America Latina

I'm looking forward to my next vacation, coming up at the end of the month, in Nicaragua.

I guess I couldn't wait so long, and had to take an extra short break. When I heard of a surfing trip organized by my climber friends, I hardly hesitated and joined in.
Aaron, Kelly, Kaori, Ingar and me only took 1 or 2 days off for this long week end in Puerto Rico, but it felt like a 2 week vacation! It was my revenge with the island and this time my camera did not get stolen ;-)

We rented a nice apartment almost on the beach and basically surfed all day, starting one morning at 7am! There are few things in life better than surfing at sunset (sunrise is bit cold to my taste), even if you really suck at surfing. I think I understand a little all the coolness about surfing now. On the last night, I even fell asleep while having the feeling of catching a wave. It sounds so stereotype, but it's true. And it help that we could hear the waves from the apartment.

Well, unlike Aaron and Ingar, I am definitely not an expert. It was my first try at this sport, and even after 3 days of practice, I can still say I am a total beginner. But, I'm kind of hooked on surfing and plan to go again in Nicaragua!

Pictures of the trip are here below, and on Aaron's website: http://www.aaronbudd.com/pr/

Surfing Rincon - Puerto Rico

Back on the right track

Yes, I feel I am back to life, after a few difficult weeks.
I've been living an active lifestyle lately, going out quite a lotand balancing with a lot of climbing.

Jenny took me to the Jazz at Lincoln center, where we had the best seats in the auditorium, and I was able to meet Wynton Marsalis backstage and speak to him for a minute! Very classy jazz, with the Lincoln orchestra virtuosos and many guest star players.






I also went to one of my first NYC art exhibition opening, in the Meatpacking district. The major pieces of Japanese artist Shinjo Into were on display. I was surprised that people did not seem to care about the buddha statues and calligraphies, but were more there for the scene. It was great for people watching: models, hipsters, cool photographers etc.... I met Kaori and her friends there and we headed to Buddakan afterwards... Which is an even nicer restaurant than Megu, and affordable! I think I have a new favorite in NYC now...

Picture courtesy of the New York Times, how can you not be amazed by the main dining area?:




And, last but not least, Arnaud took us out for a low key birthday party at Fat Cat, a jazz club I hard heard of a lot in the West village. The place was yet another excellent discovery: huge cavernous room, lots of obscure microbreweries on tap (you all must know I'm a beer snob), tons of sofa to sit confortably listening to the live band, and games (chess, ping ping tables, billiards etc). We had a great night, and I even beat (almost) all of them at ping pong. Damn, a crazy Alskan guy showed up at our table and eventually won every game....

As Arnaud says, this city is infinite...