Entries Tagged 'Vacation' ↓

I am leaving San Mateo for China first thing in the morning tomorrow.  Sorry for the lack of updates but these couple weeks have been insanely busy for me.  We actually still haven’t completely closed on the house because of a bunch of mix ups and confusion.  Hopefully it will be done tomorrow, but I won’t be here to see it.  That sounds pretty precarious and believe me, I have been pulling out my hair for about two days.  I have also been trying to tie up loose ends at work and it has been two extremely chaotic weeks.

I am so glad that I will be leaving on a jetplane tomorrow because I just need to get away from this crazy country for a while and escape to another crazy country.   We will be watching the presidential election through the filter of CCTV.  The hubby already voted early on Saturday, so he is all set.

I will be back early morning of November 14th, but there will be an excellent guest post by The Wandering Tax Pro in a couple days.   Stay tuned!

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Well, I will be on vacation from October 30th to November 14th in China so I probably will not be blogging during those weeks.  So for the first time ever, The Baglady will be accepting guest posts about personal finance, careers, or womanhood.  You can submit an article you have already written or a brand new article.  I don’t mind if you republish it on your blog.  Please contact me if you would like to participate!

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The hubby and I have been married for almost one year and we celebrated early in the past weekend.  The hubby booked a full moon kayaking trip in at the Beach House and also reserved us spots for Sunday brunch at Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay.Since I planned his birthday weekend to Napa I let him plan this trip.  It is only fair.  This is my travelogue for this wonderful weekend.

Half Moon Bay is a coastal San Mateo city about 20 miles from where we live famous for the yearly Mavericks Surf Contest and the Pumpkin Festival where the worlds’ most enormous pumpkins compete.  We set out on Saturday morning and arrived in Half Moon Bay in about 30 minutes.  We stepped in a small local restaurnt called The Flying Fish Grill and got some lunch, and then we headed to our hotel.  Unfortunately, our room wasn’t ready yet so we went to Poplar Beach after checking out the kayaks at Pillar Point Harbor.  Poplar Beach is one of many public beaches along Half Moon Bay and it has a small free parking lot.  If you go to the main beach a block over it has a parking lot that charges a fee.  At Poplar Beach we spent about two hours looking for beach glass.  Before we got married we went to that beach once and I started looking for beach glass.  The hubby never heard of this before and said, “why are you picking up garbage?!” I explained to him that people collect beach glass for fun and make them into jewelry.  Then it turned into a bit of a competition and he helped me collect glass. Funnily enough we saw another couple collect glass, too, and the whole time the hubby was saying he couldn’t believe people liked garbage.   After we got home on that trip I made some of the glass into pendants and sold them for around $50 at a church craft fair.  So this time the hubby thought of looking for beach glass as a treasure hunt. After two hours of hunting, we found a small pocket full of browns, greens, and white pieces.  I also found a tiny cobalt blue piece and a quarter from 1965.

We returned to the hotel and took a bit of a nap since the kayaking event was at 7pm.  After waking up we walked down to Pillar Point Harbor again. Unfortunately, it was quite overcast so we were unable to see the full moon.   There were a group of about 10 people and we were instructed to put on many layers of stuff.  There is a jacket plus a skirt that stretches over the kayak and also a life jacket. The kayaks held two people and were a bit larger than the kayaks we used in Kauai.  The hubby sat in the back to steer and I was in front.  We paddled towards the breakwaters and we saw hundreds of pelicans and seagulls.  Some people paddled a bit too close to them and they flew towards us and plopped in the water.  Some of the pelicans were still shedding their baby furry feathers.  A couple harbor seals also popped out their heads above the water.

After paddling for more than an hour, we cleared the last breakwater and we were in the open ocean.  The sea was quite calm and the waves bobbed the kayaks slightly.  It was quite dark and the glow sticks on our paddles indicated where the other kayaks were.  It was very quiet and we could hear people speak quite clearly.  We were only in the open ocean for a little while and then we headed back into the harbor.  On the way back we made a stop at Mavericks Beach. This is the beach where the annual death-defying Mavericks Surf Contest is held.  The spot where landed had several giant carved pumice stones.  The guide explained that they were monuments in remembrance of those who died surfing there.  It was quite dark so we couldn’t see much, but the guide explained that this was a dangerous place to surf.  The waves could reach more than 25 feet during the winter and there are sharks in the waters.

We left the beach and headed towards the harbor.  It was getting quite dark, but with every paddle a plume of green light glowed in the water.  I have seen this before at Stinson Beach so I knew that it was a kind of microorganism that glows when you disturb them.  I tried to get the hubby to look at the glow but he thought that they were bubbles and I couldn’t quite convince him that something in the water is giving off light.  Finally one of the guides said, “I love this bioluminescent stuff!”  Then I said that my hubby doesn’t see it and other people started to paddle to show him.  Then he sort of believed that the green glow wasn’t just bubbles.  After three hours of paddling we landed back at the harbor and walked back to the hotel.  We were quite hungry and the hubby called the concierge to see if any restaurants were still open.  Apparently a Mexican place called Tres Amigos is open until midnight so we went there and filled our tummies.  Then we returned the hotel and fell asleep.

The next day, we ate a little bit of the complimentary breakfast at the hotel, and went back to our room to nap some more.  Finally we checked out and headed to Sunday brunch at the Ritz Carlton. The Sunday brunch at the Ritz Carlton’s Navio restaurant was beyond our expectations. First of all, we didn’t know that it was a buffet because the hubby booked it after seeing a review somewhere that said the Sunday brunch was good. I also didn’t know that the restaurant overlooked the greens of the golf course and the blue ocean.  There was a huge selection of foods all over the world including sushi, caviar, dimsum, and prime rib.  The  small appetizer sized dishes  were presented in the most delectable and appealing manner.  Our favorite was a small plate of roast duck breast served upon steamed bokchoy.  The dessert station was also amazing.  There were half a dozen types of chocolate truffles and fruits and many beautifully presented tiny desserts.  I heard one man there say, “I want to take this to our table and just look at it!”  There was also a dessert with gold flakes on it and I laughed a bit because the hubby joked about how pretentious people who eat gold are.  Anyway, I took about six or seven desserts and just indulged in the decadence.  After four plates of culinary delight, we couldn’t eat anymore, but we really wanted more.  The funny thing is that I had a dream a couple weeks prior about an extremely fancy buffet with chocolate truffles and meats.  I told the hubby, “this is the buffet of my dreams!” and we sat there laughing like idiots for a bit.

After the food we walked to the back of the hotel and followed a path down to the beach.  The beach is public so you don’t have to be a hotel guest to go there. The beach was extremely small and we combed it for about an hour for beach glass.  Unfortunately, all the pieces we found were quite small.  The hubby said to keep them anyway because he wants to fill a spaghetti jar with sea glass.  We were quite tired after that and walked back to the valet for our car.  This is where the hubby remarked, “why is every car here so expensive looking?”  Indeed, all the cars parked in front of the hotel were Mercedes, BMWs, and such.  Then we saw a Toyota van pull up and I realized that they park the cheaper cars at the larger parking lot.  So I said, “see not everyone here drives an expensive car, they just park the most expensive looking ones in front!”   I guess the Ritz needs to look ritzy, but we definitely had a great time there without the need to look rich.

So that’s my weekend of adventure and gluttony.  It’s great to get away from computers for a while to bond with the hubby and the great outdoors.  It certainly wasn’t cheap, but it was completely worth it and I hope we can do it more often.

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It’s been a while since I translated a chapter of my dad’s story of how we immigrated to America and started a new life.  This is a bonus  story he wrote at the end of Chapter 3 that doesn’t have much to do with his new college life.  Anyway, it is an episode in our lives that is worth mentioning.  For more of my dad’s narrative see the category marked Fifteen Years in America. Enjoy!
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In the winter of 1992, I received an acceptance letter from Kap’iolani Community College.  Since I was an international student, I did not qualify for the inexpensive in state tuition.  The rate for international students was more than $1000 per semester.  Registration was due on 1/13 and classes started on 1/18.  When I was about to start school, two events happened.  One was a good thing, and the other was not.

First let me explain the joyous event.  When Helen was in college during the late 1970s she was a translator for a group of American educators that visited China.  Because of this she met an elementary teacher from Pensacola, Florida named Betty.  Betty’s husband was a retired military man of the United States Air Force.  At that time Betty was more than 60 years old but she was extremely interested in China.  After she met Helen she was quite interested in Helen’s education and life.  They became penpals for many years.  Even after we were married they kept on writing each other.  After Xin was born Betty was quite interested in Xin’s growth and education.  Everytime Xin had a birthday she would send some books and gifts.  When Helen arrived in Hawaii, the person that came to pick her up from the airport was Betty’s good friend.

After Xin and I came to America, Betty wrote us a letter saying that she is preparing a surprise for Xin.  Right before Christmas we received a letter from Los Angeles from a woman named Lynn.  In the envelope there were three roundtrip tickets from Hawaii to LA and three tickets to Disneyland worth 56 dollars each.  The letter said that we were invited as guests of the Presbyterian Church to a Christmas in Los Angeles.  Later we found out that this was the surprise Betty was talking about.

This was our first Christmas in America.  Lynn had a Ford, and she drove us from the Los Angeles Airport to her home.  Lynn is also a elementary school teacher, and her husband is a professor at UCLA.  They have two children, one boy and one girl.  The boy is the older child and his name is John.  He just graduated from college and his major was English.  However, he joined a fishing company and worked on the oceans as a fisherman.  I heard from Lynn that being a fisherman is hard and dangerous work and the pay was not spectacular, but John was  young and wanted to broaden his experience.  His parents thought that it was a good idea and did not protest.  At that time, I honestly didn’t understand the mindset of American parents.  I always thought that when children graduate from college they should go to graduate school and join academia, and I would never allow my child to do such hard and dangerous work.  However, after being in America for a while I understood more of the American educational system.  I think perhaps this type of hard labor is a lesson   American parents hope that their children could learn.  Perhaps in those dangerous waves, John could receive the inspiration Hemingway had when he wrote “The Old Man and the Sea”.

That week, Lynn’s church had a volunteer to drive us somewhere every single day.  We went to Disneyland and Xin was extremely excited and had a wonderful time.  Additionally,  we toured Hollywood and went to many different museums.  Nevertheless, that Christmas we were extremely happy.  I wanted to thank Lynn and her family for being such gracious hosts so I bought a chicken from the supermarket and made a Chinese style roast chicken.  I put many different ingredients and also sticky rice inside the stomach of the chicken and baked it for three hours until the skin was crispy and brown.  Lynn’s family tasted my chicken and praised it quite a bit, and said that I should visit them more often.

We could never forget that event and Betty’s love for our family.  A little over five years ago I and Helen visited Betty in Florida.  At that time, she was more than 80.  I cooked several Chinese dishes for her and when she heard that we both had great jobs and Xin was studying at UC Berkeley she felt very relieved.  Today, even though Betty already left us, her smiles and voice is still often remembered in our family.

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Addendum from Xin:  I still remember that Christmas really clearly even thought it has been more than fifteen  years because it was beautiful.  The funniest moment I remember was that Lynn’s family sat down to pray over the food, and my dad didn’t quite understand it.  So when they said something like, “Thank you for this food”, my dad blurted out something like “no problem!” because he cooked the chicken.  My mom was embarrassed and then explained it to him later.  It’s still pretty funny when I think of it.

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The hubby and I did do some fun stuff on our weekend to Vegas. On Saturday we went to a company sponsored party and then we saw the Cirque du Soleil show Mystere at Treasure Island at night. There are at least five Cirque shows in the various hotels, but my manager and coworker recommended Mystere because I have never seen a live Cirque du Soleil show before. When we were purchasing the tickets online my husband said, “Wait a minute, I know why you chose Mystere! It’s the cheapest show!!! I can read your mind!!!” That wasn’t entirely true, but we managed to get very good seats and had a blast at the show. There was a good amount of hilarious clowning, razor sharp acrobatics, and gorgeous aerial performances. Then there was taiko drumming and the live music was quite amazing. I really think the show had it all and I would definitely go see another Cirque du Soleil show in the future.

It is funny when I see on TV that kids say they want to run away with a circus. I completely understand the romanticism and adventure associated with being part of a circus. You get to dress up in pretty costumes, travel the world, and make people happy! However, I also know that it involves a lot of hard work because my dad has a group of friends from a national level circus from China. In 1989 the troupe was performing with the Big Apple Circus in the United States, and several acrobats and just walked out of the last show and defected along with a translator. They were allowed to stay in the United States and then other acrobats of the same troupe were invited to the United States later as teachers and performers. I met the ringmaster of those acrobats once, and he is a pretty amazing guy. He was already 50 something when he was invited to the United States as a teacher and didn’t know the alphabet or any English. Through determination, he managed to learn English phonetically by writing down each sound in Chinese characters and now he speaks quite fluently. He also handpicked many of the performers in his troupe. One younger acrobat told me that he was sent by his parents to train as a gymnast for the Chinese national team, but he was eliminated when he was 10. Every year the ringmaster goes to the gymnast training center and finds new performers for his group and picked him. Most of them have been training every day for 10 to 12 hours a day since they were five and the circus is their family in every way. They managed to mostly stay together and was hired to teach at an acrobatics and performance arts school in San Francisco called the Circus Center. Now after nearly 20 years, their students have performed in Cirque du Soleil and other shows around the world.

I think I appreciated the Cirque show even more because I know the amount of training the performers put into their art. It is a real career path that takes a lot of hard work and passion, but having sold out shows must be quite rewarding. So if you
ever run away with a circus, make sure you are ready for some grueling work!

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