Summer of 1997

I have been hanging out with a girl from Hungary named Edina, showing her around San Diego the last few months. Recently, we went to the new Stephen Birch Aquarium in La Jolla. It is a great aquarium displaying the ocean life of the California coastline. The best exhibit is the giant kelp forest tank. The large back porch with the tide pools has great views of the La Jolla shoreline and Scripps Pier.


Afterward, we down to La Jolla and checked out all the beaches, La Jolla Cove, the seals at the Children's Pool and the famous Wind'n'Sea beach right by the beach house I worked at a few years ago. The waves have been fun lately and the water is pretty warm. That makes for some crowded conditions out in the water, unfortunately. Last weekend while surfing, a pod of dolphins swam close by me about fifteen feet away. I always consider dolphins as a good luck sign while out in the water, don't have to worry about sharks.


A few weeks ago, my friend, Matt, had his birthday. We had a limousine for seven hours. I had never been in one before. It was huge. We had nine people inside and we went to fancy Japanese restaurant, a nightclub, and then down to the beach. There was a lot of alcohol in the Limo and we all got pretty toasted.

I saw the movie, Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery. Mike Myers was hilarious. During one scene I laughed so hard that I had to wipe tears from my eyes. I saw The Fifth Element with Bruce Willis. It had an original spin on a old storyline with a good sense of humor. I thought Milla Jovovich was very hot. The director, Luc Besson, also did the French films, Nikita and The Big Blue, which I thought was very good. I thought The Lost World was a bit of a disappointment on the plot side. I saw it up at the Edwards Spectrum up in Irvine. BIG SCREEN!!


I went to Six Flags Magic Mountain, last weekend. My friend, Greg, and I went because of the new ride, Superman, The Escape. It traveled 100 miles an hour along the track and then shot up a tower that is as tall as a 41-story building. We sat in the front row and it was very exciting. I took a picture at the very top. It was hard to hold on to the camera because we were traveling so fast. My sunglasses flew off of me and out of the roller coaster at the top, but they fell back into the coaster at the bottom as we shot back down. It would have been even more amazing had one of the lenses not broken off when they landed.

Fiji Pictures

Here are the rest of my Fiji pictures on Facebook from my 1997 surfing trip.

Here is the link:

Fiji Pictures on Facebook

Fiji Trip

My surf trip to Fiji with my friend, Jeremy, was awesome. I have wanted to go there since seeing "Endless Summer II". There was some great waves, but there was a bit too much wind on two of the days. It was a very different sort of wave in Fiji as there are very few beachbreaks. I'd never surfed a reef break before where the waves form when swells come from the really deep water to the shallow reefs surrounding the islands.


Big John would have to take us out in his little boat to Namotu (a nearby island) and we surfed a spot called Magics. The boat would anchor in a deep ocean channel outside of the island's coral reef, so it was a long paddle over to the lineup. It was a little scary jumping off the boat the first time because of the fear of sharks and no land close by to reach if necessary.


There was a powerful rip current out at the surf break and we had to paddle endlessly to stay on the peak in the lineup. We also had to be careful when we fell (trying to fall flat) so we wouldn’t hit the sharp reef with our bodies. The long paddle back to the boat after a long surf session was brutal, felt like my arms would fall off. It least the current flowed in that direction. There was more than fifteen people out there each time we went, very crowded for Fiji. Jeremy couldn't get the camera to load a new roll of film, so I missed out on getting pictures taken of me catching any waves. Bummer!


One of the night's we got to participate in a Kava drinking ceremony. Kava is a native drink made out of the root of the Kava plant that has an euphoric effect. To drink the Kava, we had to clap once, drink the entire cup with both hands, hand it back and then clap three more times while saying, "Maca". It tasted like the earth and it made our tongues and mouths go a bit numb.


Jeremy and I went scuba diving and snorkeling in the warm waters of the island, Malolo Lailai, we were staying on. We also did a bit of kayaking and I tried windsurfing once. It's impossible. I don't think I ever went more than a foot. Maybe if I knew the basics of sailing I would have figured it out. It seems like allot of technique.


We didn’t get much sleep on this trip. We had to go surfing at 6:00 in the morning to catch the high tide and we would stay up late partying and dancing in the bar at the Plantation Resort. We mostly hung out with Darren & Karen from Australia and Georgie and Laura from Great Britain. It was rainy season in Fiji but it only rained on our last day of the trip. A tropical cyclone was supposed to hit the islands the day after we flew back to Los Angeles.


Here in San Diego everything is nice and sunny. Perfect weather, actually. After Jeremy and I got back from Fiji, we found out that we were having a ‘Red Tide’ at the beaches here. It was an amazing contrast coming from the crystal clear waters of Fiji to a deep rust color of the water back here. At night the ocean would glow and the waves would throw off sparks created by the electrolytes produced by the billions of plankton massed along the shoreline. It only lasted a few days and the ocean is now back to its normal green. Two friends of mine were stung pretty badly by the jellyfish that had come to feed on the plankton.

Army Reserves - End of Drills

I have finished my last weekend drill for the Army Reserves. No more early morning wake-ups for my monthly weekend drill or using my two-week paid vacation from work on my yearly Army Training. My company is going to Panama for this year's two-week duty so I am a little bummed I will miss that, but Oh Well!

I have two more years left in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) where I am still listed in the computer for emergency call-up before I receive my discharge from the Army.

I ended my active service as a Specialist, an E-4, one step away from becoming a Sergeant. If I had decided to re-enlist, I would have gone for my promotion this year.

I wrapped up my Army experience with a fun party at my house for all my Army buddies.

Ski Trip to Snow Summit

I went to Big Bear to go skiing at Snow Summit with Greg and my brother, Jake. It has been a pretty dry winter so the snow conditions haven't been the best. We spent most of the time in the terrain park on the jumps.


We had a fun time but I got the worst sunburn of my life because I stupidly thought I didn't need sunscreen.

Trip to Rosarito, Mexico

A group of us rented a big van and went down to Rosarito, Mexico. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant that Ken recommended on the way down. The food was really good and the view was great from our table out on the patio atop a sea cliff.


In Rosarito, we pretty much did a bar crawl starting at the Rosarito Beach Hotel and ending up across town at Papas & Beer at the end of the night. There are great coastal views in Rosarito of the Coronados, the small rocky islands were I learned to scuba dive last year.

My new Honda Del Sol

I finally got a great car that I have wanted for awhile. I bought a 1993 Honda Del Sol after my crappy, overheating Honda CRX broke down for the last time.

Cross-Dress Halloween

I tried something different this Halloween. I decided to dress up as a women this year, even if that meant having to shave my legs. I spent the whole day in costume, including going to all my college classes. The costume was a big hit with all the girls in the halls and in my classes. With quite a few girls commenting that they wish they had my legs, I discovered that my embarrassingly skinny man-legs are just right for a women. Just my luck! After school, I headed over to Scott's house for his Halloween Party. The picture of Dave and me at the party is my favorite.



Shauna was a huge help getting ready for Halloween. I stayed at her house the night before where she applied the nail polish and put on my make-up in the morning. She found the perfect dress for me from her closet and lent me the proper accessories to finish off the costume. Lots of Laughs! Below is the before and after pics.

Europe Trip Pictures

Here are the pictures from my backpacking trip to Europe this summer for two months. My friend, Greg Brooks, traveled with me for the first month and I continued on for another month by myself.


I had a tight budget of only 30 dollars a day so I didn't have much left over after food and lodging. I also had a two-month Eurorail pass that allowed unlimited train travel throughout Western Europe and also included ferry boat trips and select river boat trips.

Europe Trip Pictures on Facebook

Europe Trip - Utrecht, Netherlands

I am on the plane home from my two month backpacking trip to Europe. I arrived in Paris this morning on a night train from Utrecht, Holland around 7am. This is the seventh time I have been in Paris on this trip, but mostly I used it as a hub that I quickly passed through. This last stop I wanted to go and visit the famous Louvre, but because of the subway bombing in July the lockers are still closed and there is no baggage check. There is no way I am going to hike through the museum carrying this heavy backpack. I guess I will have to make another trip here to visit the Louvre.


I had a fun time in Utrecht. It took me two days on trains to get there from Portugal. One of my brief stops between train rides was in Arcachon, France where I spent half a day at the beach, swimming and relaxing on the sand. I must say that I prefer the Atlantic Coast of France more than the French Riveria on the Mediterranean. More sand, less rocks. It was a nice little stop before taking a night train to Paris.


Mireille Sennef, who I befriended in Ireland, met me at the train station in Utrecht which is right smack in the middle of Holland. She had her bicycle and she gave me a ride back to her place with me perched precariously on the back. We stopped for a beer at a nice little place and caught up. After a spaghetti dinner, we went out to a bar to meet her friend and I had quite a few shots before we walked home.


On Friday, I slept in late, explored a little of the town and hung out with Mireille's roommates watching the Track & Field World Championships from Goteborg on TV. Christoph arrived that afternoon and we all went out for pizza and then went to the bars and clubs till 5am. The Dutch people are very tall, I am 6'2" but I only felt average height around these guys. That is unusual for me.


Saturday was a lazy day, we slept in till about three and hung around before taking a walk to the grocery store. A group of us made pancakes for dinner. All different types that I wasn't used to, made with ham, cheese or fruit cooked right in. Then it was time to say goodbye and I was given a ride to the train station on the back of a motorcycle. Much faster than the bike!

p.s. While we were at one of the bars on Friday night, one of our group accidentally pushed a full pint glass of beer off the counter with his elbow. Without a chance to think, I made a grab for the glass and caught it half-way to the floor without it spilling a drop. Everyone was amazed and I have to admit, I was pretty impressed with my self.

Europe Trip - Porto, Portugal

I arrived in Portugal on Saturday around 12:30pm. I spent most of the day walking around town wearing my heavy backpack looking for a bank that was open so I could exchange my money. I met two Germans, two Dutchmen and a couple from France at the first exchange place which was closed but had a sign saying they would be back in 30 minutes. We all set off together to look for another after we were informed that the guy wasn't coming back. After a long search, we were all relieved to find the only bank that was open, change our money and get a bite to eat together.


We agreed to meet up again to go out for beers in Porto's old town Ribeira district later that night to celebrate. I met up at the French couple's little motorhome parked by the Duoro River that runs through Porto. They were really nice and shared with me some of the dinner they were cooking on their little grill before the others arrived. We all had a fun time hanging out at the bars and cafes and we stayed out pretty late. It was a long walk back to my hostel along the dark streets and I had a nice hang-over the next morning.


Sunday, I hung out with the Germans again and went on one of the guided tours through the cellars of the House of Sandeman, one of the port wine lodges for which this city is famous. Port is a fortified wine mixed with Brandy that was originally created to be able to survive long ship voyages. The grapes and the wine are grown and produced in the Duoro Valley and then sent down the river to the dock-side cellars in Porto where they are aged and blended with Brandy to create the finished product. We got to taste a nice selection of Ports at the end.


I took a bus to the beach on Monday and stayed there all day. At the bus stop, I had to catch some Portuguese girl who tripped and fell into my arms. The beach was very sunny, but it was a windy day. I had my first decently made hamburger in Europe at a little restaurant on the beach. The cook wanted to know my opinion on his expertise at making American hamburgers. Later that night, I had a big meal as well at a Chinese restaurant. Haven't had that for a while. As the end of my trip nears, I am really starting to crave Mexican food from home.


Today, I mostly relaxed and walked around the city after making reservations at the train station. I also bought a new book for 2,700 escudos to read on my long train rides up to Holland and for the plane flight home. I caught the 6:05pm night train to Irun, Spain a little while ago. I have three long trains rides to complete before I reach the Netherlands.

Europe Trip - San Sebastian, Spain

The ferry back to France from Ireland was nicer this time. I hung out with a fun group of people in the bar till pretty late at night so all the good spots to sleep were taken. I ended up sleeping on the carpeted floor next to the stairs in the lobby area. In the morning, I met a pretty girl from New York and we had a good time talking on the ferry and on the train to Paris. I was invited to come along to Amsterdam with her friends, but I decided to continue with my plans to head down to Portugal. That was a tough decision.


I am glad I was only in Paris for a few hours because the city was extremely hot and humid. The night train to Bordeaux with a couple of guys from the ferry was pretty interesting. We were in a crowded train compartment with several French guys making hash cigarettes that they passed around. They would take the tobacco out of regular cigarettes and mix it up with some hash and then re-roll them. I didn't get much sleep that night in that smoky compartment.


I arrived in San Sebastian yesterday in a morning train from Bordeaux. I walked all over the city with four Americans I met on the train but we couldn't find a hostel with available beds. One of the guys spoke fluent Spanish and he was able to find us two rooms in someone's house for the night. We met a nice guy from Hungary later who had the same problem. We snuck him in to our room and he slept on the floor.


San Sebastian is a beautiful city in the Basque area of Spain. The city surrounds a small natural harbor with a little island placed in the middle like a pearl sitting in a oyster shell. The Old Town was crowded and fun to explore. They have lots of seafood here and we ended up eating tapas at a bar for dinner. I had four of them with a beer. Afterwards, we went for a walk to the top of the mountain that had a large statue of Jesus overlooking the bay.


Today, I explored more of the city and then went to the nearby beach of La Zurriola for most of the day. It was nice to swim at the first beach I have been to in Europe that had waves. Nice! I'm still not used to the difference between American and European beaches. I was relaxing on my towel and two pretty girls came up and put their stuff down on the sand nearby. Not having bathing suits didn't stop them from wanting to take a swim as they stripped down to just their underwear bottoms right in front of me before jumping in the water. One of them asked me if I had a cigarette after she came out of the water, but I had just given the rest of my cigarettes away in Ireland. Sheesh!


Now I am on a night train to Porto, Portugal. Lots of pretty girls on this train. I think Spain has some of the most beautiful women in Europe.

p.s. The Basque language is pretty unique looking to me. Every street sign seemed to have an abundance of z's, k's and x's.

Europe Trip - Tralee, Ireland

I have just stayed in Tralee for three days. It was very cool and for the first time on my trip, I totally relaxed. My first night in Tralee I went to the Abbey Inn for some Guinness with several others from Finnegans Hostel where I was staying. The pubs don't stay open that late here but they have low age limits. It was pretty unusual for me to be drinking beer in a pub next to a sixteen year old kid. Heh!


This was the first time on my trip that I have stayed at a hostel with coed rooms. That might have been the reason the hostel was so relaxed and friendly with everybody hanging out together. It was nice to be the only American and hang out with a group of Europeans from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Holland and other places. We would hang out on the front steps and go out to the pubs together at night. We would sleep in till noon, have breakfast, and do nothing for the rest of the day. It was great.


The hostel was in a nice location right across the street from the Tralee Town Park. Tralee is famous for its roses and the park was full of them in bloom. We hung out at the park allot because the weather was so nice and sunny. We even got caught up in a water balloon fight started by some local kids.


On Sunday, while walking around the small town a bit I stopped to take a picture of a colorfully painted church. Two Irish guys who had just gotten out of the church service wanted me to take a picture of them. They were very interesting to talk to because their Irish brogue was so thick. I could only understand about every third word which was barely enough to get the gist of the conversation. One of them offered to buy me a pint if I saw him later in one of the pubs. He was pretty plastered when I bumped into him on the street that night, but he recognized me and took me to his favorite pub for a pint. That was pretty cool.


Afterwards I met up with Florian, Mireille, Christoph and some others at a pizza restaurant where we stayed till around 2 am. Most of the group smoked cigarettes that they rolled themselves because it is cheaper. Since I don't smoke, I ended up giving my Marlboro cigarettes to Mireille that I had bought earlier in my trip. They are her favorites but are normally too expensive for her to buy regularly. I have never seen anyone smoke a cigarette after breaking off the filter before. Heh!


I originally came to Tralee in order to visit the Dingle Peninsula where "Far and Away" with Tom Cruise was filmed, but I never got around to it because I was enjoying myself so much here. Oh well. Now I am on 7:30am train to Rosslare Harbor to catch a ferry back to the continent so I can head down towards Portugal.

p.s. I made plans with Mireille to meet up and stay at her place in Utrecht, Holland in about two weeks when she gets back home from Ireland.

Europe Trip - Dublin, Ireland

I am in Ireland now. The countryside was very beautiful as I took the train up the coastline to Dublin. We chugged alongside cliffs with great views of the Irish Sea. It was one of the most scenic train rides I have taken so far.


The ferry to get to Ireland took 20 hours. After boarding, I watched the movie "Circle of Friends" and ended up sleeping in a big chair that was pretty comfortable. My EuroRail pass covers only the ferry ride, not a cabin. I woke around 8:00am and spent the rest of the trip up on deck. It was a nice sunny day so I worked on my tan until I arrived in Rosslare at 3:00pm on Thursday and then hopped the train to Dublin.


Dublin is very crowded so it took me awhile to find a hostel with an available bed when I arrived around twilight. The Irish people are very friendly. When I went to get some cash from an ATM I ended up chatting with an Irish guy and then going to get a bite to eat with him. I watched some MTV at the hostel and ended the night early so I could catch up on some sleep.


Yesterday, I walked all over the city after having an Irish Breakfast. I went to Trinity College, the O'Connell Street & Bridge and ate some chips at Dublin's Castle. I also spent a lot of time hanging out at St. Stephen's Green. I saw "Batman Forever" in the evening at a giant theater. The movie sucked but the theater was interesting in that you get an assigned numbered seat on your ticket instead of first-come first-serve seating that I am used to in the US.


Today, I am on the train to Tralee on the west coast of Ireland near the Dingle Peninsula. Traveling through the countryside, I now truly understand why the color green is so associated with Ireland.

p.s. All over the city all through the day, you can hear the cry of "Tobacco" as street vendors walk the streets selling their pouches of tobacco. I guess everyone rolls their own here.

Europe Trip - Brest, France

I just spent four days in Brest, France with Aude Letelier and her family. I arrived on Friday evening after stopping in Paris earlier in the day where I visited the Eiffel tower again with a Swede and a Scotsman I met on the train. We climbed up to the second level before I had to catch my next train.


On Saturday, Aude drove me out to Le Conquet to walk around Pointe St-Mathieu and the beach at Les Blanes Sablows. It was a long, white sandy beach and the best one I have been to in Europe so far. We also checked out the ruins of an old abbey on the point. Aude is still learning how to drive and she accidentally went the wrong-way down a narrow one-way street along a cliff edge. We got blocked by another car coming up the other way and she wasn't able to reverse the car back up the hill. I have always been good at reverse driving so I got to show off my skills as I took over and sped backwards up the windy road. Heh! After that little adventure, she took me to a bar to meet her friends.


Sunday, I saw most of the Finistere Peninsula by car with Aude's whole family. We visited the old medieval town of Locronan that is used frequently as a location in films. We went out to Pointe du Raz, the rocky western tip that I had a fun time climbing and exploring. For lunch we had crepes, the specialty of the area.


On Monday I went sailing with Aude's friend, Irbe, in his Hobie Catamaran. It was a nice sunny day with no clouds but also very little wind. We caught some nice gusts but we also had to do a little paddling at times.

I went to the beach on Tuesday with Aude's brother, Charles, on my last day in Brest. It was a sunny day, but the water was very cold as we swam out to the raft anchored out in the ocean. We played some smashball and had a nice picnic lunch.

Aude's mother was a great cook. I ate the most amazing meals with lots of bread and cheese on the side. With each meal we had wine and home-made cider from the cellar that Aude's grandfather had made. The weather was perfect the whole time. Aude's family told me that this is unusual for Brest and that it is normally overcast and windy.

I almost missed my train to Paris this morning. I had to ride the Paris Metro this morning even though I was a little nervous after yesterday's bombing on one of the Metro trains. Now, I am on my way to La Havre, France to catch a ferry to Ireland.

p.s. Riding bicycles to the store with Charles to buy baguettes for dinner one afternoon was an unusual highlight of my stay in Brest.

Europe Trip - Koblenz, Germany

I am back at the Rhein River. On my trip down from Sweden, I stopped at the beach in Klampenborg, Denmark. Too bad it rained again. I also visited the small enclave of Christiania inside the city of Copenhagen. It is a "Free Town" founded by hippies in 1971 that claims "self-rule" from Denmark and even has their own flag. I think it survives mostly on the sale of marijuana and hashish that is displayed openly in booths on the main street which is not allowed in Copenhagen. After checking the place out, I caught a night train to Germany.


I arrived yesterday morning in Koblenz to stay at Jurgen Zack's house for the night. I had met him in my home town of Encinitas where he spends part of the year training for his IronMan triathlons. Before going to his house I walked around Koblenz, visited a park along the river and went to the Deutsches Eck monument (Jurgen told me it had only been finished being rebuilt two years ago after being damaged in World War II) where the Rhein and the Mosel rivers meet.


I had a little trouble finding Jurgen's house on a hill across the river from Koblenz, but a nice lady gave me a ride in her car to his address. I got there right when Jurgen was finishing up a meeting with a representative from a soft drink company who wanted him to endorse the product. I got to try one of them, it was called a Red Bull and it was pretty good. After checking out his place which had a great view of the river and the surrounding city, Jurgen took me out to eat and then to a bar to have a few beers. I had an interesting pizza that had a type of white sauce instead of the normal red. It was delicious.


This morning, he lent me one of his mountain bikes to go cruising around Koblenz while he is out on one of his training rides. When I got back from my ride, we watched the IronMan Triathlon on TV that Jurgen had just won in Roth, Germany. I had never watched one before, it looks impossible. I was amazed by how many kilometers of biking and running and laps of swimming he told me he has to do every week to train.

It was very hot, so we went to the community pool complex where everybody hangs out. It was very crowded. I hung out in the pool, layed out for awhile on the grassy area, took a couple of dives off of the high dive and watched a few of Jurgen's training laps in the pool. He swam for a long, long time. Afterwards, I met a few of Jurgen's German friends. They were as nice as he was. They suggested I should visit Portugal later in my trip.

Now, I am on a night train to Paris. From there, I am then heading to Brest, France to meet up with Aude tomorrow.

Europe Trip - Goteborg, Sweden

On the way here to Sweden with Roberto and Marcio, we stopped at a small beach at Hornbaek in Denmark. Too bad it was raining off and on, but it was very scenic anyway.


We had to take a ferry to cross over from Helsingor, Denmark to Helsingborg, Sweden. From there we hopped a train to Goteborg and arrived at 11:30pm. The days have been much longer here in Europe. It was still light out until after 1am last night here in this northern country. It is a big difference from San Diego where the daylight lasts until about 9pm at the latest.


Goteborg is a very clean city and you can see the signs and preparations for the Athletics World Championships here next month. Today we went to Nordstan, which is Sweden's largest shopping center and also down to the port to see the Barken Viking ship (a 20th century sailing ship) moored by the brightly colored Skanska House. We also went for a walk down the Avenyn, the city's main shopping street lined with restaurants and cafes. At the end is the statue of Poseidon standing in the Gotaplatsen square.


Roberto and Marcio left for Olso, Norway this afternoon. I wanted to go with them to see the fjords, but I have to get back to Germany to meet up with Jurgen Zack. Roberto and Marcio were great guys who are going to school to be doctors in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. I also need to get back to Germany as well to get more cash. The ATMs here in Scandinavia don't accept my type of ATM card and to conserve cash I have been living on cheap candy bars. I got a bit lucky when I found a pile of Swedish Kroner coins when I was sitting in the park after visiting the Haga Nygata.


Tonight, I found myself wandering in a cemetery near my hostel in the late night twilight. Tomorrow, I leave for Germany.

p.s. If I was blind, I would like to live in this city. All of the crosswalks "beep" and have Braille on them, but as a person with sight all the beeping started to drive me crazy.