Boise and Salt Lake City ALL IN 4 DAYS!!!

So, as many of you know, I've been living on a plane for the last 2 weeks. I've spent a whopping 2 days at home, it's been great! (sarcasm). DISCLAIMER: I spent all of 24 hours in each of these places, and 14 of those hours were at work, I might be biased.

Boise. It's boring. It's horribly boring. Granted, the place is actually really pretty, and there's a lot of outdoors-y stuff to do, but Boise proper is boring. And underdeveloped. Apparently, Micron and Boise paper are the largest employers. It is, however, the third largest city in the northwest, behind Portland and Seattle (how many qualifiers does Boise need to be ranked in anything?) The only cool thing in Boise is this: 

Yeah, don't ever insult or even give an awkward eye to Boise State. The QB is a hero. The coach is a god. The blue field is the pantheon of greatness. 

If I had more time, I would have liked to go hiking and check out the parks, but I don't. Unless I win the account there, I plan on not going back.

I flew to Salt Lake City and stayed in a Hilton. This isn't important if it wasn't for the food there and the bartender. The Hilton Salt Lake City has, hands down, the best non-independent restaurant I've eaten at. They made a medium done double-cut pork chop that was AMAZING, and greatly contributed to my ballooning weight. I'm not a stereotypical Asian, so no picture of food, but this time it might have been justified, with the emphasis on MIGHT. 

The importance of the bartender was to take me through the APE-SHIT CRAZY LIQUOR LAWS. In his words, there is no separation of church and state in Utah, and it shows. In Utah, all liquor bottles have a pre-measured pouring device with a counter on top, you will be fined if your sales numbers don't match the bottle numbers. You have to go BEHIND A WALL to MAKE cocktails so that kids don't see it. You can't have an open container anywhere outside of a designated area in a bar/restaurant, or its a $500 fine for you and $10,000 for the establishment. 

Multiple people told me to go out to Park City, where Sundance Film Festival is held, and check that out. Good idea. It's what Utah could have been with out Mormons. It has a liberal, independent, small town, with a homely feel. The sales guy that was travelling with us lives there and he claims that they have most restaurants per square miles, and considering the space and there's 170 restaurants it maybe true. We had lunch at Sundance resort, Robert Redford's resort space, and it was REALLY NICE. In the summer, the ski resort is a mountain biking path. It is absolutely worth going back too, especially if I pick up skiing. 

Overall, Utah makes me want to win my contract beyond just the money value of it. Boise, pretty, but I can live without.

And now here's Zao trying to be artsy again, with his HTC EVO4G camera-phone....

OoOOoO Zao's artsy

Salt Lake City Airport, Salt Lake City in the distance