Beautiful Vancouver!

View from our Hotel in Vancouver

Float Plane to Victoria

Butchart Gardens in Victoria

The Twelve Days of Christmas... Here are "Five Golden Rings" and "Eight Maids A Milking"

Totem Poles at Butchart Gardens

Kissing my frog prince, or just drinking from his fountain?

Dorky pictures of my sister and I on some Brass Donkeys and my mom in front of a Poinsettia Display

"Art Shots"

A Very Vancouver Thanksgiving

Thursday:
I woke up at 3:30am to catch my 6am flight. That's what happens when you let your mom book your plane reservations. Good thing I was beating the holiday rush! I was even there before Starbucks opened, though it still had a line waiting for their necessary morning coffee.
I arrived in Seattle and met my parents and sister, who flew in from Oakland. We drove in a rental car to our Thanksgiving lunch at the Barking Frog restaurant. It was at a nice hotel, and the food was OK. My mom left feeling very unsatisfied because her turkey dinner lacked the canned cranberry sauce. I drove the car from the restaurant to Vancouver. We hit rush hour for working Canadians, so what should have been 30 min from the border, took an extra 2 hours.
Finally at our hotel, we sat down to a 2nd dinner, and my mom and sister were pleased to see that they were offering a more traditional American dinner, cranberry sauce and all. We finished off the night with a movie, The Devil Wears Prada.

Friday:
We scheduled massages for our first morning in the hotel. A relaxing way to start the vacation. Our hotel was in downtown Vancouver, so we were able to walk everywhere in less than 10 blocks. We walked to an art museum, then while my sister got a haircut, my parents and I went down to Canada Place, which is really just a posh hotel on the water with big sail-like architecture (think: Denver Airport). We headed up to a tower where we could see the whole city, then back to our hotel for cocktails. We decided to eat Chinese for dinner, and I tried Abalone for the first time. It was very rubbery and didn't taste like anything.

Saturday:
We decided that the weather was good enough to head to Victoria, but we didn't want to spend the whole day traveling there by ferry, so we took a float plane (those planes that land on the water). It was really fun to fly over Vancouver and the landing was surprisingly smooth. We went to Butchart Gardens, which we loved. They were decorating for Christmas, so they had set up the 12 days of Christmas (a partridge in a pear tree, seven swans a swimming, etc), so it was fun to seek out each one. We headed back to Victoria to have high tea at the Empress Hotel, but didn't have enough time before our plane was scheduled to take us back to Vancouver. So, we had tea in Vancouver instead. Then we went shopping for the rest of the afternoon. We went to dinner at a nice restaurant near our hotel. It had started to snow, which made my mom pleased (she loves a white Christmas), but all of the locals told us that it doesn't usually snow much, nor would it stick to the ground...

Sunday:
We woke up to snow on the ground, and white, lacy trees. Beautiful. We decided to head back to Seattle, so my sister could see a friend and possibly sightsee or shop. When we got to the highway, it was snowing pretty hard, and there were vehicles strewn all over the road, from spinning off into piles of snow. The traffic slowed as the roads got icier and whiter. Trying to keep things light, I reminisced about a fallen tree, and just then, ahead of us, a couple of trees fell under the weight of the snow, into the road, blocking one of the two lanes. I'm sure it caused quite a backup later. At 4pm, we reached the Canadian border. When we crossed a couple days earlier, there was a beautiful green park next to the ocean.. This time, the only thing we could see was white, blizzard, tons of snow, as if that's the way it had always been.
Across the border, the roads got worse, we stopped being able to see the tracks from the cars in front of us, only white, packed snow, not quite the type of terrain for our meek Hyundai. It was starting to get dark, as we kept our eyes glued to the small piece of windshield that was not iced over. It was then that I realized we would go off the road; it was just a matter of time. My sister began to complain loudly about her tiny bladder, which had already waited 4 hours. So as it got dark, and the snow seemed to be worse than we'd ever imagined, we tried to exit the freeway. I suggested we find a place to spend the night, but instead we took a quick bathroom break at a grocery store, and bought lunchables for the unknown length of time left to go. Halfway to Seattle, we realized I would not make my 7:40 flight, so we canceled it, with no end to the snow in sight. All traffic reports told people to stay off the roads, especially I-5 (the road we were on). Closer to Seattle, the roads got a little better, but traffic was still slow, so the rest of my family changed their flights to 9:55pm (the last flight to Oakland). Snow turned to rain, and the snow melted from our car as we passed Seattle. We got to the airport just in time for our flight, and arrived in Oakland after midnight. Now, mapquest, says that it only takes a little over 2 hours to get from Vancouver to Seattle. We made it in a grueling 9 hours.

Favorite Quotes of the Weekend:
Ginny (my sister), in a particularly sappy moment at our first Thanksgiving dinner: "God, I'm glad I was too hung-over to put on mascara this morning." Classic Ginny.
Mom, reminiscing fondly: "You guys don't remember when I used to treat you like the dog, do you?!" Thanks, mom.

Preview for an upcoming entry: For the 3rd year in a row, my mom did not consult me on the Christmas tree. Unfortunately, this one lasts.

I recently placed pins in a world map to display all the places I've been. I thought that as a person who has been to more places than the average person, I was a traveler who'd seen most of the world. A cosmopolitan in the truest definition. I've seen Stonehenge, Yosemite, Buddhist Temples, the Berlin Wall (or where it used to be), Aztec pyramids, etc, etc.

But when I stood back from my map, I realized with a few pins in the back countries of Europe, and a couple pins in Hong Kong and Japan, I haven't really been anywhere! In actuality, I have only been to half of the traversable continents. And I haven't even been south of the equator for goodness sake!!

It is humbling to say the least. But also inspiring, as my life goals still stand: To travel to all continents (excluding Antarctica), to see the Seven Wonders of the Ancient/Modern/Medieval/Natural World, to travel into Space.... What can I say? I'm a Sagittarius, a traveler at heart, always looking for the next big adventure.

So, my map continues to sit in my room, challenging me to place more pins!

Poker Game of Life

I have just realized that business is a lot like poker.
Due to recent laws, I feel I must add this disclaimer: I do not mean to justify the legality or morality of gambling through this statement. I'm using it purely as a metaphor.

Both are about strategy. Luck helps or hurts occasionally, but generally a smart businessman can play anything.
In poker, as with the business world, you must know exactly what offer you can make that others will accept (or fall for), and you must be able to sell this offer, make it believable.
The major similarity comes in the number one rule: Know the opportune time to get out!

I have recently gotten accidentally put into a position of great decision and power, with the ability to make demands. If I had done this purposefully, I would be a great businesswoman. I already know I'm a good poker player (with almost any game except Texas Hold 'Em, which I cannot stand. And I know better than to try my luck in Vegas), but I have much to learn in both sides of the metaphor.
There is one caveat, however, and it is: In the business world, you can't burn bridges, but somehow people will keep coming back to lose everything in gambling. I guess gamblers are forgiving people.
As with all of my poker games, I will quit while I'm ahead...

SF Opera

I went to opening night at the San Francisco Opera the other week. It was one thing I always wanted to do, so now I can check it off that list of Life's Goals. I went with my dad. It was A Masked Ball, which was only OK, but I went for the party anyway! I wore a black velvet dress with ivory satin that drapes in a scoop neck and a low back. It was beautiful (Thank you Ginny for letting me borrow Rachel's dress). My dad wore a tux of course. My hair took forever, but we finally got it right (twisted low in the back with orchids). That made us late to the cocktail party, so my mom snapped a few pictures and then we dashed off.

We arrived at the Valet, in front of the red carpet. Out of the car in front of us came this fragile woman in her 50's in this brick red dress with tufts of feathers coming out everywhere! Even her shoes had a tufts of feathers on top! It was rather rediculous! The papparazzi of course wanted to shoot her picture and completely ignored me, which was fine, I walked right past anyway. As soon as you got behind a hedge of bushes, there were tables to check in, but all they asked was our table number. I said 3, and they let me right through! Amazing. Then, just past the tables were waiters with trays of wine and Cosmopolitans! I took a Cosmo and we continued up the carpet. There were more paparrazzi which bumped me out of the way and spilled my drink in order to eagerly shoot another woman in front of me! =( Ugh. Inside the tent was a TON of people. My dad said that it looked like a sea of penguins with flowers in between... So, we ate (my dad some caviar, and I some delicious pork appetizers). We didn't know anyone, so we just sat and watched the dresses walk by. Some were nice, most were over-the-top or ugly, or looked like they paid too much for something very so-so... ALL of them looked very expensive! But, I think mine was one of the best - classic and looked great on! I got lots of compliments, and gave out just as many. Then it was time for the opera to start, so we hiked up a gazillion stairs to the top balcony. I can gaurantee no one else from the party was up there (they were all in the bottom seats), but that doesn't matter because no one knows where one sits. And we got to sit in the middle, right in the first row, which means I could lean over the railing!

After the opera, we all shuffled back to the tent where the cocktail party was, which was now transformed into dinner tables and a dancefloor. Again, the only thing they asked was our table number, 3. Then, when looking for our names at table 3, we discovered we were table 5!!! So, basically anyone could go into the party by just saying some bogus table number!! Weird. We thought table 5 meant a good table, front and center, but really it was 5 of like 70 tables, so we were at one end of the whole thing, shoved in a corner! Oh well, it was still fun! They gave us champagne at the door and on each seat there was a gift bag with a Burberry scarf in it! For every person attending! Jeez. I got a red tartan and my dad a black one, which we promptly traded.

We sat next to a couple who was on a blind date. Who takes a blind date to the opera?! And she talked through most of dinner about her ex husband, which is a big no-no.. Oh well. Dinner was a series of small courses. Here is the complete menu:

Duo of Carrot essence - Carrot and Cream soup, and carrot and ginger soup

Smoked Trout Nicoise Salad, Spiced Poached Apple with Prociutto, Baby Beet and Micro-green Salad with Humbolt Fog - When they say micro, they MEAN micro. I gave the piece of trout to my dad. We couldn't figure out what the poached apple was. Someone said potato, someone said mango... It was good, though

Poached Maine Lobster on roasted Butternut Squash with fresh corn polenta Cardinale Sauce - I don't care for lobster. I like crab, but NO other seafood AT ALL. So, I choked this down.

Dessert was Marquise au Chocolat with Porfiteroles and Autumn Berries - VERY rich and excellent presentation on ALL dishes

Then there was dancing, but by the time we finished dinner it was midnight, so I was tired and we just went home... That was my night at the opera!

No pictures because my mom said they all came out black! I don't understand how this happens with a digital camera. The whole point of a digital camera is that you can check to make sure you are getting good photographs!!! Oh well. Good thing I have an excellent memory...

Point Vicente Lighthouse

After a dreadful, busy week of work, Chris took me to the PointVicente Lighthouse.
Here are pictures of beautiful Palos Verdes and the Point Vicente Lighthouse:

Petersen Automotive Museum

After a week in Berkeley, I drove to LA and have been here for a few weeks now. My first task was finding a job. I had to do a report on the Petersen Auto Museum as a 2nd interview with one company. Luckily, I got the job... Here are some pictures of the gorgeous cars there. They also had an exhibit on Chip Foose (from TLC's Overhaulin') who designs BEAUTIFUL cars with great details.

Chapel of the Chimes Summer Solstice Concert

I spent the last week of June in Berkeley and went to a Summer Solstice concert (June 22) at the Chapel of the Chimes in Piedmont.
Chapel of the Chimes is a mausoleum (dead people) and the concert was abstract, avant garde music (like people making sounds by pouring water on something. Each room had a different sound that echoed eerily throughout the maze of a palace. Here are pictures I took of the Mausoleum:

Graduation (aka Why My Parents are No Longer Allowed to Take Pictures)

This is as good as it gets, folks:

Here is the crowd. Good Job. Athena's mom is in pink. I think if you look up by the buildings, you can start to see the graduates procession coming down the hill...


Here's me (pink/purple lei) trying to get the short girl to move, so that my boyfriend could sit next to me. I requested those seats the day before and everything worked out, but the morning of graduation the woman in the yellow (who is too old to be a college student) wanted a seat, and her friend joined with her, which bumped Chris onto the next row! =( I was pissed and tried to get her to change seats during most of this standing part. She refused. (If you click on the picture, you can see me pointing at her)


Here's me, pissed that I didn't get my way. Athena's going to hate me for this picture (She's standing next to me).


Here's Chris (Purple lei and tie):


After long, boring speeches, I finally got to walk across the stage:


....And so did Chris:


Shots like this make me wonder if my dad knows how to delete pictures on his very expensive digital camera:


After the ceremony, we took a little too many pictures, most came out pretty awful and here are the lessons we've learned:

Having the subjects in the sun, doesn't matter if YOU'RE in the shade! I thought this was digital? Why did someone take FIVE more like this if they weren't going to turn out?


Lesson 2: Let me know when you're going to take the picture... Counting to 3 isn't that hard.


Thank Goodness Chris took over the camera for the photos of my family


I think this is my favorite picture of the bunch because it shows people's personalities so well... My dad fixing a camera in the foreground, my grandpa in the back leaning on a piller, my grandma smiling sweetly in the middle, and my mom looking pissed, arms crossed on the right. (Thanks, G)


Terry took a couple nice pictures of Chris and I before the ceremony, before we were sunburnt, sweaty, and tired:



Here's a blurry one from the waiter when we got to the restaurant for dinner... If you split the table in half at the top between Chris and me, then outwards from us, it goes: Our parents, our sister, our grandparents... Or, from the left, clockwise around the table: Barbara, Bob, Ginny, Peter, Teresa, Kate, Chris, Jim, Terry, Sharyl, Sandy, Barney: