the WU reborn

Wedding Countdown

Tyan and Jay are getting married on the 6th, so relatives are already starting to arrive. Tyan and I went to pick up Chyi from O'Hare yesterday. Then the three of us met Mom, Dad, Jay, and Grandma for dinner at ye olde Korean bbq.

Next week, there will be folks flying in from Vancouver, Dallas, and Paris. I'm in charge of fetching most of them from various airports. Oh well, good thing I am numb to meager 100 mile drives after the road trip of all time and space.

I'm also the Emcee for the wedding reception. Time to start writing speeches and making up jokes. I'm hoping to relax as much as possible during the next two weeks, but I guess things are just going to happen. We'll probably be out for cocktails here and there, so call if you want to join.

I've solidified my tickets to Prague and London. Not bad for $142! I don't have lodging in London yet, but I'll work that out soon. Prague ended up being quite affordable for a room. I'm hoping to get a lot of nice photos.

Eighteenth Stop: Chicago, IL / Back Home to Milwaukee, WI

New photos in the Roadtrip Chicago album.

I left St. Louis around 3 p.m. arriving in Chicago just before 8. I picked up Karl and Shannon, and we drove to meet Rashad at San Soo Gab San for Korean barbeque. Amazing as always, and Rashad, a first-timer vows he will return soon. Later that evening, Karl and I tried to find a poker game, only to find none, so we hopped online and played some NL hold-em on Partypoker. I think I won $30.

Next morning, we went for dimsum, but Phoenix had too much of a wait, so we went to Three Happiness. Big mistake, as this place has really gone downhill. After a bit more chat, photos of the cat, and general loafing, I headed home.

Gas Prices:

St. Louis, MO: $2.05
Chicago, ILL $2.24

After watching the bike race that goes right by my house, I was off to the grocery store to get stuff for the big cookout. I was up until 4 a.m. getting things ready.

Next morning, I started grilling at 10 and kept things warm until it was time to serve. I made burgers, brats, italians, grilled tofu, and grilled curried chicken. Also served corn on the cob, and the usual chips, veggies, fruit, and cookies. A ton of people turned up, around 40 in all. I was short on coolers, but a few people came through with some so that was fine. In addition to the folks in the photo album, Eric S, Eric L, Sanjay, Tiffany, Adam, Rachel, and a couple friends of Sean's showed up. It was nice to see everyone, and we had a perfect day for it. The weather was beautiful. Sorry that some of you missed coming out, but hope you had a good day.

My grandmother arrived from Singapore yesterday during the cookout and I think she was a bit taken aback by the huge crowd of people in the yard. In the end, she had fun though.

The party marked the end of my six-and-a-half week road trip. Here are some statistics from the trip for those interested in trivia:

Total distance driven: 7166 miles.
Money spent on gas: $716.60.
Number of oil changes: 2.
Number traffic tickets: 3 (2 speeding, 1 seat belt).
Highest speed attained: 123 mph.
Highest premium gas price seen; $2.69 / gallon in the mountains of California.
Number of nights gone: 45.
Number of nights spent in hotel: 9.
Most expensive hotel price: $79 (Hampton Inn).
Least expensive hotel price: $19.99 (American Inn baby!).
Biggest bet in Vegas: blackjack $200 (won).
Best meals: 1. Nobu, Las Vegas. 2. Pink Pearl in Vancouver. 3. Silver Dollar in Thorp.
Best snack: Bison jerky from North Dakota.
Best cocktail: Gimlet at Red Square in the Mandalay.
Best sunset: Sunset Cliffs, San Diego, CA.
Most fun moment: Swim up blackjack at Tropicana.
Least fun moment: Two days of being sick with the cold in San Diego.
Scariest moment: Hydroplaning at 80 mph while going downhill in the rain outside Redding CA.
Most relaxing moment: 1. spa day in Portland, 2. Uncle John's hottub at 2 a.m in Vancouver.

That's it for now. I need to get ready for Tyan's wedding. Lots of relatives flying into Chicago, need to rent a suit, buy shoes, and get my pre-MC duties on.

Thanks for reading, peeps, and hope to see you soon.

Sixteenth / Seventeenth Stops: Topeka/St. Louis, MO

New photos in the Road Eastward album.

Here is the two day drive from Colorado.

Missouri has been nothing but hot and muggy.

Okay somehow or other, my post for Topeka got lost in cyberspace, so here is a combined posting. Let's face it: Topeka blows ass anyway. I saw I,Robot in Topeka at a theater that doesn't accept credit cards. I had to run back to the room to get money and nearly missed the opening. I thought the movie was entertaining, although the idea has been done before. Cool special effects, anyway.

As I have visited St. Louis before, it was only added to the route to accomodate the free Oakenfold show. He was to spin at the first annual Riversplash festival held right below the big arch. I arrived during cloudy skies, and heard apologies from the stage for prior delays. On the upside, I arrived just as the random opening DJ was finishing. Oakey took the stage with high energy and spun for about twenty minutes. Then they stopped the show because of lightning. *sigh*

Later that night, I caught a midnight showing of The Bourne Supremacy. I liked it, but not as much as The Bourne Identity.

Here's a short clip from the Oakenfold concert: Paul Oakenfold Live in St. Louis

Trip Itinerary

Fifteenth Stop: Limon, CO

New photos in the Road Eastward album.

The plan was to drive 700 miles, but I only made it this far. Why you ask? My 8 a.m. wakeup call never came because the phone system at the hotel supposedly went down. I bitched a bit in the morning and got my room rate reduced by $25.

I left Richfield around noon and continued through the Rockies. It really is very beautiful, and I'm glad that I had the opportunity to drive through them again.

Funny story: I was with 1/8 of a tank of gas left, and passing Vail. Then it started raining. This meant driving slow up mountains, not exactly the most fuel efficient driving. Finally, I saw a sign for gas. Whew. I exited, and turned right. The sign said 1/4 mile. Five miles later, I started to wonder where the hell the gas station was. Five more miles later, I started to panic, as it was getting darker, raining a bit heavier, and no gas station in sight. Finally after a total of thirty miles and two mountains later, I found my paradise in the form of a BP station. Upon turning back, I found that I drove right past the initial gas station in my frantic search for gas. On the upside, I learned that I can get 408 miles out of one tank, and I averaged 28.8 mpg in the mountains. That's pretty freaking good with a V6.

I drove past Denver to avoid the traffic in the morning. Once past Denver, I was able to haul ass. Amazing how fast you can drive when there are no mountains fucking with the program.

I went for dinner at a place next door to the hotel. The waitress carded me for a Corona. I hopped in the pool and hot tub for a half hour or so before returning to the room for a shower and well... this. I'm gonna try to make it to St. Louis tomorrow, but it depends when I get up. I have a feeling I'll only make it to Topeka.

I took a movie clip while in Utah. I hope you enjoy it: UTAH!!!

Gas Prices: Leadville, CO $2.29

Trip Itinerary

Fourteenth Stop: Richfield, Utah

Sorry it's been so long. Vegas yielded little time or convenient connectivity. I've posted three postings tonight.

Journey travelled today

Brendan was in Vegas for an extra day, so i killed some time with him playing cards and eating lunch at the Sahara. On to the matter at hand: Sweet mother's milk I must be on another damned planet....

Things heard since being in town:

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeee-hahhhhhhh!"

"Mah ding-a-ling dawwwter went and put cheese and bacon on that by mistake. Is that gonna be ok, or should ahh have her remake that for yew?" (This was followed by said "ding-a-ling daughter" popping her big head through the drive-up window and brandishing a very brace-filled grin)

"Well, Wal-Mart IS a full-service store sir, meaning that we got it all. We just don't have stamps. Don't ask me why."

"Will Smith is hot for a black guy."

Gas Prices: Richfield, UT: $2.13

Uncle Frank

My Uncle Frank died on Saturday of complications related to diabetes. He is survived by his wife, mother, five sisters (including my mother), one brother, five children, five grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Please keep his family in your thoughts.

Thirteenth Stop: Las Vegas, NV

New Photos in the Las Vegas album. I've been to Vegas three other times, so sorry, no photos of stupid casinos...just photos of stuff that I wanted to take photos of. Deal with it.

Thirteenth stop is Vegas? Who the hell planned this trip. Of all the stupid, unlucky....oh wait. Nevermind.

The purpose for going to Vegas was for Pat's bachelor party. Good luck Pat on your impending doom! Now for the goodz, I'm just going to give you the highlights.

Favorite Casino: Currently, it's Paris. Something about playing blackjack under an artificial sky. Very airy, and it made me feel cheerful.

Best food: Nobu in the Hard Rock Casino, obviously. I didn't have one other good meal the whole time in Vegas. Perhaps it's because we kept going to shitty buffets. Isn't Vegas supposed to have good cheap buffets?

Best club: Rain in the Palms Hotel and Casino. Although the music switched to rock soon after we got there, the look of this place is just amazing. One of the guys in our party got us past a huge line (that I would not have normally waited for anyway) to get in. Beautiful people with way, way too much money.

Best bar: Red Square in the Mandalay Bay. Hangar One Lime in the house served on a bar made of solid ice, immense ceilings, and a great atmostphere. Oh, did I mention they play trance, but not at club levels? Yeah, you can hear yourself, and it's not smoky, and hmm the waitresses are hot, and Christ, it won't all fit here. Go check it out.

Amount of money won/lost: + $40

Games played: Mostly blackjack, but a bit of craps, and even a bit of slots, but mostly that was out of sheer slam-your-head-against-the-wall boredom. I wanted to play poker, but just didn't have time.

Most fun moment: While playing "swim up blackjack" at the Tropicana (yes folks, you swim up the table, sit on a stone bench in the water, peel your $100 bill out of your trunks, drink free cocktails, and double down....it's a rough life), I decided to fall backward into the water to cool off between shoes. This of course caused a tremendous splash which showered the entire table, tray of dealers chips, and 8 decks worth of cards which were being shuffled with water. Needless to say the pit boss and dealer were pissed, but well, fuck 'em. Sanjay and I both waded away from that table an hour later as winners.

Sites seen: None. WOOOT!

Lowest temperature in Las Vegas during my trip: 78 degrees F.

Highest temperature in Las Vegas during my trip: 106 degrees F.

Estimated time until the next trip: less than a year. I guess Johnny plans to have his birthday out there. Rough beats, no?

I believe the Trip Itinerary will change, as I've just found out that Oakenfold will be in St. Louis on the 22nd. I might have to swing down and see him, as I missed him at Summerfest. Come down! Anyone is welcome.

Gas Prices: Las Vegas, NV: $2.20

Twelth Stop: Irvine, CA

New Photos in the San Diego album and the Irvine album.

I left San Diego heading for Irvine around 10 p.m. Pam met up with me for a quick cocktail and a bite and also so that I could return her apartment keys. Thanks again Pam for the use of your place, and thanks to Anjali for the city tours. You guys rock!

Irvine is part of the sprawl that exists 40 miles south of Los Angeles. It seems to be kind of an upscale neighborood. When I arrived at 11 p.m. I was drawn to a huge movie theatre complex that boasted 21 screens. The only thing movie left was White Chicks, so I figured, what the hell, why not. It was exactly what I expected. I laughed a bit, but for the most part, it was horrible.

Finding a hotel would prove to be a gigantic pain in the ass because of some damned holy roller convention in town. Apparently the Christians all decided that Irvine is the place to get their God on. The only hotel I found with a room was $90 with no Internet access; hence the late post. Meh.

Next day, I drove around the area only to find it was mostly boring. The day as hot too, so I was a bit annoyed. I found a nice big outdoor mall with some cool stores, and I picked up a shirt and some shorts. Afterwards, I went to see Anchorman to cool off. That was pretty funny. In the evening, I got a ticket for not wearing my seatbelt. It went a little bit like this:

Pig: Excuse me son, is there any reason you’re not wearing your seatbelt?
WK: I’m not your son. I was driving half a mile to the ampitheatre, and I just spaced it.
P: Well, you realize that that’s no excuse, right?
W: Well, you asked me, so I told you.
P: I’ll be back in a few minutes.
***10 minutes pass
P: Here’s your license back, sir…
W: …
P: …and a citation for not wearing a seatbelt. I don’t know if there is a law like that where you come from but-
W: Yeah there is, but the cops at home usually issue warnings, you know to be nice.
P: Heh, well not here. We feel that compliance will come from ticketing.
W: Sure
P: We’ve had six deaths in the last year from no seat belts. If we give tickets and people start wearing their belts, it will reduce the accidents.
W: That made no sense at all
P: Well, anyway, if you have any questions, call the number on the back. I don’t know how much the citation is for, but you’ll get something in the mail. Have a good day, and be safe.
W: Thanks, Daddy-O.

After that, I drove the 50 yards to the driveway of the Verizon Wireless Ampitheater. My buddy Bonn who lives in Irvine is missing in action. I think the militant Muslims have him, or perhaps he had a heart attack in a Henderson brothel. In any case, it left me with an extra Rush ticket that I quickly pawned off on one of the hungry scalpers. The show was great, as usual. I was seated on the grass. That venue is amazing, and I wish that we had similar setups. Once inside, there were tons of food options and drink options, and good ones to boot. I guess I would compare it to something like Summerfest + random Ethnic fest for food and cocktails.

The drive to the next city was uneventful. I had to leave Irvine since there were no hotel rooms to be had. I ended up in Victorville, CA. On the 8th day, God forgot about Victorville, and two seconds after I got on the on ramp, I did too. What a waste of space.

I stopped at a huge outlet mall just inside the Nevada border. They have 100 or so stores with discount brand-name clothing. I picked up some cheap black shoes, a tee-shirt and some more shorts.

Well, that’s it for now. The Vegas hotel I’m in right now has no Internet except in the business center. If you’re reading this, I was able to get online. ***update, had to go to the Monte Carlo to do this. Give it up people!

Gas Prices:

Victorville, CA: $2.42

Well, I’m off to play some cards, then pick up Snoop Dark from the airport.

Trip Itinerary

Tripping the Beach Fantastic

More photos in the San Diego album.

Someone mentioned that he wanted to check out the other stops that I've made. FYI just click on the June Archives folder located on the right side of the weblog towards the bottom.

Checked out the Hotel del Coronado a few days ago. A National Historic Landmark, it has attracted such notables as Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra. Lunch was at Sheerwater, one of the many restaurants in the Hotel. It doesn’t get much better than sitting outside under big umbrellas looking at the ocean eating badass food. Being the endangered species fan that I am, I opted for the Chilean sea bass. Frankly, I’ve never met one I didn’t like, but I will say for the record that not only was this the best Chilean sea bass I’ve ever had, it was the best (cooked) fish I’ve ever eaten. Nothing holds a candle to (raw) fish, particularly if it’s served at Nobu in Las Vegas where I just may happen to wander into on Thursday.

I’ve been quite the beach bum the last few days. Ann flew in for a couple of days and as she digs beaches so we’ve been on the sand quite a bit. She’s heading home tomorrow. Anyway, this beach business reminds me of the good old days selling cookware. After morning calls, Blotto and I would head to the beach in the afternoons until our sales calls in the evening. After a while, our boss told me to stop going because if I got any more tan, people would think I was black, and hell you can’t have that while pitching hope-chest shit to the Wonder Bread residents of STallis.

Of course, things are a bit different this time around.

1. I’m not stoned all the time. I would imagine this lets me actually appreciate the day for what it is, as opposed to it really not mattering.

2. The beaches that I’ve visited are clean here. Unfortunately, no dead alewives or half-rotting carp washed up on shore. It’s really nice paddling through the water, and not having some tentacle-looking shit sticking to your skin like around the beaches of Grant Park. On the other hand, there’s no sewage-processing plant nearby (that I know of), so that might have something to do with it. Notice that this never stopped us from going to the beach back in the day. See #1.

3. The sand is whiter here, although it doesn’t seem quite as white as the gulf side of Florida. I guess that’s because there isn’t as much marine life shells in the sand here. It sure is pleasant though.

It hasn’t rained since I’ve been here. I stopped a random surfer on one of the beaches and he told me that it rains in February for a bit, and in June it is overcast a bit (he called it June Gloom). Other than that, it’s sunny and dry and around 70 degrees F.

I’ve got a few more days of this torture, then I’m in Irvine for the Rush concert, then off to Las Vegas. Vegas baby Vegas!

Here’s a short movie from Dog Beach. Surfers and sand at sunset. Enjoy!

Trip Itinerary

Sea World

New Photos in the San Diego album.

Sorry it's been a while since my last real update. I'm fully recovered now with the exception of some mild sniffles.

So today, I found myself at Sea World. I had never been, so I figured I should probably go since I'm here for a few weeks. Tickets for this bastard are $50, but the ticket girl asks everyone if they have AAA. Incidentally, the correct response is "yes" in case you were wondering. This yielded a $5 discount. The night before I go to a theme park, I generally freeze a 32 oz container of water into a solid mass. That way when it melts, I have cold water all day, as I refill it from the fountains. A dehydrated Waiken is a grumpy Waiken, and well, that's no fun.

We showed up around 2 to avoid the savage thrashing that is the noontime sun. This turned out to be a high-tech move, as I left with that sun-kissed warmth that signals the cusp of sunburn. Besides, five hours at Sea World is fuggin plenty.

Obviously, we had to check out Shamu and the dolphins. Both of these were worth checking out. Also, we did check out the seal-otter-sea lion show that Rhianna mentioned. For the record, it was cheesy as hell, but kind of cool. I have a lot of respect for the trainers' patience. I would never be able to handle it. Anyway, we checked out a haunted lighthouse movie in 4D. The fourth dimension is the water and air that gets sprayed on you when someone coughs, or a spear goes past your face. The movie was poop but it was kind of fun. There were a few rides in the park, but I didn't get to go on any. Oh well, I'll have to run Great America when I get home.

It's true what they say about the weather here. It's ridiculous. Since I've arrived, two days had some overcast hours, but the sun came out anyway. The rest of the days, the sun has been out. However, for those of you who hate hot or muggy weather (Jeremy) it's neither. The place I am staying in has no AC, but I sure as hell don't miss it.

Because of a minor change in plans, and the fact that I know I don't want to move to Los Angeles, I am staying in San Diego a while longer. I'll still be in Irvine for Rush on the 14th.

Gas Prices:

San Diego: $2.32 although I have seen it here as high as $2.65. Strange how there is so much discrepancy as opposed to back home.

Trip Itinerary