A video from home

Perhaps this vid will cheer you up a little.

Have been meaning to get this uploaded, so here it finally is...

Easier Comments

I've removed the requirement that you have to set up an account to post a comment. If that's been holding you back you have no excuse now. Feeling a little bit isolated out here, folks, so let me hear from you!

I Sulk, She Sulks

Having a bit of a tough time tonight. The college fair was good, but exhausting, and of course my internal clock is all screwed up so I'm only getting 3-4 hours of sleep a night. Am either wide awake or on the verge of falling over, and each always at the wrong time.

Easier day tomorrow: I'll actually get out of the hotel and off to some school visits with a small group of other counselors. Much more low-key than a full fledged fair, and we'll be done by mid-afternoon. Put food before sleep today and missed my window; won't make that mistake tomorrow. Pretty hellish day coming up on Tuesday - we're out of here at 6:30 am and on to Kuala Lumpur, where we go straight off to school visits and don't get to the hotel until late afternoon.



Peteena not helping; she does nothing by sulk because she hasn't been out of the room (I told her this was a business trip!) Perhaps I'll sneak her into my bag tomorrow, if we can agree on a new outfit for her. Should have brought Morty.




Until next time, here are some random images that caught my eye around the hotel:



Empty Concierge Desk. (Where I come from, this is a fashion no-no!)








The inexplicable display case filled with teddy bears wearing various kinds of uniforms, stuck in a remote corner of the floor with all the meetings rooms.






The walkway between the hotel and the unbelievably loud, chaotic, colorful shopping mall where I'm too scared to pull out my cell phone camera, but nonetheless managed to make a few purchases (hey, if I'm defeated by shopping on this trip then there's no hope for me and I should just go home).

First Impressions

Singapore is very peaceful and beautiful at 7am on Saturday morning, not so much on Saturday night. We had a couple of meetings, then went off to a fine, fine meal at a restaurant called Madame Butterfly. The hotel was quite hopping upon our return.



First Chain Restaurant I saw: Carl's Jr. (they're everywhere here!).


First Meal: The breakfast buffet at the Global Kitchen in the hotel (this is how they serve oatmeal).






First Bird: The Olive-Backed Sunbird (saw a male, then later a female flitting around in the bushes along the path to the pool earlier today).




First Floor view looking up the atrium at the elevators:






Tomorrow: Our First Actual Fair!

Things Get Crazy

The night before I leave, Bri comes up with the goods (meaning a decent camera and a tripod, so we can do a better happy family picture)







Thursday morning, Brian drives me to the airport. Yeah, it was a little bit sad. No, I'm not actually crying.








Hadn't seen the good ol' underground passage to O'Hare's Terminal 1 in a while. I used to think it was really cool. And it kind of still is, except that a lot of the lights have burned out.









Peteena enjoyed our brief layover at the Hong Kong Airport (but not the 15.5 hour flight, which she spent jammed into my backpack; I learned a long time ago that she is not to be trusted too far).




Finally checked into the Pan Pacific Hotel in Singapore about 1:30 a.m. Very nice room, though I have absolutely no desire to sleep (yes, I took some jet lag stuff, and I have some sleep aids if I need them, but there are some kinds of wired that its just better to ride through). Called Brian and found him on his way to his afternoon ministry with Winchester Friends Meeting. Nothing on my schedule until 4pm on Saturday (orientation for new tour members). Have gotten my room organized, watched part of Elmer Gantry, and am working on my blog. Whatever the posting time says, it's 6:15 in the am here. Breakfast buffet opens at 6:30, gotta run!

Happy Family

Thought we'd take a family portrait before my departure. Brian and Peteena cooperated fully, Mordecai and Violet did not. Here are some of the results:




This is the only one that has (parts of) all five of us in it:



And here's my overall favorite (taken after we gave up the project):

Packing Is Such Sweet Sorrow

Am agonizing over shoes and jewelry. HOW CAN I POSSIBLY CHOOSE?


Here's a sampling of things I've already packed:


My fabulous new 4.5 pound Dell XPS M1210 laptop with nifty carrying case,








Some screener DVD's of films I've never heard of (other titles I'm taking - mostly gleaned from the bargain bins at Hastings Video - include Elmer Gantry, The (original) Italian Job, and Winchester 73),









The extremely cool "Birds of Southeast Asia" book that Brian gave me for my trip, and a couple of books I picked up at the used bookstore that are really thick and can be left behind if I actually finish one of them (must have room to pack gifts on the return trip!). I also have a lot of reading material about each of the countries I'll be visiting.

Guilt Trip

Mordecai begs me not to go...









Violet feigns indifference...










Brian faces facts and refrains from begging me not to go...











Peteena begs me to take her to Paris instead.

Here's The Scoop...

Yr. Correspondent will soon be off for an extended jaunt in the Far East, courtesy of Columbia College Chicago and the Richmond Art Museum (two organizations that have probably never before been mentioned in the same sentence). Deepest gratitude to CCC (for hiring me to represent them on a four-week, ten-city college recruiting tour) and to RAM (for granting me a leave of absence so that I could go). This trip is organized by Linden Tours, and I will be traveling in a group of 30-40 reps from other US colleges.

Here’s the itinerary:

SINGAPORE
September 29 – October 2, 2007

Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA
October 2 – 4, 2007

Chiang Mai, THAILAND
October 4-5, 2007

Bangkok, THAILAND
October 5-7, 2007

Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM
October 7-10, 2007

Taipei, TAIWAN
October 10-12, 2007

Hong Kong
October 12-15, 2007

Seoul, KOREA
October 15-17, 2007

Shanghai, CHINA
October 17-20, 2007

Tokyo, JAPAN
October 20-23, 2007

Pretty exciting, no?

And YOU, my family, friends, colleagues, and whoever else stumbles along, are invited to vicariously accompany me on the trip via peteenablog. I’ll keep you updated on my preparations before I leave, and my adventures along the way. I’ll try to be current, brief, and moderately entertaining in my posts.

Please post comments or email me, about anything and everything. I'd like to know what's going on with all of you while I'm away.

Disclaimer: peteenablog is not in any way sponsored by or affiliated with Columbia College Chicago or the Richmond Art Museum.

(And, if you don’t know who Peteena is, click here. Or, click there even if you do know who Peteena is, and forgive me for not having updated in a while.)