Oh Mr President....

Photos at: http://www.globalregulators.com/gallery2/v/usa/washingtonDC/

We decided that it would be nice to break up our time in NY with a little detour to another city. There was a little discussion as to whether it should be Boston, Philadelphia or Washington DC. I’m glad we went for DC, as there was certainly a lot to see and do there. And no, we didn't get to see any famous politians.

To get there, we got stuck into the china town buses – think it cost something like US$30 for a return ticket from NY->DC. The journey takes about 4 hours and compared to trains or planes, this was a pretty damn good choice for value for money. Cheah also joined us in DC, although only for 1 night. Lisa and me stayed for 2 nights so that we could try and see a bit more.

Highlights

1. We arrived pretty much around 4pm, so made it straight down to the mall in the hope of finding Cheah. Luckily, we had about 30p credit left on our phone so were able to message him, and even better meet up with him at Washington memorial. Seeing the sunset over the reflection lakes was definitely pretty special. We also managed to get some choice shots around the Abraham Lincoln memorial.

2. The evening was spent walking around some of the other tributes, heading past 1600 Pennsylvania avenue (the White House) – tried to peer through the fence, but couldn’t see much :(

3. The next day was going to be a full day of sightseeing. First stop was capitol Hill. An extremely high number of school students meant that Cheah would be in his element. They were extremely strict with security in there, as you would expect.

4. Next stop was museum time. We headed to the space/air museum, which was interesting, but I don’t think any of us were really in the mood. We then went our separate ways, with Lisa and me heading to the American History museum. I wish we had more time there as there was a lot to see – we just aimed on focusing on some of the more interesting exhibitions

5. Cheah at this point was continuing on his "visit as many American Colleges in 3 weeks" tour, so he was off to Georgetown. Lisa and me decided it was time to check out the Spy Musuem. Unlike most of the other museums in DC, this one we did have to pay to get in - but it was definitely worth it. Lots of cool stories about spies who have defected/been caught, and a lot of the tricks of the trade were shown to us.

6.With Cheah on a coach back to NY, Lisa and me headed to Les Halles restaurant (of Anthony Bourdaine fame). We had hoped to go to the one in NY, but a Wednesday night in DC, we were able to get a seat without a problem. Must say, that we both absolutely loved our dishes (the duck was supurb!) . Was kind of cool having read (part of) one of his books.

So that ends the brief visit of the US Capital. We did splurge a bit on a hotel staying at a 4 star hotel – which was really nice to be able to put our feet out once back at the hotel. Used www.hotwire.com to get a decent price for the room – the deal is you pick what sort of hotel you want (eg 3 or 4 star, etc) and the location, and you pay. Only after you’ve paid does it tell you where abouts you will be staying. Apparently they can get cheaper room deals that way???

NYC

Photos can be found at: http://www.globalregulators.com/gallery2/NewYork

New York is one crazy city! It was everything that you think its going to be and a whole lot more. It was pretty cool when we arrived on March 17th to be able to check out the St Patrick Day parade down 5th avenue. Catching the red eye flight from Vegas the night before had its pros & cons. Pros - saved on a nights worth of hotel accommadation Cons - we were fitty tired during the day.... which just meant all of us ended up having a nap at various times during the day.

The hotel that we stayed in was down around SOHO - it was called sohotel, which was quite an original name. Kind of tucked away amongst all the dry cleaners and chinese stores (we were pretty much on the edge of china town). About a 5-10 minute walk to several subway choices, so getting around town was pretty easy. We bought ourselves a weekly subway pass (cost about US$20) and that proved to be the main method of transport for us during our week in New York. There was certainly lots of cool clothes stores, and some nice cafes around, so even though the room itself was pretty minimalistic, we all pretty happy with the choice. So, lets get straight into highlights then:

1. friday night - NBA! The Knicks were playing host to the Pistons. Seeing Cheah like an excited little school kid was pretty cool (Pistons are his favourtie team). Seeing the Pistons have 2 players ejected and then the Knicks winning by 2 made it a pretty entertaining game. I think I saw a few weeks later that the knicks had not won a game since that one.

2. Scottie and Emily flew down from Boston, and joined us for the weekend in NY. This was our first time meeting Emily, and everyone got on really well with her so that was pretty cool. It was good to see Salty again after a week away.

3. Seinfeld Tour - so Kenny Kramer still does these tours every saturday. We did book ahead, and it looks like it was sold out, so lucky we got in. I found it pretty cool - mainly the stories that he was telling about knowing Larry David/Jerry/etc... the actual tour itself didn't have much to it with it being 10 years since Seinfeld last aired, pretty much all the 'tourist stops' have closed down or changed names. That, and the show was actually filmed in LA. But we still got photos taken outside of Tom's restaurant with Kramer, along with trying out some of the soup nazi's famours recipies - I had the jamabalaya, and it was awesome! Lisa and me got stuck into the soup again later on in the week (they basically have started off a chain now of these soup stores).

4. Spamalot – our first sample of Broadway. I think it was a unanimous thumbs up as we walked out of this comedy musical. For any that don’t know, spamalot is loosely based on Monty Pythons search for the holy grail. Had a pretty cool cast in it as well (Hank Azaria, that guy out of Fraser).

5. Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island – was very cool to get so close to the statue. Although not as big as you expect it to be, once up close, it really is quite a stunning statue and becomes clear how it can represent so much to so many people. Ellis Island was also a bit of an eye opener, getting to understand exactly what the people migrating to the USA had to go through.

6. Numerous pizza stops – the food in general in NY was awesome. Typical American meals are just way bigger then anywhere else in the world. But that being said, to be able to rock up at 11pm (or 10am for that matter) and get a slice of pizza was a great feeling.

7. The 2nd Friday night, Cheah, Lisa and me headed to the NY Comedy Club (think that’s what it was called). It was free tickets from Kenny Kramers tour (you just had to pay for 2 drinks while in there). Had an awesome night with some pretty talented comedians (a few of them were writers for various tv shows – eg daily show, comedy channel, etc).

So, as you can tell, lots of things to see and do there (other things that we checked out included the United Nations, central park, Harlem, Grenich Village - there was an amazing place that we had breakfast at, rockefeller center - for amazing views, we headed to the top of the rock to see NY at sunset). And there was still quite a bit that we missed out on that could have been quite interesting if more time had been available. Having said that, we were very content with what we saw in the time, and one of the best things was being able to travel with awesome friends.

Vegas, baby!

Photos can be found at http://www.globalregulators.com/gallery2/LasVegas

1. Lisa got to do her first bit of US driving on our way to vegas. Nice wide roads, meant for a fairly easy drive - pit stop at el pollo loco (translation: the crazy chicken). The number of fast food choices was really incomprehensible. Especially since we've been living in the UK for the last 6 months, who seem to have gone the complete opposite way with a lot more sandwich/healthy options available.

2. The Aladdin was our pitstop for this leg of the race. Driving along the strip, we knew we had arrived when just seeing heaps of people out on the streets just drinking away. Didn't manage to see any Elvis impersonators, although later I think I did see one who was off duty in a shopping mall.

3. With only 1 night in Vegas, it was always going to be difficult to try and see as much as possible. Our main goals was to see as many of the big hotels on the strip - each with their own over the top features. eg the indoor canals with gondolas and blue skies inside the Venetian - it seemed to be an ongoing theme with a lot of the hotels with them painting the roofs sky blue with ready made clouds; the colorful water fountain show produced by the Bellagio; the replica of the Eiffel tower inside/outside the Parisian

4. The following day, our flight out to New York wasn't until 11pm (the red eye), so we made the most of a whole day of sight seeing. Original plan was to go and see the Grand Canyon, but no one really had mentioned that it is a 4 hour drive away, which none of us really felt like. So instead it was Hoover Dam - pretty amazing engineering feat, but group decision was that it wasn't worth spending the $10 US to do the tour. The afternoon was then spent at the gun store and then linner (somewhere between lunch and dinner) at one of the many casino's buffets.

5. Now, back to the gun store - I think I can say that for all 6 of us, it was the 1st time any of us had been inside a store like this. Seeing all the employees carrying their handguns visible made it a little bit off putting. Even more so was the range of guns on the wall on offer to try out. Chrisso and Sam went for a handgun each to try out - 50 bullets and a target off their choice. I decided the semi-automatic Berrata was going to be my choice of weapon. Earmuffed and goggled up, we all headed into the firing range, having just signed our lifes away on a disclaimer - I don't even recall having to show any identification. After a quick tutorial by one of the gun-nuts that worked there, away I went. My 20 bullets from a semi-automatic went extremely quickly. Must have been the laser scope that was in the gun that helped me cause my target didn't stand a chance! next came Sam and Chrisso - Seems a handgun has a few more intricacies, and with each carriage only holding 8 bullets or so, several reloads, later they were done. A crazy old british couple joined us briefly in the firing range - they had a machine gun, and the back of the firing range filled up with clouds of dust from the number of bullets being fired into it. We were glad to see them move into their own firing range!

California Love

San Diego (photos can be found at http://www.globalregulators.com/sanDiego)

1. Not quite san diego, but on our way there, we had a change of flight at LA. Our plane from London was slightly delayed, which meant that we had approx 40 minutes to leave one plane and get on another. Different terminals. Going through customs again. Needless to say, Lisa was out of breath, and I was running down the corridor with my pants slipping down, my shoes and belt in my hands. We made the plane, but then as always is the case, it ended up just sitting at the gate for another 15-20 minutes.

2. Getting to meet regulators again! awesome having chrisso and cheah pick Lisa and me up from the airport. Getting used to driving on the other side of the road - awesome rental car that he had by the way... it was a station wagon (think it was a dodge caravan), and could fit 7 people comfortably. Later in the night, we got to see Lev/Della and a walking Kai which was very cool.

3. Although only spending one night here, could definitely see why the hippy has rated the place quite highly. The city had a very cool vibe about it, although perhaps a few too many "awesomes" and "dude" comments made by pretty much everyone we spoke to. I also loved seeing plasmas everywhere showing sports in bars - something that I have missed while being in the UK...

4. The next morning, did the drive along the coast, and had breakfast at a pretty cool restaurant near seal cove. Then visited a few shopping centres - majority had underdressed for what was predicted to be a fairly cold weekend, so we hit fashion valley amongst other joints. Never have I seen such big buildings that are simply just shops. Everything in California just seemed so OTT.

Los Angeles (photos can be found at http://www.globalregulators.com/LosAngeles)

1. The drive to LA from San Diego probably took a bit longer than it should have. But we still had fun. Well at least Cheah and me did, as it was our turn to play navigator/driver, while Chrisso/Lis sat in the back. We also had the good fortune of having veteran LA people with us in Claire (Damian's sister) and ????. Cheah and me managed to make the OC interesting by doing quick stops at several beaches for a few photo ops.

2. So we had no hotel driving into LA, but plenty of choices to choose from. Location was a bit of a debate, but the veterans helped to steer us into the right direction - we ended up staying at Days Inn on sunset blvd. Free wireless, and a room that could hold 6 people meant that we were all pretty happy with the final choice. The boys made the first visit to Hooters at around 11pm. Obligatory photo is present.

3. 2 days in LA didn't seem like long, so we all tried to make the best use of time. We headed to Santa Monica pier which is a pretty cool sight. For a themed restaurant that seems to be doing quite well, definitely go and check out Bubba Gump Shrimp. We were all very happy with the food on offer, and makes such a difference when the staff there are so friendly. with loads of forrest gump quotes plastered around the place how can you go wrong?

4. As we walked towards Venice Beach, there was quite a gathering by the water with several helicoptors swarming above the water. At one stage, I thought someone from the crowd would come running to ask "are any of you marine biologists?". In actual fact, it was a small 3 seater airplane that had crashed - turns out it was an ex tv-host, and they were just recovering the plane as we arrived. To see that amount of rescue personal there was pretty big, and you could tell it was quite a big operation. Venice beach did have a good feel to it, but think it would have attacted a lot more freaks (which I think it is known for) during the warmer months.

5. One night, we headed to the Dresden, which is the bar that Swingers was shot at. Actually was a pretty cool place with a little jazz band playing when we arrived (I think we were there on a monday night, so it was busy but not packed). A late night chilli dog was then the preferred snack to complete the night - we swung past pinkys, which is a apparently a hot spot for celebs getting their late night snack in.

6. walking along Hollywood Blvd, and checking out all the names on offer there (photo ops taken of the stars of David Hasselhof, Hugh Hefner, the Olsen twins and Michael Bolton). Also went and checked out the Kodak theatre, which one week earlier had been the stage for the oscars.

White Wedding

Photos can be found at: http://www.globalregulators.com/gallery/campstevenswedding

Firstly, so glad to see such an amazingly loving and happy couple get together - Damian and Bonnie certainly seem made for each other, and the weekend at the camp was the perfect destination for a beautiful event like this to occur.

So, lets get straight into the highlights from the wedding weekend in San Diego:

1. Chrisso and Scottie singing during open mic night on the Friday night at the camp – pure gold performance (file is aout 3.5mb, and can be downloaded at http://www.globalregulators.com/campstevens.mp3)

2. Ben and James arriving at midnight Friday night to surprise Collins (they flew in from London).

3. Many snow fights to be had on the Saturday and Sunday. Collins had some body boards, and some others had sleds, etc so we were also able to do a whole heap of tobogganing. Having races down the snow, going head first – there was even a drunken late night session on the Saturday night at around 2am.

4. Speeches – Firstly, Judie, and Chrisso/Cheah represented the regulators with some awesome heart felt speeches. Collins dad, and Bonnies Dad going tag team with some funny and very cool speeches.

5. Bonnie and Collins looking absolutely awesome for their ceremony (who ever thought a Hippy could scrub up so good!). Bonnie’s dress was very bohemian (I think that’s the right word??) and the ceremony had a lot of love and closeness to it. Although, seeing Ben with a beer at the back of the crowd also added the reminder that we were at the hippys wedding!

6. Hate to admit it, but the food was pretty damn good all weekend (Collins/bonnie – hats off once again to the awesome cooking staff at camp stevens).

7. All the regulators (those without kids) sleeping in the one camp room. Had a bit of the cruise feel to it, with us all in bunk beds. Scotties already mentioned the little snow incident, so no need to cover that one again. Chris did describe Cheahs reaction as comparable to an egg in a blender.

8. The road trip up to camp stevens. Highlighted with the stop 30 minutes out, with no sign off snow, pulling into an auto store to buy snow chains. A debate then raged as to whether we would need chains or not. We were in a bit of disbelief that there would even be any snow. Who believes what locals have to say, right? In the end, we made it to/from camp stevens without chains, although we did end up buying them.

9. Cheah lighting it up on the dance floor while simultaneously being appalled at the lack of dance ability of the girls he was trying to pickup (Poppa Bear: "If you want to know how to blow a sure thing, just ask me.")

10. The inauguration of the Bear Council (http://bearcouncil.blogspot.com). A system by where every regulator had a name of the format "some adjective" - Bear. For examplePoppa Bear (Cheah), Pooh Bear (A-Mac), Judgment Bear (Judie) and ML Bear(Chrisso).

11. Judgment Bear (Lis') making social commentary on the sexual orientation of hippy camp councilors.

12. Us ditching Chrisso at the reception with 'the Smurf' (a petite younglassie in a very blue dress) who then went on to make her amorous intentions clear, forcing Chrisso to literally run away when she went to change a CD.