A New Year

At the very last day of 2006, we are still stranded at the heart of this good ol' Albuquerque. We started the day at 12 PM with quite lavish a lunch at a nearby Applebee's. Afterward, we went downtown to the Old Plaza area and did some shopping for handcrafted Indian jewelries. At around 5 PM, we went back to the hotel to plot what to do for the evening. Sushi and karaoke were at the top of the list. We looked at places nearby considering the fog and icy roads. I can safely add driving in snow and icy condition to my portfolio now.

We ended up doing some kind of a restaurant hopping, first at the sushi bar, second at a local Italian restaurant for desserts. By the end of the eating out, we didn't feel like going karaoke and headed back to the hotel. The rest of the evening were spent packing--no card playing tonight. Three of the five musketeerettes even fell asleep thirty minutes before the new year. I finished chatting with my mother.

"sudah dulu lah ya nak selamat tahun baru semoga dalam tahun ini kita sehat2 dan tercapai apa yang kita inginkan"

The two of us who were still alive ended up plotting a more complete look up on the return route. We will have to take the southbound route but had no chance to visit Marfa, since the town is about 70 miles off the I-10 which will add up a considerable amount of time and mileages to our already close to a 1000-mile trip back home. We will, however, stop by for lunch at Las Cruces, the southern part of NM. Time and mood permitting, there will be one last sightseeing object to visit, the Elephant Butte reservoir.

Fifteen minutes before the start of the new year were spent alone browsing and watching the ball drop in NYC and a Coca-cola toast, and a few minutes past 12, I received a nice Happy New Year call.

To the new year and to this journey of life, to all of us.