Last stop before home...

I've been home over three months now and well it's been a while since I last posted. My last post was when I was in Arizona. Lots happened in America before I left so i'll start with that first.

Vegas...

My time in Arizona was coming to an end. I had to pack my backs again and I move on. So it was Chelsea's friend, Madison's 21st Birthday... We, being, Chelsea, Stephanie, Megan, Clinton, Derek, Madison and I ... went to Vegas for a few days... we got drunk had fun and spent alottttttttt of money. The first night we decided to go get something to eat. We went to a cool little restaurant I forget it's name now but we had to wait 30-45 mins...for a table so we go up to the bar on the 3rd floor and have a drink while we wait. Right as the pager goes off...one of the barmaids comes up and says 'We need someone to dance for this Bachelorette party downstairs can one of you boys do it?' ... WELL... all the heads turn... to me... DO IT DO IT SCOTT PLEASE DO IT... i refused at first but when there were to Frozen Margarita's offered i could barely turn it down... so there's me giving a lady to wed... oh yeh she was a stranger... a wee dance in the middle of some dance floor around a bunch of drunken crazy screaming ladies... so yeah there's a few pictures to have a laugh at but I'm not gonna put em online so if anyone actually reads this i'll show ya the pics... I got my 2 drinks... and a dollar bill too... anyway after an amazing meal we headed to 50 Cent's night club in the Bellagio... 'The Bank' ... of course from experience in Vegas... it's expennnnnsive... so we get drunk in the hotel room before :)...expensive cover for the guys...girls go free... that's how Vegas is. The following day we had a pool day...chillin' out catchin' some rays... its all gravy.... our plans that night... dinner with the birthday girl then out to Prive... a club in our hotel... again... boys gotta pay cover... girls go free... My flight is early the next mornin' so I don't get crazy drunk but enough to have a better time sober... :) I had a flight to catch the next day. I said goodbyes to Chelsea... in the morning and Megan and Derek where driving back to Az so they gave me a ride to the airport that morning. I had one more stop... and that was Miami Beach, Florida.

Buenvenidos a Miami...

My last stop before home was Miami Beach. Wow was I excited. I couldn't wait but I must say I was nervous... now of course its to be expected...I was living in a hostel with a bunch of people on my own. I'd never travelled anywhere without knowing who I was staying with... I got to Miami airport, managed to figure out where to get a shuttle that would take me to the hostel. I met a girl on the shuttle, forget her name. In fact I don't think I asked her. She was British. Anyway, I arrived at the South Beach Hostel around half 8? I was a little tired. There where a lot of people outside having fun and what not. There was a bar in the hostel along with a pool table and some computers in the lobby. I checked in, the girl was a bit rude and abrupt but then again I couldn't blame her... Some people are just born arseholes and well I think she was. I was in room 123. I shared this room with 5 guys. One Spaniard, Xavi, One Italian, Andrea, One Slovenian, Peter and Two French, Yann and Nico. They made my trip to Miami. They offered beer and where extremely welcome as soon as I arrived and we had a party before going to a bar.

The next day I went to the beach. I normally hate the beach. Not this one. The sand, the sun and well the water was warm like bath water. I got sun burnt. I met with the guys again and played some football while the sunset. I wrecked my foot. It's still sore til this day, thanks Andrea. HAHA.

I went to Millionaires' Row where I saw celebrity's houses. Gloria Estifan, P. Diddy's and the house from Scarface too. Fun. I went out to a few clubs and made a few more friends at the beach who where from Montreal, Canada. My time in the states was drawing to an end :(

Next stop .. Home..

After Miami it was time to go home. It was sad. :( My last few days in America were a little bit overwhelming if I thought about it too much. S0 I tried not to. However there was excitement there. A few hours and I'd be seeing my family again :)

Chelsea's Power Hour

Made alive to Phoenix. Currently in Tucson for a night... goin' out wit da lads down here. Went and watched District 9 in the cinema. Its pretty messed up. Good all the same though. The passed few days have been exhausting. I arrived into Phoenix Saturday evening at around 7/8pm I can't really remember... was collected at the airport by Chelsea and her friends then headed back to her house to prepare for her Power Hour. We went to dinner first then headed back to hers then everybody went out to Big Bang. An underground piano bar on Mill Ave. in Tempe. Was pretty cool ... expensive drinks though :/ after that we headed back to Chelsea's where the drinking games and the crazy dancing began. Oh Lordy... the pictures are below it was crazy fun loved every minute. It lasted til 5 when everyone started to fade.

The following morning... with a thumpin' headache and a tongue like that of sandpaper. It was planned that we shall go to Boston's for Bloody Mary's and wings... before we headed to Chelsea's parents house with her family and stuff. So we had a few shots :/ 1pm shots at 1pm who does that? lol... apparently we do now... anyway yeh so we're hammered before we even get to Chelsea's Parents house. Anyway we left Chelsea's and then back home before going for a few beers and pool and Doc & Eddy's. So tired at this point.

On Monday pretty much did nothing. Went for lunch with Chelsea and booked my bus ticket to Tucson. Then had Dinner with B and Stephen. It was niceeeeeeee. Went back to Chelsea's and watched 'Push' i thought it was pretty good. Better than my expectations anyway.

I then woke up at 6am and Chelsea dropped me at the bus station for my trip to Tucson. Here i am now. So we'll see how tonight goes ... going to a few bars later :)


PHOTOS WILL GO HERE FOLKS > Internet is wayyyyy to slow... sorry... also please be patient for the Vegas and Miami blog entry... i've just been soakin' in the sun and having way too much fun!

O'Hare's Cold Floor

Well right now as I write this ... I'm sitting on the (cold) floor at Chicago O'Hare airport there are seats but its crowded right now. I traipsed around terminal 2 trying to find an outlet where I could give my laptop some juice and well the only place I could find one was in the corridor between the E and F gates ... where I sit right now so there's no Internet, wait, no FREE Internet. I could have some but I ain't paying'. So I'm writing this into a word document and I'll paste it into my blog when I get some connection.

I'm on route to Phoenix I had a 2 hour connecting flight from PHL airport to ORD Chicago Airport then I have a 2 hour lay over here in Chicago before a 3 hour flight to PHX Phoenix.

I had so much fun in Philly as always. I want to thank Tim for the entire week It was great and I really enjoyed my time there although I was only there for a week it felt like a month and Tim's company is always superb. It went by way to fast. I got 2 weeks before I begin my journey home. First like I said, Phoenix. Chelsea's birthday. 21. Her birthday's tomorrow. Get ready for the Power Hour of the century tonight. She's gonna get 'shwasted' her word not mine. I'll have my camera and maybe some blackmail photos will be on the cards? Watch this space.

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes - How do you measure, measure a year?

Wow...well its been a year at Extranomical...what a year! Where'd the time go? It flew in... It feels like I just arrived here yesterday :( I've grown so much as a person, I wouldn't know where to begin describing. This has been a great experience for me and it's sad that it has come to an end. Anyway my last day of work was on Friday ( July 31st)... And its now VACATION! woohooo! I got a week in San Francisco hanging with the homies that haven't left yet, then a East Coast to Philadelphia ... then I hit the heat in Arizona for Chelsea's Birthday(its gonna be HOT) in Phoenix, then Tucson with some friends from camp (hopefully) then to Las Vegas once more (with Chelsea) then last stop is Miami were the beaches are at :) I'll keep you posted if I manage to have some free time at the airports :)

There is a few things I would like to say before I take off gallivanting around San Francisco. I've left the Vantaggio ... I'm not the only one to be checking out this weekend... all of my Family there have left... and the 'next generation' of students have arrived. We had a party on Friday ... super fun drunk times ... like always ... the party at Vantaggio was off the hook ... great food and great drink and great times. The party started great ... Roly made some GREAT pasta... and then Jo had made her famous Sangria ... the Irish in the Vantaggio ... now 4 of us, decided to start singing (like the Irish do after they've had a few) ... then we're greeted with two guys ... in Uniform ... haha yep the cops. There's a saying somewhere that goes something like 'you know the party is good if the cops show up' so yeah... we were too loud apparently ... anyway they left... and it was all good, the party still continued... everyone got happy VERY happy... some even fell asleep because they were so happy! Those who where still awake decided to go to the Temple Bar (which was only a block away) for a karaoke sing song. I hadn't sang at Karaoke since I've been in San Francisco... I love it :) anyway after that it was time to call it a night ... I had to check out of the Vantaggio and go to Alcatraz (that's a post to follow) the next day...

Just a few words now... sob...

Extranomical Adventures - Thanks guys, I had a great year and met a lot of really great people. It was a pleasure working with everyone there and I will miss you all... I hope that my job in the future involves as many cool people as you guys. Your support throughout the year has been great and the opportunities provided I feel are once in a life time. Thanks a lot to everyone at Extranomical.

Vantaggio Suites - My main home throughout my stay... I made lots of friends there to whom are friends for life... I've already mentioned my goodbyes as all my really close friends have already returned to there home countries... First of all, Jo, thank you so much for being a great friend, you're a great person, I will miss you but I will see you you are a friend for life and I'm coming to Venice to see you soon! (you're coming to Belfast too). I love you Jo! Then the staff at the front desk, Megan, one of my chums... a learned a lot from her and times did get tough through the year ... we helped each other out... thanks Megan! Sen, (works the grave yard at Vantaggio) I would come home from a night out on the piss and have serious drunken conversations(he'd be sober of course) with sen... Funny times!

Dave - My roommate for the year. Being totally honest when I say this, I don't think I would've asked for a better roommate. You where extremely understanding and it was great hanging out and talking with you. We'll hang out one last time before I leave San Francisco. Thanks Dave!

So I've checked out of the Vantaggio. My closest friend, Tony, has provided me with a room for a week. So I got somewhere comfortable to sleep for a week. :)

Like I said the next post will be Alcatraz... but below are the pictures from the parteee!

My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me

Chrissi Leaves...

Ok one of my really close friends, Chrissi, left San Francisco last month. She returned to her home country as her year at Extranomical adventures had came to and end. I miss her so much, she was a really good friend and i wish her all the best for the future...and of course I'll be making the effort to visit her in Germany! :D So Long Chrissi...

Bettina and Marie say farwell...

Bettina, from Switzerland and Marie from France said goodbye and headed on to exciting adventures... Marie went back to Marcielle and Bettina to Argentina. We had a sushi party to mark their leaving, sushi, booze and fun times(lots of it). Then we had lunch in an amazing Thai restaurant before heading to Bi-Rite for ice cream :)... I'll miss you guys...

Naomh Drops In...

Naomh had finished school in Montana, where she was participating in the BEI programme for her placement year, and was then living in Livermore with her friend Kathleen. Livermore's about 30 minutes to an hour away via BART. Anyway, Naomh and Kathleen came into San Francisco for the day. I showed her around some places in the City while we had a major catch up, before running out of time and taking her back to the BART station. It was fun seeing a familiar face :D

Chelsea visits for a weekend...

Chelsea FINALLY came for a weekend in San Francisco. She came with her friends earlier in the year and she did the typical touristy stuff such as Fisherman's wharf, golden gate bridge and the cable car (which i still haven't managed to do yet). I decided to take her to a few places which are hidden in the city...and some places she wanted to go. :) She arrived Friday night, we went to 'SF's Best Drag Show', which was great fun! The next day we wandered around and hung out in the park before going to watch the Disney Pixar movie, UP! in 3D, it was FAN-BLOOMIN'-TASTIC! Worth a look! She left sunday afternoon. Again it was fresh to see her, I'll see her again in August in my travels after my work here :D

After friends leaving and friends visiting, I'm starting to realise that my time here in San Francisco is drawing to an end this time round ... I've got 6 weeks left ... I've made some really cool friends here and I'm going to make the most of the time left here...but that's another blog entry... For those back home ... I'll see yas all soon :D

I can trust my friends. These people force me to examine, encourage me to grow

Merry Christmas! :D

Merry Christmas Everyone :D

Its Christmas :D what a great few days its been here in Arizona. I've been staying in Chelsea's house then for Christmas Eve I spent the night in chelsea's parents house, cos thats where Santa was going :D

Christmas Morning, Chelsea's Grandparents made breakfast yummy and there was a stocking for me packed with goodies. It was so cool to have christmas with another family. It was tough though. I missed my own family this christmas, but i had the support of Chelsea and her family. There was PLENTY of food and drink - lots of fun of course.

Right now though, im sooooo tired so im cutting his post short. I'll have a few pics up soon.

Nighty Night

Vacation's begun...

I landed in Phoenix, Arizona last night... and seeing Chelsea at the bottom of the runway... AMAZING...i know this christmas ... is going to be AWESOME ... but yeh... so im just hanging in chelsea's with Jake, Paige and Steph. Of course chels and i are here too... we got stoli's and grey goose... anyway paige's house... ok now wait theres Christmas lights in Northern ireland... TACKY... paiges house has lights outside...this...is ART alot of thought went into this... so the lights flash in time to a certain radio station.... ridiculous? no pure amazing!!! Check the vid.

I had planned on making a trip to Tucson but... i got sick so I couldn't so apologies to the peeps down there expecting me. :(

My Bad...

Well i guess i've started slacking in my blog again... sorry about that... anyway alots been goin on... again gettin stuck into work and stuff and well social life as well making alot of friends and alot of great people... enjoying my time and making the most of this experience... but like i said, theres alot goin on... so i'll give you a little taster of wat i've been at the past few days (besides working and getting drunk) ...

A few Sunday's ago was the Office Christmas Party. We went to Asia SF. The food and drink was incredible...kinda worked like family style tapas...in total there was 18 of us...that includes all the office staff and the odd driver and ofcourse guests if people chose to bring...so anyway...Asia SF ok...now if you hadn't realised already that San Francisco is little CRAZY... this post will surely show you...

Asia SF is a restaurant/bar/club where all the barmaids...well arn't maids at all... they were trannys ... you know drag queens... which you see here alot but... these could pass as women...the looked like it (sometimes) you'd be surprised...well until they opened there mouth i guess... anyway our waitress was Vivica lol she was really great craic...they all put on a drag show... wow they could dance... and it was a great night and enjoyed by everyone... awesome experience!

Heres some pics...

I was working the next day so i didn't party too hard... it wasn't too late of a night either. Other than that i've just been wanderin bout the city. Getting the odd bit homesick... but that was inevitable... its getting into the Holiday Season, but next week i go to Arizona ... im goin for a few days so it'll clear my head. I can't wait. Then i'll get home in time for New Years... my plans...are up in the air right now...i hear there's fireworks at golden gate bridge though... so its lookin like that for now. Oh i went to an IMAX movie... ' The Day The Earth Stood Still' it was ok...loved the Imax, but as far as that movie was concerned...it was just ok...anyway i think i'm done bloggin' though i can't help but think i've missed something...so just watch outtttt! :)

Byeeee, let the weekend begin.