This has been our first full day in Michigan, and we’re having a great time so far! We actually arrived last night, but yesterday in its entirety was basically pretty lousy. When we got to the airport, we found that our flight was running two hours behind schedule. (For once, this time we happened to forget to call ahead to see if our flight was late—go figure!) The plane was coming in from Atlantic City, but there was some mechanical problem with it so they had to procure a backup plane. And the closest place they could find one was Detroit! After this delay, we didn’t arrive in Detroit until about 11:00, then, we had to get our luggage and find the car my parents had left for us in the parking deck.

Well, finding the car was certainly an adventure. I likened it to an “urban safari.” Mostly because we kept hearing this ridiculous electronic squawking bird noise echoing through the deck, like some kind of custom car alarm. Our information told us that the car (my mom’s Grand Prix) was parked on level 3e, row 14, but when we found that row, there was no Grand Prix. After quite a lot of milling around, we found another level 3e / row 14 (a continuation? Mirror-universe version?) and there, at last, was our car.

By the time we got out of there (I really like the Grand Prix, by the way), it was midnight and everything, even Mickey D’s, was closing. Thanks to the airline crap, we decided to hit up the 24-hour Meijers on Middlebelt and Schoolcraft. By then it was pouring rain for extra shit-factor. At Meijers, Apple found some instant noodles that she likes. As for me, I thought I’d try this semi-frozen roast beef stuff. In a word: BARF. Thankfully, I found that my parents had a small Digiorno pizza in the freezer, so I baked that instead. By the time I ate it, it was 2 a.m.

Today, by comparison, has been much better. We had reserved today for doing certain things to get the house ready, restocked with groceries and what-not, but by this evening it wound up being just a pretty nice and relaxing introduction to our vacation here. After our long night, we had a heavenly sleep (hehe) and after getting up around noon, had breakfast at my grandma’s house. Sausage and biscuits for me, and Apple had the awesome homemade chicken soup that she loves. Afterwards we made a trip to Busch’s, and then Koyama Shoten (the Japanese grocery store over on Six and Newburgh).

After watching some of the new anime called Fruits Basket that came via Netflix just before we left Florida, we had dinner at the Akasaka Japanese restaurant. Their sushi is delicious, by the way. Then we stopped by Barnes and Noble, and got to Laurel Park Mall in time to have dessert at the Sander’s ice cream shop. The mall was closing, so we decided to come back and shop around some more another day. In the parking lot, a distraught woman and a really scatterbrained-looking teenage kid asked if we had jumper cables. I didn’t. The weather was really beautiful, a bit on the cool side, but certainly pleasant enough. A brisk breeze was blowing all day, and by 5:00 in the afternoon, the rain had stopped and the sun was out. It was really quite nice.

I think I’ve figured out what I love about driving up here so much. The design of the roads. Put simply, there just isn’t a traffic light every fifteen paces. When I drive in Naples, I always feel like a rodent bouncing from one intersection to another in his plastic bubble maze, and each time he gets to an intersection, the sadistic scientists observing him slam a door shut right in his path and observe how stir-crazy he can become before they let him proceed to his cheese prize at the end of the maze. Up here, on the occasion that you do stop at a traffic light, you’re never sitting at it for more than a minute. In Florida you can wait two, sometimes three minutes at a damn light because they are SO. FLIPPING. LONG. Even though there is a lot of construction going on up here, it’s not once yet made things as inconvenient as simple driving to and from work always is at home. Of course, it’s the weekend here.

This evening, Apple and I discovered that the former International Channel has renamed itself AZN Television. I guess they’ve dropped the feint of providing anything but Asian programs, which is fine with me…but unfortunately, no satellite providers offer it, and neither does our local cable company. So I guess we’ll only get to see it during the times we’re visiting Detroit. Since the new AZN moniker, they’ve widely broadened their range of southeast and far east Asian programs, and they even have a show called “What’s UP Thailand” which is an hour-long music/variety show where they air new Thai music videos! I wish I’d found out about it before 11 a.m. today, when it aired! It runs again this coming Friday night and Saturday morning, so I set my parents’ TiVo to record it while we’re in Toronto. Speaking of Toronto, it’s a haven for Asian culture in and of itself, so maybe there will be some cool TV up there too.

Guess that’s it for tonight. Tomorrow, I’m getting together with my friends Pooch and Reaper. For dinner we’re going over to Buddy’s. Woohoo!!

More later…