I just got back in from Dallas last night, and I had a really fantastic trip. It was dulled by a bump in the road, but it couldn’t take away from 3 days of pure fun and excitement. Dallas was a beauty since I got there, clear skies, cool and breezy out, and no humidity. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. The hotel I stayed at, the Hyatt Regency, is an absolute dream to stay at. The people that work there pretty much treated me like a king, and the room I stayed in was real high-class stuff.

Friday I spent the day at the CPL event, downstairs in one of the large hotel halls. I mostly hung out by the NVIDIA booth, playing games like Battlefield Vietnam, Halo, Postal 2, and Call of Duty. I was one of the first to get to play Battlefield Vietnam, as it was publicly shown for the first time at NVIDIA’s booth at the CPL. I can’t wait for it to come out, as it looks like it’ll be even more popular than Battlefield 1942, which is saying a lot. I also checked out the Counterstrike competition for a little while, but I was in over my head there, as I didn’t really know who was winning or losing, and how it all works. Maybe next time I’ll have it figured out.

That night we went out to eat at Dralion, quite easily the nicest restaurant I’ve ever been to. The menu was boggling, with foods I never heard of, and had a price tag of $60-$200 range. It is styled as gothic Chinese in a theatrical setting. The whole place was lit up by candles; in the chandeliers above, candlebras, on the tables, hanging off the walls, everywhere. Techno and trance music was played throughout the whole meal, which was right up my alley. I ended up trying everything, and 99% of the time I had no idea what I was eating. I had a nice talk with a lady from the marketing department of NVIDIA, and overall had a fantastic night.

Saturday was a little slow, not much went on, so Cindy stopped by and we spent some time together. She gave me a tour around the city, then we went to a nice Mexican restaurant, then to the absurdly huge mall in Dallas, and I got some Christmas shopping done there. And just for the record, I was a good boy. I always am. Sort of.

The bump in the road was a toothache that got aggravated and decided to spread an infection in my gums and up my left cheek. There’s a big swelling there now, but fortunately I got some antiobiotics that seems to be taking care of it right now, as it’s gone down in the past few hours. On the trip back to Florida, I had to put up with a toothache, the swelling, a migraine, and a fever. You can imagine how miserable I felt, and I could barely carry my luggage to the car. This morning I woke up even more miserable, but it seems I’m finally making a turn for the better.

I’ll have pictures up shortly, as I took a ton while in Dallas.