November 2010
I thought I only went out once in November. Checking my other diary, I see that I went out twice.
Nov 9 was a BD night. My diary entry was as follows.
I went to Barking Dog. It was rather quiet. The music was rather eclectic and not always in a good way. I don't like leading with a lot of tension – it’s bad for self-preservation. This was brought upon by reading suggestions from salsaforums.com after posting a video of me (via Brendan) from a venue near Baltimore. If Tish had not been there, it would have qualified as a poor night. String of mediocre nights continues.
Nov 13 was a DCDC night. My diary entry is only of things written before I went there as follows.
I’m not particularly excited about going to tonight’s Salsa event. In some ways I regret posting that video for suggestions for improvement. I’m not sure if I want to get away from leading lightly – the alternative is rather painful and unpleasant.
My recollection is that I did not enjoy the evening. This was more because of my internal state rather than because of anything particularly wrong with DCDC. I thought I might be ready for a break from Salsa - at least in DC. Going to the regular spots in DC seemed to bring too much painful memory (not caused by Salsa but specific to Salsa outings) and often not enough joy from dancing to overcome it, and non-regular spots inspire me even less. I did not even say a proper goodbye to Tanya.
I thought maybe I would get back in January. However, seeing that it is now pretty late in December and considering that my mood lately, I would not bet on returning in January.
Unending Epilogue 19
October 2010
I seem to have picked a lot of poorly attended events this month.
Oct 23. DCDC. Quiet night. I probably missed a better party on the second Saturday with BioRitmo. A guy dressed up as Prince circa 1984 won the costume contest. I wonder if skin color matters much in the DC Salsa scene - I thought I might be seeing a certain pattern. I left fairly early. I also came to thinking that if I were to get a Salsa lesson (presumably a private lesson) from someone in DC, I probably would ask Steve Martin.
Oct 25. I went to Clarendon Grill for the first time this year. Two early dance declines made for a weak start, and the costume contest seemed to go on forever. A woman dressed as smurfette won the costume contest (a Raggedy Ann repeat from last year came in second). Tanya was the only one from my On2 crowd to show up. Olga was the lifesaver.
Oct 30. The Halloween party at Chevy Chase Ballroom had a fairly low attendance. I stayed until closing at 2 AM anyway, and I ended up having plenty of dances anyway. The three winners of the costume contest were the really young girl, Luz and someone in Batgirl (?) costume. Brandon showed up late.
The Argentine Tango 6-lesson session ended on a whimper. I also attended three free Argentine Tango practica this month. The practica experience was more intimidating compared to the small class experience - I did not feel talented at all. One thing I learned over the three weeks of practica was that leading involves minimal use of hands - the leading is done almost exclusively with the chest. The practica also ended on something of a whimper - the first night was the most interesting and impressive and the last night was the least impressive because of poor attendance. Because of my plans in Baltimore, I don't expect to get back to Tango until 2011 at the earliest.
I seem to have picked a lot of poorly attended events this month.
Oct 23. DCDC. Quiet night. I probably missed a better party on the second Saturday with BioRitmo. A guy dressed up as Prince circa 1984 won the costume contest. I wonder if skin color matters much in the DC Salsa scene - I thought I might be seeing a certain pattern. I left fairly early. I also came to thinking that if I were to get a Salsa lesson (presumably a private lesson) from someone in DC, I probably would ask Steve Martin.
Oct 25. I went to Clarendon Grill for the first time this year. Two early dance declines made for a weak start, and the costume contest seemed to go on forever. A woman dressed as smurfette won the costume contest (a Raggedy Ann repeat from last year came in second). Tanya was the only one from my On2 crowd to show up. Olga was the lifesaver.
Oct 30. The Halloween party at Chevy Chase Ballroom had a fairly low attendance. I stayed until closing at 2 AM anyway, and I ended up having plenty of dances anyway. The three winners of the costume contest were the really young girl, Luz and someone in Batgirl (?) costume. Brandon showed up late.
The Argentine Tango 6-lesson session ended on a whimper. I also attended three free Argentine Tango practica this month. The practica experience was more intimidating compared to the small class experience - I did not feel talented at all. One thing I learned over the three weeks of practica was that leading involves minimal use of hands - the leading is done almost exclusively with the chest. The practica also ended on something of a whimper - the first night was the most interesting and impressive and the last night was the least impressive because of poor attendance. Because of my plans in Baltimore, I don't expect to get back to Tango until 2011 at the earliest.
A Mexican Wedding
October 1-3, 2010
I used to pride myself on being frugal. Now I feel shame when pinching pennies. Maybe it is because I think I’m doing it out of necessity more than anything else. The decision to buy the airplane ticket to San Diego was triggered by a realization that I needed it to get myself out of a deep malaise. Yet when I booked a rental car from Budget, I cringed. This sort of expense did not bother even when I was a student. Another thing that made me cringe was the weather forecast in Mexicali. The forecast called for a high temperature of 107 degrees Fahrenheit for the date of the wedding.
I was in need of a book to read for this trip, and I realized this too late to buy a book before the trip started. I chose to buy Lords of Finance by Liaquat Ahamed at the Borders bookstore in Houston over The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes. Lord of Finance is about the four central bankers in the USA, the UK, France and Germany in the years leading up to the Great Depression. It made for a surprisingly good read.
When I arrived at the connecting gate in Houston, I sat next to a woman with a long flowing blond hair with a look somewhat reminiscent of Blake Lively on the television show Gossip Girl. I suppose sitting next to her (or more precisely the next seat over) did not make it easy for me to observe her because the only thing I remember about her aside from the general aura was that she had a fresh cut or scratch on her ankle. When she got up immediately upon the first call for boarding, I figured that she booked first class. When I boarded the airplane and walked down the airplane to my row, I looked around to see if my guess was right. I was wrong. I noticed her sitting all the way in the back where there were only two seats as opposed to three seats for the coach class. I had not realized such seating arrangements sometimes in the rear of the plane! Oh well. Instead I got stuck with a big black man with a baby boy of perhaps 2-3 years of age on his lap.
On my first time flying alone, I got into a nice long conversation with a lovely young woman from Europe. I can’t remember if she was from France, Sweden – my best guess is Finland. In any case she probably still is my favorite random passenger in the next seat on an airplane. The second time I flied alone, I sat next to a woman carrying a girl toddler. This flight started out pleasant enough except the kid became sick and threw up on the seat next to mine. This wasn’t as good. With the memory of the barfing kid, I was full of trepidations about this light skinned black baby boy without his own seat. Sure enough, he screamed several times during the flight and his wandering hands reached for my iPod, book, trousers, etc. throughout most of the flight. I also had some drops of milk landing on my clothes. No doubt the father of the child had the most to deal with. Only a series of turbulences we experienced while descending to land in San Diego did the kid fall asleep. My sound isolating earphones were a godsend for maintaining my solitude.
While I was in the San Diego airport, I took advantage of free wi-fi to check my mail check facebook. I saw the groom’s facebook update stating that the weather forecast calls for not only the high temperature of 107, but also 90% humidity!
Getting a rental car at Budget took a bit more time than I would have liked. The Mexican insurance turned out to be $25 per day rather than $25 flat for the trip. I wasn’t able to get the rental company to hold $200 instead of $500 from my bank account using my debit card so I decided to make a transfer of funds from my savings account to my checking account. I suppose this is one inconvenience of not having a real credit card. I also had to get a printout of my flight schedule for renting the car. Thus I had to endure two trips to Budget’s computer, which required entering of a passkey upon loading every new web page. I felt rather pathetic about everything – lack of money, credit, and confidence.
Then I got on the road and drove. As I made my way out of the city heading east, the scenery became progressively more interesting. I had seen many mountains before, but these were quite unlike I had ever seen before. The mix of color – red, yellow, green, white – was unique. There were countless rocks looking more like pebbles from the distance but turning into huge smooth rounded boulders when near. I had seen many mountains before, but these here were something else altogether. The terrain had such unique and dazzling visual quality. A mix of blue skies and dark thundering clouds overhead with occasional showers made it even more hypnotic. After the descent from the mountains came the desert – a raining desert. I told myself that this drive by itself already made this trip worthwhile. Now only if I had someone to share this experience with...
I stopped by Wal-Mart in Calexico to buy some water and more toothpaste. Immediately upon returning to the main route to the border crossing, I hit a traffic jam. It probably took over half hour to get to the border crossing. I am unsure what caused the traffic jam – the traffic lights were not working, but I thought the start of the Fiesta Del Sol (lasting from Oct 1-17 although I don’t really know what it is about) might have been the reason.
Another friend of mine, Matt, and I had agreed to meet for dinner at the hotel Araiza Mexicali. I met Matt and his pregnant wife Erin and we gabbed away the night. Erin is due in January, and their baby boy is to be named Eliot DeWitt. Back in their hotel room, the groom, Ignacio, joined us there. Ignacio and I both left well after 10 to return to our rooms. I went to bed slightly after midnight.
Saturday morning, I was partially awake by 6:30 local time. I got up after 7:30 to take a shower before taking the car to check out the city of Mexicali. First I headed to the Civic Centre area (on the corner of Independencia and Anahuac). I missed it completely the first time around because the area was so nondescript. After making a U-turn, I first checked out the bullfighting stadium on Calafia and Independencia nearby. Salon Premier (where the wedding reception was to be held later tonight) was across the bullfighting stadium on Calafia. I had my car parked there for maybe 10 minutes while a heavy rainfall passed by and caused a big flooding. A guy walking past saw me taking some photos and tried to engage in some conversation with me. I think he might have said something about television and perhaps he was trying to get me to publicize poor infrastructure in this city to the outside world, but I am far from sure about this. After checking out the bullfighting arena from another side, I returned to Independencia and Anahuac. My reaction was – what exactly makes this area Civic Centre? The most notable building appeared to be a concert hall of sorts – the building itself looked clean as opposed to decrepit. There was a Chinese restaurant on the opposite corner. A convenience store was on the side where I parked my car. I am not sure if there was a building on the fourth corner. In summary this Civic Centre area was far from picturesque – calling it downright ugly might be unkind but not necessarily unfair. Next to the convenient store was a liquor store of some sorts adverting 96% alcohol – maybe 20-40 different bottles of varying degree of dubiousness and all of them cheap (I think everything was under 100 pesos, which would be less than $10 – and many were under 50 pesos). On the sides of the store were a huge number of plastic jugs – possibly for moonshine production. On the other side of the store had large number of grain bags. Further along the sidewalk, I saw a tree stump in a rather incongruous location closer to the buildings than the road. There were some stores (e.g. a tuxedo shop) further up, but they were still closed – understandable since this was still very early Saturday morning (not even 9 AM). I returned to my car trying to decide whether to go in search of more sightseeing options and I decided that I would try to return to the Chinatown area, which I had seen a little last night (garish!). However, I only went up the road part of the way before turning around because I decided that I had seen enough last night. I did note that there were newer buildings along route 5. Places like Carl’s Jr had buildings with decorations for whatever its worth. They had modern-looking cinema. I saw a Sears building. There was a stretch spanning several blocks worth of road with nice trees in the middle of the road dividing northbound and southbound parts of the road. I was feeling bad about having only taken “ugly” pictures thus far so I tried to make up by taking these “nicer” pictures. I then went back towards the hotel before checking out the drive to the church where the wedding would be held. Lack of street signs past the “I” hampered my search for the church, but I did find it eventually with the recollection about Matt referring to it as a blue-colored church. After a little over one hour of wandering, I returned to the hotel where I ran into Matt and Erin at the lobby getting ready to have their breakfast. I joined them for a breakfast buffet and to tell them of my morning adventure.
After the breakfast, I went back to my hotel room and took a short nap lasting about an hour. I read. I wrote a little. I checked the weather. Presumably because of unexpected rain falling down periodically all morning, the temperature was much cooler than originally predicted – in the high 70s. What a change of luck – Ignacio caught a break! I had a late lunch (quesadillas) by room service in my room.
The wedding ceremony lasted a bit over an hour. Considering that Brenda had 12 older siblings, I thought this was a small wedding. I figured early on that it wasn’t going to be a short service, yet I fooled myself a few times that it would end soon. I guess it was a Catholic wedding. According to Matt, Catholic service could have entailed a mass, which would have made the ceremony even longer. I think Matt was a little taken aback by Brenda in her wedding dress – maybe she looked younger and prettier than he expected.
Peter made it to the wedding. He arrived in San Diego last night and booked a hotel there for both Friday and Saturday night. After checking out the beach in the morning, he only made it to border crossing around 3 – or about one hour before the wedding started. A Harvard law school friend of Ignacio made our party a five-some. This law school friend apparently worked for Rod Blagojevich, the disgraced ex-Illinois governor.
The five of us decided to spend nearly 3 hours between the wedding and the start of the reception at the hotel bar. I directed Peter back to the hotel while the law school friend went back with Matt and Erin. Ignacio and Brenda’s wedding car with tin cans tied to the rear of the car took a scenic route back to the hotel, and random cars in the road honked their klaxon congratulating the wedding party – Peter was impressed by this display by the Mexicans.
My guess is that it would have been better if the reception started right after the wedding serving hors d’oeuvre for perhaps 1.5 hours while they spent the time taking photographs, etc. Peter and I were among the first to arrive at the reception. The first to arrive were Noelia and her mother from New York City. Apparently Ignacio met Noelia while living in NYC, and apparently they were quite close friends for a while – at least until Brenda turned up. I sat next to Noelia and developed a nice rapport with her and later with her mother.
The main attraction of the reception was the Mexican band comprising of 19 musicians and dancers. I wonder if the dancers were more successful in preventing the attendees from venturing out to dance. The band was pretty good although I wasn’t particularly thrilled with the music.
People were very late in arriving at the reception, and the venue was not full until 10. They started serving food well after 10, and people did not start dancing until after 11. Peter had been looking forward to some dancing, but he had to leave early. At one point Peter and I decided to go spy on the kitchen area because Peter smelled food. When the salad was served, Peter was a bit reluctant to eat it – he was afraid of Mexican water used to wash the salad. He was afraid of getting sick in the airplane next day.
Noelia said she liked Salsa and Merengue dancing but not Bachata. She said she went to Latin clubs, which suggested to me that she was not at all familiar with socials in NYC. In any case, I ended up dancing with her and/or her mother several times when people finally started dancing. Merengue was better than Salsa. Noelia and I ended the night by taking Ignacio and Brenda for the final song of the night.
Because I wanted to avoid a potentially long queue at the border crossing, I got up early at 6:45. I was checked out of the hotel and on the road by 7:30. Crossing the border took only about 5 minutes. I had Egg Muffin in MacDonald’s in Calexico before hitting route 8 back to San Diego. The scenery along the road still impressed me despite the loss of first-time shock value. Coming down from the mountains, I descended into an impressive fog or cloud over San Diego. I reached San Diego city limits before 10 so I decided to do some sightseeing and to check out the beach. Getting to the beach was more complicated than I expected, and I spent more time driving than I would have liked. I am unsure if driving along the beaches of the Fiesta island, which is located in the Fiesta bay, should be considered worthwhile. I finally made it to the Pacific ocean to the north of Belmont Park around 10:45. This beach is called Mission Beach. The sand here looked as good as Ocean City while the waves here looked bigger. I suppose I didn’t have much time to linger in any case, but I decided to take off and not spend time reflecting and feeling sorrow. Later I learned that Coronado Beach to the south is considered the best beach in this area so I did not get to see the best of the best here.
I arrived at Budget to return the car at 11:05 or 5 minutes after the scheduled time. I would say that among the major rental car agencies, Budget had the least convenient and visible location. I left them my unused bottled water from Calexico. I ate lunch using MacDonald’s once again (Southern fried chicken sandwich) thinking that there would be nothing substantial to eat in the airplane. I was not quite right – they served a cheeseburger. I had a not-so-bright idea to take out my camera out of the big bag and move it to the laptop bag. By doing this, I had to take out my iPod out of the bag. I think I had my iPod in my hand when I walked into the airplane and left the iPod on the edge of the seat before sitting down. I noticed that there was a power outlet in my row, and I tried to take advantage of it. Unfortunately the arrival of middle seat passenger made it very difficult to spot the outlet second time. Later I noticed that I dropped my earphone case in the crack between my seat and the walls of the airplane. I think all this frustration led me to forget my iPod when I walked out of the airplane.
My connecting flight to Baltimore was delayed by more than an hour. I noticed that I had lost my iPod. I sat by a charging station to keep my laptop powered up while I resumed writing my diary. I was so tired by then, and solitude made me sad.
The final leg to Baltimore was cold. Everyone was suffering from the cold air blowing down from above including an old black man and a young girl, who may have been his daughter or more likely his granddaughter, sitting next to me. There was a flight attendant, who helped me with reporting my lost iPod. Although they did not locate my iPod, the flight attendant was very pleasant and beyond reproach. The flight arrived in Baltimore a bit past midnight.
After the trip, I felt drained and exhausted at many levels. Perhaps it is because I am here again, and nothing has changed.
I used to pride myself on being frugal. Now I feel shame when pinching pennies. Maybe it is because I think I’m doing it out of necessity more than anything else. The decision to buy the airplane ticket to San Diego was triggered by a realization that I needed it to get myself out of a deep malaise. Yet when I booked a rental car from Budget, I cringed. This sort of expense did not bother even when I was a student. Another thing that made me cringe was the weather forecast in Mexicali. The forecast called for a high temperature of 107 degrees Fahrenheit for the date of the wedding.
I was in need of a book to read for this trip, and I realized this too late to buy a book before the trip started. I chose to buy Lords of Finance by Liaquat Ahamed at the Borders bookstore in Houston over The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes. Lord of Finance is about the four central bankers in the USA, the UK, France and Germany in the years leading up to the Great Depression. It made for a surprisingly good read.
When I arrived at the connecting gate in Houston, I sat next to a woman with a long flowing blond hair with a look somewhat reminiscent of Blake Lively on the television show Gossip Girl. I suppose sitting next to her (or more precisely the next seat over) did not make it easy for me to observe her because the only thing I remember about her aside from the general aura was that she had a fresh cut or scratch on her ankle. When she got up immediately upon the first call for boarding, I figured that she booked first class. When I boarded the airplane and walked down the airplane to my row, I looked around to see if my guess was right. I was wrong. I noticed her sitting all the way in the back where there were only two seats as opposed to three seats for the coach class. I had not realized such seating arrangements sometimes in the rear of the plane! Oh well. Instead I got stuck with a big black man with a baby boy of perhaps 2-3 years of age on his lap.
On my first time flying alone, I got into a nice long conversation with a lovely young woman from Europe. I can’t remember if she was from France, Sweden – my best guess is Finland. In any case she probably still is my favorite random passenger in the next seat on an airplane. The second time I flied alone, I sat next to a woman carrying a girl toddler. This flight started out pleasant enough except the kid became sick and threw up on the seat next to mine. This wasn’t as good. With the memory of the barfing kid, I was full of trepidations about this light skinned black baby boy without his own seat. Sure enough, he screamed several times during the flight and his wandering hands reached for my iPod, book, trousers, etc. throughout most of the flight. I also had some drops of milk landing on my clothes. No doubt the father of the child had the most to deal with. Only a series of turbulences we experienced while descending to land in San Diego did the kid fall asleep. My sound isolating earphones were a godsend for maintaining my solitude.
While I was in the San Diego airport, I took advantage of free wi-fi to check my mail check facebook. I saw the groom’s facebook update stating that the weather forecast calls for not only the high temperature of 107, but also 90% humidity!
Getting a rental car at Budget took a bit more time than I would have liked. The Mexican insurance turned out to be $25 per day rather than $25 flat for the trip. I wasn’t able to get the rental company to hold $200 instead of $500 from my bank account using my debit card so I decided to make a transfer of funds from my savings account to my checking account. I suppose this is one inconvenience of not having a real credit card. I also had to get a printout of my flight schedule for renting the car. Thus I had to endure two trips to Budget’s computer, which required entering of a passkey upon loading every new web page. I felt rather pathetic about everything – lack of money, credit, and confidence.
Then I got on the road and drove. As I made my way out of the city heading east, the scenery became progressively more interesting. I had seen many mountains before, but these were quite unlike I had ever seen before. The mix of color – red, yellow, green, white – was unique. There were countless rocks looking more like pebbles from the distance but turning into huge smooth rounded boulders when near. I had seen many mountains before, but these here were something else altogether. The terrain had such unique and dazzling visual quality. A mix of blue skies and dark thundering clouds overhead with occasional showers made it even more hypnotic. After the descent from the mountains came the desert – a raining desert. I told myself that this drive by itself already made this trip worthwhile. Now only if I had someone to share this experience with...
I stopped by Wal-Mart in Calexico to buy some water and more toothpaste. Immediately upon returning to the main route to the border crossing, I hit a traffic jam. It probably took over half hour to get to the border crossing. I am unsure what caused the traffic jam – the traffic lights were not working, but I thought the start of the Fiesta Del Sol (lasting from Oct 1-17 although I don’t really know what it is about) might have been the reason.
Another friend of mine, Matt, and I had agreed to meet for dinner at the hotel Araiza Mexicali. I met Matt and his pregnant wife Erin and we gabbed away the night. Erin is due in January, and their baby boy is to be named Eliot DeWitt. Back in their hotel room, the groom, Ignacio, joined us there. Ignacio and I both left well after 10 to return to our rooms. I went to bed slightly after midnight.
Saturday morning, I was partially awake by 6:30 local time. I got up after 7:30 to take a shower before taking the car to check out the city of Mexicali. First I headed to the Civic Centre area (on the corner of Independencia and Anahuac). I missed it completely the first time around because the area was so nondescript. After making a U-turn, I first checked out the bullfighting stadium on Calafia and Independencia nearby. Salon Premier (where the wedding reception was to be held later tonight) was across the bullfighting stadium on Calafia. I had my car parked there for maybe 10 minutes while a heavy rainfall passed by and caused a big flooding. A guy walking past saw me taking some photos and tried to engage in some conversation with me. I think he might have said something about television and perhaps he was trying to get me to publicize poor infrastructure in this city to the outside world, but I am far from sure about this. After checking out the bullfighting arena from another side, I returned to Independencia and Anahuac. My reaction was – what exactly makes this area Civic Centre? The most notable building appeared to be a concert hall of sorts – the building itself looked clean as opposed to decrepit. There was a Chinese restaurant on the opposite corner. A convenience store was on the side where I parked my car. I am not sure if there was a building on the fourth corner. In summary this Civic Centre area was far from picturesque – calling it downright ugly might be unkind but not necessarily unfair. Next to the convenient store was a liquor store of some sorts adverting 96% alcohol – maybe 20-40 different bottles of varying degree of dubiousness and all of them cheap (I think everything was under 100 pesos, which would be less than $10 – and many were under 50 pesos). On the sides of the store were a huge number of plastic jugs – possibly for moonshine production. On the other side of the store had large number of grain bags. Further along the sidewalk, I saw a tree stump in a rather incongruous location closer to the buildings than the road. There were some stores (e.g. a tuxedo shop) further up, but they were still closed – understandable since this was still very early Saturday morning (not even 9 AM). I returned to my car trying to decide whether to go in search of more sightseeing options and I decided that I would try to return to the Chinatown area, which I had seen a little last night (garish!). However, I only went up the road part of the way before turning around because I decided that I had seen enough last night. I did note that there were newer buildings along route 5. Places like Carl’s Jr had buildings with decorations for whatever its worth. They had modern-looking cinema. I saw a Sears building. There was a stretch spanning several blocks worth of road with nice trees in the middle of the road dividing northbound and southbound parts of the road. I was feeling bad about having only taken “ugly” pictures thus far so I tried to make up by taking these “nicer” pictures. I then went back towards the hotel before checking out the drive to the church where the wedding would be held. Lack of street signs past the “I” hampered my search for the church, but I did find it eventually with the recollection about Matt referring to it as a blue-colored church. After a little over one hour of wandering, I returned to the hotel where I ran into Matt and Erin at the lobby getting ready to have their breakfast. I joined them for a breakfast buffet and to tell them of my morning adventure.
After the breakfast, I went back to my hotel room and took a short nap lasting about an hour. I read. I wrote a little. I checked the weather. Presumably because of unexpected rain falling down periodically all morning, the temperature was much cooler than originally predicted – in the high 70s. What a change of luck – Ignacio caught a break! I had a late lunch (quesadillas) by room service in my room.
The wedding ceremony lasted a bit over an hour. Considering that Brenda had 12 older siblings, I thought this was a small wedding. I figured early on that it wasn’t going to be a short service, yet I fooled myself a few times that it would end soon. I guess it was a Catholic wedding. According to Matt, Catholic service could have entailed a mass, which would have made the ceremony even longer. I think Matt was a little taken aback by Brenda in her wedding dress – maybe she looked younger and prettier than he expected.
Peter made it to the wedding. He arrived in San Diego last night and booked a hotel there for both Friday and Saturday night. After checking out the beach in the morning, he only made it to border crossing around 3 – or about one hour before the wedding started. A Harvard law school friend of Ignacio made our party a five-some. This law school friend apparently worked for Rod Blagojevich, the disgraced ex-Illinois governor.
The five of us decided to spend nearly 3 hours between the wedding and the start of the reception at the hotel bar. I directed Peter back to the hotel while the law school friend went back with Matt and Erin. Ignacio and Brenda’s wedding car with tin cans tied to the rear of the car took a scenic route back to the hotel, and random cars in the road honked their klaxon congratulating the wedding party – Peter was impressed by this display by the Mexicans.
My guess is that it would have been better if the reception started right after the wedding serving hors d’oeuvre for perhaps 1.5 hours while they spent the time taking photographs, etc. Peter and I were among the first to arrive at the reception. The first to arrive were Noelia and her mother from New York City. Apparently Ignacio met Noelia while living in NYC, and apparently they were quite close friends for a while – at least until Brenda turned up. I sat next to Noelia and developed a nice rapport with her and later with her mother.
The main attraction of the reception was the Mexican band comprising of 19 musicians and dancers. I wonder if the dancers were more successful in preventing the attendees from venturing out to dance. The band was pretty good although I wasn’t particularly thrilled with the music.
People were very late in arriving at the reception, and the venue was not full until 10. They started serving food well after 10, and people did not start dancing until after 11. Peter had been looking forward to some dancing, but he had to leave early. At one point Peter and I decided to go spy on the kitchen area because Peter smelled food. When the salad was served, Peter was a bit reluctant to eat it – he was afraid of Mexican water used to wash the salad. He was afraid of getting sick in the airplane next day.
Noelia said she liked Salsa and Merengue dancing but not Bachata. She said she went to Latin clubs, which suggested to me that she was not at all familiar with socials in NYC. In any case, I ended up dancing with her and/or her mother several times when people finally started dancing. Merengue was better than Salsa. Noelia and I ended the night by taking Ignacio and Brenda for the final song of the night.
Because I wanted to avoid a potentially long queue at the border crossing, I got up early at 6:45. I was checked out of the hotel and on the road by 7:30. Crossing the border took only about 5 minutes. I had Egg Muffin in MacDonald’s in Calexico before hitting route 8 back to San Diego. The scenery along the road still impressed me despite the loss of first-time shock value. Coming down from the mountains, I descended into an impressive fog or cloud over San Diego. I reached San Diego city limits before 10 so I decided to do some sightseeing and to check out the beach. Getting to the beach was more complicated than I expected, and I spent more time driving than I would have liked. I am unsure if driving along the beaches of the Fiesta island, which is located in the Fiesta bay, should be considered worthwhile. I finally made it to the Pacific ocean to the north of Belmont Park around 10:45. This beach is called Mission Beach. The sand here looked as good as Ocean City while the waves here looked bigger. I suppose I didn’t have much time to linger in any case, but I decided to take off and not spend time reflecting and feeling sorrow. Later I learned that Coronado Beach to the south is considered the best beach in this area so I did not get to see the best of the best here.
I arrived at Budget to return the car at 11:05 or 5 minutes after the scheduled time. I would say that among the major rental car agencies, Budget had the least convenient and visible location. I left them my unused bottled water from Calexico. I ate lunch using MacDonald’s once again (Southern fried chicken sandwich) thinking that there would be nothing substantial to eat in the airplane. I was not quite right – they served a cheeseburger. I had a not-so-bright idea to take out my camera out of the big bag and move it to the laptop bag. By doing this, I had to take out my iPod out of the bag. I think I had my iPod in my hand when I walked into the airplane and left the iPod on the edge of the seat before sitting down. I noticed that there was a power outlet in my row, and I tried to take advantage of it. Unfortunately the arrival of middle seat passenger made it very difficult to spot the outlet second time. Later I noticed that I dropped my earphone case in the crack between my seat and the walls of the airplane. I think all this frustration led me to forget my iPod when I walked out of the airplane.
My connecting flight to Baltimore was delayed by more than an hour. I noticed that I had lost my iPod. I sat by a charging station to keep my laptop powered up while I resumed writing my diary. I was so tired by then, and solitude made me sad.
The final leg to Baltimore was cold. Everyone was suffering from the cold air blowing down from above including an old black man and a young girl, who may have been his daughter or more likely his granddaughter, sitting next to me. There was a flight attendant, who helped me with reporting my lost iPod. Although they did not locate my iPod, the flight attendant was very pleasant and beyond reproach. The flight arrived in Baltimore a bit past midnight.
After the trip, I felt drained and exhausted at many levels. Perhaps it is because I am here again, and nothing has changed.
Unending Epilogue 18
September 2010
The number of Salsa outing jumped considerably this month. Hmm.
September 7 - Barking Dog. The drive there was unpleasant because the contact lens on my left eye was bothersome. The DJ was Sonero, and the music was common. Dancing was generally better than it was last week.
...thoughts in between...
What’s Salsa for? I suppose it is good for cheap thrills, superficial social life and exercise of sorts. Getting into Salsa dancing was a positive and important experience for me, but I don’t feel so dependent on it anymore.
... ...
September 11 - DCDC celebrating Tommy Smith’s birthday was an impressive party. It was the biggest and best DCDC party in memory. The number of out of town people was unusual. About the only regret was that I couldn’t dance with them all.
September 14 - Barking Dog. Pretty good. I forgot about the cologne.
...a surprising statement heard...
H said the most surprising thing to me Friday night. She said I should keep going out Salsa dancing! What has come over her? I could understand why S changed her mind, but I was rather flabbergasted to hear H say it.
... ...
September 21 - Oh wow. I had not expected that I would have found tonight’s Salsa outing to Barking Dog to provide such a crutch! I was such a poor mood before I got there. I’m glad I had it as a drug to get me off from depression and malaise. Even a simulation of passion is better than nothing at all. Even though fake pretend love cannot complete replace a real one, it alleviates the pain of loss of one. I would guess that this was a merely better than average night, but it did well to make me forget my weariness.
September 25 - DCDC. Salsa. It gives. It takes away. In times of desperation, fake passion helps. In times of contentment, fake makes you long for something real. This seems to summarize my feelings after another night out Salsa dancing on a Saturday night. The dancing was pretty good to start with, but I ran out of steam early - not at all helped by heat and humidity brought upon by too many people attending to celebrate Jimmy's birthday.
In addition, I signed up for a 6-lesson of Tango via my university alumni group. The reason for me is more social than learning a new dance although getting a taste of a different dance seem like a reasonable backup plan. These lessons started on September 20 and will run to early October. The Tango style taught supposedly is Salon style within the Argentine Tango umbrella. Through three sessions, we have gone over walking, syncopated steps, weight transfer, leaning forward, hold, musical interpretation, etc but no figures thus far.
The number of Salsa outing jumped considerably this month. Hmm.
September 7 - Barking Dog. The drive there was unpleasant because the contact lens on my left eye was bothersome. The DJ was Sonero, and the music was common. Dancing was generally better than it was last week.
...thoughts in between...
What’s Salsa for? I suppose it is good for cheap thrills, superficial social life and exercise of sorts. Getting into Salsa dancing was a positive and important experience for me, but I don’t feel so dependent on it anymore.
... ...
September 11 - DCDC celebrating Tommy Smith’s birthday was an impressive party. It was the biggest and best DCDC party in memory. The number of out of town people was unusual. About the only regret was that I couldn’t dance with them all.
September 14 - Barking Dog. Pretty good. I forgot about the cologne.
...a surprising statement heard...
H said the most surprising thing to me Friday night. She said I should keep going out Salsa dancing! What has come over her? I could understand why S changed her mind, but I was rather flabbergasted to hear H say it.
... ...
September 21 - Oh wow. I had not expected that I would have found tonight’s Salsa outing to Barking Dog to provide such a crutch! I was such a poor mood before I got there. I’m glad I had it as a drug to get me off from depression and malaise. Even a simulation of passion is better than nothing at all. Even though fake pretend love cannot complete replace a real one, it alleviates the pain of loss of one. I would guess that this was a merely better than average night, but it did well to make me forget my weariness.
September 25 - DCDC. Salsa. It gives. It takes away. In times of desperation, fake passion helps. In times of contentment, fake makes you long for something real. This seems to summarize my feelings after another night out Salsa dancing on a Saturday night. The dancing was pretty good to start with, but I ran out of steam early - not at all helped by heat and humidity brought upon by too many people attending to celebrate Jimmy's birthday.
In addition, I signed up for a 6-lesson of Tango via my university alumni group. The reason for me is more social than learning a new dance although getting a taste of a different dance seem like a reasonable backup plan. These lessons started on September 20 and will run to early October. The Tango style taught supposedly is Salon style within the Argentine Tango umbrella. Through three sessions, we have gone over walking, syncopated steps, weight transfer, leaning forward, hold, musical interpretation, etc but no figures thus far.
Unending Epilogue 17
August 2010
Once again, there was only one Salsa outing this month. This time it was the second Saturday DCDC because there was no fourth Saturday DCDC.
DCDC – I took a fair number of photos because I thought this could be the last time. In any case the writing (the end) is on the wall. This time I accepted a Bachata. A couple of Cha Cha were great. Salsa was sloppy at times, but it was okay. People in the photos include Jimmy, Tanya, Brandon, Diana, Leah, Kim, Rafa, and Steve.
I had considered asking my girlfriend if I should quit Salsa to please her. I never got the chance because she decided to end the relationship. So am I going back to more Salsa outings than I had been most of this year? Not exactly. My (Salsa) future here is quite uncertain - there is a decent chance that I would move to another part of the country - and the new place may not have much in terms of Salsa outing options.
--
This was added later. I ended up going out for the second time in August... August 31 to be exact.
I went to the Barking Dog. Admission was $10 because of some performances – Keith Given’s group and Ceci Villalobos’s Salsa Fuego. I saw Tish for the first time in ages. Ditto Danisha. The outing was a pleasant enough distraction, but I see that nothing has changed in the Salsa scene here in the DC area as far as I am concerned in certain social manners.
Once again, there was only one Salsa outing this month. This time it was the second Saturday DCDC because there was no fourth Saturday DCDC.
DCDC – I took a fair number of photos because I thought this could be the last time. In any case the writing (the end) is on the wall. This time I accepted a Bachata. A couple of Cha Cha were great. Salsa was sloppy at times, but it was okay. People in the photos include Jimmy, Tanya, Brandon, Diana, Leah, Kim, Rafa, and Steve.
I had considered asking my girlfriend if I should quit Salsa to please her. I never got the chance because she decided to end the relationship. So am I going back to more Salsa outings than I had been most of this year? Not exactly. My (Salsa) future here is quite uncertain - there is a decent chance that I would move to another part of the country - and the new place may not have much in terms of Salsa outing options.
--
This was added later. I ended up going out for the second time in August... August 31 to be exact.
I went to the Barking Dog. Admission was $10 because of some performances – Keith Given’s group and Ceci Villalobos’s Salsa Fuego. I saw Tish for the first time in ages. Ditto Danisha. The outing was a pleasant enough distraction, but I see that nothing has changed in the Salsa scene here in the DC area as far as I am concerned in certain social manners.
Unending Epilogue 16
July 2010
Another month with just one outing - and there was a serious jeopardy of me not going to that one because of a family function. In fact I had told one inquirer that I was unlikely to attend. The venue was DCDC for the fourth Saturday once again. It's perhaps pathetic that the clincher for attending was the GF dropping out of a dinner party because of allergies.
Incidentally I now keep a diary, which I keep private.
The fourth Sat DCDC this month was a very hot and humid affair. Even without moving I was getting drenched. I'm guessing I danced considerably less than I would have otherwise. DJs were EricB and . The local DJs bought an appreciation plaque for the Smiths. There was a performance by the group led by the promoter of Monday nights at CG, which will be closed for renovations until September. The heat drove me downstairs for a while where Brandon and I ended up using his iPod for some music selections. I was asked for a Bachata downstairs, but this time I declined. I chose Nabori and Rumbon Melon.
Another month with just one outing - and there was a serious jeopardy of me not going to that one because of a family function. In fact I had told one inquirer that I was unlikely to attend. The venue was DCDC for the fourth Saturday once again. It's perhaps pathetic that the clincher for attending was the GF dropping out of a dinner party because of allergies.
Incidentally I now keep a diary, which I keep private.
The fourth Sat DCDC this month was a very hot and humid affair. Even without moving I was getting drenched. I'm guessing I danced considerably less than I would have otherwise. DJs were EricB and . The local DJs bought an appreciation plaque for the Smiths. There was a performance by the group led by the promoter of Monday nights at CG, which will be closed for renovations until September. The heat drove me downstairs for a while where Brandon and I ended up using his iPod for some music selections. I was asked for a Bachata downstairs, but this time I declined. I chose Nabori and Rumbon Melon.
Unending Epilogue 15
June 2010
No second Saturday DCDC. I was free but did not go.
No DC Congress. There was a possibility of going until Saturday evening. I decided to hang out with someone else instead.
I did go to the fourth Saturday DCDC if nothing else to stop myself from going completely rusty. I only stayed for 2 hours but did manage to dance with everyone I wanted to dance with - at least for the ones there. It was a zouk performance night.
No second Saturday DCDC. I was free but did not go.
No DC Congress. There was a possibility of going until Saturday evening. I decided to hang out with someone else instead.
I did go to the fourth Saturday DCDC if nothing else to stop myself from going completely rusty. I only stayed for 2 hours but did manage to dance with everyone I wanted to dance with - at least for the ones there. It was a zouk performance night.
Unending Epilogue 14
May 2010
It was another one-night-out-for-the-month. This is also a very late entry - by nearly a month. The venue visited was DCDC for the fourth Saturday. No dances with many of the old favorites usually would have spelled trouble. All things considered, it wasn't bad. I was asked for a Bachata while downstairs - a surprise. So why the infrequent outings? It's the obvious option number 1 - new GF does not dance, etc.
It was another one-night-out-for-the-month. This is also a very late entry - by nearly a month. The venue visited was DCDC for the fourth Saturday. No dances with many of the old favorites usually would have spelled trouble. All things considered, it wasn't bad. I was asked for a Bachata while downstairs - a surprise. So why the infrequent outings? It's the obvious option number 1 - new GF does not dance, etc.
Unending Epilogue 13
April 2010
This is a much belated entry - nearly 3 weeks late. I went Salsa dancing twice in April. The first one was a house party hosted by Leah. The second was the fourth Saturday DCDC - I missed the second Saturday DCDC. I felt relatively fine at the house party despite having just returned from my Boston trip earlier in the evening (Apr 3), but I was feeling quite dead tired for the DCDC (Apr 24) and had to return home shortly after 1 AM. Normally I would have stayed well past closing time, but driving back from DCDC in the rain was a major headache and seemingly dangerous. I expect to be going out considerably less frequently indefinitely.
This is a much belated entry - nearly 3 weeks late. I went Salsa dancing twice in April. The first one was a house party hosted by Leah. The second was the fourth Saturday DCDC - I missed the second Saturday DCDC. I felt relatively fine at the house party despite having just returned from my Boston trip earlier in the evening (Apr 3), but I was feeling quite dead tired for the DCDC (Apr 24) and had to return home shortly after 1 AM. Normally I would have stayed well past closing time, but driving back from DCDC in the rain was a major headache and seemingly dangerous. I expect to be going out considerably less frequently indefinitely.
Boston Trip
Apr 1, 2010
I flew to Boston in the morning. My feelings about returning to Boston were mixed at best - at least while waiting for my connections on the T. The day was spent meeting Bob and his people as well as Peter and his people. Speaking with Bob was the highlight.
The "business" portion of the trip ended fairly early so I made it to the hotel - Club Quarters in the Financial District by 5 or so. Not bad. Water bottle service was the best unexpected bonus. I spent the leftover time to write a mail for Derek taking into consideration of Bob's advice.
Dinner was a sushi takeout from a nearby place called Samurai Eatery. Not great but cheap. Their miso soup was the biggest disappointment.
Ryles Jazz Club for Salsa (at Inman Square in Cambridge) was okay - nothing to write home about. Mostly On1 if they kept time at all - some were okay following On2.
I left early enough to catch the T back to Boston from Central Square.
Apr 2, 2010
Train trip to Worcester to meet with Craig and Mark. Good times. Dinner at Redbones with Craig, Brendan and Megan - Megan showing up despite feeling rather ill. The biggest scoop I was able to provide regarded a fun family trip planned by Zeke.
The Havana Club (at Central Square in Cambridge) was simply a bigger version of Ryles Jazz Club Salsa-wise. Quantity was greater than at Ryles on Thursday by considerable margin although the overall level was not very different.
I did stay to the end so ended up taking a very old taxi back to the hotel.
Apr 3, 2010
Nothing on the calendar. Lunch at Pho Pasteur. Purchased two used books at Brattle Book Shop - The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe and Truman by David McCullough. I still had time enough to catch Alice In Wonderland, which I found underwhelming - especially the 3D effect, and still made it to the airport with hours to spare.
I won a pair of Red Sox tickets at my flight gate. The airline was holding a trivia contest - Who hit the most home runs for Red Sox in '09? Jason Bay.
I flew to Boston in the morning. My feelings about returning to Boston were mixed at best - at least while waiting for my connections on the T. The day was spent meeting Bob and his people as well as Peter and his people. Speaking with Bob was the highlight.
The "business" portion of the trip ended fairly early so I made it to the hotel - Club Quarters in the Financial District by 5 or so. Not bad. Water bottle service was the best unexpected bonus. I spent the leftover time to write a mail for Derek taking into consideration of Bob's advice.
Dinner was a sushi takeout from a nearby place called Samurai Eatery. Not great but cheap. Their miso soup was the biggest disappointment.
Ryles Jazz Club for Salsa (at Inman Square in Cambridge) was okay - nothing to write home about. Mostly On1 if they kept time at all - some were okay following On2.
I left early enough to catch the T back to Boston from Central Square.
Apr 2, 2010
Train trip to Worcester to meet with Craig and Mark. Good times. Dinner at Redbones with Craig, Brendan and Megan - Megan showing up despite feeling rather ill. The biggest scoop I was able to provide regarded a fun family trip planned by Zeke.
The Havana Club (at Central Square in Cambridge) was simply a bigger version of Ryles Jazz Club Salsa-wise. Quantity was greater than at Ryles on Thursday by considerable margin although the overall level was not very different.
I did stay to the end so ended up taking a very old taxi back to the hotel.
Apr 3, 2010
Nothing on the calendar. Lunch at Pho Pasteur. Purchased two used books at Brattle Book Shop - The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe and Truman by David McCullough. I still had time enough to catch Alice In Wonderland, which I found underwhelming - especially the 3D effect, and still made it to the airport with hours to spare.
I won a pair of Red Sox tickets at my flight gate. The airline was holding a trivia contest - Who hit the most home runs for Red Sox in '09? Jason Bay.
Unending Epilogue 12
March 2010
My approach to Salsa this year seemed to have settled into twice or thrice a month local outing focusing on personal enjoyment without drama. I don't seek out beginners - at least not as much as before. There are not many people I ask for a dance more than once a night - no more than the number of people on the DNA list.
DCDC
There was to be only one this month because of a benefit event bumping the fourth Saturday event. Anyhow, it was a bit on the short side but still quite enjoyable. Going out less frequently hasn't made it less fun - in fact the opposite seemed true.
MDSX
Second weekend in a row to go out. This was the first time I went to the Baltimore area for Salsa. Likes of TS and JY had gone to Philly instead, but this turned out to be a fun event even without them. This was second event I have seen Ana Masacote, and I was able to take advantage for a second dance with her. Dancing with inactive locals who came out for the visiting guests were just as big a highlight.
One of the guys I met (Benny) tried to talk me into a spot called La Palapa Grill in Ellicott City. Chatted a bit with Brandon and Eric also. One of Brandon's videos ended up having extended cameo by me.
CG
I tried this for the first time in 2010, and this essentially made it third week in a row. I felt I could have done without this outing for a large part of the evening although it did get better as the night went along.
My approach to Salsa this year seemed to have settled into twice or thrice a month local outing focusing on personal enjoyment without drama. I don't seek out beginners - at least not as much as before. There are not many people I ask for a dance more than once a night - no more than the number of people on the DNA list.
DCDC
There was to be only one this month because of a benefit event bumping the fourth Saturday event. Anyhow, it was a bit on the short side but still quite enjoyable. Going out less frequently hasn't made it less fun - in fact the opposite seemed true.
MDSX
Second weekend in a row to go out. This was the first time I went to the Baltimore area for Salsa. Likes of TS and JY had gone to Philly instead, but this turned out to be a fun event even without them. This was second event I have seen Ana Masacote, and I was able to take advantage for a second dance with her. Dancing with inactive locals who came out for the visiting guests were just as big a highlight.
One of the guys I met (Benny) tried to talk me into a spot called La Palapa Grill in Ellicott City. Chatted a bit with Brandon and Eric also. One of Brandon's videos ended up having extended cameo by me.
CG
I tried this for the first time in 2010, and this essentially made it third week in a row. I felt I could have done without this outing for a large part of the evening although it did get better as the night went along.
Unending Epilogue 11
February 2010
Another quiet month. I only went out twice, both for DCDC. Both were quite good. I might be getting out of shape, however. My right leg was hurting after the second DCDC night this month. Meanwhile I seemed to have gained a little weight. A noteworthy new activity for me lately is playing the piano.
Another quiet month. I only went out twice, both for DCDC. Both were quite good. I might be getting out of shape, however. My right leg was hurting after the second DCDC night this month. Meanwhile I seemed to have gained a little weight. A noteworthy new activity for me lately is playing the piano.
Unending Epilogue 10
January 2010
I went out three times this month. Maybe I'm losing interest?
January 2, 2010. Resolution Jam. Two words - traffic jam.
January 9, 2010. DCDC. DC All-Stars workshop. Gray hair and long nails.
January 23, 2010. DCDC. I felt like a fake and a fraud. Too long a break?
I went out three times this month. Maybe I'm losing interest?
January 2, 2010. Resolution Jam. Two words - traffic jam.
January 9, 2010. DCDC. DC All-Stars workshop. Gray hair and long nails.
January 23, 2010. DCDC. I felt like a fake and a fraud. Too long a break?
An Impulsive NYE trip to Montreal - AKA I Need More Sleep
December 26, 2009
Seed of this trip was sown on my mind at the DCDC. I can’t remember – was it Tanya who tried to talk me into it? Or was it Jimmy? Josh and Dola helped in the instigation too.
December 28, 2009
The list was whittled down with Tanya dropping out. I told Jimmy and Luz that I was in as long as they still were interested. My understanding was that the plan would be carried out if we get a fourth person involved.
December 29, 2009
For a while it didn’t look like it wasn’t going to happen because Jimmy and Luz lacked a fourth. However by mid-afternoon, they decided to go never mind lack of interest from others. I needed something different to deal with doldrums and annoyances of every day life of late, and taking a crazy road trip involving well over 900 miles of driving roundtrip for a new year’s celebration seemed like a perfectly reasonable/insane prescription. Tally ho!
Sometime around 9 PM, I learned that we have a fourth! Kim! Who is she? Oh, I see – cool!
The initial plan according to Jimmy was to depart DC area sometime between 11 and midnight.
December 30, 2009
The plan was changed to a 1 AM departure, then a 2 AM departure.
Around 2:30 AM, Jimmy called me to say he’ll pick me up in 15 minutes. The Jimmy, Luz, Kim trio arrived shortly after 3:30 AM.
Jimmy’s GPS has an interesting set of driving directions involving multiple roads with traffic lights. Jimmy did most of the driving – despite the evidence to contrary. Blame motion sickness for Jimmy insisting this – or maybe it has to do with macho alpha male blah factor mentioned by Luz. It did mean a heavy dose of Jimmy’s music with Cameo being one of the highlights.
On route, I learned that a fifth person would be join us – for the drive back in anyway. She bought a one-way airplane ticket while we were still on the road. And I thought I was being impulsive. I guess I’ll find out the identity of our fifth Chelley at the party tonight.
Arrival at Montreal 2:30 PM. I had perhaps 2 hours of shuteye after breakfast. Luz did a little bit of the driving in New York with Kim riding shotgun. I was mostly dormant and passive on the rear left of the car. The topic of discussion was quite heavy-duty dance at a scope and depth I rarely get into so I mostly listened only. Snowy landscape in the mountains of New York made the snowscape in DC after the recent 20-inch snowfall pale in comparison.
Finding the Hotel Lord Berri was smoothly done in light snow. Finding a spot in the underground parking lot – much more difficult. I thought I was back in Europe seeing such tight space. Trying to back out of the underground lot with snow on the ground was something we could not do without severe risk to our health.
In search of a restaurant, we went west on Rue Berri for two blocks – a reasonable start. Then we turned right on Boulevard de Maisonneuve (wrong!), then turned right again on Rue Saint-Hubert (getting colder!), then turned left on Rue Ste-Catherine (icing on the cake). After a few more blocks, we turned around heading south on Rue Ste-Catherine until we finally found Rue St-Denis, which was the street I was looking for in the first place based upon Jimmy talking about the Latin Quarter. We ate at Lymai (Vietnamese), which was all right considering how little effort we placed in finding quality – we were too cold to look around much. Jimmy was particularly happy with his fish dish. My Pad Thai would have to be ranked somewhere in the middle of all the Pad Thais I have tried to date. Kim seemed happy enough with her dish (with spinach, not pork) whereas Luz appeared underwhelmed with hers. Jimmy, Luz and I also stopped for desserts (pistachio éclair was a hit I think... my tiramisu was so so) at La Brioche Lyonnaise on the way back to the hotel.
Before the party started, we opted for a nap for a couple of hours with the alarm set at 8:30 PM. Easier said than done. There were signs all against it such as when Luz came back from check-in with lists of things not allowed in the hotel (it included no bottles in the hallway) or a large crowd of young people in the lobby surrounding tables advertising nightlife tour of Montreal or a hotel personnel reassuring us that these party-seeking folks were all staying at floor below us. The truth was that there were plenty of loud unruly kids on our floor (the ninth) with people keeping their doors open looking to converse with other people passing on the hallway. On their defence, I would imagine that the last thing they would have expected was bunch of sleep-deprived people in the hotel wanting quiet-time between 6-9 PM the evening before new year’s eve.
The hubbub at the hotel reminded me of my freshman dormitory, in particular of one night when one of the sophomores got angry one night by noise generated by us freshmen partying on the hallway while he was trying to sleep. Security was called then too. I wonder what the reaction of the proprietors and security personnel – both at the dormitory and the hotel.
Chellely called during preparations to say she made it to the airport but not her luggage, which led to a scramble to help piece together an emergency outfit for her between extra clothing, make-up and accessories Luz and Kim had. I was most surprised by large earrings Luz decided to use.
I think we arrived at the Cat’s Corner Studio a little after 11. For me it was quite an enjoyable party on par with my first night at the DC congress. Best part – plenty of likeable followers to choose from. This was a rare night where everyone I danced with was someone I had never danced with before – all I had to do was not dance with Luz or Kim. I thought such was a rather unique event at the time, but in retrospect this sort of thing happened many times before (e.g. when I was visiting new places by myself – London, Portland, Madrid, Paris, DC). I must have been too tired to think straight. More or less the only weak part was humidity, which led to me stop dancing for the last half hour in an attempt to dry off. I was far from dried by the nominal closing time of 2 AM.
Eating after big Salsa event apparently is considered a DC tradition of sorts. Dola, Josh and Kelvin joined the group for this outing. Hanging out with this crew was cool, but food was not particularly to my liking. I did not bother with poutine, a Quebec diner staple. Then again, their pogo (corndog) was not very good either.
December 31, 2009
I think I had about 6 hours of sleep after going to sleep around 5 AM.
Dola and Kelvin joined our group of 5 at the Lord Berri Hotel for a brunch outing. Late brunch – it did not end until 4 PM after all. The venue of choice was Brioche Lyonnaise in Latin Quarter (Rue St. Denis). It turned out to be a pretty good choice. Clean fresh healthy-ish breakfast rather than a greasy spoon. Omelettes were popular (both of the typical “complete” style and of salmon-themed “Norvegiene” style). Kelvin seemed to be in a competitive eating mode – having his two main dishes as well as digging in on a crepe someone else ordered but never got around to touching. His aim was to not needing to eat again until the end of the party. Despite cleaning my plate of omelette, potatoes and fruits, I felt like an amateur eater in this crowd – maybe it’s because I have been living in Europe for so long. I thought it ironic that I was having such a drawn out meal back in the Americas after not being involved in such scene in the UK. We also made the waitress work a lot asking for various items one at a time whether it was jam, coffee, ketchup or Tabasco sauce.
What can be done for diversion of a couple of hours in a cold dark night in a unfamiliar city with a large group of people? Hang out at a mall, of course. After a couple of blocks of walking mostly along Rue Ste Catherine good for a few heckles and a short taxi ride, we found ourselves on Avenue McGill College. After some fooling around for photos, we had about half hour for shopping in the large underground shopping complex. I imagine we might never have found a pharmacy without a native help in that maze. More touristy was the walk up the Avenue McGill College towards Sherbrooke admiring holiday decorations and a large group of people statues for more photo ops – at least until we were told off the public artwork by the security personnel.
After a stop at the Hotel Delta Montreal in the middle of rehearsals, Kim, Chelley and Luz headed back to the hotel on a cab while Jimmy and I decided to wander back in a more leisurely manner on foot. There was one clothing shop open where I amused myself checking out the silly T-shirt with clever/silly/provocative messages while Jimmy chatted away with an attendant. Then there was a public arts display next to Musee d’Art Contemporain de Montreal with red and white lights on the ground. A conversation with a Hilton employee in front of a men’s dress shop further convinced Jimmy that he want to come back to Montreal again and to take advantage of $60/night specials.
The Salsaglam NYE party was supposed to be a dress-up party. Kim had a black dress chosen whereas Chelley wore a gold-toned dress. Luz picked a black-and-white striped dress over a red dress, which would be saved for later in the weekend. Jimmy arguably had the most number of flip-flops regarding ties, trousers and belts. The only other debate I got involved was about the choice of eyelash glue (for translation purpose only – natural rubber glue or special eyelash glue?). I just put on the suit I brought along with a blue tie chosen over two other ties I brought along. I wonder if the lack of effort I put in at least as demonstrated by the amount of time spent in this process was considered shocking.
The girls were very interested in watching the shows. Jimmy and I were less interested – we were more concerned with food. Because most of the nearby restaurants were closed by 10 PM, we ended up in a sandwich shop, which was not so bad all things considered. By the time we returned, the shows were half over. The most talked about show was done to the song Smooth Operator, which I only caught a few glimpses of while walking in and looking for a reasonable spot to stand and watch.
By the time the shows were over and the chairs cleared, it was essentially the time for champagne and a countdown to New Years (probably not done to the official time).
The party itself for Salsa dancing alone was less enjoyable for me compared to the pre party. Finding people I wanted to dance with seemed problematic especially during the early part of the evening. I suppose this should not be considered surprising - a high priced fancy dress party on a big family holiday would not attract the same hardcore dance crew as a pure dance big events (e.g. congresses). The fact that it was as good as it was perhaps should be considered remarkable.
Biggest complaint - music by the second DJ was full of problems – premature stops both unintentional and intentional, degraded sound quality in addition to some songs simply not to my liking period. By after 2 AM, I thought the party was getting close to becoming something of a fiasco and that the venue might be over soon.
Music was more to my liking starting with Dola moving into the DJ booth and with the people who played after Dola. Dancing too became more enjoyable after I gave up on having great dances - and after I finally gave up wearing a tie around 3 AM. Of course, this begs the question, “what is a great dance?” For that matter, what is an enjoyable dance?
I never got around to dancing with Luz during this trip. Lately it has been a 50/50 proposition. I also danced only once with both Chelley (last night) and Kim (tonight) while in Montreal.
Anyway, I did manage to survive until 6 AM closing. Survive is the keyword - I felt so weary. Incredibly the number of people who stayed to closing was quite large with total number of people in the room staying about the same after 3 AM or so. I had taken along multiple extra shirts, which seemed like a good idea given the conditions at the pre party, but I never came close to feeling a need to change - possibly because of good ventilation (none visible) or because I did not exert myself for long at any point during the night. Dancing with jacket and tie on was not so bad either - I was careful not to overexert myself.
Perhaps the amount of enjoyment I had in this trip was the best I could have hoped for given all the recent bouts of dark moods brought upon in no small part by DS. Of course, I imagine I might have skipped Montreal if it weren’t for DS.
Why do I dance Salsa these days? Perhaps because it’s the only reason why I go out and socialize and without it I may simply turn into a hermit? Then again if this is the case, shouldn’t I try to find some other avenue – at least not become dependent on a single activity?
January 1, 2010
I did not get to sleep until after 7 AM (or was it 8 or 9 AM?). Hotel checkout was 1 PM.
Brunch was once again at La Brioche Lyonnaise lasting well past 4 PM. Same waitress as yesterday. Jimmy took over Kelvin’s part of big orderer from yesterday. Arguably the most pleasant times spent in Montreal were at the two brunches. Nice relaxed atmosphere with pleasant company. I switched to Norvegiene omelette, which I preferred over the “complete.” The least successful dish was crepe flambée (Grand Marnier) – possibly because it sat around for too long before it was lit. Others enjoyed quiche and key lime pie. As relaxing as it was, it did mean a very late start for the drive back.
Between this and that, we did not get to the US-Canada border custom until 7 PM. Chelley joined us at the duty-free shop just outside the border. Even with a big car, fitting 5 people instead of 4 made a significant difference. Apparently the middle seat in the back was rather uncomfortable. It was snowing for a large part of the drive especially up north. Once again Jimmy did the vast majority of the driving – all the way from Montreal to Clara Barton rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike. Two other stops were made in upstate New York (Subway for dinner) and a Exxon mart in Pennsylvania. Jimmy by then was no longer in condition to drive. Kim drove from Clara Barton to BWI for a little over an hour. After some search for Chelley’s car (going from level 5 to 3 before finding it at 4C), I took over for BWI to home for half an hour or so. I missed the exit for 295 Southbound somehow and ended up taking 95 instead.
By the way I had not seen how big an impact iPhone had on general populace in person until this trip. It is well beyond an electronic toy for geeky boys – grown up women seemingly find it as essential as a make-up kit or a handbag. Well - perhaps a better description is a lifestyle changing experience – they were spending enormous amount of time using the device. Blame wireless internet, facebook, youtube and their like also.
Home arrival was a little past 6 AM. I collapsed on my bed after directing Kim to route 1. It was a relief to drive a familiar car.
Resolution Jam in less than 24 hours? A cause for celebration or a big groan?
Seed of this trip was sown on my mind at the DCDC. I can’t remember – was it Tanya who tried to talk me into it? Or was it Jimmy? Josh and Dola helped in the instigation too.
December 28, 2009
The list was whittled down with Tanya dropping out. I told Jimmy and Luz that I was in as long as they still were interested. My understanding was that the plan would be carried out if we get a fourth person involved.
December 29, 2009
For a while it didn’t look like it wasn’t going to happen because Jimmy and Luz lacked a fourth. However by mid-afternoon, they decided to go never mind lack of interest from others. I needed something different to deal with doldrums and annoyances of every day life of late, and taking a crazy road trip involving well over 900 miles of driving roundtrip for a new year’s celebration seemed like a perfectly reasonable/insane prescription. Tally ho!
Sometime around 9 PM, I learned that we have a fourth! Kim! Who is she? Oh, I see – cool!
The initial plan according to Jimmy was to depart DC area sometime between 11 and midnight.
December 30, 2009
The plan was changed to a 1 AM departure, then a 2 AM departure.
Around 2:30 AM, Jimmy called me to say he’ll pick me up in 15 minutes. The Jimmy, Luz, Kim trio arrived shortly after 3:30 AM.
Jimmy’s GPS has an interesting set of driving directions involving multiple roads with traffic lights. Jimmy did most of the driving – despite the evidence to contrary. Blame motion sickness for Jimmy insisting this – or maybe it has to do with macho alpha male blah factor mentioned by Luz. It did mean a heavy dose of Jimmy’s music with Cameo being one of the highlights.
On route, I learned that a fifth person would be join us – for the drive back in anyway. She bought a one-way airplane ticket while we were still on the road. And I thought I was being impulsive. I guess I’ll find out the identity of our fifth Chelley at the party tonight.
Arrival at Montreal 2:30 PM. I had perhaps 2 hours of shuteye after breakfast. Luz did a little bit of the driving in New York with Kim riding shotgun. I was mostly dormant and passive on the rear left of the car. The topic of discussion was quite heavy-duty dance at a scope and depth I rarely get into so I mostly listened only. Snowy landscape in the mountains of New York made the snowscape in DC after the recent 20-inch snowfall pale in comparison.
Finding the Hotel Lord Berri was smoothly done in light snow. Finding a spot in the underground parking lot – much more difficult. I thought I was back in Europe seeing such tight space. Trying to back out of the underground lot with snow on the ground was something we could not do without severe risk to our health.
In search of a restaurant, we went west on Rue Berri for two blocks – a reasonable start. Then we turned right on Boulevard de Maisonneuve (wrong!), then turned right again on Rue Saint-Hubert (getting colder!), then turned left on Rue Ste-Catherine (icing on the cake). After a few more blocks, we turned around heading south on Rue Ste-Catherine until we finally found Rue St-Denis, which was the street I was looking for in the first place based upon Jimmy talking about the Latin Quarter. We ate at Lymai (Vietnamese), which was all right considering how little effort we placed in finding quality – we were too cold to look around much. Jimmy was particularly happy with his fish dish. My Pad Thai would have to be ranked somewhere in the middle of all the Pad Thais I have tried to date. Kim seemed happy enough with her dish (with spinach, not pork) whereas Luz appeared underwhelmed with hers. Jimmy, Luz and I also stopped for desserts (pistachio éclair was a hit I think... my tiramisu was so so) at La Brioche Lyonnaise on the way back to the hotel.
Before the party started, we opted for a nap for a couple of hours with the alarm set at 8:30 PM. Easier said than done. There were signs all against it such as when Luz came back from check-in with lists of things not allowed in the hotel (it included no bottles in the hallway) or a large crowd of young people in the lobby surrounding tables advertising nightlife tour of Montreal or a hotel personnel reassuring us that these party-seeking folks were all staying at floor below us. The truth was that there were plenty of loud unruly kids on our floor (the ninth) with people keeping their doors open looking to converse with other people passing on the hallway. On their defence, I would imagine that the last thing they would have expected was bunch of sleep-deprived people in the hotel wanting quiet-time between 6-9 PM the evening before new year’s eve.
The hubbub at the hotel reminded me of my freshman dormitory, in particular of one night when one of the sophomores got angry one night by noise generated by us freshmen partying on the hallway while he was trying to sleep. Security was called then too. I wonder what the reaction of the proprietors and security personnel – both at the dormitory and the hotel.
Chellely called during preparations to say she made it to the airport but not her luggage, which led to a scramble to help piece together an emergency outfit for her between extra clothing, make-up and accessories Luz and Kim had. I was most surprised by large earrings Luz decided to use.
I think we arrived at the Cat’s Corner Studio a little after 11. For me it was quite an enjoyable party on par with my first night at the DC congress. Best part – plenty of likeable followers to choose from. This was a rare night where everyone I danced with was someone I had never danced with before – all I had to do was not dance with Luz or Kim. I thought such was a rather unique event at the time, but in retrospect this sort of thing happened many times before (e.g. when I was visiting new places by myself – London, Portland, Madrid, Paris, DC). I must have been too tired to think straight. More or less the only weak part was humidity, which led to me stop dancing for the last half hour in an attempt to dry off. I was far from dried by the nominal closing time of 2 AM.
Eating after big Salsa event apparently is considered a DC tradition of sorts. Dola, Josh and Kelvin joined the group for this outing. Hanging out with this crew was cool, but food was not particularly to my liking. I did not bother with poutine, a Quebec diner staple. Then again, their pogo (corndog) was not very good either.
December 31, 2009
I think I had about 6 hours of sleep after going to sleep around 5 AM.
Dola and Kelvin joined our group of 5 at the Lord Berri Hotel for a brunch outing. Late brunch – it did not end until 4 PM after all. The venue of choice was Brioche Lyonnaise in Latin Quarter (Rue St. Denis). It turned out to be a pretty good choice. Clean fresh healthy-ish breakfast rather than a greasy spoon. Omelettes were popular (both of the typical “complete” style and of salmon-themed “Norvegiene” style). Kelvin seemed to be in a competitive eating mode – having his two main dishes as well as digging in on a crepe someone else ordered but never got around to touching. His aim was to not needing to eat again until the end of the party. Despite cleaning my plate of omelette, potatoes and fruits, I felt like an amateur eater in this crowd – maybe it’s because I have been living in Europe for so long. I thought it ironic that I was having such a drawn out meal back in the Americas after not being involved in such scene in the UK. We also made the waitress work a lot asking for various items one at a time whether it was jam, coffee, ketchup or Tabasco sauce.
What can be done for diversion of a couple of hours in a cold dark night in a unfamiliar city with a large group of people? Hang out at a mall, of course. After a couple of blocks of walking mostly along Rue Ste Catherine good for a few heckles and a short taxi ride, we found ourselves on Avenue McGill College. After some fooling around for photos, we had about half hour for shopping in the large underground shopping complex. I imagine we might never have found a pharmacy without a native help in that maze. More touristy was the walk up the Avenue McGill College towards Sherbrooke admiring holiday decorations and a large group of people statues for more photo ops – at least until we were told off the public artwork by the security personnel.
After a stop at the Hotel Delta Montreal in the middle of rehearsals, Kim, Chelley and Luz headed back to the hotel on a cab while Jimmy and I decided to wander back in a more leisurely manner on foot. There was one clothing shop open where I amused myself checking out the silly T-shirt with clever/silly/provocative messages while Jimmy chatted away with an attendant. Then there was a public arts display next to Musee d’Art Contemporain de Montreal with red and white lights on the ground. A conversation with a Hilton employee in front of a men’s dress shop further convinced Jimmy that he want to come back to Montreal again and to take advantage of $60/night specials.
The Salsaglam NYE party was supposed to be a dress-up party. Kim had a black dress chosen whereas Chelley wore a gold-toned dress. Luz picked a black-and-white striped dress over a red dress, which would be saved for later in the weekend. Jimmy arguably had the most number of flip-flops regarding ties, trousers and belts. The only other debate I got involved was about the choice of eyelash glue (for translation purpose only – natural rubber glue or special eyelash glue?). I just put on the suit I brought along with a blue tie chosen over two other ties I brought along. I wonder if the lack of effort I put in at least as demonstrated by the amount of time spent in this process was considered shocking.
The girls were very interested in watching the shows. Jimmy and I were less interested – we were more concerned with food. Because most of the nearby restaurants were closed by 10 PM, we ended up in a sandwich shop, which was not so bad all things considered. By the time we returned, the shows were half over. The most talked about show was done to the song Smooth Operator, which I only caught a few glimpses of while walking in and looking for a reasonable spot to stand and watch.
By the time the shows were over and the chairs cleared, it was essentially the time for champagne and a countdown to New Years (probably not done to the official time).
The party itself for Salsa dancing alone was less enjoyable for me compared to the pre party. Finding people I wanted to dance with seemed problematic especially during the early part of the evening. I suppose this should not be considered surprising - a high priced fancy dress party on a big family holiday would not attract the same hardcore dance crew as a pure dance big events (e.g. congresses). The fact that it was as good as it was perhaps should be considered remarkable.
Biggest complaint - music by the second DJ was full of problems – premature stops both unintentional and intentional, degraded sound quality in addition to some songs simply not to my liking period. By after 2 AM, I thought the party was getting close to becoming something of a fiasco and that the venue might be over soon.
Music was more to my liking starting with Dola moving into the DJ booth and with the people who played after Dola. Dancing too became more enjoyable after I gave up on having great dances - and after I finally gave up wearing a tie around 3 AM. Of course, this begs the question, “what is a great dance?” For that matter, what is an enjoyable dance?
I never got around to dancing with Luz during this trip. Lately it has been a 50/50 proposition. I also danced only once with both Chelley (last night) and Kim (tonight) while in Montreal.
Anyway, I did manage to survive until 6 AM closing. Survive is the keyword - I felt so weary. Incredibly the number of people who stayed to closing was quite large with total number of people in the room staying about the same after 3 AM or so. I had taken along multiple extra shirts, which seemed like a good idea given the conditions at the pre party, but I never came close to feeling a need to change - possibly because of good ventilation (none visible) or because I did not exert myself for long at any point during the night. Dancing with jacket and tie on was not so bad either - I was careful not to overexert myself.
Perhaps the amount of enjoyment I had in this trip was the best I could have hoped for given all the recent bouts of dark moods brought upon in no small part by DS. Of course, I imagine I might have skipped Montreal if it weren’t for DS.
Why do I dance Salsa these days? Perhaps because it’s the only reason why I go out and socialize and without it I may simply turn into a hermit? Then again if this is the case, shouldn’t I try to find some other avenue – at least not become dependent on a single activity?
January 1, 2010
I did not get to sleep until after 7 AM (or was it 8 or 9 AM?). Hotel checkout was 1 PM.
Brunch was once again at La Brioche Lyonnaise lasting well past 4 PM. Same waitress as yesterday. Jimmy took over Kelvin’s part of big orderer from yesterday. Arguably the most pleasant times spent in Montreal were at the two brunches. Nice relaxed atmosphere with pleasant company. I switched to Norvegiene omelette, which I preferred over the “complete.” The least successful dish was crepe flambée (Grand Marnier) – possibly because it sat around for too long before it was lit. Others enjoyed quiche and key lime pie. As relaxing as it was, it did mean a very late start for the drive back.
Between this and that, we did not get to the US-Canada border custom until 7 PM. Chelley joined us at the duty-free shop just outside the border. Even with a big car, fitting 5 people instead of 4 made a significant difference. Apparently the middle seat in the back was rather uncomfortable. It was snowing for a large part of the drive especially up north. Once again Jimmy did the vast majority of the driving – all the way from Montreal to Clara Barton rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike. Two other stops were made in upstate New York (Subway for dinner) and a Exxon mart in Pennsylvania. Jimmy by then was no longer in condition to drive. Kim drove from Clara Barton to BWI for a little over an hour. After some search for Chelley’s car (going from level 5 to 3 before finding it at 4C), I took over for BWI to home for half an hour or so. I missed the exit for 295 Southbound somehow and ended up taking 95 instead.
By the way I had not seen how big an impact iPhone had on general populace in person until this trip. It is well beyond an electronic toy for geeky boys – grown up women seemingly find it as essential as a make-up kit or a handbag. Well - perhaps a better description is a lifestyle changing experience – they were spending enormous amount of time using the device. Blame wireless internet, facebook, youtube and their like also.
Home arrival was a little past 6 AM. I collapsed on my bed after directing Kim to route 1. It was a relief to drive a familiar car.
Resolution Jam in less than 24 hours? A cause for celebration or a big groan?
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