We spent a wonderful, idyllic week at The Laguna Resort and Spa in Nusa Dua, Bali. The buffet breakfasts were my favorite! Sooo much food. :) But, in addition to the beach, lagoons, and bale bengongs, we also spent a few days off-resort exploring the island. We enjoyed visiting several temples, watching local dances, and even tasting luwak coffee at a spice plantation. Enjoy the photos.
“Not all those who wander are lost.” – J. R. R. Tolkien
The great thing about being full of wanderlust is that I will pretty much go anywhere anytime and be absolutely thrilled about it. The timing of my break in-between jobs coincides with David’s Asia-Pacific work tour as well as our 10th wedding anniversary. whew. Has it been that long already? :) So, we thought we’d celebrate with a week of rest and relaxation in Bali before he starts work in Jakarta.
Enroute, we had a connecting flight in Hong Kong and decided to take advantage of our overnight layover in a new city. Here are a few picts, captions included. Enjoy!
Well, I’ve had an amazing journey with Big Blue over the last 5.5+ years, but decided that now was the perfect time to start a new chapter in my life. So, Tuesday, 9/11 was my very last day @IBM. Below is a snippet of my farewell email to colleagues, clients, and friends.
Thanks to each of you for the opportunities, challenges, and friendships. I truly hope our paths cross again. Until then, I thought I would say farewell with a few parting Top 5 Lists…
Top 5 Random Skills I’ve Developed at IBM
5. Tasting skills. I have turned into a coffee snob.
4. Writing skills. I can write essays about myself and peer evals in a few hours.
3. Time management skills. I time-box my chores.
2. Negotiation skills. I always ask for an upgrade.
1. Spreadsheet skillz. I have mastered reporting in Microsoft Excel.Top 5 Things I Love to Evangelize about IBM
5. Consulting by Degrees Program
4. Corporate Corp Program
3. Watson Supercomputer
2. Top Women Leaders in Technology
1. Alternate Travel ProgramTop 5 Memorable Work-Life Experiences at IBM
5. Concierge Floor Living
4. Eating my way through Seattle
3. Team building in Cabo
2. Furthering science at leading biotechs
1. Meeting and getting to know you :)
Here’s looking forward to an amazing startup opportunity in SF!
Dinner @HajKahil. Chicken with onions and sumac on an Iraqi pita.
Sunny day in Daly City. Painting with Habitat for Humanity.
I absolutely love living in this postcard city! :) View of Alcatraz and the Bay from Fort Mason.
Overlooking Fort Mason and the Golden Gate Bridge :)
Last weekend, I visited my college roommate in Vancouver, WA, which is right across the Columbia River from Portland, OR. The weather was a little damp and dreary, but it was much more accommodating than a previous visit I had where we were completely snowed-in for 2 days. So, despite the wet weather, we donned our cold-weather gear and took off to explore the Vancouver-Portland area. It was like the metropolis refused to accept that winter was still here. Pedestrians were everywhere and I could palpably feel their anticipation as they looked forward to the coming of spring.
Friday evening, we started our weekend by visiting 2 photography galleries in the First Friday Portland Art Walk, where we came across a cute exhibit called iPortland: An iPhone Show. In this exhibit, 8 photographers were given a challenge to capture a personal narrative by only using their iPhone cameras. The most interesting collection to me was of a woman chronicling her pregnancy and the first few months of the life of her newborn. My favorite collection, however, was of an artist’s interpretation of common “things” with the use of little figurines. For example, “pig in a blanket” was a photo of a small toy pig, which looked like a miniature version of Hamm the Piggy Bank in the Toy Story movies, cozily wrapped up in a waffle-blanket.
Following the Art Walk, we “Yelped” our way to dinner and dessert. We started at Nicholas Restaurant, a small, family-owned Mediterranean eatery, where the food looked and smelled so good that we chose to endure the almost hour-long wait in the misty rain. We ended up sharing the vegetarian mezza and kafta kabob and still had leftovers for the next 2 nights. But the main event of our meal was definitely the pita bread, which was warm, doughy, and just plain ginormous. After dinner, we found a local dessert shop named Ice Cream Renaissance, where we couldn’t resist sampling 9 different flavors of ice cream (along with a brownie). Check out my Yelp review here.
On Saturday, we boarded the Portland Spirit for a lunch cruise down the Willamette River. Thankfully, the sun came out from behind the clouds to offer a bit of warmth while we wandered around and took pictures on the top deck. Then, for the rest of the afternoon, we strolled around the Saturday Market and shopped our way through the Pearl District. We walked over 7,000 steps that afternoon, about 3 miles: I really love that Portland is walkable city. Our Sunday was pretty relaxing. I visited my friend’s church and then looked on Yelp (again) for a lunch place. I had a hankering for some Southern food, so we ended up at Pine State Biscuits, where I absolutely loved the sweet tea and hush puppies.
To wrap up the weekend, we meandered through the Alberta Arts District and then hung out at a local shop named Random Order Coffeehouse for some afternoon tea and a game of Scrabble (house rules of course). This was a great visit, and I can’t wait for the next trip to Portland. After all, this is the City of Roses, and I still have yet to stop and smell them. :)
Today is a pretty significant day…well…at least to me. It marks the end of my 33rd year of existence, and there are 3 things that come to mind when I think of the number 33. First, it’s a palindrome, meaning it’s a word or number that can be read the same forward and backward. I’ve only celebrated 3 palindrome birthdays and my next one is not for another 10 years.
Also, last year, I re-read The Count of Monte Cristo, the very unabridged version. It was basically a 1400 page novel about betrayal, deceit, revenge, redemption, and all the challenges of social boundaries in between. I imagined a soap opera or drama that took place in France in the 1800’s. Definitely one of my favorite books ever. But back to the point, the protagonist, Edmond Dantes, was wrongfully imprisoned at age 19 and finally escaped 14 years later. He was 33 years old when he transformed himself from Edmond Dantes to The Count of Monte Cristo, at which point everyone’s adventure truly began.
I’m also reminded of what David (hubby) once told me, how Jesus accomplished his life’s greatest work at age 33. It was at this age he died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead 3 days later to grant us eternal life. It’s the basis for the entire Christian faith and the reason why millions of people flock to church every year on Easter Sunday. Wow. Well, there is really no comparison for me here. My accomplishments last year did not measure anywhere near the level of Jesus’ life’s work, but that’s okay, it was still a very good year.
So, what did I do last year? Well, it was a year of firsts. It was the first time I met some of my cousins, whom I had heard about for years in the Philippines and Singapore. It was the first time I ever tasted fresh durian, which by the way I really didn’t like. It was the first time I sponsored a little girl through Compassion International, a group that focuses on the long-term development of children in poverty through education and higher learning. It was the first time I climbed Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain on the continent of Africa. To view my photo journal of that monumental hike, click here. Oh, and it was the first time I ever highlighted my hair.
Today is the beginning of a new year for me, and I’m pretty excited about it because “change is inevitable, change is constant”. I love to explore and I love to experience, which is great because if change is inevitable, then it’s going to make me have new experiences whether I want to or not. :) My family comes from the Ilocano region in the Philippines, and my dad often tells me that “Ilocanos are very adventurous”. Fabulous! I’m stoked. Here’s looking forward to another year of change, another year of adventures, and another year of firsts.
This weekend, I took a short road trip to Daly City where Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco (H4HGS) kicked off a huge construction effort for a 36-unit condominium building, the largest compact habitat development outside of New York City. They began construction last year and plan to finish in 2012, about 2.5 years later. Amazing. Up to this point, contractors had laid down the building’s concrete foundation and ground-level parking structure. On top of the parking garage, the building was designed to have 3 floors of 12 condos each. So, this past Saturday was the Construction Day One Celebration, where 50+ day volunteers showed up for a full day of framing, which means we got to swing hammers and raise walls for the 1st floor condo units.
Our day started at 8.30 am with breakfast and coffee at the construction site followed by a greeting from the Executive Director of H4HGS. After a very useful safety talk and final instructions from our site manager, we split up into groups and headed off with our team leaders. Hard hats were required at all times, even during lunch (provided by Habitat as part of the kick-off ceremony). What I didn’t realize before this weekend was that there is definitely a “hard hat hierarchy”. All the day volunteers wore white hats, and the team leaders and more experienced or regular volunteers wore blue and green hats. The site manager wore a gold one, and I saw 2 red hats, one of which belonged to the Executive Director of H4HGS, so I assumed they were senior management.
Our team leader, James, was an AmeriCorps volunteer who led the effort of building unit #102. We had 8 people in our group, 5 from Calvary Presbyterian, 2 from another Presbyterian church, and 1 guy who had been travelling across the country for the past 2 months volunteering at various Habitat sites. What I really liked about this experience was all the contextual and background information James provided throughout the day. He oriented us with the layout of the building and showed us the floor plan for our unit so we could better understand “how the individual parts fit into the big picture design”. Also, as a person new to construction, I found it super helpful for him to explain the basics of framing a wall. Honestly, I didn’t know what framing was until this weekend. I now know how to check for crowns in lumber, when to use a 16-penny versus a 20-penny galvanized nail, how many nails are legally required per stud, and how to effectively use a hammer to solve almost any kind of construction problem.
The kick-off was an extremely productive event, which made me really appreciate the logistics and planning that went into making this a successful day. The lumber was pre-cut, measured, and marked, allowing our team to build and raise 6 walls and start building 2 more by the end of the day (around 4.30 pm). James and other Habitat leaders were wonderfully prepared and well-organized. Plus, the weather was very accommodating, which I know was not due to any sort of pre-planning activities, but the pleasant weather did contribute to a productive day. I definitely would like to continue volunteering at the site throughout the year and who knows, maybe along the way I can graduate from a white hat to a colored hat. :)
About Technology, Travel, and Tastings
This is a little part of the web where I can share my musings about cool new websites or tech tools I've found, places I've visited, and delicious or different things I've eaten. I hope to share something new with you in every post.
Life's about learning and sharing. :)
