C'est la vie!

A Fellowship Kind of Weekend

2011-09-16T14:28:00.000-04:00

I named this blog post a fellowship kind of weekend because I spent the entire weekend with some of the other people who are here in Palo Alto for the fellowship program. Actually, many of you may not know why I'm here and for how long, so let me explain. My company, SAP, likes to recognize top performing employees - so we have a special group called Top Talent. Every year, all managers go through their employees and decide if any of them meet the "top talent" criteria and nominate them for this group. Upper management has to sign-off on who gets to be part of the Top Talent group because they try to restrict it to approximately 2% of the employees worldwide. Part of the Top Talent program is the fellowship program, which allows the employees to apply for a six-month fellowship in a different area of the company. The idea is that the people who are top performers are more proactive with their career and are quickly moving to the top. So by allowing them to work in an entirely different area of the company without any risk, they are able to build up their skill set faster and advance their career more quickly. The fellowship may or may include relocation, it depends on the receiving team's requirements and budget.

Previously I worked in product development. I'm not a software engineer, but I'm part of the product management team. I met with customers to understand their business processes for their sales teams and then designed the software to meet those business requirements. Part of my product slightly touched the marketing teams, but it was primarily focused on sales teams at larger consumer products companies. However, I wanted to understand the big picture better and get hands-on marketing experience - after all, that was my major in university, and yet, I've never worked in marketing. So I applied for the top marketing position which was available - working as the assistant to our Chief Marketing Officer. Just to be clear, I'm not a personal assistant but an assistant who helps our CMO manage projects, gather information from all of his teams, give strategic advice, etc. It may sound like a sexy job, and I've already had some pretty cool experiences so far. But it's not all glamorous. Anyway, I digress, but that's the background as to why I'm here and the small group of fellows who have bonded so far. I will be in California only until mid-February when I will return to my love, Montreal.

So last Friday I took myself out on a date, and I finally discovered an amazing restaurant here in the area. Everyone I speak with tells me how incredible the food is around here, but I was really struggling to find a place I considered fantastic. I've found it now! Flea Street Cafe - they have a seasonal menu which is to die for! In Montreal, there is an Italian restaurant which makes a Gorgonzola gnocchi that just melts in your mouth. I haven't ever tasted anything which rivals it... until now. :-) I'm so excited that I have a place to introduce to people when they come to visit. :-) And it rained for the first time since I arrived in California - a heavy downpour which is apparently quite unusual around here. I thought someone was watering the plants outside of the restaurant and turned to look out the window and saw a wall of water coming down. It was both surprising and refreshing.

On Saturday I rode my bike to Philz - he's becoming my weekend habit. :-) That was the farthest I've ridden a bicycle in a long time. While I was in Montreal, I would try to bike to work on most days but it wasn't very far - I think just 8 km. But Philz's is about 10 km from my house. I was all nice and sweaty when ordering my cup of joe, but who cares. The bike ride was so enjoyable!

Saturday afternoon I spent with Barbara, another fellow from Germany. She's pretty cool. We did a tour of some of the Silicon Valley towns and ended up in San Jose at Santana Row. I don't know if this place is well-known outside of the area, but wow, this place is unreal. Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Tesla, Gucci, and many more. There were Ferraris and Lamborghinis lining the road. I really felt like I was under-dressed in my shorts and t-shirt. As Barbara and I were walking, we saw all of these really tall women walk past us. We guessed that they were models. Two blocks down, there was a very tall woman modeling in front of said bright yellow Lamborghini and some photographer taking her picture. Then several more blocks down, we see a runway.... ooooohhhhh... FASHION SHOW!!! Barbara and I were elated. While it was a "private party," there was only a waist-high fence separating the public from the party. So we could see everything. We staked out our spots and watched the fashion show... in honor of Fashion Week in NYC. It was so much fun!

I spent Sunday at the beach with some other fellows, Roman and Celeste (from Montreal - I previously worked with Roman on a project) and the "other" Roman, from Germany. Roman and Roman took wind surfing lessons while Celeste and I baked on the beach, reading fashion magazines and talking. It was a beautiful, relaxing day... even if I did bake my boobies (first time in a bathing suit all season - they were not prepared for the California sun!). Afterward, we munched on some yummy Italian food and walked around Alameda before returning home.

After last weekend, I finally felt like I was making some friends that I could hang out with during the week. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE Mikey and Brett, but it's hard to see them during the week with my demanding work schedule. So it's nice to be able to expand my friend network here.

Palo Alto Personality

2011-09-16T13:04:00.000-04:00

I typically blog when I travel. And when I travel, I'm able to see the cultural differences between myself and the place I'm visiting. Usually it makes for some funny fodder, if nothing else, but also a worthwhile experience when learning about and adapting to other cultures.

However, I really haven't done the same since I've been here. In part, it's because I'm back in the States and feel like I should already know the culture and know what to expect. And for the most part, I do. Furthermore, it almost feels like a betrayal to my home country to critic the culture... especially when for so long I was part of it. But since I have lived in Montreal for the last four years, I think I am able to compare and contrast. So I will try to be diplomatic... but really... I am just speaking about Californians... I mean, they are a different breed, aren't they? ;-)

I have noticed that Palo Alto, and the greater Silicon Valley, is nothing like anything I've experienced. The people are nice and open but disingenuous. And while the scenery here is beautiful, you could go from one Valley town to the next and you wouldn't know the difference - you would have no idea where you were at! It all looks the same, feels the same, smells the same. Every place, every day is exactly the same. I feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day sometimes. That's kind of how I see the people here as well.

There seems to be little personality reflected in the people - how they dress, the homes in which they live, the cars they drive. You know the saying that "all Asians look a like" or "all white people look a like" or "all Indians look a like"? Well, I believe that all Silicon Valley people look a like - it doesn't matter their race, skin color, or hair color. You can't tell them a part. However, you can tell when you've met one.

There doesn't seem to be any individuality around here. Coming from Austin, where originality is abundant, or Montreal where they live to separate themselves from the rest of the country, I've become accustomed to being different, to speaking freely, dressing freely, acting freely. And yet, here, I feel very stifled. The air is clean and the skies are blue and clear (partly because Californians are very eco-friendly), but I feel like I can't breathe. I just don't get the impression that people are who they present themselves to be. I feel like there is an entire community here that needs to be liberated and set free. They need to escape from this bubble they've built around themselves and just be. I see that the people around here fill their days with many activities, but they don't look like they're really having fun. I get the impression that they're doing those activities because everyone else does them and it's been deemed acceptable.

One last story and then I will stop my rant... Many weeks ago when I was shopping for my 49ers shirt, I went to the outdoor shopping center that is right by my apartment. It's a very nice shopping center that includes stores such as Burberry, Kate Spade, Michael Kors, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale's... the list goes on and on. But I couldn't find one single athletic store or sporting goods store. However, I finally came across a Nike store, and thought, "this place must have something!"

I asked the girl at Nike if they have any "team gear" like the 49ers. She looked at me like I was crazy and in the snottiest voice said, "no." And that was it. She didn't elaborate. So then I told her that I was new to the area and did she have a suggestion as to where I could go to find something like that. She said (in the snottiest, snobbiest voice you've ever heard), "Oh. You'll have to go to Eeeasssttt Palo Alto. You know, that's on the other side of the highway. They may have something like that over there." Hmmm...ok. I found out from someone that East Palo Alto is considered the "ghetto." Maybe there are poorer parts of the area but what I saw looked like suburban middle class to me. I mean, there was a Sports Authority, IKEA, Home Depot, Best Buy... the list goes on. It looked like a normal neighborhood to me. I didn't even see any clunker cars or cars with hydraulics. I'm not quite sure what world these Palo Alto people live in, but it certainly isn't my world. East Palo Alto seemed perfectly acceptable to me. :-/

Anyways, there's my two cents on the personality and culture of the Silicon Valley. It could just be that I haven't met the right kind of people yet. And luckily, I have the other people who are in the fellowship program here to help ground me. They are an incredible group of people so I still get a sense for what's "real." Plus, I have Mikey and Brett and all of the Castro. If I ever want originality and authenticity, I just need to travel 45 minutes north. :-)

Hiatus with the Hubs

2011-09-14T21:25:00.000-04:00

Yes, I'm a little behind again. Yes, I'm a little slow. However, better late than never, right??

The hubs was here over Labor Day weekend. We thought we'd be really smart and use the only time off that we have in common until Thanksgiving to visit each other. But alas, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. We were able to spend time each other but the time went much too quickly.

I introduced Esteban to In and Out Burger upon his arrival to California. However, some of you may know that my husband grew up in the Oakland area when he was younger and then returned when he was in the military. So California is not as foreign to him as it feels to me. But needless to say, he had never been to In and Out Burger before.

On Saturday, I introduced Esteban to my other love, Philz, and Esteban, too, had a coffeegasm. Hmmmm... love me some Philz! :-) I also introduced Esteban to my girlfriend, Pamplemousse, where we chowed down on some yummy French pastries in the glorious sunshine. Speaking of sunshine, I find it so incredible how gorgeous the weather always is! I think this must be the weather in heaven because it doesn't get any more perfect than this.

We drove up to San Francisco and hung out with the boys, Mikey and Brett. We all went to gay beach at Dolores Park where I saw more than my share of nakedness - pictures were sent to a select few. ;-) In addition, I got sunburned again... no surprises there so I don't even know why I mention it. ;-) However, you all should feel kind of sorry for me because it blistered and now I have scabs on my back - not sexy but that's life.

Then we met up with some boys who were in town with the gay rodeo. (Note to self: I don't think I will ever escape from my Texas roots.) ;-) Apparently they liked me and started giving me free jello shots. I think it was only 5pm or 6pm and I was already schnockered... to the point where Esteban said I was just saying random words like "bubbles" and "rainbows" and "puppies." I think I was living in my own fantasy world. But I don't remember a thing about that... maybe he's just teasing me. But if not, when I go crazy, at least we know I will be a happy crazy. :-)

We ended the evening with some yummy Mexican food and a drag show. I made Esteban hold my purse during the show so he would fit in with the rest of the boys there. ;-) Hahaha! The only problem is that now every time I hear the song "Extraterrestrial" by Katy Perry, I think of the drag queen who performed that song. I can't get that performance out of my head. So my apologies, Katy, but a drag queen upstaged you. ;-)

Both Sunday and Monday were pretty low key. We visited Esteban's dad and stepmom in Oakland on Sunday. I was surprised at how pretty Oakland is! I just assumed by the bad reputation that Oakland has and the ghetto people I witnessed at the 49ers/Raiders game, that Oakland would be the armpit of America. But that's not true. It has the hills of San Francisco and lots of green. It's actually quite beautiful. We enjoyed dinner at Le Cheval, a Vietnamese/French restaurant that Esteban has been telling me about since the day I met him almost 11 years ago.

On Monday we enjoyed more Philz :-) and hung out around Palo Alto. I thought that by having Esteban here, it would help make me feel more at home. However, the longer I stay in Palo Alto, the harder it is for me to imagine myself here. I think San Francisco might be a different story but can't quite say for sure since I don't live there.

So there was my Labor-less Day weekend (for once, a weekend that I didn't work!).

Showgirls? Fo' Sho!!

2011-08-31T18:43:00.006-04:00

Crazy, crazy week. That's all I can say. So very little sleep... I was a walking zombie. My colleague even so kindly informed me that I looked exhausted. Thank you for reminding me, as I forgot how incredibly tired I am. :-/ But I was able to participate in some cool things. My boss gave a keynote speech at Levi Strauss, and I had to prepare his speech and presentation. It was a learning experience for me, to say the least. I'm quite adept at preparing my own topics and organizing how I want to present to a customer. But it's an entirely different beast altogether to do it for someone else. Then I was preparing for other meetings and "putting out fires." Very, very little sleep.

So when the weekend rolled around and Mikey said that I should spend the entire weekend in San Francisco for my birthday, I was both excited and exhausted just thinking about it. Given our history, I knew that Mikey and I would get intoxicated over the weekend, and I would have very little sleep. And I'm an 8-hr sleep kind of girl. Without that, I feel like I'm dragging and my head is unclear. However, on Friday morning Mikey suggested that I just come up on Saturday afternoon because he already had some house guests at his place earlier in the week and he and Brett needed a night to recover. Oh I was so relieved!

Speaking of earlier in the week, I completely forgot to mention my fantastic experience at the SF Giants baseball game. It was the complete opposite of my experience at the 49ers game. Yes, I know, different sport but I can't help but to compare. The Giants' stadium is beautiful - clean, new, good beer, good food, cleaner bathrooms. The crowd was so calm. Yes, there was an energy in the crowd but it was so pleasant. There were people drinking wine in the stands. It was just so polar opposite of the previous weekend. I think I'm now a baseball fan and am looking forward to going back soon. Plus, after the game, we all went to this bar called 21st Amendment, and I tried this amazing Watermelon Wheat beer that comes with a slice of watermelon. Yummy!

So back to birthday bash weekend...

Friday night was uneventful and spent at home. I did a quick run, spoke with Ann, and relaxed. I also caught up on some of my shows such as Drop Dead Diva and Rookie Blues. All in all, it was a successful evening and exactly what I needed. Saturday morning was fantastic. I went running, went to Philz coffee (YUM!), and took my bicycle out on her maiden voyage. Then I drove to SF. Upon I arriving, we immediately had drinks at Toad Hall, went shopping, and then had sushi for dinner. It was already the perfect day... and the REAL fun hadn't even begun yet.

Then the real evening festivities began...

I had the amazing privilege to go with Mikey, Brett, Matt, and Darren to the historic Castro Theater and see Showgirls, a completely horrible movie with that chic from Saved By the Bell. But not only did I get to see that movie for the first time, it was accompanied by a drag show and lap dances by the drag queens. I consumed copious amounts of alcohol, ate copious amounts of popcorn, and experienced copious amounts of drag queen lap dances. Yes, you read that correctly. I received, not only, my first lap dance ever, but my first lap dance ever by numerous drag queens.

There are many things I love about the Castro neighborhood and the characters that live there. They are not afraid to be themselves. So many people wear some strange things and it's accepted. They love life, and love life to its fullest. There is so much friendliness and affection. You meet a person and you're instantly friends. Being different is good, being "normal" is boring. I just love it. There's no where else like it on the planet... at least not that I've experienced. If I ever live in SF, it will be in the Castro.

So I had the pleasure of having my face shoved into some drag queen's boobies. I saw some naked booties, some naked boobies, and some naked other things. The movie is incredibly bad, but the other aspects of the show totally made up for it. :-)

After the show, we went back to Toad Hall and had a whole lot more alcohol. Mikey, Brett, and I danced the night away. I made many friends, telling them all it was my birthday. I danced with several topless gay men. And I even managed to meet the only straight guy in the bar. I had so much fun that I don't even remember getting home that night.

The next morning I really struggled with my hangover. It was rough. I'm just not as young as I used to be. I immediately called my dad because I had missed his call... at 7:20am. Unacceptable for him to call so early. :-/ Then I called Esteban and started telling him about my night... at which point he informed that I had already told him all of this when I called him at 4am his time. Oops. Sorry babe. :-) Drunk dialing can be really dangerous.

Mikey and Brett took me to Philz coffee in the morning (thank god, I needed coffee so bad with my hangover!). We then went for brunch at a place called Tangerine, at which point we consumed mimosas... hair of the dog... I know many of you know what I'm talking about. ;-) Then we went to his place called Swirl, a super cute wine bar, picked up some wine (more hair of the dog) and went to Dolores Park to relax the afternoon away in the glorious sunshine. True to my nature, I managed to get sunburned. However, Dolores Park is fantastic. On sunshiney days, it's like a sea of topless men on this knoll in the park. Mikey and Brett call it "gay beach." Everyone is just drinking, relaxing, and soaking up the sun. It was the perfect afternoon. I'm looking forward to many more afternoons there. Furthermore, while we were there, one of the drag queens recognized me from the previous night and was like "It's your birthday!" Hahaha. :-) I'm glad I was so obnoxious that people remember me.

My birthday weekend was absolutely perfect. I was feeling really down and lonely on Friday night when I was speaking with Esteban, but the weekend totally perked me up. I still don't know if I would want to stay in Cali should it be an option, but I'm super happy I was able to spend my birthday with Mikey and Brett. They were the perfect compliment to my 31st.

Stay tuned for the next update, which includes a 3-day weekend with the hubby...

Knights in Shining BMW

2011-08-23T18:26:00.007-04:00

I had an eventful weekend...really the last several weeks have probably been the most busy, exciting, exhausting days thus far in California.

Work is really starting to pick up, and I find that when I have colleagues here in town, it seems even busier. I like having my colleagues here because it helps me to learn my job when I can observe and work closely with others. But it seems like there is always so much extra commotion and nervous energy. It makes me feel a bit crazy and manic. It's just another thing that I will learn and get better at. You may have noticed that I don't speak much about the details of my job. That's because I work for an executive and so much of my work is "classified" information. As a new person, I haven't distinguished yet between what is ok for public knowledge and what should remain private. So at this point, I keep most of it to myself. I will start to share more later as I learn what I can and cannot share.

With that being said, I had a total of 7 hours of sleep over the entire weekend due to work (not because of too much fun). So that just gives you an idea of my schedule over Saturday and Sunday. But work just consisted of my weekend nights... but I have to tell you about my weekend days.

Saturday was the infamous 49ers vs. Raiders football game that I was soliciting company for. My boss gave me his two tickets because he was unable to go. Unfortunately (or fortunately - however you see it), I wasn't able to find someone to go with me. However, I really wanted to go see a NFL game and thus decided to go by myself. Plus, my boss gave me the tickets and I knew that he would ask if I went to the game. So I had to go. I knew that there would be some rivalry between the 49ers and the Raiders, but I was not prepared for what I experienced.

First of all, I took the train to the game since I didn't want to deal with traffic and parking. Plus, I thought I might consume some alcohol and decided to be safe and not drive. The train station is about a mile from the stadium. No big deal for me to walk. Except I had to walk through the ghetto. Parts of the neighborhood were just poor, but kids were playing in the streets. Other parts of the neighborhood were downright scary. Men were catcalling, people were coked out on the sidewalks, there were cars with hydraulics and rims and spinners. It was interesting, to say the least.

I got to the stadium and saw all of the crowds. The tension and aggression in the air was palpable. It's like when you're in a room with two people and they are having an argument in front you. You feel so uncomfortable, like you shouldn't be there. Well, that's kind of how I felt in the stadium. Well, no big deal. I got some beer and found my seat. Just walking around, it was so loud. There were so many people yelling and pushing. It generally felt very hostile. However, it was interesting to see that many couples, groups of friends, etc. were evenly split regarding their alliances. One person in the couple was for the 49ers, the other person was for the Raiders. I was thinking to myself that I've never seen such a mix of support amongst friends. Typically when you go to these types of events, whether it be football, baseball, hockey, etc., you see groups of supporters but they are all for the same team. You very rarely see the mix. So I thought that was pretty amazing. Until the action started...

I was in my seat and there was still lots of commotion and yelling. It was very difficult to pay attention to the game with everything going on around me. The guy sitting behind me dumped his entire hamburger on my sweatshirt during one of the plays so I was not a happy camper. The girl in front of me got into a fight with her boyfriend and spilled half of her beer on my shoes as she was waving around her arms. So of course I was getting more agitated. I looked up to see 10 policemen running in front of my row to the right. I follow their movement to see them arrest a man not far from me who started a fight in the stands. About 10 minutes later, another group of policemen run in front of me to the left and arrest another man.

With everything going on, I decided it was probably not wise for me to stick around for much longer. I already didn't feel safe since I was alone, but it seemed the crowd's aggression was escalating. I texted Mikey to see if he and Brett were home from their day at the beach. Mikey said they weren't home but offered to come pick me up on their way home, and I graciously accepted their offer.

After a closed exit on the highway and 30 minutes later, Mikey and Brett show up to rescue me. Honestly, seeing their shiny silver BMW round the corner was like seeing a knight in shining armor. While I was waiting for them outside of the stadium, 7 or 8 police cars pulled up and then all ran into the stadium. It almost reminded me of the clowns coming out of the VW bug at the circus... it was like a never-ending stream of policemen running into the stadium. So then I was really happy that I decided to leave the game early. What was going on inside???

I got in the car and Mikey and Brett informed me that I was probably in the most unsafe neighborhood in all of San Francisco and I should never go back. They checked that their locks in the car were actually locked like 3 or 4 times until we got back on the highway. The boys are a little dramatic, and I thought it was kind of funny... until Mikey sent me an article later that night saying that two people were shot during the game at the stadium and multiple people were beaten up outside of the stadium after the game. There's something to be said for one's intuition and gut instincts.

When we got back to the city, I went out with the boys to a couple of bars in the Castro. One of the bars is named Moby Dick and has a very phallic looking coral piece in the enormous fish tank. Moreover, there are many other great names of places in the Castro. There's a manicure place called "Hand Job." There's a sex shop called "Does Your Mother Know." I know I saw some others but those are the ones that stick out in my head.

On Sunday, we all went to Berkley. The boys had never been so it was a touristy moment for all of us. Unfortunately Berkley was not nearly as hippie-fied as I had been led to believe. However, I did get to see the small protest on nuclear weapons by some 70 year-olds. There was a Starbucks, McDonalds, Subway, and American Apparel. Not the original town that I was expecting. But Mikey and I both decided that we wanted to go back to college. There's something to be said about those college boys. ;-) LOL. Dang, I'm such a cougar!!

Stay tuned for my next update, covering my fantastic birthday weekend...

Another week and weekend down

2011-08-17T00:08:00.006-04:00

The second week at work seemed to be less stressful than the first. My boss was out of the office, and my colleague who I work very closely with was also on a business trip. So it seemed like I was able to complete a lot of things without the interruptions and distractions. I'm starting to learn about my job and the nuances involved with working for an executive. The great thing, though, is that my boss seems really nice, not to mention the rest of the team. I find it even more interesting to see how the rest of the marketing team is still trying to adapt to my boss's leadership style (vs. the old CMO who was in his position for 11 years and recently left the company).

It seems that everyday gets busier and busier and I find that I'm accomplishing less and less of what I intended to do that day. It's a bit frustrating so I'm intent on working on my time management this week and trying to figure out a better working style.

My daddy stayed with me for the last four days. It was so nice having him around. It made Palo Alto feel more like home. However, he left this morning to start his drive back to Texas. He's actually been out in the Bay Area for the last two months so it was time that he get back home. But I'm sad to see him go. I felt extra lonely today.

We had an incredible weekend, despite my dad not feeling well. He came down with his first cold ever in his entire life. But true to his stubborn personality, he refused to let it get him down and insisted that we go to San Francisco on Saturday. So on Saturday morning, we went to the most fantastic pastry place about 15 minutes from my place. It's called Pamplemousse and it's amazing!! Of course, I lived in Montreal where there are many patisseries and boulangeries, so many of them good. But this place in Redwood City beats them hands down. I've never had anything so decadent. However, I'm sad that I know about this place because I think I will be tempted to visit there on most weekend days. :-/

After our yummy breakfast, we drove up to Fisherman's Wharf and played tourist there and walked around, visited Ghiradelli Square. It was a gorgeous day. We had checked the weather on Friday night and it showed that it was supposed to be 60 degrees F and rainy. Well on Saturday it was probably 80 degrees without the wind and lots of sunshine. Not a cloud in the sky. It was just amazing! I got some great shots of the bay and of the sea lions at Pier 39. It was an unforgettable day. Check out the pictures on Facebook.

On Sunday, we followed true to tradition and got Philz coffee, read the Chronicle, and did a couple of errands for me. I got some new gadgets at Best Buy, some bike stuff at Sports Authority, and a new-to-me bike from a woman on Craigslist. Then we went over to my aunt and uncle's house, where we all grilled up some chicken fajitas. Yum! The weather was so great that we were able to eat outside and enjoy their backyard. My aunt and uncle have a plum tree, a lemon tree, a grapefruit tree, an orange tree, and a cherry tree in their backyard. I've never been in a place where there are so many fruit trees. I love it!

Unfortunately after returning home, my dad and I managed to break my new bike. :-/ So now it's at the bike shop getting repaired. Luckily the cost to repair it is not that much so I don't feel so upset by it. However, my dad felt so bad that he cooked me a steak dinner on Monday night to make me feel better. That was our "last supper" and he left at 4am today.

So that was my week and weekend... as a tiny teaser for next weekend, I procured some 49ers tickets to a preseason game against their arch nemesis, the Oakland Raiders. Now I just have to find someone to go with me. Another problem to solve this week...

Who wants a father's day when you can have a father's weekend?

2011-08-09T15:29:00.014-04:00

My entire weekend was spent with my dad... thus the title of this blog. :-)

So as I mentioned earlier, I finally got the keys to my apartment on Friday evening, a week after arriving in Cali. My apartment seems to be pretty good. I've now slept there for 4 nights and wake-up feeling like I don't want to get out of bed. If you know me well, you know that I have difficulty sleeping, let alone sleeping in a bed. And I just don't want to leave the comfort and warmth of my bed in this apartment. I think that says something. I must find out what kind of mattress it is before leaving...

On Friday evening after getting the keys to my apartment and lugging my three 50lb. bags up to my apartment, my dad and I went for dinner at a Thai restaurant. My favorite restaurant in Montreal was a Thai restaurant and so I compare all others to that one. Our food was good, and the company was great. :-) It's so nice to be able to spend time with my dad like this. It's almost like living in the same city with him. But when we lived in the same city, we never saw each other. So I think if we're ever in the same area again, I will make sure to see my dad more often.

After dinner, we went back to my apartment so my dad could see it and inspect everything. Upon trying to leave my apartment for dinner, I couldn't lock either of the locks on my door. There's a handle lock, but if you turn the handle really hard, it just pops the lock. Thus making it ineffective. There's also a deadbolt, but it seemed like the bolt and the hole just weren't aligned appropriately. So when my dad came back to my apartment, he looked at it for me and informed me it wasn't the door that was misaligned but my head. All you had to do was push the door back a little and the deadbolt slid right in. Hahaha!! It was definitely a blond moment for me. I'm glad that I didn't call maintenance or anything. :-)

My dad was checking out my cable TV, as he has been missing his since being in Cali for the last two months. And if you know my dad, you know that TV is the automatic way to put my dad to sleep. So he fell asleep on my couch and ended up staying the first night with me in my apartment. It was nice. It somehow made the apartment feel more like home. Meanwhile, I was unpacking those three very large suitcases and putting everything away. I'm a really organized person and generally hate chaos, especially in my apartment. I may collect lots of crap, but it all has a very specific place to go and is organized.

On Saturday morning, both my dad and I woke up pretty early so we got an early start. We went to breakfast and my dad helped me shop at Target for some items that I needed for my apartment. We then headed over to visit my stepmom's sister (I guess that makes her my step-aunt?). But then, I had to get ready to visit my gay boyfriend in SF...

The party at Mikey and Brett's was so much fun. I met some of their friends and hung out at their apartment. And let me just add that there would be a fantastic view from their multiple balconies on the three nice days out of the entire year in San Francisco. However, on Saturday night, you could not see much... not even their orange cat who slipped out of their apartment and tried to run away. Unfortunately because I had to get back at a some what decent hour, never mind the 45 minute drive back to my apartment, I didn't consume much alcohol with my drinking buddy. However, we will rectify that very soon. I laughed so much with all of the boys and had a great time. I can't wait to have many repeats of Saturday night. Oh, and it was Brett's birthday. I brought him some beer called, "Dead Guy Ale." I thought it would be funny because he's so old, he's practically dead (not really, just in gay man years). ;-) But Brett actually really likes that beer. And I did too... I may have consumed half of what I brought him. Oh well. ;-)

Sunday was an amazing day. There's no other way to say it. My dad came over to my apartment at 7am. (I know, sacrilege on the weekend. But what can you do??) We went to Philz Coffee for coffee and breakfast.... yum!!! Seriously, this coffee is un-freakin-believable!! It's to-die-for!! Anyways, afterward, we hit the road for a 2 hour road trip south to Monterey Bay. The drive was pretty fantastic. There was sunshine and blue skies for part of the way, fog and cloudiness, mountains, farm land with cabbage, strawberries, and artichokes, and the ocean. So we got to see a little bit of everything. We arrived in Monterey Bay and spent some time walking around Fisherman's Wharf. I also took a pic of my dad as Forest Gump. See below.

Then my friend from high school, Jeremy, and his family met up with us to tour the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is a cool aquarium, but the Baltimore National Aquarium still ranks number one in my mind. However, the one notable exhibit was the jellyfish. I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E! I never knew so many kinds of jellyfish existed. Moreover, I didn't realize there were practically microscopic jellyfish. And the lighting they used was phenomenal. This was definitely my favorite part.

Once we finished, both my dad and I were really hungry. Jeremy and his family had already left to have lunch so that left just me and my dad to figure out what we were going to do. My dad suggested that we drive to Half Moon Bay for lunch. I asked how far it is, and he said it's like 45 minutes. Mind you, every time I drive north from Palo Alto going towards the airport or the city, I see the signs for Half Moon Bay. And it look us 2 hours south to get to Monterey Bay from Palo Alto. However, I just assumed that maybe the signs I saw were to go towards Half Moon Bay but it wasn't necessarily located close to the signs. Well, three hours later, we finally find our destination. Hmph. I was about to gnaw off my own arm. Then we went entered the restaurant, we were informed that they weren't seating for dinner for another 30 minutes. What?!? As a side note, the reason why we ate at this restaurant is because my dad remembered eating there back in the 70s. The 70s, people! What restaurant do you know lasts for over 30 years?!?! I might have been committed for murder had that restaurant not still existed. But luckily my dad's life was spared on Sunday because they let us order appetizers while we waited for our table.

However, despite my hunger pains and practically wasting away, the three-hour drive was awesome. Apparently, we selected the scenic route which goes along the coast of California. For most of the drive, we were in sunshine and saw cloudless blue skies. We could see tons of cyclists, surfers, boogie boarders, and kites. It was quite the spectacle!

Back to the restaurant... Let me tell you... it was totally worth the wait. We had some of the best seafood ever - seafood chowder, crab cakes, salmon filet with mango and avocado salsa. Yum!! So good. We were even going to spring for dessert because all of the other food was so good but realized that we just couldn't fit one more ounce of food in our bellies. The restaurant is called Miramar Beach Restaurant, and it's just wonderful. If you're ever in the area, this is a must-try. Here are some pictures from dinner...

So there you have it. My wonderful weekend with my daddy. :-) He decided to stay one more weekend and go sightseeing with me in San Francisco. Plus, I think we're going to have dinner with my in-laws on Friday. Another fun-filled weekend with the fam!

P.S. I did some major retail therapy this week at the Stanford Shopping center. And I feel so much better! ;-)

Office Space

2011-08-08T00:09:00.005-04:00

So the SAP office experience in Palo Alto is so much different than in Montreal. For one thing, there are approximately 400 employees in Montreal. On the other hand, there are approximately 2500 employees in PA. Obviously the facilities have to be much different in order to accommodate the difference in numbers.

In Montreal, our office occupies half of one building. In PA, there are eight office buildings on an entire campus. In Montreal, we have a coffee machine and refrigerator that has most kinds of soda. In PA, we have Starbucks coffee, a state-of-the-art coffee machine, and a soda fountain. In Montreal, lunch is catered everyday in a small kitchen and the only choice of food is whatever is on the menu that day. In Palo Alto, there are at least three cafeteria spaces that I know of with a huge salad bar, sandwich bar, burger or specialty sandwich bar, an Asian bar, and two hot meal bars. There is always free fresh fruit and organic yogurt. And if you work late, there's typically free sandwiches and salads available.

I now work for an executive and am thus located with all of the execs and sales people. So I have to wear business casual clothes everyday and have a suit ready at any moment in case a CEO is visiting. In Montreal, I worked with development and could wear jeans, t-shirt and flip flops to work everyday. In Montreal, I never wore make-up and only half of the time fixed my hair. The other half of the time, my hair was most likely dirty and in a ponytail or braid. In PA, I've worn make-up everyday and straightened my hair all days except one.

In PA, there is a fitness center with classes such as zumba, yoga, and pilates. In Montreal, we were lucky if we even received a discount at a local fitness club with a corporate membership.

I'm now in a world where only telepresence meetings are acceptable and phone calls are frowned upon. However, 100 emails a day is OK.

The difference between the SAP world I'm used to in Montreal and my new world in PA feels extreme. I know I'm working for the same company, but it doesn't feel like it. I don't even interact with the same group of people. It's like I have a brand-new job. But like my dad said to me this weekend, many times you need to have a new job in order to understand your worth. Well, I hope that I'm worth a lot.

California Dreamin'

2011-08-07T23:12:00.005-04:00

Wow. What a whirlwind the last two months have been! There has been so much going on that I haven't been able to blog about my travels like I enjoy doing. So the month of July was spent in Seattle with friends and family and then in Alaska with family. Those two and a half weeks were amazing. But I will have to catch up on those stories later...

So I'm in Cali!!! I'm officially a California girl. I have been here for a week but I just moved into my apartment on Friday. I did a little shopping for said apartment on Saturday and just purchased my first groceries to stock my kitchen tonight. I officially live here and am no longer "on a business trip" like it felt last week while I was staying in the hotel and eating out every night. This is my home... at least for the next six months.

So as some of you may or may not know, I was trying very, very hard to live in San Francisco... even though my office is in Palo Alto. I wanted to live in a place that had many qualities like the ones I love about Montreal so much - such as being able to walk everywhere, a sense of community, etc. However, due to some very strict rules as part of my relocation, I was unable to procure an apartment in the city and was forced to get an apartment in Palo Alto. Then when my hand was forced to stay in Palo Alto, I had to fight for the current apartment that I have (which is why I had to stay in the hotel for the first week). Anyways, there are longer, more boring details which are unnecessary. Long story short - I wanted to live in San Francisco but was forced to live in Palo Alto.

I hate to admit when I'm wrong because, quite frankly, I'm very rarely wrong and so I really have to swallow my pride. However, being forced to live in Palo Alto was probably for the best. By the end of last week, I was already working 12 hour days and was extremely exhausted by the time I was ready to go home each day. Moreover, if I had to commute 1 hour each way everyday, I think it would be really difficult to fit in my exercise routines. I still wish that I lived in a place where I could walk to the grocery store and to the pub. But there's a different trend in PA that I intend to take advantage of... cycling. Everyone cycles. There are bike paths on every street you drive... and tons of cyclists at all hours of the day. Plus, my apartment is right across the street from Stanford University, where there are tons of hiking and running trails so starting this week, I plan to take advantage. And next to Stanford campus is some prime shopping areas, including but not limited to Nordstrom's, Bloomingdale's, Lord and Taylor, and Macy's. I will also be taking advantage of the shopping very soon. I do not have enough business casual clothes to get me through two weeks of work. So I need to add to my wardrobe. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! ;-)

The Valley is great. Every morning begins with some fog in the sky and by mid-morning it burns off and the beautiful sunshine is in the sky. It stays right around 75 degrees F (24 C) and then gets down to the mid-50s at night (13-15 C). The weather is just amazing. Oh! and my office... since I work for the Chief Marketing Officer, I have a decent office since he has a decent office. Our SAP office sits on the top of the hill and has a view of the mountains surrounding the Valley. And from my window if you look really hard, you can just see the water as well. It's incredible. I'm a really lucky girl.

When I arrived in Cali last Saturday, my dad graciously took me all around the Valley and helped me explore PA. The main road that goes through the Valley is called El Camino Real. Everything about that road is stereotypical of what I see in any movie depicting California. You can see all of the low, ranch-style houses and buildings. There are palm trees and tropical plants all around. When I moved to Canada, I was surprised when the anglophones said "eh" at the end of most sentences. I thoughts Americans just exaggerated and then it became a stereotype. I was incorrect in my assumption. The same is true for California. There's a reason why the movies look the way they do. My dad also introduced me to the best coffee I've ever had in my entire life, Philz Coffee. It's amazing. Each cup of coffee is brewed especially for you just the way you want it. Eat dirt Starbucks, I have a new lover named Philz!

In addition to my coffee love, I rediscovered another love... my roommate from Baylor University, Mikey. It's so great being back in the same area as Mikey. We had so much fun in college. While we've seen each other a couple of times since we graduated, we unfortunately didn't see each other that often. However, I've now gone to SF to see him and his boyfriend, Brett, both last weekend and this weekend. It's like no time has passed and things are just like they were back in the day. I always say the best friendships are the ones where time can pass but you can just pick up where you left off. And that's us! Plus, I was informed that the fag hag to gay man ratio in SF is completely out of balance and all of the fag hags are taken. Therefore it's a great thing we're reunited so I can help rectify the imbalance. :-) I'm always happy to help. Furthermore this weekend was Brett's birthday, and I met a whole group of fun and amazing men so I'm looking forward to spending a lot of time with Mikey, Brett, and their incredible group of friends.

In order to get all around down here, I have a car. It's so nice having a car again. I often forget how much I enjoy driving until I get behind the wheel. In the seven days that I've been here, I've managed to log over 500 miles (800 km) on my car. And that's without the commute that I wanted to have originally!

So there are my first impressions of California. I'm livin' the life, but there's always more adventures to come...

The Last Taste of London

2010-11-14T14:06:00.016-05:00

I'm continually amazed that I have a job which allows me to travel around the world. I don't always travel to exotic places but I have the opportunity to travel nonetheless. And obviously this trip was no different. I'm so happy I was able to visit London, as it has always been one of the places I wanted to go. Now if I can only talk someone into making a mandatory business trip to Paris. ;-) Maybe one day...

As it seems to be with any business trip, there's never enough time to do all of the sightseeing that you want to do. This trip was no different. But the trip was for business and I was able to go so I won't complain. The next time I go to London, there are definitely some places that I want to check out further... Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guards, shopping at Harrods, take in a show or two, visit Tate Modern and generally just explore around Trafalgar Square and Picadilly Circus. Plus, I still want to get smashed with some Englishmen at a pub. :-) Really for no other reason than to listen to their English accents and talk shit with them while ingesting beer.

The weather during my stay in London was not great. I think it rained all days except for one, which was the day I took my bus tour so I was quite lucky! But I guess that's to be expected. England seems to be known for its misty, dreary weather. Nonetheless, I was still able to get out and explore so who am I to complain? Although I don't know if I could live in a place that has weather like that all of the time. That's one really great thing about Montreal...seems like there is plenty of sunshine and that makes me happy. :-)

One thing that I really appreciate about London is the sense of fashion. It's edgier than what I've seen in most other places. I think that I would really embrace the fashion if I lived there. Although with greater courage for fashion also comes some over-the-top fashion statements. I did see a couple of people who really made me question what they were thinking when they got out of bed that morning. In general, though, the fashion is fantastic. As a side note, I wore my new hot pink coat today for the first time and felt absolutely amazing. I love my new coat!! It totally made my day brighter...no pun intended. :-)

Overall my experience in London was extremely positive. I enjoyed the area where I stayed and all of the areas that I visited. The one thing that I noticed is that London is very international. The way I describe it is that it's like the U.S. but international. :-) As a native English speaker, it's very easy to visit London since the official language is English. Now having traveled to multiple different countries, it can sometimes be stressful not knowing the native language. However, it was easy and simple in London. But when walking on the sidewalk or riding the tube, you hear Spanish, Italian, French, German, Russian...the list goes on and on. And I absolutely love that!! It's one of the aspects I really appreciate about Montreal. So of course it's one of the things that also attracts me to London. In most cities I visit, I always wonder if I could live there. If not for the high cost of living, I definitely think I could feel right at home in London.

So in closing, I say "cheerio" to London but not forever. I will be back... and always remember "Please Mind the Gap." :-)

Shopping and Portobello Market

2010-11-14T14:06:00.010-05:00

After finishing up my work on Friday evening, I decided that I wanted to go shopping and get a feel for some of the shops in London. So I headed to High Street Kensington to do a little shopping... my favorite past-time by far. ;-)

So when I got out of the tube station, I saw the cutest accessories store called...you guessed it... "Accessories." I'm amazed by the ingenuity and imagination. ;-) But they had a lot of fun stuff. But I decided that I didn't need any more hats, scarves, necklaces, earrings, etc. because I don't wear it often...especially since I work with mostly boys and they have absolutely no appreciation for it. So why try?! ;-)

I kept going and arrived at Marks and Spencer. My first experience at Marks and Spencer was in Shanghai. I had walked through the store there but was afraid to try-on anything with all of the tiny Chinese people. Compared to them, I looked like a massive, white giant and felt uncomfortable trying clothes on. Plus, I figured since I was in Shanghai I should buy things that I could only get in Shanghai. But since I'm now in London and Marks and Spencer is an English brand, it's only fitting that I shop there and try on clothes. :-) At least that's what I told myself... and thus it was the beginning of the end of my Friday evening...

Most things are grossly overpriced in London...and fashion is no different. But I've decided that Marks and Spencer is the Old Navy of England but with much better quality. The clothes are actually decently priced and just about everything I went passed in the store is adorable. Furthermore, it all comes in my size!! How exciting is that?!!? As many of you may have already seen in my pictures, I found this amazing hot pink wool/cashmere coat that I had to have. But literally...I had to have it. The coat I took with me to London was falling apart by the day. By the end of my stay, I felt like a homeless women. There were holes and the material was frayed in many places. I was a hot mess when I should have been really cute during my travels. So as you can imagine, the pink coat was an absolute necessity. Furthermore, I think every woman needs a hot pink coat. It makes you feel all girly and feminine. :-)

I tried on lots of other things and fell in love with just about everything I tried on. And while I equate Marks and Spencer to the Old Navy of England, the prices aren't exactly comparable. While M&S seems much cheaper than other stores, it's by no means "cheap." Just cheaper than the alternatives. But I found some jeans that I couldn't live without and got those as well. I'm really pleased with my purchases and am proud of myself for only buying the necessities.

Continuing on with my shopping theme, I still needed to pick up some souvenirs for my family and friends. I decided that the perfect place to do that (and the perfect finale to my London trip) was at Portobello Market in Notting Hill. The Portobello Market is probably most notorious because of the movie Notting Hill with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. There is a montage scene in the movie which shows time passing as Hugh Grant is walking along Portobello Road. So I definitely wanted to check it out.

I went to the market really early in the morning because I needed to be back at my hotel no later than 11am in order to start my journey back to Montreal. So I got to the market just as all of the vendors were setting up and getting ready for the day. For any of you who might visit London and want to go to Portobello Market, go first thing in the morning. I arrived around 9am and left about 10:30am. I felt like a fish swimming upstream as I was walking back. Seriously, it was the earth opened up and spit out a million people on Portobello Road. They were like moths drawn to the flame.

Portobello Market was fun. I didn't really know what to expect but there were a lot of "antique" stalls and kitsch shops. I put "antique" in quotes because by antique I really mean old, crappy shit. Although there were a few nice pieces, it was more like a big garage sale at some parts of the market. But there were also some unique things there as well. What I found really interesting is that there were a lot of handmade leather goods which still smelled like animals. I was tempted buy a handmade leather journal that also had handmade paper within. It was pretty cool. But I wasn't quite sure if I could get over the smell or if it would dissipate at all. I knew that if it didn't, I wouldn't use it and it would be a wasted purchase. So I continued on my trek for souvenirs. In the end, I found everything that I wanted or needed to get for my peeps. I won't mention what I got everyone because if they're reading this, I want it to be a surprise. I have so say, though, that my favorite find was my mom's...it's more sentimental than anything else, but as soon as I saw it, I had to get it for her. I can't wait to give it to her.

Portobello Market was my last taste of London and it was a good experience. As always, I wish that I had more time to explore and really get to know the neighborhoods...especially Notting Hill. It seems like a really cool part of town.

Churches of old

2010-11-12T09:23:00.006-05:00

On Friday morning, after only 4 hours of sleep, I forced myself out of bed so that I would have plenty of time to visit Westminster Abbey before I had to be back at my hotel room to take a conference call in the afternoon and then work the rest of the afternoon. It's a good thing that I'm a planner and that I typically try to arrive early rather than late, because if I had not left the hotel when I did, I would have never made it there and back in time for my meeting. Two of the main subway lines were closed down due to a police investigation. It made me wonder what they were investigating. (Later I found out that there was a body found on one of the tracks over night and so the police had do to some crime scene investigation. Yikes!!) So I had to put on my thinking cap and devise alternate routes to get to Westminster Abbey. My trek that morning took me almost an hour and a half. Plus, when I was coming home, said subway lines were still delayed so it took me another hour to get back to my hotel. Anyways, I digress...

Besides not being a traditional person, I'm not really a religious person either. But the one really strange thing about me is that I absolutely love the old churches and cathedrals found in Europe. It doesn't matter who, what, when, where or why, if there's a church or cathedral, I must see it. So as you can imagine, Westminster Abbey was at the top of my list. I'm so happy that I was able to visit.

I didn't know much about the history of Westminster Abbey, but I learned a lot of interesting and inspiring facts. There are parts of the church which are over 1000 years old. Before it was ever a practicing church, it was a monastery. To this day, they still have a boys choir and school affiliated with the church. Furthermore, a ton of people are buried at Westminster Abbey. Of course, all of the kings and queens of old are there, plus some of their kinfolk. However, most notably (and surprising to me), both Chaucer and Handel are buried there. They have their own memorials in the church. During my tour, they played an excerpt from Handel's Messiah. I forgot how much that music moves me. As I said, I'm not very religious anymore, but the music still gives me goosebumps. Sometimes I really miss singing and playing music. That was definitely one of those times I was feeling extremely nostalgic.

As I was touring Westminster Abbey, it finally dawned on me why I love churches so much. First of all, I find the architecture and design to be incomparable to anything else. You never see the same kind of gothic and ornate design in any other kind of building. But even more so, compare a building, for instance Tower of London, that was built in the same time as the church, in this case Westminster Abbey. The differences are night and day. Granted, the Tower of London was built for an entirely different purpose and was built with the intent of being a fortress against attackers and to protect the king. But the details in the church are unimaginable. There were even parts of the church which took over 400 years to complete because the various kings kept running out of money. But for what purpose must you build such an ornate building?!? Is it really for the glory of your god? Or is it for your glory so you can boast about it? I guess that's what I find so confounding about these old churches and cathedrals. Here they are spending tons of money to build such a grand place of worship and yet people are going hungry. The same is still true today. Ahhh...the many hypocrisies of religion... Let's not get started.

Once again, when touring Westminster Abbey, I was amazed at the traditions and rituals that have held fast over the many years. Every coronation for the last 700 years was held at Westminster Abbey. If I remember correctly, all weddings have also taken place there as well. I think it is amazing to be part of a society and culture which is so riddled with tradition. I don't know if I would appreciate it if were my heritage the way I appreciate it as an outsider. One of the really cool things was that during some of the restorations on parts of the church, they uncovered some of the original gothic wall paintings which were over 800 years old. It was really amazing to be able to see that!

Even considering my own personal beliefs on religion and putting that aside, Westminster Abbey was by far the most gorgeous church I have visited thus far in my travels. It's in a league all of its own. When I go back to London, I would like to go again but go with a real tour guide. Unfortunately, I was pressed for time and unable to take the guided tour. It's amazing to think that there are buildings older than my great country of America or my adopted country of Canada. Westminster Abbey, well-done in preserving your country's heritage and history!

Back on the tour again...London style

2010-11-12T08:52:00.006-05:00

So this week has been really busy with meetings and working. The last two nights I was working until 1am-2am and then getting up at 6am or 7am to get ready for the day. I'm exhausted. But I have to admit that I took a little time for myself on this glorious Friday morning (as glorious as you can get in dreary London) and visited Westminster Abbey. One word...incredible!! Oh, I guess I should mention that I also took a couple of hours yesterday afternoon and went to Tower of London with my colleagues. ;-) But really...I have been working EXTREMELY hard.

Tower of London was pretty cool. Of course it's a really old fort/tower and the artifacts are pretty amazing. Just to think that something has survived over 700 years is mind boggling. There are three things that I really enjoyed during my visit there.

1. The view from the Tower of the Thames River and the Tower Bridge. I got some nice pictures of the bridge and river from the Tower of London. Plus, yesterday was a strange day for weather. It was all dreary and raining in the morning, sunshine for about 2 hours in the afternoon and then torrential downpour for an hour until it got all dark and drizzly again. We were pretty lucky that the two hours of sunshine occurred while we were playing tourist.

2. Carvings in the soapstone walls. In one of the small towers, they used to house prisoners there. The prisoners would apparently occupy their time by carving into the soapstone walls. Amazingly enough, they were able to preserve parts of the wall. Some people wrote various sayings or proverbs, others wrote their names and dates, some others even drew pictures (although quite rudimentary). It was completely fascinating to see how people occupied their time while imprisoned.

3. The Crown Jewels. Need I say more?!?! I'm all about accessories. You know this if you know me at all. But the baubles and crowns that adorned the royal families are a little over the top....and I absolutely love it!!! :-) I have never before in my life seen such magnificent jewels. Even the crowns which were created over 200 years ago have gems and jewels that are dazzling. It's always been my expectation that the further we evolve, the more sophisticated designs are in general. But they sure knew how to craft intricate details and cut the stones. Plus, I got to see the world's largest and clearest diamond - the Asscher diamond which is mounted in the Queen Her Majesty's royal scepter. Uuuuhhhh....hello, can I have one for Christmas please?!? ;-) I wouldn't mind going back to the Tower of London to just stare at the Crown Jewels for hours. But the royal guards would probably think I'm planning a heist. I can't even imagine what it must feel like to adorn yourself with all of that stuff. But the fascists wouldn't let me take any pictures. Boo. :-(

In general, I'm not really what I would consider a "traditional" person. I don't have family traditions that I follow. There is really no pomp and circumstance in my life that drives my decisions. But I have to admit that there is something to be said for long standing traditions. Learning the history of the crown jewels and knowing that every royal person uses the same scepter for hundreds of years or that the same anointing spoon has been used in every coronation ceremony for the past 700 years - it makes me appreciate the value of tradition and
why people hold fast to this kind of ideology.

Stay tuned for my thoughts of Westminster Abbey... and in the words of the English, "have a good day, love!" xoxo

Bonafide London tourist

2010-11-07T17:02:00.002-05:00

So yesterday was all about travel, seeing my friend from high school and trying to cope with my jet lag. Today was all about touring London and seeing the sights. I bought a bus tour ticket and went all around Central London. I was able to see so many fantastic sights and am looking forward to going back to see more later this week.

This morning I treated myself to an English breakfast buffet...which was pretty much the same thing as an American breakfast buffet except for a few unidentified objects - namely some charred black sausage patty looking thing. Otherwise all was good.

I got to know the London tube system better today. Unfortunately on my way to the bus tour, parts of the tube were shut down so I had to figure out alternative methods to get to my destination. But all's well that ends well. My bus tour began in Picadilly Circus. My colleague told me to visit there and I asked him what was there and he said theatres, shops, and restaurants. I was thinking to myself that it didn't sound very unique and had pretty much written it off of my list of things to do in London. But it was absolutely fantastic!! That area of London is so thriving and upbeat. It would be really great if I could get in a show while here but I doubt that I will find enough time. But let's see...

On my bus tour, I saw all of the major attractions of London... Trafalger Square, Buckingham Palace (although we weren't able to get too close), Hyde Park, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tate Modern Exhibit, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, River Thames, Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye. Oooh, I got to see where Margaret Thatcher and J.K. Rowlings live. Mind you, all of this was seen from the upper portion of my bus. But it was a great introduction to London and to some of the sights that I would like to go back and visit.

However, I did go on the London Eye today. It was pretty fantastic. It's a great way to get a 360 degree view of all of London. There is an introductory video that boasts about being 4D. I was thinking to myself, what the heck is 4D? What more can they add? During the video, they blow bubbles, snow flakes and spray you with water. I was unprepared for that. :-)

So I have to admit that I was a bad tourist and ate at McDonald's today. I realized I hadn't eaten in almost 6 hours and all of the sudden I started getting the shakes from low blood sugar. So I broke down and bought a chicken sandwich that I could quickly eat and then get real food later. However, I can safely report that the chicken sandwich in London tastes the same as it does in the U.S. and Canada.

Oh guess what... there used to be a Republic of Texas Embassy here in London before Texas became part of the U.S. Now they have a Texas Embassy restaurant in its place. I also saw the Canadian Embassy with its flag flying high. Pictures of both places to be posted soon.

There's a lot more to discuss but it's my bed time and tomorrow starts the work (the whole reason why I'm here). But I will make sure to post more later...and pics as well.

The Motherland of America

2010-11-06T14:58:00.003-04:00

So I arrived in London very early this morning (i.e. 7:00am). I had high hopes that my flight would be quite empty, as it showed many empty seats when I was checking in. But it was all a conspiracy because the flight was full. Needless to say, sleep on the airplane was restless and fitful. So as I disembarked the plane and headed to customs, I was completely disoriented and overwhelmed by the magnitude of people who were also arriving at Heathrow at 7am on a Saturday morning.

Immigration and customs were very easy. I guess the UK government doesn't give Americans a hard time when traveling to London like the American government gives our fellow British companions a hard time. (Back story: my British friend was traveling to the U.S. from Canada to go to some meetings at a customer of ours and the U.S. immigration officers detained him for questioning for hours and finally let him through but told him not to come back to the U.S. without a work visa. Mind you, he was just going for some meetings and does not work out of or live in the U.S. smh. Ahhh...gotta love the U.S. government.)

I took the Heathrow Express from the airport to Paddington Square in central London. It travels 15 miles in 15 minutes, which is apparently a big deal in London. It was a very nice train and good experience. Then I proceeded to go to the Underground Tube in order to get to my hotel. A friend of mine had suggested that I not take the tube with all of my luggage because it's a lot of stairs and few escalators. But did I heed his advice? No, because I'm stubborn like that. Sooo...my friend was right. I should have just taken a taxi because my luggage and those stairs were quite the workout!! But, c'est la vie! :-)

It's about a 6 minute walk from the Tube station to my hotel on Holland Park Ave. I'm staying in Kensington, right on the edge of Notting Hill. Let me tell you...it looks just like the movie. Plus, it's still fall here (not full-on winter like Montreal) and it's very picturesque with the fall leaves and brisk breeze. I've seen the typical red, double decker buses that you always hear about. I also saw the stereotypical black taxi cabs. It still completely trips me out to see someone getting in the car on the "wrong side" in order to drive. I guess I'm an American at heart. ;-)

One funny thing is that at every cross walk, it's written "Look right" or "Look left". I have to wonder if this courtesy is for the tourists because traffic travels on the opposite sides of the street than most other places in the world. Or if this is written because the traffic is so screwy that pedestrians need a reminder which way to look. Anyhow, I will take a picture and post because I think it's funny.

Speaking of cross walks, I do find it difficult when crossing the street. You don't realize it, but you become accustomed to always looking to your left first, then your right in order to check for oncoming traffic. However, you need to do the opposite here. Several times I had to catch myself before stepping out onto the road because I quickly realized that there was oncoming traffic.

I also was able to see one of my friends from high school, as she and her husband are in London for a week visiting family and friends. I haven't seen her in 11 or 12 years so that was fun to catch up and see how she was doing. I also was able to visit a proper English pub, although I only had one pint of beer. But I expect that to be the first of many visits to the pub. I'm looking forward to grabbing some dinner tonight and just listening to the British accent. Oh how I love it. I'm a sucker for the accents...I can't help it.

More pics of Shanghai

2010-07-17T06:51:00.022-04:00

The following are some of my favorite pics of Shanghai. But to see all pictures, visit my Facebook page.

My hotel at night - yes, my hotel is the one with the purple light.

This is the bridge I would take every day to get back and forth from my hotel to the office. Notice the rainbow lights as it's starting to get dark. I think Shanghai is LGBT friendly. ;-)

This was right by my hotel - note that the bushes are shaped like peacocks. It was really amazing to see!

One of the entrances for Yuyuan, the place where I did some shopping and visited a Chinese Garden and architecture.

Walking around in Yuyuan.

One of the signs posted for an electronics store. I couldn't help taking a picture and posting. Clearly a non-native English speaker translated this.

Yu Garden

The furniture you see here is all made of knotted wood and somehow formed into the shape of a chair. Amazing craftsmanship!

There was a special exhibit for a contemporary French artist, Katarina HallbackMonnier, at Yuyuan. I think this piece in particular was quite spectacular.

There was a man-made stream going through Yuyuan with a gazillion goldfish. Here's a pic of some children feeding the goldfish.

Obligatory self-portrait at Yuyuan. I would just like to say, this is not vanity. It is an essential if you are traveling alone and don't have anyone to take a picture of you. ;-)

Pretty building and waterfall.

The entire top of the wall was topped by the tail of the dragon. I couldn't capture it all in the photo but it was pretty cool. :-)

Visiting the financial district.

Only white woman for miles.

The Shanghai World Finance Center. This is the world's second tallest building with a lookout point on the 100th floor. The building was so tall, I couldn't even fit it all in my camera view.

Amazing view of Shanghai from the 100th floor of the SWFC.

Me and Benny (my colleague) at the SWFC.

China stands for change

2010-07-15T12:01:00.004-04:00

So my trip to Shanghai was ultimately successful. While I blogged about all of my personal experiences, the real purpose of my trip was for business, and I accomplished what I was suppose to accomplish. So YAY!!

My experience in Shanghai is one that I will never forget. It was my first taste of China and was just enough of an amuse-bouche so that I want to taste more. I would love to go back to China and visit Beijing or Hong Kong. I would even love to go back to Shanghai and complete my visit.

There are some things I will never forget.

1. Humidity. I know this was a resounding theme but let me tell you, it will take a very, very long time for me to forget just how incredibly humid it was in Shanghai. On those days where I would spend time outside, I was taking showers at least twice a day. There was one point where I was completely soaked with sweat...and I'm not even exaggerating. Thank god I'm married because there is no way I would be able to attract a man with all of that mess that was going on my sweatiness, frizzy hair, and oily skin. I felt like an awkward teenager all over again.

2. Crowds and sense of personal space. I think if I were to live in China, it would take me a while to get use to the lack of personal space. Not only did I experience this in the queue for the ferry while at the Expo, the lack of personal space was also quite evident in elevators. Every single person waiting in line for an elevator would pile in so that the doors would barely shut. I would just think to myself that I hoped the elevator didn't get stuck or else I was going to go into panic mode.

3. The taxi rides. Every taxi ride I took, I was completely astounded by the driving. Very rarely do any cars slow down for pedestrians. The expectation is that the people move out of the way of the cars but the cars do not yield to pedestrians...or anything else on the road for that matter. And all drivers tail gate really bad, leave very little room when maneuvering between lanes and stop quickly and close to other cars. There are lines in the road marking the lanes and yet very few drivers pay attention to them. However the amazing thing is that I did not see one single car which was dented or had any scratches. Despite what seems like crazy driving, there seem to be very little accidents. I think the drivers are more aware of their surroundings and pay closer attention when driving, thus reducing the amount of accidents.

4. Modernness of Shanghai. I'm still amazed at how Shanghai is so modern and new. Much of the city's growth has been realized within the last 10-15 years and you can tell. Many of the buildings and roadways are sleek and streamlined with the bright lights. There are clean public restrooms on the sidewalks that you pay to use. The people are all about the brand names and boast some of the best designers in the world. Shanghai has some of the newest gadgets in the world and are on the cutting edge of innovation in many ways. On the other hand, the people are still rooted in traditional ways. They try not to use air conditioning. Many people ride bikes and transport everything by hand. People sit on the streets making their own handcrafted items.
The people have a deep sense of family and women honor their husbands and obey them. I find the dichotomy fascinating! I think Shanghai is the perfect medley of Chinese tradition and global modernism.

Shanghai is an amazing city with a great mixture of old and new. Anywhere you go, the service is impeccable and the people are nice. I obviously stood out as a tourist or foreigner but by the end of my stay I was starting to feel more comfortable and was getting my bearings. But maybe that's due to the shopping - that can always put a girl at ease. ;-) It is definitely a different culture, a different way of life. You can be sure of that the minute you step off of the plane. But it is refreshing and nice to experience something so different from your normal reality. It is stressful traveling in a foreign place by yourself but there is also a sense of freedom and abandonement which is also prevalent. I'm so thankful my company afforded me the opportunity for such a trip and I look forward to the next one, wherever it may take me.

My last day and a half

2010-07-12T10:52:00.006-04:00

Saturday and Sunday have now come to an end for me here in Shanghai. It's bitter sweet, as a part of me is looking forward to getting back to my home and seeing Esteban this next week. But I feel like I haven't done close to what I wanted to do personally while in Shanghai.

Saturday was a fun-filled day of some sight-seeing, shopping, dinner and more sight-seeing. I went to Yuyuan (or Yu Garden in English) and looked at some traditional Chinese architecture and gardens, which were absolutely gorgeous. I did some of the typical tourist shopping and bought some fab souvenirs for the loved ones in my life. And if anyone receives a souvenir from me that they don't want, I'm more than happy to keep it myself. I was looking at all of the loot on my bed last night and was thinking that I didn't want to give any of it away. Ha ha ha!! I'm so selfish. ;-)

The shopping experience in Yu Garden is very interesting. Of course being a white woman, I felt like every other street vendor accosted me and tried to get me to look at their watches and handbags. By the end, I was actually getting really annoyed. At first I was really polite with everyone and said, "No thank you. I'm not interested," and would smile. By the end, I would just say no, not make eye contact and keep walking. I negotiated prices on many of the things I purchased so that was exciting and a first for me. I even got a really fabulous pair of earrings. The woman first told me an amount equivalent to $45 CAD. I immediately said thanks, turned around and starting walking out. She yelled at me to stop and then offered me a price of $16 CAD for the same pair of earrings. We haggled back and forth and I got her down to $14 CAD. I was impressed with myself. But I have to wonder if other tourists always pay the original asking price. I mean I saved myself enough money have four extra pints of beer when I get home.

Which speaking of alcohol, I have been completely sober the entire time I've been here. Not one single drop of alcohol was consumed. Granted, it's only been 10 days, but it seems like recently with all of the activities going on in my life...hockey playoffs, Bree's graduation, Orlando, BBQs, F1 race, dinner with friends, World Cup, etc...I was consuming way too much alcohol. Anyways, not the point of this blog, but it does feel like quite the accomplishment to not consume alcohol on my entire trip. :-)

After shopping in Yuyuan, I went to another market which is more like shopping areas in North America. But there were some amazing shops with unique jewelery, tea shops, accessories and fashion. It was a different experience there but still lots of fun. I was walking around the area and even ran across the China flagship store for Coach, Tiffany & Co. and Louis Vuitton! I was pleasantly surprised and felt very much at home. Although to my disappointment, the prices weren't any cheaper in Shanghai and so I did not end up with any luxury items.

Later on in the evening, I met up with my colleague for dinner (yummy food but nothing as crazy as the first dinner) and then we went to the top of the Shanghai World Finance Center (SWFC). It is the second tallest building in the world but has the highest lookout point of all the world's skyscrapers. And let me tell you, this was one tall building. However the craziest thing of all is that on the 100th floor, which is the highest look out point, there are clear floor tiles down the middle of the entire room. You can see straight down to the ground. At first I couldn't even look down through the floor, let alone walk from one side of the room to the other. Just to put it into perspective, I currently live on the 14th floor in my new apartment building that I moved into just over a month ago. I have a fantastic view of Montreal...just spectacular. I picked this apartment for the view. However, I cannot look over the side of my patio railing and look down at the ground. I have no problem with looking out over the city of Montreal, but I cannot look down at the sidewalk or street below. Now put me on the 100th floor of a building and this compounds the height issue.

Eventually I was able to walk across the room as long as I didn't look down, but even when I got to the windows I had to slowly inch closer and have a death grip on the railing that was at the windows. When did I become such a coward?!?! But man, when you get to the window of the SWFC and look out across Shanghai, it's amazing!! If you remember, in a previous post I was telling you about all of the lights at night in Shanghai. Imagine seeing all of that in one view as you look at the city. It's unbelievable. In order to get to the 100th floor, you have to wait in like 4 different queues; one to buy your ticket, one to see the introductory video, one to get on the elevator to the 94th floor, another to get on the elevator to the 100th floor. Then on the way down, you have two more queues; one to leave the 100th floor and one to leave the 94th floor and go to the bottom floor. I think my colleague and I only spent 15-20 minutes on the 100th floor. But I realized the entire process was about 2 hours. Even considering all of this, it was totally worth it to experience Shanghai like that. This is a definite Must-do for anyone who visits Shanghai.

Oh and by the way, if you visit Shanghai in 2012 or after, you might get to experience the new high rise building which is supposed to be twice as tall as the SWFC. Amazing, huh?

On Sunday, I did some more shopping because I still hadn't found the perfect gift for everyone. I went to a different place for my final shopping. I had intended to go to the Jade Buddha Temple but ran out of time before I had to check out of the hotel and begin my 24 hours of travel on Sunday afternoon. I think that is my biggest disappointment from my trip because I really wanted to see the Buddhist temple. I guess I now have an excuse to go back at some point. I hopped in a taxi and proceeded back to the airport. While waiting in line for the airport check-in, I met 4 really nice women, two originally from China but currently living in New Jersey and two young women living in San Antonio.

The trip home was mostly uneventful and actually wasn't as bad as my trip going to Shanghai. The airplane was much roomier and thus I felt more comfortable during the 13 hour duration. Plus, my seatmate was really nice and kind of cute. ;-) I finally made it home at midnight on Sunday night. And the rest is history...

Not ready yet

2010-07-12T10:34:00.004-04:00

Shanghai is still humid as hell...literally. But I think I might actually be acclimating. The other day on my taxi ride from the office back to my hotel, the taxi driver kept the windows open instead of turning on the air conditioner in the car. I thought to myself that the temperature must have been cooler than in previous days. So in curiosity I checked the temp when I got back to the hotel and it was the same temperature that it had been for the last several days. Huh. Maybe it's not so bad when you're used to it. ;-)

The day after that, I left the office late. It was the first time I happened to be in a taxi after dark. When night falls in Shanghai, it's absolutely amazing. Every bridge (and there are several bridges getting to Shanghai from the suburban areas and where the office is located) is alight with bright fluorescent colors that illuminate the night sky. I had previously taken a picture of the highways at night from my hotel room, but that is minimal when looking at the entire city. I felt like I was in the China Las Vegas. It's surprising how modern Shanghai is when considering how old the culture is here in China.

It's my last working day here in Shanghai, and then I have all day Saturday and the first half of Sunday to get in as much sight-seeing as I possibly can. I have a list of at least 10 things I want to do and am going to have a very hard time trying to decide. But I'm determined to wake up early tomorrow and be out all day until late in the night and do the same on Sunday until I absolutely have to leave for the airport.

At first 10 days felt like a long time but when you include travel days, working days and jet lag, it's not very long at all. I wish that I had more time. But alas, I don't and so I have to jam-pack my next day and a half full of all I can possibly experience.

Humidity = mosquitoes, right?

2010-07-06T07:35:00.002-04:00

Well, I'm going to be pretty boring today because I'm exhausted (maybe it's delayed jet lag?) and want to go to bed soon. Plus, I didn't do very much today except work.

However, I made one very interesting observation today. There are no mosquitoes here despite the crazy humidity that I can't get over. But not only are there no mosquitoes, my colleague has never even heard of them. She thought I was crazy when I asked her about this tiny flying bug that sucks your blood and leaves a bump on your skin that itches like crazy. When she asked what they were and I described mosquitoes, she really thought that I was playing a joke on her.

Oh one other thing...Esteban gave me a really hard time for trying escargot here in Shanghai and never in Montreal where French food is rampant with escargot. I told him that I needed a crazy motivating factor in order to try it. He happened to mention that maybe when we first moved to Montreal that should have been a crazy motivating factor...like when in Rome... But I held out for Shanghai. I wonder if the slugs here taste different than the slugs in France or Montreal. Hmmm...something to ponder...

Lastly, I have yet to see the sun shine in Shanghai. I need to ask my colleague if this is normal because of all of the humidity during the summer. Or if this is a strange phenomenon just because I'm visiting.

A few pics of Shanghai

2010-07-05T09:22:00.008-04:00

The view of downtown Shanghai from my hotel room window.

Part of the Korean pavilion at Expo 2010.
Indian pavilion at Expo 2010.
Super awesome women's urinal bathroom experience. Please note that it's the "Squatting type" (as if that wasn't painfully obvious).
A man transporting recyclables on a bicycle. This seems very typical throughout the entire city.
Night view of downtown Shanghai from my hotel room. The blue lights you see are lights on the highways. Beautiful, huh?

Adventures and Observations

2010-07-05T08:29:00.003-04:00

So today was a bit more normal because I went to the office and worked with my colleague at our SAP Labs offices in the suburbs of Shanghai. Although I did have some new experiences today.

While I took a taxi to the office this morning, I rode the metro back to my hotel. As mentioned previously, I have recently discovered that I am claustrophobic in large crowds. However, the crowd in the metro wasn't so bad. Plus, I had my colleague with me for extra moral support. :-) The metro is surprisingly clean considering the amount of traffic it sees everyday. Plus, the automated voice announces all stops in both Chinese and English - very convenient for us foreigners. I think I will try the metro again tomorrow by myself and see how I fare. Although I continue to get the odd stares from people - it's like they've never seen a white woman before.

Secondly, my colleague and I went out for dinner tonight after finishing up at work. For those of you who know me, you will never in a million years guess what I tried tonight.
1. Pickled baby bok choy
2. Fried pigeon (the head was even on the plate)
3. Escargot in a butter garlic sauce
4. Pork dumplings
5. Burnt green beans
6. Fermented bean curd

My favorite was the pork dumplings followed equally by the fried pigeon, escargot and pickled bok choy. I didn't really like the green beans and I about threw up in my mouth with the fermented bean curd (the smell was so awful I could barely swallow the food). I was literally having to breath through my gag reflex on the bean curd. Unfortunately, I pretty much lost most of my appetite after that. But I tried it all and am very proud of myself!!! I would never have ordered any of that for myself but had decided to try anything my colleague suggested. Yay me!! =)

While in the taxi on the way to work this morning, I was jotting down a bunch of my observations that I want to share with you all (and these aren't in any sort of order - just a random list).

1. Even when there isn't any rain or any sun, people walk around with open umbrellas. I'm assuming it's to help with the humidity but I'm at a loss as to what the umbrella actually does for you. I've now seen this three days in a row.

2. Mopeds (or vespas) have their own road rules (or don't pay attention to any road rules). And there are traffic police at most busy intersections to ensure that the mopeds follow traffic lights and signs. I was almost run over by a moped on Sunday.

3. A green walking signal at an intersection doesn't mean that the pedestrian is protected to walk across the intersection. It only means that this is the most acceptable time for you to cross. You may still be hit by a turning car or a moped (as is my case in both instances).

4. When it rains, the moped drivers have these amazing ponchos which not only cover the motorist but the entire front end of their moped with a clear plastic to allow the lights on the moped to shine through. The poncho protects their entire upper bodies, including arms and hands, as well as the entire front end of the moped. I will have to try and take a picture of this later this week so you can fully understand.

5. Drivers fully utilize their lights and horns in order to move through traffic on the roads. However neither seems rude like it most likely would in North American cities. You honk to let other drivers know to go faster or get out of the way. You also honk at pedestrians who are out in the street to make sure they know you are coming. You flash your lights to let other drivers know to get out of your way. At first I found this behavior a little alarming. But two days into my visit, I think it is efficient. I mean, don't we always complain about needing better communication? I think the Chinese have it right.

So that's my random list for today. Stay tuned for tomorrow's adventure in the metro by myself and any other mishaps I may get into. =)

American...huh?

2010-07-04T01:15:00.005-04:00

So I wanted to go see some of the shops today and experience some good Chinese food. Before starting out, I stopped at the concierge to ask for a restaurant suggestion. He looked at me and said, "You want McDonalds?" I laughed and said no, I wanted a good restaurant. Then he said, "McDonalds is right over there," and pointed across the street. So I said I want Chinese food and he said, "You want General Tso's chicken?" Hmmm...this guy doesn't seem to have much faith in my desire to try new things. I told him that I wanted real Chinese food and asked him where he would eat. At which point he told me he wouldn't eat around here. Great. =( Big fail on the food so far.

So I decided to go looking at the shops and put off eating, thinking maybe I'll find something on my own. I'm walking along the main road that has all of the shops (and am completely melting in the humidity but that's another story all together). No sooner did I venture away from my hotel, I'm about three blocks down the road and see one of the most peculiar sights I have ever seen. But I don't know if it's because I'm from North America. Let me explain... I see a gentleman holding an infant (probably not more than a year old). And the gentleman is almost squatting on the sidewalk, holding the child in a seated position by her legs. I found it odd so I continued to stare (yes, probably a little rude but whatever) at which point I realized the little girl's pants were around her ankles and the gentleman had her legs spread apart so she could pee at the base of the tree on the sidewalk. I almost stopped to see if she was actually going to pee considering she is so young and I would be surprised if she could pee on demand. But alas, I kept on walking. I'm curious to know if this is normal practice here in China. Anyway, needless to say, I avoided any wet spots on the pavement after witnessing that.

So I continue walking and I obviously stand out amongst the crowd. Therefore I'm apparently a magnet for every street pedaler. Every other block is someone offering me a great price on handbags and watches. Ummm...thanks, but no thanks. I saw Sex and the City 2 and will not be going anywhere with you to look at your handbags. I don't know what the laws are here.

So I found all of the high-end shops and looked at Coach, Burberry, Gucci, etc. But I didn't see any phenomenal prices. So shopping was a bust today but that's ok. I got the opportunity to walk around a bit and experience some of the city.

I had to come back to my hotel, though. The humidity is killer!!! I know I complained about it in my last entry, but it's worse than I described. I don't even know how to describe it. I was wearing cropped denim pants today and went into Marks & Spencer with the intention of buying something cooler to wear. My jeans were sticking to me as I walked and I had this super sexy sheen of sweat all over my body. I mean this humidity is bordering on ridiculous. I ended up not buying anything because I decided I probably didn't need anymore clothes. But we'll see how the rest of the week goes and if I can handle this insanity.

Now I'm off to the Expo in a few minutes... will update later with those details.

Ok, so the Expo was interesting to say the least. Can I once again bitch about the humidity?!?! This shit is killer!!! I think I'm going to melt before I ever make it back to Montreal. By the time I left the Expo (after only 3 hours), I was completely soaked through and through with sweat. I was the literal definition of hot mess.

My oh so lovely hotel has a free shuttle to and from the Expo so I took that and arrived at my destination. There are loads of queues and apparently seven different gates in which you can enter the Expo. The Expo spans on both sides of the Huangpu River and is actually really huge. I wasn't expecting something so large and extravagant. The buildings were incredible. But there were so many people!

The Expo is a huge international event and therefore I expected to see more of an international crowd. But I can count on one hand the number of non-Asians I saw. That's ok, though, just an observation.

So all of the neater country pavilions were located on the other side of the river. So you have to wait in a queue to take a ferry across the river. As soon as I figured this out, I found the nearest ferry queue to take. While waiting in line, there are definitely some cultural differences that I noticed.

1. No sense of personal space. I was prepared for this considering that Shanghai has over 18 million people and is the largest city in the world. I figured that everything would be crowded. But I wasn't prepared for the young woman leaning against my breast while her boyfriend picked food out of her teeth. Unfortunately there wasn't any room to maneuver so I was stuck.

2. There isn't any order when waiting in a queue. I've been to a lot of amusement parks, the post office, the bank. And in each of those places, it's essentially first come, first serve; i.e. first one in the line, first one out of the line. That doesn't seem to be the case here...or at least at the Expo. The queue was just a formality. Once people got in line, they starting finding holes in the line and would push their way forward. And there were entire families that did this. At first I was getting really irritated but then realized that everyone was doing this and no one was complaining. So I figured it was the norm.

3. Public restrooms...'nough said. I know I've already mentioned peeing once today but it has come up again. The public restrooms have urinals in the ground where women squat over them and pee. I can honestly say I haven't squat and peed since I was thirteen and camping. I was so paranoid about going on myself but all ended well. I made sure to take a picture of the "toilet" so you all could live my experience. =) Unfortunately, after exiting the restroom and washing my hands, I realized that there were a few stalls that actually had a toilet seat (i.e. 6 stalls out of 25). I will make sure to keep my eyes open for them next time.

So all in all, the Expo was an experience to say the least. And I haven't even mentioned the actual Expo part. Well, my first experience with queues left me feeling very claustrophobic and nauseous. I really didn't think that I was claustrophobic but by the time I boarded the ferry, I had to make sure I went upstairs and got a seat outside because I thought I was going to vomit. I almost didn't even go on the ferry because I didn't want to have to deal with coming back in order to exit the Expo. But I went and walked around but didn't actually go into any of the Pavilions. The lines for each pavilion was even longer than the queue for the ferry and I didn't want to relive that experience more than necessary. And the only Pavilion that I really wanted to see was the Indian one and that pavilion had the longest queue times three compared to any others that I saw. So I just walked around and continued melting in the humidity.

Then all of the sudden a huge downpour erupted and everyone was scattering for shelter. However, the handy traveler that I am...I had my own umbrella. =) But I slowly made my way back to the ferry to go back to the other side. This time, no queue. =)

Lastly (I know, super long entry this time), I experienced some Chinese food. I had shrimp with some spicy sauce and chicken in some soya and spicy sauce. Not very adventurous yet but getting there. I'm working way up. On the menu, they had shark fin soup but for moral and personal taste reasons, I could not bring myself to try it. Furthermore, I would like to see trying to expense a $100 bowl of soup. Somehow I don't think they would have accepted that.

Today, I will go into the office and meet my colleagues here for the first time in person. And tonight I hope to try some of the famous seafood around here.

喂中國 (Hello China!)

2010-07-03T16:53:00.004-04:00

I'm here!! I'm here!! Although I haven't done much yet. But I'm here!! It's 4:55 am on Sunday. I arrived in China roughly 12 hours ago. And let me tell you...that plane was NOT nice to my butt. Towards the end of my 13 hour flight, all I wanted was someone to make me pass out because I couldn't stand the butt sore I was getting from sitting for so long.

Funny thing about the plane...being based out of Montreal, I use AirCanada quite a bit now for travel. And it would seem that I have become spoiled with my Canadian airline. Each seat has it's own tv for you to watch movies, tv shows, sports, etc. And there is plenty of leg room (although I don't personally need it considering how short my legs are). However, the leg room just makes it feel more spacious and less claustrophobic. I can almost say that I enjoy traveling when flying with AirCanada. And let me be clear...the flying arrangements that I describe are in Coach class (not business or first class).

So I'm flying AirCanada to San Francisco and then am to take a United flight from San Fran to Shanghai. I about lost my shit when I got on board my United flight in San Fran. There is half the leg room and I'm forced to watch whatever they are showing to the entire plane. The seats are plastic and uncomfortable (which I attribute to my butt sore that I previously mentioned). Now don't get me wrong...at least they have a movie. And the flight staff was really nice and tried to make accommodations where possible. Plus, there was an empty seat beside me so at least I wasn't jammed with people right next to me. So there are a few things to be grateful for. But hello air carriers, this is a 13 hour flight!! Can we at least pretend to be interested in the passengers' comfort?!?!?

Next time, I will ensure that I fly business class. My butt and my back are already dreading the flight home. Maybe I will really luck out and no one will be on my flight and I can stretch out across the seats and sleep. Ahhhh...here's to dreaming. ;-)

Needless to say, I was pretty exhausted when arriving. I checked into my posh hotel (hello, this hotel is one of the nicest hotels I've stayed at and the service is incredible!!!) and went to one of the four hotel restaurant in the 60-floor building where I am staying in downtown Shanghai. I decided on a restaurant called "California Grille". I know, not very adventurous but I promise I will start today. I opted for this because I just wanted to sleep well and didn't want any tummy problems my first night.

Funny thing about interpretations of a place where you're not familiar with... I was expecting the California Grille to have some tex-mex, some light, fresh fare - typical things when eating in a proclaimed "California style" restaurant. However, on the menu, they boasted all sorts of imported Australian beef, lobster, cornish hen, and braised pork ribs. It's not really my idea of California but the menu looked great. I tried the cornish hen, which was stuffed with wild rice and onion confit. Let me tell you, that was one of the best meals I have ever had! So scrumptious! Yum!! :-)

The other thing to tell you about is the weather here. OH. MY. GOD!!!! Once again, I've been spoiled by living in Montreal for too long. Apparently it's been raining like every day here. And if you're not aware, Shanghai is a coastal city. So that combination plus heat is detrimental to my hair and general enjoyment of outside activities. It's like being in the Valley again. The air is so thick, it's hard to breathe and you just feel like water is sitting on your skin. I've forgotten what real humidity is like (because people in Montreal like to complain about humidity since we're next to the St. Lawrence river but they have no idea). But my arrival to the bustling metropolis of Shanghai was a lovely reminder as to what I've been missing since moving out of the Valley. Hmmmm...yeah, I don't miss it.

Anyway, plans for today include trying local food, visiting the Expo 2010 (which just happens to be in Shanghai this year) and looking at the shops. Oh my god, can I tell you that I saw the BIGGEST Gucci store ever! It takes up a full square block...and it's walking distance from my hotel. Guess who's visiting...that would be me! ;-)

Okay, stay tuned for some additional updates from my first trip to China (and Asia for that matter)...

再見 (Goodbye!)

Happy Birthday, lil' sis!!

2009-07-22T18:44:00.007-04:00

Today is my sister’s birthday, and she turns 21 years old. I remember the day she was born and how scared I was that my sister was going to be a mutant or a cone-head. =) But she’s neither, and I’m so proud of her and who she is. However, to me, this year her birthday is a gentle reminder of what she and I have been through together, as sisters.

In some ways I will sound like a mother in this blog – because that’s part of who I am and how I grew up with my sister. We’re eight years apart and part of being so much older and having parents who thought I was ‘very responsible’ meant that I became a second mother to my sister. I don’t know whether she ever saw me like that but mostly that’s how I felt. My sister was and still is my responsibility (at least how I see it), and I will do everything I can to ensure her well-being. But, in the end, I am her sister (not her mother) and in many ways she’s one of my best friends.

You see, my sister and I shared something very life changing and I believe it’s bonded us for life (as if being sisters isn’t a big enough bond =)). We shared our parents’ divorce – one that was so painful and difficult that there is irreversible change to both of us. I freely speak of my parents’ divorce to any who ask – I’m like that with most aspects of my life. But what I don’t share freely is the hurt and anger and disappointment in my parents and how they treated my sister and me during and after their divorce. I believe in many ways, my sister and I have become each other’s family and we lean on each other more now than we ever did growing up.

It was when I was 21 years old that my parents got divorced after 31 years of marriage. At the time my sister was 13 years old and I knew that she was going to feel the effects of the divorce harder than anyone else. Neither one of my parents was very stable, emotionally or otherwise. I was so worried about her. While I wasn’t around a lot when she was growing up (since I was away at boarding school) and lord knows she drove me crazy more often than not, I loved her more than anything and only wanted to protect her. The momma bear in me was in full gear. At the young age of 21, the same age as my sister is today, my husband (then boyfriend) and I were researching ways how I could adopt a 13 year old and provide a stable home for her in light of my parents’ divorce.

Only if you knew the pain, the hurt, and the drama that my sister and I endured would you understand the weight of my parent’s divorce on our lives, the stress, the burden. But as I said earlier, unfortunately my sister had the shitty end of the stick during this whole business.

However, if you looked at my sister today, you would never know this. You would never know that she had one of the hardest decisions of her life to choose between a mother who was only interested in her boyfriends and a father who could barely manage his anger, his job and his efficiency apartment in the barrio, let alone try to raise a 13 year old by himself. You would never know that she practically raised herself on her own because our mother conveniently left a teenager alone in the house most nights. You would never know that when she graduated from high school, she didn’t have a home because our mother chose her boyfriend over her daughter. You would never know that she reached out to our dad many times but unfortunately because of time and distance, that reach wasn’t reciprocated as desired. And you would never know that her success in life, cheerleader captain, honor roll student, academic scholarship recipient, all around decent human being, was completely and solely driven from within herself.

I am sad to admit that while I was willing to give up my life and adopt my sister to give her a better one, my good intentions never came to fruition. And unfortunately in my world, my own crazy life took precedence over my sister’s. My whole family was selfish and self-centered and no one ever put her first like they should have. Although eight years later, I think each one of my family members is much more stable and I venture to say maybe even better off than where we were all those years ago before the divorce happened.

All of this is explained, though, as a testament to the incredible person my sister has become in her 21 years of life. I am awed and amazed by her. While my sister doesn’t wear her pain or trials like a badge of honor and it wouldn’t be apparent to anyone who doesn't know what she’s endured, what you would see when you look at my sister is her capacity to love, her compassion, her vivaciousness, her genuineness, her strength and her courage. She’s my lil’ sister and yet I strive to be more like her every day. She’s one of my role models, and I am so elated to see the woman she is and share another year of life with her.

Happy Birthday, lil’ sis!!!

The Sound of Music

2009-06-26T18:00:00.011-04:00

The hills are alive with the sound of music…the hills in Texas, the hills in Montreal. This summer is my summer of music, my sound of music. I have always loved music, whether making it or appreciating it. I have always loved all kinds of music whether it be rock or classical, alternative or jazz, English or now even French. =) So it’s with great pleasure that I have ventured into my summer of music.

I’m a lucky girl and have been blessed in many ways. But this summer, by far, I believe will be one of my most fun summers during my existence thus far.

In May I went home to Austin and visited with my family and friends, but the absolute highlight of my trip was the No Doubt concert with Michelle. Admittedly even though I love music, I haven’t been to that many concerts in my life – the Tommy Hilfiger tour with Lenny Kravitz and Smash Mouth, Lilith Fair with Sarah McLachlan and Sheryl Crow, Everclear, Goo Goo Dolls, Lisa Loeb, Hedley, Itzhak Perlman and various other smaller bands at local bars. But the No Doubt concert was incredible! Maybe it was the company =), the atmosphere, my new girl crush on Gwen – it could be any number of reasons – but I loved being there.

So I got back home to Montreal and was getting back into my way of life. And then I received an email about the upcoming Virgin Festival in Montreal. So I checked it out and found out that Simple Plan and the Black Eyed Peas were going to be among the performers. So I bought me and Esteban tickets. We went and had an amazing time. It was like being at someone’s backyard party. We relaxed, drank beer and enjoyed the ambiance.

My next stop for summer music fun will be next week, as it marks the beginning of Montreal’s renowned International Jazz Festival. The very first day Stevie Wonder is giving a free concert in which Esteban and I will be attending. Plus we’ll be partaking of the many other free concerts during the jazz festival, a two-week long extravaganza.

Then in August, I’m planning to see Cold Play and Jason Mraz for the Osheaga concert series in Montreal. This concert series will be at the same place as the Virgin Festival so I know it will be another great experience.

I’ve already had so much music fun this summer and am looking forward to even more. This is my summer of music, my sound of music…and it’s all summer long!!

A little spontaneous

2009-05-12T14:04:00.000-04:00

So I've gotten the itch to blog again. I used to do this on a weekly basis when living in Germany, to keep in touch with many of my friends and family. Unfortunately, since coming back, I've been terrible at keeping up with this. However, from now on, I will be more diligent with this task...

So over the last two years, I've experienced a range of emotions, and my opinions have vastly varied about my life here in Montreal. However, as of today, I live in a city that I adore. When I walk around the town, I find that I'm constantly amazed, content and happy to be a part of this great city. I take a deep breath, close my eyes, exhale slowly and am completely thankful to be here. There's so much about my experience here that I love.

I love...
1. experiencing four different seasons - especially spring
2. gardening with Esteban and making our home pretty
3. going to Old Port and eating Beaver Tails (a super yummy Quebecois pastry)
4. watching the new Cirque du Soliel shows before any other city
5. walking around the city with Esteban
6. being outside all of the time
...and that's just to name a few things.

My front yard

For those of you who followed my blogs previously, you know I wasn't very happy in Montreal. However, clearly my tune has changed. I absolutely, without a doubt love Montreal. I think the city is great - the culture, the people, the fashion, the vibe. Moreover, I have found the part of the city that I like best and would really like to live. But I think buying a place there is out of my price range for now.

Despite my love of Montreal, I absolutely, without a doubt miss Austin terribly. I miss my dad and friends, the culture, the people, the fashion, the vibe. So I'm quite torn on where I want to settle down for a while. I still don't think that I will stay in Montreal forever. But I am trying to make some decisions, which will inevitably shape my future for the next several years.

So in my yearning to be back home in Austin, I spontaneously bought a plane ticket to go back and visit. This was spurred on by an evite that my dad sent me for his salmon BBQ this next weekend. Unfortunately, I couldn't get there in time for his BBQ, but I'm going to be there very soon!! I'm so looking forward to being in my hometown, seeing my family and friends, and chillin' out Austin-style. =) Plus, I miss the country twang. It's a language all in its own. ;-)

Me in Austin Summer 2008

I will be there May 26th - June 3rd. Text me, call me - let's get together. Because I have to soak up as much as I can before returning to Montreal.