jfunson.net Blog

I guess they knew I was coming! Look at the welcome sign they put out for me!

So, for this trip, instead of booking via the travel agency at work, I was told to book via Hotwire and get a good deal on the Intercontinental in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. The rate: $82/night. And let’s just say, it’s a big steal! Napakasosyal!

The room is just sumptuously decorated, with luxurious fabrics, and very clean, refined wood furniture. The bathroom has separate tub and shower. I’m just overwhelmed with lots of small details that you’ll only find at 5-star establishments.

For instance, while I was downstairs having my dinner, the housekeeping staff came in to do turn-down service. They had a small chocolate on my pillow, and the had ice and glasses in the serving area all set for any type of beverage that I wished before going to bed. Now that’s service!

Of course, I’m making the most out of this gig. After 6+ hours of flying and airport time, I took a very nice warm bath in the tub, and just lay there for about half an hour relaxing. For dinner, I went to the downstairs restaurant, and had the most scrumptious meal of grilled scallops on a bed of arugula and mushroom risotto with a balsamic vinegar reduction. Abolutely divine!

Now why can’t all business travel trips be this good? I even jokingly texted Leonel “Heto, babuyin! Kulbam!”

Oy – I’m not looking forward to my Atlanta trip now. I’ve bumped into a few people here at work who have lived there for a bit of time, and they say it’s really dysfunctional, from a social point of view. In spite of it trying to be a cosmopolitan city, it is still very insular in its thinking, from what I understand.

For example, they said the Olympics was such a big joke if you were there. One of the folks who I chatted w/ sad that a famous news commentator remarked “These were good games” as opposed to “These were the best games.” This commentator only said it about Atlanta in all the years that he’s been covering the Olympics. Talk about a diss!
Dee and Leonie even told me their experiences – it wasn’t the best. Think promdi but w/ a US context – redneck hicks, small world thinking.

OK – I think I’m setting the bar lower now. We’ll see when I get back…

Well, I just finalized some business trip arrangements to Atlanta for 8/16 through 8/18.  It’ll be my first time going to the south…hopefully I’ll be able to enjoy some good southern cooking!

Ah, it’s great when I can leverage business trips to visit friends and family all over! In this particular situation, it was the Agile 2006 conference, held in Minneapolis, MN. I used this opportunity to visit Dee over the weekend after the conference had ended.

It was pleasantly warm in Minneapolis at the onset, but by the time the weekend rolled over, the heat setting turned up a bit!

I had a blast catching up w/ Dee. He never ceases to amaze me w/ his comments, insights and challenges. You can read more about our discussions here.

In the meantime, enjoy some photos! (If you see a pic that’s interesting, click on it!)