So I got on the plane and passed the hell out, the guy next to me was pretty nice. Also a Kuwaiti business man, I put my briefcase between us so I can make my seat as flat as possible. I have to say that Lufthansa Business class seats move in a wierd way, its like flowing from top to bottom adjusting to your controls so it takes a bit to figure out how to move it. Once we took off, I took my shoes off and put my mp3 player on and passed out until the lady woke me up for breakfast a couple of hours later. I have to say that I saw the best looking flight attendent I have ever seen, I really couldnt believe how good looking she was and how nice she was, usually I would be pissed if someone walk me up from a deep sleep, but I couldnt seem to get pissed at her she kept asking if I wanted to eat something and that I didnt eat anything from when the flight took off and if I dont like the food on the plane. I just said thank you very much, I think she was offsetting her partner who was a pissed off old lady who was serving the other side! hehehe!

When I got off the plane I was told not to be all smiley to the Immigration officer so I just said hello and gave him my passport. He scratched the top of the Visa and the top of my ID area to see if its a fake, it was pretty interesting watching him do that, and the same time it was a little nerving. Then he said “What are you doing in Germany? Where are you staying? How long are you staying?”. I wanted to laugh because of the robotic way he said it, but instead I replied in the same way “Business, Rocco Forte Frankfurt, 1.5 days” Then he looked at my picture which is 10 years old then he looks at me (note to self update picture in next passport). He stamped it and said “Enjoy your stay in Germany” then I grinned like idiot and said “Thank you”. I should have sang Da Da Daaaaa. hehehehe

I went to the baggage claim which was a good walk away and I love it that my bag was the fourth one out and I could see it coming out as I walked up to the revolving conveyer belt. I took it to the taxi area, and then I went through my bag looking for the hotel address, but I couldnt find the piece of paper. Then I remembered I printed it but I forgot to take it. So this guy came and took my bag as I was walking which surprised me and he put in the back of his Taxi (MERCEDES), I told him wait and it turns out he doesnt speak a word of English. I thought just my luck. Then I get in his cab and tell him the hotel name and he doesnt know and so he was getting pissed so I popped my laptop hoping that I could get wireless. And this guy was seriously going nuts, I told him to start the meter, and he said “Me 3 HOUR GO ROUND”. I was like holy crap calm down what the hell is this luck. So thank god I could get some wireless signal from T-Mobile and I check my email and show him the screen, then the guy takes off so hard I flew back while hold onto my laptop. I was like crap this guy is nuts. When we got on the highway I looked at my watch and it said 7am so I thought I had a little time before my meeting. it was pitch black outside, and I was thinking we were moving pretty fast which was cool and I look at his speedo and it says 175 kph, damn this guy really is nuts, but there must be a higher limit then we pass a sign and it says 100 kph! I was in shock how was he was going, and I dont even know the guy. Welcome to Germany.

I got to the hotel in one piece, which looks like an old castle from the outside, and on the inside it looks pretty damn cool. The decor is pretty cool with a modern taste and stone walls. I liked it, I checked in and I was expecting them to tell me the room wasnt ready since it was so early. And the receptionist said let me show to your room, which threw me off. And she could tell I was surpised and she said “if you specify in your booking for earl checking we will try everything to make sure we have a room for you.” Now thats service, Villa Kennedy is the place to stay while in Frankfurt. I took a shower and got ready for my meeting and then it was a long day of talking, negotiations, exchanging views, and different experiences. I have to say Germany is a lot nicer then I thought it would be, and whats surprising is that a lot of people dont speak English but they still try with facial expressions and a few hand signals to figure out what you want to do.

Did I mention that its freaking cold, and they call the airport Fraport, so I decided to call it Frankport because it feels funnier!

Im sitting in the airport lounge at this moment, and there some odd yellow, blue, and green decoration that I havent seen before. It turns out this was for the arrival of the Brazilian players and they were too lazy to take it down. I found that to be funny. My flight seems to be full, and Im ready to pass out in the plane. I just had some suhoor just enough to keep me going and getting a good nights sleep. 5 hours and 40 mins to Germany which means Im going to get a good nights sleep! I barely have enough enery to hold my head up right now.

Im getting sent away by work tonight! For the first time Im going to Frankfurt Germany and stopping. The first time I flew through it was on my way to the states and thats it, but now Im landing in Frankfurt and staying there for work. I land at 6:20am and I have meeting at 8:30am and I have meetings all day, and then the next day I fly back to Kuwait.  I dont like traveling during Ramadan because of all the commitments. Its going to be interesting to say the least. And flying with Lufthansa but its a night flight so Im probably going to pass out since I could sleep anywhere, but on the way back Im going to take full advantage of the Internet. I will posting up pictures of the hotel and all the places I will be going to. Im wondering if they have US movies in Germany because I would go in a heart beat.

The one thing that annoys me about flying is when they tell you to put your seats in an upright position. Whats the difference, your going to land so why do I have to put the seat back. The only airline I know that doesnt make you put your seat back is Virgin Airlines. I always try to sneak a little back when the air attendents walk away, and I push the seat back a little.

So when I left kuwait! I was in such a hurry that I didnt make a list this time, and just went with what ever I could remember! It was hectic to say the least. And even when I was leaving the US it was the same thing. I think I enjoy last minute packing sometimes, and just going to the airport.

Here is the funnier part of forgetting. I didnt want to look my tickets until the night before my flight. But what turned out to be even funnier, with all the guys hanging out at my friends place for a night good bye was that my flight was on tuesday september 12th at 2pm. And I looked at it, and just started laughing, and when I told my friends they thought I was in idiot! But we still kept eating the Chinese food. It was late enough that I could call the travel agents in Kuwait to get me on the plane on Wednesday so I would be in Kuwait by Thursday. So everything went through lucky for me.

But when I left Kuwait I forgot the GSM chip to my US phone, so I got a new one when I got there. I just went to Tmobile and they gave me another chip for my cell phone line. It was pretty funny that I took care of it from the first day since all I wanted to do was ride my bikes while waiting for my friends to get off work.
Now that Im back I remembered that I forgot one important thing! And that is some of the dvds that I bought, and more importantly music CD holder which I left in my truck! I will have to ask one of my friends to send that to me. What a trip! And still more stories to come!

This has been one crazy trip! I got too many stories! And a lot of pictures that I will be posting over the next couple of weeks! Everytime I go to the Bay Area it is never enough! But thats what a vacation is about! Enjoying your time spent! I saw only a few movies! Got to watch a good amount of TV, some good restaurants! A lot of riding! A good amount of shopping for other people! And got to hang out with a lot of good friends so I couldnt be happier! Now back to work!

So before I landed, I was sitting next to a very funny person. He was american, but then he turned out to be half-egyptian. But I probably knew more about egypt then he did. But I really knew that he was Egyptian since he had a great sense of humor. So after 10.5 hours sitting next to each other, he tells me that he is a family man and enjoys living where he is. Then after a lot of time has passed by he told me “Never Get Married if You Can!!!”. My mouth hung open for a few seconds, and then I started laughing. He was telling me reasons not to do it, and the benefits. I was laughing, and he also told me he would vouch for me at Immigrations. So now the plane landed and I am getting ready to disembark.

I got into my line which was only 4 meters in length, but took 1 hour to finish, which was killing me at the time. I got asked the standard question, but they started asking me what do I do and who do I work for, and that threw me off. I just answered thinking to myself why I wasnt expecting that question. So I leave immigrations, and I find my bag already on the belt!

Almost done, but the hardest part is about to stop. I get my bags and head over to customs. I know they will want to open everything in my bag because its just my usual luck. I walk to the officer, and then he asks me why Im here and what was I doing. I answered those questions and then he told to head to the exit. Things went smoothly for that day, and I got to my friends place. I got on the R1 and went for a little ride around the area just killing time until people get off work.

Everybody was shocked when seeing that I have arrived, and that I have put on the pounds. I just told them this is a temporary phase. It was good to see some old friends all on one night! I think we saw Robocop 2, Matrix, and Airplane. It was a fun night, and we got in a couple of games of Halo before everyone had to leave.

It was a nice start to a vacation.

So I was supposed to be up in the air by 8:45am German Standard Time, but something crazy happened in the terminal. Nothing dangerous but the funniest thing I have ever seen. I was sitting in the terminal for over 2 hours with only a few people around. Then these security people in red coats telling us to go to the end of th terminal and come back in 20 mins.

I couldnt understand what was going on, but I didnt really care and I just got up and went to the beginning of the terminal. Later on I figured out that the security screening for that Terminal wasnt there until 45 mins before the flight. They want to scan people who were already scanned previously. So there were about three flights that were supposed to leave, and I was lucky to be standing up front, because I refused to go back to the end and acted as if I couldnt understand her English, and she gave up. So when they opened the security line I had the Female German version of Danny DeVito screaming at me in German to do something then she said take your shoes off. I was about to laugh but I held it in. They opened up the bag and did the scan, everything went smoothly. Then another document check at the gate. It was hectic! Too many people in a short amount of time. So hour flight was delayed over two hours!!! Thats a long time!

Now Im posting from plane number 2! I shouldnt get used to this or I would expect this from every plane! I dont think there is any other form of Entertainment needed! I just want to eat and pass out! Its been too freaking long since I had food in my mouth! That breakfast did it for about 1 hours, but now Im starving! I NEED MEAT!

I left my house and got on the plane, landed in frankfurt and now just waiting for my flight to San Francisco.

I usually make a list of things I want to take with me and things I dont want to take. I have been busy as hell and I didnt have enough time to go through all that I wanted, and didnt want. So I kind threw a couple things together hoping that I wouldnt forget.

And as I was talking to my friend in the states, I realized what I forgot. My US cell phone chip! And thats just annoying to forget. There is a solution but its going to take a bit to get down with that.

Frankfurt airport is pretty big, and now this is a mix and match type place. Lots of people, and a lot dont speak english. So I have resorted to sign language when people ask me questions. There are some really nice people, but its difficult trying to answer questions that you dont eve know what they are saying! hehehe! The Germans are nice people, and very precise everything runs like clockwork here. Everything follows something, and they are intense about it. I asked a person where the train was to go to the other terminal and he said “100 meters straight down, then turn right and walk 20 meters, then left 10 meters to the stairs walk up to the top then another 40 meters and the train will be stopping on your left.” And it was an old guy telling me this. I was surprised that I even remembered what he said, and that took some effort, Im wondering what other people might do. I have to say their police and immigration people are very polite.

I spent a good hour looking for a powerplug in the gate my flight was supposed to take off from. I was happy when I found it.

I get in around 12pm in San Francisco going to take a cab from the airport to my friends work to pick up the keys to his place, then head over there and drop off my bags and get some gear. And then get the cab to drop me off at the Yamaha Service Deparment to go pick up the R1 when it finishs its service! Now thats a good start to the day! Hopefully immigrations wont be too rough when I land!

Im posting from the plane! This is rediculous! Im even going to test the bandwidth on the plane! I have to say that the people on Luftansa are really nice! The food is pretty good, I passed out for about 4 hours now, and I just woke up to the smell of food.

The Pearl lounge was annoying because the internet connection was barely working! Its working so much better on the damn plane! Seriously! But everything went smoothly no bag restrictions and no problems.

This is the first time I fly Luftanasa and I have to say Im pretty impressed. The chairs take a bit to get used to, they arent like normal chairs where you move it back and forth, and it does that. It works in a flowing kind of way, where the whole thing moves depending on what you want. It takes a bit to get used to it.

There are three Kuwaiti guys behind me who havent stopped talking non-stop for the whole damn flight. Two are friends and one guy introduced himself, and they are all studying in the states, but the funny part is the subjects they are discussing. One guy asks if they put locks on your wheels if you get a parking ticket like in Kuwait. Another guy asks how many “Samrahs” (Music Shindigs) take place a year so everyone gets together and how much does it cost. A lot of discussion went into that one. And they were also discussing about why they should get car insurance, but seriously Im just laughing at some the things they are talking about. The guy next to me has been asleep on and off, and he seems pissed off or something, he’s acting as if he has got a stick up his ass or something. Dont care since Im still doing what I want.

There are two air stewards who remind me of the guys from Die Hard 2, they are  blonde clean cut. One guy has a military style haircut and other has a slick hair to the back. They both look extremely fit as if they are ex-military or something. He could be serving me orange juice then kill without being noticed! hehehehe!

Got another until the plane lands, I keep hearing from different people that frankfurt airport is huge. So its going to be interesting! I will keep posting!

I will be traveling Monday night to the US through Frankfurt. Im just hoping nothing too crazy happens. I want to have all my gadgets with me, some magazines, and no creams neccesary! I took some time off from a while back, Im going to a friend’s wedding in the states at the same time as getting some work done. Sort of two birds with one stone.

I have a lot planned! And especially a lot of riding to do, which I will posting lots of pictures! And I will go see every movie possible no matter how bad it is! And pick up a couple of dvds and video games. I had this planned from a while back since I knew Ramadan was around the corner. And my good friend asked me to come to his wedding so I was more then happy to go. Two weeks is going to be a nice break!