Buffalo, NY Vacation - 2010

The family and I went to Buffalo, NY last week for our vacation (3/27 - 4/3/2010).

Sunday
We left Sunday at 1 PM. Actually, we left at 12 noon, but went back to get our passports. We drove through many small towns in Pennsylvania. It was raining and foggy and sleeting part of the way there. With weather like this, I wasn't sure how this vacation was going to go. It took 8.5 hours to get to Buffalo. When we finally got there, it was 9:30 PM. We ate milanesa for dinner. We stayed at John's place.

Monday
John lives in this one hundred year old house. It has a lot of character to it, with decorated glass doors, "candle" lights, and protruding bricks on the exterior. The whole small neighborhood of 30 or so homes all are like this. It reminded me of the DC house I used to live in.

It was the first day and it seemed we had all the time in the world at this point. We ate at home at then drove to downtown area. We stopped by the waterfront. The kids played on giant rocks and large pieces of wood. They loved it. Meanwhile I was freaking out they were going to fall in the water.

Afterward, we passed two warships that I wanted to tour. John almost tried to sneak on board. I don't know if he was kidding or not. But I paid the admissions price. It was mostly just us touring two large warships and a submarine. The first ship stilled looked like the way they used to use it during WW2, but the second one had most of it's rooms converted into "museums" and it was not how the rooms were originally used. The submarine was very tight and didn't have a lot of space. I went to the front of the first ship and yelled, "I am king of the world!" ala Titanic. I enjoyed the tour and seeing all the machinery and equipment.

At night, we went to Boulevard Mall and ate dinner there. We bought some stuff at Sears and JC Penney including mini speakers, clothes and shoes for Tom and Bobby.

The day's weather was slightly cold.

Tuesday
Mandy, Katie and I went to Bally Fitness in Amherst while John slept and the Tom and Bob stayed at home. This Bally was better than one I usually go to. I had a good work out with the weights. Katie went to the Kid's Club - it was like she was in school.

We visited Niagara University and took a look around John's office and the gym room.

At this point, the weather was really warming up.

Wednesday
We drove to Toronto. We stopped by the suburban Chinatown. It's basically a suburb with lots of Chinese stores and most of the people driving in that area were Chinese. I don't see that often. We ate a food court. John picked paiku fan (pork chops with rice); I picked a Hong Kong style dish of chasiu (pork), chicken, rice and their yummy garlic mix.

We spent most of our time in Pacific Mall, a giant store with many, many, many tiny individual stores inside. I got Tom an anime doll and got Katie a Hello Kitty doll. The kids wanted all this ninja stuff like swords but I felt they were too sharp and dangerous even though they really were "sharpened."

We drove through Toronto and the kids had Subway for dinner. Where we drove was was a somewhat rough neighborhood (at least for kids) but might have been fun otherwise.

By Wednesday, I could feel our vacation passed the midpoint.

The weather was unusually warm for Buffalo today and the remaining days.

Thursday
John's house is next to Delaware Park. It has a lake and trails. We stopped by the zen garden (very small) and then drove to the Frank Lloyd house. He was a famous architect. We were supposed to get a free tour today but they canceled. We were ripped off! Just kidding! We toured the outside of the house by ourselves. It has a contemporary look. It felt more like a school or some other big structure instead of a house.

We took a tour of the power plant by Niagara University. It had displays and exhibits and we could email each other e-postcards. We were high on the top of a cliff overlooking Niagara River and could see the water below us. The power station has these fantastic structures that look like AT-AT Walkers from the movie, The Empire Strikes Back (Star Wars). They were cool!

Later, we saw the devil's hole and then we walked down these very crooked (at places), old stone steps that kept curving around from the top of the cliff all the way down to the river itself. We walked through some rougher terrain and reached a secluded spot with giant boulders and three fishermen. The kids played near the water and touched the many rocks there. We brought some home for souvenirs. They had these freakishly huge boulders that were cool to the touch.

John, Tom and I went to another more interesting spot nearby where the water rushed and gushed by stronger. The water was very cold and refreshing. We all took small sips of the apparently-very-clean-looking water, but promptly spit it out just in case. It tasted like normal water. I got my left foot wet. We took these pictures standing on these rocks that laid in the water, having to jump there and me trying not to freak out about falling into the rushing river. Especially when Tom did that.

The fishermen caught some pretty big fish and then released them back.

We went up the cliff again, and took pictures next to the edge of the cliff, beyond the safety fence. I took a picture with Tom, and again tried to not freak out! I jumped up right next to the edge.

Friday
I think we were kinda exhausted from all the walking yesterday, especially me after lunch. I took a nap. Remind me not drink soda with lunch.

At 3 PM, we went to the Albright Knox Art Museum right next to the house. It contained art work from such famous people as Andy Warhol, Monet, Van Gogh and my favorite, Dali. It also had a cool exhibit called the glass room, where everything inside that room was made of glass. It was cool.

At 6 PM, Mandy, Katie, John and I went back for free tango lessons. We danced tango and it was fun. John asked two girls to dance. On my first dance, this somewhat older woman, with a slight breath of alcohol just came up to me, grabbed my hand and led me away to dance. I tried to tell her I was with someone but it was of no use apparently. After a few dances, I went back to dance with Mandy, who at that point was dancing, or at least holding hands with Katie. Later they had experienced volunteers you could dance with, and I danced with two of them, including the teacher. John did not dance with the volunteers.

I was so under dressed for the event. Many people dressed nicely and they had two dressed up people give us a pretty good demo. But there I was, with my dark t-shirt and blue jeans... with a slightly moist neck from the dancing. But that's just me. And I enjoyed it. It might be a good social opportunity for John to meet someone if he actually wanted to pursue something.

Saturday
We went to Niagara Falls on the Canadian side. They had a whole bunch of tourist stores, rides, arcades, restaurants, casinos, flashing lights, haunted houses, dance nightclubs and similar attractions in the area. It was a very lively and active place with lots of people. It's only on the Canadian side. On the US side, there's not much in comparison.

We did a three tour ride of the wax museum (nice), Ripley's movie ride (two relatively short rides with moving chairs), and Ripley's Believe or Not! Out of three, personally I enjoyed the wax museum the most. I lost battery power in the wax museum, otherwise I would have more pictures.

By the time we were were finished it was past 8 PM. We ate dinner and went to the falls. It was cold by this time. But we got to see the falls through colored lights shining on it. It was very misty and wet near the horseshoe area. We got right next to the falls and saw the black water rush past us and go down the cliff.

On the way back, I stepped into the casino. There was a lot of dressed up people in the area. I went to the casino and got Mandy some free coffee. Tom and Bob drank decaf.

Sunday
The owner was scheduled to arrive to pick his car at 12 noon. We packed up and left around 11:30 AM. On the way, we stopped at a WalMart in the middle of nowhere. I said, if I lived here, WalMart would be my life.

It was a very good vacation. Conditions were favorable and the weather cooperated. I could do what I wanted, when I wanted, explore new sights and not have to worry about things.

I am happy and grateful we could all have a nice trip!!

Chasing the Mailman

So, I was coming home and in my car when I saw the mail truck heading my way. I on the service road going to my home. Suddenly it occurred to me that I may have a Netflix DVD in my back pack. I had a split second to put the window down and wave at the mail man (actually, woman) to stop. But I let it pass.

I looked in the back pack, and sure enough, there was a DVD from Netflix. I didn't want to wait until tomorrow to ship it. As I looked in my back mirror, I saw the mail truck waiting by the light. I thought, I could try to catch it, but what are the chances? Maybe the light will turn green before I do a U-turn.

Testing my luck, I decided to chase after it. After I made the quick U-turn, I followed the truck, and by this time, the light turned green and the truck made a right and went on the road. I followed it, hoping for a red light. The truck was ahead of me. How was I going to give her the DVD? The mail truck driver's seat is on the RIGHT, that's so they can deliver the package to the mailboxes. So, I needed to be on the truck's RIGHT side, but I was currently behind it. I knew I didn't want to follow it all the way to the post office because that would defeat the point.

At the next light, luckily, the light turned red, and more luckily there was a special right lane! I pulled up next to the truck, put the window down, and waved. The woman driver wondered what I wanted and slid open the door. I said, hi, can you take this, as I handed her the package. She was flabbergasted as I gave it to her. With that mission done, I said thank you and went back home.

I was happy, and felt elated and a winner! Yahoo! :)

Hearts of Space

Do you like ambient, new age, meditative music? Well, I've got a real good recommendation for you. Try Hearts of Space.

I discovered HOS in 1991 when I was living in Ranch in N. Potomac, MD. One late Friday night, I just happened to have the radio on in the living room, and it just happened to be on the right channel, when suddenly HOS began playing. I must have liked it because I tuned in every week since then. The channel was WGMS 90.9 at 11 PM on Fridays.

For the next few years, I bought a few one hour tapes and recorded the show every week. Not every one I kept because I didn't like every single show, but overall it's a great program. I did not record while I was in Taiwan for two years. When I came back and briefly stayed in Los Angeles, I started recording again (luckily they aired there, too - it's a national radio program).

Once back here, I noticed that HOS was not one that original radio station anymore. So, I wrote a letter to the radio station program manager. They put it back on for me, albeit this time on Sunday nights. It was on for a few years and then they dropped it again.

I haven't recorded for a while until I found out that they streamed their music on the Internet. They used to stream their weekly program all week, but now they limit it to Sundays only.

They have their radio like show, and their weekly program.

If you like ambient and space music, and generally music from other countries, then try HOS. Their website is www.hos.com. Listen in on Sundays. Highly rated.

Thanks for the music all these years, HOS!

Bike to work week

This week I biked to work every day. My trusty old bike took me there and back. It was refreshing and invigorating to breathe the cool morning air, to feel the wind on my face, and the sun in my eyes. It always felt like being on a scooter (like when I was in Taiwan) when I went down the hills. It's great for the body, good for the planet, and good for my wallet (no gas to spend!).

Here's part of my bike route:


Originally, I took a route which was much more difficult (hills) and longer than my current route. I decided to try a new way, and found it was not only easier but shorter. It's almost the perfect route because it's just long enough to give me some exercise but not to tire me out too much. With all the lights in my favor, it takes about 15 minutes. I ride on the side walks.

I cross over the highway. As I bike over, I sometimes slow down and watch the cars go by. As it gets darker, the white and red lights streak by.

Morning Squirrel

This morning I saw a squirrel outside from my bathroom window. The squirrel cautiously climbed up the telephone poll, eventually reaching the top. It stayed up there, thinking like it was the king of the hill or something. It scratched it's tiny head, wondering what to do. It decided to jump to another pole right next to it, a pole that reached higher than the first one. It started to climb, and then suddenly decided to go down another diagnol pole. Perhaps it thought it wasn't worth it, he was king of the first pole, and that was good enough.

Family (Katie) at the Dentist

It was family day at the dentist. Actually, I didn't go because I had an appointment on another day, but Mandy and the two boys had a dental cleaning appointment. Bob seems used to it now as he has been going for quite some time, and I don't need to mention Tom who has been doing it even longer. They both started pretty young. I can't seem to recall, but it was probably when they were three.

So, I was really surprised to hear that after everybody got their cleaning done that Katie also wanted to do it! I wasn't there, so I don't know how long her cleaning lasted, or whether it was just for fun, but I am sure some of her teeth got clean. And I've a picture to prove it. I am really amazed she sat through it.

I am told this attracted a lot of attention from other nurses who want to so see. Notice someone standing behind the dental technician.

11th Wedding Anniversary

Wow, it's been 11 years since Mandy and I got married. We got married in 1997. We tied the knot in the government center on 2/21/97, and we had a wedding ceremony at the restaurant reception on 2/22/97. It's probably easier to remember 2/22 as the wedding date (that's the date Mandy prefers). Now, we've got three kids!

We went out on Saturday to celebrate. We usually meet my parents on Saturday, also. So, we went to Manassas for some Old Country Buffet time. Unfortunately, the restaurant closed! Probably not enough business. That's what I liked about it - no lines. Pretty quite and homey. And that was the cause of its downfall, I suspect.

So, we went to a Chinese buffet restaurant. My parents did not even know it was our anniversary until I told them. They were surprised.

The restaurant really had lots of desserts, especially many assortments of ice cream flavors.

Happy Anniversary!!!