A Trip Down Memory Lane :o)

Earlier this week I had the privilege of taking a few days off (finally!) and going on a mini-holiday.  I decided to go to Baltimore to visit with some old friends that I haven't seen in a very long time (ranging from 5-20 years..no joke)!  The friend whom I haven't seen in about 20 years (actually, my sister's friend) and I have recently gotten back in contact with one another thanks to the wonderful social network known as Facebook. Even though it was for a matter of a few days, it was an eventful trip (in the sense of meeting up with everyone I had wanted to see and just hanging out) and very fulfilling.  Let's recap the events of the trip, shall we?

I took a flight to Baltimore first thing Sunday morning and arrived just in time to meet with friends for a Dim Sum lunch.  Fortunately, I was able to get (almost) every single one of my friends together for this occassion.  Out of the four that came (Mati, Daniel, TJ, and KC), only two of them knew each other (cousins) and because each of them mean so much to me, it was high time that they all got to meet one another.  :o)

After lunch, I spent the rest of the afternoon into the evening hanging with two friends (Mati and Pailin) from my childhood (they are brother and sister, respectively).  We visited with the parents and with Pailin and her family.  Pailin is all grown up and now has kids of her own; two very adorable little girls with a boy on the way!  Being that it was Halloween, I got to see the kiddies dressed up in their costumes going door to door in the crazy cold weather.  Then it was time for Mati and I to get ready to head out ourselves.  We went to a local bar in Towson and met up with the friends we saw at lunch along with my friend, Matt from 20 years ago.  The bar happened to be next door to where I used to work back in college!  There were some very good costumes that night.  (See for yourself below.)

Monday was just a laid back day.  Rather uneventful, but lovely nonetheless.  I spent the day with Mati, Pailin, and their family.  It was really a joy to see them for being with them was sort of like being home.  I had spent so many days of my childhood playing over at their house and even though they have both moved out, they all still live in the same neighborhood.

Tuesday Mati (who pretty much was my chauffeur) and I met up with my friends, TJ and KC (cousins) and their wives for lunch at this extraordinary Lebanese place downtown.  After that, we all just spent the afternoon hanging around by the harbor.  Tuesday night, Mati and I met up with Daniel and Matt for dinner at a cool Korean dive in Ellicott City.  Before I knew it, it was time to pack my bag and get ready to head home in the morning.  Sigh......

It was such a great trip and I would like to thank everyone that helped to make it special.  Thank you to each of you who have sacrificed your time (this includes you, Daniel) to see to it that I made the most of my few days off.  I have always said, and will say again, I am very lucky to have such awesome friends!!!