Dallas, TX & Fort Worth, TX

July 10, 2010

I am so heartbroken! I just completed an entry about the great time I had in the DFW area, and my iPad zapped it to the place where all the left socks go! I’ll try my best to recap it again:

Dallas (& Fort Worth) have almost all the requirements of a world city: great people, great food, and a sense of pride in community that is apparent from the moment you step off the plane.

The pride that shines from the sides of the buildings downtown is crazy! The city has some great architecture, and the city is peppered with fountains and parks to enjoy while in the heart of this bustling city. This is amplified by the bright faces of the proud citizens you meet. When discussing what entertainment options that exist, you can see the sense of community that is present with the population. People don’t just live here, they make it a home!

A foodie culture is everywhere in DFW. You will eat some great food. Portions are perfect, people are pleasant, and palettes are pleased. The servers I spoke with were very savvy and more than happy (and more importantly, able) to provide me with some dish recommendations without gluten. Some recommendations were the Swiss cheese Kobe beef burger (sans bun of course), and the spicy barbecue lamb with asparagus. Prices are reasonable, but what you get at most restaurants is easily worth double. You will find fine dining, without gluten, with ease and without breaking the bank.

The weather is not bad in Dallas. The perception everyone has, is that it is miserably hot in the summer. Relax, it isn’t Houston (please don’t send me any more hate mail Houston, I got enough after my Houston posting a few weeks ago)! The nice thing about a dry climate is that 95 degrees feels pretty pleasant. Put on a t-shirt and a smile and make Dallas a summer destination as well.

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San Diego, CA

June 22, 2010

San Diego most definitely wins the “Best Weather in the World” award. I have never been here when the weather has been bad. This is the “California from the movies”. The easy, laid back nature of San Diego folk make this a pleasant destination for business or pleasure.

The true make up of San Diego is as ideologically diverse as it is ethnically diverse. Home to a huge navy base, San Diego is pretty buzz cut. You will see lots of support for the military as it is a huge part of the local economy.

On the flip side, there is the expected beach bum contingent as well keeping up the laid back reputation of the area. The slackers are here. Why would you get a job when you can go surf during the day and live with 8 of your friends comfortably for cheap. Think Point Break and this is what you will find in the San Diego beach communities (minus the bank robbing, of course). Did I mention that the water is just a little colder than bathwater? It is amazing. Truly one of the most hospitable climates on earth. Maybe the weather makes people friendlier, but the slackers and military crowds exist seemingly harmoniously as well.

I stayed near the Gaslamp District in downtown SD. It has a reputation as a more raucous neighborhood filled with bars and debauchery. This neighborhood is a great place to stay if you don’t want to drive, or worry about transportation. Everything can be found in a short walk. The district gets its name from the very cute light posts lining the streets downtown. This is unconfirmed, but I believe they actually are still powered by gas, not electricity. Feel free to correct me on that.

I had business in Murrieta, CA the next day and made the hour drive. The surrounding areas of San Diego get really rural, really fast. Most of these communities are driven by the transportation (trucking mainly) or manufacturing industries. Great cheap food, but not exactly a destination.

I’m sure everyone reading this blog is tired of reading about me eating tacos, but I am only a few miles away from Mexico. It would be a crime to not write about the tacos. These little greasy pig and corn concoctions are the best you will ever eat. I am so depressed that I can’t make a taco this good. I can’t even tell you why it was so good, but it was amazing. Another reason to do as the Romans when in Rome.

For those curious about getting to Mexico from San Diego, there is a train from downtown that will drop you off at the border. I believe it was just a few dollars for the ride. Remember to bring your passport and account for a long process coming back. Local radio stations give updates about the approximate border wait times with the traffic if you are thinking about checking out TJ.

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Denver, CO

June 18, 2010

I spent this week in Denver. Quite a few surprises:

Denver, the mile high city, is a weird mix of hipsters, hippies, and rednecks. The first impression was surprise over the number of young people in general. There were a huge number of twenty-somethings in the downtown area. This may account for the large amount of happy hour/brew pubs on the 16th street mall. It is quite a bustling downtown that seem to retain the working crowd after 5:00. The restaurants on the 16th St mall were many. The first night I went to Earl’s, a little happy hour joint with a terrace out front. When discussing the gluten situation with the waitress, she informed me that they have a gluten free menu. This usually is a great thing, but the menu (that said: “gluten free menu” at the top) included things like Kung Pao stir fry. When I asked to make sure that the Kung Pao was safe to eat, she came back from the kitchen and said that it wasn’t. There were other questionable items that I decided it was probably best to avoid. I opted for the mini taco appetizer that was good and safe. Great meal, just a little sketchy to have a gluten filled gluten free menu.

The next night I ate at a restaurant half a block off of the mall. It was an Indian restaurant called “Little India”. It was fantastic. They clarified that all the food was cooked with chickpea flour (except the naan, of course) and it was gluten free. I ate the Sikh kabob with a side of masala. Fantastic food! I don’t know how to describe it any better than that. I went back the third night and did it over again.

Denver brings the nightlife/dinner scene. If you are looking to have something to do after work, there are no shortages of gluten free happenings.

Biggest surprise: there are a number of painted upright pianos along the mall. As far as I can tell, the city leaves these out to encourage artistic expression, but I couldn’t confirm that. I found this a little strange. Most cities try to discourage panhandling, but Denver seems to give the panhandlers the means to continue. This probably explains the large numbers of young homeless people around.

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FSOT

June 11, 2010

Today I took the State Department’s Foreign Service Officer Test. American citizens are allowed to take the foreign service test once a year free of charge. This is my second attempt at my dream job.

The test itself is very interesting. I’ll leave it to other blogs to talk about the details of the test (you have to sign a non-disclosure agreement before beginning the test). Last year, I walked away from the test feeling pretty defeated, but I was much better prepared this year and I’m feeling pretty good with my effort.

Becoming a Foreign Service Officer is quite a process. The written test is just the first step in the process. After passing the test, my test scores and application will go before a three person panel of FSOs to decide whether I advance to the next stage. After the panel is the oral assessment. This is an all day group interview consisting of a group exercise, and structured interview. Provided that you pass this step, the State Department conducts a background check for security clearance, and ensures that you are medically fit to live abroad. Once deemed trustworthy and healthy, you are added to the list of eligible FSOs and wait to be chosen by an overseas mission. If you are not selected within a certain time period, you must complete the process over again from the beginning. A long process, but you can bet that those going through the process really care about the job they are applying for, and are probably not likely to look elsewhere once accepted.

I am very excited about the next steps, and I am starting to prepare for the oral assessment already. I have also been studying Modern Standard Arabic for about a year now. The State Department awards bonus points to people who speak “super critical needs languages” (that is the name they use). Hopefully those points will pay off.

I will be updating the blog as the process [hopefully] continues. Otherwise, there is always next year…

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Portland, OR

June 8, 2010

Portland is a special part of the US. I can’t think of very many cities anywhere in the world like this one. It really is a small college town that acts like a major US city. You can pretty much count the number of skyscrapers on one hand, the airport really doesn’t handle many planes other than the smaller CRJ700 regional planes, and I am positive that the number of trees in the city outnumbers the population.

Portland is hippie. I don’t know how to phrase that any differently. You would probably find more beards in Portland than Yemen. I was trying to find something to eat at one of the 6 million coffee shop/cafes, doing my usual 20 questions about the food preparations, when the girl working behind the counter asked “are you allergic to gluten?”. I agreed, and she proceeded to recommend four different special meals they could put together. I ended up settling on the Caesar salad, no dressing, no croutons, add salmon, add almonds, and with a gluten free lime/cilantro dressing. It was good. The type of gluten free good that only hippies could come up with.

The down side to Portland is the microbrew culture. There is some great beer here, and I can’t drink any of it.

Overall impression:
Understanding people, check. Quaint waterfront and small town feel, check. Hippies to feed you as many goji berries as you can digest, check. Just make sure you drive the speed limit, which is 50mph in most places. Oregon has the most aggressive cops when it comes to speeding. Trust me, I speak from experience.

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Houston, TX

June 3, 2010

My first impression of Houston was that the city was pretty boring. When the international airport is named after former president Bush, you begin to question the wisdom of the locals. The weather is very similar to Ho Chi Minh City, and biggest change in elevation in the city has to be the railroad crossings. This isn’t the biggest tourist hang out by any stretch of the imagination, but I ended up being surprised.

Houston is one of the fattest cities in the US. I was reminded of this fact whenever I talked to anyone. Whenever you ask someone the “what is there to do in Houston?” question, the first thing out of there mouth is that Houston is one of the fattest cities. I had a woman follow that comment with a very strong recommendation that I try the deep fried butter. I have to say that I was pretty curious. Not for myself, but just to witness someone eating deep fried butter sounded interesting.

The less heart attack inducing variety of cuisines in Houston were hit or miss. Tex-Mex was the idea I was shooting for. I love tacos. I really love tacos. I must have eaten 10 meals of tacos here in Texas. Nothing here is mediocre. The food was either terrible, or fantastic.

Just like most places, the more effort put into getting you in the door (i.e. Signage, decor, theme, etc) the less effort they put into the food. The best tacos I had this trip were from the worst looking taqueria in front of a strip mall (an actual strip mall, like stripped -empty!). There were two pawn shops across the street, and a check cashing business. The tacos were amazing. Corn tortillas, juicy pork, and cilantro. Happy me.

The biggest surprise: the Galleria Mall. It is an impressive sized mall if you are into that sort of thing. The strange thing was the diversity. It reminded me of the the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai. There is even an ice skating rink by the food court. I actually saw a woman in a Burqa. If women can go to the mall in George W.’s home state wearing burqas, that speaks volumes to the tolerance of America. I love it.

I am constantly surprised by the US. Anywhere you go, your stereotypes will most likely be proved wrong. If people traveled more, we would probably have a much smaller ideological divide between the extremes in this nation.

Lesson learned: People in Houston and People in San Francisco are not all that different.

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Rumblings of a trip…

May 24, 2010

I’ve thrown out a few possibilities for an upcoming trip to Erik. He’s mulling over destinations. Some ideas include the Caucuses, Iraq, and Afghanistan. I chose the last destination, so it’s up to him to pick this time. Discussions will go on as we weigh the good and the bad of each destination. This will exhaust the remaining 2010 time off. Two weeks spent somewhere. Suggestions are welcome. More updates to follow…

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Home.

March 30, 2010

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An unusual day

March 27, 2010

Before I forget, there are two observations that I have to make:

1. Omanis are absolutely crazy about reggae
2. The drivers on the Arabian Peninsula are the worst drivers in the world

Now for an update of yesterdays happenings:

Figuring that there wasn’t all that much to do here, I decided to go to the biggest mall in the world. Why not, it is the biggest. It was a mall. The only major difference is that this mall is aimed for the incredibly wealthy. Everything there was ridiculous. But, unfortunately, because it is the biggest mall in the world, it isn’t very easy to find the exit. I ended up walking around in this mall for about 6 hours.

After the mall experience, and my extreme wealth warm-up, I decided to go to the Burj al Arab (the 7 star hotel shaped like a boat). When I got there I was informed I had to pay over $100 just to enter and walk around. Not feeling that, I headed to another mall to kill some time. This time I was in the Mall of the Emirates (the largest mall was the Dubai Mall). Inside the Mall of the Emirates is a giant indoor ski resort, Ski Dubai. Indoor ski resorts have always seemed hokey to me, but this was amazing! It was huge, with real chairlifts, -3 degrees Celsius, and some pretty decent runs. I haven’t been skiing in a few years, but this definitely rekindled a long lost love. Hopefully future blog posts will include Lake Tahoe! 

After skiing, I returned back to my hotel, watched some CNN and passed out. A day well completed.

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Dubai is … big!

March 26, 2010

One of the things I am most intrigued about around the world, is different people taking the same materials and “lot in life” and making different things with them. Now, of course, if everyone did the same thing, the world would be pretty boring and nobody would leave their houses.  One outcome is never better than another, merely “different.”  Dubai definitely went “different” in a very developer friendly manner.

This place is huge. Imagine that the Las Vegas strip kept building at the same pace for 100 years. You would have Dubai at the end of that century. There have to be more hotels here than the entire state of California. My taxi cab was a Lexus (and was cut off on the freeway by a Lamborghini).  The internet here makes the US seem like we’re on dial-up.

All that said, this seems like a soul-less and depressing place. Not in a “lost my rent money” Las Vegas feeling, more like “the place where people who sold off the last common-shares of their soul go”. Lot’s of business, lot’s of money, still searching for what lies beneath. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll figure it out (and, no, not at the Wild Wadi Water Park or giant indoor skiing place).

In the meantime, I guess I should show everyone the amazing architecture here…

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