I came back to Las Vegas on November 3rd. I’ve been meaning to update this page. Just haven’t gotten around to it. Sorry, I was supposed to post more while traveling – but I was usually so busy doing activities.
It was weird being back home after traveling for 13 months. Mostly I was bored. I was wishing that I was still traveling and seeing new cities. I really do miss it. I’ve been trying to get back into the swing of things here.
I’ve spent lots of time with my family. I missed them tremendously. I have hung out with some of my friends. It’s so great to see everybody!
Right now, I’m concentrating on obtaining a job. It’s rough right now since the recession. But, there’s lots of openings at casinos since a lot of people are headed to the City Center. I’m hoping I’ll have a job soon.
I’ve been trying to finish the blog that covers our travel adventures. Lil Dave couldn’t finish it since he went to Africa with Ivan. Ivan has a new blog about his 54 days trip in Africa. I also have to upload the rest of the pictures from our trip.
I will try to update you on my life. It hasn’t been much lately. I’ve just been mostly playing games on Facebook, watching tv shows, cartoons and anime and hanging out with family and friends.
I have my big backpack filled with everything I need for the trip. I also have a daypack.
I seem to have packed my backpack with so many things that I thought I would need. But, haven’t used at all. I guess it’s good to be prepared. I read many different guides stating what to bring on trip. I just realize now that you can mostly find things everywhere. Even small towns have pharmacies and shops. All you have to do is describe your ailment and usually they can understand. It’s crazy to have all my things packed together. Sometimes I find things that I forgot I had packed. It’s easy to buy t-shirts, underwear, sarongs, hat, sunglasses and socks along to way. It seems that both my backpack and daypack have gotten heavier. I think it’s good to pack light.
Here’s what I recommend taking on a trip around the world:
2 pants (Northface is nice – 1 pair that turns into a pair of shorts), cotton dress, dress shirt, 2 cotton t-shirts, underwear for a week (Ex-Officio makes good underwear), beach shorts, 3 bras (1 black), 3-4 pairs of socks, bathing suit, light rain jacket, silk liner (great to use when you’re sleeping on a bus), hair ties, iPod, money belt, cheap watch with an alarm, earplugs, sleep mask, travel towel, headlamp (Petzl is the best!!), pen, Sharpie, strong eyeglass holder (if you wear glasses), toothbrush, small toothpaste, good waterproof shoes (Merrell or Northface), flip-flops or waterproof sandals
First aid – some band-aids, antiseptic, anti-histamine, aspirin, tape, lozenge, rehydration salts, sewing kit
Medicine – any that you need like allergy medicine or antibiotics For women – Birth control can be bought cheap in Thailand at Boots or Tesco Lotus
Nalgene containers are great for liquids like for Beauty products. Beauty Products – lotion, shampoo, razor, small perfume, moisturizer, exfoliator
Make-up – small bag filled with a lipstick, eyeshadow, foundation, mascara
A great bag is made by Eagle Creek called sacs. I really like the X-small, Small, Medium and Large sacs. They hold everything. I have my make-up in one bag. Toiletries in another..underwear, socks and bras in another.
Expect to lose things if you’re backpacking. It’s hard to always remember to check the hostel/hotel room you’re in for things you’ve left. I have lost a few things like tweezers, a sharpie, contact lens holder and a nalgene container filled shampoo. I remember before I went traveling. I asked a backpacker about carrying the backpack and traveling. She told me that your clean clothes are with your dirty clothes – so everything starts to smell. I decided to bring a big plastic bag to put my dirty clothes in.
It’s hard to buy souvenirs. I have bought some for friends and family. It’s best to ship it home. If it’s light, I just keep it in my bag.
I actually like carrying light. It’s convenient since my backpack is on my back and my daypack is in the front. I see carrying around luggage and it just seems much harder. My big backpack weight is 22 pounds. That’s not too bad.
I didn’t even know how to pack things so the weight was distributed well. REI has a good page with expert advice. It definitely helps where the weight is. I put too many heavy things on top and my backpack felt about twice as heavy. Some people like to fold their clothes while others roll them. I do both. Just do what you like. It seems that clothes in your backpack are bound to get wrinkled. When you’re backpacking, you don’t care much about your appearance. But, I guess folding it might be better for less wrinkles. I think rolling is good to save space especially when you have to stuff things into small spaces.
I was really set on doing my own laundry. I bought a clothing line, drain stopper and Campsuds. Campsuds is for washing clothes and even hair. You don’t need much I did buy two pairs of Ex-Officio underwear that is lightweight and dries very quickly. That has come in handy. It’s very cheap and easy to get laundry done on the road. Sometimes you do have to pay to get it ironed. Of course, sometimes you do wash your own clothes. The clothesline has come in handy for letting bathing suits or clothes dry.
I have been traveling with my boyfriend around the world since October 1, 2008. Lil Dave (the monkey) is writing a blog about all of our travels. So check it out! I should have posted that last year but didn’t.
I decided to write about my thoughts on backpacking. I’ve had a lot lately.
I knew I would miss my family. But, I seriously miss them A LOT!! I miss playing with my nieces and nephews the most. Ivan calls his parents on Skype a lot and writes them e-mails. So, I know it’s partly my fault since I don’t call my parents nearly enough. I do write e-mail though to my brother, sister and sister-in-law. It’s just hard being away from them. I know they’re doing good.. just wish I could see them! I recently took a nap this afternoon. I dreamt I was back home and visiting my family. It felt so good to see them! I’m going to try to call more – so I won’t be so homesick.
I feel out of the loop with everybody. I have no clue what people are doing lately. I try to write some people – but it’s hard writing everybody. I just wish they would fill me in more on what’s happening. I know when I get back, I’ll hear many stories. And I know people will ask what I did on my RTW trip. I just encourage everybody to read the blog. That really shows what I’ve done.
Sorry, I’ve been so behind lately. I just kept forgetting to do a blog post. I have been busy editing pictures though.
I met Cecile at Swish on September 14th 2008 for lunch. We met at Swish, which is a Japanese restaurant that serves sukiyaki and shabu shabu. Cecile suggested this place. I’ve heard of sukiyaki from when they mention it in animes. I had never had it before. Cecile said that the sukiyaki is tastier since a sukiyaki sauce is used to cook the food. The shabu shabu uses water instead, so it’s not as flavorful. Cecile usually gets the Prime Rib-Eye Healthy portion. The lady recommended the Kobe Chuck. She said the meat is more tender. I’ve only had a Kobe burger once, so I thought Kobe sounded good. Cecile decided to try it as well. We both got the Healthy portion. The Hungry portion is twice the size of the healthy portion. I was hungry, but certainly not THAT hungry! Cecile ordered edamame for an appetizer. I haven’t seen Cecile since Halloween last year. So, it was great to catch up on our lives. Kobe cows are hand massaged and fed beer. I’d be a happy cow if I was a kobe cow. No wonder the meat has a great marble texture and it’s real tender! Each person has a hot pot in front of them. A person adds sukiyaki sauce to heat up. You can have garlic added if you want too. Of course, we both added garlic. I think garlic is a must for Filipinos. I just love the smell of it.
I was using the trainer chopsticks. I’m not that good with chopsticks. I use them with sushi. I usually drop my sushi or somehow I make my sushi fall apart. You’re given a variety of different items like tofu, mushrooms, onions, cabbage and noodles. Of course, you get a bowl of rice. You just put the food item in and cook it to your liking. We next got a plate filled with kobe beef. It looks really nice with the marble texture. It’s actually fun cooking it. I didn’t know what I was doing.. but I just made sure the beef was cooked. I didn’t want to cook the vegetables too long. I actually was doing good with the trainer chopsticks for awhile. The noodles are slippery and hard to get out with the chopsticks. So, I finally gave up and asked for a fork. It was a lot of food! Cecile loves the vegetables and got another plate of it. I had a lot of fun with Cecile. She’s so funny and sweet. I had a great meal. I was so stuffed.
I went home to rest and go online for a little while. I knew I’d be hearing from Mel or Shawn. We were going to meet that afternoon. Originally, we were planning to go to the San Gennaro Feast (Italian festival). But, they didn’t think we’d have much time before Shawn had to go to work that night.
I was only home for like 30 minutes or so. Then, Shawn called me to say we should meet at the Erotic Heritage Museum at 4 pm. Mel recently got out of the hair salon. I left shortly and drove to the museum. The museum is connected to the adult store Deja Vu. Outside of the museum, there was artwork and shirts for sale. It was some nice art. We walked inside. I asked if we could take pictures. The lady said we weren’t allowed to take photos. The first room is small and has cardboard cut-outs of porn stars. The dimensions were off. The cut-outs were really small.. almost my height (which is not even 5 foot!). There was various erotic art on the walls. The museum has big displays set up for Hugh Hefner or other pioneers in the erotic art industry. There was a big glass display with vibrators. I think the most interesting display was from The House of Gord. This guy makes these different things for women. For example, a woman can be strapped to a lamp.. so she’s part of the lamp. It was very interesting. It had some video as well showing his living art at his house. There was a lot of old books with erotic art. There’s volunteers who walk around and talk about the art. There was one lady (I think she runs the place) and she told us about the House of Gord and about some old art. She was really nice. We proceeded up to the second floor. A theatre plays pornography. There’s also a reading area with some books. A scene from a movie is set up with a few mannequins in compromising positions. Then, there was lots of great art. I really like the bronze statues. The statue consisted of a person with big legs and a small upper half. It was really kewl. The museum is filled with great art. I hope to go back before I head on my trip.
On Monday, September 15th, 2008 my family went to meet at Red Lobster. My brother’s birthday was on September 3rd and my sister’s birthday is on the 16th. We were celebrating both of their birthdays this night.
My family is big since there’s so many nieces and nephews. It’s a total of twelve people. It’s great going out with all of my family. The kids are so fun. I ordered the snow crab legs. It was really good.
I let Anissa and Arjay take most of the pictures. I did take a handful of pictures though. The food was really good. I haven’t been to Red Lobster in awhile.
I’ve been planning to get a new haircut right before I left. I had a haircut all picked out for awhile now. I figured I should do it before my last going away party (which is on Sept. 20th). I went to Lisa at Supercuts. She usually cuts my hair. I haven’t seen her in awhile. I used to live on the Strip, so it was hard to get on the other side of town. I told her that I was traveling for a year. She was really excited. She told me I better call my parents because they’re going to miss me a lot. She’s such a mom.. I got a great new hairdo. It’s shoulder length with choppy layers. I got side-swept bangs. It looks awesome!!
I’ve been trying to catch up with old friends before I leave. I contacted my old friend Karen. We used to work at Room Reservation at TI back in 2002. We trained together and just were instant friends. She’s one of the sweetest people I know. We met at Olive Garden that Tuesday.
Me & Karen at Olive Garden
The last time I saw Karen was at my 30th birthday party. That was 2 1/2 years ago. We just talked about everything from her job and her boyfriend. I told her all about my trip. She was so excited for me! She saw a movie (I can’t remember the name).. but the lady sold all her stuff and moved to Italy. She would love to do that and move there with her mom. That would be cool. I’d love to go to Italy someday. It looks gorgeous and the food’s amazing I’m sure. I ordered the cheese ziti and added a sausage to the dish. The salad came out first. I love the salad. It’s just so delicious! The food came out quick. I didn’t even get to finish my salad. My main course was great! I’m so glad I got to see Karen before leaving for my backpacking trip. I just wish we’d kept in touch better. I just love chatting with her. She just makes me laugh so much.
I talked to my brother and I mentioned we should go to sushi soon. I didn’t get to see Dena (my sister-in-law’s sister) at my going away party. I wanted to spend some time with her. I told Arsenio to invite her for sushi sometime. He told me we could probably go this evening. Arsenio and Kara came by to drop off their kids. My parents were going to babysit them while we went for sushi at Sushi Mon. Dena and Kara left a few minutes earlier. Dena was driving. My brother and I went in another car. We chatted about the RTW trip and about life. We took the 1-15 to the 2-15. Somehow, we beat Dena and Kara there. Dena didn’t take the 1-15. She did take the 2-15, but ran into some traffic. We each got the all you can eat sushi. It’s fresh sushi with lots to choose from. You can even get appetizers and dessert. I had lots of fun talking with everybody. I love the food there. I ate a bunch of sushi. I didn’t eat too much since I had a big lunch. Arsenio, Dena and I each had some mochi for dessert. It’s so weird and tasty.
I went to go see Debbie at the Las Vegas Nail Salon on September 17th. I was going to get my hair highlighted. I’ve always wanted to get some red in my hair. She thought that the red wouldn’t really show up in my dark brown hair. I picked out a golden brown that she recommended. Debbie went to mix up the bleach. I asked her if she did the color yet. I told her I really wanted some red. She told me she’d mix some red into the color to make a unique blend. She first bleached my hair. I guess the foil that’s out now works pretty fast. I remember having to sit under the stupid hair dryer, so the color sets. Debbie put the color in all my hair. I wasn’t sure how it would come out. It’s always a little nerve racking waiting to see how the color turns out. It looked really good. It does look golden brown in regular light. But, if there’s a lot of light on the hair you can see the red. I really like it a lot!
On September 6th, 2008 I met Charisse & her friend Irving at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino. She got a suite that night because she was throwing a 25th birthday party for herself. I asked her if I could crash there after my going away party and she said it was cool. Charisse told me that she told Joseph (the guy she’s dating) to bring a few friends to the party. I had noticed earlier in the day that he put a bulletin on Myspace talking about the party and to call him. I thought that was wrong. She said I hope he only brings a few friends. If he brings a lot of people, I’m going to make them go. I changed into my bathing suit. We headed down to the Mandalay Beach. I’m glad that I had the opportunity to go to this pool again. It’s just the best pool in town. We found some seats on the beach area then headed to the wave pool. Charisse couldn’t believe that the waves were so powerful. We stayed there for a little while. Next, we went to the lazy river. All of us just floated around. Irving said that Charisse and I weren’t being lazy enough. I guess we were going too fast. The jets just move you along. We found a inner tube. Charisse took it and I held on the side and laid down in the water. It was nice to just float around the river. I wanted to get some dinner. We walked to Border Grill. I ordered a carne asada quesadilla. Charisse & Irving left because Charisse needed to buy some alcohol for her party and get her laptop for music. I waited for my order. I guess I looked tired because the waiter gave me a water. He said You’ve been out at the pool all day, huh? I said Yes, thank you for the water. I wasn’t at the pool all day but for like two hours. Being in the sun for a few hours usually gets me tired. I received my order and went up to the suite to eat. I ate and then got ready for my party. Charisse came back with a bunch of alcohol. I told her I was leaving for the party. She said she would probably come and Irving might too.
I was running late to my own going away party. The tavern was only a few minutes away from Mandalay Bay. Michelle called me to see where I was. She let me know that she was there along with Clark, Tabby and Beazus. I went inside Sierra Gold and saw everybody. The bar was really dead. I think it was because it was really early (only a few minutes past 8 pm) and there was a UFC fight on tv. More people kept showing up. Rainee, Ivy and Josh were the next to show up. Ivy was really sweet and bought me a compass for my trip. I thought it was funny since I don’t have a sense of directions. She didn’t know that though. We moved over to the pool table area since we had more people. Tabby was taking pictures. We were having an ugly face contest. I think Kori won the ugliest face contest.
My pick for the Ugliest Face contest
I couldn’t think of anything good though. Wroderick dropped by. I haven’t seen him for a few months. Kori and Phil came and we decided to move over to the lounge area. There’s a few tvs and big couches in this big room.
Craziness in the lounge
It was great to see old friends. I went to junior high school and freshman year in high school with Kori. I haven’t seen her in years. She has a 5 month year old baby named Kyan. She looked great. Her husband’s dad knows my dad since he’s a doctor. I talked to her for awhile catching up on life. It was nice talking to everybody. I was drinking a little. Mel and Moe arrived. I met Mel and Wroderick a long time ago on a bbs called Multi-comm. We were called goons. Later on, Therese came and she joined the goons. I hadn’t seen her in a few years. Jin came with her friend Marcus. I used to work with her at Guest Services long ago. The last time I saw her was at our friend Jerry’s going away party. She looked awesome. She lost a lot of weight. Robert stopped by as well. He works at the box office. Josh bought me a chocolate cake shot. Me, Josh and Beazus did a shot at the same time. Those drinks are great!
Rainee, me and Robert
Alex came soon after and then Edgar as well. Mel, Moe, Wroderick and Therese wanted to go somewhere either a bar or dancing. They decided to head to the goth club Vector 21 at Goodtimes. I said I would meet them in an hour or so. Jin bought me a Sex on the Beach. I stopped drinking after that. I figured I should sober up if I wanted to drive to the goth club. I drank a big glass of water and just chatted with people. I paid for my bar tab. I told the lady that there should have been two drinks on there, not one. She basically said it’s all good. So, I left her a nice tip and signed the receipt. Slowly, everybody started going home. It was a good party. I thought more people would show up. Everybody always say they’re going to come, but they don’t end up showing up. At least a lot of my good friends came. So, I was happy. One of my best friends Brandon didn’t show up. I told him he was a loser. He’s always busy and he’s also really religious so he doesn’t go to bars. A lot of people who couldn’t make it, have made plans with me to go somewhere before I leave. I did invite some to my other going away party, which is on September 20th. I only invited some friends and family.
I was sober and drove over to Goodtimes. I found the group easily since they were at the back of the club drinking and talking. I couldn’t believe that Wroderick was dancing. I’ve never seen him dance before! I danced for a few songs. I saw a guy wearing a gas mask. I thought that was funny. I tried to take a picture of him, but he had left already.
Dancing over at Vector 21
The songs started getting all aggressive. I told Therese I didn’t want to dance coz the music was too angry. Therese bought me a drink. But, Wroderick spilled it over me and Mel. I only drank a little since it was way too strong. Yuck! Everybody wanted to go. I asked them if they wanted to check out my cousin’s party at the Mandalay Bay suite. I texted her to make sure it was fine to bring some friends. She said Sure! So, Mel and Therese followed me in their cars. I forgot people were following me and they didn’t make the light. I called them just to meet in the lobby at the Mandalay Bay.
We all met in the lobby and then I had to find the right elevators up. The higher floors require a key to gain access to the rooms. The room was on the 60th floor. I saw my cousin Nathaniel there. I also saw Joseph. They were waiting for somebody with a key. I said I had one and we headed up. One of the girls said you better prepare yourself. I didn’t know what they meant. It was lot of people I’ve never seen before and a lot of them wearing black shirts. So, we walked in the room. The living area was filled with people with black shirts probably about a dozen people. I had no clue who these people were. I figured it was probably all Joseph’s friends. He’s into death metal and likes to wear dark clothes. I found Charisse in the bedroom. I introduced her to my friends. I asked her what was going on. She said that room has Joseph’s friends and her friends were in the bedroom. I said Aren’t you mad that he brought so many people? She said No, as long as they stay in that room and don’t make too much noise. Of course, they also had to smoke outside the room. She told me that somebody had ordered pizza with Room Service. She told them that she never ordered it. She said she had moved all the food that the hotel charges into a cabinet, so nobody would touch it. The alcohol that you have to pay for was off limits for everybody. I was trying to get a drink, but it looks like all that was left was beer. I told my friends that this was like being at the goth club. My friends seemed a little freaked and said they were going home. I said Sorry to them. I went to go lie down in the bedroom. I was just really tired and wanted to sleep at this point. It was like 3 am. I did say hi to Charisse’s friends. I knew a few of them like Victoria and Mao.
I fell asleep somehow even though it was so noisy. I kept waking up and hearing people talking. Charisse said they were heading to see if they could get in the Foundation Room. I knew they couldn’t since it’s only open to the public on Monday. But, I didn’t say anything. I was just crashed out. I woke up at around 5:30 am to go to the bathroom. There was Charisse’s friend on the bed. Then, two people on the chairs in the room. I changed and then went back to sleep. I woke up around 10 am. Joseph and Charisse’s friend was cleaning up. I guess some other peole were sleeping on the couch and Joseph slept on the floor. I was still mad that Joseph invited a bunch of people. I didn’t say anything though.
Charisse & Joseph
Joseph, Charisse and I went to lobby. Charisse checked out of the room. We all parked on the same floor. Charisse said she’d see me at the BBQ party on the 20th. I said Yes. Joseph said something about the party. I just ignored him. I was definitely not inviting him to the party. I was pissed about his behavior. So, we said good-bye. I drove to EVOS. It’s a place that serves food that has less calories. The place air cooks their french fries.
I took a picture of the sign outside of EVOS. Michelle told me about this place awhile ago. I just never went there since it’s in Henderson. I decided since I was on the east side of town, I should check it out. I went inside to order. I felt like having a burger. A young lady was taking my order. Then, a guy who worked there said Are you associated with somebody? I said What do you mean? He said one of the employees saw you taking a picture so I was wondering. I said No, it’s for my blog, I write about different places. I looked at the lady taking the order and she rolled her eyes. I thought it was funny too. But, maybe they thought I was a big reporter or something. When he said Are you associated with somebody? I thought I’m not with the mob. I heard him tell the other co-workers and they laughed. Maybe I should have said I was with the Las Vegas Sun. Maybe I would have gotten a free meal. I ordered a EVOs Freerange Steakburger Meal. I went with the Mango Guava shake which was recommended by my server. The restaurant has four different kinds of ketchups. The choices were Cayenne Firewalker, Mesquite Magic, Garlic Gravity and Orginal Americana. I got all the choices except for the Cayenne Firewalker. I didn’t feel like eating anything hot today. I waited for my order. I got my food and went to sit down.
The shake was very delicious! The burger was a good size and tasted great. The fries were light, but didn’t come with too many fries. I was so stuffed after that meal! I grabbed a nutrition fact sheet on the way out. It was less calories than other fast food restaurants. But, I still ate a huge meal. I didn’t eat that much the rest of the day. I headed home and relaxed.
Update on the Joseph situation – (It’s a little long.. just figuring out why there were so many of Joseph’s friend at the party – skip it, if you want!!),
Oh yah.. on the Joseph’s friends situation. So, I wrote Joseph a message on Myspace saying that was rude and disrespectful bringing that many people when Charisse said to only bring a few friends. Also, it was HER party and she bought all that alcohol for her and HER friends. I just thought it was wrong of him to post it on myspace so everybody would know. He wrote me back saying that he respects my opinion. He felt bad that so many people showed up. But, his friends did pitch in with alcohol. He only told a few friends and they told people and it spread like wildfire. He said that he’s invited friends to other people’s parties and they didn’t have a problem with it. He said as long as they didn’t create any drama and chipped in for alcohol, he didn’t see anything wrong with it. I just told him it was fine as long as they chipped in. It’s just wrong that his friends would tell other people about it. Charisse wrote me later on. I told her that I’d see her at the party, but I didn’t invite Joseph because he made me mad for inviting on those people. She told me he apologized to her saying he didn’t know it would be so many people. She said she was glad I had her back (backing her up in any situation). She said a lot of her friends have given her opinion on him and she appreciates it. But, she is still giving him a chance. I didn’t say anything about breaking up with him. I just didn’t wanted him to know that it was rude. He’s a nice guy. So, as long as he treats her right and she’s happy, it’s fine. I don’t like anybody being mean to my friends or family.
I picked up Michelle from work on September 2nd, 2008. We were car pooling to the Smith & Wollensky event for Concierge, Bell Desk, Front desk and VIP. We arrived about 7 pm. We parked in the parking lot behind the Rosewood Grill since the valet was full at the restaurant. Michelle and I went inside the restaurant. We saw Ivy and Josh. We had to stand in line to register for the event. The restaurant was having a drawing. So, I wrote my information down on a card. Downstairs, there was appetizers. It was shrimp and a little pork roll. All of us headed upstairs to find more food and a table. The place was filled with people. I didn’t think there would be so many people at this event. We saw some people who used to work at TI. So, we joined them and used their table space. After I had my appetizers, I went to search for more food. I found a room with Caesar salad and the desserts. I got a salad and went back to the tables. I had a Sex on a Beach drink. I ate my salad. I wanted to see if there was more food in the other room. There was a line for the meats. It was beef at the first one. I saw people made sandwiches with the bread. So, I did that as well. Then, I got some turkey at the next table. The last table had different cheeses, crackers and blueberries and raspberries. I got some cheese and fruit. The sandwich was really good. Marie came to the party as well. It was nice to see her out, since we haven’t hung out with her outside of work in a long time. We had a good time taking a lot of pictures.
Everybody ended up on the dance floor. I was just drunk. I had a lot of fun. Josh was even dancing. He doesn’t really dance much.
The dance floor had a lot of people. It was swing, pop and R n’ B music. It was great dancing with everybody. I had a great time at the party. It was fun to eat good food, dance and drink with my friends.
Jen's Thoughts 