley and almost beat Captain F. Had planned on doing a midnight monument biketrip with a friend, but that fell through...will have to save it for next time! All in all, had a great great time in DC.

From DC, I took the Chinatown bus up to New York for a 2-day jaunt. Stay with Mr. Ironwood (Thanks!!!) in his 6-story walkup (85 steps that nearly killed an IKEA furniture delivery boy). NY is one of those places where everyone seems to end up at some point. I saw friends from high school, college, DAI, and even hung out in Central Park with a coworker from Jakarta!

Now I'm back in Aceh and not totally thrilled to be here. It's been gloomy here with the onset of rain season. Ramadan is in full swing, meaning 3 restaurants are open for lunch and everyone in the office is in a dour mood. Also a bit depressing that friends are leaving the place, meaning if I don't make an effort to make new friends, I'll be stuck watching 'Lost' in my room every night. Blaaaaaaaah. But at least I can now download Season 3 of Grey's Anatomy and I just bought myself a motorbike!!!!...More on that later. So...things are on the upswing!