Big Island, Helicopter Ride, back home and then to Oregon

Someone asked who books my travel. Well guys, I book everything myself. Long long ago I was a travel agent (actually when I was 16 until I was 18). So I continue to book my own travel and even help some people book their travel such as Chi Chi LaRue that calls me for advice and as a birthday present for my favorite person in my industry I used 2 of my E-VIP international upgrades to upgrade her from LA to Paris (see pics of her party below).

Now, back to my Hawaii trip. Rich and I went to Hawaii as a mileage run. A mileage run is when you find a cheap airfare that goes a long distance so you get a lot of frequent flyer miles on the cheap. Rich went the week before in addition to this trip to get super extra miles (the round trip from Miami was only $500 and the mileage gained is 10,000 plus our bonus 100% miles for being Executive Platinum members of American Airlines AAdvantage Program). But this time it was also Rich's birthday, so I decided we should hop on a plane and head to see the natural wonders of the Big Island. After a short hop to Hilo on Go! Airlines we stopped by the helicopter tour desks at the airport and inquired about getting a discount on one of the helicopter trips. A very nice girl from Paradise Helicopters wanted to help us out and offered to call us back with any specials, so Rich and I picked up the rental car and headed to the natural hot springs near Isaac Hale State Park for some relaxation. We then carried on to where the lava flow is suppose to be to find out the local government along with the locals that still have to pay taxes on the land they owned before lava destroyed it now prevent tourists from walking out to and over the active lava flow.

At Hula's in Honolulu next to Rich's new twink conquest.

On Hula's catamaran with an awesome view!

Girl on the GO!

Daddy on the Go!

After the disappointment of not being able to walk over the active lava flow like I did 3 years ago, Rich and I went to go settle in at the Bed and Breakfast we booked the day before called Emeraldview Guesthouse. The next morning we had the breakfast the owner made at 6:45am and then headed to Hilo airport for our helicopter tour. Our pilot is the only female helicopter pilot in Hawaii currently and she was very nice and very informative in addition to giving us a smooth ride and accepting Rich's request to go in low and circle the lava flow into the ocean which actually made me a bit nervous! After the quick 45 flight over lava flows, volcanoes and waterfalls we landed safely at Hilo airport and then drove up to Waipio Valley which is one amazing place to see in all of the Hawaiian Islands. We then drove back to Hilo, ate and then boarded a flight to Honolulu and then a continuation flight to Dallas and then on to Miami.

Closest point to the lava flow now with steam coming out of my ear (if you only knew!)

AHHHH! I hate unsecured heights!

Lava flowing into the ocean. An amazing sight to see!

Waipio Valley. A must see on the Big Island
Akaka Falls. Unmatched natural beauty!

Firmly back on the ground....whew!

Bye bye Hawaii. The only way to fly: FIRST CLASS!

I only went home for a quick 6 days before re-boarding an American Airlines 767 to LA and then Alaska Airlines up to Portland to go visit my dad for Thanksgiving where I am sitting at a small coffee in Silverton called Gear Up.

If any other you think I can't cook, well here is my famous chicken salad!

Hula's Catamaran

Helicopter ride over Macadamia Nut farms

Rich falling into his food Part 1

Rich falling into his food Part 2

Berlin to Paris to Miami to LA to Honolulu....whew!

A long drawn out trip to Europe finally ends...whew! My last day in Berlin was spent meeting up with my friend Kai and doing some shopping before getting to bed at a decent hour since I had to wake up the next morning at 5:30am to be on a 7am Air France flight to Paris to connect with my American Airlines flight to Miami.

The next morning I got up, packed up and then got a taxi to Tegel airport in plenty of time. On my flight from Paris to Berlin I had a whole row of three seats to myself, but this time the plane was near full and I decided I do not like Air France's European operations. The seats are very tight with bad leg room so you basically can't recline either or else you whack the persons' knees behind you and then they prevent you from reclining by pushing your seat right back into place with their knees! The one hour and twenty minute flight seemed almost as long as my flight to Miami!!! Anyway, we landed at Charles de Gaulle where I promptly de-boarded and quickly shuffled from terminal 2D to terminal 2A and easily made my flight to Miami with only a one hour connecting time. Amazingly, I found out that I knew 3 people in in business class that run Score in Miami Beach!

Watch out for your knees with Air France! Do I look pissed? Of course I am, I can't move my knees nor recline my seat!

The plane sure looks pretty enough!

The old TWA terminal at Charles de Gaulle.....memories of my youth transferring here to Athens, Tel Aviv and Cairo alike.

9 1/2 hours later and I landed in Miami. My bag did not make it, but American guaranteed it would arrive later that night at 10:30pm (Air France just could not get my bag to my flight quick enough). The next morning I went to the bank, then the accountant and then to the airport. Yes, another flight, actually a very long flight! Rich and I boarded a flight to LA and then continued on in LA to Honolulu where I am now.

American Airlines signature Hawaiian First Class meal service to Honolulu

Sometimes I want to take a nice pic of myself then somehow Miss Thing pops up in the background with her floatation device.

After the floatation device incident, I decided to downsize Rich, but he quickly picked up a job hauling food in a Chinese village.

Finally, no Miss Thing in the background....and much needed relaxation!

Goodbye Spain, Election Day, HELLO OBAMA and Bush, HOPEFULLY THE DOOR SLAMS YOU IN THE ASS

I spent the last few days of October and the first few days of November in Alicante, Spain. Instead of dealing with work issues, I was mainly dealing with family issues. I really needed to go out by myself on Halloween and have, well, a bit of a fun time. Little did I know my Halloween outing would turn into a bloody event....no kidding! I went to Canibal Pub where the Pub owners know who I am and the crowd is always fun and full of locals. Wouldn't you know it, once again I ended up hanging with the tranny crowd. After a few drinks we went up stairs to dance. Actually, I think I went up stairs to pee and when I came out of the bathroom I was dragged onto the dance floor. It all started fun, but after about 5 minutes my dancing was disrupted by a large thump! A large speaker fell directly on my head, but I think the vodka helped to make me not realize the seriousness of my injury right away. Since it was Halloween, the blood gushing from my head and running down my face did not provoke an immediate response except for the tranny dancing with me. When I finally made my way to the bathroom I realized how bad my injury was. After the tranny and the owners of Canibal helped my clean up my head and face I decided the fun was over, especially since I had to film the next day.

Tranny to the left, tranny to the right...Halloween in Alicante is fun!

Here I am with Tranny-mania and the owners of Canibal Pub in Alicante

I decided I wanted to get out of Alicante and take a 3 hour drive to Madrid. Personally, I love to just drive and see a countryside and Madrid was the perfect ending point. I also wanted to see my friend Martin Mazza, but I think Martin was resting all day Sunday so I just did my laundry, roamed around a bit and then the next day I woke up early and drove back to Alicante for one last scene and one last night.

Driving to Madrid with a big gash in my head!

NOVEMBER 4, 2008: ELECTION DAY

My November 4th started very early. I had a 9:45am flight to Madrid and then onto Paris. After arriving in Paris I drove to Antwerp to see my grandmother and have dinner with my extended family. All night long I wanted to turn on the television, but it was just too early to get any results of the election so I spent the night enjoying my family. After returning from the dinner at my uncle's house I turned on the television and hunkered down to find out what would happen with my country. As you know (or if you don't scroll down a bit) I already sent in my ballot on October 10th and there shouldn't be any guessing concerning who I voted for, but I did post a picture if you really want to see! At around 2am (GMT +1) CNN was giving Pennsylvania to Obama and that is when CNN and I knew Obama would win, but CNN was not going to make a definite decision for a half hour later. Tears came to my eyes, I got goosebumps, and the stress built up in shoulders was released. After 8 years of the worst president of America's history the legacy will die soon and not be carried on by McCain. Electing Obama is the first step, now Obama has to implement, implement, IMPLEMENT! And stick to his word.

By the way Bush, I hope you accidentally turn around as the door is closing and it flatly whacks you hard enough in your ugly monkey face, enough to break your nose so you leave knowing how much you are hated by the majority of us Americans and nearly everyone else around the world and what a disaster you created for Americans during your stolen presidency.

One last comment about the election. I travel to Europe very often and the past 8 years Europeans have been not very friendly to Americans....especially the French. However, since we elected Obama, even the French are becoming extremely polite to Americans, even offering to speak English and be friendly without asking if they speak in English in their on language first!!!

After my quick trip to Belgium, I returned to Paris to spend Chi Chi LaRue's birthday with him. The first night Chi Chi, Vin and Francois Sagat and I went to have dinner and hang a bit. The following day I got to business visiting retailers and taking advantage of the beautiful weather (a rarity in Paris this time of year). The following evening Chi Chi, Vin and I went to see Ysa Ferrer at a private concert event for friends and family. I had never heard of Ysa before, but Chi Chi is a huge fan, and now I know why! Ysa is a great performer, has an amazing voice and a very cheeky girly presence.

Dinner with Chi Chi is Always fun! Watch out for the scrimp Larry!

Another interesting photo of Francois Sagat!

Ysa Mania!

Sing it Girl!

A Hello Kitty Guitar!??!?! Awesome!

Chi Chi caught up in Ysa-Mania!

Chi Chi and Vince in front of the Moulin Rouge

Punk daddy with a photo-must at the Moulin Rouge

The following day Chi Chi was sick, but I went on working, doing laundry and bringing Chi Chi soup and water hoping she would get better for her big birthday bash on Saturday. Low and behold one good day and night of rest and Chi Chi was back in gear. First she sung a duet with Ysa and then Pink TV put on a private birthday party for Chi Chi at Le Scarron. There were many Parisian glamouratti attending the party mixed with porn staples, such as Francois Sagat and myself. We all had a great time, went home late, and then I woke up later, gathered my belongings and headed to Charles de Gaulle airport for a quick flight to Berlin.

Chi Chi's Birthday started off all serious

Then a flaming cake. Francois seems a bit amazed, but Chi Chi better watch that hair!

Grrrrrrr! Its my birthday bitch!

Ysa, its Chi Chi's birthday, not yours! But hey, you have plenty to celebrate over!

Schmoozing with the glittouratti

A bit of Ysa's Private Concert in Paris

LOOK AT ME! CNN's I-REPORT FEATURED ME!!!!!

Where to start????

I am trying to figure out how to start this blog entry. Why? Well, first, I'm in Spain at the moment, but between the last time I wrote an entry back in Miami Beach and now I have had a lot going on. So maybe I will start with where everything was going right...back on Miami Beach with Francois Sagat and Eddie Diaz the night before leaving for Berlin:

So it all started out innocent enough

Then we started to have a few drinks....

Then we went to go see Pussila at Twist...

more drinks... (free ad for Corona!)

and then more Pussila....

Probably not the best way to spend a night before leaving for Berlin, but luckily American Airline's flight to London does not depart until 8pm! I was able to accomplish a lot the following day before leaving to London, enough so that I was tired when I boarded and fell asleep. A side note: Someone commented a few posts back about how boring it was that I talked a lot about travel, that I fly business class and comment a lot about types of aircraft and different airlines and airplanes. Well, soon enough I will be posting a whole travel section on my website worldofmen.com for those of you that LOVE travel like myself. So not to bore the reader that posted the comment too much, yes, I never fly coach over 2 hours and especially not on an overnight flight....I did that too much in my past (and I will be telling you the secrets soon enough how to get into business or first without having to pay full price).

For the past 2 years Rich and I have made it a point to go to London for a half day to see his friend David on our way to Berlin. We get off the plane, take a shower at American Airline's arrivals lounge at Heathrow, do a bit of business and then board the tube for central London. This time we forced David to come to Soho and eat with us at Busaba Eathai, our favorite Thai restaurant. Rich and I grabbed a quick coffee at Costa and we ran into an Israeli guy we met in Rio at Le Boy just a few weeks ago! The gay world is totally small! After lunch we strolled down to the Thames with David, said bye and then as Rich and I were heading for the Tube we ran into my models Pedro and Daniel randomly on the street! Small world, eh?

David, Rich and I at Busaba Eathai

Running into Pedro and Daniel randomly on the street in Soho!

A quick flight to Berlin, then we were finally in for the night after a very long day and trip(s). The reason we go to Berlin is not for Hustlaball, but rather for Venus, but Rich and I agreed that this is the last year we will be attending Venus since porn trade shows have been going downhill very quickly in the past few years. So I guess we decided to make the best of the trip and go out a bit. Rich convinced me to go to a "bubble gum twinky" club. Ok, I had fun and it wasn't all twinks, but for some reason I am equally attracted to trannies as trannies are to me....now don't get me wrong, no tranny sex here, just love hangin' with them.

Paging all trannies!

Tranny, its Tranny form Transylvania! Hello!

Simmer down tranny, no smokin' in here!

Even Rich can shock a hot tranny mess!

But Rich prefers trannies before they put on make up...LOL

After all the fun times at the Bubble Gum bar, we went to the Hustlaball for 2 minutes. No comment. Saturday night turned out to be a lot of fun since we met up with friends at a club called Berghain at Panorama Bar. Cameras were not allowed but I snuck mine in so I will present a few pics I snuck when security wasn't looking!

A quick bathroom pic!

Hot guy dancing at Berghain

After a late night out Rich and I just walked around and got to see Berlin since Rich has never really played tourist there. Later that evening we headed for Tempelhof Airport for a quick flight on Brussels Airlines to Brussels (of course!). We didn't know until we arrived at the airport that the airport was going to close in just a week. I knew there was a fight to keep the airport open, but no one seemed to show up at the city council meeting to voice their opinion so subsequently the city of Berlin decided to shut the airport down. I will not go into the interesting history of the airport, but you can click here on TEMPELHOF and read about it on wikipedia.

In front of Tempelhof

The fabulous Art Deco interior

Miss Thang boarding Brussels Airlines

One last bye bye to Tempelhof from Brussels Airlines

I'm not exactly sure how many European cities you can fit into one day, but Rich and I seemed to fit in Brussels, Antwerp and even Amsterdam into one day! I felt like we were on some straight oriented 10 day tour of Europe being in a new city every day...even our European friends and colleagues made fun of us for being in Brussels and Amsterdam in the same day!

Driving in Amsterdam cannot be done without Tom Tom!

After visiting many retailers in the region I discovered my business was being sucked into the nasty banking crisis we are having in the US! While we were away we had a friend deposit a few checks that Bank of America promises to release the next day, but for some reason they put a 2 week hold on thousands of dollars that we needed. In addition to Bank of America being nasty with money, we also needed some items sent to us via FedEx that was going to cost around $200. I had a total nervous breakdown throwing my phone across the room breaking it. I quickly got on the internet to see how much it would be to fly home the next day. Amazingly a last minute ticket from Amsterdam to Miami and returning to Paris was only $840. So there I was on a plane from Amsterdam to Heathrow and then onto Miami the next morning at 7:20am.

When I arrived in Miami I stormed into Bank of America directly from the airport, luggage in hand, and asked them to release the funds. Magically, the branch manager took off early and I would have to come back the next day. I was so pissed I let off steam at the gym and then went out later that evening to Twist. The next day the manager did release the funds then I went to see my accountant. From that point on all was going well and I was able to get a lot done in the next few days. On Friday I called my mom to find out how all was going to only find out my great aunt was in the hospital. I made plans to go to California Saturday and then return to Paris Sunday but my mom assured me she would be all right, so I stayed in Miami and went back to Paris arriving Monday morning. By the time I arrived in Paris, my great aunt was much worse and the following day I had to fly to Spain for work. So here I am now trying to catch up on work and this blog. My great aunt finally passed away, but by doing so this incident pitted my brother, aunt and cousin against my mother that was acting out towards all of us. Some people never get to know their extended families such as great aunts, but my mother's side of the family is very small and very close. Now that the drama has ended along with my great aunt Betty's life, I can continue to get back to normal, but I promised my family I would go to California for the whole month to help organize everything.....

Trying to enjoy Paris...I'll miss you Aunt Betty!