If I had to describe this day with one word only, it would be... absocalifragulous!
Let's see...
We started the day with Right Now by John Cena (not my ringtone, don't look at me). So we jumped eagerly out of the bed (yeah, right) and head for the pool. I want a swimming pool of my own.
So, after the refreshing swim, we headed into Miami Downtown for brekkie and blogposting. We found a lovely place called Emily's where a lovely lady (I'm not sure, but I choose to believe she was called Emily) sold us lovely American breakfast (cuban bread, eggs, Coca-Cola, and ham, bacon and mincemeat from a lovely pig who was probably called Emily). I love American breakfast <3
On we moved to our second WrestleMania Axxess. The public transportation in Miami is curious at its best. It was not at its best.
So, after waiting in bus for long enough, much confusion, and running along Washington Avenue, we arrived to the Miami Convention Center. Sadly, the first Axxess day was actually better than the second one. Still, I got an autograph from Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat (he's a pro wrestling legend), so it was not completely unawesome.
Next highlight of the day: We decided to brave the public transportation again, and picked a bus back to downtown. For the first time during our trip, it rained, even. Not a torrential downpour, rather a gentle summer rain.
So, after spending 45 minutes in the bus, and still not reaching the bridge connecting Miami Beach and Downtown (due to the traffic jam), we decided to get out of the bus and leg it. Well, guess what? As soon as we got to the bridge, we found the traffic jam had solved itself. However, brave and stubborn individuals that we are, we walked the whole bridge. (That's seven kilometres, give or take.) It's one of those things that don't become funny until way after the situation has passed. Now it's only one more experience in a day full of experiences.
Long story short, we made it to Hall of Fame Ceremony (that was the main interest today) in time.
There is no way I could even begin to express how utterly marvellous it was, so I won't even try. Sorry. I'll just mention the loudest Woo!-chant I've ever heard, and the fact I cried during Edge's induction speech.
Now we're sitting at Pizza Rustica for the WiFi. (In case I did not yet mention, our hotel does not have free WiFi.) Tomorrow is the long awaited WrestleMania! I'm so very excited I can barely hold myself together!
lauantai 31. maaliskuuta 2012
My life as an acrophobic
Imagine that you’re crossing a bridge. When you get almost
to the middle of the bridge, you realize the bridge trembles every time a car
crosses it. Also imagine that the bridge is located in the middle of a city,
and cars cross it every two seconds. Finally imagine that the part of the
bridge the cars use is metal net, and the river below – far, far below – is
fully visible.
You already understand what I’m talking about, don’t you?
Well, I survived the crossing and all was well.
Fast forward three hours. We’re walking back from Burger
King, and all of a sudden, I see the bridge looming in front of me. And
suddenly I realize something I (thankfully) didn’t understand before: I would
have to cross the bridge again.
I hurried forward to keep the others from seeing my face. My
thumbnails dug firmly to my index fingers. I focused my gaze to the hotel in
the other side, so very far on the other side. I tried to focus my mind only
for the current step, repeatedly counting to one.
One. One. One. One. One. One. One.
By the time I was reaching the middle point, I was gasping
for air through my mouth. (Bad move.) Then a car apparently sped past, sending
violent shudders resonating through the bridge. My teeth snapped together
digging a hole to my cheek in the process. I guess the pain and taste of blood
were the only things keeping me from screaming out loud. Still, I sobbed
violently every step from there on. I was absolutely sure that the next moment
the bridge would crumble and I would fall to the river below. Every step I died
a little.
After infinity, or several infinities, I reached the other
side, hobbled to the guardrail, and sat down. By the time my friends reached
me, I had recovered enough to look somewhat normal.
For all of you, who laughed while you were reading this… I
hope you die slowly, painfully and alone.
The normal happy-go-lucky writing will resume tonight, or tomorrow morning at latest.
torstai 29. maaliskuuta 2012
Feet people have feet problems
DISCLAIMER: This post may be shorter and less coherent than the previous ones. We just got back to hostel from WrestleMania Axxess (convention where you can see the stars, collect autographs, take pictures and see different wrestling-related stuff) and my feet are killing me. They are swollen and there are neat (feels like permanent) imprints from my sandal straps. And did I already mention they hurt?
So, let's recap the day.
It started with two drunk-out-of-their-feeble-minds dorm mates showing up to our dorm at approximately 3am. Seriously, why do drunkards always need to be so damn loud? It's not like they have anything important or interesting to say. Thank Dionysos (that's the old Greek god of wine for all you historically impaired out there) they moved out today!
The night went on quite as swell. One of our dormies proved to be quite a snorer, and his droning kept all three of us (Kenitys, Rico and myself) waking up every now and then. Also, there may or may not have been some problems with the air conditioning; all I know is I woke up for the last time at 8am, and I could have squeezed sweat from back of my head. I made a solemn promise to get a haircut now.
A slight sidetrack to hair! Last summer I pretty much shaved my head, and decided I won't be cutting it before I'm in Miami. I have naturally wavy hair, and for three last months or so I've been trying out various ridiculous hairstyles because it's too tall and messy for any easy, remotely smart-looking ones.
So when we left to the Washington Avenue for shopping I left for the hunt of a decent barbershop. I found one, named "Hall Of Pain" and if you ever are in Miami and in need of a haircut, I can heartily recommend this one. Haircut and shave for 20$ ain't too bad, eh? I would post a picture of my current hair, but there are people I don't want to show it quite yet. Lets just say it's much shorter than it was before.
So then we went to the world famous Miami Beach.
The results were quite exquisite. The water was wonderfully warm and salty, the waves were big, and now all of us can quite relate to Sheamus's entrance theme song.
It's a shame to have a lobsterhead,
A careless man may be too well fed.
You're way too thin like some other guys,
too many limes, too many limes.
Yeah, we got sunburned, all six of us.
After we had scorched ourselves enough, it was time for the main attraction of the day: WrestleMania Axxess. It was wonderful. I got to meet(/see, I didn't get to talk to all of these) names like "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, The Great Khali, Justin Roberts, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins (Tyler Black), Jimmy and Jey Uso, Sin Cara, Epico&Primo, Alex Riley, Rosa Mendez, Kaitlyn, Tamina, "Funkasaurus" Brodus Clay with his valets, Jack Swagger and Vickie Guerrero, Daniel Bryan, Christian, R-Truth, and...
AJ! AJ! AJ! The biggest markout of the evening. I also got her autograph on my WrestleMania shirt.
The staff almost ruined the thing, because he took the shirt from me and handed it to her so, that the autograph is very low, at the... hemline? I don't know, I don't speak clothes. Still, I got to meet her and exchange a few words, which was absolutely wonderful. I had this wonderful feeling of emptiness when I walked away. You know, the one you sometimes get when you achieve something you have long been wanting to do.
Yeah, I'm twenty minutes late. Blame McDonalds, we went there after we left Axxess.
So, let's recap the day.
It started with two drunk-out-of-their-feeble-minds dorm mates showing up to our dorm at approximately 3am. Seriously, why do drunkards always need to be so damn loud? It's not like they have anything important or interesting to say. Thank Dionysos (that's the old Greek god of wine for all you historically impaired out there) they moved out today!
The night went on quite as swell. One of our dormies proved to be quite a snorer, and his droning kept all three of us (Kenitys, Rico and myself) waking up every now and then. Also, there may or may not have been some problems with the air conditioning; all I know is I woke up for the last time at 8am, and I could have squeezed sweat from back of my head. I made a solemn promise to get a haircut now.
A slight sidetrack to hair! Last summer I pretty much shaved my head, and decided I won't be cutting it before I'm in Miami. I have naturally wavy hair, and for three last months or so I've been trying out various ridiculous hairstyles because it's too tall and messy for any easy, remotely smart-looking ones.
So when we left to the Washington Avenue for shopping I left for the hunt of a decent barbershop. I found one, named "Hall Of Pain" and if you ever are in Miami and in need of a haircut, I can heartily recommend this one. Haircut and shave for 20$ ain't too bad, eh? I would post a picture of my current hair, but there are people I don't want to show it quite yet. Lets just say it's much shorter than it was before.
It's a shame to have a lobsterhead,
A careless man may be too well fed.
You're way too thin like some other guys,
too many limes, too many limes.
Yeah, we got sunburned, all six of us.
After we had scorched ourselves enough, it was time for the main attraction of the day: WrestleMania Axxess. It was wonderful. I got to meet(/see, I didn't get to talk to all of these) names like "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, The Great Khali, Justin Roberts, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins (Tyler Black), Jimmy and Jey Uso, Sin Cara, Epico&Primo, Alex Riley, Rosa Mendez, Kaitlyn, Tamina, "Funkasaurus" Brodus Clay with his valets, Jack Swagger and Vickie Guerrero, Daniel Bryan, Christian, R-Truth, and...
 |
| Never mind the guy on the right, he's just a random fan. She autographed his baby ^^ |
The staff almost ruined the thing, because he took the shirt from me and handed it to her so, that the autograph is very low, at the... hemline? I don't know, I don't speak clothes. Still, I got to meet her and exchange a few words, which was absolutely wonderful. I had this wonderful feeling of emptiness when I walked away. You know, the one you sometimes get when you achieve something you have long been wanting to do.
Yeah, I'm twenty minutes late. Blame McDonalds, we went there after we left Axxess.
Flying Fright, French Food, and Freaky Fahrenheits
Yeah, alliterations add appeal, at least in my mind. Does it show?
Also, yeah, I'm late with this post. I was trying to finish it up yesterday, but found out I could not log in to our hostel's WiFi. So, everything said here applies to yesterday. I'll try to do better today.
So yeah, we left to Miami early this morning. I have been quite vocal about the subject, but in case someone did not know yet, I suffer from "mild" acrophobia. That's fear of high places. For instance, thinking of flying makes me kinda queasy, and I get light-headed for watching falling scenes. So I was less than ecstatic about the 13+ hours flights today. (Judging by past experiences, landing is the worst part. I get this constant feeling of falling, you see.)
Well, the flights went great! During the first take-off and landing I was so tired (more than half asleep) I barely even noticed. During the second take-off I guess I succeeded in distracting myself somehow, so it was not absolutely horrible either, though my hands were trembling. The landing was a different matter, though. It was going all fine and dandy, until somewhere around 200 metres above land I realize the plane is losing altitude too fast. Only because of this realization I succeeded to somewhat contain myself (as in, I did not scream out loud, though it WAS close) when the plane crashes to runway, bounces (I kid not) back to air and then finally succeeds to land properly.
Did I speak about Charles de Gaulle International Airport already? Guess not.
That place is a way better labyrinth than airport, trust me! I like to think it's because of the French poet/lover mentality, compared to, say, punctual Germans (Frankfurt?). We had an hour to find our plane, which was supposed to be in the terminal right next to one we arrived in. If the flight hadn't been delayed by like half an hour (NOT our fault, it's just the poor organizational skills of the French again) we would've been late, maybe missed it altogether.
For the Frenchies' defence I must say they can sure make food. I don't think I've ever heard of airplane food that was actually tasty! We had lunch and dinner in the plane, and I positively enjoyed both.
We also got neat, blue sleeping masks.
But we actually made it here. I was starting to doubt at some point.
So we gets to Miami, passes the passport check, and takes a taxi to our hostel. We barely got to the taxi and start moving, when the driver turned off the meter. We were a bit worried about what was to come, but we got to the hostel and the driver even came up with a price. It even sounded quite reasonable price, even if he pulled it out of his, erm, back pocket.
So we walks in to the hostel, right? And we go to ask about our reservations and stuff.
Originally, we were supposed to have a six-man dorm. Then it got changed to six places in an eight-man dorm. Well, in the end (because of some cock-and-bull story about hostelbookers.com, vacations, and hackers) we didn't even have that. We're sleeping in two different rooms, three of us in each. It's not really a big deal, it's just the principle that's annoying me.
The accommodation is obviously not the end of it. When we were suitably accommodated, we left to go see the Ocean Drive and get something to eat. I was really hungry at that point, so I figured to take a pizza, while everyone else got hamburgers. (Yeah, we decided to eat American.) When my food came... Well, take a look at the picture.
Well, at least it was tasty.
To top it off, the hamburgers the others were eating were huge! And we learned that apparently the American way of tipping is that the tip gets added to the bill automatically. I can assure you that I would have skipped the tip altogether if it hadn't been included. (The pizza was tasty and the service was good, so I didn't want to ask them to remove the tip from my check.)
Despite the negative tone of this post, we've had loads of fun and we will have an awesome trip.
There was this cute picture of a cat in our dorm room.
Does anyone know what the language is? What does it say?
Also, yeah, I'm late with this post. I was trying to finish it up yesterday, but found out I could not log in to our hostel's WiFi. So, everything said here applies to yesterday. I'll try to do better today.
So yeah, we left to Miami early this morning. I have been quite vocal about the subject, but in case someone did not know yet, I suffer from "mild" acrophobia. That's fear of high places. For instance, thinking of flying makes me kinda queasy, and I get light-headed for watching falling scenes. So I was less than ecstatic about the 13+ hours flights today. (Judging by past experiences, landing is the worst part. I get this constant feeling of falling, you see.)
Well, the flights went great! During the first take-off and landing I was so tired (more than half asleep) I barely even noticed. During the second take-off I guess I succeeded in distracting myself somehow, so it was not absolutely horrible either, though my hands were trembling. The landing was a different matter, though. It was going all fine and dandy, until somewhere around 200 metres above land I realize the plane is losing altitude too fast. Only because of this realization I succeeded to somewhat contain myself (as in, I did not scream out loud, though it WAS close) when the plane crashes to runway, bounces (I kid not) back to air and then finally succeeds to land properly.
Did I speak about Charles de Gaulle International Airport already? Guess not.
That place is a way better labyrinth than airport, trust me! I like to think it's because of the French poet/lover mentality, compared to, say, punctual Germans (Frankfurt?). We had an hour to find our plane, which was supposed to be in the terminal right next to one we arrived in. If the flight hadn't been delayed by like half an hour (NOT our fault, it's just the poor organizational skills of the French again) we would've been late, maybe missed it altogether.
For the Frenchies' defence I must say they can sure make food. I don't think I've ever heard of airplane food that was actually tasty! We had lunch and dinner in the plane, and I positively enjoyed both.
But we actually made it here. I was starting to doubt at some point.
So we gets to Miami, passes the passport check, and takes a taxi to our hostel. We barely got to the taxi and start moving, when the driver turned off the meter. We were a bit worried about what was to come, but we got to the hostel and the driver even came up with a price. It even sounded quite reasonable price, even if he pulled it out of his, erm, back pocket.
So we walks in to the hostel, right? And we go to ask about our reservations and stuff.
Originally, we were supposed to have a six-man dorm. Then it got changed to six places in an eight-man dorm. Well, in the end (because of some cock-and-bull story about hostelbookers.com, vacations, and hackers) we didn't even have that. We're sleeping in two different rooms, three of us in each. It's not really a big deal, it's just the principle that's annoying me.
The accommodation is obviously not the end of it. When we were suitably accommodated, we left to go see the Ocean Drive and get something to eat. I was really hungry at that point, so I figured to take a pizza, while everyone else got hamburgers. (Yeah, we decided to eat American.) When my food came... Well, take a look at the picture.
To top it off, the hamburgers the others were eating were huge! And we learned that apparently the American way of tipping is that the tip gets added to the bill automatically. I can assure you that I would have skipped the tip altogether if it hadn't been included. (The pizza was tasty and the service was good, so I didn't want to ask them to remove the tip from my check.)
Despite the negative tone of this post, we've had loads of fun and we will have an awesome trip.
Does anyone know what the language is? What does it say?
tiistai 27. maaliskuuta 2012
Happy monthiversary!
Sorry about the delay. I know today is now officially tomorrow. So, anyway.
Today the trip really started. I packed my bags last night and dragged my trolley whole day at school (SIDETRACK: The school started at 8:30, we had three hours worth of contact hours, and then four bleeding hours of nothing to do before language classes!), because I will be spending (notice I did not say sleeping) tonight at Darien's place. The plane leaves early tomorrow morning, so that is the only viable option (plus it will be all kinds of FUN).
Back to the elephant in the room (I mean the title! Look at the title! Always remember to check out the title!), shan't we?
So yeah, wacky ole me has been in a relationship for a month now! I could write all kinds of mushy stuff here, about her and us and stuff, but I'll spare you from that. (If you want to thank me, do so in the comments.) Let me just say I have never in my entire life been happier!
I know there are readers who did not know about this already. I'm sorry you had to find out like this. We've been keeping kinda low profile about it, since there are people who I'd rather keep it as a secret from. If you know who I'm talking about, you'll probably understand I want to give them one shock at a time.
She's the reason I am actually not as hyped about the trip as I could be. It means leaving her behind for week and a half. Don't get me wrong, I'm still incredibly happy I get to go to Miami and see WrestleMania (which will hopefully end in Cena's heel turn [Google it]), it will be an awesome trip, we will have great time together... but I miss her already. I expect to start complaining about it to Maniacs next Tuesday, at latest.
Still a few hours left before we need to leave to the airport. In spite of the energy drinks, I'm feeling kinda sleepy. It will probably kick in at some point, and then this is what will happen:
So, please take a moment to feel sorry for Kenitys and Darien, who are staying here with me.
Best regards,
Reno
Today the trip really started. I packed my bags last night and dragged my trolley whole day at school (SIDETRACK: The school started at 8:30, we had three hours worth of contact hours, and then four bleeding hours of nothing to do before language classes!), because I will be spending (notice I did not say sleeping) tonight at Darien's place. The plane leaves early tomorrow morning, so that is the only viable option (plus it will be all kinds of FUN).
Back to the elephant in the room (I mean the title! Look at the title! Always remember to check out the title!), shan't we?
So yeah, wacky ole me has been in a relationship for a month now! I could write all kinds of mushy stuff here, about her and us and stuff, but I'll spare you from that. (If you want to thank me, do so in the comments.) Let me just say I have never in my entire life been happier!
I know there are readers who did not know about this already. I'm sorry you had to find out like this. We've been keeping kinda low profile about it, since there are people who I'd rather keep it as a secret from. If you know who I'm talking about, you'll probably understand I want to give them one shock at a time.
She's the reason I am actually not as hyped about the trip as I could be. It means leaving her behind for week and a half. Don't get me wrong, I'm still incredibly happy I get to go to Miami and see WrestleMania (which will hopefully end in Cena's heel turn [Google it]), it will be an awesome trip, we will have great time together... but I miss her already. I expect to start complaining about it to Maniacs next Tuesday, at latest.
Still a few hours left before we need to leave to the airport. In spite of the energy drinks, I'm feeling kinda sleepy. It will probably kick in at some point, and then this is what will happen:
Best regards,
Reno
maanantai 26. maaliskuuta 2012
Let's get this freakshow on the road
I'll be boring and start from beginning.
It all started last spring, when Darien Fawks (from here on known as Darien) posted a message to WrestlingAlert forum, asking if there are anyone there willing to go to Miami to watch WrestleMania 28 in the March-April 2012. Now, back then I used to have a job. You know, the kind you get paid for. So I asked myself "Why not?" and the answer was negative.
The best possibility seemed to be a Silver Package for a group of four. The other two joining our group were Kenitys (also known as Ken, Kenny, or The Moderating One) and YP.
Then came the time to book the tickets, and our first problem: Kenitys as a reliable moderator and a respectable adult kindly promised to book the tickets, as long as everyone transfers him their money beforehand. Well, guess what? Due to Finnish banking system, Darien and YP weren't able to do that.
So I tell my natural carefulness to go beat off and give a couple of strokes to my self-preservation at the process, and agree to pay their part if they transfer me their portions immediately. This led into slightly worrisome feeling of sending around 1800€ to a stranger I've only met in the Internet, trusting blindly that I will be receiving most of that back from two other strangers.
Well, as you can probably tell, everything went nice and smooth.
The next noteworthy part was when we heard about two other guys who had booked a Mania trip together, and now wanted to join our jolly company. Say hi to Rico and pyyja (sic)!
We even succeeded to agree about how much time we'd be spending in Miami, and booked the flights and accommodation! Go us!
And now a couple of words about the accommodation.
The Silver Package we bought from WWE includes few nights' hotel accommodation. Now, since we all agreed on that it would be nice to spend a few more days in Miami (just because of traveling and the city) we booked a room from Miami Hostel. Now, this ended up causing us a few extraneous heartbeats. You see, some two weeks before the D-Day (d as in departure) the home page of the hostel was changed to a federal alert of some sort, talking about illegal activities the web host had been involved in. So I send them an email, asking what all this means. No response. To top it off, I had to go to Estonia for a few days, and couldn't access the internets there. So back home I come, still no response. I had to actually, old-fashionedly, expensive-as-hell-ly call them before I got the confirmation that the hostel itself is still alive and kicking.
And now the trip is right around the corner! We've had two meets (we watched Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber together) and I know we are all awesome people and we will have the second-best trip ever! So, yeah. Feel free to be jealous!
Sorry for the incoherence, I am quite tired at the moment, and find it increasingly difficult to focus.
From here on, I will be making daily updates until the trip is over. Feel welcome to check in every day, follow me, or somesuch. And if you enjoy reading this, please drop me a comment!
Best regards,
Reno
It all started last spring, when Darien Fawks (from here on known as Darien) posted a message to WrestlingAlert forum, asking if there are anyone there willing to go to Miami to watch WrestleMania 28 in the March-April 2012. Now, back then I used to have a job. You know, the kind you get paid for. So I asked myself "Why not?" and the answer was negative.
The best possibility seemed to be a Silver Package for a group of four. The other two joining our group were Kenitys (also known as Ken, Kenny, or The Moderating One) and YP.
Then came the time to book the tickets, and our first problem: Kenitys as a reliable moderator and a respectable adult kindly promised to book the tickets, as long as everyone transfers him their money beforehand. Well, guess what? Due to Finnish banking system, Darien and YP weren't able to do that.
So I tell my natural carefulness to go beat off and give a couple of strokes to my self-preservation at the process, and agree to pay their part if they transfer me their portions immediately. This led into slightly worrisome feeling of sending around 1800€ to a stranger I've only met in the Internet, trusting blindly that I will be receiving most of that back from two other strangers.
Well, as you can probably tell, everything went nice and smooth.
The next noteworthy part was when we heard about two other guys who had booked a Mania trip together, and now wanted to join our jolly company. Say hi to Rico and pyyja (sic)!
We even succeeded to agree about how much time we'd be spending in Miami, and booked the flights and accommodation! Go us!
And now a couple of words about the accommodation.
The Silver Package we bought from WWE includes few nights' hotel accommodation. Now, since we all agreed on that it would be nice to spend a few more days in Miami (just because of traveling and the city) we booked a room from Miami Hostel. Now, this ended up causing us a few extraneous heartbeats. You see, some two weeks before the D-Day (d as in departure) the home page of the hostel was changed to a federal alert of some sort, talking about illegal activities the web host had been involved in. So I send them an email, asking what all this means. No response. To top it off, I had to go to Estonia for a few days, and couldn't access the internets there. So back home I come, still no response. I had to actually, old-fashionedly, expensive-as-hell-ly call them before I got the confirmation that the hostel itself is still alive and kicking.
And now the trip is right around the corner! We've had two meets (we watched Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber together) and I know we are all awesome people and we will have the second-best trip ever! So, yeah. Feel free to be jealous!
Sorry for the incoherence, I am quite tired at the moment, and find it increasingly difficult to focus.
From here on, I will be making daily updates until the trip is over. Feel welcome to check in every day, follow me, or somesuch. And if you enjoy reading this, please drop me a comment!
Best regards,
Reno
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