Travel

Travel

Miami

So I went to Miami for a couple of days… I think the pictures don’t need much explanation.

Lincoln Mall Road, the main South Beach shopping drag

For some reason, this cracked me up. Very Miami.

The ceiling of the Miami Post Office

Hanging out at the beach

I almost forgot to take a picture of myself.

I wish I could have stayed here.

Walking around South Beach

Cuban coffee

Sandwiches from the Sandwicherie

Okay this looks familiar….

The famous, the very necessary, the Deuce. This dive bar was amazing. All I remember was talking about The Secret and some guy coming in and trying to sell a case of bananas and strawberries.

Morning in South Beach

Cafe con leche

and an egg sandwich on Cuban bread

Off to Little Havana

To look at studio space? Er…

Then chilling at the pool

And leisurely walks past cat naps

To hot dogs

Miami was my very much delayed third annual solo trip, and I think it worked out really well. Don’t ask me why Miami, I don’t know why. I could say the food, the architecture and the beach, but really “just because”.

This rarely happens to me, but once I got to Miami I felt an instant connection with my super friendly Airbnb hosts. As a result I had someone to show me around for a day or two. It was kind of like living someone else’s life for a few days, if that makes sense. It was eye opening and so much fun. I am incredibly grateful for the experience, especially because it got me out of myself, my thoughts, my routines and my ideas about how to go about life. It sounds heavy, but surely you’ve felt this before when you’ve traveled?

A few things I liked about Miami:

-Heat. I liked being able to wear shorts all day.

-The Art Deco everywhere.

-Beaches, pools, parks…

-The art scene is actually very lively, and there seemed to be festivals all the time. Turns out that I missed the Food Network fest by a week :/

-Diversity

-Food was pretty tasty

-The beautiful parts of town are quite beautiful

Things that were questionable:

-Sexual harassment. Holy shit. People driving across the street would slow their cars down to talk to me! Everybody had to say hello, let me know how gorgeous I am, blah blah blah.  I’m “America’s Next Top Model” – whatever. Also, I had two stupid 20 something stalker guys who approached me while I was on the beach in my bikini. One called me Chino, then asked me why I was ignoring him,  and didn’t I like Latino guys? Thankfully, my rage took over and I verbally blasted the hell out of him, all without putting my novel away. I was a little scared afterwards about running into them again, but it worked out ok.

-Racial insensitivity. I got the slanty eyes gesture here from my Starbucks barista. That’s all I’m gonna say.

-Driving sucked. Taking the bus sucked. I don’t think I could live here.

-Club culture

-Miami restaurant service is slow and they autocharge you a tip, which you can then add an additional tip to.

-The fashion scene here kind of looks like Forever 21 and Prada threw up all over the city

 

Anyways, all in all a good trip. I don’t have anything else planned on the horizon, but I won’t let so much time pass before my next solo trip.

 

Life, Travel

Los Angeles Food Porn Post

I went to Los Angeles to see my folks a few weeks ago, and all in all it was a pretty good trip. Normally trips to LA overwhelm and depress me (being surrounded by 5-20+ kids at all times will do that), but this time I stuck to the essentials- good food and honest conversation with my family. I managed to have a good time in spite of myself.

First up, pork and pumpkin dumplings and the mysterious sounding “BEEF ROLL”. 

My uncle said that beef roll was kind of like a Chinese burrito, which is why I wanted to try it. As you can see, it’s not quite true. I mean where’s the aluminum foil? It was still incredibly good, however. I am interested in trying SF variations if I can find them.

The beef roll was followed up by a stop at Half and Half for some pudding boba. 

The portions are approximately the size of my cousin’s head.

Later that night my mother and I went to President Thai. She’d read about it in the paper. I was impressed that she’s keeping up with the (non pho-related) food scene. She is so restaurant obsessed.

Tom yum, of course.

Oops.. it’s a papaya salad, except DEEP FRIED.Not what I was expecting when I ordered this.

These are some really great chili paste clams.

The next morning my grandmother made banh xeo, like she normally does on “special” occasions. I saw her make the batter, and she used Heineken??? Odd, no? I’m definitely going to ask for the recipe.

My aunt wanted to take me to Huntington Library, followed by a swim at CalTech (er… I don’t have any pictures of that).

Don’t I look just like a bonsai?

Then I had my mom’s pho for lunch…

And a Brazilian guarana drink for the drive to the airport!

I am almost looking forward to going back to LA for the holidays, if it means I can have pudding boba and beef rolls again.

Life, Travel

Las Vegas- We came, we drank, we had wonderfully awkward family time

I had to book it to Vegas over Labor Day weekend for my Uncle Vay’s wedding reception. Since it was a bit short notice, driving was the way to go. Yes, driving! Unfortunately my friends decided to bow out on the trip, so it was just me and Ryan splitting the 10 hour drive, but it was not as bad as it could have been.

Friday- 9 hours of driving 11pm-8am.

Saturday-Check in to hotel. Pass out… er…Sleep. Food. Drink. Frantic shopping for swimsuit because I packed two bottoms. Swim. Drink.Drink some more. Fancy dinner and fancy family wedding photos. Sleep.

Sunday-Eat. Walk. Swim. Drink. Eat.Sleep.

Monday 6 am- 5ish? A 1o hour drive back to San Francisco. Work in the car and try to pretend that there is nothing weird about getting work done while driving through the desert at 6am.

Vegas was good-a little family and a little heat- both things that I don’t encounter very often. It was a nice time, although near the end I was happy to leave Vegas. The dark side of the city really depresses me sometimes. Also, it was really hard to get a decent healthy meal in town and not feel totally swindled.

My entire family was stationed at the Trump, and I gotta say, I was impressed with the little touches of Trump ridiculousness. There was a well stocked kitchenette (Le Creuset tea kettles, WHAT?), jacuzzi bathtub AND shower, and a television in the mirror in the bathroom.Wow! Too ridiculous. The hotel was off the strip and had no casino on the ground floor, but those are definitely good things. I’m feeling majorly thankful to my uncle for inviting me and Ryan along for the silliness, putting us up, and feeding us well. Now I just have to find him a nice wedding present before Friday, when I take off for Los Angeles.

Life, Travel

I’ve been on two very lovely trips in the last few weeks, and with no more travel on the immediate horizon, I’ve officially got the post-vacation blues. I love my San Francisco life, but still am feeling a bit down. Adventure! Drama! Danger! It’s just not as likely when you’re at home. Luckily I saw my mild depression at the reality that is my life coming. Here are a few things that I’m doing to make the return to work and regular life easier:

1. I scheduled a “transition day” between the end of my vacation and the beginning of the workweek. This is essential for maintaining sanity!

2. I made sure to spend time with my friends, and to set up playdates for the upcoming week.

3. I took care of laundry, cleaning, and groceries ASAP, to make sure I’m clean and well fed for the coming week. Nothing like a clean bed and yummy foods to feel happy to be back at home.

4. While on vacation I mostly avoided work emails. I will get to them when I am back at work. One must set boundaries between personal life and work!

5. On a whim I purchased new attachments and toys for my Diana toy camera. Now I’m looking forward to learning more about my camera and using the new attachments.

6. I also started a new book- Just Kids, by Patti Smith.

7. Yes, I’m scheduling another trip! You gotta have something to look forward to. Shanghai? Morocco? Miami? I don’t know, but wherever I go, it will probably be solo.Exciting.

Life, Travel

Hello from Chicago, Illinois!

Can you feel the Illinoise? Last night I got back from my trip to Chicago. Ryan was moderating a panel at Northwestern’s Kellogg Tech Conference and I decided to tag along. Poor thing, he had to work the 9-5 while I was out and about every day.

Favorite moments from my trip:

-Wandering around for hours everyday, just marveling at the architecture.

-Riding around on the El. I loved feeling like I was on a roller coaster throughout the city.

-Meeting up with Drew, an old friend from San Francisco. He was as wonderful as ever, and as crankety as ever. It was just so nice to see him, and to know that good people like him are around in the world. I love having friends that inspire and amuse me.

-Having late night drinks at the Drake Hotel, a fancy local institution where Cary Grant used to live! Unfortunately I was a little bit too drunk to appreciate it at that point, but it was lovely being there.

-Seeing Max Raabe and Palast Orchester at the Chicago Symphony. They’re still on top of their game.

-Eyeballing the hipsters in Wicker Park and thinking “This is it?”

-Taking 10 minutes to photograph a mummified rodent- with three different cameras!

-Eating many fantastic meals- great food city.

Every time I travel I wonder, could I live here? Over the years I’ve realized that I prefer smaller sized, walkable, vaguely European cities. For example, in my travels I’ve preferred Montreal over Toronto and Madrid over Barcelona. And after college I chose to move to San Francisco over New York. While I was in Chicago, I felt the largeness of the city. All the while, it still felt entirely comfortable and doable. Could I live in Chicago? It is a maybe, which is pretty good, considering how picky I am!

Here are some photos from my trip. Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the picture.