Columbia Wegmans Update

Today, I visited the new Columbia Wegmans store to claim some freebies and see what else they had. Freebie wise, if you sign up for the store's shoppers club card, you'll get a reusable Wegmans shopping bag and an 8 ounce bottle of their brand basting oil free. All you have to is print the coupon and present it at check out. Another freebie I got was a dozen large grade AA eggs. I got these using a week 1 coupon I'd received from Wegmans. There are 2 conditions on getting the free eggs. You had to have a shoppers club card and, you had to spend $10 or more. In regards to the shoppers club card, you get the card on-line or at the store. I ordered mine on-line and, it took less than a week for it to arrive in the mail.

Concerning what other things I saw at the store, I got to check out more of the fresh food bars now that it wasn't wall to wall people like it was opening day. A couple interesting bars I noticed were the soup bar and vegetarian bar. The soup bar offered an impressive 6 fresh soups to choose from. I can't list them as I didn't write them down. The vegetarian bar should please vegetarians and looked well stocked. Also, they have an Asian bar that offers fresh hot Asian food like egg rolls and dim sum.

One kudo I want to give the store while I remember was its concern for customers and the heat. Today, it was at least 95F outside. In that kind of heat, it's easy to get dehydrated. The store in response offered free cups and free cold water so customers could re-hydrate. This was a very nice gesture on their part.

Another neat section of the store is their bulk candies section. They offer a good choice of various candies customers can bag and weight themselves. Some of the candies offered included Jelly Belly jellybeans, Ice Cube chocolate squares, Bit-o-honeys, spearmint leaves and orange slices. Some of the items brought back childhood memories of some of the candies I enjoyed as a kid.

Another section of note was the cheese section which looks like it offers an impressive selection of cheeses from all over the world. I can't tell you how well they stack up price wise as I'm not a big cheese eater.

Overall, I had another nice visit at the Columbia Wegmans. I found they offered good prices on items, gave good service, run a well stocked and clean store and have plenty of parking. This is a store worth giving a look. Happy shopping all!

Costco Rogaine Coupon

Recently, Costco Wholesale came out with its latest batch of coupons. 1 particular coupon caught my eye. Costco has a coupon that'll get you $10 off a 4 month supply of Rogaine foam. Rogaine is one of the treatments you can take to stop hair loss and possibly get new hair growth. I started using it when I bought a Bosley Professional Strength for Men package which included Rogaine. I don't care to mess with the Rogaine liquid. I prefer the foam as it's easier to work into the scalp. Costco's $10 coupon will knock the price of the Rogaine foam down 1/5th to $39.83 (today's price at Arundel Mills Costco was $49.83 per package). There is a limit of two 4 month packages. The coupon is good from 14 June to 8 July. If you didn't receive the coupon through the mail with the others, you can request a book of coupons at your Costco. Considering the regular price of Rogaine foam, this is one Costco offer worth using if you use Rogaine or are interested in using it. It will save you a bit of cash. Happy shopping all!

Please note this offer has expired. However, Costco has since come out with its own 5% Minoxidil foam which presumably is just like the Rogaine foam. Rogaine's patent has expired enabling Costco to do that. I'll post a blog in the future on what Costco's Minoxidil foam costs in comparison to Rogaine.

Prince Caspian Review

Yesterday, I finally got around to watching my Prince Caspian DVD. I very much enjoyed The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and had looked forward to watching Prince Caspian. I found myself somewhat disappointed with the movie. Supposedly, they tried to make it darker and less religious. I think they succeeded there though I don't think that helped the movie. At times, it seemed absurd how whipped the Narnians would be and then, we're to believe they some how rally one more time. Also, Prince Caspian played by Ben Barnes seems a bit of a nitwit at times screwing on Peter Pevensie's plan to attack his treacherous uncle's castle though Barnes did look the part of handsome noble prince. One interesting take the director Andrew Adamson did with the movie was make the Telmarines very Spanish. I think you can see in them shades of the Spanish Conquistadors who were equally treacherous. Adamson increased the number of special effects in the movie vice the previous movie The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe but, he did a good job of not letting them overwhelm the movie. One particularly delightful character in the movie was Reepicheep, the swashbuckling mouse.

Overall, Prince Caspian is a nice movie though I don't think it is as good as The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. I would recommend for those who want to understand some points better like how the Telmarines took over Narnia to read the book. I look forward to checking out the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Stay tuned for a review on that. Happy movie watching all.

New Wegmans Opens

Today, a new Wegmans opened in Columbia, Maryland. I decided to check it out as I've never shopped at a Wegmans. The first thing I noticed and appreciated was the bi-level parking. The store needed it with the crowds that showed up for its opening day. Thankfully too, they had plenty of employees directing traffic to the different parts of the 2 lots. The second thing I noticed the was the large size of the store. The store has 2 levels with a food court on the second level and, the main shopping aisles on the first level. Third were the extensive hot food sections such as hot fresh veggies or soup. Also, they have good size sushi, fresh fish and cheese sections. Fourth, for those who care, they had an extensive organic food selection and gluten free production selection. Fifth, they offer a wide range of Wegmans brand products which presumably will be cheaper than the name brands. I'm looking forward to see how their root beer stacks up taste wise though the price was very nice at 79 cents for a 2 liter bottle. I would recommend you get their shopper's card as this can save you some money there. I got a nice deal on Rosemary and Olive Oil Triscuits thanks to this (two 9 ounces boxes for $4). You can order it on-line at wegmans.com/columbia or get one at the store. If you want to take advantage of some of the card savings immediately, the cashier has a generic savings card they can swipe for you. I ordered my card last week. We'll see how long it takes to reach me.

Overall, I was impressed with the store. I did find they sold some high end food items like fresh Dover sole for $23 or $24 (too pricey for me thanks) but, they had more affordable stuff which will make it worth my whiled to shop there. If you're any where in the Columbia, Maryland area, you should give this store a visit. I think it'll impress you and your wallet/purse. Happy shopping!

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

One of the ways airlines help passengers whittle the time away on long flights is movies. Such was my case on my Air Canada flight from Toronto to Tel Aviv. I looked through the airplane's movie selection (it was quite extensive) and chanced upon Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. The reviews I'd read on Rotten Tomatoes (www.rottentomatoes.com) said the movie was very good and grittier than the previous Mission Impossible movies. As I've never seen of the Mission Impossible movies, I couldn't say how it stacked up to the other ones. I did find the movie very good. The story line was easy enough to follow with the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) getting the blame for an explosion at the Kremlin and, Cruise's team having to go rogue in order to prove the Force's innocence. The movie moves along very well traveling to various exotic locations with plenty of action along the way. I doubt anyone watching this action thriller would get bored with it. Some of the action sequences were pretty incredible including Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) climbing the Burj Khalifa building in Dubai. The movie also showed some humor at times such as the time one of Hunt's faulty climbing gloves comes back to taunt him as he tries to climb the Khalifa building. Cruise is well supported by the other members of his team Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner and Paula Patton who play Benji Dunn, William Brandt and Jane Carter respectively. Special mention has to go to Paula Patton who does a great job of playing a beautiful seductress at times and at other times, one bad ass butt kicking babe. I wouldn't want to get on her bad side.

Overall, the movie was a very nice action packed fast moving movie with plenty of surprises leaving you wondering till the end how the team will pull off its mission. The movie ends with Cruise accepting another mission from the IMF. Considering that the movie was the highest grossing Mission Impossible movie of the 4 (as well as the 5th highest grossing movie of 2011), I think it's very likely we'll see Cruise in action again in another Mission Impossible movie. Happy viewing all.

New Peter Jackson Production Video Out

If you haven't heard already, Peter Jackson released production video number 7 for his Hobbit movies. You can find it on Facebook. This video is interesting in that it takes you all over the Stone Street Studios where so much of the movies are shot on set. You'll see the costumes department, scripts department, the trailers where the actors and actresses live in during the shooting, prosthetics, where Alan Lee and John Howe work, the sound studio and the behind scene folks that are so crucial to making the movies happen. They are the unsung heroes who might get a mention in the film credits at the end of the movie that no one watches. The video is an absolute delight as all the previous ones have been. Also, it has a very nice surprise for Orlando Bloom fans at the end. Definitely check out this video if you haven't seen it already. Here's the link to the Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151028043926807&utm_source=Weta+News&utm_campaign=bef38f7cc8-8_June_2012&utm_medium=email

I hope the link works. Happy viewing all!

New Maryland Casino To Open Tonight

Maryland's newest casino will open tonight at 10 p.m. The casino is called Maryland Live! It's located just across from the Arundel Mills Mall in Hanover, Maryland. According to the Maryland Lottery website, the casino will be allowed to operate its phase I operation starting tonight. The site doesn't explain what phase I entails. The website stated the new casino will feature 4,750 slot machines (that's a LOT of slots!) and electronic gaming tables when fully open. To me, this implies that the casino might not be fully operational. That would jive with the saying it completed phase I whatever that is. I've seen the casino from the outside and, it looks all right as well as having its own parking.

For me personally, I'm glad it'll create jobs (God knows those are hard enough to come by now a days) but, I don't like it being so close to the mall. When they were talking about building the thing, I got the impression it was going to a good distance from the mall. It isn't. Also, I don't think having another casino will really help things in Maryland though apparently the politicians feel differently. I know I don't plan on ever visiting it myself. Still, to all you gamblers out there, this should be good news. It's another place to lose your money at. Enjoy. Cheers all!

Procedures at Terminal 2 Amman International Airport

I thought I'd post what you can expect at Amman International Airport's Terminal 2. Things are different there from what I was used to in the United States.

First, you pass through your first security screen upon entering the airport unlike U.S. airports where you would check-in at your appropriate airline.

Second, you then check-in with your appropriate airline. In my case, it was with the German airline Lufthansa who code shares with Air Canada, the the airline I was flying.

Third, after checking in, you go through Jordanian customs. Here, you'll get your passport stamped and, they'll make sure you have a boarding pass.

Fourth, you take an escalator up to the top floor where you'll find the Duty Free shop, restaurants (KFC, Pizza Hut, etc) and news stands. This is the main waiting area for your flight. They won't allow you to the gate till your within an hour or so of your flight. Also, there isn't any shops by the gates so, you better get any drink, food or paper here before passing through the 2nd security screening.

Fifth, to my surprise, there is a 2nd security screening. I guess the Jordanian officials really want to make sure you're not carrying anything nasty so they check you twice. After you pass through, you can walk to your appropriate gate where there is a small waiting area and access to bathrooms. There isn't anything else. There are electronic signs at this screening that will tell you the status of the flights in the gates it covers. Mine covered gates 10, 11 and 12.

Sixth, an airline employee will announce at your gate when they'll start boarding and who gets to go first usually First Class and Business Class passengers as well as those belonging to their frequent flier program. When boarding commences, you'll show your boarding pass and passport and board your flight.

Mark of Athena Chapter 1 Released

I decided to check on Rick Riordan's webpage www.rickriordan.com to see if there was any word on his future book Mark of Athena. It's the latest of the Lost Heroes series and ties in with the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. To my delight, I found out Disney released the first chapter of the book and its new cover. The cover doesn't wow me but, the chapter was a delightful read. We get to see things from the Greek side as the Argos II arrives in the Roman camp. Riordan in his Son of Neptune book showed us things from the Roman side with Percy doing his best to keep the Romans from attacking the ship at the very end of the book. The chapter will give a small fix to hooked readers who will have to wait until October 2nd for the Mark of Athena book to come out. That will be one book I'll be waiting for so I can experience more of Riordan's surprises, interesting takes on the Greek and Roman gods and his funny sense of humor. The cover and chapter can be found at: HeroesofOlympus.com. Happy Reading all!

Crossing from Israel to Jordan on Allenby Bridge

Yesterday, the moment I dreaded finally happened. I left the Dan Panorama in Tel Aviv with 6 others, we drove to Jerusalem where we picked 10 more people then, our bus driver to us to the Israeli checkpoint you hit before the bridge and then on to the Israeli border crossing station. The station is where you pay the Israeli departure tax and get your departure stamp from Israeli customs in your passport. I found out you pay the departure tax at a currency exchange window which means they accept a lot of currencies in payment. It isn't critical you have Israeli shekels. After you pay the tax, the lady gives you a receipt and a small bar code stamp. Then, you get in line for Israeli customs who check your passport and make sure you paid the tax. Next up, you give the bar code stamp thing to another Israeli official who scans it in. Then, you're done with the Israeli side.

At the point, you would catch a bus shuttle to take you across the bridge. I don't know if there's a charge or not for the shuttle. In my case, Globus to my extreme delight had their Jordanian branch send a bus for us. I was so delighted to see that bus. The bridge itself was nothing to get excited about though it is historic in that the great British General Allenby who defeated the Turks in World War I around Megiddo had a bridge built there. You go over the bridge and, you're in Jordan. You drive to the Jordanian customs office where you have to get your passport checked by them. There isn't any entry fee to get into Jordan. I guess the passport is enough. Once you clear there, you're good to go. You can make your way to some Jordanian Dead Sea resorts and head for Petra like we did. Jordan is something with stark desolate lands and surprisingly nice people. I just wish I could a little Arabic. Not everyone speaks English here. Thankfully, my tour director speaks it superbly. Stay tuned for more posts.

Israeli ATMs

By all accounts, the place to get the best exchange rate in a foreign country is from an automatic teller machine (ATM). Thankfully, Israel doesn't lack for these though they do have some peculiarities that I thought I'd mention. First, I've found there will be usually 2 of the machines at the various banks. I don't know why they have 2 of them. Second, for some reason, my ATM card won't work in 1 of the machines. Thankfully, it always works in the other so if the first ATM you use doesn't work, try the second. Third, ATM fees in Israel are pretty reasonable. My first ATM withdrawal was for 200 shekels (approximately $50 U.S.) which cost me $1.42 U.S. Fourth, one drawback to the Israeli ATMs is the receipt you'll get back if you ask for one which I would recommend (makes it easier to keep track of your withdrawals). The receipt is entirely in Hebrew. Hebrew is a language that isn't remotely close to English. You can't remotely guess what the words mean and, it's written right to left vice left to right in English. This means you won't be able to figure out what your receipt says barring the amount you withdrew and the date/time of the transaction.

Overall, I'd recommend if you're traveling to Israel to use ATMs to get shekels vice foreign exchange service. The ATM fees are reasonable, ATMs are widely available in Israel as far as I know and, they offer very good exchange rates. Happy travels all!

Further Observations on Israel

These comments are various observations on things I've seen and experienced on my tour of Israel so far.

In the United States, you'll see lots of critters that are called squirrels. Israel's squirrels are cats apparently. They're every where. I've never seen so many. I suppose they are helpful in that they undoubtedly keep the rodent population down. Still, it is a trip to see so many.

Local country beers can be little better than piss water at times. One country I didn't expect to have a good beer was Israel. It isn't known for making a good brew. So, it was to my great surprise when I tried a large glass of Goldstar at the Kibbutz Lavi Hotel that it is a pretty good lager. I've had it 3 times now and, I wish I could get the stuff in the U.S. It is good beer.

For reasons I don't understand, Israelis won't serve meet with dairy products like cheese (fish is apparently not considered meat and is available in abundance) for breakfast. I've had 5 or 6 breakfasts in Israel and haven't seen hide or hair of a sausage or some bacon for breakfast. It made me wondered if they ate much meat here then, I had dinner at the Dan Carmel hotel in Haifa and, I found out Israelis do eat meat. There was chicken, stuffed eggplant and lamb. So, I guess there's something about breakfast.

In Jerusalem, they put on a great sound and light show at the Tower of David (hope that's the right place). It tells of the history of Jerusalem from David's time to modern times. I went to the show last night and, it was very good. I'd highly recommend it.

That's all for now. Happy travels all!

Tour Report on Israel

My tour of Israel continues. Yesterday, my tour group started in Galilee, visited the Shrine of the Beatitudes, the nine blessings Jesus preached of to people on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. After that, we drove to the close by Church of Peter's Primacy where Jesus commanded Peter to feed his sheep. It was also the site of his feeding 5,000 miracle. Then, to the ruins of Capernaum and the church that is built over the ruins of Peter and Andrew's home. Supposedly, it is the only church with a glass floor. The Jordan River is very famous though to honest, it isn't a very impressive river. It isn't terribly wide or deep. Still, it is the river John the Baptist baptized Jesus in. We visited a site that specializes in baptisms and makes it easy to get to the river. Supposedly mega-churches have baptized huge groups of people there. I wasn't super wiped out with the place though I did touch the water and my friend Harvey took a small bottle of it to take home. Bet She'an was next with a very interesting visit to the former Roman city. The city was the third largest Roman city in its time (Jerusalem was 1st and Caesarea was 2nd). Our group walked down the main street in town which showed the superb Roman engineering. The Roman's built the street with sloping sides that sloped up to a row of stones in the center of road. This helped carry water away when it rained. The city also hold some neat mosaics including one of the Goddess Tyche, the goddess of luck in a prostitution house. One last thing of note about Bet She'an is the tel located right next to the ruins of the city. The tel is over 7,000 years old and may hold all kinds on interesting archaeological finds but, apparently lack of funds has prevented any excavation though there has been funding for excavating the Roman city. Every thing our group saw was uncovered in the last 2 decades.

Our final destination of the day was the holy city of Jerusalem. For me, it'll be something to say I've been there. I wish the city still had a Hard Rock Cafe so I could buy a t-shirt and brag about to folks back home. We stopped at a place on the Mount of Olives that overlooked the old city. The views were awesome. It was something to see the walls built by Suleiman the Magnificent, the Al Aqsa Mosque (from a distance) and other points of interest. My tour director Jacob pointed many places we would visit today during a walk through the old city.

After our photo op, Asher our driver drove us to our hotel the Leonardo Plaza. It's a very nice hotel in a good location. We'll spend a total of 5 nights here. Stay tuned for more updates on my Israel tour.

Enchantment of the Seas Re-positioning

I think I posted recently that I didn't know where Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas was going to go once Grandeur of the Seas took its place in Baltimore, Maryland in April 2013. This morning, I received an email from Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor Society (their frequent cruiser program). As luck would have it, they let people know what new cruises will be available on the Enchantment of the Seas. On April 13, 2013, Enchantment of the Seas will do a special 12 day cruise where it departs Baltimore and makes port at Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Basseterre, St. Kitts; Oranjestad, Aruba; Willemstad, Curacao and Labadee, Haiti. At the end of the cruise, it'll arrive at its new home port of Port Canaveral, Florida. Once it arrives there, it'll do 3 and 4 day cruises to the Bahamas. Presumably, later in the year, it'll receive its refit though I haven't seen any word on that yet. That's the latest (for what its worth) per Royal Caribbean on the Enchantment of the Seas (Source: Royal Caribbean website). Happy travels all!

New Ship in Baltimore in 2013

About 3 weeks ago, Royal Caribbean posted its 2013-2014 cruises for Baltimore, Maryland. The information that surprised me about the posting was the changing of the ship they home port in Baltimore. Currently, it's Enchantment of the Seas. This will change in April 2013 when another Vision Class ship the Grandeur of the Seas will take over their cruises out of Baltimore. At this time, I know nothing about this ship barring the fact it's the same class as Enchantment of the Seas. Presumably, once Grandeur of the Seas takes over, Enchantment of the Seas will be free to get a refit. Royal Caribbean was planning to refit the ship sometime in 2012 or 2013 (source their website). Nothing specific has been announced about that as far as I know. Currently, Royal Caribbean isn't showing any further cruises for Enchantment of the Seas on its website http://www.royalcaribbean.com once it finishes its last cruise out of Baltimore. At this time, Grandeur of the Seas is running cruises out of Venice, Italy. In November 2012, it'll cross the Atlantic Ocean en-route to the Caribbean where it'll offer cruises Caribbean cruises out of Colon, Panama (source: Royal Caribbean website) until it re-positions to Baltimore in April 2013.

Kibbutz

Yesterday, I got to find out what a kibbutz is. As of this post, I'm staying at the Kibbutz Lavi Hotel which is run by a kibbutz. Globus, the company I'm touring Israel and Jordan with, booked our group in this hotel so we could learn about kibbutz which is a uniquely Israeli institution. The hotel kindly had a member named Esther (last name unknown) who spoke very fine English to tell those in our group who were interested what kibbutz is and how it works. As I understand it, kibbutz in a nutshell is socialism at the village level. Every one contributes to the kibbutz financial well being through various jobs in the kibbutz. The kibbutz in turn provides for all its members basic needs such as food, clothing, medical, housing, utilities etc. All who take part in kibbutz in Israel are Jewish and Zionist. There a very few non Jewish members. The kibbutz that runs the hotel is a bit unique among kibbutz in that it is orthodox (more devout). Approximately, 20 out of over 250 kibbutz's are orthodox. According to Esther, the Jewish religion is very family oriented and, this makes kibbutz very attractive to Jewish (there are Arab) Israelis as a kibbutz is basically one very big (there are 190 families involved in the hotel's kibbutz) family. The kibbutz is very democratic. The kibbutz is run by various committees (there isn't 1 set leader) whose members are elected by the entire kibbutz membership. I think Esther said there are 32 different committees running the different aspects of their kibbutz. Some of the committees are surprising such as one that decides if a new committee is needed to cover a particular issue or if a present committee can handle the issue. Another handles relationships and can give money to a member so they can court a future wife or husband. In my opinion, the biggest advantage of a kibbutz is the security you have. You have a huge extended family who watches out for you and, it takes care of your basic needs at all stages of your life. A downside I can see is that you wouldn't make enough money to do some expensive things you might really enjoy such as travel in my case. According to my tour director Jacob, the kibbutz may be dying out in Israel. Esther confirmed that there haven't been any new kibbutz's created in quite a while. So, this uniquely Israeli institution may be slowly dying out. It was interesting to learn of it during my tour.

First Impressions of Israel

I arrived at Ben Gurion International Airport today for the first time. A Globus rep met my travel friend and I there and arranged to have a taxi take us to our hotel. I looked out the taxi window the whole time to see what Israel looked like. Some parts look fertile while others are dirty and graffiti laden. I was surprised by how many scooters there are in this country. Later this evening, I had dinner at a restaurant within the former Jaffa train station complex. It was neat. Outside the complex there was a good size parking lot AND at least 15 scooters. I've seen someone zipping by on one repeatedly. Price wise, the country isn't cheap. I had a large Tuborg draft beer at the hotel bar and, it cost over $7. I was surprised that the local brews Maccabee and Goldstar were just as expensive as the imported brands.

That's all of my first impressions for now. Tomorrow, I get to meet my tour director and the other members of my tour group. I'm curious how many there'll be. The tour as far as I know is fully booked. Also, plan to try out the  hotel swimming pool. It looks really nice. And, I need to find out where I can buy postage stamps to mail postcards back to the U.S. Stay tuned for more observations on Israel. Happy travels all!!!!!

Toronto Pearson International Airport

I made it to Toronto. I arrived at Toronto's Pearson International Airport around 3:45 p.m. My flight was on Air Canada Jazz. The plane was a Bombardier Dash 8-100. It was a nice little plane. Once I arrived in Toronto, I had a long walk to customs. Apparently, if you're changing flights internationally, you can't go from one flight to another. I arrived at gate F85 got to a point where you would descend down escalators to get to customs where I saw a different customs section if you were going to E gates. As I was going to gate E70, I was a bit confused by this. I got in the line for the E gate customs folks and, it turned out that was the way to go. I discovered one BIG plus to the airport. They offer free WiFi. I was delighted. Some airports charge for it which creates a bit of a hassle. Overall, Toronto's Pearson International Airport seems like a nice airport. Stay tuned for more travel posts. Tomorrow, I arrive in Tel Aviv, Israel. Happy travels all!

Sakura Japanese Steak and Seafood House

It's been at least 2 years since I last visited the Laurel Sakura Japanese Steak and Seafood House. It isn't that I don't like the restaurant. It's just that I'd been cutting back on eating out. With my travel friend Harvey coming up for our flights to Toronto, Canada, I recommended the restaurant as something good and different for dinner. The drive to the restaurant is easy enough. You take Maryland 295 to the Maryland 197 exit toward Laurel. You drive to Contee Road and turn left onto Contee Road. You got to the 3rd stoplight (where Route 1, Baltimore Washington Boulevard is) and turn left heading toward Washington D.C. The restaurant is on the left side of the road just before the Academy Ford car dealership.

The restaurant is one of those Japanese restaurants where the cook puts on a show while preparing the food. He juggles eggs with his spatula, makes a smoking volcano out of onion rings, cracks jokes and basically entertains the customers while preparing their respective orders. It makes for an amusing and more enjoyable dining experience.

The prices are very reasonable in my opinion. I had Teppanyaki steak and shrimp for $21.95. My unlimited sodas cost $2.15. A choice of 1 starter (chicken livers, sauteed mushrooms or 2 shrimps), a bowl of some kind of very good onion soup, a salad with an unidentifiable salad dressing, vegetables (broccoli, onions, carrots, squash, bean sprouts), and either white rice or fried rice come with the main entree. If you go to the Sakura website http://sakurasteakhouse.com/, you'll find coupons that could save you an additional 10%. Hours wise, the Laurel restaurant starts serving dinner at 4:30 p.m. I don't remember how late it stays open. Also, they have lunch hours. I don't know what those are.

Overall, I was very pleased with my dinner at this Sakura restaurant. The food was plentiful and tasty. The cook was very amusing and skilled. My waiter did a great job of keeping my glass filled with soda and was very prompt in serving my appetizer, soup and salad (depending on the rice you want, the cook may provide that i.e. fried rice). I would heartily recommend this restaurant to anyone who likes Japanese food. I definitely plan on going back myself. Bon Appetit all!

Adventure of the Seas 2013 Caribbean Cruises

Royal Caribbean released the 2013 Caribbean cruises for its Adventure of the Seas ship. I remember this ship as it was the first cruise ship I ever sailed on. It's a Voyager class ship and, it is incredible. I remember checking out the ice skating rink on board which boggled my mind. It seemed unreal to be ice skating in the middle of the Caribbean. Another interesting feature of the ship is its Royal Promenade. It's effectively a mini-street inside the ship lined with shops, a pub, a pizza restaurant with a separate bar that sold Ben & Jerry's ice cream, the excursions desk and customer relations. It was really neat.

One itinerary that I would recommend to any readers I have out there is the one sailing from mid-December to early April. The itinerary sails to St. Croix, St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados then returns to San Juan, Puerto Rico. I did this itinerary in the opposite order in November 2011. It was great. This itinerary allows you to see lots of islands and minimize your time on the boat. I don't know about others out there but, I don't go cruising to spend time on the boat. I go cruising because, I think it's the best way to see certain places and, it does have a mystique to it. Cruising in my opinion is the best way to see the Caribbean Islands and the Greek Islands. Also, it's a wonderful way to see some of Alaska. Concerning the mystique, I think it's hard to match the incredible views as you sail out of San Juan or Vancouver, Canada. I can't wait to watch when I sail out of Venice, Italy in November this year.

If you want a really good Caribbean cruise, the St. Croix to Barbados cruise is an excellent choice. For those who feel a week cruising isn't long enough, the Adventure of the Seas does on alternating weeks, the other cruise I did in November 2011 i.e. St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Aruba and Curacao. While this itinerary isn't as good as the St. Croix to Barbados one in my opinion, it's still decent. While in St. Thomas, Royal Caribbean offers an excursion to St. John which I did and offers some gorgeous beaches including Trunk Bay which is rated as one of the top 10 beaches in the world. I got to see it in November and, it is stunning. If a week isn't long enough, you can do back-to-back cruises. I had a blast doing this and felt like Serenade of the Seas was my ship after 2 blessed weeks of sailing. I can't wait to do it again this time on Splendour of the Seas in November. Happy Travels All!

Steamed Salmon

I decided to try my Aroma Professional Rice Cooker/Food Steamer on some of the Alaskan salmon I caught last year during my 7 day Alaska cruise with Royal Caribbean. It's the easiest way I know of to cook salmon. You fill the pot pan of the cooker/steamer with enough water for steaming food, put the salmon fillet in the steam tray, close the top of the cooker/steamer (make sure you hear it click to ensure it's locked), you press the steam/cook button and then press it repeatedly till get you 15 for 15 minutes (minimum time to cook fish) and then, it cooks the salmon. The cooker/steamer will beep when it's finished cooking and automatically go into warm mode.

I decided to be on the safe side so I steamed cooked my salmon fillet for 20 minutes. It came out fine. It was neat to get eat some salmon that I caught myself. It brought back memories of my fishing trip out of Knudsen Cove which isn't far from Ketchikan, Alaska. The scenery was stunning and, it was the first time I'd ever tried fishing for salmon. Luck was with me and, I ended up catching a 20 pound King salmon. It was huge. When we got back to the pier, I got a picture taken of my catch and then, I turned it over to a local company that would fillet the fish and flash freeze it. After that, they held it until I was back in Maryland. Once I'd returned home, they shipped the well packed frozen salmon Federal Express so it arrived the next day. It arrived fine and, I promptly stuck the fillets in the freezer. A couple days ago, I decided to finally try some of my salmon. My Aroma cooker/steamer seemed the easiest way to prepare it and, it was. Now, I'll have to get a little more daring and try cooking my next fillet with some butter and herbs. We'll see on that. Bon Appetit all!

MyGlobus Website

I don't know if I've previously mentioned Globus's relatively new website where folks traveling with them can book optional excursions in advance. The website is: https://my.globusjourneys.com/. The service is like the service cruise ship lines offer. You can book and pay in advance various optional excursions that Globus will be offering on your tour with them. Example: on my tour (Journey Through The Holy Land With Jordan), Globus will be offering an excursion called Roman Race Show at the Dead Sea. I believe it's where you sit in a real Roman amphitheater and watch a Roman chariot race as well as fake gladiatorial combats. It should be pretty neat. The MyGlobus website enables me to pay for this excursion in advance so, I don't have a charge bill after I return from my tour. It can be nice in that way.

However, there are some drawbacks to Globus's program. For starters, you must book and pay for any excursions you want to take on this website by 10 days before your tour. Also, should you realize you need to cancel, you must cancel by 10 days before your tour. Otherwise, you won't get any of your money back. Lastly, should you decide while on tour you don't want to do the excursion, you can't cancel and get a refund. The only way you'll only get a refund at that time is if the excursion cancels for some reason.

Should you decide to pre-book on the MyGlobus website, Globus advises you to print a copy of your receipt. Your tour director should know what excursions you'll have paid for but, it doesn't hurt to have a copy proving you booked and paid for them. Also, not all excursions listed on the MyGlobus website may be able to be pre-booked. I had this happen with my tour. The website lists a tour called Little Petra but for unknown reasons, it wouldn't let me book it. Depending on availability, I may be able to book it during the tour.

If you decide you don't want to book excursions with the MyGlobus website, you'll still be able depending on availability to book excursions with the tour director during the tour. There are 2 real advantages to booking on the website. First, you're able to pay in advance for more of things you'll do on the trip so you avoid having to carry the cash to pay for them or a nasty charge card bill when you get home. Second, you are guaranteed a place on the excursion. I don't remember any excursions I've been on with Globus that have sold out but, it doesn't hurt to have your name on the list. However, you should be certain that you want to do the excursion. If you're in doubt, I'd recommend you hold off till you're on your tour. That way, you won't lose any money if you decide you don't want to do the excursion. Happy Travels All!

Hard Rock Cafe's All Access to End

If you haven't heard, Hard Rock Cafe has decided to end it's All Access Membership. Members of their All Access program have until September 30, 2012 to use any rewards they've earned with the program. After that, any remaining rewards will be lost. Per an email I received from Hard Rock Cafe and their website http://www.hardrock.com/, Hard Rock Cafe plans to come out an unnamed new loyalty program some time in the future. Existing members of the All Access program with be given the VIP tier for the first year. The email I received didn't explain what that was. Presumably, I'll find out when they announce the new loyalty program and how it works.

I'm saddened to see Hard Rock Cafe get rid of it's All Access program. I think it's a nice program and, I enjoyed earning rewards with it. Some times I ate at their restaurants just so I could add to my reward total. Also, I liked getting the 10% discount at non-corporate restaurants. This saved me some money at various overseas (non-U.S.) restaurants. Lastly, the priority seating was nice. I'm curious to see what new program Hard Rock Cafe comes up with. We'll see.

Provence A to Z

One author I've very much enjoyed is Peter Mayle. I remember reading his first big hit book wise, A Year in Provence and, I've been a fan of his ever since. The latest book of his that I've been enjoying for months is called Provence A to Z. Unlike other books Mayle has put out, this book isn't a novel. It's a collection of a number of short stories Mayle has written on Provence about all sorts of topics ranging from the Chateau D'If and how it came about to olive oil and Provencal language. The stories are at times funny and sometimes informative. I learned from his short story on olive oil how they determine if it's extra virgin grade, fine virgin grade or just virgin olive oil. The stories continue to highlight some of the characters in Provence such as the security expert Jacky who told Mayle of some of the enterprising thieves in Provence. Provence has a number of summer homes which for most of the year are vacant which makes them very easy prey for thieves. Mayle tells how enterprising thieves have stolen entire kitchens, iron gates and even olive trees! On the humorous side, Mayle tells of a man who is caught poaching another man's truffles. The poacher had his wife along and agrees to leave her as hostage until he returns with money to pay the man who's truffles he'd been poaching. In a twist, the poacher never returns to claim his (we suspect) very pissed off wife.

Overall, the book is a delight to read. Mayle clearly loves Provence and, it shows in his wonderful stories. The book also has some nice illustrations that nicely complement the various stories. I would heartily recommend this book to any who like France and in particular Provence. It's a delightful read. Happy reading all!

Globus Travel Documents

I received my Globus travel documents this Monday. The documents are very important as they tell me exactly what Globus will provide during the tour. They list what meals, excursions and hotels are included in the tour price. They are a legal document that Globus is bound to honor. If a particular item isn't in the documents, Globus doesn't have to provide it. That is why it is very important to review the documents for any errors. If you find any, you need to contact the person or agency you booked the tour with immediately to get the error corrected. In my case, I pre-paid for 3 optional excursions on the tour. I saw the documents didn't show this. I contacted my travel agent and, he told me to print a copy of the excursion receipt so I can show the Globus tour director that I did pay for the excursions and if they're cancelled, I'll be due a refund. The documents are important too in that they tell you where you'll be on a certain date. This is important in case anyone needs to reach you. If you send them a copy of the documents, they'll know what hotel you'll be staying at so they can reach you there. Lastly, the documents show what airport transfers and an extra nights you may have booked. The transfers are important because they tell you if someone from Globus will be there to meet you or if you're on your own to get to your hotel. The extra nights are important as these are vouchers that you'll give to your hotel so Globus will pay them. Also, it confirms your extra hotel reservations. I'll be staying an extra night in Tel Aviv, Israel at the beginning of the tour so I can recover from the long travel time. I'll be traveling around 23 hours from the time I arrive at Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWIA) to catch my connection to Toronto, Canada and fly on to Tel Aviv. I haven't forgotten the time I fly from BWIA to Newark International and on to Copenhagen. I had to try to stay up the whole day till 4:30 in the afternoon when we had our first tour meeting. By the time the meeting happened, I was dead beat tired and actually fell asleep repeatedly during the meeting. Because of this, when I did my tour/river cruise of Egypt, I went a day early and, it worked out really well. When the tour kicked off in Egypt, I was well rested and ready to start seeing the wonders of the country. It should be the same with my trip to Israel and Jordan. If you're going to be traveling a long time to go on a Globus tour, I'd strongly recommend you book an extra pre-tour night so, you'll be in good shape when the tour kicks off. That way, you won't miss anything at the first group meeting. Cheers all.

Jordanian Single Visit Visa

Yesterday, to my delight, I received my passport back from the Washington D.C. Jordanian consulate. Inside was my new single visit visa. Mega kudos to the consulate for processing my visa application so quickly. I was anxious to get my passport back. I've paid over $5,000 for my upcoming trip to Israel and Jordan. If I don't have my passport, I'm not going any where. The visa itself is a combination of a 2 different stamp impressions and 2 stickers. One stamp impression tells what kind of visa it is, the date it becomes active and the date the visa is good till. The other stamp impression shows where the visa was processed, in my case, the consular section in Washington. One of the two stamps says foreign revenue while the other is in arabic so I don't know what it says. According to my travel agent, I can stay in Jordan past the visa expiration date. This is a good thing as it would've been tricky trying to get a single visit visa that would've covered the time I'll be in Jordan and get my passport back before I fly to Israel. As it is, I won't be staying long past the expiration. I leave just a little over 1 day past its expiration date. In regards to Jordan itself, I hope the country proves to be worth the hassle of getting the visa. I have no idea what it'll be like. The only reason I'll be touring it is because it was in the area of Israel and, 9 days of touring Israel wasn't long enough. I'm used to taking 12 to 14 days tours with Globus. We'll see how the trip goes.

Correction: The visa for Egypt that I paid for at Cairo International was a large sticker, not a stamp impression. As I understand it, you can do the same process at Jordan's Amman International Airport.

Jordanian Consulate

Today, I applied to get a Jordanian visa at the Jordanian consulate in Washington D.C. I rode my TMAX motorbike down to D.C., managed to find a parking spot just past the Ethiopian embassy and walked over to the Jordanian embassy. I walked through the main door and said nervously "visa." The security person directed me to a small room and side door that was to the right of the main door entrance. I had everything I needed - my passport, the filled out visa application with photo attached, a money order for $37.50 which I made out to Embassy of Jordan and an express mail envelope with attached postage and mailing addresses. The lady at the window of the consulate had me fill in my address and the embassy address on the money order. Also, she made sure I had the right mailing addresses. Once every thing met her approval, she took all the stuff and told me 5 business days which means May 8th is when my visa should be approved by. If they mail it on the 8th, it should reach me on the 9th. That's a little close to me as I fly out a little more than a week later. Still, this was easier than using a visa service and paying nearly 3 times as much. I'll be curious to see what the visa look like. The Australian visa I got was a massive sticker that took a whole page in my passport. The Egyptian visa I got when I arrived in Cairo was a ink stamp thing as I remember. We'll see what this one is like. Stay tuned.

Foco Coconut Juice

A Thai company called Thai Agri Foods Public Company Limited produces a coconut juice brand called Foco. The juice is offered in 17.6 fluid ounce (520 milliliters). The juice is offered in some Costco stores as I was able to buy a case of it at the Costco store close to the Pentagon. I decided to try the juice as it reminded me of my November cruises where I tried coconut juice for the first time. While doing a tour in Barbados, the tour guide raved about coconut juice. As I never tried it, I decided to give it a try though I didn't get around to trying it till I  visited St. Martin where a vendor was selling chilled coconuts. The juice didn't wipe me out though it was kinda neat to me to be drinking out of a real coconut.

Later, while shopping at the aforementioned Costco, I saw they had cases of Foco coconut juice for sale. I decided to try some. While the flavor didn't wipe me out, it was interesting. It does taste like coconut and, there are pieces of coconut mixed in with the juice. Price wise, I think a case of the juice was under $10 though I can't say that will absolute certainty as I haven't been able to find my Costco receipt.

Overall, I think Foco's coconut juice is decent stuff. I don't plan on buying it again as it hasn't wiped me out but, I have enjoyed the product. If you want to try some coconut juice, this would be a very easy way to try it and, it is pretty good stuff. Cheers all!

Rain

Today, we got a good bit of rain in Maryland. I was glad we did. We can use it. It'll help wash away the heavy pollen we've been getting for starters. The pollen has been so bad, you could see the yellow stuff on your car windshield or it coating your motorbike. The pollen has also been hell for those with allergies. A lady I know who suffers from them said this year will be one of the worst because there has been so little rain to wash the pollen away. Also, the grass has started turning brown in some areas unless you watered it. I suspect due to little snow this past winter, the reservoirs were lower than normal. The rain will help bring those up some. Lastly, it is nice to breath the fresh clean air during a rainfall. To me, it can be a bit invigorating. Supposedly, we have a good chance of rain continuing to fall until sometime tomorrow morning. We'll see on that. Stay dry all.

Old Speckled Hen Ale

Recently, I finished off a six pack of Old Speckled Hen ale. I thought it would be neat to try as I'd never had any of this English ale before. Also, it is genuinely English i.e. it is brewed in England and imported to the United States. Lastly, I thought it had a neat name. However, taste wise, I found I didn't care for it. Supposedly, it has a malty flavor and, that may be why I didn't care for it. The ale was smooth enough but, the malt flavor turned me off on this English ale. Because of that, I wouldn't recommend it though if you like an ale with a pronounced malt flavor, it might be for you. For me, I'll pass. Happy and responsible drinking all.

Ft. Meade Commissary

Yesterday, I visited the Ft. Meade Commissary for the first time in months. I don't tend to shop there because, it is out of the way and, you have to deal with base security to get on base. I was surprised to find out they'd changed the layout and entrance to the commissary. For example, the row with chips and snacks used to be further from the entrance than it is now. In regards to the entrance, it was shifted to where you enter the baked goods and deli section immediately. Another change was the deli counter as it was swapped around with the salads and roasted chicken section. (I wasn't impressed with their roasted chickens as they were as expensive at the ones you can buy at Sam's Club. Costco has cheaper ones.)

I checked out the prices on some items I was interested in. Supposedly, the commissary will save you at least 23% on your food bill. Personally, I have seen some savings on certain items. This trip I found out I was able to buy a 2 liter bottle of Barq's root beer, Seagram's ginger ale or any flavor of Fanta for 99 cents. That's a good price. I know Wal-Mart charges more than that though I can't tell specifically how much more. Another nice deal is their turkey bologna and turkey cotto salami. The commissary sells 1 pound packages of those for $1.25 which is a good price. I think you'd pay at least $2 else where.

One thing that confounded me a bit was the price difference between Coca Cola products. Coca Cola produces the entire Coke line as well as Sprite, Fanta, Barq's, Mello Yellow (their Mountain Dew equivalent) and Minute Maid lemonade. To my bewilderment, the 2 liter bottles of any Coke product i.e. regular Coke, Diet Coke or Zero Coke was $1.50 as was Sprite. I don't understand why those products would cost $1.50 while other Coca Cola products such as Fanta and Barq's cost 99 cents. Because of this, I skipped Sprite which I like and drink a fair amount of.

One last item I like about the commissary is the self check out. I find it tends to be quicker and, I can bag my own groceries. While the baggers at the commissary are nice and do a good job, I don't care to tip them for something I'm perfectly willing to do myself. It isn't that hard to bag 30 or 40 items.

Overall, my visit to the commissary went well. I didn't find everything I wanted. I wanted to be get some Pepperidge Farm bread sticks but, I couldn't find them. I wonder if Pepperidge Farm makes them anymore. I'll have to search the web and find out. However, I know I saved some money shopping there and was pleased with the service. I'll definitely go back again some time in the future.

Washington D.C. Jordanian Embassy

I drove down to Washington D.C. today to find the Jordanian embassy. Once I get within a month of the Globus tour I'll be taking to Israel and Jordan, I plan to visit the embassy so I can buy a 1 entry visa. Visiting the embassy will save me half of what it would cost me to use a professional service to get the visa plus, I'll be able to keep my passport in my possession barring when I have to turn it over to Jordanian embassy officials.

For those who haven't been to Jordan's Washington D.C. embassy, it isn't that hard to get to barring driving through Washington D.C. From the Capital Beltway (495), you take exit 33 to Connecticut Avenue. You head toward Washington D.C. on Connecticut Avenue. You'll go through 1 roundabout where you take the 4th exit which keeps you on Connecticut Avenue. You'll take a right on Van Ness St NW. You go a maximum of half a block and turn left on to International Drive NW. The Jordanian embassy is located at 3504 International Drive NW.

I wasn't able to determine how the parking was around the embassy. I plan to ride my TMAX motorbike so hopefully, it won't be a problem. For those who might be concerned about being able to park their car, an alternative plan is to take the Washington D.C. Metro (subway) system to the Van Ness stop and walk to the embassy.

According to the embassy's webpage (http://www.jordanembassyus.org/new/index.shtml), the consular office is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It's the embassy's consular office that handles visas. The form U.S. citizens need to fill out to get a visa can be found on their website. You'll take the form along with a money order for $37 (for 1 entry visa, multiple entry visas are higher) and a passport photo. Also, you'll need to take an pre-address Express Mail envelope that the embassy will mail you back your passport with your visa inside. The embassy website states that it can take up to 5 business days for a visa to be approved. Single entry visas can only be approved within 1 month of travel to Jordan.

Laurel Dutch Market

I visited the Laurel Pennsylvania Dutch Farmers Market on Maryland 198 this morning. I was interested in getting some meat ends from Beilers Meats. On Saturdays, the market opens at 8 a.m. and closes at 3 p.m. I arrived at 8:30 and to my disbelief, there was scarcely a parking spot to be had. The market was absolutely jumping. I think they really need to find a location in Laurel that offers more parking. The parking they have at their current location simply isn't enough. Too many times, I've had to scramble to find a parking spot.

Barring the parking mess, the market remains one of my favorite places to shop for meats, baked goods, juices, canned vegetables, candies and ice cream. They sell outstanding quality foods and, I'd highly recommend them to anyone. Just be prepared for the parking mess.

Maryland Weather

It looks like those of us who live in Maryland are going to get off easy this winter. The temperatures have been in the 70's and have reached 80 or more this week. To me, that says winter is over and, spring has begun. We can have some nasty winters in Maryland. I think last year, we had at least 1 12 inch snow fall and, there may have been more of the white stuff. I don't remember all the specifics. For me, I'll count my blessings that we got off easy this winter. Snow may look pretty but, it is a royal pain to work in or have to shovel i.e. dig my car out. I definitely prefer spring over winter. My favorite temperatures are in the 60's and 70's which are spring temperatures. Like winter, I don't care for Maryland summers. They're far too humid. It's like stepping out into a sauna. I hope summer will take its time getting here. Let me enjoy the cool temps and the occasional shower for a while as well as the cheaper electric bills. I hope it's nice where ever you are my readers. Cheers all!

Updated RCCL Back-to-Back Cruises Procedures

RCCL Back-to-Back Cruises Procedures

An anonymous commenter asked about how Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL)'s back-to-back cruises work. To my surprise, I didn't post anything on this after I did it in November 2011. This post will tell what happened, why as I understand it and what you can expect if you do back-to-back cruises with Royal Caribbean.

Before I did my back-to-back Royal Caribbean in November 2011, I had a number of questions which I didn't have the best of luck getting answered. However, these questions were answered at a special event Royal Caribbean held 1 day before the Serenade of the Seas returned to San Juan, Puerto Rico for the conclusion of my first cruise. This event was only for those of us who were doing back-to-back cruises. We received a special invitation to the event. I remember being surprised by how many people were doing it. There must've been at least 40 plus folks at the event. To me, it makes sense to do back-to-back cruises as long as both itineraries are reasonably good. While I loved RCCL's Alaska cruise on Radiance of the Seas, I wouldn't care to do that back-to-back as it does the same exact ports except in reverse order.

At the event, the ship's staff explained some very important items. First, we would have to get new Seapasses for the 2nd cruise. This is because our SeaPasses were only good for the first cruise. Also, RCCL closes the SeaPass account and a new one is opened for the second cruise. We were told that we would have to go to the International Customer Relations desk the morning we arrive in San Juan to get our new SeaPasses and presumably the list of charges for the first cruise. Second, we would also receive 2 pieces of paper. One was for customs and, the other was to enable us to skip the lines to get back on board the boat. Customs was going to be different because, you don't actually leave and, you don't have to declare anything at this point. Later, when I went through customs, they were thrown off by the paper I was told to show them. Apparently, the guy didn't deal much with that sort of thing. At this point, you can go back on board the boat if you wish. The second piece of paper came in handy if you decided to do some kind of tour between cruises like I did.

One other plus of those doing back-to-back cruises was you got priority booking for at least some of the services available on board such as spa services for the 2nd cruise. You did have to pack your bag BUT, if you weren't changing cabins, it wouldn't leave the cabin. You might want to put the luggage sticker for the 2nd cruise on it.

Overall, my cruise changeover went fine. I got to do a great tour of El Morro Fort and due to the 2nd piece of paper explaining I was returning for my 2nd cruise, I passed easily through the lines to get back on board the Serenade of the Seas. This piece of paper has to be turned back into Customer Service. Later, I met my travel friend Harvey and welcomed him to my boat. After sailing on Serenade of the Seas for a week, it felt like it was my boat. I'd learned my way around it and knew some of the staff on board by first name. It was really nice. I look forward to the same experience during my November cruises with RCCL. Stay tuned.

An Update

On November 3, 2012, I did back-to-back cruises on Royal Caribbean's Splendour of the Seas. Procedures during the changeover were different from when I sailed on Serenade of the Seas. There wasn't any meeting where some of the ship's staff explained what would happen when we arrived back in Venice, Italy. I didn't have to pack my stuff in my suitcase at the end of the 1st cruise. Also, we didn't have to go to the International Customer Relations desk to get our new SeaPass. The new SeaPass was delivered to my cabin 1 day before the 1st cruise ended. Customs was different though that could be because I had to deal with Italian customs vice U.S. customs. Like before, I was able to skip in-processing for the 2nd cruise. In April 2013, I'll be doing back-to-back cruises for the 3rd time with Royal Caribbean. I'll be sailing out of and into U.S. ports so maybe the procedures will be like they were for Serenade of the Seas. Stay tuned for another update in May 2013 on this.

2nd Update

This is the update I promised for the April/May 2013 cruises.

I sailed on Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas from April 23rd to May 10th. I left out of San Juan, Puerto Rico and would arrive in Baltimore, Maryland. Apparently, sailing out of San Juan caused some kind of problem with customs to where it took longer when the ship pulled in from what was my first cruise. I heard that customs would've gone more smoothly had we sailed out of and into Baltimore. Unlike with Serenade and Splendour of the Seas, I didn't get off the ship to do any sightseeing. The cruise ship terminal was too far from any of the sights including Fort McHenry which the ship sailed by on its way in. It was well I decided to stay with the ship in another way in that things were a real mess when we pulled into Baltimore. The Grandeur of the Seas was re-positioning to Baltimore and, they made a big hoopla about it. Baltimore's 1 fire fighting boat greeted the ship with sprays of its water cannon which was pretty cool. I heard the state's Governor was there to greet the ship too.

Concerning back-to-back procedures, my new seapass was delivered to my room the night before. As I decided to stay with the ship, I was told I'd go with a special group of us that would be escorted off the ship to customs, process through customs and then re-board the ship. This was different from Serenade of the Seas as I didn't process through customs at all that time. Due to the special stuff going on because of the re-positioning, things were very chaotic with people getting off and on the ship. That was another reason I decided to stay with the ship vice do something at Baltimore's Inner Harbor (lots of nice shops there and some neat things to see). The group I was with was supposed to be escorted off the ship at 9:30 a.m. and that got changed twice with us finally walking off the ship at 11:30. We processed customs around Noon. I think it would be easier doing back-to-back on Grandeur now as you won't have all the hoopla.

In September 2013, I'll get to do back-to-back cruises for the 4th time when I sail on Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas. I will be getting off the boat between cruises as I plan to do a hop on hop off tour of Miami. So, I'll post yet another update on how things go procedure wise from that cruise. Stay tuned.

Plumix Fountain Pen Review

The Pilot Pen Company has an affordable fountain pen called Plumix. Recently, I decided to try the pen out to see if it's any good. I'm old fashioned I guess in that I like fountain pens even though they're expensive and can be messy to work with. The Plumix pen is pretty affordable as it'll cost you under $10 at Target stores that sell them. Unlike Pilot's disposable Varsity fountain pen, the Plumix is refillable and takes Pilot/Namiki cartridges. Pilot states that there are only 2 colors of ink available - blue and black. This is wrong. You can also use Pilot/Namiki green, red and purple ink cartridges in the pen. I tested the pen with one of the purple cartridges and, it wrote fine. However, the red, purple, green and black only come in 6 cartridge boxes whereas the blue cartridges also come in 12 cartridge boxes. The 12 cartridge box is cheaper per cartridge than the 6. The Pen Boutique store (http://www.penboutique.com) in Columbia, Maryland sells the 12 cartridge box for $4.60 while a 6 cartridge box will cost you $3.30.

Writing wise, I found the Plumix didn't write as well as the Varsity. It seems to scratch the paper whereas the Varsity seems to glide across it. Like the Varsity, the ink does bleed through the paper you write on. This can be a problem if you try to write on both sides of a sheet of paper. At times, the pen would poke through the paper where I'd written on the other side with it. The pen uses a standard medium stainless steel (I believe that's what it's made of) nib.

The pen comes in single pen and 3 pen packs. It has 3 colors - a translucent purple, translucent blue and translucent black. This can be handy as it enables you to see if you have a cartridge in the pen. I don't know if you can use a refillable ink cartridge with the pen.

Overall, it's a decent cheap fountain pen though I'd recommend the disposable Varsity as it seems to write better. It does have the advantage over the Varsity in that it's refillable and, you can better see just how much ink you have left in the cartridge. Varsity has a window where you can see this somewhat but, I don't think it's as good as being able to look directly at the cartridge. Another problem you may encounter with the Plumix is being able to buy one. Fountain pens aren't easy to find if they can be found at all. Pilot does sell the pen on its website http://www.pilotpen.us/ which can be the easiest way to buy the Plumix or Varsity. Happy writing all.

Update on Royal Caribbean Baltimore Cruises

I found out some people were unaware that Royal Caribbean does offer cruises out of Baltimore, Maryland. Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas is home-ported in Baltimore. It sails year round out of Baltimore to different destinations. In the fall, they offer cruises to Northeastern United States. During the winter, they offer cruises to the Bahamas and the Caribbean. In the summer, the ship sails repeatedly to Bermuda or Bermuda and Boston. While I imagine Bermuda is nice (I've never been there), I don't understand why Royal Caribbean sails there so much during the summer. I'd like to do one of their cruises down to the Bahamas as I've never been there. I know I'd have a number of days at sea (3 days) but, it would work in this case. As it is, Enchantment of the Seas stops sailing to the Bahamas after the beginning of April. Also, Royal Caribbean's prices aren't cheap for Bermuda. For their 25 May 2012 cruise, as of this post, you're looking at $1,400 per person for a balcony cabin on a 6 day Bermuda only cruise. To me, that isn't cheap. In my opinion, the biggest advantage to the Baltimore cruises is convenience if you live in Maryland, Washington D.C., Virginia or Pennsylvania. You can drive to the Baltimore cruise ship terminal, park your car there for $15 a day and board the Enchantment of the Seas. Compare that to driving your car to the long term parking lot at whatever airport you fly out of or using an airport shuttle, flying to whatever destination (airfares aren't cheap) and have Royal Caribbean shuttle you to the cruise ship terminal where you'll board your ship.

Update: I will get to see what it's like to sail out of Baltimore with Royal Caribbean in 2013. I won't get to see how smoothly the in-processing goes as I'll do that out of San Juan, Puerto Rico (it's the re-positioning cruise where Grandeur of the Seas will take over for Enchantment of the Seas). I've heard it goes pretty quick. I found out that GO airport shuttle (http://www.theairportshuttle.com/) will drop off and pick up people at the Baltimore cruise ship terminal. I plan to try their service when I get back from my 2nd cruise (Bermuda). Price wise, for 1 person, you'd save money using them vice parking your car at the terminal (I think they quoted me a fare of $35 1 way). For 2 or more people, it would be more affordable to drive your car and park it at the terminal. Also, how far the shuttle has to take you would be another factor on whether to use the shuttle or drive. Concerning Bermuda, the Bermuda cruise should be interesting because Royal Caribbean ships overnight there. I've never seen them do that any where else. In the case of my Bermuda cruise, we'll stay in port 2 nights before departing. It should be interesting to see what that's like. Lastly, I hope to post some pics on here around then as I think there will be some seriously awesome views of Fort McHenry from the water. We'll see. Stay tuned.

Israel Trip Update

All looked good to go for my May trip to Israel and Jordan until the beginning of this week. That's why I found out I need a visa to get into Jordan. Like Egypt, Jordan makes it really easy to get a tourist visa. You arrive at the Amman Airport, pay $20 (I believe) and, you get your single entry visa. However, that's where Globus mucked things up. Israel and Jordan were involved what I believe was the 6 Day War where Jordan lost the West Bank. Jordan apparently maintains that the West Bank still belongs to them. There is a crossing from Israel to Jordan called the Allenby/King Hussein Bridge. As far as I was able to learn, at all other entry points into Jordan, you can buy a visa to enter Jordan. The exception is the Allenby/King Hussein Bridge because of the West Bank issue. As luck would have it, that is the entry point that Globus uses for my Jordan tour extension. :-( Why they have to enter Jordan there, I don't know. But, I do know I was very miffed when I found out. However, I am glad I found out NOW vice going to Israel, doing the tour, leaving to go to Jordan and finding out I couldn't get a visa to enter the country. Then, Jordan's visa rules made things more complicated. You can get an on-line visa with Jordan HOWEVER, you can't get that until you're within 30 days of your trip to Jordan. Sorry, I'm not going to wait till 30 days or less to get my visa. I want it now in my hands so I know there isn't going to be a problem getting in when I leave in May. This tour costs too much (over $6,000!) to take any chances on last minute screw ups. The alternative is to get a 6 month multiple entry visa which costs $97! OUCH!!!!! Keep in mind, that doesn't include the cost of using a visa service to get the thing unless I want to travel to Washington D.C. and visit the Jordanian embassy myself (not thrilled with that idea). So, I'm looking into cancelling my May trip to Israel and Jordan. As luck would have it, I'd discussed future travel plans for next year around the same months and, my friend Harvey and I had agreed that he would do his Russia tour (no thanks) and, I would do my Bermuda and Boston (no thanks on Harvey's part) Royal Caribbean cruise. We'll just move these up a year. This has the added advantage for me in that I'll go Emerald with Royal Caribbean's frequent cruiser program (Crown & Anchor Society) and, I'll go Diamond in November with the back-to-back Greek Islands cruises. Also, I'd like to visit my Dad after the May cruise. I vowed I would try to make it home more often after the unexpected death of my step-mom Kay. I still haven't forgotten that. We'll see what works out. Stay tuned.

Latest Maryland Weather

We had a high of at least 62F yesterday. It's hard to believe it's winter here but, that's typical Maryland weather. It can be light jacket weather one week and the next, you'll be wearing your parka and digging your car out from the snow. I think someone said that if you don't like the weather here wait and, it'll change. For me, I like the warmer temps as it saves me money right now. I don't have to run the heat as much in my apartment. I don't know about other folks but, I like to give Baltimore Gas & Electric as little of my money as possible. Also, the warmer temps make it nicer for riding my motorbike. I'm determined to ride it year round as long as it's safe to ride it on the roads i.e. no ice or snow. As soon as I get enough free time, I plan to make my way over to Heyser Cycle and get the latest heated hand grip kit put on the bike. That should help a bunch with the cold weather. One drawback of my Yamaha TMAX is that the handlebars are very exposed to the wind. That means, your hands can get very cold very quick during the winter. The heated hand grips help alleviate this problem. Cheers all.

Little Caesar's

I haven't eaten any pizza in a while so today, I decided to try out Little Caesar's already made large pizza deal. I'd seen their advertisements lauding how you can get a hot fresh large pizza with either cheese, sausage or peppperoni for $5. You don't have to order in advance. You can walk right in and, they have them in a warmer already to go. From 4 to 8 p.m., for $3 more you can get a 3 meat pizza (bacon, sausage and pepperoni) or a deluxe supreme (green peppers, onions, sausage, pepperoni and mushrooms). As I like a pizza with lots of stuff on it, I decided to try out the supreme. I arrived before the Little Caesar's at 3431 Ft. Meade Rd in Laurel, Maryland started making its pre-prepared pizzas. However, they said they'd give me the $8 deal and, the pizza would be ready in less than 10 minutes. I said "cool!" I found the pizza decent. It isn't the greatest I've ever had but, the price was really good and, I liked the short wait (which wouldn't have happened if I'd arrived after 4 p.m.). The large pizza is supposedly 14 inches across and is big enough to supply 8 slices of pizza. If you want some decent pizza with no wait, you might want to take Little Caesar's up on the $5 large pizza deal. Bon Appetit.

Pilot Varsity Fountain Pen Review

During one of my visits to Pen Boutique's Columbia, Maryland store, a salesperson there mentioned a disposable fountain pen. I couldn't imagine such a thing so it piqued my interest. It turned out the pen the salesperson was talking about is Pilot's Varsity fountain pen. Pilot's pen comes in 7 colors (black, blue, green, pink, red, purple and turquoise). It has a small window on the side of the pen where you can see how much ink the pen has left. The pen in my opinion is very reasonably priced. I paid $3.25 for one at Pen Boutique and, Pilot sells them for $3.45 on their website http://www.pilotpen.us/Default.aspx Nib wise, I believe it has a medium nib and, this is the only type of nib you can get the pen in. The thing that has most impressed me about this pen is how smoothly it writes. I've found that stainless steel nibs seem to scratch the paper when writing. Till I tried Pilot's pen, the only nibs I'd found that glided across the paper well were gold plated ones. The Varsity pen obviously isn't gold plated but, it does write really smoothly. In my opinion, Pilot's Varsity fountain pen is a really good cheap fountain pen that happens to be disposable. If you like writing with fountain pens, I think you'd be pleasantly surprised by this pen. Happy writing all.

Update September 18, 2016: Recently, I bought some more of these fine pens and, here is some more information on them. First, Pilot has changed the outward appearance of the pens giving them a sharper appearance with the Pilot and Varsity names. Also, the pens have a diamond motif on them vice the previous lines that ran length wise on the main part of the pen. The pens still write really well.

Price wise, Walmart is offering a really good deal on a 7 pen multi-color pack on their website. I was able to buy the pack for $13.05 which breaks out to less than $2 a pen, a big savings. Their normal price is $14.35 which is still way better than if you bought the pens one at a time. Also, Walmart will ship the pens to a Walmart store close to you for free if you can't place an order over $50 (which I believe qualifies you for free shipping). Also, Walmart participates in the MyPoints rewards program so, you'll earn MyPoints with your purchase as long you use the MyPoints link to the Walmart webpage. I forget how many points you'll earn per dollar spent.

If you want to buy the pens one at a time, you might want to buy them from Pen Boutique as they sell them at their Columbia, Maryland store for $3 each or $3.37 on their website.

Correction: I found out I had the price wrong for the pen at the Pen Boutique website. It's $3.37 per pen (as of the date of this post) vice the $3.33 I erroneously quoted when I first posted this update. My apologies. The error has been corrected.

Jake & Amos Products Review

One of my favorite products at the Laurel, Maryland Pennsylvania Dutch Market on Ft. Meade Road is the Jake & Amos line of products. They make preserves, salsas, pickled vegetables, mustards, sauces, fruits and pickles. I've tried a number of them and, I found them consistently excellent. They specialize in Amish style recipes and presumably their products are made by the Amish. Some of my favorites are their pickled asparagus which has a great taste and is always crunchy or their spiced dilly beans which are pickled French green beans. Other products I've taste tested are their hot pickled cauliflower (very good and not terribly hot), pickled okra (very good), pickled baby beets (very good and, I'm not a beet lover), pickled sweet Brussels sprouts (very good though I think unusual, I didn't even know you could pickle these), pickled sweet baby corn (very good) and corn salsa (very good). Also, I've tried their corn and black bean salsa which is very good though annoyingly, it only comes in 16 ounce jars. As I like the Jake & Amos products so much, I try to save money by buying them in the 32 ounce jars vice the 16 ounce jars. By my figuring, you can save 10 cents an ounce by buying a lot of their products in the bigger jars. Lastly, I know they do occasionally have sales on Jake & Amos products at the Laurel Pennsylvania Dutch Market (I'm keeping an eye out for the next one myself).

If you want more information on the Jake & Amos products, their website is: http://www.jakeandamos.com/Default.aspx. I highly doubt you'll be dissatisfied with any of their products. Bon Appetit!

The Hobbit Update

I haven't posted an update on here about The Hobbit movie in a long while so I thought I'd post a few comments about it. The movie is apparently progressing well. On December 24th, Peter Jackson released the 5th production video that shows them leaving for their first outside shoot outside Mata Mata where the Bag End set is located. Elijah Wood speaks on the video about his feelings about coming back to the set. It's been 11 years since he went to New Zealand to shoot the Lord of the Rings movies. Jackson himself remarks how unreal it was for him to see the set he never expected to see again. One interesting difference this time is that once shooting is finished on the Bag End set, all the buildings will remain so people can visit for many years to come. I for one would love to see this extraordinarily beautiful set and feel like I visited Hobbiton and Bag End.

Another noteworthy event concerning The Hobbit movie was the release of the first movie trailer on December 21st. The trailer was fascinating and enticing. We got to see a number of the actors playing their Dwarven characters including the one playing Thorin Oakenshield (looks awesome). At the end, we see a familiar creature whose meeting with Bilbo Baggins at an underground lake would have consequences that would change Middle Earth forever.

My only disappointment is that I'll have to wait almost an entire year (the first movie comes out December 13th, 2012) before I get to see the movie. This is one movie I will be very excited about. If you wish to see the production video and trailer I mentioned, you can find them at: http://www.wetanz.com/the-hobbit-movies-latest-updates/ Also, Facebook is a good place to follow the latest news on the movies. Peter Jackson has been awesome about posting updates there. Cheers.

Fisher Space Pen Review

This past Christmas, Pen Boutique offered a Fisher Space Pen and Maglight gift set for $15. If I remember correctly, they claimed that was 50% off. I thought that sounded like a good deal. Whats more, the pen supposedly could write in all kinds of temperatures and, you could write upside down with it. Supposedly, astronauts had used the pen because of that.

While I don't need to write upside down, I do have customers that could use a pen that would write on a piece of paper they were holding against a wall or door. Many times, the cheap Bic pens I carry with me stop writing. Also, the Bic pens I use don't seem to like the cold either. So, I decided to buy a couple of the Fisher Space Pens and see how well they work.

So far, I've been very pleased with the pens. For shits and grins, I did try writing something upside down and, the pen worked fine. Also, I took it outdoors and had customers try it. None of them had any problems. According to the products package advertising, the pen will write in temperatures from -30F to 250F. While I don't expect to encounter any conditions that bad. The pen does seem to work fine in the cold. One drawback I've seen to the pen is the refills are expensive. You can expect to pay $5 a piece for one though Fisher claims the refills will write 2 to 3 times longer than a normal pen. As I've just started using their pens, I have no idea if that claim is true.

My recommendation is that if you need a reliable pen that can handle the weather (supposedly you can write underwater with it too though to me that means I can write in the rain with it) and write any time you need it to, the Fisher Space Pen may be what you're looking for. I think it would definitely be worth a try. Cheers all.

Update February 2, 2014: I continue to use Fisher Space pens at my job. The pens continue to prove their worth. This past week, the temperature got down to 15F. My normal pens were acting up but, my Fisher Space pens kept right on trucking. The only problem I have with the pens is making sure I don't lose them. I've had it where I've accidentally left them with a customer. 

2012 Yamaha TMAX

I've been a big fan of Yamaha's TMAX maxi-scooter since I bought my 2009 TMAX. Each year, I search the internet to find out what changes they'll be making to the bike. For 2012, they made some considerable changes. For starters, it will get a slightly more powerful engine. The size will increase to 530cc vice the previous 499cc. To me, this change is a major disappointment. I was hoping for a TMAX that would have a 750cc engine. There were considerable rumors that such a bike was in the works. Sadly, those rumors proved false. The bike supposedly has a more comfortable seat (someone apparently noticed that the previous seat wasn't very comfortable especially after a long ride on the bike), a redesigned instrument panel, different lights and a different drive chain. Also, the bike has a more rugged look. From what I've seen on the internet, it looks like a nice motorbike but, all the improvements in my opinion aren't enough to get me to trade in my current TMAX. Still, I hope that Yamaha will come out with a more powerful TMAX. That would get me to want to trade in my current TMAX. We'll see what Yamaha ends up doing.

Baltimore Cruise Ship Terminal

I've been seriously looking at Royal Caribbean's cruises out of Baltimore. Royal Caribbean has a really nice cruise on their Enchantment of the Seas that sails to Bermuda and Boston. You get to stay in port overnight in both ports and, you have just 3 days at sea - 1 day to get to Bermuda, 1 day to get to Boston and 1 day getting back to Baltimore. Another plus for me travel wise is that I wouldn't have to fly any where to get to this cruise ship terminal. I live outside Baltimore but, it's a very easy drive to get to. So, I decided I'd ride my Yamaha TMAX down to the cruise ship terminal and find out how easy or hard it is to get to the terminal.

I hopped on the Baltimore Washington Parkway (I-295) heading to Baltimore. Then, when I reached Interstate 95 (I-95), I switched over to I-95 North heading to New York City. At this point, it was a very short drive before I had to take exit 55 (last exit before you have to pay the toll and go through the harbor tunnel). The exit sign said Fort McHenry and something else. The exit will put you on what I believe is East McComas Road. I drove along this not sure how far I'd have to drive though I knew the road would eventually end at Fort McHenry. After Fort McHenry, you hit water.

Before I got to the terminal, I could tell I was going the right way as I saw a Carnival cruise ship (Carnival Pride) in port. Baltimore has only 1 cruise ship terminal so I knew I was going the right way. I drove along and sure enough, I soon spotted the entrance to the terminal. The terminal isn't super big. I read on the internet that it's a converted warehouse. However, as far as I can tell, it should be able to do the job. I don't believe any of the cruise lines send any of their really big ships to Baltimore. The Enchantment of the Seas is a Vision class ship which is Royal Caribbean's 2nd smallest class of ship (only their Sovereign class is smaller).

The terminal has secure parking however, there is a $15 a day charge for it (source: http://www.cruise.maryland.gov). There are hotels that offer stay 1 night and, you can park and leave your car in their lot during your cruise. However, these might not be cheaper than the parking.

Overall, I found the cruise ship terminal very easy to get to. I hope to take cruise out of the terminal in April 2013. If I get to go then, I'll do a blog entry on how good or bad the terminal itself is. Happy travels all!

Delta Airmiles

I have over 54,000 airmiles with Delta Airlines. I found out that Delta has a non-stop from New York JFK Airport to Venice, Italy. I figured that there wouldn't be a huge demand for flights to Venice the beginning of November. I figured wrong apparently. I spoke with a Delta rep to see if I could get a guaranteed upgrade to Venice. To my disappointment, I couldn't. All she could do was put a trailer on it stating I wanted one. No dice. If I can't get the upgrade, I'm going to fly with whoever is CHEAPEST and stay overnight in Venice before the cruise. After the lady said she couldn't guarantee me an upgrade, she tried to sell me Delta's charge card. I could earn 30,000 bonus airmiles with it the first year. If I can't get the upgrades I want, the airmiles are worthless to me. Why spend $95 a year for the charge card for worthless airmiles? This is why I cancelled my British Airways and American Airlines charge cards. The airlines are trying to push a product that they turn around and make impossible to use. If their frequent flier programs aren't worth using, the programs are a joke and definitely won't create any kind of customer loyalty. In my case, price will now be the key factor. I won't care what airline I fly on as long as it's the cheapest to get me where I need to go.

Broken Crown

While on my 2nd of back-to-back cruises with Royal Caribbean this past November, I bit into something that didn't agree with the crown I had put in a year ago. I don't know how I did it but, I managed to crack the thing. It didn't hurt thankfully. It would have been a royal mess trying to find a dentist in one of the Caribbean islands I was visiting as well as get all the work done in the time I had in each port.

So, I made an appointment with Dr. Mitchell Weiner. Dr. Weiner is a general dentist who specializes in various dental procedures like crowns. He was the one who carved the tooth to where it could accept having a crown put over it and then, he placed and sealed it on the tooth. This past September, I saw him again when I started suffering some pain with the tooth. Initially, it looked like I would need a very expensive root canal done. That's where they drill through the crown, remove all the infected root pulp, fill the empty space with some kind of sealant and seal the tooth. I was very hesistant about having this done and, I wanted to see if antibiotics could clear up the infection. Antibiotics would've been a lot cheaper. Also, I wanted to have one of the dentists take the crown off to make sure the tooth root was infected. I wasn't able to get the crown removed but, the antibiotics apparently worked though I did wonder about the tooth in way i.e. was the infection really gone or was I possibly going to have worse trouble down the line with the tooth.

Wednesday of last week, I got to see Dr. Weiner who looked in astonishment at what I'd done. He asked how did I crack the thing. I told him, I honestly don't know. I don't remember what I bit into that cracked the crown. He said I had 2 choices. They could attempt to remove the broken crown and have it repaired or I could get a totally new crown. Repairing the crown was the cheaper option as that would cost approximately $800. A new crown would be twice that i.e. $1,600. Serious ouch!!!!! I said I'd like to get it repaired. The next step was getting the thing off the tooth. That ended up being a serious job. I found out why Dr. Weiner didn't remove the crown before when I was looking at possibly having a root canal done. When they put a crown on your tooth, they don't intend for it to EVER come off.

First, Dr. Weiner attempted to pry the crown off with a pair of dental pliers that they normally use for removing teeth (shivers). That didn't work. Then, we tried using some SUPER sticky gook that I had to bit into so the suction from the gook would cause the crown to come off. That didn't work either. Dr. Weiner isn't a quitter and, he had one last trick up his dental sleeve. He has a device that a dental hammer of sorts. You attach it to the tooth then, he hits a rod real hard with his hand and, it whacks the tooth. Pieces of porcelain from the crown began to break off. After 3 or 4 whacks, Dr. Weiner removed the device and tried to take the broken crown off. It came off.

The broken crown was taken to where ever they had the crowns made and, it was subsequently repaired to where it looked as good as new. Then, I went back a 2nd time where the repaired crown was placed on the tooth root stump and sealed again. As far as I can tell, the repaired crown is working. I'm not experiencing any pain though I do think the teeth on the left side of my mouth had to move some of accomodate the repaired crown.

Next Wednesday, I'll see Dr. Weiner again for a quick check up on the crown. As far as I can tell, it's working fine and, he shouldn't have to do any thing with it. While I wasn't thrilled with cracking the thing and the subsequent cost ($879). However, I was pleased in one regard. As I mentioned previously, I'd wondered if I was making a mistake by not getting the root canal done. To my relief, when the damaged crown came off, Dr. Weiner was able to examine the root stump and, he said it was completely fine. To make sure it stayed that way, he put some medication on the stump before he put the repaired crown on. In that way, this whole fiasco has been worth it.

British Airways and Avios Points

Next November, I'll be taking back-to-back cruises with Royal Caribbean for the 2nd time. I decided to see just which airport I was likely to fly out of: Baltimore Washington International or Washington Dulles. I found out for flights ultimately ending in Venice, Italy which where the 2 cruises will start from, Dulles would be at least $300 cheaper. Another attraction of flying out of Dulles was that I could use the 200,000 plus airmiles now called Avios points. British Airways made a big thing about the change over to the new points. I would find out they didn't change anything when it came to trying to use them.

I figured I should have a good shot at either getting a free Business Class ticket or paying cash and getting a guaranteed upgrade to Business Class since I was going to book the flights 10 months out. Why is Business Class so important to me? Because I know I can get some sleep in those seats. I can't sleep for crap in Economy seats. To my surprise, I couldn't get a free seat on the dates I needed to fly out and, I couldn't get a guaranteed upgrade with cash. This reminded me of the fiasco I had when I tried to get a free seat to Copenhagen and back from Oslo in connection with a Globus tour I was planning to take of Scandanavia (Denmark, Sweden and Norway). I couldn't get a free seat then and, that wasn't the last time I had this problem. I was so pissed off by the experience I cancelled my British Airways Visa charge card. I told the lady at the charge card center there wasn't any point in having the card and paying the yearly charge if I couldn't use the airmiles when I wanted. Keep in mind too that even if you managed to get free seats, British Airways made you pay a stiff fee of supposed taxes. When I did to fly Business Class to Paris in advance of the Globus La France tour I took, I had to pay British Airways over $700 for my supposedly free ticket. British Airways claimed this was a deal. In my opinion, no it wasn't considering what I had to do just to earn the airmiles. By the way, concerning the Paris tickets, I got lucky to get those as it turned out after I booked the ticket British Airways changed their flights making it impossible for me to get back. Luckily for me, I didn't find out till I finished the tour and arrived at Charles de Gaulle ready to leave only to find out I wasn't. Thanks to a great and understanding British Airways ticket rep, I did make it home. However, if I had found out about the change, I might not have been able to use my airmiles AGAIN. grrrrrrr

This latest fiasco over trying to use the new Avios points has guaranteed I won't be flying British Airways when I travel to Venice. Also, to add further fury, I found out that in the new great Avios system British Airways came out, they devalued their airmiles AGAIN. According to Tim Winship at Frequentflier Blog (http://blog.frequentflier.com) on November 17, 2011, the new Avios points will be yet another devaluation i.e. it'll cost even more points/airmiles for many U.S. travellers who want to use them on British Airways. I haven't forgotten when British Airways devalued my airmiles back in 2006. Their reason then was they wanted to get all their U.S. members on par with other members in other countries. Apparently, British Airways wanted to value us as little as they did their other members worldwide. Now, they've put the screws to its U.S. Executive Club members again.

Because of this latest devaluation, I know what I'll be doing. Once I can travel again (sometime in April 2013), I'll book whatever flights I can where I can get a free ticket with British Airways just so I can use up my Avios points. Once I do that, I won't be flying British Airways again. They've stuck it to me too many times. I would advise other U.S. travellers to do the same. Happy travels all.

Travel Update

I promised to post updates on my back-to-back cruises with Royal Caribbean but, I didn't. I want to use my expensive Royal Caribbean WiFi minutes trying to post something. I am back from the cruises. The 2 cruises were a lot of fun. I got to see St. John (USVI), St. Kitts, Aruba, Curacao, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten and the French side St. Martin and St. Croix. Travel highlights include a really fun tour called Taste of Barbados where I got to visit a Bajan rum distillery then, the group travelled to a nearby plantation mansion where we were shown how to make 2 drinks: corn & oil and a Bajan rum punch. Our teacher let us enjoy a LOT of free samples. I know I was half sloshed by the time I returned to the Serenade of the Seas.

Another tour I enjoyed was a walking tour of Christiansted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The guide was Heavenly Petersen. The lady did a fantastic job. I learned some interesting things about the island and about one of the founding fathers of the United States i.e. Alexander Hamilton. He lived in St. Croix for 8 years but, he never talked about it apparently when telling of his early life. From what Heavenly told us, our group could understand why (his mother was a convicted adulteress for starters).

The ship Serenade of the Seas was great. It has a first rate crew and lots to do on-board. I got to try the automatically adjusting pool tables. They really worked. The ship moved a lot at times but, the balls on the pool tables didn't. The food was very good and overflowing in abundance. My 2 cabin stewards kept the 2 cabins I stayed in immaculate. I would definitely recommend this ship. I was sad when it was time to leave. I could have happily done another 2 cruises on her.

Overall, I had a really nice time. I can't wait to do back-to-back cruises with Royal Caribbean. That'll be next November when I sail with them out of Venice en-route to the Greek Islands. We'll see if they look as good in real life as they do in the pictures. Happy travels all.