My Travels

Over in Hawaii for the holidays, a nice change of scenery from the winter on the mainland. I found a really good hotel/car package at the Hilton KauaiBeach Resort and decided to stay here for a week. I've only been to Kauai a couple of times in my visits to the islands and this will be the first time I'm staying only on this island. I ended up driving the Dodge Caliber from Dollar Rental Company . Not a very exciting car but ended up being useful on this trip. It is wagon-like plus it is built for a road trip with the can holder space in the glove compartment, the auxiliary jack on the radio, and a two prong electric plug for all your electronic needs. Within a week of arrival, I received an email stating that the the resort wasn't going to remain a Hilton after Dec 31, 2009 and becoming the Kauai Beach Resort . I guess the next time I'm staying in Kauai, it'll have to be a Starwood property. There were some reservations about going to the hotel given the tra...

I've flown into Phoenix for work and extending the stay to watch the 'SC game. I flew on United and noticed that the LAX United terminal has some new eateries. When 9/11 hit, United's terminal 8 lost so much business that the concession closed down. It seems business must have picked up because there are new eateries such as Karl Straus and Gordon Biersch. I'm happy to see that there are more options now! Flew into Phoenix, picked up my rental and headed to Tucson. I opted to rent from Thrifty and got a Subaru Impreza. My first time driving a Subaru sedan, it was a pleasant experience. Nice amount of power for a compact car but the trunk space was a little odd. Got into Tucson late and checked into the Hampton Inn Tucson North . The hotel seems to run some random raffle as I was left a bag of goodies because I was the "guest of the day." I got a little hungry and looked around for some eating options. Apparently, alot of restaurants close at 9 pm an...

My first foray into Oregon outside of Portland. I'm here for the 'SC game against the Oregon Ducks. Got into the Eugene airport, surprisingly large for its location and locale. I'm staying on the outskirts of downtown at the Hampton Inn Eugene . It feels relatively new because of the decor and design. The room is rather spacious, two double beds and room for a couch/loveseat area. I didn't see much of the school but Autzen stadium is fairly nice, reminds me of Stanford's stadium. The concession areas seem to have gotten a nice remodeling as everything looked fairly new. I was told by a Ducks alum that they expanded the stadium and increased its capacity to fit 54,000 plus. There doesn't seem much to Eugene. Compared to other college towns, Eugene has a higher edge than South Bend, Indiana in my opinion. There doesn't seem to be much going on and the selection of eateries suggest limited palate of tastes. Makes sense since the average age of the Ore...

I've headed down to San Diego for a couple of days on work events. Cruised through the University of San Diego and thought it a very nice laid back campus. I think this is the first time I've been at USD and the campus reminds me of the University of Redlands except for the weather difference. I stayed at the Doubletree Hotel San Diego Downtown . With several teleconference call meetings the next morning before my work event, I thought it best to stay in San Diego. The hotel appears to have gone through recent renovations and has a warm interior design. The lobby and restaurant has an open feel and I wouldn't have minded hanging out there. The complimentary wireless internet helped as well. I decided I would opt for street parking instead of the hotel garage. If you're willng to walk a couple of blocks, this part of downtown San Diego is manageable for parking. The gaslamp district is not too far but far enough. I think since Little Italy is nearby, there are...

I'm in San Francisco for an extended weekend visiting some friends and going to the 'SC vs. Cal game. Decided to drive up instead of flying and check out the fuel efficiency of my car - averaged 37 to 38 mpg. Since I was driving into the city so late, I stayed at the Homewood Suites SFO North for a quick sleep. Fairly convenient to SFO and freeway accessible, the hotel suited my needs. I got a queen studio and it was fairly comfortable and roomy. The hot breakfast buffet and free Internet/business center helped out. The next day, met up with an old friend in Japan town at Sophie's crepes at 1581 Webster St # 275, San Francisco, CA 94115-3658. Very tasty crepes, made to eat with your hands. Mostly the sweet variety, the texture and thinness was appropriate for the scoop of ice cream and mixed fruits inside. To help with keeping the crepe "dry", they spread Nutella first so that the fruit and ice cream doesn't make the crepe smushy. Moved hotels and stayed at t...

Jetted up here for the weekend to catch 'SC play against the Huskies. Since I was arriving so late into Seattle, I chose to stay near the airport so that I can take the light rail into downtown in the morning and not spend the middle of the night trying to find the hotel in the city. Luckily, I chose the Hampton Inn Seattle/South Center conveniently located next to the Tukwila Metrolink station. From my understanding, the light rail is relatively new to Seattle. For $2.50, who can beat that price to get into downtown Seattle with no traffic? The Hampton seems relatively new especially because the window coverings isn't your typical curtains but a cellular shade. The airport shuttle runs 24 hours and will pick up when you call them. If you're ever leaving out of the United terminal, you will always be at Island 1. Took the shuttle to the Tukwila Sound Transit Station. The light rail looks really nice and clean. There was about five people by the ticketing machines ...

It is my birthday weekend and I couldn't head out to Columbus, OH to watch 'SC play against the Buckeyes. So I opted to fly to the East Coast and catch a couple of baseball games and visit some friends. Did a whirlwind sports day in New York, arrived at 7 am and took a power nap. Went to Yankee Stadium to watch the Yanks/Orioles game and see the new stadium in all its glory. Afterwards, we went to this Korean BBQ chicken place called Bon Chon Chicken . There are several locations and we visited the one at 314 Fifth Avenue (32nd Street), second floor. Not the easiest to find as the door is very undescript. The best fried chicken ever and they had good sushi rolls. I'm definitely going back to LA and look up the locations and have more of this tasty meal. We went on to dessert and I had the best cream puffs from Choux Factory. There are several in the city and we went to Midtown East location at 865 1st Ave(between 48th St & 49th St). Spent the rest of the nigh...

Post MBA Vegas trip with some friends and classmates from grad school. After some last minute changes, we headed out in style in a Dodge Caravan Flex. Although not a pretty minivan, it was super comfy inside and very spacious. The very back row had seats that would recline, a very useful feature for those in the back that wanted to sleep. I dig that the windows roll down on the sliding doors, what automakers will think up next?! The only thing I could think of that would be nice is if the middle seats could swivel 90 degrees, it would make conversations in the minivan easier to have. Rolled into the Las Vegas Hilton around midnight and was able to upgrade to the Resort level rooms after some minor issues at check-in. The rooms were not as big as the last time I was in this type of room but the free internet, water, and lounge access made up the size. It was also convenient that the rooms were connecting, I didn't think hotel rooms would make double rooms connecting. Besides ...

I'm beginning to visit Phoenix as often as I visited Vegas in my early 20s. I learned that one of my favorite spa resorts became part of the Hilton brand. The Boulders Resort also has the famed Golden Doors Spa within its complex. In hearing that they've become part of the Hilton property, I decided I'd come back and try the hotel and enjoy some spa treatment this holiday weekend. I haven't been to this resort for over six years and wanted to see if it was as I last remembered. The complex has an assortment of lodgings ranging from 'casitas' to 'villas.' In previous stays, I've been at a bungalow casita on the golf course. In this stay, I'm in a casita on the second floor of a building, located near the lodge and main pool - very spacious and sufficient. The balcony view of the area doesn't look like I'm in the desert, lots of trees and cactuses with a mountain backdrop. After walking around and visiting the spa for my treatment...

Now that I'm done with school, I grabbed a week from my employer to take a small vacation/reward for myself. With only a week, Amsterdam was the location that best suited my time constraints and locale to visit. I stayed at two different hotels in Amsterdam, the Hilton Amsterdam and the Hotel Pulitzer . The reason for the two locations were time and money. I stayed at the Hilton the first two nights because I wanted to ensure I got a stay for my status but European hotels are not the cheapest lodgings. The rate did drop 25% from the first time I booked the room until two days before arrival. The hotel was very nice and I always look forward to international Hiltons, the executive lounges are usually much much more nicer than the US counterparts. I was not disappointed as I had my first 'Dutch' breakfast. The afternoon cocktails were nice as well with unlimited access to hard liquor and tasty snacks. The room was fairly spacious as well. The hotel was located a bit...

So I'm up in Lake Arrowhead for the last piece of academic work required for my graduate program. I'm staying at the UCLA Conference Center in Lake Arrowhead. Although I've lived in LA most of my life, I have never ventured to this area despite it being about 90 minutes from my home. I don't usually go to mountains unless there is snow on them! The conference center was pretty nice. I roomed with another classmate of mine and we stayed in a 'condolet.' A two story townhouse style with one bedroom/bath downstairs and the secondary bedroom/bath in a loft style. I stayed downstairs and the bedroom came with a door. Unfortunately, for my roommate, I tended to come in late at night and it is quite easy to hear if you were staying in the loft bedroom. Most of the residential meals were pretty good particularly the desserts. I would have explored the rest of the facility if it weren't for the residential. From what I could see, they had a pretty impressiv...

  Another wedding weekend, I've travelled to Minnesota. A first for me, never been to the state even as a layover at the airport. I'm staying at the Hotel Minneapolis , it was a bank that was in existence in the 50s now converted to a hotel. Very cool decor and architecture. Got in super late and the valet knew who I was, I guess there aren't many people checking in at 1 am. He was nice enough to ask me if I was hungry and gave me a menu to Pizza Luce . The pizza I ordered was awesome and they don't close until 3:30 am on Fridays and Saturdays. Good deal! Zahtar in the Life Time Fitness Club is only open to their members. It is a very interesting club and very large, any club with indoor tennis courts is huge. After the wedding, I was invited to eat with the family for Sunday brunch. Interestingly, the restaurant was inside an athletic club. The restaurant wasn't prepared for the number of people in the group. The eggs benedict had english muffins that ...

My family and I have gone up to Portland and we stayed Portland Hilton and Executive Tower because a cousin of mine was getting married. The LA family was going to be housed in someone's house but ended up bunking with me at the hotel. I booked three rooms, a first for me! In the short time we were there, we walked around downtown Portland. Didn't get to see much but got a little hungry. After shopping at the Banana Republic, one of the sales associates recommended going to the square (across the street) and order a cheesesteak from the food carts stationed. I think the name is Pete's Cheesesteak or something like it. You can't miss it as they are the only one of three food carts in the station. The burgers seem very popular given the number of "local" customers ordering them. Although a little dubious, it was actually really good and, arguably, better than the ones in Philly. My previous visits to Portland was usually in the fall and the weather ten...

I'm in San Francisco for some fun. My brother decided to go to the Web 2.0 conference and I found a cheap one way to SF and then take a leisurely drive back to LA at the end of the weekend. This time around I'm staying at a friend's place and give some company. I better enjoy these last minute trips before working again! With no plans or agenda in mind, this "long" weekend will be about tooling around the city and enjoying the good weather. Amazingly, it is sunny and the days are warm enough to walk around with a long sleeve shirt. Once the sun sets, it is pretty brisk with the cold wind around here. Our group went to Tataki on the first night. As their website states, the first sustainable sushi restaurant. As such, the menu varies seasonally. It was a very good dinner, the rolls we ordered were fresh and very tasty as well as being reasonably priced. My two favorite dish presentations were the extinguisher and spicy tempura rolls. One came with real fi...

I'm capping my spring break by being in Phoenix. Althouth LA is warming up, Phoenix is warmer. It is a quick overnight stay in Phoenix which works out as I'm also sick. :( Got a mustang from Avis, feeling pretty righteous especially since I was originally given an Impala that reeked of smoke. I seem to be hitting a string of sports related events with Vegas and March Madness and now Phoenix and spring training. Caught a game between the Dodgers and White Sox at the spring training complex at Camelback Ranch. It was really cool, very nice facilities similar to the Giants Stadium in SF yet very intimate feeling. I think the stadium could only accommodate about 15,000 people. Definitely NOT Dodger stadium size. ;p Budweiser seems to have been a sponsor as I saw the Clydesdale horses. I remember the first time I've seen these horses and they are super cool looking. It is like the Great Dane of horses. The horses were pulling the typical red fire wagon with a Dalmation ...

I'm back at the Las Vegas Hilton with a group of family friends and classmates. I was lucky enough to book a ridiculous rate of $80/night with drink and food specials while it being the first weekend of March Madness. As an added bonus, USC was in the tourney and made it past the first round. The hotel had cancelled my reservation or so they say. Personally, I think they were oversold and was trying to clean out their reservations. Luckily, I didn't have to throw a fit as they quickly honored the reservation. Because of the last minute pile-up of people, it was a cozy room of seven (the second night) in my room. There was some creativity involved but we managed to all fit and work around the space. Or maybe it is a testament to the size of the hotel room. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get upgraded to the "resort" level room but it worked out in the end. The difference I could see between the resort level and the deluxe room was the toiletries (there wa...

It snowed about five feet during the weekdays in June. I decided to have a run up to the mountin, it is definitely the only one in the month of March as I'm busy for the rest of the month and possibly snow season. My brother rallied a group and the six of us trooped up to June Mountain. Luckily, the June Lake Motel had a room we could all easily split. I booked a room with one queen, two twins, and a full working kitchen. Half of the group had never been and was impressed with the quality of accommodations given the price. The snow quality was good, packed and groomed snow. I would have preferred more powder but the snow stopped on Friday and we loat the chance to be boarding on the "next" sunny day of fresh snow. A word of advice when driving up the 395, there are alot of sherriffs and CHPs in Inyo County. My poor sister got two speeding tickets within 40 minutes of each other.

First trip of the year to Vegas. Here for some personal business and decided to stay at the Las Vegas Hilton . I think the LV Hilton had a high occupancy rate for the weekend because NASCAR was in town. On top of that, my rate was a screaming $55/night. How can you beat those prices? The combination proved helpful as I was given an upgrade to the "Resorts Club" level. The room comes with a HP printer and free internet. Ideal for those who'd like to print out directions or there for some work. It is becoming standard that hotel rooms come with plasma/LCD TVs so I won't mention it. :D Overall, a very spacious room and easy to entertain a goup of five people if you wanted. It was very nicely decorated with a view of the Wynn golf course and had an oversized oval bath tub in the bathroom. The toiletries were a different sort than I'm used to seeing at Hilton hotels. Not sure if they are the same soap but in a different bottle. When I checked out, I aske...

Another weather system rolled in again and the call of the snow was too hard to resist. Given that it is a three day holiday weekend, my group stayed in Bishop this time around. I decided to book the cheapest room I could find and it was the Super 8 . Never stayed at one. I also found out it is part of the Wyndham resorts portfolio. The motel is nice for what is offered. Room was very spacious even with double beds, four people would comfortably fit with their snowboard gear. We ate at Upper Crust . It turned out to be a great choice. Situated next to the Vons where it sells pretty cheap gas (and diesel too) and Cliff Bars, if any where in stock. Our meal was simple, chicken wings and pizza. Both were delicious and the service was very friendly and comfortable. A definite stop whenever we go through here again.

Winter storms arrived late this winter and I was unexpectedly given an opportunity to get in some boarding. Went up with my brother and drove through rain and snow to find the mountain blissfully calm and completely covered in powder. It was a quick in and out trip and we stayed at the June Lake Motel . This time around, only a two full bed room with a microwave in the bathroom area. Not as nice as the first time around but sufficient for our breakfast of ramen in the morning. :D The conditions at June was super fabulous and am looking forward to coming back again the following weekend.

I'm visiting New Orleans this weekend. I'm staying at the Westin, nice enough facilities. The hotel is attached to the Canal Shops (a high end mall that doesn't seem to be doing well... ). The rooms are spacious and nicely done, typical Westin style. The one interesting aspect of this hotel is that there is a rooftop pool. I haven't been to New Orleans post-Katrina and was curious if it would still be the same as I remembered. Bourbon street has added some new faces (Hustler seems to be extensively branded here) but alot of the same places were still around. New Orleans is still relatively poor outside of the city center and that hasn't changed. The current economic state seems to have impacted the city as well. I've seen alot of commercial "lease" signs around the area. In general, Bourbon Street is still Bourbon Street for all you alcoholics. I ate at the Bon Ton Cafe and the food was really good. The service was ok, the group I was with c...