Boy, it's been a long long time since I've updated this. Well, I've been on vacation--Thomas and I went to New York City and Puerto Rico for about a week and had a great time.

Highlights from NYC:


• Had dinner with Anna and new boyfriend, Steve, at Guastavino's...a few days later, drinks at Fez
  
  
• Saw the Blue Man Group's performance of "Tubes" which was fantastic. If you ever have the chance to see them perform, do.
  
  
• Had a swanky evening of food, drinks and dancing at Lotus with Debbie, Gina, Jimmy and others.
  
  
• Ate yummy dim sum with Li-Mei in Chinatown
  
  
• Caught the Surrealism exhibit at the Met with Judy, who later on took us on a stroll through SoHo
  
  
• Had drinks with Josh and new girlfriend
  
  
• Went down to Ground Zero and Battery Park on the 6-month anniversary where we were able to see the two new memorials: "The Sphere", a sculpture that used to sit in the WTC plaza and "Towers of Light"
  
  

Highlights from Puerto Rico:


• The sun, sand and water.
  
  
• Staying at ESJ Towers again in Room 261.
  
  
• Hiking in El Yunque, the Caribbean National Rainforest, and swimming in La Mina Waterfall
  
  
• Nighttime kayaking and swimming off the coast of Fajardo through mangroves to eventually get to Laguna Grande, a bioluminesent bay that is home to millions of glowing plankton. It's this natural phenomenon in which the movement of water produces a chemical reaction that produces light. Here are some pictures from a website to give you an idea of it--so incredible.
  
  
• A visit to the Arecibo Observatory, home of the world's largest radio telescope and where the S.E.T.I. research is conducted. It's also famous from the movies Contact and 007.
  
  
• Meeting up with Carlos for dinner
  
  
• Salsa dancing, yummy Cuban food
  
  

I will have pictures up soon. The trip back wasn't too bad either---we had an insanely long layover in Ft. Lauderdale---from 9am - 6pm---so we took advantage of it and rented a car to hit the beach! Spring break had just started and all sorts of high school and college-age teeny boppers were walking around the beach, cruising in their shiny cars. It was absolutely hilarious.



After returning, I took Eugene to see the Ahn Trio at Meany Hall. I've always been curious to see these 3 Korean sisters...really enjoyed the concert, especially the modern pieces that they played. I loved the fact that there were so many young people at the concert. I find it interesting how lately there have been a number of young, hip, stylish classical performers--such as Vanessa Mae and Bond. Hey--if it gets more young people listening to classical music, I'm not going to argue.



The Oscars were on last night, a show that I watch religiously each year. Halle Berry made Oscar history by being the first black female actress to win the Best Actress category---she was practically hyperventilating upon winning. To further make a statement, Denzel Washington won for Best Actor and Sydney Poitier was given an honorary Oscar. Even though the show went over by an hour this year, I didn't feel like it was as long as in year's past. I liked how they showed snippets for Best Song from a Film instead of having each performer play their piece in its entirety throughout the program. I also loved the special performance by Cirque du Soleil, a troupe that I adore watching.