or to be exact, Portland again. Leah and I just came back from a very relaxing and lazy vacation in Orlando, Florida today. But would you believe it, I have to fly out to Portland again for a week, early in the morning tomorrow. I will have to spend my birthday on Monday in Portland, working instead of with Leah.

Still, Leah surprised me with these fantastic tickets to the John Williams: The Art of the Score performance with the New York Philharmonic, for my birthday present!

Even though Leah and I promised ourselves not to get on the net during this vacation, we scrumbled to the temptation after only 2 days! It did take us some effort to find an internet ‘cafe’ here in Orlando. There is no Kinko (that we can find) and only by chance that we came across a cafe with a single internet connected computer. Oh well, at least we can check our emails.

Leah and I took the PATH to the World Trade Center station this afternoon for the movie. Riding from the Exchange Place stop across the Hudson River towards WTC was an eerie experience. The Port Authority has obviously laid completely new tracks because the ride is super smooth, unlike the rest of the route. As we pulled into the WTC station, we were treated with the outside view of Ground Zero. After we got off the train, I was immediately able to recognize the huge escalator banks that used to led to the WTC concourse. They are still at the same location but the space at the top of the escalator is not what it used to be. This, though, brought back all my memory of the WTC and I could see in my mind where each shop was and what they all used to look like. If only I can ‘download’ my memory to preserve it for my offsprings to see and feel. Once we got above ground, it seems like the only original pieces of the WTC left standing now is the escalator/stair case the led from the ground level to second floor of what used be the Border bookstore on the north side of WTC 6. I wonder why it has not be knocked down.