Trip it Tuesday Episode 5: Hole in the Wall

 

Buenos Aires, Argentina.  After attending a percussion party held monthly at the Konnex by La Bomba de Tiempo , one of the locals took me to this hole in the wall type of place that serves choripan.  Although I don’t have picture of the sandwich, I do remember it being really good.  There are not seats inside – just a small kitchen and 2 ladies working.  Looking back at my previous blogs, this picture is a repost from September 2009.

Trip it Tuesday Episode 4: Do-Re-Mi Stairs

 

This picture was taken in Salzburg, Austria where The Sound of Music was filmed.  The Do-Re-Mi steps are not as big as they are portrayed in the movie.   They are very short steps and not as wide as they looked.  Hollywood did a great job making the stairs look extravagantly large.

Trip it Tuesday Episode 3: Lake Como, Italy

I’ve attended over 25 weddings.  Of all the weddings - not being bias - the most beautiful wedding that I have attended was my sisters wedding (2006).  The general location: Lake Como Italy.  The ceremony was in a little church in Varenna.  After the ceremony, we took private water taxis to the opposite side of the lake where the reception was conducted in the city of Bellagio in the Grand Hotel Villa San Serbelloni.  Along the way, the water taxis took a detour.  We cruised around the lake to see the palace where Star Wars Attack of the clones was filmed (which is also the same palace where Casino Royal was filmed - years later) and George Clooney's estate. To say the wedding was posh would be an understatement.  The food, the location, the church… it was just absolutely perfect.

Picture above is the view of the lake from the Hotel.  In the picture are my sister, brother in-law, best man, and maid/man of honour.

Trip it Tuesday Episode 2: Train Ride to Madrid

This snap shop was taken on the train to Madrid from Barcelona.  I was seated with these patrons.  I wish I could remember the exact details of our conversation.  I’ll have to find my old travel journal entry. But what I do recall is the little girl’s curiosity was entertaining.  She tried to converse with me but she spoke Catalan and I don't understand nor speak Catalan.  As a fix, she asked her grandfather questions. In his broken English, he relayed and translated them to me. 

Trip it Tuesday

I started a new hash tag today on Instagram.  I hope to use it every Tuesday, on a consistent basis.  It’ll be based on photos that I’ve taken while on a trip.  The hash tag is #tripittuesday.   This photo was taken while I was riding on a canoe in Thailand.  I purchased a bowl of noodle soup for less than one US dollar.  The weather at the time: Sweaty Humid HOT.  Even while sitting down in the shade, I was sweating profusely.

Bali 2013

I went to Bali, Indonesia in May 2013 to attend my cousin's wedding.  Aside from the wedding, I had 7 days on the island in which most of it was spent lounging poolside and on the beach.  I guess depending on how one travels on their vacation, it's either a good thing or bad thing:  you're either the one who likes to go out and do stuff, or one who likes lounge all day in the sun, or one who tries to balance both.  I personally try to balance both and was able to do various activities such as parasailing.  In the end,  I had a blast on this trip due to the fact that I spent this vacation with my cousins.

Bali Locations : Benoa, Jimbaran, Kuta, Nusa Dua, Ubud

Australia 2010

Australia from Wackymango on Vimeo.

I’ve abandoned it and have returned to it.  It’s kinda like that toy you had as a kid: you play with it for a while, get tired of it, then when you find it after time passes, it becomes fun again.  But in reality, I didn’t get bored with it, I just didn’t know what to do with the material I had.

It took me two yeas and needless to say, its finally done. 

The links below are the previous posts on my trip to Australia.

http://wackymango.blogspot.com/2010/06/australia-day-2.html

http://wackymango.blogspot.com/2010/06/yarra-valley.html

http://wackymango.blogspot.com/2010/06/day-2-part-2-downtown-melbourne.html

http://wackymango.blogspot.com/2010/07/sydney-bound.html

49ers Post Season Begins

For the 3^rd consecutive year, the San Francisco 49ers are playing in the Post Season.  It was a nail biter as the 49ers closed it out and move on to the next round by scoring by a field goal in the final seconds of the game.  I watched it at my friends’ house in San Jose.  The video above was how it went down and was complied by the host of the party - JP Nebres.

First Post of The Year: 2014 NYE

Here it is, my first official post of the year.

In the previous 3 years, I’ve celebrated the New Year away from home: 2011 Naples Italy, 2012 Costa Rica, and 2013 New York. This year, I welcomed the New Year at home in San Francisco with a few friends. We had a 4 course dinner at Buritt Tavern. For starters we had a Salmon with caviar and crème fresh. The second dish was a cauliflower soup with a roasted rabbit. The next dish was a deep fried tongue with braised beef cheeks and mashed potatoes. I added a NY steak with the dish. For the last dish, desert, a blood orange with a tart pastry.

After dinner we headed to the Grand Hyatt located across from the restaurant and hung out at the lounge bar One Up. No cover charge and open to the public all of the seats appeared to be taken. As we stood and conversed near the bar entrance, one of the hostess came up to me and asked if we were all together. I said yes and she offered if we would like to take a look at a room where they can accommodate us. I took a look and immediately agreed. We ordered drinks and snacks. The room had a TV in which we were able to watch the Dick Clark countdown. With a few more friends that joined us, although public, the room became a private party as we took over the room with 15 people.

With public transportation (BART) running till 3 am, I took BART into city. The ride home was quite interesting. I got on the train with no problem. A few stops later, madness occurred. When the doors opened on the train at the stop, people stormed into the train pushing, shoving, and screaming. A few people caused a delay in the departure by holding the doors open. Seeing a family with young children, I gave up my seat to them as the kids looks scared and tired. I’ve experience more packed trains internationally, but the pushing and shoving was a whole new story as it was unnecessary. All said and done, I made it home safe and sound.