Reminiscing: 2008 in travel

Another year of crazy plane-hopping, jetsetting, and general travel mayhem. I think this year, there was generally more restraint and more domestic-ness in my travels. I did my first ever day-trip to LA for work, and even flew coach to Europe. (Don't try it at home...babies and people who kick your seat for 14 hours straight suck.) Didn't make it back to 1K, but at least I'll be Premier Exec again next year. :)

So here are 2008's cities in no particular order:

Tahoe Honolulu Savannah Portland Orlando New York City Boston Munich Las Vegas Vancouver Charleston Whistler Flagstaff Scottsdale Napa Seattle Klamath Istanbul Ashland Phoenix Albuquerque Sonoma Grand Canyon Los Angeles Denver Chicago Frankfurt Arcadia Mcminnville Kaneohe

Miles flow - 51,509

Most surprising hotel - W Istanbul. Cooler, hipper, and way less tired-looking than any of its Stateside cousins. They really *do* do things differently in Europe.

Most random flight itinerary - SFO - Denver - Orlando - Chicago - Portland - SFO. Ew. The things we do for work.

Shortest trip - 12 hours in LA. Took the 6am flight out, and came home on the 6pm flight. Again, the things we do for work.

Longest trip (without a plane) - 10-day road trip up the Pacific Northwest. I love the Pacific Northwest!

Most nerve-racking travel moment - (tied) Locking the keys in the trunk of a car during said road trip (I had to climb through the luckily-open sun roof to pop the trunk) in Ashland. Being almost run off the road coming back from the Grand Canyon in the middle of the night by a giant trucker going 90MPH. Uphill. My crappy rental PT Cruiser didn't stand a chance.

Most awkward place to visit - Albuquerque, New Mexico. Went there for a friend's wedding -- turns out that every other Asian person we saw at the airport, the restaurants, and the city were all there for the same wedding.

Most awkward tourist attraction - Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia. It was eerily beautiful, and extremely popular due to the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. But I still felt like I was trespassing the entire time I was there.

Most visited cities this year (and frequency) - Vancouver & New York City (3), Los Angeles, Boston & Las Vegas (2)

Shortest time between 2 continents - 15 minutes. We went from Europe to Asia in just 15 minutes on a ferry in Istanbul. There was no "Welcome to Asia" sign on the other side. I was disappointed.

Most thematic tourist destination - Ashland, Oregon. Home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, almost every hotel, restaurant and store in town is named after something Bard-related, including the Best Western Bard's Inn.

All beds, and breakfasts, too - This year, I finally took advantage of the actual breakfast portion of B&B (unlike last year). My two favourites would be Morical House in Ashland for its contemporary modern design and yummy food, and the A'Tuscan Estate in Mcminnville for its delicious gourmet breakfasts (ostrich egg omelets!).

Best "3 Days or Less..." destination - Well, it was more like 4 days, but Istanbul, Turkey takes the cake. So it's a bit crazy to fly halfway around the world for 4 days, but hey, why not?

This year, I'll probably be taking it easy due to my shoulder recovery. But there are still some interesting travel destinations on the horizon...including my first Sundance in January, maybe cherry blossoms in Japan in March, and some eating trips here and there. :)

Reminiscing: 2008 in words

Another year. Wow. I always love doing the "Reminiscing" series of posts each year...especially since that's how I first started this blog. In addition to the usual "Travel" and "Food" reminiscing, I wanted to add a new category this year -- "Words" -- general thoughts and words about the year that don't fit into the travel or food categories.

So here goes:

Slow down - my new motto for the year. Slow down so you don't trip and fall and end up having shoulder surgery. Slow down so you don't give yourself a concussion in the bathroom mirror. Slow down in general.

Happily ever after. But not for everyone - Congrats to many friends who tied the knot this year, especially to Mendel and Derek. While I'm still shocked and dismayed that Prop 8 passed in California, I'm so glad that M&D were able to get married in Boston. My hope for 2009 is that *everyone* can tied the knot and live happily ever after as they choose.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose - Still working on this one. Still complicated. Still somewhat unresolved.

Recession - ouch. Horrible year in 2008 for money and all things investing related. How it will actually affect us remains to be seen in 2009.

Obama - almost made me want to be American! (Emphasis on the word "almost") I love his mind *and* his body (LOL). Well done, Americans.

3 Days or Less... - new blog. New identity. New outlet!

Angels - never underestimate the presence of angels in your life. They are present in friends and family members all around you. I'm grateful to all of you that have helped me out in some way/shape/form this year. Thank you.

2009, here we come!

P.S. Travel and Food reminiscing to follow...stay tuned!

11 days post-op: My scars are gnarly...and 4 more weeks of sling-ing it

i had my first post-op check up yesterday and finally had my dressings removed, and stitches taken out. i have 3 gnarly scars (2 in the front, 1 in the back) plus some crazy-ass purple scribbles from their surgery markings. kinda gross but you kinda wanna see them, right? (viewer discretion advised) and yes, my purple shirt was a coincidence.




good news is that i can shower again! woohoo! bad news is that i still have to wear the terminator sling for another 4 weeks.

oh, and no sun, submerged baths, hot tubs, vitamin e cream, or other scar-reducing treatments for at least two months. boo.

4 days post-op, plus 10 things that are hard / impossible to do with one arm (part 3)

it's been four days since i had surgery to repair a tear in my labrum from a fall back in march. the tear was smaller than anticipated so they didn't have to drill any anchors into my shoulder which hopefully translates to a speedier recovery. i'm resting a lot and doing my post-op exercises each day but still learning to deal with the pain and life with my new big sling that I have to wear 24/7.

and in all morbid recovery blog posts like this, i must show you how i look right now! ok, no parental discretion needed. i just have a massive dressing on my right shoulder which will come off early next week.



and here's a pic of my giant sling. i need to name it something, esp since it will be spending 24/7 with me in the next 4-6 weeks and even comes with its own attached stress ball.


oh, and here's another list of things you can't do with one arm. and this time i'm serious since it's not like i can even cheat and use my bad arm if push comes to shove like last time.

1. wash and dry your hair. seriously.
2. trim a christmas tree. luckily friends are happy to oblige if you bribe them with food and drinks. (see below)
3. tie your hair in a ponytail.
4. open med bottles.
5. open bottles of any kind, for that matter.
6. fluff your pillows or blankets.
7. crack open an egg nicely.
8. use an SLR...did you ever notice that the shutter release button is only made for right handed people?
9. wear anything that doesn't contain lycra or isn't at least one size bigger than you.
10. properly capitalize your blig posts. hell this post took 45 minutes to type so you're going to have to put up with no capitals.

and on a merrier note, meet dougie, my tree for christmas 2008!

Sleepless in Istanbul

The call to Farj (pre-dawn) prayers just finished. Oddly, it's become one of my favourite moments in Istanbul, as I sit here in the dark typing away on my laptop and listening to the serene verses from the Qur'an that I don't understand. I'm sleepless in Istanbul again, and I've come to realize that this whole sleeplessness thing happens to me quite often. Conventional wisdom would attribute it to jetlag, but I think there's something more deeply rooted than that. There's so much clarity in these moments when I'm sitting and organizing my thoughts, either on couch here or on a beach in Malaysia. There's a sense of comfort and serenity that can't be explained. There's a lot I'm battling in my mind these days...surgery, relationships, and to some extent, even the upcoming holidays...it's as though too many things are happening at once, and yet, not happening quite soon enough.

I guess it's these sleepless moments that are the actual "getting away from it all" parts of my getaways, and for that reason, I don't really bemoan the loss of sleep or eventual fatigue that will come tomorrow. We spend so much of our time searching for answers, relief, and confirmation that it's hard to really step away -- so I've learned to treasure moments like this where you basically don't need or want anything. It's like an odd vortex of time / space / reality.

Anyway, at this point, I might be thinking too much about it, which would take away from the whole 'clarity' thing I mentioned earlier. I better get back to being sleepless...

Istanbul insights...

The sounds of call to prayer (Farj, or pre-dawn) are echoing outside. There's a calm yet eerie quality to it, especially since it's still dark outside. I'm in Istanbul, and contrary to the title, this post has nothing to do with any insights I've gathered about Istanbul.

It's 6am in Istanbul and I'm jetlagged. I've just spent the last hour surfing the web, where I came up on a blog written by someone I met recently. Given my line of work, my philosophy on the internet has always been, if it's on there, it's free game. But reading through this particular blog felt strange somehow, like I was intruding on someone's privacy. It made me quickly peruse my own and try to imagine how I'd feel if some near-stranger that had just met me read through it.

I decided that I'd be ok with it...I mean, thoughts are thoughts, and in many senses, blogs are a cathartic way to share your thoughts without having to say them out loud, or to anyone in particular. We're so tied to media and information these days that we don't tell *people* things anymore. It's just easier to blog/tweet/facebook everything. The cool thing is that there's a time-stamped permanent record that allows you to go back and relive the good or the bad. The bad thing is that there's a time-stamped permanent record. Maybe it's our generation's way of coping with the slow disintegration of humanity. Or maybe people are just too lazy to pick up the phone and call, or pick up a pen and write. I guess the jury's still out on that.

As for me, I'm sleepless in Istanbul. Apparently that happens to me quite often.

And as for G: if you ever read this, I'm sorry I read your blog without you knowing. It all makes more sense now.

Turkey on Turkey 2008

And so it begins...another Turkey Day outside the US, and this time I'm headed to, well, Turkey. (the country not the fowl) Regina's already on her gloriously direct flight to Istanbul, and I'll be there in, oh, 20 hours or so. Trip's off to a bumpy start: forcibly checked-in carry-on bag, delayed flight to Frankfurt...all in a day's travel, I suppose. Stay tuned to our adventures in our joint travel blog -- http://reginaviv.blogspot.com/

Görüşmek üzere
(That's "See you later" in Turkish)

:)

Fashion does exist in SF

Old friends, hot fashion, and a sexy new store...makes for a perfect opening party for the fabulous new Gucci digs on Union Square. :)

That was *so* 2006

Wow -- so well put, if I do say so myself. ;) Can't believe that was two years ago. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, I suppose.

No plane tickets this time...well, not that many anyway. Time to stay put and actually begin life anew.

Congrats to Mendel and Derek

Just got home from Mendel and Derek's wedding in Boston. I have to say it was probably one of the most relaxing and fun weddings I've been to in a long time, even though I was in the wedding party and all. M&D have such an awesome ease with each other, and their wedding reflected their personalities, quirkiness, and general desire to just be chill and have fun. It was also great to catch up with some familiar faces that I haven't seen in a while. Going to the wedding also gave me a little boost of reassurance that love and romance is still alive in this world -- all the best to you both for a life filled with joy and much love.

Photos can now be found here.