One of my college classmates live in Seattle now. The last time I saw him was also in Seattle. I was here attending a conference at the time. He just moved to Seattle then. That was the first time I saw him in more than 15 years after graduation. We both had trouble remembering if it was 2006 or 2007. I think I wrote about it here on this blog so I should be able to find that out when I land and get on the web. Update: it was 2006.

Last night we met in front of my client’s office. He drove me to his house, where I saw his wife, who has moved to Seattle, his not-yet-two-year-old son, and his parents. It was good to have some good Chinese cooking and I really appreciate his hospitality. The little one was a bit apprehensive initially, but I think I won him over by offering my half-empty (or is it half-full?) water bottle as a toy rolling on the floor.

I brought 3 small bottles of Rochefort Trappist beer, not knowing that his parents were here, otherwise I would have bought 5. The beer was good. My hand, as usual, trembled a bit initially while picking up dishes, a sign of my slight nervousness and shyness, which hampered my ability to enjoy the food fully. We talked a bit more after dinner, where I learned the latest generation of Kindle can display Chinese characters natively and properly. I played with his Kindle and read some Chinese text there, and was impressed. If/when I go to China, I will take a serious look at Bambook and other Chinese ebook readers. I welcome any comments on those ebook products.

Well, while I am at it, here is a rant for media publishers and distributors, so Apple, Amazon, Sony, and others, listen up: why don’t you allow people to buy music from other countries? Why do you put region code on DVD and Blu-ray discs so a disc bought in one continent cannot be played in another? Why don’t you distribute books in foreign languages and make them available as easily as possible?

Anyway, my buddy drove me back to the hotel where I immediately went to bed, woke up around 4 Seattle time, laying there for a hour or so before I dragged my lazy ass to the gym upstairs for a little exercise. I think I will try to experiment getting out of bed immediately after I am awake, oh wait, that may not be a good idea after all. I need time to rewind and to just be…

At any rate, the shower in my hotel room was broken, in that the little handle (?) wouldn’t stay on so nothing came out of the shower head. So I assumed the lotus position and washed myself by splashing water around, poking my head under the faucet directly, etcetera, before I decided I was clean enough. I forgot to tell the front desk yesterday, but did report it during checking out, so hopefully the next customer in the same room won’t suffer like me.

Stepping into the elevator, there were more than 10 ladies inside already, mostly in their 50s and 60s, here attending a conference. “Heh, just me and the ladies, I am feeling better already”, said I. I got a few laughs, and a few of us started a little talk during the ride from the 26th floor to the lobby, before I said “Enjoy your stay” and we parted ways.

Nice to take the Link Light Rail back to Seattle airport again. Good speed, clean, and efficient. I like the bike rack in the middle of the car, where I saw it being used Sunday coming to downtown. A colleague of mine told me that the Light Rail opened recently. The female voice announced stations in what I perceive as clear, nice, and distinct Northwestern US accent. Yay, go public transportation!

Little Rock, here I came! Update: went to Pig’n-Chik Barbeque House in North Little Rock for a good Southern dinner. I really enjoyed the ribs and beans.