Uphill & Downhill

So what happened the last couple of weeks? I can say a lot! I dabbled in to rock climbing in Sunnyvale, approximately 10 miles northern. At least 60 feet above ground I tried to climb up some quite hard walls. I mean I am pretty new to this kinda activity, so first of all I've got an introduction into knots, positions, verbal terms and some other stuff before I actually started. Don't get me wrong, I am not a sissy and even though you are secured by a rope being held by your buddy beneath but hanging up there more than 30 feet above ground and the feeling how your finger start getting numb 'til the uncomfortable feeling of involuntarily releasing your hands is quite a thrill. After barely 2 hours of climbing I couldn't feel my lower arm anymore but its so exhilarating. Anyway, if there's an up, there must also be a down. Since I bought my own snowboard equipment consisting of 1 board, 1 binding, 1 pair of shoes and 1 ski pents the only thing that was missing was the actual trip. So we went up to lake Tahoe again over the weekend in order spend two days at Sierra-at-Tahoe. This time we were a whole bunch of office people and a quite sad background since Soid, one of our co-worker left IBM as student to San Jose State. So me,Zeus, Henning, Christian and Soid were enjoying our last weekend together. We had a lot of fun and my snowboarding skills became quite advanced. After two days of bruises, crashes and some nice stunts I think I can call myself a snowboarder. I was going down some hills marked as "blue" where if you fall you don't stop sliding downhill until you reached the bottom. Sometimes it really scared the sh** out of me. I mean the elevation was sometimes around 60% I assume. Anyway, I liked that thrill of speed. The next trip is planned in barely 3 weeks and I must admit : I have a new favorite sport.

New Year Eve in San Francisco '06

So what was planned for NYE in Cali for 2006. Well nothing special. As we just returned from Mexico we tried to keep your efforts decent. Furthermore Sebastian from Boston flew over for his road trip through Cali and stayed over for 2 days at my place. For the 31th we finally made our way up to SF. We started our night at the "suppenkueche" a German restaurant with apparently good German food. Well since we Germans are spoilt with our own food my experience was not that overwhelming. The "Hering nach Hausfrauenart" was more like some raw fish with beetroot. What the heck is that. I was really grossed off. Anyway, the beer was good and original, at least something. Besides me, Arielle and Sebastian we had a fourth buddy, which Sebastian has met somewhere in L.A. or was it San Diego. Who knows. He was quite a character. We continued our way to a bar which we initially couldn't enter since Arielle accidentally forgot her purse (cause it got stolen). So after insulting the bouncer's balls we finally got in, luckily, surprisingly and totally unexpectedly. Its weird but Americans, or maybe just in SF, don't celebrate NYE copiously. Generally fireworks are prohibited as well as liquor on the streets. Moreover clubs are just open till 1:30am in the morning, constantly. The land of the free is unfortunately more uptight than expected but you get used to it and honestly in every of these prohibitions lies an opportunity or chance to something better. So besides this we initially intended to go the Union Square in the heart of SF to celebrate NYE. Since we heard nothing was going there we decided spontaneously to join a party of some random dude. PARTY CRASHING. It was quite nice, a lot of drinks, a cool DJ and also some nice people we actually have never seen before. But that's just for a split second since you make friends easily. And this is what I like about Cali, I have been to quite a lot parties where I didn't know anyone and probably neither did the other guests. But you start talking randomly and at the end of the night you are best friends with everybody. So the NYE party was o.k. but I was still a bit disappointed because it was too decent for me. Guys in Germany listen up: There is nothing better than NYE in Germany. A firework enlightened sky around midnight, sudden rockets passing your head and people getting crazy on the streets is something precious and incomparable that can just probably be found in Europe.

Papa Noel en Cabo San Lucas

Merry X-mas and a happy new year retrospectively. I just want to leave some words here about my X-mas time in 2006. Arielle came over for about 3 weeks. Before we actually started our trip to Mexico on the 25th of December we were visiting some places around San Jose like the observatory in the mountains surrounding the Bay Area and the Byington vineyard in the hills of the redwood forest where I got a really nice vine for my parents. Hopefully it will make it all the way to Germany. On X-mas itself we had a kinda secret Santa thing at a friends place where everyone picks a name and gets a present for this particular guy. Well I got a poker game and a fart machine ... so far about the reputation of my person over here ;) That was quite nice and a appropriate replacement for the traditional German X-mas. Next day we finally left "cold" Cali for warm and sunny Mexico. Our destination was Cabo San Lucas. For those of you who don't know where that is...here is a map. Its the very tip of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. When we arrived I was able to catch a brief look through the window of the plane in order to admire the terrific scenery of huge mountains and large desert fields. Once we took a step out we could feel the heat I was missing so terribly. It was sunny, no clouds, hot ... all in one... amazing. We left the airport with a shuttle we booked before. Afore we were gathered by Mexican shuttle drivers that try to persuade us to go with them instead. As I will tell later, Mexico is a place of brisk trade...for a bargain or overpriced. People chase you hoping that you buy something and to be honest...its damn expensive here. Anyway, we arrived our hotel in Cabo San Lucas, barely 30 miles southern of the San Jose Del Cabo Airport. And like in a bad comedy there was a construction area right in front of our hotel. The ocean view I actually paid extra for was nothing but some nice steel and concrete. With some luck you could see through the wires up to the original hills and beaches in the background. But the cherry on top was the noise that started exactly at 7am in the morning along with the construction workers starring into our room. That's hilarious. Never mind, we changed room and got a really comfy replacement room with a nice view and quietness in the morning. Besides this little shock in the beginning, our trip was just fabulous. At the same day we had a walk at the beach which looked like a little party mile with lights, fire and music. Moreover we were running through the waves with water that was so warm, clean and blue. There were always vendors present that tried to sell you some blankets and blinks for a lot of money. They started ridiculously high but you were always able to negotiate them. Arielle is still mad because we didn't get that turtle blanket for 15$ in our very first night. WHATEVER! The next day we went into the city to get some money and to do some shopping. I got this typical cowboy head and and and.The streets are kinda interesting, everything looks slightly shabby as you may expect it from Mexico but the more you approach the beach the more it gets American-like including the prices :). In the afternoon we took a water taxi to the really famous Lover's Beach which is just accessible that way. Between two big rocks at the tip of Baja there is this little strip of white sand which connect the two ocean. Right two ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortes/Gulf Of California are hitting on each other, lovely called kissing, that's why it's called Lover's beach apparently. No question, it is also romantic. On the one side you have big waves crashing into the rocks, strong currents pulling you from the shore into the water, twisting you several times before you are even able to take a breath again...quite exciting and guess what...I was jumping into this inferno of course. Man, usually you have to pay for such a thrill. And so it happens if you just walk 10 meter over to the other side there is a smooth and gentle water absolutely suitable for snorkeling and swimming. Before we went out for dinner in one of these restaurants along the beach we usually took a jump into the hot whirl pool of our hotel. The next day we took a tour through one of these hotels to get some bargain for horse-back riding and jet ski. Its funny, San Lucas people pay a lot of attention to see if you are married in order to sell you time shares. Everywhere we went people asked us if we are married. In the beginning we said no and the most common answer was "so it is your sister" or "why not" coming along with some unambiguous asking looks down to my person. In the end we just played married which was fun and moreover saved us a lot of money. So around noon we took off to ride some horses on the beach. Wow. I know its sounds sissy but it was really cool. Its kinda hard to stay on the horse once it started galopping. We were going down the beach and people were staring at us...even worse , they were crossing our way. I mean, if there is a horse approaching it doesn't mean to jump into the way...crazy people. It was fun and my butt still hurt 2 days after. It seems there are no rules or restrictions in Mexico. I mean something like this wouldn't be possible in America or Europe...too dangerous. Afterwards we rode some jet ski and the same story...No rules. We were running these jets across the whole beach, in front of boats and people driving kayaks. It was sooo crazy, I was beating the sh*t out of this machine while Arielle was getting far away from me since she thought I gonna kill her :) Damn, I love speeding over the ocean. Besides these decent rides :) were were going through the arch of Lover's beach which actually was prohibited but hey, I didn't get these jets to cruise around. Amazing to see this kinda natural masterpiece inhabited by some sea lions which stink like hell if you get too close. So far it was really fun. At night we chose another restaurant at the beach...the mango bar where Arielle got into a competition with some other guys about drinking beer as quick as possible. How she got into it? Because she can't close her mouth and needs to defend the female world. POOR GIRL, she lost against some gay guy named Jose or so. Her penalty was a lap dance for her husband...ME in particular... in front of the whole crowd. Justice has won :) . On our last day we ordered a trip on a sailing boat to some bay where we snorkeled a bit. It wasn't that nice as in Australia but still really impressive. We enjoyed the scenic, the ride on the ocean and of course free drinks (oje oje, the tequila sunrise kicks a**). In the end we planed some para sailing but we were too much tired to do anything so we canceled it. All together we experienced a lot and we had a great time. Mexico is definitely worth a trip. It is kinda pricey but the service is incredible. Even tho the bars were kinda small there were always 3 to 4 waiters around cleaning our ashtrays and so on. They really pull out a leg for you :) how we German would say figuratively. We returned on the 29th of December into the cold San Jose where the shower provides hot water on demand :)

This is Cali

I never got the chance to show you how the Californian landscape looks like. I wanna get rid of this matter just now. It's an amazing nature out there. San Jose is surrounded by hills that look like as they would have been covered with cotton. You literally wanna jump in. The hills are bright yellow in summer and turn into green in winter by the time when the rain season starts. I never really appreciated that before I actually came to Australia and experienced one of the most contradictory nature in the world. Oz is still my favorite but Cali does not need to hide itself, it has its own charisma. The pictures actually ain't mine, a friend took them (Thx Ben).

Snowboarding @ Lake Tahoe

So here I go as promised in my latter post to report a bit about my first experiences into the field of snowboarding. We started on Friday after work. We picked up our rental snowboard gear consisting of snowboard, shoes and bindings for around 45 bucks for the whole weekend. That's a really nice offer and regarding to all the other prices around here a real bargain. So we spent barely 5 hours on a couple of freeways while passing Sacramento, the home of our governor Arny, until we finally reached South Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe is an amazing region lying directly on the border of California to Nevada. So in order to do some gambling we just had to walk over the stateline to Nevada which goes straight through the city. Once crossed the street you were able to find huge hotels, casinos and people drinking on the street since it is allowed in Nevada, same applies for gambling. But that's not what we were craving for. The lake is surrounded by huge mountains, it is one of the most famous ski regions in America. We rented a room in a motel, motel 6 in particular. The same one that saved me and Arielle's life during our road trip. Next day we started early in the morning, well depends if you consider 8am as early enough, in order to grab some coffee and breakfast. I don't know if you guys have a picture of how such a mountain town looks like. It's way too neat and everything looks like it is 100 years old. I really dig that style. Anyway, I was visiting a ski exhibition almost 3 weeks ago where I gained a free lift pass for Heavenly, one of the biggest ski resorts around lake Tahoe. So I used it and saved 61$ for a current ticket. It's so expensive but worth every penny. We were lifted up to barely 10000ft (3000m), an 20 minutes ride with lake Tahoe in the background. It was so beautiful. Once arrived on top my knees started getting weak. I was really scared. I never stood on a board before and since it is really early in the season only a couple of trails, 5 to be precise, were open. All of them were category blue which means "more difficult trails". This is one below the black trails. I guess I don't need to explain what that means. Actually I didn't have any time to think about anything since I was pushed out the lift right onto the track. Oh my gosh, the track was going straight downhill. I was just about sh**ing my pents :) I never fell that much in my life, kinda a miracle that I didn't break anything. I always had Falk's broken leg in mind which wasn't really beneficial. But in the end it was the best thing for me to be thrown into action like this cuz I learned how to brake and steer of necessity. I had stunts where I jumped, or let me better say I flew a couple of meters, face first of course, right into the snow. But somehow I must love this sport since I kept going, even the next day and I made it. The first day I was able to go down smoothly with everything that belongs to but the right turns. But I got rid of that matter next day. Eventually I was just running down the trail, left , right, a little jump in between and of course some crashes. It's so much fun once you figured things out for yourself. I love snowboarding and I will definitely go for my own board since the next trip is already planned. I have a lot of gorgeous pictures and a video of me going down made by a friend. I will put it up asap so you guys have something to laugh as well. It was such a successful weekend besides the 40 bucks I lost again in the casino....I guess it is not my thing, at least not roulette. But hey, the dude next to me was betting 100 bucks onto black since there were 8 reds in a row before (well math guys would know that every next color has the same probability of less than 50%... superstition says hello). In the end he lost 500 bucks because of sticking to black...poor chap. So if it's about me I just enjoyed my new fervor for snowboarding and of course for the next trip to Tahoe.

Thanksgiving '06

This thanksgiving was supposed to be be the first one for me so far. Since thanksgiving is a big deal over here IBM was kind enough to give 2 days off work. So I purchased a flight to Indiana which was barely 3 times that much as usual, a quite pricey situation. Anyway it was worth since I got the chance to experience an original American feast. I left San Jose on Wednesday for Chicago where Arielle welcomed me with her sister. I was so happy to see her again plus to enjoy some good old turkey, baked beans, pumpkin pie (only god knows what the Americans like about that thing), garlic mashed potato and of course a lot of ice cream with whipped cream. I was so stuffed. It was kinda fun to hang out with her family and I am not underestimating if I say the house was packed. Moreover I brought some "Warsteiner" for Arielle's step-dad since he just drinks that low-carb beer thangy which actually does not taste that bad. Well, he pretty much liked it bc he finished 2 beers right after each other. Anyway I figured out that they sell Warsteiner in the closest Wal Mart as an import beer. Well done Marcus. Never mind, the effort counts. So it was a nice time. Unfortunately I started smoking again. It came quite sneakily :) But hey, thats only an exception. I guess someone just wanna check on me and thats a kinda test I have to pass. Hey and at least I need something for new years eve to take up. So I returned Monday morning in order to work 'cause there are a lot of bills waiting for me. My car needs a repair, supposedly more than a grand, Christmas is coming where I plan to travel to Hawaii or Mexico, not quite sure yet, both seem to be very pricey regarding the delayed point of booking. Oh I forgot, there will be a snowboard trip to the mountains of lake Tahoe next week. A beautiful area as you may know from movies. Damn, I need to increase my insurance if I wanna keep up to that trip :). Frankly I never stood on a snowboard or skateboard so far and that doesn't really let me look forward to it at all. Another event will be the going away party of some coops, mostly Germans, who are leaving San Jose for Germany at all since their internship finally ended. They are going to have a blast in two weeks. The last moving out and house warming party was a disaster cuz I embarrassed myself having a complete black-out. Well it just can get better