Don't F--- With The Kitty

Matthew Grady, 5/31/2010

my trip so far

We are in Santorini now.
It's a cute little island. We haven't had great food in Santorini yet. By far the best meal I have had is in Meteora. I had beefsteak stuffed with melted fetacheese. (no pics of that sorry didn't have my camera on me! :( ) Got one more day in Santorini - visiting volcano island and hot springs and trying to rent an atv to drive around Santorini. Then, it's back to Athens and the Acropolis. After that, it's time to go home. Sad that it's ending so soon and I'll be back at work trudging along again....

Anyways here's a photo journal of my trip so far...

Giza, Egypt

Pyramids

Camel Scam at Pyramids

Sphinx

Cairo, Egypt

Call to Prayer by a muzzein

Luxor, Egypt

Firing up the hot balloon

Sunrise from Hot Air Balloon

Other Hot Air Balloons

Biking to Valley of the Kings
Tomb of Thutmes III

Thermopylae, Greece

300 Spartans fight to the death (for Yap)
Meteora, Greece

Ossuary in Megalo Monastery

Megalo Monastery
Somwhere in the Aegean Sea

Blue Star Ferry Greek Flag
Santorini, Greece

Volcan Winery

Red Beach in Santorini

Sunset in Akotiri

Alrighty kids, that's it. Here's a pic that says, "see you later muthaf*ckas!" hehe.

Thief Beware, My Kicks Are Lethal

Credit card fraud again? How does this keep happening?

I was in Vegas for a Bachelorette party, one last hurrah for a close friend.

Yesterday, I received automated phone calls from my credit card company notifying me that I have suspicious activity going on with my card.

Hmmm....

So I call and the representative asked me if I made charges in Nevada today. No. I've been in CA for the last few days.

DAMN IT. They got my number and started making charges. But from where? I used my card a total of three times.

So friends, when you happen to be in Vegas, be careful of using your credit card at

1. Pyramid Cafe in Luxor
2. Fulton's Fish Market in NY NY
3. Coffee Bean inside the airport.

Oh man, this is such a pain.

Viva Las Vegas!

So....guess who I saw in Vegas during his last couple of hours of freedom???



**************************





O.J. Simpson!!! Now that's what I call a celebrity sighting!

NYC (part deux)

During Memorial Day weekend, I went to NYC with Yap. His brother and his two friends were there as well. I was thinking how the five of us would manage in a small one bedroom apartment in New York. Bless his aunt for having a queen sized bed, it felt like heaven and it is how I imagine sleeping on clouds to feel like, and a king sized foldout couch.

Her view was stunning. I promise next entry will be a picture entry. Everyday was a hunt for good food and things to do. Which was so hard! (ok I am dripping with sarcasm because it's hard to tell in a blog).

Day One:

Landed finally. Took the subway to the apartment. So nice that it's a half a block away from the stop. Ate at a Greek restaurant. They pretty much reminded me of the waiters at Marge's party in their backyard that Homer threw for her.... Oui oui oui snort snort oui oui

Went to Serendipity's afterwards. I really like their frozen hot chocolates. However, I am not a fan of their $8.50 minimum charge per person. First, we were all stuffed from our dinner. Second, we were set on sharing. Third, we had to randomly order stuff to make it $8.50 per person. I think we were off by 50 cents but they didn't charge us for that. GRRR....

Day Two:

Got up at noon (hrmph ... obviously not adjusted to the time change). Walked around Soho. Disappointing shopping trip for me, successful shopping trip for Yap. Ate at a Jamaican restaurant. Beef patties, ox tails, brown rice..... pretty decent not amazing (When I go to Jamaica, I am going to be eating ten beef patties a day) And they say patties like pa-tttees.

Hot, humid. Sweaty. Blah.

We ate at a restaurant I made reservations at called Sapa. It's celebrity sighting place. It has a place on it's website where they say which celebrity ate there. No celebrities that night. They have a thing called Sapa Sundays, the entrees are $15 each. I had shrimp and lobster tempura with a side of fries (the plate was HUGE). Yap and his brother got a steak. It was decent and I am glad we didn't end up spending a $100 each because at this place you probably could spend that much.....

Around 11pm, Yap, Yap's brother's friend, and I went down the block and across the street to a bar called Vintage. We had two martinis (Strawberries and cream tasted so).

Day Three:

Went to go pick up my altered pants from Uniqlo. Then, we hit the Twin Towers site. Sad =(.

Hit Century 21 cause it was across the street. Bought a loose dress to wear in NY because heat and humidity.

Grabbed lunch at Carnegie Deli. Yap ordered the Woody Allen. It was like ten pounds of meat in that sandwich and Yap ate every bite. The only kid I know that has that much dedication to finish a meal. I left a quarter of my sandwich that probably had a half pound of meat.

Got to the Natural History Museum and was told the museum closed at 5:45pm. It was 3:30pm.
My heart sank. Two things I was looking forward to on this trip Lion King and the museum. So to only spend two hours in the museum and then be kicked out forcefully. I was heart-broken.
The first half-hour I was extremely sulky. I realized I had to pick up my mood because I only had such a limited time at the place. Yap was trying to cheer me up but I just had to get over it.
It was really neat to see the exhibits, I'll just have to come back and spend more time there.

Met up with Yap's cousin and went to Crumbs. It's a small bakery on the Upper East side and oh yum. The cupcakes are moist and delicious. After that, we went back and watched hockey playoffs on the TV.

Walked through the mess of Times Square at night. Screens nearly giving me an epileptic episode.

Day Four:

Went to Coney Island. Ate at the Original Nathan's Hot Dog stand. Mural of the Hot Dog eating contest plastered on the side with a counter, counting down the days to the next Hot Dog eating contest...

Walked around the beach. Ok. I don't know about alot of beaches (just ones in California) but Brighton Beach is filled with garbage. The water pulls in trash and dumps more trash on the sand. GROSS. I refused to put my feet in trash water. Yap walked in and out of the water. We walked along the boardwalk until the rides opened.

Rode on the Ferris Wheel and the Cyclone. The Cyclone put my stomach in my mouth. I haven't screamed on a ride straight through for a long time. Actually, the last time was when I rode my first roller coaster ride. My legs felt like jello.

Took the train back to Manhattan and got ready for the Lion King. It was everything I imagined it to be and more. I got chills at the opening scene. It was amazing.

Day Five:

Got up earlier than we have been. Went to Central Park. Watched an old lady painting the park in watercolors, people rowing each other in the lake, and dogs frolicking around.

Went to the Shake Shack by Tanya's recommendation. We couldn't eat it right away because we had to get back to the apartment to get ready to go home. So we took it with us. Half-hour later I was able to consume the burger and fries. It was very good but I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was hot. Oh, the lines are ridiculously long, prepare for a long wait.

Hopped back onto the subway to go to the airport. BOO. Had to go to work the next day. =P

At least I like NY a whole lot better this time around.