April 24, 2008
My first trip to Las Vegas “Sin City” was in 1996 right after I graduated high school. Since then I have been to Vegas maybe 4 or 5 times, and every time I go I always say that I will never come back. I think the reason I don’t like Las Vegas is due to the fact that there is an overwhelming feeling in the air, a feeling of desperation. People from all over the world come to Vegas to hit it big “Get Rich” and get laid. But due to the cold hard facts, most people, 98% of them go home a loser. But I am trying to look at life a little different now.
My friend Bryan invited me to Vegas for the weekend; he said, “What else better do you have to do?” I thought to myself… yeah he’s right. So with that I’m going to Vegas and I’m going to let all my built up animosity go and enjoy it as if I was from China and this is my first trip to Sin City.
Posted by
Jimmy under California, Thoughts, Travel Tips, Uncategorized, Updates |
Comments (0)
April 15, 2008
I have been fortunate enough to visit some of the world’s biggest and busiest cites. One thing that they all seem to have in common is traffic! Some are dealing with it better then others. But unfortunately for me my city, Los Angeles the “City of Angels” is by far the worst city in the world when it comes to dealing with getting the millions of people around each day. The streets of LA are practically gridlocked at all hours of the day. It seriously can’t get much worse, it’s like that video from REM “Everybody Hurts”.
We do have a metro (subway) but it only has a few stops and goes nowhere, or at least nowhere I need to go. The buses are pretty much useless, as they get stuck on the same jam packed streets. With that said this is not something new, the streets of Los Angeles have been overloaded for the last 40 years. But the problem is the government and state doesn’t seem to be doing anything about it.
Their excuse for not building a working subway is the cost (even though California is the 4th largest economy in the world.) and some BS about underground fault lines. The thing is they don’t need to go underground, they can add trains along the freeways like they do in cities all over the world. Anyway well I don’t see it getting better anytime soon, so I guess I will just sit back in my little Smart Car and dream of my days on my secret beach drinking fresh pineapple juice. 
Read more…
Posted by
Jimmy under California, Thoughts, Travel Tips, Uncategorized, Updates |
Comments (2)
April 10, 2008
Jet lag is no new thing; people have been dealing with it for years and years. But it is for sure kicking my ass right now! I met a pilot in Bangkok that said jet lag is much worse when you travel west. Well it also sucks when you travel east! Since I have been home (3 days now) I have been sleeping at all hours of the day. I used to be able to deal with it much easier; maybe it’s that I’m getting older. Today I fell asleep at 4pm for what i was hoping would be a 30 minute nap but i didn’t wake up until 1am, so I am now writing this wide-awake at 2 in the morning! Ahhhh the life of a traveler!
Posted by
Jimmy under California, Thoughts, Travel Tips, Uncategorized, Updates |
Comments (0)
April 6, 2008
A lot people have asked me what’s it going to be like to go back home… and I don’t really know. I haven’t really put too much thought into it. Upon arriving back into the US of A… I was quickly greeted by the long arm of the law! I’m not sure if it was my blood shot eyes from lack of sleep or the smell of Bangkok’s back alleys on me. Whatever it was I was taken aside and given one major pat down.
Normally I don’t really have anything on me to worry, but today I had a fist full of Valium (sleeping pills) and some pirated DVD’s from Thailand. I started to panic a bit since the US is cracking down on the piracy act and they are now handing out huge fines for bringing in fake goods. The worst part was I had already watched the movies and had no intent on bring them back, I just simply forgot to take them out.
After 10 long minutes of hand magic to keep the security checkers eyes away from my secret compartment on my bag… I was free to go. He seemed more interested in why I had two passports, not because its illegal (which its not) but because he wants to get one and was asking questions on how to.
Now for some of you that don’t know much about Los Angeles, LA sucks if you don’t have a car to get around. So I headed to Enterprise rent car to pick up my sweet new wheels. They upgraded me to some new car (forgot the name) that looks pretty sweet. LA is a very image conscious city so you can’t go riding around in no piece of crap… (Just kidding I don’t really care) I pulled out of the lot and ask the girl at the gate “Which way to San Francisco?”…she laughed and I said, “No just joking…. Which way to the 405?”. I forgot that it was now Saturday after noon, so when I hit the 405 all I saw was different shades of red… red brake lights that is! The 405 looked more like a parking lot then a freeway. I thought to myself… “Welcome home!”
After sitting in traffic for 30 minutes or so I finally made it to my friend Tom’s house. I forgot to write down his apartment # so I had to knock on a few doors to find him. Tom is a good friend of mine that I met while working at MTV. At this point I was starving so I dropped off my bags and headed for a place that I have been dreaming about for a long long time. One thing about traveling for such long periods of time is that you sure do miss certain things from home. For me I miss the food the most. There is a place in LA called Koo Koo Roo, which is basically a place where you can get chicken sandwiches and a few other things. I sometimes like to eat the same thing over and over again until I get sick of it. But not Koo Koo Roo, I have been eating here for over 8 years now with no signs of stopping. When I walked into the restaurant I took one big whiff to take in all the different smells. I probably looked like some homeless man that hasn’t eaten in weeks. I tasted each bit as if it might be my last. Two older ladies sat across from me probably thinking that I was on drugs. Well the truth was I was in heaven and food was my drug.
The US leads the world with fat people; I never really noticed it until today. I have seen more overweight people in only 4 hours of being home then I have seen over the last 6 months overseas! I better be careful with my Koo Koo Roo or I will be joining the epidemic. After getting a cell phone I headed back to Tom’s place for some much needed sleep. Tom’s cat meat baller, who is the fattest cat I have ever seen kept me company through the night. And that was my first few hours of being home.
Posted by
Jimmy under California, Thoughts, Travel Tips, Uncategorized, Updates |
Comments (1)
April 4, 2008
When you travel for long periods of time its easy to find yourself a little jaded and not interested in seeing the tourist sights… temples, museums…. etc. I think it has a lot to do with being overloaded… I mean how many temples can one possibly see?
I have now been to Bangkok over 15 times over the last 4 years, and every time I come I say to myself that I’m going to go check out the Grand Palace (the place where the King used to live) but I always seem to find some excuse not to go.
So today (my last day) I decided to suck it up and be the “Good Tourist”. With my sun block smeared on and my big camera hanging from my neck, I set off like the typical tacky tourist… I even had a map in my pocket, as it’s easy to get lost on foot in Bangkok.
Battling the intense heat and wild traffic, I made my way over to the palace with a swagger that says “Hey watch yourself…no need to try to sell me that crap, you know I don’t want it.” I cross streets with the confidence and attitude of a local leaving the other tourist cowering at the side of the road watching their lives flash in front of them. I have been to countless temples and palaces over the years and the Grand Palace is no different but yet it was still very impressive and worth the effort and the $8 entrance fee. The rest of the day was spent poolside with a bunch of interesting characters… then followed by my last $5 Thai massage and some awesome Indian food. When I look back on how I have spent the last few years of my life… Asia seems to play a big part in it. I am already missing it and I haven’t even left. Tomorrow I will board a flight bound for California… or as some people say Cali… but no one from California actually says it like that, only losers that watch the OC and think that’s what California is like call it Cali. As much as I’m sad to go home I also am looking forward to putting my brain and creative skills back to use. So for now I say goodnight and until the next time take care!
Posted by
Jimmy under Photos, Thailand, Thoughts, Travel Tips, Uncategorized, Updates |
Comments (0)
