Are you watching the Democratic Convention? If not, you will want to get on youtube or CNN and start watching the videos. My favorite speech so far is from Hillary. Although I have not heard Kennedy or Michelle Obama's speeches and so I don't have their speeches to compare to.
First, let me get the superficial observations out of the way so that I can then get to the more important stuff. I like Michelle's light green dress, very hip and classy. I love the orange suit on Hillary. Who knew that orange can look that good? I have an orange skirt that I have never worked up the courage to wear. Even Chelsea looks really pretty today with long soft much blonder hair. I want the make-up artist who did Hillary and Chelsea's make-up. These women looked great tonight. Hillary must have gotten some sleep because she looks fresh and not worn out as she did towards the end of the primaries.
Hillary has always been a great speaker and her speech tonight was definitely smart and effective. She made a point of letting her supporters know that they should not be voting just for her only but they should vote for the healthcare reform and issues that they believe in and thus they should be voting for Obama. Many Hillary supporters have threatened to not vote or to vote for McCain if Obama were the Democratic nominee; this latter one makes no sense to me -- so one would change the issues they believe in and vote for different issues instead -- very logical there!
Being the geek that I am, I went and read the transcript for Michelle's speech. What struck me the most about her speech was the fact that it highlighted for me how America is such a land of opportunities. In what other countries could a South Chicago black woman go to Princeton and Harvard and become the president of the Chicago hospitals (or something like that...I might be off on this a bit)? It reminded me of my own immigrant background and how far I have come myself. Although it was only 16 years ago that I first arrived in this country with little to no English and with a mother who worked 2 minimum wage jobs to pay our rent, sometimes it is hard to remember that life because where I am not is so vastly different from where I came from. Perhaps this is why I fervently believe in the value of hard work and the power of taking action to improve your own destiny - you and only you have the power to change your life for the better but you will have to work hard at it because overcoming adversity is not easy. This may sound cheesy but it's the truth! Although disparity in wealth does exist even in Amercia, this is also the only country where there is not a rigid class system where one would have to born into a certain class. In America, one can go from barely making ends meet to being middle class or more. Whenever I get to travel or go to a special dinner or event, I am reminded of how blessed I am to have the opportunities to enjoy these things, especially since I could never travel outside of my own city 16 years ago.
If I can remember, I plan to watch the Republican Convention starting next Monday just to see what it is like. This is the first election where I am following the primaries and convention and it has been great. There is so much to learn from watching these things.
Two more days down and 3 more to go until the long weekend. I cannot wait!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Recap from last week and today's long day
It's only Monday and I already feel that a long week is ahead. That is not a good sign, is it? Today was a long work day because I had a deliverable that made me work late tonight. The good news is it's done and it was done early and so the work for this particular project will slow down for the next couple of days while I get busy on other projects ;-). Hopefully, tomorrow will be a shorter day...although getting up at 6:50am does not sound very good to me at the moment. Durn those early meetings!
The only thing that made this long day today bearable was a lunch out at a restaurant in the city. We had ratatouille for the first time today. I had to have it because of the movie (my favorite by the way!), and it didn't disappoint me. It was so very tasty! The restaurant's name was so cute - Chez Maman. When I was learning French in HS, Maman was one of my favorite words.
I saw a couple of really good independent art films this week: Tell No One and Man on Wire. The Bay area has an amazing selection of independent films. A couple weeks ago, I saw Bottle Shock which was a movie based on a true story about how California wines beat out French wines in a blind taste test in the 70's. Really cool movie! I think I am going to need to pay special attention to the art theaters in the future so that I can keep seeing these great movies. I have 2 free opening tickets to a play this weekend. Can't wait for that.
The opera season is upon us and we have an amazing list of operas this season. I have never lived in a city where 2 operas run concurrently per month. That's amazing, isn't it? Some of the operas that my husband raves about and that I would love to see this season are Porgy and Bess, La Traviata (sp?), and Tosca. Also, Amy Tan's The Bonesetter's Daughter has been adapted to an opera and has its opening this season. I love Amy Tan's books and of course have read this book. It's so cool that there is now an opera based on this book. Oh, how I wish I have season tickets to the operas and one of the good theaters around here! I will most likely try to go to some of these events.
Here is to hoping that this week will end soon so that I can have a long weekend with Labor Day!
The only thing that made this long day today bearable was a lunch out at a restaurant in the city. We had ratatouille for the first time today. I had to have it because of the movie (my favorite by the way!), and it didn't disappoint me. It was so very tasty! The restaurant's name was so cute - Chez Maman. When I was learning French in HS, Maman was one of my favorite words.
I saw a couple of really good independent art films this week: Tell No One and Man on Wire. The Bay area has an amazing selection of independent films. A couple weeks ago, I saw Bottle Shock which was a movie based on a true story about how California wines beat out French wines in a blind taste test in the 70's. Really cool movie! I think I am going to need to pay special attention to the art theaters in the future so that I can keep seeing these great movies. I have 2 free opening tickets to a play this weekend. Can't wait for that.
The opera season is upon us and we have an amazing list of operas this season. I have never lived in a city where 2 operas run concurrently per month. That's amazing, isn't it? Some of the operas that my husband raves about and that I would love to see this season are Porgy and Bess, La Traviata (sp?), and Tosca. Also, Amy Tan's The Bonesetter's Daughter has been adapted to an opera and has its opening this season. I love Amy Tan's books and of course have read this book. It's so cool that there is now an opera based on this book. Oh, how I wish I have season tickets to the operas and one of the good theaters around here! I will most likely try to go to some of these events.
Here is to hoping that this week will end soon so that I can have a long weekend with Labor Day!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
More memorable Olympic moments
Between watching the Olympics and having a busy week and weekend, I have not had any time to post a new blog.
After the US women gymnasts struggled to win a team silver medal, I didn't think the rest of the gymnastic events would be worthwhile to watch. Boy, was I wrong. It's a good thing I tivo'ed everything so that I could go back and watch the US women won gold and silver in the all-around and medaled in the individual events. I am a bit behind on watching all of the tivo'ed segment and still have yet to watch the all-around event even though I know that the American women went gold and silver in this event. That should be so exciting to watch. Maybe tonight! I need to go back and watch the beam event that I taped last night since Shawn Johnson of the US apparently won her first gold at these Olympic events. For some reasons, I kept inadvertently see the news every day before I even see the event, which really does take the suspense out of watching the event now. Oh well, at least I now know that it will be worth my time to watch the taped segment.
I can't believe Michael Phelps won all 8 gold medals especially since he just barely out-touched someone else by a fingernail length to get his 7th gold. I read somewhere that he is so loaded with endorsements now, including the possibility of a 40 mil contract with Nike for swimwear. I am really enjoying all the swimming relay this year, especially the men relay events since they were much fun to watch.
The Jamaican men and women dominated the 100 meter event, claimimg the fastest runner title. I was so disappointed that Tyson Gay didn't even make it into the final. Usain Bolt of Jamaica who won gold in the 100 meter event made the run look too fun and easy. The last Olympics was much more exciting for the American Track and Field men. This year, it looks like Jamaica might be blowing out of the water this year.
What about that Romanian female runner who won for one of the marathon events. She was far ahead of everyone else with 10 miles remaining and I thought for sure that she wouldn't be able to sustain that lead. Well, she did keep up the lead and won the gold. Here was someone who was 20th in the last Olympics and came back to win the gold medal.
After the US women gymnasts struggled to win a team silver medal, I didn't think the rest of the gymnastic events would be worthwhile to watch. Boy, was I wrong. It's a good thing I tivo'ed everything so that I could go back and watch the US women won gold and silver in the all-around and medaled in the individual events. I am a bit behind on watching all of the tivo'ed segment and still have yet to watch the all-around event even though I know that the American women went gold and silver in this event. That should be so exciting to watch. Maybe tonight! I need to go back and watch the beam event that I taped last night since Shawn Johnson of the US apparently won her first gold at these Olympic events. For some reasons, I kept inadvertently see the news every day before I even see the event, which really does take the suspense out of watching the event now. Oh well, at least I now know that it will be worth my time to watch the taped segment.
I can't believe Michael Phelps won all 8 gold medals especially since he just barely out-touched someone else by a fingernail length to get his 7th gold. I read somewhere that he is so loaded with endorsements now, including the possibility of a 40 mil contract with Nike for swimwear. I am really enjoying all the swimming relay this year, especially the men relay events since they were much fun to watch.
The Jamaican men and women dominated the 100 meter event, claimimg the fastest runner title. I was so disappointed that Tyson Gay didn't even make it into the final. Usain Bolt of Jamaica who won gold in the 100 meter event made the run look too fun and easy. The last Olympics was much more exciting for the American Track and Field men. This year, it looks like Jamaica might be blowing out of the water this year.
What about that Romanian female runner who won for one of the marathon events. She was far ahead of everyone else with 10 miles remaining and I thought for sure that she wouldn't be able to sustain that lead. Well, she did keep up the lead and won the gold. Here was someone who was 20th in the last Olympics and came back to win the gold medal.
Friday, August 8, 2008
The Olympics - Finally Here!
Are you watching the Opening Ceremony today? If you didn't tivo'ed it or missed it, I think the Opening Ceremony is also on YouTube.
The Opening Ceremony was visually beautiful: footstep shaped fireworks, lighted drums, Chinese movable printing blocks (yes, the Chinese invented paper and printing), the globe, etc. Fourteen thousand performers participated in the performances during the ceremony.
There was a cute story that caught my attention. The athletes representing the Cayman Islands (my favorite Caribbean island) wrote NBC and asked that NBC does not cut to commercial after Canada because then Cayman Islands won't be shown on TV. So obviously, they were definitely shown on TV.
I read in the papers that the US althetes would be wearing Ralph Lauren clothing and beret (sp?) this year. I kind of liked the jacket better in the photos in the papers than on TV because but the dark color seemed a bit dull on TV.
I am very excited that the Olympic games are finally here. I love competive sports. The games/competitions that I typically love to watch are Track & Field, swimming, and gymnastics. I haven't been following the US trials at all this year and so I am not very clear on who the US atheletes will be in these particular games. I know that I will know most of the names by the time I am done watching the games this year. I also did recognize from the news atheletes who were at the last Olympics and who will participate again this time: Micheal Phelps (swimming), the 41-year old Dara Torres (swimming), and the 2 injured Hamm brothers who have now pulled out of the men gymnastics event.
Go America! I hope we win a bunch of gold medals and sweep the medals in my favorite categories.
The Opening Ceremony was visually beautiful: footstep shaped fireworks, lighted drums, Chinese movable printing blocks (yes, the Chinese invented paper and printing), the globe, etc. Fourteen thousand performers participated in the performances during the ceremony.
There was a cute story that caught my attention. The athletes representing the Cayman Islands (my favorite Caribbean island) wrote NBC and asked that NBC does not cut to commercial after Canada because then Cayman Islands won't be shown on TV. So obviously, they were definitely shown on TV.
I read in the papers that the US althetes would be wearing Ralph Lauren clothing and beret (sp?) this year. I kind of liked the jacket better in the photos in the papers than on TV because but the dark color seemed a bit dull on TV.
I am very excited that the Olympic games are finally here. I love competive sports. The games/competitions that I typically love to watch are Track & Field, swimming, and gymnastics. I haven't been following the US trials at all this year and so I am not very clear on who the US atheletes will be in these particular games. I know that I will know most of the names by the time I am done watching the games this year. I also did recognize from the news atheletes who were at the last Olympics and who will participate again this time: Micheal Phelps (swimming), the 41-year old Dara Torres (swimming), and the 2 injured Hamm brothers who have now pulled out of the men gymnastics event.
Go America! I hope we win a bunch of gold medals and sweep the medals in my favorite categories.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Half Moon Bay
Half Moon Bay (HMB) is becoming one of my favorite coastal towns in Northern California. There are many reasons why I like HMB. One of the reasons is because it has great beaches. My favorite walking beach is at HMB State Park. This is a long stretch of beach with hills/mountains as a backdrop. Did you know that HMB is a famous surfing spot? If only I could surf, then I could at least be in that cold water!
HMB is one of the few towns that has a big enough downtown full of cute shops, restaurants, wine bars, etc, which makes it a great shopping area and people-watching place. Last Saturday, Main Street in the downtown area was full of people walking their dogs. I counted at least 3 golden retrievers!
I had a great lunch at Half Moon Bay Inn last Saturday: http://halfmoonbayinn.com/ The best Chicken Ceasar Salad and Halibut tacos I have ever had. The restaurant is under an inn that seems to have very cute rooms. This inn made the Travel+Leisure magazine! Speaking of inns, there is a Bed and Breakfast in HMB on Hwy 1 that is a British restaurant and a B&B. They even have a double-decker bus in front of the place. It's a fun restaurant with great beer but the food was kind of bad. So I am not sure if the lodging is up-to-snuff after having their food. But again, it's a fun beer joint! If you want to stay in luxuries, then the HMB Ritz Carlton is the place to stay. It's right on the beach and it has a great golf course over-looking the beach.
Another reason why I like HMB is because of the Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Reserve - one of the best hiking spot in the Bay area. This place has the best redwood trees and creeks to look at. This open space reserve has a diversed micro-climate system within the park itself - the redwood forest part is nice and breezy because of the nearby ocean and the open reserve part is hot and sunny.
Finally, the best reason for visiting HMB is the drive there. Along the way, there are tons of fruit stands where you can buy lots of fruits. There are also tons of nurseries that sell plants and roses (1 dozen for $5). When you get on Hwy 1, several beaches south of HMG, there is also a pie shop with great pies. I think the ollieberry pie might have been the best. Hmm, yum, yum!
So if you are ever going to be in the Bay Area, you will need to first drive up and down Hwy 1 and see the gizzillion beaches that are along Hwy 1. One of the beach has pebbles instead of sand. Then once you are tired and need a place to hang out, you might want to stop by HMB.
HMB is one of the few towns that has a big enough downtown full of cute shops, restaurants, wine bars, etc, which makes it a great shopping area and people-watching place. Last Saturday, Main Street in the downtown area was full of people walking their dogs. I counted at least 3 golden retrievers!
I had a great lunch at Half Moon Bay Inn last Saturday: http://halfmoonbayinn.com/ The best Chicken Ceasar Salad and Halibut tacos I have ever had. The restaurant is under an inn that seems to have very cute rooms. This inn made the Travel+Leisure magazine! Speaking of inns, there is a Bed and Breakfast in HMB on Hwy 1 that is a British restaurant and a B&B. They even have a double-decker bus in front of the place. It's a fun restaurant with great beer but the food was kind of bad. So I am not sure if the lodging is up-to-snuff after having their food. But again, it's a fun beer joint! If you want to stay in luxuries, then the HMB Ritz Carlton is the place to stay. It's right on the beach and it has a great golf course over-looking the beach.
Another reason why I like HMB is because of the Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Reserve - one of the best hiking spot in the Bay area. This place has the best redwood trees and creeks to look at. This open space reserve has a diversed micro-climate system within the park itself - the redwood forest part is nice and breezy because of the nearby ocean and the open reserve part is hot and sunny.
Finally, the best reason for visiting HMB is the drive there. Along the way, there are tons of fruit stands where you can buy lots of fruits. There are also tons of nurseries that sell plants and roses (1 dozen for $5). When you get on Hwy 1, several beaches south of HMG, there is also a pie shop with great pies. I think the ollieberry pie might have been the best. Hmm, yum, yum!
So if you are ever going to be in the Bay Area, you will need to first drive up and down Hwy 1 and see the gizzillion beaches that are along Hwy 1. One of the beach has pebbles instead of sand. Then once you are tired and need a place to hang out, you might want to stop by HMB.
Monday, August 4, 2008
The First Lady of France
Recently, everywhere I look, I ran across articles or news about Carla Bruni, the First Lady of France. So I thought that she deserved a blog. Here is an article about Carla Bruni if you want to read about her in depth: http://www.vanityfair.com/style/features/2008/09/bruni200809?currentPage=1
Carla Bruni is the current First Lady of France who married the current French President (Nicolas Sarkozy) in November of last year. Carla Bruni's background is very unconventional for a First Lady. Carla Bruni used to a supermodel and she had had topless pictures (which she referred to them as "artistic" pictures) taken of her during her modeling career. She has had 2 recording albums and is getting ready to release the 3rd one in the coming weeks. When I saw her on last week's 20/20, she sang for Barbara Walters and she was surprisingly good. Her songs reminded me of those romantic French songs that you would hear in movies about Paris.
Carla Bruni came from a very rich family and as a result had a good education growing up. Modeling was a way to achieve independence rather than because she needed the money. She is versed with various musical instruments, including the guitar which she used to accompany her singing during the 20/20 interview. In addition, she speaks a number of languages fluently, and her English was definitely flawless when she was on 20/20. I was amazed of how well-spoken she was during the entire interview and how cleverly she navigated the difficult questions about her background. Whenever she is shown on news clips visiting other countries, she is always appropriately dressed in beautiful suits and she seemed to know the different countries' protocol (like curtsying to the Queen in England).
Carla Bruni has been compared to Jackie Kennedy. Her approval rating in France is higher than her husband.
What makes this story so interesting to me is how different French people are w.r.t. their expectations of their presidents and the spouses in comparison to Americans. Could you imagine how Americans would respond to having a First Lady who is still an active music artist or who used to be a model with "artistic" pictures? :-) Before the current French President married Carla Bruni, he actually went through a public divorce last year with the previous First Lady who by the way had a very public affair and ran away to NYC for a year to live with the other man during Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency. Who amongst any of our US Presidents have dared to have a divorce during their presidency?
This story just got my attention because it made me wonder whether we in America are more conservative in our expectations of our leaders' personal lives. I am not saying that conservativeness is good or bad -- it is just simply different when compared to other countries.
Carla Bruni is the current First Lady of France who married the current French President (Nicolas Sarkozy) in November of last year. Carla Bruni's background is very unconventional for a First Lady. Carla Bruni used to a supermodel and she had had topless pictures (which she referred to them as "artistic" pictures) taken of her during her modeling career. She has had 2 recording albums and is getting ready to release the 3rd one in the coming weeks. When I saw her on last week's 20/20, she sang for Barbara Walters and she was surprisingly good. Her songs reminded me of those romantic French songs that you would hear in movies about Paris.
Carla Bruni came from a very rich family and as a result had a good education growing up. Modeling was a way to achieve independence rather than because she needed the money. She is versed with various musical instruments, including the guitar which she used to accompany her singing during the 20/20 interview. In addition, she speaks a number of languages fluently, and her English was definitely flawless when she was on 20/20. I was amazed of how well-spoken she was during the entire interview and how cleverly she navigated the difficult questions about her background. Whenever she is shown on news clips visiting other countries, she is always appropriately dressed in beautiful suits and she seemed to know the different countries' protocol (like curtsying to the Queen in England).
Carla Bruni has been compared to Jackie Kennedy. Her approval rating in France is higher than her husband.
What makes this story so interesting to me is how different French people are w.r.t. their expectations of their presidents and the spouses in comparison to Americans. Could you imagine how Americans would respond to having a First Lady who is still an active music artist or who used to be a model with "artistic" pictures? :-) Before the current French President married Carla Bruni, he actually went through a public divorce last year with the previous First Lady who by the way had a very public affair and ran away to NYC for a year to live with the other man during Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency. Who amongst any of our US Presidents have dared to have a divorce during their presidency?
This story just got my attention because it made me wonder whether we in America are more conservative in our expectations of our leaders' personal lives. I am not saying that conservativeness is good or bad -- it is just simply different when compared to other countries.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
The new Batman movie
There is so much hype around the new Batman movie, Dark Knight. The first day that the movie came out, tickets for the 3 and 6am showings were sold out. Yes, people were taking a vacation day or calling in sick to see Dark Knight! This movie has been projected to pass the 400 million dollar mark by next Tuesday. The reviews also seemed to be good. So I just had to check it out.
So here are the good and the bad about this movie...
The good: Great special effects. The action sequences were amazing. The city of Chicago was beautiful on screen as Gotham city. Heath Ledger's performance was probably the only memorable performance in the movie. Christian Bale as Batman, did not seem that great in this movie even though I have liked his performances in other movies. Heath Ledger was so psychotic and freaky that it was hard to believe that it was him. So I guess it was a great performance from Heath Ledger for being able to transform himself into such a monster. I am wondering if it is his unexpected death at such a young age that made this movie so big. There are of course talks of him being nominated posthumously for an Oscar this year for this role.
The bad: The plot became very convoluted in the 2nd half of the movie. I thought the movie would never end because it was a 2 and 1/2 hour movie. This movie suffers from too many twists and turns that in the end made the plot rather incoherent. There were just too many far-fetched explanations given in fast dialogues over why someone did something. The movie was also a bit dark and violent. I read that the director was trying to make certain "intellectual" points through this movie. One of the points was whether the presence of Batman really makes the world a better place or does it create more chaos and criminality as a result -- probably a metaphor for America's position in the world. Anyhow, while I can appreciate "intellectual" points in movies, they do need to be backed by a coherent and intelligent plot. Otherwise, I wished that the director would spend more time on making the movie better rather than making the points.
Unless you are a huge Batman series addict or an action movie junkie, I probably would not recommend this movie for you. But I do understand if you do go to see it because you might be curious or want to see for yourself (like I did) what all the hype was about :-)
If you are looking for a good movie that is also based on history, check out Mongol, which is about the early life of Genghis Khan. Unfortunately, this is only the first of a trilogy and so you and I will all have to keep watching.
So here are the good and the bad about this movie...
The good: Great special effects. The action sequences were amazing. The city of Chicago was beautiful on screen as Gotham city. Heath Ledger's performance was probably the only memorable performance in the movie. Christian Bale as Batman, did not seem that great in this movie even though I have liked his performances in other movies. Heath Ledger was so psychotic and freaky that it was hard to believe that it was him. So I guess it was a great performance from Heath Ledger for being able to transform himself into such a monster. I am wondering if it is his unexpected death at such a young age that made this movie so big. There are of course talks of him being nominated posthumously for an Oscar this year for this role.
The bad: The plot became very convoluted in the 2nd half of the movie. I thought the movie would never end because it was a 2 and 1/2 hour movie. This movie suffers from too many twists and turns that in the end made the plot rather incoherent. There were just too many far-fetched explanations given in fast dialogues over why someone did something. The movie was also a bit dark and violent. I read that the director was trying to make certain "intellectual" points through this movie. One of the points was whether the presence of Batman really makes the world a better place or does it create more chaos and criminality as a result -- probably a metaphor for America's position in the world. Anyhow, while I can appreciate "intellectual" points in movies, they do need to be backed by a coherent and intelligent plot. Otherwise, I wished that the director would spend more time on making the movie better rather than making the points.
Unless you are a huge Batman series addict or an action movie junkie, I probably would not recommend this movie for you. But I do understand if you do go to see it because you might be curious or want to see for yourself (like I did) what all the hype was about :-)
If you are looking for a good movie that is also based on history, check out Mongol, which is about the early life of Genghis Khan. Unfortunately, this is only the first of a trilogy and so you and I will all have to keep watching.
Friday, August 1, 2008
TGIF - The Weekend is finally here!
First, a disclaimer about my misspellings and missing words. I will probably do this very often in my blogs. It is not easy to capture my overflowing thoughts when I have so many of them...LOL. So please bare with me and feel free to fill in the missing words as you like.
Now, aren't you glad that it is finally Friday today? I don't think I have ever looked forward to a weekend as much as I have with this one. I have so many plans and things to do for this weekend. First of, I am having a fitness assessment tomorrow. This is the first session from the 5 free trainer sessions that I am getting with my new gym membership. Secondly, I would really like to see a movie this weekend -- may be one of the following: Mamma Mia, Brideshead Revisited, and Dark Knight. Thirdly, maybe I can go hiking this Sunday -- haven't done that for 3 weeks now. Then there are the must-do chores: Costco (don't love it...don't want to go...but we are out of paper products! and Target (to return some stuff that didn't work).
This week has probably been longer and harder because I just came back from a vacation in Cabo San Lucas. My Cabo vacation was very nice and relaxing. The water was warm -- just not swimmable but great for strolling. It was all-inclusive resort, which is really bad because it was just too much food everywhere. I was worried that I would put on lots of weight while in Cabo and undermine my South Beach diet efforts (I am on this diet due to my recent high cholesterol problems). The good news is that I did not put on any weight -- probably partly because I didn't drink all of the cocktails and consumed all the tortillas that I could have had. On my Cabo trip, I "attempted" to read and translated Spanish signs and spoke a couple words in Spanish. Unfortunately, most of the time, I got Spanish confused with French (since I had 3 years of this) and so I was probably speaking French to the folks in Cabo. That was great fun for them, I am sure :-)
Speaking of vacation, I am trying to plan my Christmas vacation right now. I would love to go to Sydney Australia because I have never been there and it's on my list of places to visit. However, Sydney is out of the budget this year. I am trying to take advantage of our "free" flight tickets with United frequent flyer program. So most likely, I will end up going to Hawaii, South America, or the Caribbean. Now, South America would be fun for Christmas! I would love to go to Rio Brazil but I will have to see if it's a feasible trip for our budget. So I will need to do some research on Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Peru on frommers.com and check out the lodging prices. If you have a recommendation for any of these South American countries, please share!
Have a great weekend, everyone...especially if you are having fun visiting a new city in Europe!
Now, aren't you glad that it is finally Friday today? I don't think I have ever looked forward to a weekend as much as I have with this one. I have so many plans and things to do for this weekend. First of, I am having a fitness assessment tomorrow. This is the first session from the 5 free trainer sessions that I am getting with my new gym membership. Secondly, I would really like to see a movie this weekend -- may be one of the following: Mamma Mia, Brideshead Revisited, and Dark Knight. Thirdly, maybe I can go hiking this Sunday -- haven't done that for 3 weeks now. Then there are the must-do chores: Costco (don't love it...don't want to go...but we are out of paper products! and Target (to return some stuff that didn't work).
This week has probably been longer and harder because I just came back from a vacation in Cabo San Lucas. My Cabo vacation was very nice and relaxing. The water was warm -- just not swimmable but great for strolling. It was all-inclusive resort, which is really bad because it was just too much food everywhere. I was worried that I would put on lots of weight while in Cabo and undermine my South Beach diet efforts (I am on this diet due to my recent high cholesterol problems). The good news is that I did not put on any weight -- probably partly because I didn't drink all of the cocktails and consumed all the tortillas that I could have had. On my Cabo trip, I "attempted" to read and translated Spanish signs and spoke a couple words in Spanish. Unfortunately, most of the time, I got Spanish confused with French (since I had 3 years of this) and so I was probably speaking French to the folks in Cabo. That was great fun for them, I am sure :-)
Speaking of vacation, I am trying to plan my Christmas vacation right now. I would love to go to Sydney Australia because I have never been there and it's on my list of places to visit. However, Sydney is out of the budget this year. I am trying to take advantage of our "free" flight tickets with United frequent flyer program. So most likely, I will end up going to Hawaii, South America, or the Caribbean. Now, South America would be fun for Christmas! I would love to go to Rio Brazil but I will have to see if it's a feasible trip for our budget. So I will need to do some research on Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Peru on frommers.com and check out the lodging prices. If you have a recommendation for any of these South American countries, please share!
Have a great weekend, everyone...especially if you are having fun visiting a new city in Europe!
My First Blog - Why am I starting a blog?
A friend of mine suggested that I start a blog since I obviously enjoy reading other people's blogs and sharing my ideas.
So to the friend who kept "harassing" me about starting a blog. Ask and you shall receive! Now I expect frequent visits and comments from you!
So what I hope to accomplish with this blog is to share with my friends:
- What's going on with my daily life in the Bay Area
- Interesting current events
- My philosophical thoughts about life -- if you know me, then you should know I have lots of these thoughts to share :-)
- My adventures around the Bay Area and beyond
- Books that I am currently reading
- Movies that I would recommend
- Restaurants I visit and like
Most of all, since I don't get to see most of my friends in person, I hope that this blog will help me to keep in touch with all of them. So if you are reading and keeping up with my blogs, please post a comment or email me to share your thoughts.
A quick hello to my friend who is moving to DC. Good luck with your new endeavors. I know you will love DC.
So to the friend who kept "harassing" me about starting a blog. Ask and you shall receive! Now I expect frequent visits and comments from you!
So what I hope to accomplish with this blog is to share with my friends:
- What's going on with my daily life in the Bay Area
- Interesting current events
- My philosophical thoughts about life -- if you know me, then you should know I have lots of these thoughts to share :-)
- My adventures around the Bay Area and beyond
- Books that I am currently reading
- Movies that I would recommend
- Restaurants I visit and like
Most of all, since I don't get to see most of my friends in person, I hope that this blog will help me to keep in touch with all of them. So if you are reading and keeping up with my blogs, please post a comment or email me to share your thoughts.
A quick hello to my friend who is moving to DC. Good luck with your new endeavors. I know you will love DC.
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