Toronto!

Well I just got back from Toronto yesterday and I had an absolutely amazing time.

I went three years ago with my friends Mike and Ryan, and this time with Ryan and a new guy Josh.  We spent the weekend (Thursday through Sunday) checking out places like the Hockey Hall of Fame, the CN Tower (the outside mostly, it costs too much to go up), Chinatown, and just generally wandering around the city.  We were able to watch two Maple Leafs games and two Red Wings games at our favorite sports bar on Yonge Street, Hoops.

Although we had a little issue with one of the girls there one night...



That aside, the rest of the trip went fairly smoothly!

Here are a few other videos from TO:

Chinatown:



The entrance to the Hockey Hall of Fame:



And finally, a short clip from inside the Eaton Centre (a big, mostly underground mall on Yonge Street):





All of us enjoyed our stay and are looking forward to the next time we get to spend some time there.  A big thanks to Mike and Claudia, Ian and Mike, and Phil.  You guys were all awesome and showed us some great hospitality.

And to Jose:  I'm not switching back over to Chase.



-Paul

Out of the ashes once more!

Well, it's been a long and semi-boring summer.

Other than the two major events of my hernia surgery and my promotion at work (woot), not a whole lot happened.  Honestly, I've been waiting for school to start for a while now.  I did get to travel around a little bit since my Chicago trip, but nothing too big.  It went down like this:

Trip 1: Fly to South Carolina to get my girlfriend, then drove her car back up here to Detroit.

Trip 2:  Drive to the very northernmost tip of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  It's beautiful up there, so if anyone hasn't been and really wants to check it out, make sure you go!

Trip 3: Return trip to SC.  Drove down with my girlfriend to her house, then flew back up myself.

I've been trying to be a little more proactive about the trips/traveling in general lately.  My boss gave me a week off in October, so I'm taking that opportunity to go back to one of my favorite places: Toronto, Ontario!  I'll be there from October 27-30, so if anyone in the area wants to hang out or grab a beer, just let me know!

Also, I'm still planning my week to Japan next summer.  I've got a LOT of details to work out still, but I'm really looking forward to it!

I'm trying to figure out some way to get out to Finland as well within the next year/year-and-a-half.  More details on that to come.

Oh, almost forgot; I bought a "travel phone" recently.

It's an old, unlocked Nokia.  The idea is that when I get to whatever other country I'm going to (with the exception of Japan and their damn proprietary cell system), I can just buy a prepaid SIM card and then ta-da: I've got a local number!  I've been told they're reasonably cheap, too!  If anyone has any experience with this, or if there's a better way to go about it, let me know!

Well, until next time!

-Paul

Three Summer Travel Plans!

I didn't forget about this place! A few developments have.....developed.....

So hey there!

Turns out even with my main trip (Japan) canceled for this summer, I'm still going to get to go on three nice trips this year.

The first one I've already talked about, and that's Chicago next month. I'll be in Chicago for four days, traveling by train to get there. Pretty excited as I haven't been there since I was a kid and I'm really looking forward to my trip in general.

The second trip is a pretty new one. In June I'll be flying down to South Carolina for a weekend to see my girlfriend, then drive her car up to Michigan so she can have it up here for the summer while she's staying here. Again, really excited for this trip. It'll be my first big road trip on my own, so I'm a little nervous. With my girlfriend and I taking turns driving, though, it shouldn't be bad at all. It's about 11 hours, which is right around the same amount of time that it takes me to get to my grandparents' place in the UP.

Which brings me to trip #3:

For Fourth of July weekend (extended because of a day off of work), my mom, sister, girlfriend and I will be driving up to the Copper Harbor area in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. VERY excited for this trip, as the UP is one of my favorite places to travel. It's such a beautiful and quiet place to just relax for a few days. Unfortunately since I work early on the 5th, I won't be able to stay for the fireworks on the night of the 4th, but being up there for the weekend will still be a treat as it always is. Fishing, swimming, enjoying the stars at night at Bete Gris...I just can't wait.

Well, again, I'll post if anything changes or gets added. I am pretty excited for this summer though, should be a good one for traveling!

Japan Postponed - Chicago Certain

Just a quick little update so let the ghosts that read this blog for me about what's going on.

Due to the earthquake/tsunami in Japan last week, I'll be waiting an extra year for my trip there. This isn't a bad thing, since it'll give me extra time to save up money.

Also, the Chicago trip is definitely happening now. I'll be taking a train down to Union Station and I'm gonna have some extra time that afternoon (May 19) before I need to be at the convention I'm headed to. Anybody with any info on good places to eat or stuff to see that isn't too far from Union Station, let me know; I'd love to check it all out!

Anyways, that's my short update. If you've read this, leave a comment so I don't feel like this is all in vein. Thanks, and have a happy St. Patty's Day!

Acen 2011

So I'm officially going to Chicago in May. This trip's gonna be for Acen, the biggest anime convention in the midwest. Yes I'm a giant nerd, but if you didn't already know that then you don't know me very well.

I'm gonna be traveling down there by train on the 19th of May, then coming back on the 22nd. I'm riding Amtrak from Royal Oak to Chicago's Union Station. Has anybody ever traveled by train? I'm looking forward to the experience, although 6 hours is gonna be a long ride; thankfully the 3DS will be out by then and I'll be able to entertain myself for at least half of the trip.

That's about all the info for now; I've gotta get back to writing for my Asian Political Systems midterm. Later!

Slightly More Tangible

This is just a short update while I sit in my car waiting for class to start. Typing this on my phone, too, so forgive the brevity.

I'm currently in contact with someone in Japan with an apartment in Ebina, Japan who's going to rent it to me for a week this summer for a little over $300. Not bad! An affordable place to stay definitely makes this trip much more tangible. Now if only I could find someone with a private jet...

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A reason for this place

I do this about once a year - I look at my own twitter page for whatever reason and see that I have something put down as my "website". I click and it brings me here, reminding me that I have a blog for pretty much no reason.

But that has changed!

As of right now, I've got a number of trips lined up. Most of these are in the conceptual stage, but I'm currently planning trips to Chicago, Toronto, and Tokyo. The Tokyo trip is one that's definitely going to happen, but whether it happens this summer or next is entirely dependent on if I can raise the funds for two people (myself and another) to go. If it doesn't happen this summer, it'll be substituted with Toronto. It's a great place that I've been before, but I'd love to go with a little more money and a lot more freedom than last time.

The Chicago trip is coming up in May for Acen (the biggest Midwestern anime convention). This will consist of a train ride from my home just north of Detroit down to Chicago for a weekend.

In the end, I basically want this blog to serve as a place for me to write about the places I plan to go and the experiences I have while I'm there. I want it to supplement the videos that I'll be taking while I'm in these places as well. Maybe if I write about something interesting I can actually get some people onto this barren site, eh?

Also, if anybody has been to or lives in any of these places and has suggestions on things to do, bars or restaurants to check out, ideas of where to stay, or anything of that sort, leave a comment!

I plan on updating this more often as well, so until next time!