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July 30, 2008
You absolutely, positively, must watch this...
,,, all the way to the end. This is an alternate intro for a famous TV show:
Posted by Decemberice at 06:21 PM | Comments (0)
July 20, 2008
A peacful journey...
... to Strawberry Hill.
Strawberry Hill started life as a coffee plantation. For those who don't know, Jamaica is famous for three things Jerk Chicken, Rum, and Coffee. This is the Blue Mountain range that the famous coffee comes from and Strawberry Hill is right in the heart of what's called the High Mountain.
It was much later purchased by the owner of Island Records who helped Bob Marley launch his international career from his headquarters at Strawberry Hill. It quickly became THE place where music deals were made. In house recording studios and international communications centers launched the internationnal careers of Melissa Etheridge, Trent Reznor, and many more, including Bob Marley of course. So you know I took like a thousand pictures.
Strawberry Hill was sold once Island Records folded into Def Jam and now carries on life as an exclusive resort and spa for the wealthy and elite. It also has a restaurant that serves one of Jamaica's best Sunday brunches. Which was the guise for our voyage there. I didn't respect any of the in house guest's restricted areas though. = )
I posted an album of the pictures that turn out on my gallery page, but here are some of the better shots.
I really liked this lonely, secluded bench overlooking the Blue Mountains.
This is the negative edge pool (infinity pool). Probably one of the most beautiful scenes I've expereinced yet in Jamaica as it drops off right into the Blue Mountains.
Kristine and me chillin' on the cliffside cafe.
... and Denae!
A great shot from the courtyard of Strawberry Hill off into the Blue Mountains.
A copy of NIN's Platinum Album award for The Downward Spiral. <-- For Sarah and Jeff
A copy of Melissa Etheridge's Platinum Album Award for Yes I Am.
A copy of Tracy Bonham's Gold Album Award for The Burdens of Being Upright. One of the greatest albums ever made in my opinion.
And of course I snapped some shot's of Bob Marley and US's plats but you'll have to go see the photos in my gallery.
It was a blast. The food was amazing, the scenary was unlike anything I've ever seen and that's coming from somebody who has been to the Taj Mahal. Simply AMAZING. If I ever come back to Jamaica I'll likely pay whatever it costs to stay here. The voyage up the Blue Mountains will have you afraid for your life on a one lane road that drops off directly into the Blues, but once you get to the top, it's all worth it. It's almost spiritual.
Posted by Decemberice at 08:27 PM | Comments (3)
July 19, 2008
So much...
... in such a short span.
Still haven't seen much of Jamaica but now at least we have established plans to do so. I'm going to a resort called Strawberry Hill tomorrow and then to Ocho Rios next weekend.
Where to start? I've met a lot of people here in Jamaica, but sadly most of them are from the states. Most notably I made two new friends; Denae and EK. It's kind of wierd getting older because once you have a job you are never really presented with opportunities to meet new people. You're never really thrown out of your comfort zone so far away from your friends that you meet new people out of necessity. I had kinda forgotten that from being in school way back when.
Denae is hilarious. She shares my passion for randomly bursting into song, and talkin' some shit. Oddly enough our first interaction was rather awkward. She got moved to a new Condo and when they got there, it hadn't been lived in for a long time and ended up having some issues. Apparently the water coming out of the pipes smelled like raw sewage, the air conditioning was less than stellar and on my visit there it looked a little too rustic for my tastes. So they moved back the same night and Denae called me up at 11, I had already gone to bed because I'm lame so it caught me by surprise. She took advantage of that by telling me that it's time to get up for work which caused me to leap out of bed start looking at clocks and getting dressed in a split second. That's when I knew we were going to be friends. LOL If I were in the same boat I would have probably done the same thing.
She later became my co-trainer and rocked the party so much that the next assistant I have is going to have to kick some serious ass to meet the bar that was set.
We've had a lot of fun. Monday is her birthday and I've got no way to leave the Condo today to buy her something sadly. It's going to be rough splitting when we head back to the states but I have a feeling we'll be keeping in touch.
EK is my hero. He's my roommate and we clicked instantly. I'm not sure at what point we realized we were on the same page. I think it's when we united in our hatred for the maid because she stole his cologne.... She a tricky bitch.
We've already been through some amazing things. I'm pretty sure that our apartment is haunted by a prostitute name Sparkle. When I was here alone I used to hear random voices from all her "menz" in the back room. It later turned out that it was not haunted by a working girl but that I had the bathroom window open, but I'm holding to the prior belief because it's just like something that would happen to me.
We also share a passion for comedians like Margaret Cho, Wanda Sykes, Ellen... and he introduced me to Eddie Izzard. It's got to suck having me as a roommate because I am 100% braindead and drained at this point. The other day I left the coffee pot on all day, we walked in and could smell the plastic burning. Beautful.
Hey! We went to Devon House last night. Apparently it was a dangerous decision but in true American Tourist form we didn't think twice of it. We leapt out into traffice and walked through a poorly lit park with no idea where we were going, showed up at Devon House and they had actually closed the restaurant we intended to go to years ago. We then proceed to go to some place called the "Grog Pub." They serve some serious rum at the grog pub. I took a sip and immediately realized that if I didn't stop there I would be in no condition to walk home.
So, we were later informed that Devon House is very dangerous after dark. It was well after dark. We made it out alive, and I believe somewhat more cultured for the experience.
The best part of the entire thing for me is that we got caught in the middle of a tropical storm. The rain just came pouring down and the lightning and thunder came out of nowhere. I WAS SO HYPED! I was running around in circles in the pouring rain and lightening thinking in the back of my head... this alone is reason enough not to leave Jamaica ever. And what does one do when they are caught in a tropical thunder storm? We got ice cream. Devon House is known for having the best ice cream possibly in the world. No I'm not exaggerating that's what the tour guides say about it.
The only problem with this great ice cream? F the flavors. There was some crazy shit there! I'm talking about peppers in ice cream, hard liquor in ice cream... things that just don't belong in ice cream. I've been rather adventurous but this particular day I didn't feel like having red peppers in my ice cream so I dorked out with with Pistachio, Beaurdeux Cherry, and Cookies and Creme.
I should note though that I've tried a few amazing things on this trip. ganaps... which I had to Americanize with the term "G-Napz." and patties are by far the most amazing junk food you could ever dream of. I'm talking about genius here so opt in.
Here's the thing. A patty is simple sweet. It's like a flakey biscuit wrapped around either beef, beef and cheese, soy, fish, or curry chicken.
I've also had rice and peas. Most Americans would know this as red beans and rice. Jamaicans call beans; peas. That can get a little dissapointing sometimes. I'm not a big bean person. I don't really enjoy them or what they do to my digestive system. But... when rice and peas is done properly it's pretty good.
I also had stewed peas and pork. Most Americans are going to know this as pork and beans. I also did not realize that when I placed my order. Imagine my surprise when the waiter came out with a giant plate full of pork and beans. LOL.
I've now had Jerk Chicken, Jerk Pork, Jerk Pasta, and Jerk Hamburger. I'm yet to be jerked out. This stuff is freaking amazing. The first thing you need to do if you go to Jamaica is toss out the rule book, find yourself a good seedy street corner and order Jerk Chicken from some guy standing behind a flaming oil drum. it will rock your party.
I will highly recommend never ordering a hot dog in Jamaica. They tend to be a little undercooked, they have a sickly reddish color and they will sit it on top of an uncooked slice kraft single.
There is a heavy Indian influence on Kingston's cuisine. You can get curry just about anywhere but there are other trademark foods like roti, masala, and samosas. There was even stamp and go at the Grog Pub.
So for everybody who's been asking me... yes I do intend on going to the Bob Marley museum before I leave.
Let it go.
Now here's the real deal... There is a Nissan here in Jamaica... well many of them, but this one is special. I call it the bunny car. It is freakin' cute! I've made the decision to import it back home no matter the cost. I watch for it every time we go ANYWHERE. I've taken to referring to watching for it as hunting an elusive animal because they seem to appear in packs of 3 or 4 in a row some days and none others. Here is the beauty that is the Nissan Bunny Car (March):
How can you not love that!!!!
Posted by Decemberice at 06:57 AM | Comments (0)
July 05, 2008
Only 4 more weeks...
... in paradise.
I've decided that I need to see more of Jamaica. After all, the likelihood that I'll ever be back is very slim. So, I've started to work with our liason to schedule some more exploratory stuff. Next Saturday it will be a Blue Mountain coffee plantation trip. After that, I plan on making it to Ocho Rios at some point. And I'd also like to take a trip to Montego Bay. I might as well see what Jamaica has to offer right?
Our night security guard is one of the nicest guys I've ever met. Each morning when we talk to him he tells us that he's going to go home to get some sleep but then he'll be right back to keep us safe. He makes me feel safe in the way that if flaming demons fell from the sky and he told me he'd fend them off I'd believe him. LOL.
I rented that movie 10,000 BC from Amazon Unbox and I honestly thought it would be a bit better than it was. I paused it out of boredom to start writing this blog.
I haven't seen the cool scene where he runs away from a saber tooth tiger that was in all of the trailers yet.
I cancelled my iPhone pre-order and decided that once I get back to the US I'm going to buy the iPhone 3G as a homecoming gift for myself LOL. It's odd the things we can find to justify the unnecessary. I do have a perfectly functional iPhone right now. For some reason; however, I'm absolutely convinced I need the iPhone 3G. Mostly because Steve Jobs says so. Clearly I should base all of my life choices around Steve Job's desires.
Well. Things are still going well in Jamaica and my roommate gets here on Tuesday which means 2 things. 1) I'll have to stop sleeping in his bedroom (which has the better airconditioner), and 2) they'll finally be somebody to make sure I don't burn the place down by leaving a coffee pot on or something. Cup half full I suppose. I think he'll be pretty cool. I did some feeling out of the situation and asked what his interests are and we both share an interest in Manga and seem to be adult children which is most likely a good thing. I've just never played well with others so we'll see how it goes. Especially since I'm pretty much acclimated to living here on my own now. I suppose I will no longer be able to stumble half-naked out of my room in the mornings making a general route to the cofee machine and looking like the living dead.
Posted by Decemberice at 11:09 PM | Comments (1)
July 02, 2008
Every"ting" Crys...
... in Jamaica.
Things are still going pretty well here in Jamaica. I still haven't seen much of the city as I've been primarily back and forth between work and the condo.
My roomie is supposed to arrive next Thursday which will be kind of neat because I have a tendancy to work insane hours when nobody is here to distract me from my laptop. I think it's partially my way of coping with being away from home for extended periods of time by just focussing on the constant. I think another portion of it is that I never get a chance to focus on just one thing when I'm in the office so now that I'm not, I'm taking advantage of this free time in the evenings to knock out all my other obligations.
We got to see a herd of horses bathing in the ocean the other day which was really neat. I think the tide has been a little too strong for them because I haven't seen them since.
Tonight was kinda a special night for me. I've been craving Jack Daniels Steak from TGI Fridays for weeks now and there just so happens to be a TGI Fridays here in Kingston. For the most part I've been sticking to the local food, but tonight I broke down and convinced the group to go to Fridays and I think it was fun for most everybody. I got my JD Steak, we got to be social... it was good in my perception but I have horrible social skill so I'm not quite sure if everybody was having a fun time.
I think the trip is starting to take it's toll on some members of our team. International travel for business, especially in groups like this, is not for everybody. Luckily I'm still having a pretty fun time. I didn't get to go to Ocho Rios with the group because I had to work last weekend so I plan on actually going at some point. It's a very touristy area of Jamaica, but I'd like to see at least one of the touristy spots before I go. Travelling for business always gives you a unique perspective of a country because you don't necessarily go to the resort areas or the tourist attractions, you are usually in the heart of the city. It's great because you get to see what the country is "really" like. You have to seize the opportunity to branch off on your own and explore a little though in some of the more touristy areas if you want to get a full perspective.
Well.. I think that's about it. Hope everything is going well back in the US!
Oh... yeah... the title. So, in a harkening to the early '90's everybody here will say "everyting crys" when things are going well. I vaguely remember it from rap songz early last decade in the states but it seems to be very prominent here. That's my cultural observation of the day LOL.
Posted by Decemberice at 08:00 PM | Comments (1)