2008 Bali Trip

I just got back from Bali on June 29th 2008. I went down to visit a freind of mine who was down there on business for a few weeks prior to me getting there. Pomai is also the guy who went skiing with me and the kids back in March in case he looks a little familiar in the pictures.

We took a ton of picuters and some videos. The pictures are all posted via this link.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rickspics1/sets/72157605896939829/

The videos (when I get finally get them uploaded) will be via this link.

http://www.youtube.com/user/rwbiiv

We toured a great deal of the country as you will be able to see by all the pictures. Bali is a beautiful country in a numbers of ways. Obviously the country side is breathtaking. The rice terraces are interesting and beautiful at the same time. The people of Bali are very very friendly. I don't think we had even one bad interaction with anyone there. I was totally blown away by how nice everyone was.

In addition the dining scene is fantastic. While you need to be a little careful where you eat there are a lot of fine dining restaurants. Even some of the average places have fantastic food. It's all very inexpensive. Most meals cost us around $ 7 or $8 US for both of us and we didn't leave hungry.I think the most expensive meal we had at a fine dining restaurant was $150 US. This meal would rival any five star restaurant in the US in terms of quality of food and presentation. The service is good overall. Keep in mind that 60% of the cost of that meal (if not more) was for alcohol. Alcohol is very expensive in Bali. Everything else was cheap.

We stayed at two villas while in Bali. The first one is woned by my friends boss. That's the more rustic looking one. The other we rented for less that $150 US a night for both of us. It was a two private bedroom, our own private pool. Living room area. Dining area and ktichen. A chef was included who made breakfast for us everyone morning. You should be able to determine which pictures are what. (there were far too many pictures to put captions on every one - sorry).

Bali is made up of villages that specialize in different things. Some villages may specialize in wood furniture. Some in Silver and gold. Some in glass and so on. There thousands of wholesale furniture places and it's very inexpensive. You need to be careful as the qulaity of the wood furniture does vary. But for the most part it's pretty good. THe area similiar to our Waikiki has tons of souviner shops. Those places you have to be acreful as there is alot of crap. Bargining is a way of life so whatever you buy on the street you can wheel & deal on.

Kite fliing is a huge tradition in Bali and there are some beautiful & ingenious kites. I bought a couple fo Dragon kites for the boys. I met the guy who hand painted them. They are about 5 ft long X 4 ft wide. Every where you look in the sky there are huge kites flying very very high up. I tried taking pictures of them so when you see a sky with dots thats the kites.

We are planning on going back next year around the same time frame for the annual Bali International Triathlon. Stay tuned on that one!

In the mean time enjoy my picutres and if you have any questions email me or post a comment and I will get back to you.

Rick

2008 70.3 Half Ironman Race

Well I just completed my second 70.3 Ironman race in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Here is alink to the Race website. http://www.honuhalfironman.com/index.php

A 70.3 distance race means it is exactly a 1/2 Ironman race. Or to put it another way we started with 1.2 open ocean swim. Followed by a 56 mile bike ride which climbs to an elevation of about 4500 feet (pure guess frankly - didn't pay attention to the signs) at it's highest point. Then we wrap it up with a 13.1 mile run. This year I completed the race in 6 hours & 24 minutes. I was able to shave ten minutes off of last year time of 6 hours & 34 minutes. Unfortunately I was hoping to shave about 20 minutes more off of last years time so I'm a little disappointed. Next year I'll do better!

Why do I do this you ask! It relaxes me believe it or not. Being ADHD this type of training and event helps to keep me focused and relaxed. At least for the most part! :) My other excuse is it's self inflicted rehab! (Joking) My training started this past January with the race at the end of May. The weekends are so intense it keeps me home at night versus out partying with my friends! Which I do miss but can't do continually.

Anyway, I have one more short Triathlon to do in July called the Tinman. It's a much shorter race that I don't have to train so hard for. Other than that I have a few open ocean swim races that are between 1.4 to 2.4 miles.

Here are some pictures from the race taken by a lot of different people in addition to some pictures from a training we did last March. Check back often as friends pass on thier photos which I upload.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rickspics1/sets/72157605390336759/

Here is a link to a few of me only taken by Professional photographers at the event.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rickspics1/?saved=1

Thanks for reading this and if you have any questions please email me. (rwbiiv@aol.com).

Rick

2007 Trip to Hong Kong to Visit Unka Joe!

I had a trip to Guam for business back in mid November of 07' so I thought I would see if it was possible to get an inexpensive flight to Hong Kong. Thanksgiving was the following week after my business trip so I thought it would be nice to spend some time with Uncle Joe (UJ) fares allowing! After considerable searching and frankly a lot of luck, I was able to get a cheap round trip ticket out of Guam for about $550. So why not take a side trip and hang out with my favortie uncle!

This was my second trip to Hong Kong and for sure won't be my last. Hong Kong is one of my favorite cities to visit. The dining scene is very exciting! It's a modern city thats full of energy! And I love the Chinese people and thier cultural. They have a very long history so they are doing something right!

I hope on my next trip to be able to head into mainland China and visit a few of the cities. In addition a friend of mine whom grew up on Ticehurst Lane in Marblehead with myself and David Lombardi resides in Shenzhen 6 to 8 months a year. Shenzhen is about an hour train ride from Hong Kong into China. Unfortunately, my friend (Willy Herman) hadn't arrived yet so a visit was out of the question. Hopefully next time.

With this being my second trip I didn't do a lot of sightseeing. The first time I nearly ran UJ into the groound with everything we saw. That was a fantastic trip! I did a lot of shopping this time for the kids as Chirstmas was right around the corner. (note to self - carful what you ship back to the US as customs will intervene and tie your package up for three months just to take some beef jerky and a couple of cuban cigars) With electronics so very inexpensive in Hong Kong its tough to pass up. Yes it's all real! Hong Kong has cracked down on the fake stuff. You can find it if you want it but it's not easy. Good place to buy a watch although I didn't this trip. Couldn't find what I was looking for.

Enjoy the pictures!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rickspics1/sets/72157605080296448/

Rick

My 2008 Mini Cooper S Clubman (click on this title)

Here is a link to pics of my new 2008 MCS S Clubman. It's a fantastic little vehicle that is an absolute blast to drive. Coming from a Lexus SUV to this most would think it's too small. Frankly I haven't missed that SUV since I drove this car off the lot.

I have always liked the Mini's since the M'head days. But when BMW bought the line in early 2000 and brought it back to life I have always wanted one. The coupe was just too small. When I got wind of the Clubman coming back in Nov. 07' I just had to have one. Mid January I found out the launch was coming Feb. 17th. 08' so I promptly went on line to build my Clubman. (BTW if you ever consider buying a Mini, go on line and build it then order. Don't buy off the lot. Most Mini owners custom build their cars) I emailed the local dealer about the one I wanted and surprisingly they had one coming in that was pretty close to what I wanted. I just had to wait for the launch date. During that waiting period I ended up adding all kinds of options so what was once a big savings over the Lexus ended up being pretty close! (other than gas and maintenance). And I'm still not done tricking it out. Once the JCW Tuning launches later this year I'll be adding that. :) This car screams already! Once that is installed it will add about 30 hp. to what is already a very fast car! (someday I promise to grow up) Is it a wonder while I'm single! :)

Next toy! Wait and see but it only has two wheels!

2008 70.3 Half Ironman Race

I'm getting ready for this race again at the end of May. As a result I have been spending a lot of time training and preparing for it. With all the training I have been able to get my weight down to the lightest I have been in a long time. In fact Kenny and I now have the same waiste size.

THis year I'm trying to break the sub 6 hour mark for my race time. Last year I completed it in 6 hours & 34 minutes. So I need to cut 35 minutes of last years time! Wish me luck!

I have attached a link below if you have any interest in reading about the race or course. This race will be held in Kona where the Ironman World Championship is held every October. In fact this race that I'm doing has a number of qualifying slots for the Ironman World Championship. Not that I have any intention at this point in my life of doing a Ironman. But if I have ever decide to do one someone please shoot me. :)

You can also track me on race day via link below.

http://www.honuhalfironman.com/

You'll be able to get race results here as well.

Rick

2008 Ski Trip to Big White, Canada

This past spring break the kids, myself and a freind of mine took a 7 day ski trip to Big White Resort in Kelowna, BC. Canada. We had a fantastic time. I skied and the kids snowboarded. For Kenny, Erin & Ricky this was thier first time in cold weather and seeing snow never mind snowbaording in it. All of them did a fantastic job. I was very proud of all them Kenny & Ricky snowboarded 6 days straight. We took a lot of pictures so click on the link below. When Kenny gets around to editing and posting all the video he took we'll paste the link here as well so check back from time to time to check.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rickspics1/sets/72157604728492402/

Rick

2007 Boston, Cape Cod & Maine Trip

Last summer the kids and I traveld to the East coast. We spent time north of Boston in Middleton, down at the Cape as well as in Maine. Erin and her cousin Krystle took a tour of Babson College, Boston College and few others. Erin is planning on attending college somewhere in Boston. Well maybe I want her to go there more than she wants too! :)

Here is a link for the Pictures from that trip.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rickspics1/sets/72157604733267821/

Enjoy!

Rick