Coffee Academics

I discovered The Coffee Academics in Makati recently when a friend took me there to have coffee. On that first visit, I got the pour over Colombia Antioquia Supremo and I really liked it. Making the experience even more unique and memorable is the fact that they serve it in a 250mL beaker that you can pour into a coffee glass. Cool!

Colombia Pour Over from The Coffee Academics

I also liked the location and the vibe of this place and my friend told me they also serve good food. I just knew I had to go there again.

Inside The Coffee Academics

Since that first trip, I've been there a few more times. On a couple of visits that I was really hungry, I ordered the Academics Breakfast. This dish has a sausage, ham, mushrooms, baked beans, eggs, toast, and a side salad. It's a pretty hefty and satisfying meal.

The Academics Breakfast

I've also tried the Shrimp Cakes Benny which, as the name suggests, is like an Eggs Benedict but with the poached eggs being served on shrimp cakes and potato salad. I liked this dish as well.

Shrimp Cakes Benny

The Coffee Academics offers a lot more dishes in its menu so I will surely go there again in the future. I'm really glad my friend introduced my to this place.

The Coffee Academics in Legazpi Village in Makati

The Coffee Academics

https://www.facebook.com/TCAmanila/

109 Don Carlos Palanca, Legazpi Village, Makati

Gram Cafe & Pancakes in Serendra

I finally got to eat at Gram Cafe & Pancakes! I've had souffle pancakes before and I really enjoyed them so when Gram opened in the Philippines, I really wanted to try it but I never got around to it. That is, until recently when I found myself in Serendra one late afternoon. There were available tables when I walked by and I was getting a bit hungry so I decided to have a very early dinner there. Naturally, I ordered their Premium Pancakes (which are their souffle pancakes). They were light and fluffy but they held their form pretty well even as I ate them. Cool!

Gram Premium Pancakes

The pancakes were actually my dessert. For my savory meal, I ordered the Ebi Aglio Olio con Tomate Pasta which was pretty good. I read on their Instagram page that this dish is only available in their Serendra branch so I'm happy I got to try it.

Ebi Aglio Olio con Tomate Pasta

I quite enjoyed my trip here so hopefully I get to visit Gram Pancake again in the near future.

The Sandman, The White Lotus, and More Shows on Netflix and HBO Go

The Sandman on Netflix

The Sandman was released on August 5. I was really interested in it because it is based on the books and graphic novels of Neil Gaiman. I really loved the film Stardust and I started to read some of his books (I will write more about this later this year). Also, I knew about Sandman because of one of my good friends was really interested in it many years ago and I got him one of the graphic novels as a Christmas gift. As such, I made sure to watch it when it became available. I gotta say, it's very dark, most especially Episode 5. I actually had to stop watching after that because of how intense it was (which is also why  it took me a while to complete the ten episodes). Interestingly enough, the last couple of episodes had moments that were almost comical but they were actually pretty insidious. I acknowledge that this series is not for everyone. While I think I'm not exactly the target market given how dark I found it at time, I did enjoy it and I will keep an eye out for the next season.

The White Lotus on HBO Go

I remember seeing The White Lotus on HBO on cable TV a while back but I didn't watch it back then. Since it only has six episodes and has been in my HBO Go list for a while, I decided to finally see it and it was such a revelation! I initially thought it would be light and something easy to watch but very soon, I started to find it unsettling yet very intriguing and compelling. The characters were all flawed and the dynamic they had with each other was very complex and interesting. As I finished the show, I remember thinking that I thought it was weird but good. However, I found myself thinking about the show and the characters a lot even after I had seen it and the more I thought about it, the more I loved it. The music, especially the opening theme, is also incredibly good. As it turns out, The White Lotus has won multiple awards already. I'm not surprised.

The Umbrella Academy

I know this show has been around for a while and while I subscribed to Netflix about a year ago already, it was only recently that I watched The Umbrella Academy. I just finished Season 1 and I really enjoyed it. I loved the many interesting twists and turns in the story. I haven't started Season 2 just yet but I plan to watch it soon.

Other shows

I watched Sea Beast on Netflix, which kinda had How to Train your Dragon vibes. I've always been interested in Inkheart because of the premise that whenever the lead character (played by Brendan Fraser) reads a book, he can bring characters from that book to life. Now that I've seen it, I think it is just okay. I don't regret watching it though given that it is available on Netflix.

I also got to rewatch some films on HBO Go, including Paycheck, Nanny McPhee, Legally Blonde, and Hot Fuzz. I actually have a DVD  of Hot Fuzz but I can't get my DVD player to work anymore so I'm happy it was on HBO Go. Now if only they can add Shaun of the Dead as well...

Quarantine Stories Part 24

A friend of mine traveled to Australia recently. I asked her if she could bring me some Tim Tams and she said she could. I checked the Arnott's website and looked for flavors that aren't available in the Philippines. I saw several that I was interested in and my friend very graciously got everything in my list for me. I ended up with 7 packs of chocolate biscuits. My favorite was the Decadent Triple Choc and I also really enjoyed the Dark Choc Raspberry and the Salted Caramel Brownie. I didn't really like the others I got - Murray River Salted Caramel, Butterscotch & Cream Flavour, Chewy Caramel, and Royals Milk Chocolate. If I have another friend who visits Australia, I now know exactly which flavors to ask for.

A variety of Arnott's biscuits from Australia

In my most recent board game night, I got to teach Rococo to my friends. Up until then, I was the only one in that group who had Rococo and who had played it before. The version I used to play was the original print but I now own a copy of the Rococo Deluxe Plus, which I got as a Christmas gift for myself last year haha. I remember loving this game years ago and after play it again, I confirm that this is really one of my favorite board games of all time. Plus, the new version is really beautiful!

Rococo Deluxe

We also celebrated Niki's birthday during our board game night. I volunteered to bring the cake and I decided to order a whole Tropical Vanilla cake from Dylan Patisserie. I really enjoyed it when I had it weeks before so I thought my friends would enjoy it too. (I believe they did.)

Tropical Vanilla cake from Dylan Patisserie

I have a new source of decaffeinated coffee: Tim Horton's. Normally, I buy decaf at the supermarket and in a recent grocery run, I needed to buy more decaf because my stash at home was almost fully consumed. However, the supermarket didn't have any stock at that time. I then remembered seeing decaf at Tim Horton's so I made my way to one of their shops and got myself a 400g bag that cost P600. I did the math and it turns out that their decaf is cheaper than the one that I used to get so I decided to make Tim Horton's my new official source.

Tim Horton's Decaf Coffee

Finally, I completed my annual health exam last month. It's the first one I've had in more than 2 years. As expected, I'm nowhere near as healthy as I used to be after gaining weight during the pandemic and eating a lot more sugar. I now need to eat better and to exercise more. Thankfully, my Fitbit tells me that I am covering huge distances each week. That's definitely a step in the right direction (pun intended).

Paying Our Respects to Mama Guading

Mama Guading passed away more than a decade ago. Recently, her family decided to move her ashes to the St. Therese Columbarium in Pasay. She had been taking care of my family even before I was born so when we were invited to the ceremony which was scheduled at 130pm on Sunday, we took the time to attend.

Shrine of St. Therese of the Child Jesus

I suggested to my family that we have an early lunch in Makati before going to St. Therese Columbarium. I recommended Grace Park because the parking area of this place was just right in front of the restaurant. Since my grandmother was joining us, this means that she would only need to take a few steps from the car to the restaurant. It was a good choice because no one else in my family had eaten there before and they enjoyed the food. It was also good that we got there at 11am because almost all the unoccupied tables were reserved. We got the last available table and it was just the right size for my family. Our table was also outdoors and thankfully it didn't rain while we were dining.

After lunch, we made our way to the Shrine of St. Therese of the Child Jesus in Newport, Pasay. After going inside the church to take some photos - it was my grandmother's first time there - we headed down to the columbarium area. There we were met by Mama's sister, Yaya Isot, and the rest of her family. There was a lot of catching up and sharing of stories before the priest arrived to begin the ceremony. It wasn't just Mama's ashes that were being moved; the ashes of her niece, who very sadly passed away due to illness, were being moved along with hers (they would be sharing a niche).

I'm glad that my family was able to join the ceremony to pay our respects to Mama Guading. It's also good that she now has a new resting place which I am more familiar with. Hopefully, I can visit her more frequently. Rest in peace, Mama. We love you and we miss you!

More Get-Togethers

I had another reunion with college friends when we met up with Val and Louie before they returned to the US. A few weeks ago, we had dinner with Val but Louie was unable to join us. Since Louie and Val were staying in the Rockwell area, we decided to have dinner at Refinery since this place served both coffee and drinks, catering to the preferences of everyone in the group. After dinner, Val and Louie invited us to their room for more drinks. Louie served us a mix of port wine and tonic water with a slice of lemon. It was pretty good! Lala also brought a bottle of Matsu wine while I brought a bottle of Ube Cream Liqueur. It was my first time to try this award-winning drink by Agimat at Ugat and it is actually pretty good.

Ube Liqueur Cream by Agimat at Ugat

I also went on a BGC pub crawl with some high school friends. Erick was in town and Mitch wanted to take him out. We started the night having hotdogs and drinks at the Hotel Bar at Pink's. We then moved to Bank Bar. It's interesting how Bank Bar has been around for years and it was only recently that I was able to go and now, just a few months later, I was able to go back. Our final stop that night was Elbert's Upstairs, a bar above Mendokoro Ramenba in BGC. The good thing about BGC is that it's very walkable so it was quite easy for us to move from one place to the next.

The "secret" 7-Eleven entrance to Bank Bar

I visited Wildflour a couple of times in the last month. This was because Wildflour has an ongoing promo with certain BPI cards. Guests who use their BPI card can get 30-50% discount (depending on the card) for a minimum purchase of P5,000 (and with a maximum discount of P3,000). First, I took my family to Wildflour Podium for lunch. I had wanted to order the Bone-in Prime Rib Eye Steak for the benefit of my nephew who missed our lunch at Raging Bull but sadly, Wildflour had run out of that steak by the time we had our late lunch. Despite that, my family still enjoyed our meal there and we even took home several of their pastries. A few weeks later, I met up with my ex-colleagues at Wildflour Rockwell. Interestingly enough, I ordered the same dish both times - Chicken and Biscuits. I love biscuits (the bread, not the cracker) and Wildflour is only one of a few places I know that sell them so I figured I would order the same dish to maximize my enjoyment.

I organized a board game night with my friends Pat and Carlo. The last time I played board games with them was before the pandemic. I invited a couple of other friends to join us and we played a few casual games that night, including Istanbul (which we played twice), Herbaceous Sprouts, Splendor, and Roll For It. We ended the night talking about scheduling another game night.

I also had a few get-togethers with current colleagues and ex-colleagues. I met up with Mia, Ian, and Karla in TGI Friday's in Venice Piazza. I had dinner and drinks at Terry's Bistro in Salcedo Village with my colleagues Ysa, Caloy, and Sab with whom I had been working very closely for the last couple of years. Then, I returned to Dylan Patisserie to have dinner with my teammates Irish and Michelle. Irish requested that we meet up in QC so I suggested Dylan. Michelle ordered the De Hazelnut Praline which I got to try...

De Hazelnut Praline from Dylan Patisserie

...while I tried the Raspberry Mango Opera and a Blueberry Macaron. (The other French pastry in the photo below is the Chocolate Marcarpone Delight that Irish ordered).

More desserts from Dylan Patisserie

Finally, I had one more college reunion as my friend Nemboy and his family were in town for a few weeks. Nemboy hadn't been to the Philippines in a while so we decided to have dinner at Manam in Greenbelt so he could enjoy more Pinoy food before leaving the country again. I'm really happy and thankful that I continue to have opportunities to spend more face-to-face time with friends and that I am now able to take my family out for meals again.

How to Make Butter, the Victorian Way

This video was recommended to me by YouTube at the height of the pandemic. A couple of years later and I still watch it every now and then. I guess I find this video to be quite relaxing to watch. It's amazing how much work went into making butter back in the olden days!

 

video uploaded in YouTube by English Heritage

Dylan Patisserie

My family and I had lunch at Dylan Patisserie in Quezon City and we had a great time!

Dylan Patisserie Cakes

We originally planned to have lunch somewhere else along Tomas Morato but I forgot to make a reservation so when I got there, the restaurant I suggested didn't have any available parking. I figured it was full so I decided to look around for other places where we could eat. As it turned out, practically every other restaurant along Tomas Morato had full parking. I then remembered a friend posting about Dylan Patissirie on his IG stories and it looked like a really interesting place. I looked for it on Waze and it was at the corner of Scout Tuason and Scout Castor. I drove there and saw that, thankfully, it was relatively easier to park. I checked out the menu and it looked good so I told my family we should try this place out.

Dylan has a semi-outdoor dining area that was empty when I arrived so I know they could accommodate my family (there were 10 of us). I say semi-outdoor because it is fully covered but there are a lot of open windows and it is cooled by fans instead of by an air conditioner. It was raining lightly when we were there so it didn't feel too warm.

"Outdoor" dining area

Everyone was pretty quick to choose their food but my grandmother wasn't sure what to get so she asked me to order for her instead. I chose the Beef Stroganoff for her. Since I wasn't sure if she would like it, I got the Porchetta for myself. I figured  that if the stroganoff wasn't to her liking, we could swap dishes. Since it was around 130pm when we started to eat, we were pretty hungry so I forgot to take photos. That said, both dishes were pretty good. The vinaigrette sauce that came with my porchetta was quite special. I did get to take photos of a few other dishes, such as my mom's Prawn Linguini Aglio Olio which she enjoyed...

Prawn Linguini Aglio Olio

...and my nephew's Whole Omelet which he also liked.

Whole Omelet

Dylan Patisserie has a fantastic spread of cakes, desserts, and baked items so we ordered a few of them.

Mini cakes, eclairs, and macarons

I got the Tropical Vanilla, which is an almond sponge with fresh vanilla mousse, a fruit jelly layer, and vanilla essence. I absolutely loved it!

Tropical Vanilla mini cake

My grandmother got the Lychee Pandan, a pandan-infused sponge with creamy white chocolate, coconut mousse, and a layer of lychee jelly. She also liked it but could only eat some of it so she took the rest home with her.

Lychee Pandan mini cake

What made our lunch here extra special was the superb service. Our server (I think her name was Chelsea) was very friendly, warm, and professional. You could feel that she genuinely wanted us to have a great dining experience there. She was also very responsive to our requests.

Dylan Patisserie also makes customized cakes

This restaurant is apparently the second branch. The original is located in Makati, along Jupiter Street. The Makati branch, however, focuses on cakes and pastries and they offer only a handful of savory dishes.

Other baked goodies available at Dylan

I'm really happy that we got to try Dylan Patisserie. I am certain I will visit this place again in the future.

Dylan Patisserie
https://dylanpatisserie.com/

QC branch:
20 Scout Tuazon Street Cor, 1103 Scout Castor Diliman, Quezon City, Metro Manila
Opening Hours: Weekdays 8am - 10pm, Weekends 7am - 11pm

Makati Branch:
116 Jupiter Street, Barangay Bel-Air. Makati City.
Opening hours: 8:30am - 9pm daily

Phone: +63 2 8777 2999 | +63 2 8920 7411 | +63 2 8286 9949
Whatsapp and Viber: +63 917 877 2999

Quarantine Stories Part 23

Achievement unlocked: I got my Serengeti badge! Since I started using my Fitbit, I have walked a total distance of 804 kilometers. This means I have been covering a distance of about 6.93 kilometers each day. My daily average has gone down since my last badge but considering that I work from home a lot and that I only live in a small apartment, it's pretty amazing that I was still able to walk this much each day over the last few months. Wow!

My Serengeti Badge

I also finally got a new phone, which I acquired by recontracting with my mobile plan provider. I was pretty happy with my Samsung S7 Edge so I decided to stay with the brand and go with their flagship series. I chose the S22+ not only because it was the same size as my previous phone but also through a process of elimination. I didn't want to get the Ultra because I felt it was too big, even if it had a better camera. I also decided against the S22 because I read reviews about the battery life not being great. I'm pretty happy with my new phone so far, especially because it has 256 Gb storage, a massive improvement from my previous 32 Gb.

My New S22+

That wasn't my only expensive acquisition though. Because of ads that I saw while going through my social media accounts, I ended up with buying Issey Miyake Eau & Cèdre during the Lazada 9.9 sale. It was a bit of a budol purchase but I got it because (1) fashion designer Issey Miyake passed away very recently and (2) there was a special sale where I would get a whole lot of freebies with my purchase. I ended up getting a 15 mL L'Eau d'Issey fragrance, 10 assorted mini-mists, a body wash, and two bags. A pretty good deal if you ask me. And I will surely be able to use this fragrance so I guess it's not such a bad purchase after all haha.

Issey Miyake Eau & Cèdre with a lot of freebies

I also finally set up the magic remote of my LG TV. I hadn't set it up previously because the standard remote works. However, earlier this month, I wanted to load my IWantTFC account onto the browser of my Smart TV and I didn't know how to do it using the normal remote. Thankfully, it was pretty easy to do it using the magic remote. I was actually toying with the idea of getting a Chromecast for myself just so I can watch IWantTFC shows on my TV but now I don't need to. Cool!

My LG Magic Remote

For the first time in my life, I have an SM Advantage Card. I previously didn't get one because I rarely go to SM. However, I started buying cat food from Pet Express for my nephew's rescue kitten early this year and I decided to start getting dog food there as well because they had a greater variety than the supermarket I frequent. I did the cost-benefit analysis and I realized I could actually save some money over the next five years if I had an SM Advantage Card. So on a recent trip to SM, I got one.

My new SM Advantage Card

Speaking of new cards, I also have a new credit card but it wasn't because I wanted one. It was because my previous one was compromised. Earlier this month, I got several text messages at around 2am one night  saying that I had made several online purchases amounting to about Php 80,000! What?!? Thankfully, all charges were reversed and my credit card company replaced my card at no cost. I also got the replacement quite quickly. Still, it freaked me out quite badly. This is the second time that my credit card was compromised in less than a year. I'm hoping it doesn't happen again.

[Throwback] New York

One of my business trips to the US was two weeks long. As luck would have it, while we had meetings scheduled over two weeks, there was nothing on the agenda on the Friday and the Monday surrounding the middle weekend of my trip. I asked my boss if I could take those days off and she agreed. Since I now had a long weekend in the US, I decided to fly to Manhattan to spend a long weekend there. Cool! The first place I visited? The Statue of Liberty. (I'm such a tourist LOL.)

Statue of Liberty

I also visited Ellis Island. It used to be the busiest entry point of immigrants into the US so it's no surprise that the National Immigration Museum can be found here.

Inside the National Immigration Museum on Ellis Island

There are some pretty awesome views of the Manhattan skyline from Ellis Island.

Manhattan skyline

On my first evening there, I got to see The Producers starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. I kept seeing posters all over the city so it piqued my interest. I had no plans in the evening so I decided at the last minute to ask my hotel concierge where I could get tickets for The Producers and he said I could get it there. I actually got a seat relatively near the stage, albeit at the far right (there were spots on the stage I couldn't see, but no big deal really). I didn't know about this musical before I watched it so I was very pleasantly surprised at how hilarious it was! The songs are also quite catchy and the performers were all incredible!

The Producers on Broadway

The next day, Eugene and his wife Lorraine came to New York to spend the day with me (they were living in Washington DC at the time). Eugene was my classmate in high school and when during that Manhattan trip, it had been years since I last saw him. Needless to say, I was really happy we got to hang out and that I got to meet Lorraine. We first visited Rockefeller Center.

Rockefeller Center

We then headed to the Empire State Building, which was once the tallest building in the world. There are some truly incredible views of Manhattan from the top.

View from the top of the Empire State Building

We then caught the matinee of The Phantom of the Opera. We actually bought tickets at the TKTS booth early that morning. It was my first time to see Phantom (I have since seen it two more times, at CCP and at the Theatre in Solaire) and I was blown away by the stage - I remember being in awe of the magnificent chandelier, the candles coming out of the floor, and the grand staircase during the masquerade scene - and how fast the sets were changed from one scene to the next.

The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway

After the show, we walked around the area, taking photos at Times Square...

Times Square

...and at the studio where the Late Show with David Letterman is staged. Eugene, Lorraine, and I then had dinner before they headed back home to DC.

Late Show with David Letterman

The next day I visited Central Park and walked around. It was so cold when I was there that the lake was frozen!

I then made my way to the Met, or the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Here I got to see some pretty incredible art pieces, including Vincent van Gogh's Self-Portrait with Straw Hat...

Self-Portrait with Straw Hat by Vincent van Gogh at the Met

...and the Hand of God by Rodin.

Rodin's Hand of God

I also swung by the American Museum of Natural History. (I don't recall spending time in this museum; I wonder if this receiving area was accessible to non-paying guests and if I just went into this area to have my photo taken.)

American Museum of Natural History

On my final evening in Manhattan, I was able to get an autograph and a photo of Matthew Broderick! I discovered the night before that after the show, some of the cast come out of the theater to sign autographs. I went back to St. James Theatre that night in the hopes I could get to see some of the cast. I made it there early enough that I was at the front of the crowd. Despite the fact that it was really cold, I was quite pleased that Matthew Broderick came out to have photos taken with, and sign autographs for, the crowd. I regret not handing my camera to someone else so I could have my photo taken with Matthew - I think I felt a bit intimidated asking someone else to take my picture and slowing down the whole process so I just took a picture of Matthew when he was signing an autograph for the person next to me - but I am happy that I took a photo of him and that he signed my program.

Matthew Broderick

Thankfully, I stayed at what was then called the Milford Plaza Hotel, which is now ROW NYC. This hotel was literally just around the corner from both The Majestic (where The Phantom of the Opera was staged) and St. James Theatre (where The Producers was staged). It was a good hotel but I do remember that when I got into my room at around 1am on my first night there, the room wasn't exactly clean. Specifically, the bed wasn't made. In one of the most unhygienic decisions I've ever made in my life, I decided I was too tired to have to move to another room so I stayed there and slept on the unmade bed that was used by some other guest. (Even as I think about this now, I have no idea why I didn't ask for another room.)

Times Square at night

While my experience in Manhattan was great, I have to say that I did feel quite intimidated by it. In fact, this is the city I visited where I felt most like an outsider. That said, this trip remains very memorable in that I got to visit some very famous New York landmarks, I saw a couple of amazing shows on Broadway, and I got to spend a day with one of my closest friends from high school and his wife.

[Throwback] Ohio and Kentucky

I got to visit Ohio a few times for work. I have several friends who live in Ohio so whenever I went there on business, I got to meet up with at least some of them. Sometimes, we would go out for dinner. Other times, they would take me around. I got to see the Cincinnati city center where I took this photo of the Tyler Davidson Fountain at Fountain Square.

Tyler Davidson Fountain in Cincinnati

Another time, my friends me invited to join them on a Riverboat Cruise of the Ohio River. The dad of one of my friends, Amy, was visiting her at the same time as my trip so she invited a few other people to join them.

Riverboat cruise on the Ohio River

Later that afternoon, we headed to the Cincinnati Museum Center. Interestingly enough, what I remember most about this museum visit was that we watched a short documentary about bears in its IMAX theater. It was my first ever IMAX experience and it was then that I discovered that these gigantic theaters aren't for me because I got dizzy watching.

Cincinnati Museum Center

I also got to visit Kentucky, which shares a border with Ohio. My friends took me to the Newport Aquarium. I took a few photos but none of them were in focus because the fish were moving and I was still using my very first 3.3 digital camera, which was still pretty low-tech. I did manage to get a decent shot of this shark and its razor-sharp teeth that you can see from its gaping mouth.

Newport Aquarium

On a subsequent visit to Ohio, my friends took me to Kings Island in Mason.

Kings Island in Mason

I'm not a fan of thrill rides so I was hesitant to join my friends but they told me that I could just enjoy their company and walk around the grounds while our other friends got on the rides. As it turned out, I got persuaded to get on a few of the scariest ones, including Vortex (which is no longer in operation), Delirium, and Invertigo.

Invertigo

It was here that I got to try a wooden roller coaster for the first (and so far only) time, The Beast. It was actually quite enjoyable since it wasn't as scary as the ones I just mentioned. Another very memorable  ride was Tomb Raider, an indoor ride with cool visual effects (this one is no longer in operation either). We were advised to make sure there was nothing on us that was loose and/or could fall off. The only thing on me was my wallet which was in my butt pocket but I figured that should be safe enough. However, the ride really flips you around and at one point, we were left hanging upside down for what felt like a few to several seconds. At that time, I could feel space between my chair and my behind and I just kept hoping and praying that my wallet wouldn't fall out my butt pocket. Thankfully, it didn't.

The now-defunct Tomb Raider ride

If memory serves me right, I got on nine rides that day. In our group, only one person got on more rides than I did - she got on ten - and only one other person got on nine. Everyone else rode less. Needless to say, I was wiped out after that. Still, it was quite a memorable experience that I got to share with friends.

Next post: New York