While there, we decided to go to Alyeska, both Saturday and Sunday for some snowboarding (Aaron skied). Saturday the weather was reasonable, although the mountain was pretty crowded. Sunday was a different story. Being that it was the Super Bowl and the fact that it made for a desolate and chilly day. Adria joined us on Sunday, so it was actually a family affair. The temp was right around 0F with windchills around -20F. To give you an idea of what snowboarding in this type of weather is like, imagine this: you have zero desire to stop on the mountain (for any reason), you can’t sit still on the lift because doing so you’d probably freeze solid (why Alyeska doesn’t have covered, a.k.a. bubble,  lifts baffles me), talking or taking pictures is pretty much out of the question (except in the lodge), and any amount of skin exposed is destined to become numb (and red). That was probably the coldest conditions I’ve ever snowboarded in, and I’d think twice about doing it again.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m really glad I got a chance to go boarding at Alyeska. According to Forbes, Alyeska is the 4th snowiest resort in the world. The snow was really nice, especially since it had snowed about a foot total in the days prior.

One thing that would make Alyeska infinitely better would be to upgrade their chair lifts. All of them should have a bubble and even better yet would be seat warmers. It’d also be nice if all lifts had the safety bar with foot rests so you can rest your board (or skis) as you ride up. The inside of my left leg was particularly sore from riding the lifts all day and having my board dangle below me. I guess that creates a lot more stress on your leg than you’d imagine.

The drive to Girdwood (where Alyeska is) is quite nice. The mountain is located near an inlet. On your way to Alyeska, you can see the water flowing in to the inlet. With all the snow & ice, doesn’t look like anything all that exciting. On the way home, most of the water has already flown out of the inlet, so you get huge chuunks of snow/ice mixed with mud that kinda l0oks like cracked earth in the desert, but on a much larger scale.

While on the mountain, we had a great view of the inlet and surrounding mountains. Because of terrain, clouds tend to hang low above the inlet around the peaks in the area. So I think technically when we were at Alyeska, we were above the clouds (and almost in the clouds on Sunday).

After getting in quite a bit of physical activity Saturday & Sunday, it was decided that we start playing video games, Onimusha: Warlords. Although it took almost all day, we were able to beat the entire game (with a little help from an online guide). That was a lot of fun, as I haven’t beaten a game from start to finish in quite some time.

I can’t imagine I’ll be going back to AK anytime soon, or ever for that matter. Aaron & Adria are moving back to MN in May, so the motivation to go back is pretty much gone.

In the past year, I’ve lost most of my self confidence, been consciously depressed, including pissing off most of my friends who attempted to keep in contact with me, losing about 25 lbs, and finding out I’m anorexic. I spent the majority of my time trying to make someone love me the way I wanted, even though I realized a long time ago that that would never happen, and turned out to be a rather expensive endeavor, all for nothing. I kept turning to her out of complete and utter loneliness, only for her to turn a cold shoulder every time I needed her.

So what did I learn from all of this? There’s a reason some divorced women are divorced. A bit harsh, but in this case entirely true. I also learned that even though I think I unhealthily lost weight, I am happy with how my body looks now (I’ve since gained a few pounds back from my lowest weight), and I now eat very healthy in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle and nice looking body. Lastly, I learned that true friends really are forever and always outlast relationships. I owe a lot to my friends for not giving up on me. I love you all dearly.

When you hit the bottom, there is only one path left, and that’s up. I’m already on that path, rebuilding my life and making up for all the missed opportunities I’ve had in the past year. I’ve been reconnecting with friends that I’ve blown off, been going to salsa more (and to new places), and I hope to start going out more often (I need a social life in addition to salsa).

Other resolutions for this year are to move back to Munich (LA is not the place for me), find a partner (hopefully as close to opposite as the last as possible), take and share more photos, improve my German to business level (I’m not that far off actually), learn enough Japanese to converse with friends (hoping to finally get past the random words & phrases I currently know), get LASIK/LASEK (sick of wearing contacts & I want 20/40 vision), get rhinoplasty (to breathe better, not for looks), fix my teeth (whiten & refill some old cavities), imrpove my skin (which I think will happen naturally once I move away from the LA smog), and start traveling again. Re-reading those, it sounds like I’m a little vain, but they’re actually all to improve myself (except for my teeth, that’s purely cosmetic).

Hofbräuhaus

On the last day of August, I flew to Vegas for the day to go to my friend Svihla‘s wedding. Svihla and I worked together in Germany. I’ve always really enjoyed going out for drinks with him and his stammtisch group. This year, Svihla brought his wife-to-be over to get married in Vegas. The ceremony was short, sweet, and performed by a German woman who worked at that chapel. He has requested that I wear my lederhosen as he and his wife would also be wearing tracht. Although I love wearing my lederhosen, this posed somewhat of a situation. As I was onlly going for the day it would have been easiest just to wear lederhosen the entire time, but obviously everyone will stare. I ended up wearing jeans to Vegas with my lederhosen in a small bag. I changed just before the wedding and ended up wearing my lederhosen home on the plane.

After the ceremony, it was obviously time to celebrate. Svihla arranged to go to Hofbräuhaus, which was supposedly a replica of the one in Munich. Although quite similar, it’s not like the real thing. It’s even quite Americanized once inside, but it was still a lot of fun. Four liters later and it was starting to feel more and more like the real thing.

I’ve been back just over 24 hours and all I can think about is being in Munich. Not only does Oktoberfest kick ass, but seeing all my friends and being able to spend time with them truly makes me happy. Every time I visit Munich since I’ve lived there, it just makes me want to move back. The quality of life is infinitely better than what the States has to offer. The friends I’ve made there are some of my closest friends in all the world.

Note the virgin White Russian in Martin

This time around I got to see a lot of friends I don’t normally get to see when I visit you Munich. That was a definite added bonus. I was especially happy to see Michelle, whom I haven’t seen since before I moved back to the States since she went back to Taiwan (more than two years ago). I also had the pleasure of meeting her baby boy Martin. Such a cute and cool kid. Fun to play with and very smart for only being 15 months old. We taught him how to cheers, and shortly thereafter he wanted to clank glasses every time he took a drink of his virgin White Russian.

Like last year, I had many good conversations with Brad about women, movies, and life in general. Nothing beats great conversation over a big glass of some of the best beer in the world. Brad and our now common group of friends (including Alex, Thomas, Edita, and Silke) spent the most time together, with varying members joining and leaving the table throughout the course of two days. Not to mention all the random new people we met and spoke with about random ass shit. Maybe some of the funniest random people we met were the gay guys from Franconia who took a rather strong liking to Brad because he’s just a big ol’ teddy bear and seeing him just makes you want to hug him, or at least that’s what one of those guys thought. I also had a funny random encounter with a lady in one of the tents who was a good 15 years older than me. She kissed my check several times and wanted me to sit on her lap. Yeah, that didn’t happen, but it humored me for at least half an hour speaking with her while I was waiting for my friend.

I was also happy to see Svihla and his rowdy group of friends whom I drank with last year. Funny group of Bavarians who really know how to have a good time. In my somewhat inebriated state towards the end of Monday night, I went to the bathroom and went out the exit leading outside, only to find that the tent was closed and I wasn’t able to get back in (sorry Svihla). This actually worked out rather well because I went back to my previous table with Brad and crew only to find out that Andi was spotted by Alex in the bathroom. A few text messages later and there he was with his shiny bald head. He’s now a father and has built a house just to the North of Munich. A lot has changed in the two years since I left. But I really can’t stress how nice it is to see old friends. Michelle also came back about the same time Andi arrived. I guess she hadn’t had enough after spending a few hours with us prior to having to leave for her German lesson. I’d call that dedication (or it could be something else, Brad knows what I’m talking about), especially since they had stopped serving beer and the night at Oktoberfest was almost over. I was happy she came back though, she’s a really cool girl.

Met a few old roommates, (Enea, Marcus, & Erik, this means you).

Me with 3 crazy Swiss Italians (Francesco, Chris, Enea)

Me and Marcus the Wappler

Of the five and a half days I was in Munich, I had the pleasure of wearing lederhosen four of those days, including to the dance club Saturday night. You may think it’s funny, but they are unbelievably comfortable and extremely practical. You spill something on them, no worries, it just makes them look better. You need to relieve your belly of some of the beer that’s been digesting, no problem, just drop the front flap (there is a built-in widening under the flap for ease of relieving oneself). Feeling randy? Not only do you have easy access, but there is a designated area on the hill behind Oktoberfest where it is legal to get your groove on. During Oktoberfest, it is not only accepted, but often encouraged to wear lederhosen or dirndl out and about and to work. So you’ll see many people sporting the traditional clothing walking around on the streets and in the clubs on the weekends. Kinda sweet if you ask me.

All in all, the atmosphere at Oktoberfest is amazing. Several 10s of thousand people all gathered in a rather small area for the same reason, friends, beer, and the ultimate of good times. The food is also amazing. Really some of the best food in the world. I have never had anything bad there and I can honestly say that the half chicken is by far the best chicken I’ve ever eaten in my life anywhere in the world. It’s mind blowing. They rotisserie it while dripping beer over the outside, giving it this magical crust and juicy inside. Absolutely brilliant!

Chicago Waterfront

As both E and I didn’t get to Jimmy’s place until after 11pm, there wasn’t much time before we had to go out. We each ate 2 pieces of arguably one of Chicago’s best deep dish pizza joints (it was very good). This actually proved to be a bad move as those 2 slices of pizza thoroughly filled us up. We went to a near Jimmy’s place briefly before deciding to head over to Bucktown. Cool place, talked with some of the people, and by the time we were about to leave, the place was packed to the gills. We got home around 4am as some bars in Chicago close at 4am.

Lunch on the beach

Saturday was spent walking along the beach, which to my amazement is quite nice. We ate atop one of the beach restaurants where we proceeded to mess with our waitress (all in good fun of course). E & I of course had a beer while poor Ranger forgot his ID at home, even though he’s the oldest and balding (a lot).

Saturday evening we hit up another bar near Jimmy’s place. We again hassled our waitresses and spoke with the girls sitting next to us. They gave us some tips on places to go for the evening. One recommended Level while her friend was strongly against it.

After consulting one of Jimmy’s friends, we decided to consume some bloody beef at Mike Ditka’s. Although I wouldn’t have guessed his restaurant to have such good steaks, but damn was it good.

Dinner at Ditkas

So we went to Level anyway, which is a nightclub with possibly the worst dancers in all of Chicago (maybe all of the world). It was kinda like a bunch of wannabes that couldn’t get in to the cool club. This was actually ok as it didn’t seem to be pretentious just a bunch of bad dancers.

The one place those 2 girls did agree on was McFadden’s. Although not the coolest place on earth, it was filled and we did have some fun. One random thing that happened was this completely trashed girl came over to us, too drunk to even talk. She looked at me and then put my hand on her breast and gave me this look like “do you like?”. Rather awkward, I know. I took my hand off and she just put it back. This happened 3 or 4 times. An innocent bystander came over to me and bitched me out for taking advantage of the “blacked out girl” as she so gracefully put it. I actually didn’t have a comeback for that as it was an entirely awkward situation. Just after the breast incident, drunkie wobbled back to where she came from. We later found out it was her 22nd birthday. Happy Birthday “blacked out girl”!

E & I share the same views on black girls and that is “yes please”. There were 3 black girls in this place (for whatever reason the places we went to in Chicago were all predominantly white). All 3 girls were fairly attractive with exceptionally good legs (and short dresses). We later learned that all 3 were call girls trying to pull a trick (or two). Unfortunate they have to resort to such ways. We were all thoroughly disappointed.

So to sum up our going out experience in the Windy City – “2 failed attempts at inebriation with 1 free boob & 3 black hookers”. Sounds a bit funny, but there really isn’t much else to say.

Sunday E had to get back to DC, so the Ranger and I went first to the Field Museum (not all that interesting) and we then proceeded on the foot tour of downtown Chicago. We saw the bean, which is pretty sweet and the fiber optic waterfalls.

The Clarence Buckingham Memorial Fountain

Me in the Bean

The Bean

Fiber Optic Waterfall

We ended the day on Navy Pier. At the end of the pier, you can get a nice view of the Chicago skyline.

Chicago Sunset

There were also a few places that had live music. We walked through the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows per a recommendation from my father. It was interesting and they explained a lot about the different types of stained glass. I’ve always been a fan of stained glass because my mom used to do it quite often when I was younger.

LA aka Fantasy Land

So we had to wake up at 4am Monday morning in order to catch our flights to the west coast, LA for me and SF for Jimmy. This made for a really long day, because I was essentially waking up at 2am PST and heading straight to work from the airport. I took a few shots out the window of the airplane as we were landing. Interesting to see the mystical place I live.