entombed in the shrine of zeroes and ones

I never wrote a recap of our trip to Ecuador three years ago.  I never even bothered to link to Kim's recap.  It's because i'm lame.  I've had a bunch of notes lying around since then.  I might get around to it.

Summary: eleven days in and around Quito, plus two spent in gravity-defying aluminum sausages.  Quito is still beautiful, although it's more crowded than ever with cars.

We spent the first two days adjusting to the altitude (2850 meters above sea level).  Then it was the day of my cousin Iván's and Cristina's wedding.  The less said about the ceremony, the better.  The reception party, though, was killer fun.  My cousin Francisco gave me and palecur each a Cohiba cigar, which was really a quite enjoyable smoke, although so massive that i only finished two-thirds of it.  Good wine, good music and lots of dancing (including the Macarena, which caught me on the dance floor; i steadfastly refused to "do" it, and danced on my own).  Only the food was the weak link; when Mom and my aunts sampled the food, it had been fantastic, but when the food showed up at the party, it was underwhelming.  We went home "early" at around 02:30.

While there, we went to:

• The hot springs in Papallacta (3300 m ASL) with my aunt Martha, where we all got sunburnt except for Kim.  The skies opened up there to give us a gorgeous look at the Antisana.
• Cayambe to have lunch at La Casa de Fernando, where i had my old usual, the steak au poivre, and Kim had the largest filet mignon she's ever had (almost twice as large as your average filet mignon).  We washed it down with a fantastic Santa Ema carmenère.  Dad knows Fernando, and Fernando knows when my dad is there because my dad orders his steak well-done-to-burnt, so when the order comes in, he pokes his head out of the kitchen.  I bought a bottle of Viña Dávalos 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon, produced and bottled in Mira, in Ecuador's province of Carchi, up against the Colombian border.  The wine was lost by Continental Airlines between Quito and Houston, but it was fortunately found and delivered last night.  I eagerly await the day when i open it; i think Ecuador has huge potential for wine (indeed, due to its weather, two harvests are possible each year [!]).
• Otavalo for the fair to buy gifts for the chilluns.  We did all right, despite my being hungry and subsequent crankiness.  Otavalo is right next to Lago San Pablo (St. Paul Lake, or Imbacocha), which is at the foot of the Imbabura (note: 'huarmi' means 'woman', not 'son').  We drove down to Cotacachi for lunch (we had their famous carne colorada, lean pork chunks cooked in a spicy annatto sauce).  After lunch, we bought Kim a new purse/backpack (Cotacachi is also famous for their leather goods), and then we drove to Cuicocha, a lake at the foot of the Cotacachi mountain that has a very large island in the middle.
• A museum of colonial-era art housed in what used to be Quito's first university, and a display of Goya, Picasso, and Miró sketches at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador.
• Mom's cousin Piolín's and Chío's (or Gustavo and Rocío, if you want given names) house for ceviche, hominy with pork rinds, toasted corn with garlic, and beer.  The hominy and pork was especially good and i ended up finishing it off after everyone was full (thus, my remark in the subject which spontaneously occurred during one of those mysterious lulls in conversation that happen at every gathering).  Their house is at the top of a hill and you can see the Chimborazo (the tallest mountain in Ecuador and the tallest mountain in the world measured from the Earth's center) on a clear day.  Their youngest son, Felipe, is an artist of some renown, and he had his work shown at the Miss Universe pageant, which was held in Ecuador two years ago (i hope to have the chance to scan in some some pictures of his stuff; it's really good and the medium he's using is, as far as i know, unique).  Later, after seeing my aunt Martha off at the airport, Mom took us to the Panecillo for an awesome view of Quito at night.
• The new TelefériQo cable car up the side of Cruz Loma, one of the foothills of the Ruco Pichincha.  The top of Cruz Loma is 4100 m ASL, and we hiked farther up the side of the Ruco Pichincha (maybe another 100 m of altitude).  Kim and i chatted with Merlin ("Like the magician," she said), who was from Holland, and Alex, who was from Minnesota.  He was in Ecuador working with WWOOF.
• My aunt Inés's place, where we played telefunken, where i managed to beat everyone via batatazo (laying down all your cards as "melds" and discarding a card before anyone has laid down) for the first time.  That felt real good.  We also learned to play canasta, which is a lot of fun.  And, naturally, we played a fair bit of cuarenta.

I missed out twice on seeing Liga de Quito play.  I have to catch them in their stadium next time, no matter what.

I hope i haven't forgotten much.  I gotta get to bed now.

Fuh.  Work will keep me very busy through the rest of the month.  I have a horrible draft of my trip recap hidden away until i can devote some time to it.  Remember that i love you all.

In the meantime, the holdout among my stepkids has joined LiveJournal. Please welcome elmuchacho (and also see captain_nesky, bodachel, and butterflygenius).

Therefore, i will travel tomorrow to Quito, Ecuador, with 2wanda and palecur for thirteen days.

I hope the current musical selection is not an omen.

The Bangalore International Airport waiting room.  I actually endured a traffic jam on the way here that was caused by a bunch of cows in the middle of the intersection, loudly freaking out.  Note on the left the ghost of a long-deceased traveler, caught in limbo, never to arrive at his destination.

The entrance to the members-only lounge.  I wish the picture weren't so crappy, but that's the way it goes when i'm behind the camera.

Hmm, the line doesn't look THAT bad...

Ah, shit.  And there's more of this crap to the left.  "Now you feel like you're in fucking Disneyland!" (George Carlin)  Except Pluto and Goofy are making you empty your pockets and waving weird plastic wands around your body.

Hooray, i made it to Singapore... oh, fuck, not another fucking line!  Three X-ray machines in the gate, but only one is operating.  Blur thanks to being on the conveyor belt.  Screw this noise, let's go to the duty-free shop.

Oh, glorious Inniskillin icewine.  But wait, what's that on the right?

Cabernet franc icewine.  A mere S$213.  I can afford it.  Sure i can!  Awwww...

Incheon's stiffly welcoming architecture.

The prettiest part of Incheon.

A flower.

Another flower.

Yet another flower.

Gooseberries on a tree branch.

An 800-year-old tree, probably the oldest tree in Bangalore.

Some idiot sitting on the tree.

Raji, my guide.  He also took me to see a building that housed a variety of aquariums.

Another view of the gardens.

I forget what kind of tree this is... i know it's something i should remember, because it was familiar when Raji told me what it was.  He said that it's a dangerous tree (and you can see why in the lower left corner).

A close-up of the above.  The trees are dangerous because they have a tendency to fall over, apparently.

A good view of Bangalore from atop the Peninsular Gneissic Complex, a 3E9-year-old rock formation, among the oldest in the world.  It reminded me greatly of Enchanted Rock.

One of the towers established by Kempe Gowda to demarcate the limits of Bangalore.  This is the southern tower.

Same thing, except some idiot is in the way.

On the way to the center of the park.

The tallest tree in Bangalore.  It's 300 years old, i think.

Some idiot blocks the fountain.  The tallest tree can be seen in the background.

The Glass House at Lal Bagh.  There are still flower shows held here twice a year.

More of the Glass House.

One of the mynahs on the lawn of the Glass House (insta-icon, people).

I couldn't tell if these were branches that went back into the ground or if they were roots that burst from the ground for some reason.

Early morning traffic.  Note the quantity of auto rickshaws, the license plates of which all seemed to begin, ominously, with KA⋅05 (in some goofy handpainted font so it would look like KAOS).

Long pods on a tree next to the hotel.

Short pods on a tree on the opposite side of the hotel from the previous tree.

These trees were all over Bangalore.  Unfortunately, i couldn't get a better picture.

The Karnataka High Court building.  Bangalore is the capital of the state of Karnataka (kar-NA-ta-ka).

The High Court, again, plus tourists.

This tree on the side of the High Court building was huge.  Unfortunately, foliage blocked the trunk.

The Vidhana Soudha, the Karnataka state legislature building, sits opposite the High Court.

The Vidhana Soudha.

Gowda and his faithful iron steed.  Gowda knew exactly how long and wide his car was, and he used this knowledge to a margin of error that would make most Americans wet their pants.  On Wednesday, he took me out to do a little sightseeing, during which i saw many of the things above and also purchased my wife's sari.

The view from my temporary cube.

The second floor crew: Vishal, Sthitha, Pradeep, and some idiot.  Vinay had already gone home.

Satish, Visible Path Bangalore head honcho, as we walked back from lunch at Garam Masala.  I ordered "hariyali kabab".  What i got was radioactive green chicken.  Turns out "hariyali" means "green".  Who knew?  But it was good.  Also note traffic; the intersection was a nightmare at rush hour.

I arrived late; Gowda delivered me to the President Hotel, where i went to my room and took this picture before i collapsed.

"Valet Parking At Vehicle Owner's Risk"

Not especially tall.

Food so good, it's "irresistable".

Dig my l33t pano skillz.  Taken from my room window.

I'm not suffering any jet lag; my attempts to sleep on the plane seemed to work out, although i was still quite tired yesterday, and almost nodded off as i was towelling myself dry after a shower.

Incheon International Airport sucked.  People seemed unfriendly in general, and they were charging ₩2000 for a can of soda and ₩3000 for a 12oz cup of coffee, which is a lot, even considering the airport store surcharge.  If a Starbucks in Hong Kong International Airport can sell me a 16oz mocha for HK$31, i don't see why Incheon's gotta bust my balls for some caffeine.

And then there's the retarded security.  We came off the plane from Singapore and then had to go through X-rays and metal detectors before being admitted into the transit area.  Hello?  We just came off the fucking plane!  I'm pretty sure i didn't buy a gun or a stick of dynamite from the flight attendant.  Then it came time to board, and the line was being held up by one guy checking everyone's passport and boarding pass, and then another guy collecting transit passes.  How about using both guys to do both and cutting the line in half?  And to top it off, there was an actual carry-on luggage inspection right before getting on the plane.  I was seriously pissed off by the time i got into my seat.

Throughout the trip, i consumed no soda, alcohol, or chocolate, although i did have some 7Up and a Korean Snickers bar on the flight back.

Pictures next.