"Fight Night" Pre-Party in Washington, D.C. 2009

I recently had the opportunity to go to the "2009 Fight Night Pre-Party" in Washington, D.C. The event celebrated some of boxing legends and greats! To see these legends up close and personal was an awesome experience. Although I am not an avid boxing fan, I enjoyed watching my share of Ali v. Anybody fights back in the day.

At the event to be recognized were:
- Jake LaMotta (Bronx Bull and Ragin' Bull)
- Boom Boom Mancini
- Smokin' Joe Frasier
- Buster Douglas
- Ken Norton
- Jerry Clooney
- Ernie Schaeffer

Some of these legends were still in pretty good shape. For example, when Frasier was introduced, he came on stage throwing left and right hooks. While, on the other hand, a couple of them needed assistance walking and one was even in a wheelchair as a result of his many, many years of boxing and taking hits.

Also in the house was ex- Redskins Brain Mitchell and all of his bulging muscles. He was very sociable and sweet. He came over to the table were I was with some friends and talked with us for a few minutes like we’d known each other for a while.

One the celebrity side, I had the opportunity to talk to Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds for a few minutes. He was very quiet and noticeably shy, but he was up for fan photo-ops and talked to everyone who approached him.

I also had the opportunity to talk to Patty Austin (R&B & Jazz legend) and held her purse while she made her appearance on stage. I was actually talking to Patty for about five minutes without realizing who she was. Patty was working the room and was bubbly and vivacious. She said to me during our conversation, “. . . you look like someone I know, where are you from?” I said “. . . I’m pretty sure I’ve never met you, so maybe you’ve met my “other.”

All in all, it was an exiting evening. When I was first invited, I had no idea what kind of event I was going to, but nothing could have prepared me for what was in store.

Written by screenname TriniDiva (a.k.a NSL-R)

MY ADVENTURES IN JAPAN (May 2005)

When I visited Japan four years ago, I was very excited to see this country and experience the culture that appeared from the outside to be so very discreet, private and closed. I imagined yoga and meditation, waterfalls, bonsai trees and advanced technology, all working together in minimalist harmony. I wanted to slip into Japan to enjoy a few days and learn a little about the culture, eat some good sushi, drink sake, check out Mt. Fuji, and then slip back out…blend in so to speak, as I so often try to do in my travels. I did not really know what to expect in Japan, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was a whole lot more than I anticipated!

I was slightly intimidated when I first arrived because I immediately felt "out of place" there. I drew many stares from people and wondered why. At first I thought they were just being rude or giving me mean looks. After the first few days, the stares finally wore me down. I had just about had it with feeling like I was a circus freak, when I took a closer look and realized that many of their stares were ones of curiosity, not malice. It appeared they were curious about me. Me? But why? As I looked closer (…well actually I started staring back) at some of the faces and deeper into their eyes, I realized there was a genuine innocence in their curiosity, not the mean-mugging I assumed it was from afar. After this revelation, I was able to start enjoying my time in Japan.

I had two glorious massages in Tokyo. One was a Shiatsu (pressure points) massage, which I really needed and which awakened areas of my body that had been asleep for a very long time. The other was a Hawaiian massage, how superb! I fell asleep during the Hawaiian (90 minutes long) and woke up with the protective paper stuck to my face held there by my drool! (Lovely!) That was one of the best massages I've ever had. The masseuse was about half my size and height, but her hands were very strong and she had clearly done this a few times before. I longed for more massage parlours!

At night, the downtown Tokyo scene rivals the best neon light shows that Las Vegas offers! Such an awesome sight to see in the displays ranging from business advertisements to just bright coloured lights illuminating and hypnotizing! Since space is at a premium in Tokyo, everything is built up, not out. Office buildings, apartment buildings, some highways, they all go up. So the buildings are tall and fairly close together, and the endless colours of the neons look even more fantastic on them!

There is definitely a wild nightlife side to Tokyo in which I proudly participated. By way of dancing salsa to Latin music and having to deal with drunken foreign sailors in a bar, I was sucked into the club-hopping scene. I remember leaving one club at around 5:00am and the sun was already shining bright in the sky, yet I was on my way to club number four! Nobody was thinking about going home. Tokyo's wild side seems to be compliments of outside influence though. Good? Bad? You decide, but young Japanese soak it up. Their fascination, and in some cases obsession, with the western world and pop culture is truly undeniable.

There are really good restaurants in Tokyo and as you can imagine, some of the freshest seafood available. I ate at several of them including, of course, Japanese, sushi, Thai, even a steakhouse. I ate a lot of noodles and seafood and can't remember one bad dish. Everything was so good! One day at lunch, I decided it was time to "sake up" and I ordered and drank good sake…really good sake…at about 2:00p in the afternoon. Don't remember if I finished it the small bottle or not. Need I say more?

Tokyo has one of the most (if not the most) expansive train systems in the world. It would take me weeks to figure it out if I had to manoeuvre it on my own. Plus, the trains are usually always packed, since most people use them instead of cars. It was quite an adventure to ride the trains with so many people moving as if in a choreographed production. And speaking of "so many people," they were everywhere. Tokyo is as bustling and busy a city as I've ever seen. So busy in fact, that there is an intersection called Roppongi Crossing (it was even pictured in the movie "Lost in Translation"), which is known as being one of the busiest intersections in the world. What makes it so popular? Well, it's located in one of the busiest areas in Tokyo and it's where about seven major roads meet. It is estimated at every traffic light change, that an average of about 1,500 people cross this intersection. One wrong move and you can mess up the entire flow.

I hung out in Harajuku (one of the areas in Tokyo) where the young and fashion conscious hang out. Well I should be honest and say the fashion and style in Harajuku goes a few steps further and closer to being extreme fashion. (Kind of like haute couture gone wild!) I took a picture with a "Harajuku girl," who was dressed in a babydoll outfit with bright colours and heavy makeup. In this area, young Japanese feel free to express their wildest and most unusual fashion senses, and if you wear "normal clothes," you will be the one who is out of place. This is a good area for people watching.

I also hung out in Shibuya (one of the 23 wards in Tokyo), which is very trendy and is a shopping mecca for just about anyone. Shibuya is one of the busiest areas in Tokyo as it is home to one of most well-known landmarks, which I can best describe as a smaller version of New York's Times Square. Shibuya is also where many of Tokyo's fashion and entertainment trends are born. Whether you're a trend-setter or follower, you should definitely check out Shibuya.

There were several tremors while I was there and one of them, though only minor by Richter scale standards, got my attention! Yikes! The building was definitely moving, and I was frozen. Some Japanese kept on doing what they doing, but others stood at attention.

When it was time to leave Japan, I revisited my checklist: learned a little about the culture...check; ate really good sushi and drank sake...check; see Mt. Fuji...well two out of three "ain't" bad as Mt. Fuji remains on the wish list. I longed for a few days more to continue to savour this distant land. I was just beginning to get a "taste" of the culture and I liked it. For me, there was no more intimidation only anticipation about what I would encounter next. There's so much more to discover and experience and I want to know more, see more and learn more. Mostly, I want to have more really good sake! LOL!!

Written by Screenname TriniDiva (NSL-R)

MY TRAVEL EXPERIENCES WITH . . .

Alas, the days of my "being single" travel and "being single" travel behaviour are behind me. Now I get to experience some old, favourite travel spots with a new twist and I'm sure with new meaning. I have traveled with family, with girlfriends, and alone, and each time the experiences were different. But in the near future I expect to have many new experiences and build on some old ones with my husband, who also loves to travel, and who also insists that we make many, many memories together. After all, travel to me is a way to experience different things, but mostly to make memories.

Travel with family can sometimes be stressful, but they're family and, well, what more can I say. When I travel with my family, I tend to be the leader and the one who takes care of things. Sometimes I do so by choice, other times by necessity. I would love to be able to sit back and enjoy the ride from beginning to end, but all eyes are usually on me to make the necessary preparations and fix things when they go wrong. After the logistics are taken care of, only then can I start to relax and enjoy. But all in all, it's nice to travel with family and share those memories together. I might be stuck with this kind of travel.

Travel with girlfriends was always an adventure and sometimes unpredictable. My girlfriends and I have travelled extensively together. We've checked out some of the world's best known monuments, stay at some really nice and really bad hotels, hung out at bars and nightclubs, ate at really good restaurants, did lots of shopping and always had a blast. We've been stared at and awed in so many places that sometimes we felt like we were an attraction. People have gravitated to us while other just checked us out from afar. We've drawn crowds like we were "rock stars" in Rome, Venice, Paris and Barcelona. Together with them, I've met people from all around the world. Some of them I've kept in touch with and others, although they have long since been forgotten, the memories remain. There is a chance, however small, that this kind of travel can still happen. (:

Travel alone was yet a different kind of experience. I'm a free spirit and I have a very outgoing personality. This combination has gotten me first class treatment at, on flights, free stays in hotels and resorts, free drinks and vip treatment at bars and restaurants and special attention when shopping. I loved travel by myself because I could make my own schedule and did not have to coordinate with anyone. I did what I wanted, when I wanted and for how long I chose. I did not have to worry that someone would cancel the trip at the last moment or that they would be difficult in a different environment or culture. Best of all, I could choose to go wherever I wanted without the worry that someone else may not want to go there. Although, there many was times when I wished there was someone to share some of the experiences that are now very meaningful to me. I imagine that this kind of travel is now a thing of the past.

Travel with my husband so far has been good. We have not yet traveled extensively together, but we both expect that will change very soon. I'm really looking forward to putting a new and exciting touch on some of the experiences I've already had. I'm mostly looking forward to us making some brand new experience and memories together. I'm looking forward to sharing fun moments, but mostly romantic moments with him. I can already imagine us walking along a beach at sunrise…oh wait, if he has anything to say about it…sunset, holding hands and enjoying each other. I can also imagine spending time during the winter in a lodge somewhere in the Germany or Austria with him being more outdoors than I would like and us being indoors near a fireplace. He loves to take care of me and I allow him to do so. I am so looking forward to this kind of travel. (:

Whatever kind of travel your fits your lifestyle, just be sure to make the best of it and create memories that will last a lifetime. Always, always hire common sense and your instinct and let them be your guides. They cost nothing!

Written and posted by TriniDiva on 7/30/09

FRANKFURT/MUNICH - May 2009

I'm back from another trip to Deutschland and, as usual, I had a really good time. Travelling to Germany is becoming quite customary and the trek from Washington, DC to Frankfurt seems now a familiar path to me. I'm really starting to feel comfortable there and at the end of each trip it's harder to leave my husband. Even the food is starting to grow on me. (lol!) I still have to experience a full winter there, although I hear it's not so bad in Frankfurt, it's a completely different story in Bavaria. The Caribbean it's not!

Although I know I still have a long (really long) way to go, I feel a little more confident speaking German with each visit. My German classes are starting to pay off and with one more level to complete, I'll be finished with the basics. My next goal is to be able to use public transportation on my own or make my way around Frankfurt on my own. That will be the true test of my ability. Yikes!

During this trip, the weather was really nice, and in the afternoons my husband and I went for walks and coffee and ice-cream. Germany has really good Italian ice cream. But the Germans get the credit for being extremely creative in the presentation. (: There are so many combinations to choose from.

We did the usual round of day trips. One of our favorite cities to visit is Mannheim because the energy of the city is high and there is great shopping there. Some of the top designers have stores there but you can find something for everyone that will fit any budget. The trams can take you anywhere in the city. But be warned though, like I mentioned in one of my previous blogs, you have to watch out for the trams in Mannheim. The trams share the same space with pedestrians and crossing the street can be tricky. If you're not sure where to cross, just ask someone, but be very cautious.

We went to a fair in Darmstadt. It was really big with a lot of people and several stages were set up where different bands performed. There was a really good reggae band from Barcelona, and a salsa band from Mexico. My husband and I stayed at those two spots the longest because he knows that those are two of my favorite kinds of music, both for listening and dancing to. There were also so many food stalls that I could not easily decide what to eat. I ended up having a warm crepe with Nutella and powdered sugar, french fries with a spicy "samurai" dipping sauce and a strawberry sangria. Yummy!!

On this trip, went decided to go to my husband's hometown and so we packed up the car and drove to Munich. The drive from the Frankfurt area to Bavaria was, in certain spots, absolutely breathtaking. Going through the mountains and seeing so many different shades of green of trees, grass and flowers was awesome. Also, the clusters of homes that dotted the mountainsides were so beautiful to see. It felt a little unreal at times.

We arrived in Munich in about a little over four hours. I love Munich because even though it's a big city, it has a lot of old world charm. In certain areas of the city, I did not at all remember I was in one of the most well-known cities of the world. I walked on one of Munich's main streets, Ludwigstrasse (named in honor of King Ludwig), which is also one of the most prestigious streets. I saw the Bavarian Hall of Warlords and walked through the Englischer Garten in the middle of the city. This is similar to Central Park in New York. One moment you're in a bustling city and the next you're standing inside the peaceful Dome of the Diana-Tempel as the noise and traffic fade into the distance. We also walked along the Danube river which runs though Bavaria.

While we were in Bavaria, I met my husband's parents for the very first time. It was quite a meeting because they do not speak English and my German is very basic. But somehow we managed to get through the weekend and were able to communicate with each other. His parents welcomed and embraced me and were happy to finally meet me.

We went with his parents to a fair (Pfingst Fest) in Ingolstadt, just outside of Munich. I had so much fun. I don't normally ride amusement park rides, but I told my husband that I would ride one of the rides with him. Seemed like a good idea at the time. We got on the ride and were very excited. The ride started and all was still OK. It was one of those rides that you sit in and when it starts it balloons out like a mushroom and gets higher and goes faster. Well, about half way through the ride I was ready to get off, because I started to feel really sick. The fun was over at that point. I had to finish the ride feeling like I was in a small boat on high seas! Meanwhile my husband had enough also. We both did not look so good at the end of the ride!

After the ride, we went into a huge tent to sit for a while and get something to eat. The tent was similar to the ones at the OktoberFest and although this one was much smaller, it still held well over 1,000 people. (My husband said that the ones at OktoberFest can be up to four time bigger.) We were all drinking steins of beer and coke, eating pretzels (really big pretzels) fish and bread, french fries and rotisserie chicken, and singing along to Bavarian folk music. The DJ played other music, some of which I knew and was able to sing-a-long to. What a great time we had! I ended up on top of the seat dancing and then I asked my husband's father if he wanted to dance and he accepted. He is a really good dancer. OktoberFest 2010, here I come! I will be wearing a dirndl and my husband will be wearing his lederhosen! LOL!

It was strawberry season in Hessen (Frankfurt) and white asparagus season in Bavaria. I ate a lot of strawberries while I was in Frankfurt because they were available everywhere and picked the same day. Bavarians eat mostly white asparagus and green asparagus is not so common. The white asparagus is much bigger than it's green cousin and it was really good in soup and salad.

What's next. . .On my next trip to Germany, I plan to see different parts of the country, and am already planning for OktoberFest 2010!

All photos were taken in Germany in May 2009 and are the personal propety of Screenname TriniDiva.

2008/2009 CHRISTMAS/NEW YEAR IN GERMANY. . .PROST!

HAPPY NEW YEAR (Ein Gutes Frohe Neues Yahr) to everyone! I'm back from Germany after two weeks of Christmas and New Year's and celebrating my husband's birthday. We had a wonderful time together taking several day trips and doing a bit of sightseeing. I wanted to visit some of the Christmas markets (especially the one in Nuremberg), but arrived too late. They usually close early on Christmas Eve and I arrived the day after. Generally, Frankfurt was not as cold as I had expected, although there were days that were very cold.

I arrived in Germany on Christmas day (very early in the morning). The airport was fairly empty. My husband was already there waiting and anxious to see me. We left the airport and headed to the apartment and for the first time I travelled on the autobahn. What an experience! Generally there is no speed limit, but in certain areas there are signs posted. These are usually when you are approaching a city or a populated area, or construction site, etc. We were driving along and cars were just swooshing by when I noticed that our car started to pick up the pace. Although I won't reveal the KPH at which we were driving, I had to ask my husband to slow down. Yikes! I needed to be warmed up to such high speeds, especially since I did not sleep or each much on the flight. He obliged and headed for the far right lane. (:

We finally arrived at the apartment, which he had decorated with Christmas ornaments. I was very pleased and he was proud of his accomplishment. We spent the rest of Christmas day together unpacking and exchanging gifts (which is generally done on Christmas Eve in Germany), and went out to dinner that evening. We ate at an Italian restaurant and the food was really good. After dinner we had good intentions of going Christmas sightseeing, but after we ate, I got very tired and just wanted to get some rest.

Heidelberg
The next day, we took a day trip to Heidelberg. I love this charming city with a beautiful old castle. The view from the castle is breathtaking. After we explored the castle, which also has a winehouse, coffee/pastry bar and a pharmaceutical museum, we left and walked around the city. It was a cold day, but the city is not very big and we really enjoyed the scenery. Later that evening, we had dinner reservations at a very nice German restaurant. We had been there before and really liked the ambiance and the food was good too. After dinner we wanted to have drinks, but it was really tough to find any bars open right after Christmas. Also, the city we were in (Gernsheim) is a small one, which, doubled with the fact that it was Christmas time, made it even more difficult to find an open bar. We were dressed to the nines and finally ended up in a smoke-filled pub with a fireplace, listening to Karaoke sung by Germans in English. Some of the patrons stared at us when we walked in like we had come in our hands instead of our feet. We clearly looked out of place. Soon everyone went back to their business, we had drinks and listened to Karaoke. Believe it or not, this was one of our most memorable evenings! As we were leaving the pub, a very kind but sorely intoxicated gentleman held the door open for us and after we exited, we turned around to find that he was being scraped off the ground by his companion. Ooops!!

Mainz
We took a day trip to the city of Mainz. We spent the afternoon there just enjoying the city. There are lots of restaurants, winehouses and shopping in Mainz. A river runs along Mainz's downtown and there is a beautiful old church in the city center. We went inside to explore but there was a service going on at the time. It was just as beautiful and old on the inside as well. We could not walk around while the service was in session, so we lit two candles for us and watched the flames for a few minutes.

My husband wanted to visit the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz (since he studied printing in school). When we arrived at the museum, however, they were just closing so we could see only what was in view through the windows. Gutenberg is famous for inventing the first "movable letters" for use on a printing press and was a genius in his time.

On this day, I had such a craving for Thai food. It was all I talked about while we were sightseeing and I wanted it for dinner. Mainz was the last place I would have expected to find a Thai restaurant. We kept walking and when we turned one corner, lo and behold, Thai Express had made its presence known (bright red awning and all) and was calling my name. I stood in place for a few seconds just laughing in disbelief. One serving of food easily can feed two and one-half people, but we each ate all of our food and could not eat anything for the rest of the day or night. All in all, for us our trip to Mainz was very romantic and we had a great day there.

Mannheim
We visited the city of Mannheim. We got there late in the afternoon and most of the stores were already beginning to close. Mannheim was bustling with activity and there is a lot of shopping (both high and low end) there. We mostly did a lot of window shopping and checked out the city which was packed with people. Many of the Christmas decorations were still up in the city, so when the lights came on they were very pretty to see. You have to be very careful in downtown Mannheim because in certain areas pedestrians and trams use the same space with no stop/go lights. If you want to cross from one side of the street to the other, you simply have to look both ways to make sure that no tram is coming.

New Year's Eve
We decided to stay in Frankfurt for NYE and booked a package at the Frankfurt Marriott, which included room and admission to a NYE gala and ball. During the day we went downtown Frankfurt, which was packed with people of all nationalities, who where mostly shopping trying to get some after Christmas bargains. We checked out the Main river which runs through downtown Frankfurt, but the cruises were closed because most of the boats were booked for NYE celebrations and were getting ready. It was cold that day but the atmosphere was very festive. We went back to the hotel to relax and get ready for the gala. After we got dressed, we went down to the ballroom which was nicely decorated and many people were already there. Dinner, which was served buffet style, and all the drinks you wanted, were included in the cost of the tickets. When we arrived at our table (10 per table), the other guests were already there. Everyone looked great with the ladies wearing cocktail dresses and the men dressed in suits. The food was good and after several glasses of champagne I was ready to dance. There was a live band and a DJ and my husband and I danced and danced.

We walked around the hotel to the other rooms and ended up in a room playing 70s and 80s music, where we danced to S&P's "Push It," the Village People's "YMCA" and Prince's "Little Red Corvet." We had a blast! That room soon became too hot so we decided to go back to our table in the ballroom to cool off. We (well mostly my husband) talked to the others guests at our table and we found out that one of the couples have been married for 53 years and they were still going strong. They were so cute together. One of the male guests at our table asked me to dance and after getting "approval," I danced with him. I was a little nervous, because I could tell he was a little intoxicated, but he turned out to be a great dancer. At midnight, the countdown (done in German), gave me a chance to practice saying the numbers.(: Everyone toasted and offered good cheer for the new year, then headed outside for fireworks. There were only small displays of fireworks in the area where we were. We would have had to head to the Main river to see the bigger displays, but we chose to stay at the hotel and continue celebrating. By this time it's around 1:00am and my husband and I had been at the gala for about 5 hours. We were both very tired and headed to our room. What a great evening we had and a fabulous way to ring in the New Year!

Darmstadt
My husband works in Darmstadt and so he was happy to show me around the city. Darmstadt is a fairly big city and not as diverse as Frankfurt, but more diverse than many of the other cities we had visited. There is a US Army based in Darmstadt so a lot of Americans frequent the area. Darmstadt also has a lot of shopping and many boutique stores.

Birthday celebration
We celebrated my husband's birthday on January 4. We made reservations at a Croatian restaurant and had a really nice time although neither one of us sampled any Croatian fare. The restaurant had a very mysterious feel with dark wood vaulted ceilings, deep red drapes hanging from ceiling to floor, white tablecloths with dark wooden furniture and candles everywhere. During one of our conversations at dinner I stopped and listened more closely to hear Katy Perry coming through the speakers in the restaurant singing "Kissed a Girl." Took some of the mystery away. LOL! But, we had a great dinner and a happy birthday.

Bird, the bird
My husband has a bird, which is over 17 years old. This bird is still going strong except for the fact that he sometimes falls off the rope in his cage. The rope of course is hung close to the top of the cage and when I say he falls, I mean he falls. He doesn't event try to recover on the way down. He lands on the bottom, is stunned for a few seconds, then starts his trek right back to his favorite rope near the top. (His cage is over 5 feet tall.) Also, no jokes, this birds "lays down" on the rope when he's sleeping. I've seen it with my own eyes. At night he literally lays on his side, still clinging to the cage with his claws, and falls asleep sideways. LOL!! (Disclaimer: the bird is well taken care of and is not hurt when he falls! LOL)

My trip to Germany was a good one but I'm not finished with Germany yet though, because there's still Oktoberfest, wine festivals and a soccer game in Bavaria to experience. I really enjoyed the Holiday season and have many memories to treasure. I'm already looking forward to Christmas 2009 because my husband wants to spend it in Trinidad & Tobago. How ya feelin'? HOT! HOT! HOT!

NEXT STOP. . .Las Vegas for bachelorette party. Check back later for recap, but definitely no pictures. LOL!

In the meantime, make this a travel year and tell me "what's your next stop?" I want to hear about it!

All photos are were taken by and are personal property of screen name TriniDiva (Dec 2008/Jan2009).