La Quinta Inn Oakland Airport/Coliseum

We were more prepared this time around. Most of our belongings were packed two days early. Gone are the days of last minute packing for a trip. Everything we bring with us must be accounted for. That’s ok, because our new travel partner can be incredibly demanding at times; and it will make for a much better time for us all if he is content. This time no bath toys ...

... more upstairs) and a bar area where a lot of people are enjoying libations after work. We order a 8 sampler and the bartender brings us 9, saying he through it in but later charged us for and a calamari appetizer (I couldn't even eat it -it was dripping in grease and tasted like rubber bands). The beers were pretty darn good. They even had an Alt bier and their Hell or High Watermelon Wheat was delicious (Marshall had heard all about it on the Brewing Network). I ...

Day three and four in San Fran have passed so fast and I am so glad that I have decided to spend another week her in March. I haven't spent near enough time with my SF friends yet and there's still so much left to see. Monday morning Julie and I headed in to town and met Bobby for lunch. I started out the day being very optomistic that I could brave the cold enough to wear my jandals. Said bravery came to an abrupt halt after about 5 minutes in the SF cold. The day ...

... and even that tool us more then 2 hours. It was breathtaking!!! Check it out: http://www.calacademy.org/ At night we opted for another take out, this time Chinese as our feet could not carry us any further but the restaurant across the street of the hotel. But, it was still very good compared to some of those other take aways we had, so we enjoyed it a lot, along with another bottle of Californian plonk!

... dance and singing is done, its time for refreshment. The Wedding! The Wedding Post Party The next day farewell breakfast; depicted are special gifts from my brother and sister-in-law, Steve and Mary, imported from Israel. Finally, there is a ceremony the first time the newlyweds enter their home. The ceremony is being performed by Adhi's sister, Archie.

... to be an interesting person, he used to belong to a punk band, whose name escapes my mind, you see that is exactly why you should write this blog as soon as possible, when it is fresh in your mind! Maybe it will come back to me. Their band took off and he traveled much of Europe and I quite liked their music. We ended up talking about Europe and watching a movie on his fancy iphone thing! Gadgets! You have to love them! Once I was picked up at the airport, we headed to ...

... than I even remember. I guess I just got used to the way life was before I left and I had to go away to really see it in new eyes. It's one of a thousand reasons why this trip was everything I ever dreamed it would be and more. Did you find that you were treated worse being an American? No. And I'm proud to report that almost all Americans I met were open-minded, friendly, laid back, globally thinking, informed people. Is that because the ...

... School, a San Fran charter school. As well as one of my closest friends for life. I had to get some things done before I joined Carrie for the day. Shower. Laundry. Food. I drove into Berkeley for the clothes and grub. I ate some food at Tuk Tuk Thai, a local Thai place that I heard Carrie loved. After that run, I crossed the Bay Bridge to San Francisco and to Carrie's work place. She was packing up so I helped her ...

... also staying at the hostel. It had been raining for weeks in San Fran, so no one else in the hostel wanted to go out except for the two of us. We ended up hanging out all day and touring around the North Beach area. First, we took a cable car from Market St. to Fisherman's Wharf. We walked down the Wharf to the area where a bunch of sea lions congregate. Afterwards, we went to ...

The time for the intrepid travel team of Ho-Ki and Chuck to split-up had finally arrived. We had set our alarms for an early wake-up, and when the beeping came at 6:00 AM, we initially struggled to get up and start getting ready to leave. Of the two of us, Ho-Ki had the first flight to catch and had to leave for the airport by 8:30 AM, so he was under the most pressure to get up and go. I, on the other hand, could take a more leisurely approach because my flight out ...