Cavalock Returns To Indianapolis & New York

Hey, I'm back after two weeks in Indianapolis and New York, not that anyone misses me I'm sure. Just like two years ago in August, I was attending Gen Con 2016 in Indianapolis, the biggest boardgame convention in the free world. If you read some of my older posts, you'll know that I'm a huge analog gamer. I have over 50 boardgames and a gazillion cards and miniatures games in my tiny apartment. Gen Con was a blast and I had so much fun, playing and buying the latest boardgames.

I must admit I was kinda apprehensive bout traveling to the U.S. after reading and watching Trump's rise to power. For awhile, I told myself this is not unlike Jesse Owens going to compete in Nazi Germany during the Berlin Olympics. Hey, Indy's Governor is Trump's running mate right? So you never can tell how the locals are going to react to four Asian guys suddenly showing up in their midst.

Fortunately there were no ugly or racist encounters and almost everyone I met was extremely generous and friendly. Alright, more on those games in a future post. And now I ask the question I always ask when I'm back from an overseas trip. Why can't we have this dish/meal here?!? Delicious pulled pork sandwiches. Had it the last time I was in Indy and I was really looking forward to this. It's just pulled pork meat in a naked bun. Nothing fancy, no weird dressings or toppings, just a simple pork sandwich. That glorious tender meat in a soft bun, why can't we have it here? I know preparing the meat takes time plus you need a proper BBQ smoker and all that but come on, other more "complicated" food joints with crazier, bigger kitchenware have opened up here.

Now since everyone's talking about it and playing the game, I thought I'll just share my experience on playing Pokemon Go overseas. My friend helped install the app in my iPhone while we were in the U.S. a few days before it was (finally) available in Singapore, so I had a tiny head start in catching a handful of Pokemon. Wow, J.W. Marriott is Drowzee central. Caught almost a hundred of them while staying there. I also managed to bag the exclusive North America Pokemon, Tauros right in my hotel room.

Then I was alone in New York where I trekked across midtown. That's the layout of Central Park down there. Best experience was the ride back to JFK Airport. Afternoon traffic was bad and that meant slowing down at every intersection, giving me time to catch half a dozen Pokemons in the back of of ride as well as winning one gym fight! Total different Pokemons caught in the U.S. = 75, levelled up to 15 before coming home.