No Friday

Apparently, I’m still solidly on east coast time, as I woke up today at 6:30 and wasn’t really able to go back to sleep. It was still largely dark out, which inspired me to go chase some morning pictures. I’m two assignments behind in my photo class provided a little extra push. So I headed to the Arboretum and snapped a few. I’ll upload them soon. [Update: Uploaded on Smugmug.]

I picked up some Mighty-O donuts on the way home and largely had a lazy and relaxing afternoon at home with Meagan. I finished reading Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Coincidentally, he’s speaking in Seattle on Thursday.

Later in the afternoon, I completed my upcoming class assignment - a portrait shoot. The sun was a little brighter than I thought it would be and my model was a little stressed with her upcoming cardiology exam, but I think her natural charm and beauty came through pretty well…

• Gallery on Smugmug
• The 20 I picked for class

My favorites included:

After that, we made tacos. Meagan studied, while I watched Penn State hold off Ohio State. Now, I’m watching a nail biting Game 3 of the World Series, tied at four in the bottom of the ninth. Time to log off and root for the Phils.

I returned to Seattle on Thursday morning, after a fun trip to Boston/Cambridge. The recruiting trip went well, but the better part was hanging out with Meagan’s family and seeing some old friends.

I arrived on Saturday, staying with Meagan’s parents downtown. Sunday afternoon, we watched the Head of the Charles Regatta. I took lots of pictures but haven’t uploaded them yet. After that, I parted with Bill and Jayne and then checked into my hotel in Cambridge. Sunday night, I went to my friend (and freshman college roommate) Andy and his wife Sara’s house to watch Game 7 of the ALCS. We had a nice dinner, but sadly, the Sox lost, ending hopes/fears of a Sox/Phils World Series matchup.

Monday and Tuesday, we interviewed students. Tuesday night, I met back up with Meagan’s parents. We finished interviewing a day early, and it wasn’t easy to change my hotel reservation, so Wednesday, I effectively had a free day. I slept in for a bit, did a few hours of work, and then met my friends Bryan and Gill (former roommate and boss, respectively…) for lunch at Bertucci’s in Alewife. Afterwards, I went back to Cambridge, did a little more work, and then met up for coffee with a MIT student who interned with us last summer.

For dinner, we went to Ruth Chris’s. It was funny - Meagan’s parents are convinced that I must not eat enough steak when I’m with Meagan, so they figured I’d like a steakhouse. Well, I am not really deprived but I was pretty happy with the selection. After dinner, we watched part of Game 1 of the World Series before I headed back to Cambridge, where I finished watching the game at the hotel bar. Go Phils!

At dawn on Thursday I headed to the airport to head back to Seattle. When I got home, I felt a little ill, which shut down any idea of checking in at work. I went home, napped, and didn’t feel much better. Game 2 of the World Series didn’t help. Fortunately sleeping it off seemed to have done the trick, as by Friday I was back to normal.

I’ll update the post with Cambridge pictures once I have them processed and uploaded.

I just signed up for Garagiste, in their own words, a “a selective, Seattle-based retail emporium dedicated to the wine artisan and consumer”.

I learned of it when Christopher Kimball, editor-in-chief of Cook’s Illustrated (a subscription to which is one of my favorite presents from Meagan), mentioned it at an event at work on Wednesday.

It seems like an interesting concept - I’ll let you know how it works out. So far, the offers have been very tempting and intriguing. I have eight bottles on order.

I am leaving for Boston tomorrow. The primary reason is a college recruiting trip at MIT. But I’m very excited to see my wife’s parents (still not used to using the word “wife”, let alone “in-laws”, but very happy on both accounts). Also, thanks to the big comeback last night, I’ll be arriving just in time to watch Game 6 of the ALCS.

If the improbable happens and Boston faces Philadelphia, I’ll likely have to take out a loan and get tickets for Game 1 of the World Series, which would be Wednesday night in Boston, the last night of my trip.

We spent the weekend in Portland. Meagan wanted to get away from the books for a while, and with no tests on the horizon, this weekend proved opportune. It’s also been a while since we’ve seen my cousin Becky, her husband Jay, and their adorable toddler Abby. The need to put together a small portfolio for my photography class was the final impetus, so on Friday night after work, we ventured south.

The drive to Oregon was miserable. It was raining, heavily at times, most of the way. We had hoped to get a nice dinner in Portland, but with traffic and the weather looking ominous, we instead opted for burritos from World Wraps. We’ll have to save our list of fine establishments that we accumulated for next time.

We woke up late on Saturday and walked to Mother’s, a local bistro and bar, for breakfast. The line was pretty long, but we were seated in about twenty minutes. The Stumptown mocha was delcious, as was Meagan’s “corn off the cob” omelette and my peach Belgian waffle (with bacon on the side). We also polished off a sticky bun.

Fueled for the morning, we walked a few blocks north to an outdoor market. Lots of crafts, food, and hippies on display. The highlight was probably the unicycling bagpiper. Unfortunately, I didn’t really get a shot of him in action.

We then continued west towards 23rd and the Alphabet District, a fun neighborhood with lots of nice shops. After walking down the boulevard, we parked it at Cafe Reese for a little while, enjoying some more caffeine.

Around mid-afternoon, we headed back towards the center of town to catch the train to Beaverton, where Becky and Jay live. Jay met us at the station and drove us the mile to their house. We relaxed for a while, with Abby providing plenty of entertainment. She had a bit of a cold, and although we did our best to contain our juvenile laughter at her baby snot-filled sneezes, we largely failed. In order to save my second cousin’s dignity, I refrained from taking those pictures. I did get a few cuter ones though.

We then walked about a mile into down for a dinner at a local Italian restaurant. Abby continued to amuse by roaming around the seating area while we ate. After dinner, we returned to the house, and munched on some Voodoo donuts we had picked up.

Finally, we took the train back to Portland. We tried to have a nightcap at the Oregon Wines on Broadway wine bar. But apparently it closes at eight. Eight? Come on.

Today, Sunday, we needed to leave early as Meagan had a to work at a local clinic. The Starbucks next to our hotel was cleaned out of pastries due to the runners competing in the Portland marathon. Luckily, we stumbled upon a much better option, the Pearl Bakery, on our way out of town.

The drive home was a lot easier, though still rainy. Once back in town, I winnowed the photos down to the twenty required for my class portfolio.

Thanks for a great weekend, Becky, Jay, and Abby!

Pictures from the weekend (Smugmug)

We’re heading to Portland tomorrow night to visit my cousin and her family.

I was researching dinner options for tomorrow night and stumbled across this one: Beast.

First, great name for an upscale French restaurant.

Second, their policy: “Substitutions Politely Declined”.

That’s awesome. So obnoxious that we’ll have to try it - maybe not this trip though.

I know I am at risk of turning the blog into a serial reminiscence of the wedding - but the slide show that our Daria and Andy put together was too cool that I had to share it.

Check it out here.

I’ll hurry up and get back to writing stories of wrestling lions on the open savannah of the Serengeti soon.

At the beginning of this summer, we purchased some outdoor furniture (and looking at those pictures, teak does indeed weather quick). It’s only fitting that at what hopefully isn’t quite yet the end of summer, we bought a new gas grill: the legendary Genesis E-310.

I’ve been considering this upgrade for a little while, but when the Aussie finally kicked the bucket a few weeks ago, I finally had mental justification to pull the trigger. I haven’t been this excited about a new house addition since the Plasma purchase a few years ago.

JJ graciously provided transportation - there was no chance this thing was fitting in the Corolla. We hauled it home, and it took me about three hours or so to assemble it. Mostly because I am slow and didn’t want to mess it up. Meagan was getting a little anxious for dinner but I was able to finish up in time for an inaugural grilling of steak and salmon.

The Arrival:

Sadie modelling, and putting the box in perspective:

Assembled!

The Final Days of the Aussie

Legendary Grill Marks on the steak

More Capacity

Salmon, Plated

Steak, Plated

Dinner Time!

Thanks for the ride JJ. Meagan, thanks for waiting a little while for dinner.

Thanks Mom & Dad for the wedding present and here’s hoping for a few more summer nights. If not, Home Depot did have some outdoor patio heaters…

(Meagan, you didn’t read that.)

Many have asked us how we picked Tanzania for our honeymoon. I am not really sure how it came about. We had a strong bias for going some place far away, since the summer after first year provided a relatively large travel window in the medical journey. Plus the honeymoon alone is justification enough. I think Meagan first suggested a safari, because it’s something she’s always wanted to do. She also liked that we first met through a happy hour that our friends used to organize called “Safari”. I’m always up for an adventure and had never been to Africa, so the idea intrigued me.

We narrowed it down to a continent, but we were immediately overwhelmed by the possibilities therein, and the wide range of costs. We knew the trip wasn’t going to be cheap, but some of the options were mind blowing. Many times, we came close to throwing in the towel on the African trip, but we couldn’t quite let go. Probably, it was I who couldn’t quite let go. Meagan did accuse me of attempting “honeymoon one-upsmanship”, in trying to pick some place “cooler” than others we know had chosen. Maybe.

In the early days of our research, we went to World Wide Books in Wallingford (an awesome travel bookstore in Seattle), and picked up Lonely Planet East Africa. Kenya and Tanzania were on the short list. After perusing the book, and doing more internet research, the idea of a safari adventure followed by bumming on the beach seemed like the perfect recipe - and Tanzania, with a wide variety of National Parks (including the Serengeti) and the island of Zanzibar, gained ground as the leading contender.

But we were still finding it difficult to keep costs down. With gas prices at record highs, decent airfares to the dark continent weren’t easy to come by, and while some safari prices seemed reasonable, given the range of price for what seemed to be similar offerings, it was hard to tell if we were getting our money’s worth.

We were making progress, though, and I was starting to get a better feel for where your money goes on a safari. Lodging is a large part of the cost (especially for some of the camps in the middle of nowhere!), but you’re also paying for vehicle transportation, a safari guide, meals, and national park fees.

Several of the tour companies we contacted gave me good information, but one stood out. Africa Travel Resource, which was listed in Lonely Planet and is based out of England. I had a lot of back and forth conversations with Rob. What really struck me was that they really tried to understand your travel goals and budget and build out an customized itinerary based on what you want, instead of just giving you a few standard packages. The itinerary was also super-itemized, which allowed you to dial aspects of your trip up or down, depending on your preference and budget. In our case, for example, we chose to spend more money to get our own 4×4, but chose some less extravagant lodging choices, especially on Zanzibar.

The trip was still daunting. The thing that probably put us over the edge was knowing that we’d have a local connection to rural Africa. My good buddy Tim (who you can see dancing at our wedding with his wife here) has a good friend from college, Greg, who had lived in Tanzania for some time, working with local projects via a Canadian NGO, CACHA (Canadian Africa Community Health Alliance). I had only met him once (at Tim’s wedding), but it just so happened that a few years back I agreed to host his website, dedicated to his work: mzungudays.com. Greg was super helpful in giving us travel advice and went out of his way to offer to show us around, since he was going to be back in Tanzania while there.

The offer proved too difficult to pass up, and in May, a little more than two months before the target departure date, we pulled the trigger and reserved the safari and airfare. And in retrospect, we couldn’t have been happier. Over the next few posts, I’ll try to recount the adventure.

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I spent a good part of the weekend furiously typing away my memories of our happy time in Vermont. I’m sure it’s a little verbose at times, but I wanted as best I could to capture the moments for myself and for Meagan, and for anyone else who cared to read, and to thank the many who helped make it happen.

The Posts

• Part 1: The Prelude
• Part 2: The Ride
• Part 3: The BBQ
  
• Part 4: The ER
• Part 5: The Ceremony
• Part 6: The Reception
• Part 7: The Farewell

The Pictures

• Daria and Andy’s Slideshow
• Daria and Andy’s Pictures
• Joe’s Pictures (including some from my mom) (Smugmug)
• Andy and Sara’s Pictures
• Aunt Vikki’s Pictures
• Amar’s Pictures