Peiback's a Blog

I haven’t traveled with my girlfriends (Carol and Amanda) in a long time and the road trip from Tampa, FL to Brooklyn, NY was a good excuse to get away with them. Carol had to drive her father’s 99′ red Dodge van from Florida to New York. Her father was unable to make the drive since he was recuperating from a surgical procedure. We nicked name the van the love machine since it had ample space in the back with carpeting! Despite the ample room, I had motion sickness in the van and slept most of the drive in the back seat.  Amanda has documented my naps on her site.

DAY 1 and 2

It all started with our one way trip on Jet Blue from JFK to Tampa. From there Carol picked us up and drove to Orlando, FL. Home of the happiest place on earth (more like a tourist trap). Despite the ants at the hotel and the slow bus to theme park service, we made most of our two days in Orlando, FL.  Since this was our unofficial “g-rated bachlorette party” I had a picture taken with Chip and Dale (they didnt want our dollars despite Carol waving a wad at them jk). Then the flirtatious Donald Duck in Mexico gave me a kiss on the cheek (shhhh. dont tell Francis!). All in all despite the $149 entrance fee for Disney World and Epcot we had a ball.
Alas, we had to leave the happiest place on earth and journey to our next stop Savanah, GA.

Day 3 and 4

We arrived at the Microtel in Poole, GA at 9pm. I have to say, the people in Georgia are really friendly and Paula Dean is like a super celebrity there. We didnt spend too much time there because the next morning was the 6 hr drive to Raleigh, NC. I recommend at least a day in Savanah to take in the gardens and the beautiful houses they have.

The next state we passed through was South Carolina. One word of advice….drive past that state. It seems that the folks in South Carolina make it known that you are not from there.

Along I-95 there were funny signs advertising the South of the Border attraction.

Envision a 99 cent store with a Mexican twist, their mascot was a guy in exaggerated mexican garb named Pedro. It was worth a stop to check out all the kitsch they had. I left with a Pedro magnet as a momento.

Day 4 (night time)

We finally arrived in Raleigh, NC at 9pm, it was so good to see my friend Ying. After 3 days of driving and encountering non-NewYorkers, I was happy to see a familar face. Not that Amanda and Carol are bad company. It also meant that I was closer to home. My other friend, Mayling, was sick when we arrived in NC and I missed out in seeing her. This was my third time being in NC and I finally had N. Carolina BBQ! They are known for using vinegar in their BBQ sauce. It was pretty good and I like a bit of tart in my BBQ.

Day 5
We stopped at Denny’s in Wake Forest, NC prior to heading out to Baltimore. It was Sunday and people we dressed in their Sunday best to eat at Denny’s prior to going to church. The restaurant was full of families dining on eggs and pancakes. Lucky for me it was “church day” since I would of have been forgiven for the comment I made: “Sweet tea tastes like drinking a bag of Domino Sugar”. The unsweetened ice tea was pretty good in the south. They brew their tea very strong but with the addition of simple syrup it was overwhelming.

We finally made it to Baltimore, MD around 7pm and we explored the Harbour and dined at the Philipp’s Seafood Buffet in the Harbour Center. I love the bucket they give you for the shells, it comes in handy if you don’t like something you picked up.

Day 6
For breakfast we went to Burkes Cafe in Baltimore. The blueberry pancakes were very good and I doggie bagged some for the road. We were itching to get on the road since NYC was 4 hrs away. The last stop on our road trip was the King of Prussia mall where my friend bought an accessory for her LV bag. The mall was big but they lacked any good labor day sales.

After 6 days on the road, driving along I-95, the Verazzano Bridge was a sight for sore eyes. We were home in Brooklyn, NY and in one piece!

Why Ikea! The topic of “Staycation” has been brought up many times this summer.  The price of gas coupled with the (dare I say) recession has put a dent in the vacation industry.  Instead of going to the Hamptons, Cape Cod or Jersey Shore, Francis and I take the free shuttle bus from Borough Hall to Ikea in Red Hook.  To jump on the bandwagon,  I pretend we are in Sweden and shop for affordable goods and dine on Swedish Meatballs bathed in a cream sauce.  To top it off, there’s the unlimited Lingonberry drink in the cafe. Just hold your head under the dispenser, press and taste the sweet beverage flow into your mouth.  *Warning kids, do not try this at home or at a restaurant that allows self-serve beverages — it’s unsanitary and you will get hurt!* To top it off, throughout the store there are so many chairs and couches you can try out that it would make the three bears blush.  Alas, at the end of our trip we are back home, in our tiny Brooklyn apartment, watching NY1 news and getting ready for work on Monday.

Top Ten List

Why I wont join Facebook or Myspace:

10-Takes up too much bandwidth. Whatever that means.

9- I don’t care to relive high school.

8-i know how to use a phone and instant messaging.

7-I barely blog, what makes you think i will be able to keep up with Facebook or Myspace.

6-I’m not hooked on scrabulous, parking wars, tagging walls, giving superpokes (rather give real people my patented “pei-pat”).

5-half way there, just need 4 more reasons.

4- In a relationship? It’s complicated! What gives?

3- I have a Twitter account that I didn’t even know was down…

2- I like VH1 Pop Up Video, not MySpace’s pop-ups

Numero uno reason:

I have no time!

Today, Francis and I ventured out to P.J. Clarkes at the World Financial Center for a birthday party.  For some reason, I am not so good with names and could not remember the birthday boy’s name, except Ghengis Khan popped in my mind.  Now, I cant go calling the boy, “Hey Ghengis, conquered any villages lately?”.  The birthday boy was actually Francis’ friend’s 3 year old, whose name was Christopher.  His middle name is actually Temujin, so you can see why a 12th century mongol ruler would suddenly appear in my mind.  Incidently, his little sister’s middle name is Valkyrie. The celebration took place in a private room and was decorated with Thomas the Tank pictures and pinata.   The restaurant had the World Cup final on and it was a good match between Germany and Spain.  Evenutally, Spain beat Germany 1-0 and the Germany team was no match against Spain.  Viva Espana!

I received an amusing email from my sis. regarding Keyspan.   I don’t like Keyspan, but I do enjoy hearing triumphs of the little people – their customers.

Those energy bastards had the nerve to tack on a charge on my bill – labelled “Miscellaneous Charge” for $13.53 because when I closed my acct on April 20th, I had to make an appt for a final meter reading and the earliest possible date was May 19th. I notified the landlord because we don’t have access to the building and also I wrote a letter (Certified and notarized)to the the owner with the date of my intent to leave and vacate. Well their asses did not make the basement available to Keyspan and I got billed for that. Of course, I called and disputed stating “If I followed the guidelines with Keyspan to notify you at least 10 days in advance before my intent to move, why couldn’t I have gotten an appt prior to my vacating the premises. So if I have to leave the country of state for whatever reason and you can’t accommodate me with an appt within a reasonable time and I notified the owner of the building of the date for a meter reading and my date of vacating, why I should I bear the burden of the expense of the missed meter reading?” “I’m not asking that you not charge anyone, I’m asking you to move it from my account to the actual owner of the building. Even if I was there, I wouldn’t have access to the meter because I don’t have a key for the basement so we would have both been standing there and wasting our time”

In the end, they took the charge off….victory for me.

*Warning-Spoiler for LOST*  Hey, i can’t keep the season finale a secret.

For the past two weeks, I have been waiting anxiously to see the season finale of Lost.  So we finally know who was in the casket in ep22- season 3 of Lost, “Through the Looking Glass“.  It was Locke!!  Now, I wonder what happed on the island and where did it move to?  The creators would probably save that for season 5, I have to be patient =(… 6 more months to go.  Maybe, I should implement a countdown clock till the new season of Lost on my site.  Nah…too lame.  In the meantime, I have started watching Dexter on Showtime.  How about that for secrets, a foresic blood splatter expert by day and a serial killer by night. Yes, i enjoy tv programs that require a college syllabus.  It keeps you on your toes and then some.

It dawned on me… there is less than 5 months left until the wedding.  So far things have been moving a bit faster and the anxiety level is going up a notch or two.  The restaurant, photog and dj has been booked and there is no turning back!  The dress will be delivered next month (i hope it fits!) and this weekend my sis and co. will be buying their dresses.  Then I have to tackle with getting my mom and Francis’ mom to a store to get their dresses.  I just hope they find something they like. There is still so much that needs to be done.  The wedding books make it sound so easy but its not.  But I will persevere and channel Wonder Woman and Supergirl.  You definitely need superpowers to get through it all.

Ok, so UCONN and UNC did not make it to the NCAA finals but I give them kudos for making it to the semi’s.  Speaking of Medium, last night’s episode was interesting and it starred Patricia Arquette’s sister Rosanna Arquette.  **Warning there is a spoiler here**.  At first, you think that Rosanna Arquette is a serial killer but behold the end has a twist.  It was Rosanna Arquette’s editor who was killing young men all over town.   She wrote a book on how older women can seduce younger men.  In turn, he was using the tricks in her book to lure young men to their deaths. 

I’ve been slacking off on the blog and I blame it on the itis.  I don’t have a rash or some strange illness, it’s just plain laziness.  The past month has been a bit busy for me.  I managed to catch Patrick Stewart as Macbeth at BAM before it heads to Broadway.  The performance was excellent and the transition between the two acts were seamless.  Unfortunately, the night I saw it the understudy who was one of the three witches played Lady Macbeth.  It was odd seeing two witches instead of three on stage.    Anyway, my pick for the NCAA men’s final is UNC and for the women’s UCONN. I am not a diehard NCAA follower but I like to see how it plays out.  So if you heed my picks and win something.. you have to share the wealth!

Last Thursday, Francis and I had the opportunity to see the
musical Rent on Broadway. I can’t believe it will be
closing on June 1, 2008. The first time I saw it was years
ago and it made an impact on me. It was a refreshing modern
rock opera. This was my second time seeing it and did not
have the same impact as the first. Maybe because the East
Village is full of yuppies and the starving artists have
disappeared. Its become more of a nostalgic… period
piece.