Day 2 of West Coast Trip (Part A)

"It's cold in here!"

I slowly roused up, only to find that my cellular phone read 05:55. As I was sleeping on the top bunk with only a foot and a quarter of space to the ceiling, I slowly flipped myself around so as to avoid bumping my shoulder or hip on the ceiling and causing some unforeseen severe internal bleeding. When I successfully turned my torso to face the cabin instead of the wall, I hung my head over my bed to find my father wide awake with one of the curtains open. I asked, "What?"

"It's really cold!"

"You woke me up just to tell me that?"

"I think we're in the mountains."

Still in disbelief that my father actually woke me up to tell me it's cold, especially when his second blanket was tossed aside, I sheepishly responded, "If it's cold, why don't you cover yourself with the second blanket?" Then I tried to return to sleep. But then curiosity got the better of me. And of course, it didn't help with the curtains open either. So I fired up Google Maps on my Nokia N95. Within seconds, I got a triangulated fix on my location on the map, and surely enough, we were passing through Mt. Shasta, a little bit south of the California and Oregon border. I dipped my head to look out the window, and I saw a beautiful creek with snow-covered rocks. But like a groundhog, the sight disappeared behind the trees by the time you turned on the camera.

And of course, when you thought it was impossible, the scenic view of the creek returns the moment you shut off the camera. Urgh!!!

I tired to go back to sleep again, and my dad mumbled something. I tossed and turned, and finally looked down and said, "You know what, since there are only two of us, I don't know why you're talking but I have to assume you're talking to me, and you're keeping me awake. I might as well wake up, even if I only had four hours of sleep."

After putzing around in the stateroom and getting it prepared so that it is habitable by sitting passengers, I finally got my father to change into regular clothes. But because the Dining car did not take reservations for breakfast, we walked down there to put our name of the waiting list. But it didn't take long for us to get seated anyway, so we found ourselves having breakfast with two lovely girls.

Knowing my father doesn't have any inclination towards French toast, cold cereal or omelets, I went with the safer route by ordering scrambled eggs. I knew he loves scrambled eggs and I definitely knew that I love scrambled eggs too. But with all that anticipation, we were quickly let down when I found out that the scrambled "eggs" were nothing more than powdered eggs mixed with water and left to steam. Yuck. And the weirdest part of all? The croissants had an round bottom that stuck out by about an eight of an inch, as if the chef had mistakenly baked them in some kind of a cupcake pan!!! At least the croissants were tasty.

Then for some odd reason, the girls and I began talking politics. This time, I wasn't really bashing Republicans. I simply mentioned that we should never trust conservative Republicans, as they are typically the most hypocritical of them all. And so thus began the whole political discussion. I noticed that in all of my conversations, I always tend to talk about human excrements, human anatomy, or politics. Weird... Thankfully, that political discussion ended quickly when we started going along the Upper Klamath Lake. We had overheard someone who rode this route several times mention that if you looked real hard, you might catch the Klamath Falls. But when I pulled up my Google Maps, I was quickly disappointed that we would not see Klamath Falls, because by the time that experienced Coast Starlight rider mentioned it a few yards away from us, we had already passed it.

Despite having a built-in shower in our stateroom, my father had long declared that he would not shower for two days, instead opting to shower by the time we get to our hotel in Seattle. I agreed with him yesterday morning when I saw how small the combination lavatory and shower was, but this morning, for one reason or another, I changed my mind. Maybe it was due lack of sleep, or sheer rebellion in me, I decided that the full Amtrak experience can only be had if I take a shower in this tiny two and a half feet by one foot square space. After all, we paid for this upgraded room, so why not use the amenities we paid for, right?

Let me keep this paragraph short. I had the hardest time taking a dump and a shower (not necessarily at the same time) in that tiny combination lavatory/shower. I can't imagine girls taking a shower and having to shave their legs, because the moment you bend down, you smash your head against either one of the three walls or the door. If you instinctively switched lifting your leg up instead, you would end up banging your knees. And add to all that complexity, you have to deal with holding the shower head, lathering yourself, and hold onto something to keep you from tipping over!

But in the end, yours truly prevailed. I stepped out of the lavatory feeling mostly refreshed, followed by a good teeth brushing. Ah... Now I was ready to tackle the Lounge car and take in the scenery. I saw Odell Lake, the rocks, then Lowell Lake right before getting to Eugene. My goodness, Lowell Lake is huge! And filled with party revelers. I saw many boaters out there having a good ol' time.

It didn't take long before it was lunch time. If I had known that the lunch and dinner menu would be the same every day, I would not have made lunch reservation at the Dining car. I tried to see if I can squeeze ourselves into the more upscale Lounge car dining, but we were promptly greeted with disappointment that it had been booked full already. So back to the Dining car we marched. I really did not want to eat another cold turkey with gravy, or another burger, since my father and I switched plates yesterday. So my father got the angus beef burger, while I got the yucky tuna salad. I'd much rather have yucky than a repeat.

Because the Coast Starlight was unusually on time, a fact I learned from all the crew members, the wine tasting event today would be started earlier, followed by similarly earlier dinner in anticipation of arriving in Seattle slightly early. But this time around, the company wasn't as great, and there was a self-proclaimed wine snob who clearly didn't know what he was talking about. Although he may be construed as annoying, at least he was flamboyantly gay and full of character. Believe it or not, he livened up the crowd. But before he could finish the second tasting of wine, he promptly ran off to the theatre room below to catch The Wizard of Oz. Again. Only because I knew he made a scene with the kids yesterday afternoon exclaiming how much he loved The Wizard of Oz and ran downstairs in similar fashion.

Unfortunately, not only was today's wine tasting not as fun in terms of company, but the wine selection was not as good either. I'm not quite sure why, but I suspect the fact that I was getting pours of half the glass, unlike yesterday when I had pours that filled almost to the brim, may have something to do with it. Regardless, I had the following wines... Hogue Cellars Chardonnay from Columbia Valley in Washington, bottled in 2006. This was one of the driest white wines I've ever had, and the sweetest Chardonnay too. I didn't like it. Next up was the Snoqualmie Whistle Stop Red 2006, also from Columbia Valley. It was a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and it tasted pretty decent. Unfortunately, it was way too fruity for my liking, especially when two of my favorite red wines are concerned. This was followed by yet another red, the Columbia Crest Shiraz Grand Estates, also from the state of Washington in the Columbia Valley. Now, this one I loved. I know Shiraz is one of my favorite types of wine, but even if I did not know it was a Shiraz, my taste buds would have told me that it was extremely agreeable. And I asked for "another" tasting, which Scott happily obliged.

Before we could conclude our wine tasting event, we pulled into the Portland station. At first I didn't think it was Portland, considering the grisly sight that welcomed us. Then I saw a junk car shop with a blazing sign that read "Portland Auto Repair Shop." Damn... I thought Portland was supposed to be this beautiful town much similar to Seattle. But I suppose I have to give the Board of Tourism kudos for doing a good job painting a picturesque view of the entire city. But one thing was for sure though... The light rail and bountiful bicycle paths were clearly visible throughout the city, even from the station all the way through the city as we pulled away.

Finally, the last wine was nothing to write home about. It was a Rieslings from Columbia Winery, located in Yakima Valley which is also located in the state of Washington. Again, like yesterday's Riesling , it was super sweet and didn't taste like wine. At least I didn't drink it like wine. I didn't finish that, instead opting to save the last flavor to stimulate my palate with the second glass of the Columbia Crest Shiraz Grand Estates. And mmm... I've been milking that baby out for the last hour and a half while sitting up here on the Lounge car writing this blog at this very moment.

I tried to get my father to come join me in enjoying the beautiful scenery touted by many as beautiful between Portland and Seattle, but unfortunately he fell asleep. So I thought it best to let him rest, despite having a momentary lapse in temptation to wake him up by proclaiming out of the blue, "Wow, it's cold in here." Instead, I am enjoying the view by myself. The weather for sure is much akin to Seattle, with constant gray haze overcast. That's not to say that this is the only kind of weather that prevails in Seattle or Portland, but more like the popular notion that many people hold in their mind as the only weather that exists.

Well, I must stop now, as it is only twenty minutes till our dinner reservation at the Lounge car dining room. Mmm... Scallops... At least I won't be having a repeat dinner like yesterday...

Day 1 of West Coast Trip (Part B)

Uhm... Yeah... Wine tasting drinking. Yum... And that took up most of my afternoon. Who could possibly refuse to partake in tasting drinking two glasses of red wine and another two of white wine for five mere dollars? To top it all off, they threw in cheese and crackers!!! While in the Parlour car participating in the wine tasting, I sat across from a nice couple from Oregon. Kind of like hippies. But they were really nice and fun to talk with. Especially during wine tasting. I mean, drinking. There is absolutely nothing better than drinking wine with a has-been hippie couple while discussing politics. Lucky for all parties involved, we all bashed the conservative rights. We talked so much crap about the Republicans that some dude who was sitting next to us had to get up and leave. We didn't want to sit by Republicans anyway. ;-)

The wine tasting is interesting in the fact that the conductor selected specific wine from regions that the Coast Starlight passes through. Not only did we get to see the beautiful scenery of the California Coast, we also got to complement our visual sense of natural beauty with the taste of the land we saw. We started out with a glass of white from the Santa Barbara County, which was featured prominently in the movie Sideways. It is called the Taz Pnot Gris, bottled in 2006. For someone who generally doesn't like white wines, this was actually pretty good. Only because it carried strong hints of lemon, lime and other spices. The next one was the Estancia Pinot Noir from Pinnacles Ranches Monterey County. I didn't get a chance to hear the conductor slash wine enthusiast talk about the wine because I went back to my state room to check on my father who was taking a nap. But all I know is that it was bottled in 2006, and this type of wine is considered the "holy grail" of red wines, only because it is the hardest grape to grow. Although it carried a price tag of $25 per bottle, I didn't like how it had hints of cherry and flower.

Next up was the Greg Norman Petite Sirah from Paso Robles, again from California. No surprise here, considering the Coast Starlight only goes through three states: California, Oregon and Washington. And I don't suppose Oregon is exactly well-known for its wines. And I suspect that the second day of the journey will include wine from the state of Washington. Anyway, I have never liked any of the wines from Greg Norman the golfer's vineyard in the past, but I admit that this was one of the best Shiraz-type wines I've ever had. Maybe it's the grape, maybe it was the aromatic hints of blackberries that sweetened the wine. Nonetheless, it was good enough that I bought a whole bottle after wine tasting.

The final wine was a Riesling from Monterey County, called the Jekel Riesling bottled in 2006. I don't care if Riesling is the most popular white wine with phenomenal growing demand all over, I don't care so much for it. Riesling tastes too much like white grape juice with no alcohol, which often leads me into drinking too much of it too fast. And the inevitable would happen: getting smashed a good hour later. But this Riesling provided for the wine tasting was crappy anyway that I didn't bother to finish the glass. Instead, I opened the bottle of Greg Norman Petite Sirah instead. And fortunately, it was just in perfect timing as my dad woke up and joined me at the Parlour car, so I served him a glass. And I was able to pawn off the conversation with the hippies to my father while I go and take pictures.

Suddenly, all the good times had to come to an end. It was dinner time, and we had to go to the Diner car. With an opened bottle of wine in hand and a good buzz going on, we sat down salivating over the featured menu item: flat iron steak. I knew this meal would redeem Amtrak in my father's mind, considering after he disliked the turkey and gravy earlier in the day. And boy, was I right. The steak was good. The only issue I had was that my steak came out medium well when I had asked for medium. Our server promptly took care of the situation, although I secretly wished she would have left my half eaten steak on the table just so I have something to nibble on while I waited for another steak.

During dinner time, we went through Salinas, a city known as the agricultural capital of California. Any produce you see in your local grocery store, be it in Chicago, Kansas City, New York City or New Orleans, chances are you'll find at least five different vegetables that were produced at and shipped from Salinas, California. For miles and miles and miles, all we could see was acres upon acres of farm land with so many different kinds of vegetables. You name it, I probably can say I saw it. =)

Before long, nightfall came upon us. As the scenery began to dwindle into the dark, I decided to head to the lower level of the Parlour car to catch National Treasure on the big screen. I was thrilled to be in a tiny movie theatre in moving train. Half way through the movie, some kind came downstairs to exclaiming that we could see fireworks passing by. I tried to look, but it was futile, as the fireworks were mostly set off by individuals, and not quite exactly spectacular, especially when you see it once and within a second it disappears because the train was blowing by too fast. So I returned my concentration on the large forehead on Nicolas Cage's head and his expressionless large eyes of his. I honestly think he only has one expression, much like Tom Cruise. But nonetheless, the movie was still fun to watch.

With the movie nearly at its conclusion, we pulled into Emeryville, a station that serves Oakland and San Francisco. We could see tons of traffic along the road, as it was apparent that the big fireworks show must have just ended and everybody was trying to get out. Apparently the Emeryville station is in a nice part of town with many things to do, as the area was called the Jack London Square. Nice condos, lots of shopping, a variety of bars, and a hot singles scene. Too bad I'm old now. And furthermore, too bad I couldn't get off the train to have a pint.

After we caught the last three minutes of the movie, I retired to my stateroom, only to find out that I became a glorified secretary. My father wanted to me to transcribe a letter for him, and it took longer than his estimation of "just twenty minutes." When the transcribing was done, it was time to polish up the letter. But with my father's constant nagging and questioning whether or not I'm doing it right per his intentions, I grabbed the half full bottle of the Greg Norman Petite Sirah and headed out to the Parlour car.

When I got to the Parlour car, there was only a couple there finishing up their nightcaps. As I sat down with my drink, I let out a sigh of relief and relaxation, before I began tackling on my father's letter. An hour and a glass of wine later, I returned to the stateroom and gave my father the revised letter on my laptop. Before he even started reading it, he already began nagging me about my inability to write good business letters. I just ignored him, and soon enough, he realized that the letter was really good. I asked him what he thought, and he said, "Not bad." I asked again, saying "not bad is just that, not bad, but not good either; are you sure?" He chuckled and finally admitted that he really liked it. Of course, it was subject to fine tuning, because there were a few lost-in-translation moments, as I didn't quite understand his Chinese words.

Finally, I was able to go to bed. Tried as I may, I had to sleep through my dad's constant snoring. Funny how before we turned out the lights, my dad wanted to get a heads up from me to see how loud or often I snored. And I was the one who got woken up at two in the morning. Out of spite, I whipped out my Nokia N95 and recorded a good two minute audio clip of his wondrous sound of music.

You know, purely for the sake of archival or evidentiary purposes. =)

Day 1 of West Coast Trip (Part A)

[This entry updated at the San Luis Obispo stop, where 3G service is available on the AT&T network...]

After just a few hours of sleep on Thursday night, the alarm clocks on both my cellular phones rang. It's time to get ready! Having lived in the United States for 12 years, I have experienced the Greyhound, modern airline and the all-Americana road trips. But in all those years, I have never had the experience of taking one of the oldest celebrated forms of transportation that started the Industrial Revolution: the railway. And here I am, in the Lounge car of the Coast Starlight, taking in the scenery of the wild west (or I'd like to think so), and enjoying such natural beauty.

The first piece of marvel we got to see was the Los Angeles Union Station. Although smaller than some of the other Union Stations I've ever visited such as the Kansas City or Chicago, it definitely was different. Instead of tall, arched ceilings with the familiar echoey (yes, I just made that word up) white noise, it is tall and angular made of wooden beams styled after the southwestern mission architecture. After boarding the Coast Starlight #14, we enjoyed the beautiful scenery of inner Los Angeles, where beautiful worn houses were adored by neon-colored decorations, presumably left behind by rival gangs of Los Angeles. Ah, nothing beats such inner city gang scenery while enjoying the complimentary Champaign. Of course, I had to ask for the complimentary orange juice to turn it into a mimosa, but it was only fitting because it is still morning...

Otherwise, the scenery definitely picked itself up after we headed out west to Oxnard where we started turning north to go up the coast. For the longest time, we saw miles of beautiful beaches, all untainted by crowds the like of Santa Monica or Valentia beaches. As we choo-choo'ed alongside the Pacific Coast Highway, we saw numerous cliff-ends, fishing piers, and RV campgrounds filled with people who had driven there for the Fourth of July weekend.

But one thing I didn't like was the numerous off shore oil rigs out in the beautiful ocean. There was at least three you can see in the horizon, and they were never ending. For a good hour, you see an oil rig out there. And Dubya wants to allow more OCS in our seas? Hell no!!! Destroying picturesque scenery with such environmentally dangerous machines that will at best alleviate five cents per gallon (in today's demand) but won't be able to start producing any oil for 10 years, I think that is not the way to go.

Given that we had bought first class tickets in the Sleeper car, where our room included convertible beds, a sink and a combination shower/toilet, we had full access to the exclusive Parlour Lounge, where glass windows go from the side up to the ceiling, enabling us to have better view of the west coast along the way. We saw many agricultural fields, such as rice patties, cabbage fields, flower fields (now I know that the flowers I bought every Valentine's Day were probably shipped from California), orange groves, and cattle ranges. This is definitely the part of America that I never got to see, despite knowing they existed.

Then 12:30 arrived, with our lunch reservation at the Dining car. My father and I shared a table with a lovely couple named Ray and Tamara. Given the limited choice of food available to us in the inclusive meal, I had a tough time deciding what to order for Dad. I knew he wouldn't like the Tuna Salad sandwich, and probably the create-your-own burger was not as appetizing for an old-fashioned Chinese with distinctive palate, I thought maybe he would enjoy the traditional turkey and gravy over biscuits. But when it came, it was of the cold variety, not the warm type you and I are accustomed to in those dinky diners or during Thanksgiving dinners when economic times are down. My dad gladly ate my turkey burger instead. I guess when all foods are not appealing, there is at least one that is the least unappealing that will satiate the appetite.

After a good and lengthy chat with our lunch buddies, we decided to go lounge in the Lounge Car. We promptly passed the Tasmania country, where we spotted a coyote out in the fields. If you asked me, it looked like an oversized German Sheppard, or an oversized wolf. But as the conductor has worked this route for years on end, I kind of believed him. We also saw many abandoned oil rigs, like the ones you see in movies set in Texas.

Oh wait... It's almost 15:30, so it's about time for wine tasting. For $5, I get to enjoy the different kinds of wine found along the route from California to the state of Washington. So I better a break here from blogging, and really enjoy the scenery while getting lit. =)

I Pity The Girls

Well, today had been a day like no other. After two weeks of grueling hell at work, I am finally embarking on a westward journey towards regaining my sanity Or at least that's the hope. With gifts in tow, I am finally getting to see my brand new niece, who was born on June 1. The week and a half ahead is going to be hectic and stressful, I'm sure. But it is definitely going to be a welcoming stress, unlike the stress induced by my workplace of late.

Because I was unable to secure any reasonable fared flight the day before Independence Day, I was forced into flying out tonight instead. So I'll be working remotely from Los Angeles tomorrow. So let's see how many times do I have to recharge my cellular battery during the whole course of the day. After the work day, I am hoping that I'll get to enjoy dinner with my parents, who had flown over to the United States to celebrate their first grandchild in their lives.

The fun begins on Friday morning, when I take my father on the Coast Starlight, an Amtrak train that links the entire western coast between Los Angeles and Seattle. Supposedly, it has been billed by most fanatical train travelers as one of the top 10 train routes in the world, mostly for its scenery. Really, the scenery is best when traveling southbound, but I heard from others that northbound is just as great. I suppose it has something to do with the time of day when the train passes certain parts of the coast.

After we arrive in Seattle late Saturday evening, we'll be relaxing at the Homewood Suites in downtown Seattle, an abode I have frequently rested my weary soul when I had my long term assignment earlier in my career. I'm not quite sure what Sunday morning will bring after a good night's rest, but I do know that I'll be taking my father to the Mariners' game on Sunday. As typical Asians that we are, I'm sure food will be a priority before the 13:00 game, as well as afterwards.

On Monday, we'll be taking a long car ride north to catch a ferry to Orcas Island. I have already reserved a few seats on the Orcas Express, which will take us on a whale watching tour. I'm hoping that we'll get to see much of the wildlife, and this is something I'm especially excited about, because I have not done this myself. Because the drive itself is going to be in the hours, the whole day will be spent on this little trip. But on the way back, I'm sure I'll stop by Facing East in Bellevue for some delicious, authentic Taiwanese food.

Before heading for the airport on Tuesday, I'm going to take my father on a short little hike towards the iconic Space Needle. If time permits, probably ride the Emerald City's claim to international fame, the aging monorail. And probably show him the fish market too. After all that fun, we'll be flying down to Las Vegas and checking in at the Bellagio.

Then Wednesday will just continue the travel madness with an bright and early trip to the Grand Canyon west rim, with a stop at the Hoover Dam, a past symbol of American prosperity and power, followed by a trip to the Skywalk. We'll also have a helicopter ride that will take us down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, and take a boat ride up and down the Colorado River, before taking the bus back to the Bellagio. All that will take up the entire 11 hours of the day.

But it doesn't end there. We also have tickets to the Cirque du Soleil "O" show at 22:30 later that evening! Yeah, it's crazy, isn't it? I just hope my father have the energy to do all that. As all good things must come to an end, we will flying back to Los Angeles the next day. This will definitely be a welcome reprieve, when I rejoin my sister and mother to coo at Savannah, my niece. Of course, like all Asian families, when things such as family get together become rare, we absolutely must have a family portrait taken. I can't wait to see the results of this.

So as I sit high above in the sky in a steel tube called the Southwest Airlines Boeing 737, I'm thinking ahead of this trip. And here is the unusual part of my day; I apologize for the seven paragraph digression. In all of my travels in the past seven years, I have never ever gotten to the airport with ample time to spare. My time has always been a treasure, so I try to cut it close as much as possible so I don't spend too much time on the road and away from my friends or condo. Of course, the exception has always been when flying on international flights, and that is only because security procedures are different, and the boarding time is significantly longer than on domestic flights when planes are typically smaller.

I actually made it to Midway today with two hours to spare!

Well, don't start emailing me with words of congratulations or anything like that yet. I have to admit that the reason why I arrived early was definitely not by design or forethought. I honestly thought that my flight departs at 19:05. When I finally read my boarding pass, I realized that it was actually 19:50. Oops!

But the evening just got weirder. While waiting at the gate on a rocking chair beside a wall receptacle, a stunning woman walked past me. Of course, seeing stunning girls at airports is nothing new, but I think she is one of the tenants who bought a condo in my building. I wanted to stop her in her tracks and say hi, but I was on the cellular phone unfortunately.

And the final thing that's weird today? As I sit in the second row at the forward galley of the plane, I'm observing the party of four taking up the first row on both sides of the aisle ahead of me. It's a father, a son, and two younger daughters. The sad part is that each and every one of them, father included, had their own little gadget. Everybody has an iPod. Everybody has some kind of a portable gaming system. The boy's got the Playstation Personal, the middle girl's got the Nintendo DS, and the youngest one's got some hot pink gaming system, presumably a cheapo.

Anyway, the boy is always messing with the younger ones. And he is definitely a boy with no manners. He demands things from the flight attendant, and it bothers me slightly that she just sits there and take his crap in like a person of servitude. But what bothered me the most was when he got up to use the lavatory. Not even a full minute had passed before he emerges from it and returns to his seat without shutting the door, leaving us passengers in the front to enjoy a nice shit and piss stink in the air. At first I thought he only needed to check something, like young curious boys typically do. But when it was my turn to go use the lavatory, I was greeted with a big pool of stinky, yellow pee staring right back at me!

That dirty mofo not only failed to flush the toilet, but he obviously failed to wash his hands on top of shutting the door! And the dad is not slightly fazed by all this. I had to tap the boy in the shoulder to ask him to shut the door earlier!

And as he sits there, he continues to mess with his sister, like blocking the screen to her gaming system, or nudging her in the face, or sneezing into his hands and wiping the snot all over her, or something. And all I can think of is that he's smearing his sweaty, stinky penis juice all over his sisters!!! That is just not cool. I don't even want to know how they're like at home. Kind of reminded me of this kid who likes to dig his fingers into his ass through his pants and shove it into my face to make me gag when I was growing up. And the worst part of it all? I couldn't do anything about it because he was the son of my father's boss!

I hate disgusting boys... And so, I pity the girls...