tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43049317056558976552025-01-27T13:44:58.039-06:00An American's travel traumas <br> アメリカ人の旅行の外傷Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07324776634466219855noreply@blogger.comBlogger94125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-1864421321693756102012-11-18T07:08:00.000-06:002012-11-18T07:08:52.072-06:00

I arrived in Sofia a couple of weeks ago. Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, is the largest city in Bulgaria with 1.3 million people. It's incredibly old going back centuries BC. Some of its history is visible at ground level with exposed stones from the Roman empire and Ottoman ruins. Most of the landscape, though, is modern buildings, euro-style of course, shops, restaurants, subways stops, etc.

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-72468754988123564112012-10-30T07:20:00.000-05:002012-10-30T07:20:11.846-05:00

Hurricane Sandy was known as "Frankenstorm" all weekend long prior to her arrival. Pretty much all anyone talked about on Friday at work was how we would be affected come Monday. As it turns out, they had right to be concerned. We, on the other hand, remained aloof on the topic. Saturday, the grocery store was a zoo. I didn't go, but one of my neighbors told me about it. Later that night, I

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com0Brooklyn, NY, USA40.65 -73.9540.553624 -74.1079285 40.746376 -73.7920715tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-91436962071288116592012-09-05T13:24:00.003-05:002012-09-05T13:24:58.519-05:00

I suppose the lack of posts lately is due to a lack of motivation to find something to say that perhaps you’d like to read. Lots of interesting things have occurred, but maybe nothing that’s super interesting for the blogging we usually try to do. That being said, I’ll give you a little update, and you can decide for yourself. In August we had our 8th wedding anniversary. Christopher asked me to

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-90854311004500479392012-07-10T13:54:00.001-05:002012-07-10T13:54:21.489-05:00

This summer is going by so quickly – our recent trip to France was now over 6 weeks ago. Our flights to and from were pretty eventful due to the strike in Portugal. But the week we were there was relaxing, if a bit jam-packed. From there, Christopher flew immediately to a business trip in Japan. And I came back home to return to normal office work. Now he’s back, and we’re nearly half-way through

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-90326312566135601882012-07-04T09:25:00.000-05:002012-07-04T09:28:14.690-05:00

We’re not wealthy enough to afford a butler, personal shopper, assistant, and maid. But I don’t like domestic activities enough to continue to do them myself if we were. I’d gladly give over dish-washing, vacuuming, and lunch-making responsibility. I might keep cooking every other night – or something – since I enjoy that. In the city, I get to pretend to be that wealthy in some respects. As

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-7914549381916247622012-05-25T02:09:00.000-05:002012-05-25T02:09:01.767-05:00

Having never flown TAP Portugal before, I expected relatively little. I figured it would be better than EasyJet (which I took once on a flight from France to Scotland), but not as good as any business or first class seat one could possibly imagine. Turns out, I should have thought less about the comfort of the plane and more about if I'd actually have a seat on the plane and reach my destination.

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-65677665516578151082012-05-04T08:23:00.001-05:002012-05-04T08:23:19.649-05:00

With a dearth of bunnies, what’s a little dog to do? Stalk pigeons of course! We’ve been in New York a month now, and the city is Renn’s frenemy. This is definitely the first time I’ve ever used this word to describe something that related to my life in any way. But it’s simply true. Renn loves and fears New York. He’s always been a very friendly, relatively skiddish pup, fearing manhole covers

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-64223488998085818602012-03-21T09:44:00.004-05:002012-03-21T10:07:45.497-05:00

So you are already aware of the international culture and feel of Hong Kong. I described (at length) the types of non-Asian foods I ate and how I wanted to never eat the same thing twice. Well, I didn't manage never to eat the same thing twice. But, in fairness, I was asked to do side-by-side comparisons of items I had eaten from one restaurant to another. So, it wasn't really my choice. My

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-86219375566504143752012-03-15T02:40:00.010-05:002012-03-16T17:54:15.019-05:00

I was really not prepared for the Western feel of Hong Kong. I expected to get lost a few times, not be able to communicate at least once, and perhaps even long for some toast. However, that has not been the case at all. I'm not sure if I should be ashamed that I did next to no research before coming, or just happy at the ease of daily life. I've been told that out in the New Territories it's not

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-76618753364362909522012-03-10T22:17:00.006-06:002012-03-10T22:50:50.474-06:00

Apparently, I am one of the more "adventurous" of visitors to our office here. I put adventurous in quotes, because I don't feel that I'm doing anything truly out of the ordinary. Certainly, nowhere that I have been has come close to out-of-my-comfort-zone. At any rate, I'd wanted to go to the Temple of the 10,000 Buddhas Saturday; so I did.The public transportation needed to get there is simple

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-2723310405351613442012-03-06T18:07:00.004-06:002012-03-06T18:22:58.471-06:00

In Hong Kong, I arrange my mornings so that I have plenty of time to wake up, eat breakfast, work out, shower, and channel surf. I have found there are three mostly-English stations. One is the news channel Aljazeera; another is a re-broadcast of American nightly news programs; and the third is a Gaming program. I haven't figured out the point to the Gaming program. When I flip past in the

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-36900040991789143662012-03-05T06:04:00.003-06:002012-03-05T06:59:39.515-06:00

I am writing to you from 14 hours in the future. And the future is humid. To get to this legendary place, you must first board a delayed plane, sit in an international-hub airport for 3 hours, board another plane, wait on the tarmac for an hour, then fly for 16 hours to arrive in the future. Once you get here, you'll become illiterate and resort to basic gestures and perhaps a little grunting as

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-60974926469368881042012-02-18T21:26:00.002-06:002012-02-18T22:18:31.318-06:00

Lexie circa 2001-2002 was in college and had a CD burner. I remember spending many hours - because that's how long it took - deciding which 15-20 songs I'd mash together on my CDRWs. This was also before Napster's immorality had been decided. So, as I begin the process of cleaning and packing for our upcoming move, I find myself relying on a very old binder of CDs. The ones I listen to more

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-25675155221068858332012-01-26T20:51:00.002-06:002012-01-26T21:11:26.601-06:00

In the past year, Christopher and I have been on 4 business trips collectively. Perhaps for some people that isn't a lot. For us, it is. Especially since 3 of those 4 have been made solo leaving the other person at home. What we've reinforced, that we certainly already knew, is that we don't like being apart. Not only does being apart suck for all the lovey-dovey reasons you'd expect, but also

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-78356852262421272942012-01-17T20:37:00.006-06:002012-01-17T21:06:30.070-06:00

What a busy busy end to 2011. I went to Israel, again. After finally finishing up a couple posts about our trip earlier in the year, I was already on my way to the Holy Land for the second time. It really is amazing that I got to travel to such an amazing city twice in one year. So, in this post, I have a couple new photos for you - as well as updates about normal life and holidays.I went to

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-45305491274775279952011-12-12T07:59:00.002-06:002011-12-12T08:44:42.669-06:00

Why do I have all this free time in the first place? Well, it may help to know that the first 9-hour movie marathon started as an attempt (success!) to stay awake for the full 9 hours of a 9-hour international flight. The second movie marathon, which I am about to describe, was an attempt (fail!) to stay awake for the even longer return flight. I don't think I can remember all the different

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-87895179135533383112011-11-27T09:52:00.003-06:002011-11-27T10:27:40.856-06:00

Ever have 9 hours with nothing to do and no where to go? I found myself in this situation Saturday. To pass the time and stay entertained, I had my own personal movie marathon. I chose four rom-coms, and settled in with low expectations. The first movie I watched was The Backup Plan with Jennifer Lopez. I almost couldn't make it through the opening credits, they were so boring. I generally don't

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-56528000641852473672011-11-06T15:17:00.004-06:002011-11-06T16:13:40.466-06:00

My birthday happened over a month ago now. And, if you read this blog, you were probably there for part of the day. Unless you're a cyberstalker. In which case, you wouldn't have been invited. Maybe next year. It was an amazing day all around. I decided to do a birthday crawl and invited my friends and family to stuff that I felt like doing all day long.It started out with manis and pedis. Then

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-87485477799439259842011-10-08T07:17:00.009-05:002011-10-08T08:01:01.490-05:00

Sorry for the wait, we've been so busy with work during the week and with our social life on the weekend (surprising, I know!) that I left you hanging with more info on the Jerusalem trip. I'll try to make the rest brief and only hit some of the best highlights. Overall, the trip was well worth it, and we're both very glad to have had the opportunity for this passport stamp. The people, food, and

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-31876559190706725682011-09-11T15:41:00.010-05:002011-09-11T17:33:02.997-05:00

No need to wait any longer friends and cyberstalkers. It's time to hear about the wonders of the Holy Land. We went overseas earlier this year, partially for work, partially for vacation.Let's start with our flight over. It was a long one. We flew Air Cananda through Toronto. In the airport before our first flight, we met a random guy outside the ticketing area. He, like us, was waiting for the

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-30629288509577855502011-08-13T08:57:00.003-05:002011-08-13T09:23:03.615-05:00

Well, nothing of super amazing note-worthiness has occurred as of late. At least nothing that the internet community at large really needs to hear. But, our run of good news and general well-being has continued; and I must say that's pretty awesome. That being said, I don't want to be gone from the blog for too long, or it's harder to start up again. So, I decided just to detail some of the usual

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-30226596358414519492011-07-23T22:41:00.002-05:002011-07-23T22:54:53.777-05:00

The fountain of good news just keeps flowing. Three - count them - three friends/family members are getting married soon. One wedding is in December, one is in May, and one is TBD. Usually, I'm not a fan of weddings. It's ok, you can admit that you're not a fan either. We all know it. However, for these three, I'm actually very excited about them because of the brides and grooms.If that weren't

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-64578991895551753022011-07-04T10:13:00.005-05:002011-07-04T10:49:09.788-05:00

In pretty much every situation, the more puppies the merrier. We got a call asking us if we could puppy sit for a day. Renn's cousin Emma needed some tending so her owners could float the river. Emma is a non-pocket-sized Pocket Beagle. I'm not certain how many pounds she is, but she's bigger than Renn. I read that Pocket Beagles generally are supposed to only be between 7 and 15 pounds. Although

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-4443175669788229422011-06-06T14:36:00.002-05:002011-06-06T14:49:08.367-05:00

We've been pretty web-silent lately. I'm sure you've found yourselves with other things to do and not really missing our little blog too much. However, it is nice to read about my friends and their life-happenings. So I figured I'm past due to make it back to posting - just in case inquiring minds want to know. I've made large strides in chocolate eating as of late. I'm still not a big fan of

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4304931705655897655.post-30866504104069083892011-04-23T08:46:00.003-05:002011-04-23T09:12:58.729-05:00

As a kid, I do not remember ever having any serious allergy issues of any kind. My parents learned when I was 2 (an age that I do not remember whatsoever) that I am allergic to cedar. Later, I learned that I was allergic to red ants (who isn't) after being stung a couple times. (Or is it bitten?) From that point on, I pretty much just stayed away from Christmas tree farms, cedar chests, and ant

Lexiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05792186902267709606noreply@blogger.com0