I'm back!

Wow, the last post here was September 16? Huh! I can't remember why I wasn't posting here before my vacation, but now that I'm back from that freaking awesome vacay, I'm here to blab about it.

On October 15, we left for Venice. We had a very short layover in Toronto Airport. What little I saw of the airport, I really liked. Very clean and shiny. Then there's the modern panini bar. Naturally we had to get us some sample. Thankfully the eatery was next to the gate, otherwise we'd missed our flight. We were busy eating and did not hear the boarding announcements.

We stayed in Venice until the 18th. The hotel we stayed in was outside of Venice, in Mestre. The bus to Venice stops a few feet from the hotel which was really convenient. The hotel was nice too, considering it was the cheapest we could find that wasn't a hostel with shared bathroom.

Venice is beautiful; there's nothing like it. We bought a Venezia Unica - a card that entitles you to ride the vaporetto or water taxi and the bus unlimited for 48 hours. They also have it in different increments like 24 hours. Oh boy we used up that card. We took the water taxi for our DIY tour. We walked the narrow alleys, surprised each time we came upon another church, or another charming bridge that begs to be photographed. The nearby islands of Murano, Burano and Lido (where we stayed after the cruise) are equally beautiful. Venice is the main attraction, but these other islands are worth visiting. Murano is famous for their blown glass creations, Burano for their lace and Lido for their beach. Although the beach cannot hold a candle to other beaches I've been and seen. But these other islands have their own charm. The shopping in both Murano and Burano is fantastic. Burano's beauty just blew us away.

Food in Venice was a bit of let down. Although we had tried a lot of good eats, but not one dish or panini stood out. The much ballyhooed spritz also didn't impress me.

On the 18th our friends who were touring the rest of Italy came to Venice to join us for the cruise. The cruise left on the 18th and lasted 7 days visiting 4 different Greek islands. What an enjoyable and exhausting cruise.

Corfu was our first port of call. The lush greenery of the island reminded me more of a tropical country (similar feel to Costa Rica) as we drove around the small island. We rented a car and we drove around. We first followed the tour buses and went where they went; afterwards we explored the small island (20 mi x 40 mi) stopping at different spots (including two different beaches) to photograph the sights. The people are incredibly friendly and very hospitable.

In Mykonos (second port of call) we rented ATVs and did our tour of the island that way. But seriously nobody told us that Mykonos is one windy island. One local told us later that even in the ancient times (during the times of the Greek gods and goddesses) it has been established that Mykonos is one windy island. The beach had huge waves and rough waters. But guess what, there were a lot of cats in Mykonos. They were everyhere. I was in cat heaven. The main town is full of shops and restaurants and charming houses with narrow alleys. After shopping and browsing, we stopped at a local joint where we had stuffed pepper and stuffed tomato with fried smelt. The food was very good. The island was dry, not much vegetation and like Santorini the houses are whitewashed with windows with blue (sometimes) green trim.

Santorini is as advertised. It does not disappoint. Like Venice there is nothing like Santorini. The white houses perched on the cliff in Oia are as beautiful as the photoshopped images on the internet with the Santorini blue of the sky as backdrop. Best explored on foot, Oia's main thoroughfare is lined with restaurants and souvenir shops. It's tough to take one's eye off the view to shop, though. We took the ferry to Oia then a bus to Fira. Besides more shopping and sunset watching, we ate in Fira. Arguably the best meal (stuffed squid) I've had in this trip was from this busy touristy spot where the donkeys passed while we ate and whose owner was a very very kind man.

In Katakolon, we again rented a car to get to Olympia (the birthplace of the Olympic games). The four of us explored the ruins of Olympia by ourselves and I wished we had a guide to tell us about what we were looking at and their significance. We went out to eat here but nothing to brag about. We had a tuna wrap and since this is Greece and restaurants seem to have a resident cat(s) and dog(s), the cat got most of the tuna. I made sure I picked out the tuna to feed the cute kitty. My companions were feeding the dog. We did our shopping at Katakolon because we felt like the shopping there was better since they were in one spot only. Also, the people here are unbelievably kind, honest and hospitable.

When the cruise docked back in Venice we spent the half day (our last) in Venice with our friends seeing the sights. Then we all took the vaporetto to Lido where our hotel was located. We had dinner in a local restaurant and had a lot of fun afterwards. The breakfast was incredible - champagne, cold cuts, bacon, eggs, many varieties of bread and even more varieties of pastries and cakes. Wow, the hotel room was very nice as well.

The following day we flew to Barcelona via Zurich. Our hotel in Barcelona is located near the Ramblas, the famous pedestrian thoroughfare full of shopping and dining and including the very famous La Boqueria market. Our hotel was about a block and 1/2 away from Ramblas. How convenient. As usual we had good eating here. Also went to see Montserrat, the one we missed when we came here first in 2009.

The next cruise left Barcelona and visited the following cities/ports: Marseilles (France), Genoa (Italy), Malaga (Spain), Casablanca (Morocco) and Lisbon (Portugal). The port cities are very appealing to us that's why we went on this cruise. The first time we have been on MSC. While the cruise is not bad, we found out it's just not for us. We were bored to tears; literally bored. I even checked out a book from the library and finished it :)

The highlight of the cruise (not the ports, that's another story and not a disappointment) is when a group of Chinese actors came on board to shoot a reality show called Traveling with Parents. Chinese actors/singers (some couples) and their offsprings which I understand are also dabbling in showbiz were shooting a reality show about spending time with parents and find time to travel with them despite all of their busy schedules. So much fun to see these "famous" actors/actresses being followed by camera. If you have access to this I'm sure I'm in one or two shots, not intentionally, but I just come across them. On one shot I was one of the audience watching their "concert" and I was all smiles listening to the music that I don't understand, but the music was very catchy so I was enjoying myself and before I know it, there's a camera right in my face, catching my reaction.

The ports on this cruise are wonderful. We took the Hop On Hop Off bus tours in Marseilles and Genoa. We did a DIY in Malaga and had ample time to pound the pavement and sample the seafood and the wine. The shopping is excellent too. In Casablanca we got lucky to have a very friendly taxi driver for our DIY tour. We also had a tagine lunch and saw the sights.

Lisbon was our last port of call. On Lisbon day, we learned that there was a conflict between the arrival of the boat in Barcelona and our departure flight from Barcelona. Our flight out of Barcelona is 11:45 am and the boat was scheduled to arrive by 12 noon at the earliest. So we were rushed, stressed and conflicted. We knew we had to find our own way to Barcelona because we definitely could not miss our flight home.

I suggested to go to the airport and speak to Lufthansa people and see what our options are. Turned out we had only one option and that is to find our own way to Barcelona. We had to get off the boat and stay in Lisbon, which I was happy to do. Lisbon is too pretty and I was eager to explore it.

So we bought an extra plane ticket to Barcelona from Lisbon, which was not really bad, about E130/pp. While the husband was getting this done, I was sitting in the airport using free wifi to search for hotels. I had circled three. We got back to the boat with plenty of time before sailing time. I told the hubby to go to the boat's cyber cafe so he can book the hotel while I ran up to the cabin to pack. Holy moly! I packed 3 suitcases like the Tasmanian devil.

However, the good Lord was very kind to us. The hotel he picked (not any of the ones I chose) was perfect. It's a budget hotel in a pedestrian zone next to a plaza (square) and the street is lined with restaurants and hotels and souvenir shops. We had the room by the street and our small balcony was perfect for people watching.

So we ended up staying in Lisbon for two days, took the Hop On Hop Off bus tour, ate our way around the neighborhood, had some ginja, walked until my feet were going to fall off. The first day was raining, we were walking the streets and were getting wet, but didn't mind it. The second day it was all blue blue sky, but the breeze was cool.

Lisbon is so beautiful, the tiles are spectacular, the architecture impressive, the food could rival Barcelona. The people are super friendly. We had a great time here. We would go back and stay longer so we could visit outlying areas like Sintra.

On our last day, we had a long long day. Our flight from Lisbon left at 7 am Lisbon time, arrived in Barcelona at 10:00 am. At 11:45, the flight to Munich left. The SFO bound plane left Munich at 4:45 pm. We arrived in SFO at 7:00 pm. There were many time changes I could not completely tally the number of hours we flew or waited in the airport. Munich airport however is a nice one, there are free coffee (different varieties including the mochachinos) and hot tea and hot chocolate. Also there is a brewery inside which serves many varieties of beer. We naturally had beer here too.

So all in all it was a wonderfully tiring vacation. Owing to the fact that this is Europe, walking is pretty much expected. Except that we walked and walked and walked and walked. Never ending walking, I tell you.

Now this is one long post. I should have warned you beforehand.

What's in the water?

A few months ago, it was pregnancy. We have 5 people pregnant. Today there's like 5 people including me who have crazy bad headache.

No reason for this post, thought I'd write it down.

Postcards anyone?

We are expecting a house guest in a few days. She will be staying for a week so we are busy cleaning the house. We even installed a curtain rod in the guest room that becomes Emma's room the rest of the time. As part of cleaning, I have to just tidy up stuff and in the process of tidying up, I stumbled upon postcards that I collected on our travels. Oh my goodness I didn't realize I was such a maniac before when it comes to postcards. I don't buy anymore, when I do I usually limit it to 3 or 4 or a $1.00 worth. I also recognize that some of the postcards are not great quality that my photos are even better sometimes.

So anyone wants a postcard? I am happy to send you one.

Can I show you some pictures?

Really, may I? I have been lost for words lately and no inspiration pops in my brain lately. It must have been due to all the headaches I've been having lately, may be I'm developing migraine. I don't want to talk about headaches here now.

These pictures however relieves stress, cures headaches, and inspires me to look forward to some travel.

August 24

Let me tell you about my day:

About 2:00 am - finally got to sleep, been having stomach problems. There's stomach virus going around.

About 3:20 am - the whole house shook, quite long. shaken enough to open eye and hold husbands hands wherein we both declared rather loudly in a darkened and quiet room, EARTHQUAKE!!!! I was more asleep than awake so the length of the shaking and the strength didn't bother me. Thankful it happened that way because with a bad stomach I don't think I could handle lack of sleep.

About 8:00 am - went downstairs to check on the house. Nothing fell on the floor, the paintings and photos are still on the wall, the house looked intact. Outside is a different story. Driveway has three new cracks in the cement and backyard has a crack. Thankful for the very minor damage.

About 9:30 am - church.

About 12:00 nn - joined family at the park. Nephew's partner planned to propose to him via a mob flash. Their friends and colleagues organized the bbq, the dance, the proposal. I was happy to be there.

About 2:00 pm - trying out shoes at a shoe store in Berkeley and getting a bad customer service by a Filipino employee. If I was to shell out $200 for a pair, I'd like a little smile with my service and to be treated well.

About 3:00 pm - enjoying Ikea shopping. Went to get a side table for guest bedroom, went home with a lot of stuff and no side table. It's always like that isn't it?

About 5:30 pm - Macy's shoe shopping and clothes shopping. Nothing I liked in the shoe department and decided to leave the clothes I pick on the rack and went home.

I am thankful for this day.

Well....

Obviously nothing comes to mind lately if we're basing on the frequency of post here is concerned. I know it's been 2 weeks since the last entry and somehow days just went by and the appeal to put into paper thoughts have decreased tremendously this year. I checked earlier today and I was shocked. This year 2014 it's already mid August and the number of posts of I have is........23!!!!!

Two-wen-tee three!!!!!

That's right! A measly 23 posts. Around 3 posts a month!

I could not believe that. I'm quite surprised at my paltry output here. Was I too busy, too uninspired? Whatever it is, it's no use looking back. Best look forward to racking up posts in the coming days.

While I was on silent m ode, I celebrated my birthday. Birthdays are a blessing, but some more than other bring great joy to the celebrant. This isn't the case with me this year. Oh no, don't get me wrong. I am not feeling depressed, sad, or lonely. As a matter of fact, I feel extremely blessed.

Still this year I was not feeling the birthday vibe. Case in point, I went to work on my birthday. Surprised the hubby and co-workers who worked with me for a long time and know and expect not to see me around my birthday, but there I was at work. And it's not as bad as I feared it to be, especially this being the first time in so long I can't even remember the last time I was at work on my birthday.

I thanked God for another birthday and the shower of blessings I received throughout the year. Yet I was in no mood to whip it up. Maybe next year.

I got sushi for dinner on my birthday. We cannot let a birthday pass by without cake and dinner. Tried the new (to us but I believe it's relatively new) sushi place along San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito. Small place, intimate setting. My birthday fell on a Wednesday so I was pleased to see that people were eating out on weekdays too. Good for business. This is what we had: two special sushi rolls, grilled squid, takoyaki (sp) or squid balls and grilled bacon-wrapped okra. Looking at the items we ordered, I didn't think it would fill us up but it did. I was full to the gills when I walked out of the restaurant. I would go back there someday.

Also, I am so busy right now prepping for the big vacation that's only 2 months away. How could that be so close? We booked this about a year and a half ago and here it is finally nearing. To say that I'm excited is an understatement. In addition, I look forward to separately meeting up with a blogger pal in Barcelona and a high school classmate also in Barcelona. My excitement is high up there I am so close to losing sleep over it.

Before I close let me say how much I enjoy getting snail mail from a blogger pal. It brings back a lot of memories of days gone by when waiting for mail occupied my days. I just received another snail mail today from her. So much fun I tell you.

Talk you all later.

I was thinking about curve balls and other things......

Well on Friday I was so keen on blogging here that I started to write the post in my head. It was about life throwing me another curve ball. But as usual before I can even put thoughts in paper or in this case in my draft folder, life righted itself and curve ball wasn't thrown at all. Again, it's just me reacting first before thinking. Heavens! When will I learn to read everything first before reacting violently and panicking for no reason.

If you want to know this is what happened. We are on the process of planning for our trip in the fall. We are actually doing 2 cruises, yes I know too much noh? The thing is though when you go to Europe it seems a waste to just stay there for a week, after all you paid that much for the plane fare and traveled all that way just to stay for a week? Or in this case cruise for a week?

The planning for a cruise involves mostly excursions or day trips during port days. This was what I was planning on doing, getting really serious about research and all. And THEN all of a sudden I looked up the dates of our second cruise and voila, I couldn't find the cruise anymore? Instead there is one for the cruise ship but with a different cruise date. Major panic button pressed and bells started to ring in my head.

By the time I had the hubby know of my concern, he said I must be mistaken because well, I'm always mistaken. I don't read everything well, I always skip paragraphs when I read, etc etc.

Turned out the husband was right, as usual I was wrong. Well, I was so relieved to find that I was wrong. Now back to normal programming of research and such.

Also this summer we have finally gotten the time and courage to enroll in swimming lesson at the local swim center. Aside from the husband there are two friends of ours who joined us to learn swimming. There were more people interested in getting lessons when we were talking about it, but in the end there are just the four of us. It comes as no surprise that of the four I am the one that is lagging in progress. I still have to master my courage and curb my fear. I'll get there. I told the college-aged instructor that my goal is to learn how to float and to kick. Simple right? Then my husband told him that it would be the instructor's major achievement if he can teach me how to swim. Yes, I admit I find it really really tough. One more week of lessons to go.

In addition to all these things, last weekend we had our church camping at Samuel P. Taylor State Park at the Madrone Group Campsite. Despite my apprehension of not enjoying it, I did. After all I like everyone who came to camp with us; they're my church family. Someone from church loaned us her bigger tent so there was plenty of room for the two of us, except that we were sleeping the wrong direction and I was rolling off to my side. Also by the second night the air mattress was losing air :)

Summer is nearly at its end but the weather around here is starting to get hot. OMG hot! I cannot stand heat. And by the way we had humidity here, not too much now, but last week I believe it was. Another thing I cannot stand.

Since I'm writing, yesterday to beat the heat we decided to watch a movie when it was the hottest time. We went to see Mark Wahlberg (love him)in the new Transformers movie. How can he be playing a dad to a 17-year-old hottie, he's far too young. Plus, how come he has no love interest in this movie?

Oh I spent today (Sunday) bingeing on tv via ON DEMAND. I've seen the first 3 episodes of the Halle Berry starrer EXTANT, really interesting and good casting. Also in my menu for today was THE STRAIN, watched 2 episodes. I was very interested in both shows which only mean that I am a big sci-fi nerdie now :)

Okay I think this is all for now. This blog is like an old friend that I wanted to share things/activities with.