January 29, 2013

Got into work at 8:45, about half an hour than I have been getting in lately.

Work went ok today. I got along with JR, and I worked on graphic design (redesigning a diagram of a network). Eric looked over my shoulder as I worked on one part of the diagram and made his usual embarrassing comment that something I designed looked really weird (not in so many words, but to the same effect). He left early and I felt freeee.

The best part of the day was when I took an hour-long lunchbreak at my desk - inspired by Zen Habits to take some time for myself - and found Scott Dinsmore’s Live Your Legend blog. I read two fantastic articles of advice for life and business from Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. It was like drinking coffee, I was so motivated afterwards. Definitely helped me get out of this slump I’ve been in the past several days (which is probably mostly due to allergies and my period, which unexpectedly started today).

Emilie texted me “chat this week?!?”, but even when I called her at 8:30 that night like I told her I would, she replied, “Ahh ended up going out for a beer !! I’m sorry :/ can I call u after?” It reminded me of how I started asking myself in high school whether I get any benefit from my friendship with her; I still ask myself that today. It also reminded me of Warren Buffett and Scott Dinsmore’s advice to “Fire people who don’t contribute to the dream. Our peer group is our choice. Choose wisely.” I’m really frustrated with Emilie right now. The last time she texted me to chat “sometime this week”, she never ended up calling me, and when I called her, she was in Austin and said she’d call me on the way home, which she never did and apologized for a few days later when she was about to get on the plane for an overseas vacation (and so of course couldn’t call me for its duration). Both of these incidences happened after I had that conversation with her about her not being a good friend.

After reading several of Dinsmore’s blog posts, many of which advocated surrounding yourself with passionate, inspiring people, I asked John, “How do we meet people like us?” I think that’s part of our disdain for Dallas - we just can’t seem to find like-minded people. Granted, we haven’t made a concerted effort, yet. Remsen and Alla have drive, which I love, but it’d be nice to be able to talk about design and psychology with them; they’re quite “conformist.” I want to have conversations with friends where I come away inspired and with new ideas and questions - which is why I texted Jainan to see when he’s free.

I goofed up my score for the Crossfit WOD today; my real score was good, but not awesome like my misinterpreted score was - the one that Tyler made a big deal about in front of the class. Later when I realized my mistake, I was kind of horrified and eventually mustered up the courage to correct it on the blog. I didn’t even get as good a score as Bethany, who Hogan called “a sneaky little ninja” in his blog post. Dammit!

Soaked up more of the Dinsmore blog before bed. Love this guy.

November 23-27: Orange County, California

I can’t even describe how much I love Orange County.  So I’m not going to try.

It’s wonderful to see my grandparents, aunt and uncle, and sister again.  While it’s very nice having an excuse to visit different places to see family, it gets lonely in Texas.

My grandparents live in Huntington Beach (or “Surf City”, as seen on many a Hollister sweatshirt), near Newport Beach and Long Beach and five minutes from the Pacific Coast Highway.  There’s a strip of the Pacific Coast Highway near Corona del Mar that’s my happy place, especially accompanied by some Stan Getz.  It’s beautiful.

My aunt and uncle live in Belgium one part of the year and in Spain the other part of the year.  They brought some Belgian chocolate with them, which isn’t doing much for my figure.

My grandpa got an iPad and a Wii recently.  Here’s him Face-Timing from across the room:

Alexa and I braved Black Friday and only ended up getting things from Target that weren’t even on sale.  Awesome.

Obviously I didn’t do much on this trip besides eat a lot of good Asian food and laze around.

while I’m not traveling, I’m blogging here:

http://labkat.tumblr.com

August 6: Jakarta

As soon as we landed in Jakarta, 32 hours after leaving Dallas, John said, “I already don’t want to leave.”  It was a grueling trek across the Pacific.

Our first week here was mainly spent eating.  Ironically, it is Ramadan.  You could observe a slowness in many workers’ movements.  Apparently car crashes are more common during Ramadan, and I can only imagine the decrease in productivity.  The prayers heard from the temples over loudspeakers throughout the city had a different tone from when I was here last; they sounded eerie, almost scary.

The restaurants and malls here (there are 68 malls and trade centers in Jakarta) are beautifully designed.  I haven’t had a disappointing meal yet in Indonesia, and the service is always wonderful.  I really want to try the street-side foodstalls but have heard horror stories of post-foodstall sickness… :S

We wandered around Jakarta’s Chinatown, which is similar to Chinatowns all over the world - colorful, crowded, smelly.  The traffic throughout Jakarta was as bad as I remembered.  Hundreds and hundreds of motorbikes squeeze past slow-moving cars.  We were armed with books and electronics to keep us from boredom when driving anywhere.

We visited nearby Bogor’s Botanical Garden, where John had a field day (ha ha) with all the different types of plants and flowers.  We had an excellent meal there with fresh fruit juices (real fresh fruit with no sugar added…a thoroughly un-American drink).

John and I got a couples massage at the Shangri-la Hotel next door to my parents’ place at the Shangri-la Residences.  It was so lavish!  Indonesian service really is incredible.  Afterwards we had drinks and read by the pool with Alexa…  As a city of mostly government and business, Jakarta doesn’t offer tourists a whole lot to do, though it is starting to change that.

December 29, 2010-January 9, 2011 | Jakarta, Indonesia

+ On Java Island, one of Indonesia’s 17,500+ islands

+ Capital of the fourth largest country in the world, regarding population

+ Indonesia has over 700 languages

+ Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world

+ Third-world country, though richly endowed with natural resources

+ Second most corrupt country in the world, after Nigeria

+ National motto: Unity in diversity

+ Obama lived in Indonesia for a few years as a child, so the Indonesians especially love him

+ Jakarta traffic is so bad that the government is considering moving the capital of Indonesia to another city, in order to help relieve traffic

It is my first visit to a third-world country, which immediately struck me upon leaving the airport.  Kampungs - villages of houses little better than cardboard boxes - lined the roads.  Throughout the trip, it gradually sunk in that people really live this way, on so little means and day by day.  It’s one thing seeing it on TV or in a magazine, but it’s another to witness it every day while you are living a completely different life from them.

For the next three years, my parents are living in Central Jakarta.  They made the move from Houston because of my dad’s work; they were glad to be rid of my sister and me and to finally venture abroad again.  I’m not complaining, because it gives me a good excuse to travel.  Their way of life here is much different than in Houston.  Security checks - complete with guards, gates, metal detectors and dogs - are commonplace at the entrances of hotels, residences, and large public places because of recent terrorist attacks.  They are living in a 19th floor apartment, which you arrive at by an elevator that opens onto your own private lobby, accessible only by a fingerprint scanner.  Most people in Jakarta have a driver, because the traffic is so awful here.  Jakarta is not a city you can walk in, and it would be suicidal to try.

The sharp contrast between the kampungs and skyscrapers is new to me.  Food stalls and motorcycle taxi stations are beside some of the grandest malls I’ve seen (which is saying a lot, coming from a Dallas girl!).  The city has lots of trees, as well as canals left over from Dutch influence that now serve no purpose.  Muslim calls to prayer can be heard several times a day from a mosque behind my parents’ apartment.  Motorbikes carrying families up to four (or carrying large objects: my mom once saw a man holding a toilet on his bike) weave in and out of traffic that has very few rules or stop signs.

I like Jakarta.  The most striking thing about it is the Indonesian people’s kindness.  You are without fail greeted with a smile.  The smile seems genuine, not just something to do because it’s polite.  I thought the same thing while in Japan - the kindness there was also striking to my American sensibilities.

Another thing that I found particularly interesting was that although Indonesia is a third-world country, and although we were in the city, I saw no beggars.  That’s because the Indonesians try to earn their money, in any way possible, rather than beg for it.  There are people who help you reverse from your parking spot into a busy road; that hop into your car for a short distance and small fee so you can meet the 3-person requirement and take advantage of the HOV lane; that signal and help you over a narrow, hilly road in which you can’t see oncoming traffic… It’s wonderful that they believe in some sort of exchange, instead of expecting you to simply put money in their hand.

I also don’t think I’ve ever eaten so well in my life.  Restaurant after restaurant that my parents took me to were not only good, it was amazing.  And as you know from previous blog posts, I like my food!

December 19-27 | Orange County, California

My parents flew in from Jakarta, my sister flew in from New York City, and I flew in from Dallas to Huntington Beach, California, to spend Christmas with my grandparents. I hadn’t seen my dad since May and my mom since September.

We spent the week eating, shopping, eating, and eating. I managed to throw a few workouts in there, including one spectacular run along Huntington Beach at sunset and a few at Mile Square Park. I didn’t get to try surfing as I had hoped to, because California got about 2/3s of its annual rainfall in two weeks. We did get some sun though, including on Christmas Day, where we had banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) for lunch at Corona del Mar beach.

Visits to my grandparents are the only times when I actually feel Vietnamese.  We eat Vietnamese food every day and watch Vietnamese things (including the Vietnamese version of “Dancing with the Stars” - quite entertaining). I really know very little about the culture – my mom moved from Vietnam to England for university when she was 17 and is white-washed in many ways (similarly, though my dad is English, he now feels more American).

Let me take a moment to tell you how awesome my grandfather is. He is 87-years-old and has more life in him than most people my age. I took it as a huge compliment when my mom said that I am like him, in that I am adventurous and constantly seeking new experiences. Just a tiny list of his many accomplishments:

+ Worked as President of the Court of Appeals in Saigon before appointed as Deputy Minister, then Minister of the Interior.

+ Ambassador of the Republic of South Vietnam in Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, and Italy.

+ Attorney

+ Professor

+ Lecturer on Asian cultures on various California campuses.

+ Has been invited by various Vietnamese communities and associations as keynote speaker on Human Rights in the US, Europe, and Canada.

+ Current Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of the French-English Quarterly Human Rights-Droits de l’Homme in California since 1994.

Aaaand he goes to Gold’s Gym every morning. Quote, “I feel like Tarzan!”

He is still friends with important diplomats and politicians from before and during the war. One stopped by the house one afternoon, and he good-naturedly complained of having to take care of his grandkids’guinea pigs; it was hilarious to hear him, in his Vietnamese-French-English accent, call them “fat and sassy!”

California really does have my heart.  It’s laid-back, it’s flashy, it’s city and nature, it’s diverse, it’s liberal, (yes, it’s bankrupt)… I will live here again one day!

November 27-28 | New York City

Saturday morning Alexa and I did some hot yoga (“turn your left foot towards 8th Avenue…”).  Painful, ugh.  Grabbed some Jamba Juice on the way back, soaked in our own sweat as we braved the blistering cold winds.

After cleaning up we went to the Chelsea and Brooklyn flea markets.  We had some great food, including a new favorite, pupusas.  They’re like soft tacos, except that the meat is inside the tortilla.  So amazing!

Then we did some art gallery hopping, which I liked because it was less committal than visiting a museum.  We saw some less mainstream Andy Warhol stuff, some Roy Lichtenstein stuff, some good stuff, lots of bad stuff.  Fine art is such a funny thing, but there is inevitably someone who likes the stuff you think can’t possibly even be considered art.

These, though, I found sort of interesting:

Kim Dorland

Wangechi Mutu

We saw “Chicago” on Broadway.  It wasn’t my favorite, but it was good.  It felt like every other scene was good, and the ones in between were not so good.  Love “He Had It Comin’” and “Mr. Cellophane.”

Mac, Alexa, and I had a late night dinner at Cafeteria.

Sunday morning Alexa and I wandered Chelsea Market and the meat-packing district.  We had brunch at a quaint cafe, Cafe Cluny.  A little pricey, but great food!  The $7 ham and cheese croissant is amazing.

And now it’s back to good ole Texas.

November 24-26 | New York City

Escaping to Manhattan to spend Thanksgiving break with my sister.  It’s the first Thanksgiving the whole family isn’t together - my parents recently moved to Indonesia - so it’s a bit sad, but at least Alexa and I get to spend it together.

Totally got Kenzie to take me to the airport super early Wednesday morning, supposedly one of the busiest travel days in 60 years - yeah, lies.  Security took five minutes to go through, so I just chilled and read for two hours before my boarding the plane.

Alexa and I had delicious gyro plates for dinner at a Greek place called Uncle Nick’s.  We bought stuff for our Thanksgiving feast tomorrow at Whole Foods, which was positively swarming with last-minute shoppers.

Alexa’s designs for her collection for Fusion, a spring competition between Parson’s New School of Design and the Fashion Institute of Technology.  She was one of fifteen students chosen from F.I.T. to compete.  Her boyfriend Mack won last year.

We went to see HP7, and I came away from it with mixed feelings… I think it was a good interpretation of the book, and it was definitely an entertaining movie.  It seemed like they depended a bit too much on special effects and loud noises though.  Awkward scenes include: Harry and Hermione making out in the nude in Ron’s horcrux nightmare (for an unnecessarily long time/shouldn’t have happened at all?) and the suggestive lesbian/rape scene between Bellatrix and Hermione (anyone, anyone?).

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Thursday morning Alexa and I watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade from four blocks away in the warmth of our hotel.  We could hear the parade from our window, but weren’t willing to deal with crowds and 40 degree weather.  We did run into the parade crowd and performers on the way to breakfast at Brooklyn Bagels.  A man was giving out free elbow bumps instead of free hugs…?  I didn’t hesitate to cordially bump elbows with him.  Also I dropped my camera lens cap later and a person kindly picked it up and handed it back to me.  I’m thankful for nice New Yorkers!  Which - as I said in my last NY blog post from May - is really not uncommon.

Brooklyn Bagels was delicious - I had a whole wheat bagel, half with scallion cream cheese, half with apple cinnamon cream cheese.  Sitting at my table, I saw a lady alone at a booth wiping away tears, and I wanted to go over and hug her and say happy thanksgiving, but I didn’t.  I should have.

Alexa single-handedly made our Thanksgiving meal (my culinary expertise was cast to the wayside), and it was wonderful!  Mack joined us for the feast.

Right now Alexa and I are hanging out in the Ace Hotel’s dark and sophisticated lobby, sipping on coffee.  It’s seriously so dark in here I just see people moving around as shapes… :S

My stomach was finally ready for dessert around 11:30 pm.  We went to Tick Tock Diner for some NY cheesecake yummm.

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After some Black Friday shopping, Alexa and I found a cozy eatery, Le Grainne Cafe.  We got an amazing chicken ratatouille sandwich and a tomato, mozzarella, and proschiutto sandwich on crispy baguettes.  The apple tart with vanilla bean ice cream afterward was delicious too… I realize the majority of this post consists of play-by-plays of everything I put in my mouth - sorry, I <3 food.

We took a nap back at the hotel, only to rest up for more eating.  We met Mack at Boka, a sleek Asian restaurant where we got two huge plates of wings, fries, and a watermelon drink, as seen below:

Afterward we went to the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre for a comedy improv tournament.  There was some good stuff, but a lot of it was surprisingly bad.  I could have been up there for goodness sake.

travel philosophy / life after dreaming

I don’t care if you can spot an American tourist a mile away toting his Rick Steves guidebook - they’re so useful!  Here’s (an abbreviated version of) what he has to say about travel:

Rick Steves’ Travel Philosophy

Travel is freedom… one of the last great sources of legal adventure. Travel is intensified living, with maximum thrills per minute. It’s recess, and we need it. Experiencing the real Europe requires catching it by surprise, going casual… Through the Back Door.

Extroverts have more fun. If your trip is low on magic moments, kick yourself and make things happen. If you don’t enjoy a place, maybe you don’t know enough about it. Seek the truth. Recognize tourist traps. Give a culture the benefit of your open mind. See things as different but not better or worse. Any culture has much to share.

Of course, travel, like the world, is a series of hills and valleys. Be fanatically positive and militantly optimistic. If something’s not to your liking, change your liking. Travel is addicting. It can make you a happier American, as well as a citizen of the world. Our Earth is home to nearly 6 billion equally important people. It’s humbling to travel and find that people don’t envy Americans. Europeans like us, but with all due respect, they wouldn’t trade passports.

Globetrotting destroys ethnocentricity. It helps you understand and appreciate different cultures. Travel changes people. It broadens perspectives and teaches new ways to measure quality of life. Many travelers toss aside their hometown blinders. Their prized souvenirs are the strands of different cultures they decide to knit into their own character. The world is a cultural yarn shop. Back Door Travelers are weaving the ultimate tapestry.

Join in!

–Rick Steves

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I was expecting to be depressed coming back from Florence.  I was expecting the culture shock the American couple told me about.  Surprisingly, driving back from the airport (I missed driving my car more than I missed some people), I felt like I had been in Kingwood all summer.  I’m not depressed.  Rather, after experiencing so many people and places, I’m excited about life and the future, as corny as it sounds.  I do feel like I awoke from a dream, but awoke to a good, but different, reality.

An effect of living overseas I did not expect: appreciating America even more.  The people, though unfashionable, are friendly.  The Houston airport employees were so good-natured.  I went on a long run yesterday morning and was delighted with how everyone says hello to each other on the greenbelt trails.  I also saw Kingwood through an outsider’s eyes, and found the greenbelts and lakes beautiful.  The houses in the States are so big and have their nice little gardens, and the neighborhoods are so quiet and peaceful.

It’s good to be home, and I’m looking forward to return to Dallas to see my friends.  Florence… I’ll be back.

Arrivederci Firenze…!

By the way, no one says arrivederci in Italy.

On my last night in Florence, Jess and I got some pasta to go and some gelato and watched the sun set over the city from Piazzale Michelangelo.  The view still amazes me, even more so that night than any other.  As Jess pointed out, Florence is unique in that when you have a view of the city, you also have a view of all the surrounding countryside of beautiful Tuscany.

Florence is also unique in that it is small.  I’ll run into the same people over and over.  We’ll know which street artists frequent which piazzas and when… A local said that it’s nice that it’s small, but then of course everyone talks about each other.  It has a small town feel, as well as a big city feel.

And of course, Florence is unique in its history.  It is the birthplace of the Renaissance, and that is still apparent today.   Replicas of sculptural masterpieces decorate every piazza, street names boast the surnames of creative geniuses, and the number of museums and churches goes on and on.  In the center, all the buildings are beautiful and hundreds of years old.  Not a skyscraper or modern building in sight.

Over an amazing dinner on my second to last night in Florence at Trattoria Icce C’e C’e, Jess and I spoke to an older American couple vacationing in Europe.  They asked if it was our first time in Italy (yes) and warned us that the culture shock comes when you go back to the States…

After dinner Jess and I walked around the city, and then I had a great night dancing one last time with my Italian fling and his friends.

On their last night, Alex and Han, along with a couple girls from our school, got invited to an architect’s villa and got drunk with several 40-50 year olds.  Oh, the connections you make in Italy…