JC and I are staying at a friend's place in Battersea, while she's going back to visit her family in New York. It's a great apartment, and we're so grateful for her hospitality.

Waterloo Station

For our first meal, we go straight to a familiar chain - Le Pain Quotidien. A tea, a coffee and a lovely cheeseplate later, we're off to city trek.

Then off to the London Eye and a bunch of other touristy sight seeing pics.

Also found a really cool table at Harrod's. The round table expands with pizza wedges that pivot. I liked it so much, that I took a picture of the catalog they had at the store.

My favorite pic of JC.

And I LOVE my new Canon SD750. It's so easy to change the ISO and Flash settings!

We hopped on a 777, the largest twinjet. There were only 20 people on the Boeing that can carry between 283 and 368 passengers.  We had about two rows to ourselves! Apparently, the US-London flights aren't as popular as the London to Mumbai flights. That's when they get packed, we hear.

The food was GREAT! Yes, they served curry. The plane itself was comfortable and we couldn't ask for better service. We were pleasantly surprised, as the Air India tickets were the cheapest tickets you could get!

Our only little hiccup was with US TSA. We had to check in a 6inch Junior's Cheesecake. We had it in a container, but who knows what happens with the luggage carriers, and with such a tiny bag!

Luckily for us, the rock solid frozen cheesecake in the insulated bag with ice packs helped keep it safe. I dropped it a few times while struggling with my wheely luggage. (What a mistake bringing the wheelies! - but more on that in another blog) Nothing could prepare the cheesecake for the fate that was awaiting it! This is what 3 people do to 1 Junior's Cheesecake:

 

When we got in to our host's place, we needed to rejuice our gadgets... the winner for absurdity goes to the macbook:

Also, my Timex is on its last legs. Notice how the face is coming out of the band? I love this model watch, to the point that I've purchased 4 different ones! 2 have sadly been lost. I left the spare watch in NY, and took a fancy watch as my spare. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this watch makes it through the European tour!

Because my cute little eeePC only has 4GB onboard, I found a great PINK external storage device!

http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=392

JC is bringing up a valid point... AM I spending more money on my little device than I would if I were to just buy a Macbook?

Let's do the math:

4gb eeePC in Pink:  $394 (I applied for a credit card that got me $50 off!)
8gb SD Flash drive : $15 (it came with an SD Card reader)
Flash card holder: $5 (it's pink!)
WD External Drive 250GB: $120
Total: $535

Not bad at all! And I love it!

I've got an extra monitor that I can use when I need a bigger screen, but I think I'm just going to get a desktop with the horsepower instead. The pink external drive will be the medium between the two comps.

The future buy:
(I think bigger is better, in this case!)

Or, I could be practical and get the mini, for $1k less. I can always get a splitter for my monitor.

Hrmm... a lot to think about when I'm ready to start decorating my home office!

It's been a while since I've seen a commercial that I thoroughly enjoyed, and this is one of them. During a rerun of Sex and the City.

Next week we're starting our European leg. Three months in Europe, and the only constraints are a London start, and somewhere in July I have to be in Amsterdam for a wedding. Yay.

As for where we're headed? We've got a 3 month rail pass. There were some thoughts of starting off on the west with Spain and Portugal, then the coast of France into Italy. Or the other way around with the countries on the east with Germany, Austria, Switzerland. All I know for sure is that we're skipping Ireland, Scotland, and the Scandinavian countries to the north.

Traveling by the seat of our pants takes a lot of research!

The Ride (and Risk) of Their Lives
U.S. biker killed on Bolivia's popular 'Death Road'

Yeah, the bike ride was scary, dangerous, and exhilarating. Would I recommend it to others?
Yes.

Advice?
While admiring the amazing views, don't forget that you're a few feet away from a 200 foot cliff. PAY ATTENTION! I drifted towards the edge a few time, and the hairpin turns in the water is quite sobering.

Would I do it again?
Hellz yeah!

April 1, 2008 - La Paz, Bolivia

World's Most Dangerous Road 1 - La Paz, Bolivia from Paulaboo on Vimeo.

I'm having a fairly productive training morning. I've figured out how to link my Twitter to my Pidgin Messenger. I like the concept of logging little thoughts and anecdotes for my own vanity. I have this notion that further down the line, I'll browse through my incomplete thoughts and come up with the great inspiration for my next huge project.

Yeah.. uh-huh.

I'm back in the states till early May. In my time back on the east coast, I've scheduled training in DC. Being out of the workforce for a year, I didn't want my career in total stand-still. Its nice to be out of New York.

At the training center, they provide breakfast, beverages, fruit, and an afternoon snack. This is no place for the serial grazer. I've had oatmeal, an orange, breakfast omelette, and a bagel with cream cheese. In the afternoons, they'll have cake and some other sweets. Sorta great, but not really. I'm ingesting a helluva lot more than I need to.

On the note of beverages... everyone here has picked up a bottle of water or two. It makes me cringe how much waste is being generated. What irks me the most, is that a few classmates have Nalgene bottles, perfectly capable of holding water from the water cooler. But no... instead, he's got two bottles on his desk and an empty Nalgene.

On top of that, there's only styrofoam here... plates and cups. Plastic cutlery. I just can't even imagine how much waste is generated.

Okay, back to class. I paid a lotta money for this.

Some mornings you need to leave an hour earlier. I get lost, and drive the wrong way for about 10 minutes before I resigned to entering the address to the Garmin.  I was only driving 4 miles away.

I finally get in, and while preparing my breakfast, I pour a hazelnut mini-moo into my oatmeal, while my coffee was right in front of me.

*le sigh*

"Coca-leaf tea is a popular beverage and folk remedy for altitude sickness in Bolivia. Possession of this
tea, which is sold in bags in most Bolivian grocery stores, is illegal in the United States.

"
Department of State on Coca Products

Coca tea is great for altitude sickness. Went to the Coca Museum yesterday, and it's interesting to learn how integral the plant is to the indigenous culture. In Bolivia, they sell the tea bags for $1USD a box. I considered bringing some back, but it really isn't worth it. There's novelty in drinking the tea, but the effect are pretty much the same a drinking a nice legal caffeinated beverage such as coffee or tea.

There are a lot of after hours clubs here in La Paz. What's troubling is that cocaine is cheaper than alcohal. Also, people turn a blind eye at these party establishment. My friends will find it surprising to learn that I have yet to go to a club in La Paz. The altitude has left me feeling lazy, and I an quite content being connected to the net and reading.

The internet is a luxury... and coca tea is contraband.