The New Adventures

cuteness: parker

2007-08-21T18:41:00.000-07:00

insane cuteness

2007-08-10T17:42:00.000-07:00

I know that watching blog videos gets tedious when you're not in the mood, but this one cannot be missed!

amsterdam

2007-07-26T08:06:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday night, my mom and I headed off to London to begin our mini European vacation. I was not only totally psyched to continue my travels in Europe, but couldn't wait to meet up with Irene, who was meeting us at Heathrow from Ghana, where she had spent the last month working in a sickle cell clinic. After slugging through customs at Heathrow, my mom and I went down the escalator to retrieve our bags, and lo and behold, Irene was standing there with not only a huge smile on her face, but with all of our luggage! Aren't little sisters the best?!

The three of us then boarded our plane bound for Amsterdam, our destination for the next two nights. This ended up being the perfect amount of time to get our fill of Amsterdam, which included visiting museums, shops, and restaurants. The coffee shops (marijuana cafes) would have to wait for another visit, i.e., one without my mom. (Just kidding, mom!)

I loved the laissez faire vibe of Amsterdam, not only in terms of the open availability of certain indulgences that are illegal in most other countries, but for the simple and practical way of living that seems to be embraced there. Hands down, my favorite sight was the Van Gogh Museum, which would end up setting up the perfect backdrop for our upcoming trip to Provence.

Unexpectedly, we had some amazing pig-outs in Amsterdam, including dinner at Nam Kee, a Chinese restaurant famed for its oysters with black bean sauce. I loved the framed posters of blown-up house specialties hung up on the walls.

Here are photos of some additional highlights from our visit.

Touring the red light district. I think that we were the only women there.

Cool bridge in front of Nemo, the science museum.

Maintaining our daily ice cream/gelato intake.

happy birthday mom!

2007-07-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

It was so wonderful to be at home to celebrate my mom's birthday. With each year, my mom seems to get younger. Doesn't she look amazing?!

My parents and I celebrated at Morton's with NY strips, lobster, and one of their famous desserts, raspberry souffle. Yum!

After dinner, the three of us went to Wolf Trap for a National Symphony Orchestra concert featuring one of my parents' favorite pianists, Lang Lang.

Although he was no Jay-Z (hehe), I had a spectacular time. I couldn't help but wonder what could have become of me if I had practiced violin when I was younger!

update: pk's hair

2007-07-17T21:22:00.000-07:00

It is growing in quite nicely!

new adventures with jay-z

2007-07-14T20:03:00.000-07:00

Before I get to the Jay-Z part, I'll set the background for the outrageously fun-filled weekend I had in New York. Although I've been avoiding returning to New York until my leave comes to an end, I couldn't miss Rachel's bachelorette party. Not only did I want to participate in the most important milestone in Rachel's last days of singlehood, but I couldn't wait to catch up with all of my friends, whom I've been dying to see since I left New York in March.

The day couldn't have started out any better. After waking up to a cloudless sky, we were treated to massages and facials by the Westhampton Day Spa. Although my facialist was a little aloof, e.g., incessantly rubbed the same spots on my cheeks and completely neglected my forehead (I know, the injustice!), I was still able to luxuriate in the pampering and came away with glowing skin. The bride-to-be, pictured below, decided on a massage.

After hanging out by the pool for a bit, we got "treated" to our first surprise of the day: the awkward bellydancer. Take a look for yourself.

Despite her inability to bring sexy back with the hair twirling head gyration move, we had a great time learning some bellydancing basics, which would come in handy later that night. Before we got our own moves on, however, we headed out to Southampton for dinner at 75 Main. Here's a photo of me with Jen and Rachel B at dinner.

Our first dessert was chocolate chip cookies and brownies shaped like mini-cupcakes. I really could have eaten the entire plate, but I held back in anticipation of our next treat ...

... the stripper! Now this wasn't just any stripper. This was a stripper in a restaurant! And he was only 19! And wearing boxer briefs (most likely bought by his mom)! Rachel liked him so much he had to wrest her hands off of his chest, as you can see here. (Hehe, you know that's what happened, Rach!)

As if we hadn't had enough excitement or stimulation for the day, we hopped into our limo to make our way out to Dune in Southampton. I'll skip the part about how the doormen put us into the rejects line and told us that we had a snowball's chance in hell of getting into the club that night. The important part is that we got in, as shown below.

For the next four hours, we danced the night away and did our best to act nonchalant with the crazy number of A-list celebs we saw that night, including Jay-Z, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kid Rock, Benji Madden, and Sophie Monk. Where were you, Perez Hilton?! Despite our best efforts to snag a ride with Jay-Z in his Bentley, we went back to Rachel's house and stumbled into bed. I fell asleep not only of visions of Leo in my head, but, more importantly, thinking how much I love New York and my friends. I can't wait to see all of you again at the wedding!

bff

2007-07-11T13:52:00.001-07:00

korea

2007-07-09T04:49:00.001-07:00

Visiting Korea after an almost 12 year absence was surreal. The city that had become familiar to me after living there for 2 years during high school had undergone a complete transformation to the point where once familiar streets were unrecognizable. In every direction was a newly erected skyscraper or signs of Western influence and a booming economy, e.g., Starbucks on every corner, BMWs and Mercedes abound. One thing that had not changed, however, was the food! From the moment my mom and I stepped off the plane, we were in gastronomic paradise. Here are some of the highlights from our trip.

We took the high-speed KTX train to visit my aunt and uncle who live in Busan, the second largest city in Korea located on the Southern coast of the peninsula. This shot was taken at one of the scenic lookouts overlooking the ocean. Of my 3 aunts in the photo below, can you figure out which one is my mom's sister?

Look who we ran into in Korea! Actually, my mom and I planned our visit to coincide with Vic and Mike's trip to Korea. This was TK and YK's first trip to Korea, the purpose of which was to show off their cuteness to relatives who had not met them, including great grandmas on both sides of the family. Here's a photo of TK in his Korean car seat.

This is the view from Mike's house in Gahoedong, a neighborhood famous for its Korean-style (han-ok) houses. It's one of the few areas in Seoul with this kind of landscape ...

... unless you consider this to be authentic.

While we pigged out at a restaurant in Ojangdong famous for its nengmyun, we put TK on one of the sitting pillows. He had no idea what he was missing out on.

Here's a photo of Mike waiting in line for ddukboki, another one of my favorite Korean eats. According to my cousin's wife, this place is so renowned for its ddukboki that people come from Japan just to eat there. (However, although Mike had grown up right around the corner, he had never heard of it, hehe.) It only took about 10 minutes for this line to appear behind us. The ddukboki was totally worth the traveler's diarrhea!

One of the highlights of the trip for YK was riding the subway. Everyone must have thought that we were from the shigol (Korean for country, in the pejorative sense as well) given the number of pictures we were taking.

This was a dream come true for YK, who is obsessed with trains.

One of my top must-eat items in Korea was Red Mango, the supposed originator of the Pinkberry trend, which had recently invaded New York. As I expected, Red Mango was the real deal. The consistency of the yogurt was smooth and creamy without any hint of that Pinkberry iciness. Given my addiction, it looks like I'll have to move to LA since the first U.S. Red Mango just opened in Westwood!

Here's one last photo of me, Vic, and TK at the Coex underground mall.

extreme makeover: parker

2007-06-27T15:35:00.000-07:00

After a 3 month long absence, I'm back on the east coast. The part to which I usually look most forward when I come home is reuniting with the dogs. Sully greeted me at the door with a slobbery kiss and looked cute as usual, but ...

... what happened to Parker?? Apparently, he had let himself go.

Thus, my first order of business was to call the groomer and make an appointment. Five hours later, the cuteness has returned and we can all go back to business as usual.

Next up, who's cuter, TK or PK (Parker)?

happy gay pride from sf!

2007-06-25T18:02:00.000-07:00

After another blissful stint in LA, I flew up to San Francisco (well, San Jose airport via Southwest Airlines, to be exact) to spend time with my older sis Michelle and her husband David. I've been up here a bunch of times over the past few years, but for some reason, SF never captured my heart. It was either too chilly, too hippie, or even too techie. (As for that last criticism, obviously I suffer from some degree of self-loathing given that I went to MIT.)

Well, I'm over my snobbery and have ended my silly refusal to fall in love with this city. I have to admit that the beauty of SF even rivals Sydney. In classic tourist fashion, this view of the Golden Gate Bridge--which I captured right before I crossed over on my rental mountain bike from Blazing Saddles--had me at hello.

And speaking of views, check out the views of the city from Mount Tam, which Michelle and I hiked on Sunday. Two days later, my hamstrings and feet still feel broken, but it was totally worth it.

tk turns 100 (days)

2007-06-20T19:15:00.000-07:00

We had a mini-party today for Elliot's 100th day (baek-il). Bucking tradition, in lieu of having a big feast of Korean rice cakes and soup as custom dictates, we celebrated by getting Elliot a new outfit (lime terry jumper from Splendid, hehe, and doggy booties) and balloons. This was all for the purpose of maximizing Elliot's 100-day cuteness, as evidenced below.

shake it baby, shake it

2007-06-19T14:02:00.000-07:00

life is good

2007-06-18T20:11:00.001-07:00

birthday

2007-06-17T15:41:00.000-07:00

I turn 32 today (yikes!). Could I possibly have been this cute 30 years ago?!

overall-ed out

2007-06-15T17:20:00.000-07:00

missing eye-fold!

2007-06-13T15:04:00.000-07:00

13 dives later

2007-06-05T22:29:00.000-07:00

Cozumel simply blew me away. The variety and abundance of fish, clarity of the water, and vibrancy of the reefs were all far superior to any of my dives in Australia. The divemasters from Blue Angel and my new friends from Houston deserve much of the credit for my unforgettable diving experience. They gave me some great diving advice and made me feel really safe underwater. Here's a sampling of some of the photos I took with my new underwater housing.

cozzy (as the aussies probably call it)

2007-05-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

As much as I love to travel, I've always disliked traveling alone. I know it sounds babyish, but I prefer to travel with someone I know and although I'm not a shy person, when it comes to extending myself to strangers, I become sheepish.

In an attempt to get over this aversion, I booked a trip to Cozumel for some diving. I chose Cozumel after learning that it's a world-class diving destination* and a good place for a solo traveler. My extensive research on ScubaBoard and TripAdvisor then led me to the Caribe Blu Hotel, where you're a nobody if you're not a diver. Perfect.

*Like how I have such high standards for diving even though my log book contains a paltry 11 dives?

After roughing a 6-hour layover in Dallas, I touched down in Cozumel and entered paradise. Check out the view from my $70/night room!

I settling in, hopped over to Rendez Blu Restaurante, and within minutes befriended a group of divers from a Houston scuba club who frequent Cozumel like their home away from home. Despite the fact that they come from Bush country (sorry guys!), I took an immediate liking to my new Texan friends and happily accepted their invitation to become an honorary member of their diving group. I then went straight to bed, not only because I was exhausted from the near all-nighter I pulled getting here, but more because I couldn't wait to start diving the next day.

hi

2007-05-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

tk becomes a christian

2007-05-27T18:58:00.001-07:00

Breaking the No White Before Memorial Day Rule, Elliot was baptized today. He seemed pretty happy about being initiated into the Jesus club ...

... until he realized what he had gotten into. Look at how worried he is!

The entire family was present for the occasion, with my little sis Irene serving as godmother and Mike's older bro and my long-time friend Gerald becoming Elliot's godfather.

In true post-wedding ceremony style, we had a photo shoot on the alter following the baptism. Here's a photo of the happy family of Drew, Elliot, Mike, and Vic.

And a photo of the larger family, which included cousins Charles, Chin, Hana, and Lynn, as well as Mike's parents, who came down from San Francisco. (By the way, in a perfect example of Like Mother Like Daughter, look at how my mom and I think that we're the Korean Rockettes with our feet in perfect alignment. )

After the church ceremony, we got together at Cafe Del Rey in Marina Del Rey for a celebratory brunch. Cafe Del Rey turned out to be an ideal venue; the food was fantastic, especially the bread selection which included mini pain au chocolat (yum!) AND mini croissants, and the views of the marina were spectacular. Most importantly, it was a really fun crowd, which included most of the aforementioned family as well as friends Lisa, Bradley, Sammy, 2-week old Ruby (!), Andrea, Danny, Jackson, Diane, Chris, and Greg. All in all, Elliot's baptism was a great excuse--I mean occasion--for doing what we do best: getting together and pigging out.

the cuteness trifecta

2007-05-24T18:56:00.000-07:00

Drew

Kaylen

and Elliot!

more showing off

2007-05-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

And you thought I was obsessed with the Sydney Opera House!

Riding the firetruck at the Santa Monica Festival

Splashing around the gardens at the Kidscape Museum in Pasadena

Drew running may be almost as cute as him giggling.

fairgrounds!

2007-05-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

Vicki, Mike, Drew, Elliot and I went to Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier for a fundraiser for Drew's pre-school, Crestwood Hills Cooperative Nursery School. (By the way, for those of you who didn't catch the shameless namedropping, I include the full name of Drew's soon-to-be pre-school, which in this area, elicits wonderment and envy in terms of its prestige and selectivity.) While I snuggled up with Elliot to keep myself warm (do I look like a natural?), Vic, Mike, and Drew threw down each ride, one by one ... well, at least the rides for which Drew met the height requirement.

Very serious driving.

Watching his dad throw 15 airballs in a row! (Mike claims that he did it on purpose.)

The next Charlie Wi! Well, Drew may need some lessons from Charlie. His twisted wrist putting form looks a little painful.

Actually, it appears to be working for him.

hanging out with elliot

2007-05-17T14:51:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how much Elliot has grown, even during the short time I've been here in LA. He smiles more each day.

mini montage: cute feet

2007-05-16T20:47:00.000-07:00

drew montage: day at douglas park

2007-05-16T20:33:00.000-07:00

Please forgive the lack of accompanying prose for these photos, but it would only ruin the cuteness. Consider it a (lazy) photo essay!

tribute to moms

2007-05-12T23:01:00.000-07:00

In honor of mother's day, this post is dedicated to all of the moms in my life who, with each day, astound me with not only handling what I do believe is the hardest job in the world, but conquering this job with aplomb, grace, and dedication. Most importantly, thank you for filling my world with such cuteness!

My younger sister, Vicki, and her two sons, whom you've already met:

The older Drew, in still life,

and in motion (you've got to hear the giggle!),

and baby Elliot, with whom I'm hopelessly obsessed.

Alexis and her son Noel, an aspiring model who just had his first runway show

My long-time friend Cathy whose daughter Kaylen just turned one (btw, Kaylen is Korean)

Cheryl and her son Noah (very cute underneath the blankie)

And, most importantly, my um-ma, the most important woman in my life whom I have missed very much while I've been away. I love you, mom, and can't wait to see you in 2 weeks!

tk & yk in la

2007-05-11T20:24:00.000-07:00

Somehow I resisted the urge to stay in Australia and dragged myself onto my return flights back to the states from Perth (4 hours + 12 hours via Sydney). Leaving Australia was hard; in many ways it really felt like home. However, I was really starting to miss my family and could not wait to meet my new nephew, Elliot, for the first time.

As soon as I landed at LAX, the bonding began. Here is a photo of Elliot Taekyoon (hence, the moniker TK), who was born on March 13. I am extremely jealous of his perfectly formed eye-folds.

Look at the cuteness in action!

Just as cute and with just as much hair, is Elliot's older brother Drew Youngkyoon ("YK"), who is now 2 years and 8 months old. Like many two-year olds, Drew is obsessed with Thomas the Train. He also has a strong preference for the classic animated Disney movies, e.g., Lady and the Tramp, Dumbo, over the more recent computer-animated films.

TK and YK are just too cute for words. Many more photos to come!

rottnest island

2007-05-07T02:16:00.000-07:00

Continuing my pursuit of winter sports here in Perth, I booked a day trip to Rottnest Island for some diving. Rottnest, which is located 19 km west of Perth and accessible by ferry, is a popular destination for beaches, bike riding, snorkeling, and diving. It was given the unfortunate ill-fitting name Rottnest, i.e., rats' nest, by a Dutch explorer who encountered these fuzzy brown creatures and mistook them for humongous rats.

As you can see, these guys, called quokkas, are much cuter than rats and Western Australia is the only place in the world in which they are found. According to one of the free guides I picked up somewhere along the way, quokkas can survive without drinking water and obtain liquid sustenance from fleshy plants native to the island. Obviously, a NYC rat would have no chance of survival here.

At 8:30 am, I got picked up at the wharf by Rottnest Island Dive and Snorkel in this boat and met my fellow divers, skipper Vaughan, and divemaster Neil.

Neil guided us on two dives at Rottnest, one at a dive site called The Count, and the second at a nearby site called Henrietta's Rocks. Both dives were really fun, not so much in terms of seeing a vast range of different aquatic life, but more for the thrill of diving over and under limestone rock formations and through narrow underwater tunnels.

After returning to the mainland, I met up with Jess for a free show at Kulcha, a cultural arts center in Freo, and finished up the day with some gospel singing. Here's a photo of me and my wonderful Western Australia hostess Jess (who, by the way, has a beautiful voice). I'll miss you Jess and can't wait to see you in France!

new adventures in backpacking

2007-05-05T06:34:00.000-07:00

I have a confession to make. I've never stayed at a hostel before. I missed the prime backpacking age of late teens/early twenties by not traveling much during those years, and then once my wanderlust set in, I could afford hotels and never thought of staying in hostels for the sake of doing so.

Well, my days of being a hostel virgin have come to an end here in Perth. As of today, I'm a resident of Pirates Backpackers in Fremantle (aka. Freo), a vivacious harbor town located a few kilometers south of Perth. My original plans for accommodations in Perth were to stay with my friend Vaughan, whom I met a few years ago when we were both visiting Antigua. Back then, Vaughan worked in the police force here in Perth, but just over one year ago, Vaughan left the police and bought Pirates. After spending a couple of nights at his place in Cotts, he thought it would be more fun for me to stay here, and so here I am, sleeping in a bunk bed, sharing a common bathroom, and paying $23 a night, just like everyone else.

I have to admit that I was nervous about the hostel thing. For one, I thought that I was too old, but, moreover, I was not sure if I'd be able to cope with a bad cleanliness situation. Well, shortly after arriving at Pirates, my fears were allayed on both of these counts. Not surprisingly, most of the backpackers are in their young 20s. However, there are more than a handful of 30 somethings like me and a good number of other non-traditional backpackers, including a father and son traveling duo and an older French couple. I expected to feel singled out, but actually feel quite average, which in this context is great!

As for my cleanliness issues, the real test is the state of the bathrooms. There are 3 bathrooms here--one larger communal bathroom with 2 sinks, 2 toilets, and 3 showers; and two smaller single toilets with showers. For what I believe are hostel standards, all of the bathrooms are quite clean, meaning no bugs or bad odors (but a heavy dose of Tilex would do wonders!). If Pirates is any indication of what staying in a hostel can be like, then I am totally sold. Although my low tolerance for grungy living conditions persists, that will inevitably change once I get used to the thrill of the bargain that comes with backpacking.

winter in perth

2007-05-04T06:05:00.000-07:00

It's quite unfortunate that my trip to Perth coincides with its shoulder season preceding winter. Well, not really. Winter in a city that boasts, on average, 300 sunny days a year, isn't so torturous. In fact, it may be even better than most of the summer days I've had on the (U.S.) East Coast--not too hot, not too humid, and with the perfect occasional breeze.

Thanks to the advice of several acquaintances I met in Australia before I made my way out to the west coast, I am staying in one of the most glorious locations in Perth, Cottesloe Beach (or Cotts, as the locals call it). Unlike the beaches I visited in Sydney, e.g., Bondi, Manly (which, don't get me wrong, are just as dreamy, but in a different way), the beaches in Perth run uninterrupted, straight up and down the coastline, for kilometers. And, as with the Sydney beaches, they are no longer than a 10 minute drive from the CBD.

Walking up the footpath that runs along the beach, I stopped into Barchetta, a cafe in North Cottesloe with these sensational views.

I spent the rest of the afternoon browsing cute boutiques in Subiaco and in the evening, met up with two Perth natives, Jess and Matt. This is all part of a plan in which I am acting as a Rob Ambassador to Jess, who is moving to France this fall to start the MBA program at HEC with Rob. Rob and Jess have been e-mailing each other from their respective sides of the globe as prospective classmates, but have never met in person, so the fact that I am in Perth to act as Rob's proxy to his soon-to-be-new BFF is kismet!

Based on some of the e-mail exchanges that Rob had forwarded to me, I had a strong feeling that Jess would be nothing short of fabulous, and when I met her in person, I immediately thought, I'm so lucky that I get to hang out with Jess! (Well, not just Jess, but her amazingly cute doctor-in-training surfer boyfriend, Matt, as well.) Jess and Matt took me to Annalakshmi, a vegetarian Indian restaurant (yum!), situated on the Swan River, at the Barrack Street jetty, right behind the Swan Bell Tower, pictured here.

The food at Annalakshmi rivaled some of the best Indian food I've had in Mumbai and New York. However, the experience of visiting this restaurant was memorable beyond its culinary offerings; the concept behind Annalakshmi is "Eat to your heart's content and pay what your heart feels." This means that the food is prepared by volunteers and all of the profits go towards humanitarian causes in India and Malaysia. Isn't that brilliant?

After feeling good about ourselves for giving to a good cause by the act of pigging out, Jess, Matt, and I finished out the night at Hula Bula Tiki Bar just down the street. It was the perfect ending to one of the most memorable days I've had in Australia.

oh manly!

2007-05-01T03:57:00.000-07:00

After 2 unsuccessful attempts, Rob and I finally made it out to Manly Beach, a lively beach town located on the north side of Sydney harbour and accessible from Circular Quay by ferry. Our hesitation in getting there may have been due partly to laziness, but more because of the unfortunate persistent cloudy weather. Manly was undoubtedly worth the wait for sunnier skies -- look at how gorgeous it is!

After having brekkys, we set out on a scenic walk along the shoreline and through some of the residential areas of Manly. It was really one of the most gorgeous locations I've ever visited.

Here is a photo of the group in front of Shelly Beach, which according to the New York Times, provides the view for the most romantic restaurant in Sydney.

At the end of the day, we made our way back to Circular Quay by ferry. The views on the return trip were stunning, as usual. Have you had enough of the opera house yet?

love affair with sydney

2007-04-30T03:41:00.000-07:00

Getting to know and starting to fall in love with Sydney required almost no effort. Rather than set an ambitious sightseeing agenda, Rob and I spent most of our days walking around different neighborhoods, including Surry Hills, Darling Harbour, Newtown, Darlinghurst/Oxford Street, and The Rocks. Here are some photos from our self-led tour of the city.

Visiting the Strand Arcade, a shopping arcade in the CBD, open since 1892 and known for featuring some of Australia's best women's designers.

Having drinks at The Hero of Waterloo, a pub with an authentic feel located in The Rocks.

One of the highlights of Sydney was spending time with Elliot, Jay, and Stephanie, friends from New York who were finishing out their last law school semester (yay!) in Australia and New Zealand.

Visiting the Sydney Aquarium, which had a really impressive shark tank with two glass tunnels running underneath it, the requisite resident saltwater croc, a seal sanctuary, and, most importantly, no rules against bringing ice cream through the exhibits.

landing at the opera house

2007-04-26T02:11:00.000-07:00

Rob and I pretty much ran to the opera house as soon as we got to Sydney. It is easily one of the most spectacular architectural structures I have ever seen. I'll spare you from any futile attempts to be poetic and cut to the real purpose of this post - photos of ME at the opera house!

We devoted the entire day to the opera house, taking the hour-long tour in the late afternoon, having an evening cocktail at the Opera Bar,

and catching a hilarious performance by Varla Jean Merman, which was held in The Studio, the smallest performance space at the opera house.

What a great start to our upcoming 8 days in Sydney. We clearly saved the best city for last.

darwin. hot.

2007-04-23T01:43:00.000-07:00

It’s hot in Darwin. Really hot. Any day like this in New York would be declared a heat wave, but in Darwin, this is the norm, at least until the dry season ends in late October. Darwin is a small and isolated town. For most visitors, it’s a departure point for Kakadu, one of Australia’s biggest national parks. For us, however, Kakadu would have to wait for another visit. Although it can be done in a day trip, we were just not up for the 3-hour drive to Kakadu nor spending a full-day in the stifling equatorial heat.

Despite Darwin’s remote location, it is modern and even sophisticated. At the suggestion of our excellent travel consultant at the Tourism Top End information center, we took an evening harbor cruise on the Alfred Nobel, which included a delicious top-rate meal, gorgeous views of the coastline, and a breathtaking sunset.

On Monday, we set off on a day trip to Litchfield National Park with Wallaroo Eco Tours (which, by the way, I highly recommend). Even though Litchfield is not as famous as Kakaku, it, apparently, is no less spectacular. However, before heading off to the park, we stopped at the Adelaide River to see the jumping crocodiles. These aren’t just any crocodiles, but the legendary Australian salties, which are extremely dangerous predators, as explained here.

Getting the crocs to jump out of the water entailed luring one with a big hunk of sashimi tied onto the end of a stick and bobbing the meat in an up and down motion in hopes that the salty will jump up and snatch the bait. Although a few of the salties we accosted rejected our food, these guys were hungry.

So was Hannibal, one of the largest resident salties in the Adelaide, who is about 5.5 M long and 70 years old (or so they think), and maybe just as scary as the Hannibal Lechter, the character after whom he was named.

After the crocodile cruise, our guide from Wallaroo, Louise, drove us down to Litchfield to show us the park’s main attractions, including its famous termite mounds. We saw two types of mounds, the cathedral mounds, which are built by the termites from the ground up with dirt and termite saliva,

and magnetic termite mounds, so called because they all face north-south to avoid the direct solar heat. According to Louise, the only place in the world in which magnetic termite mounds can be found is within 80 miles of Darwin.

We spent the rest of the day swimming in some of Litchfield’s famous freshwater swimming holes, including Florence Falls and Buley Rockhole.

mooching around brisbane

2007-04-17T23:36:00.000-07:00

I was not excited about visiting Brisbane. From travelers and residents alike, I repeatedly heard that there is not much to do in Brisbane and that the best use of my time would be to leave the city and stay in one of the adjacent towns like Gold Coast or Byron Bay. Brisbane may not be a destination for sightseeing, but it’s one of those cities that draws you in and makes you forget that you’re a tourist. Although our stay in Brisbane was brief, we had just enough time to become enamored with Brisbane's spectacular riverscape, meet some really lovely locals, and experience the city's spirited and non-pretentious nightlife scene.

One of the best locations for people-watching in Brisbane is the Queen Street Mall, an area of pedestrian walkways located in Brisbane's CBD. The promenade is lined with shops, cafes, and restaurants.

We also spent a good amount of time tooling around South Bank, an area located on the banks of the Brisbane River with pedestrian walkways, bike paths, cafes, restaurants, bars, and even a man-made beach.

Just upriver from South Bank, you can rock climb at certain designated areas along the river.

And, of course, no day in Australia would feel complete without the requisite gorgeous sunset.

cairns wrap-up

2007-04-16T01:05:00.000-07:00

Rob and I had a difficult time leaving the Shangri-La. So difficult, in fact, that we decided to extend our stay in Cairns for a couple of days. Although Cairns doesn't offer much in terms of nightlife--at least for the older crowd to which we apparently belong--there were plenty of cafes, restaurants, and ice cream shops to keep us occupied ... or at least full. One of my most memorable meals was dinner at Perrotta's, an Italian/Australian outdoor spot where I had a superbly delicious mixed greens salad topped with pumpkin, pomegranate seeds, and popcorn.

Although Rob and I spent a good amount of time hanging out in the lobby of our hotel basking in the free wireless, we managed to fit some sightseeing into our schedules and rode the SkyRail Rainforest Cableway, a 7.5 km long cableway which crosses over and through the North Queensland rainforest.

According to SkyRail's website, this rainforest is the oldest continually surviving rainforest on earth. Rather than just waste time merely observing the scenery, we held a photo shoot inside the cable car.

The SkyRail, which from end-to-end takes about 70 minutes, makes two stops inside the rainforest, the first at Red Peak Station and the second at Barron Falls.

At Barron Falls, we met this adorably cute spider! (By the way, this shot was taken from at least 10 feet below the spider's web on a modest zoom setting.) I'm sure that he's deadly.

Well, maybe the spider wasn’t as deadly as it looked, but this bird, the cassowary, is apparently quite vicious and has been known to attack—and even kill—humans. Of course, Rob and I spent a good 5-10 minutes getting up close and personal with him not knowing that we were one flash bulb away from having him jump one of us and rip open our chest with his razor-sharp talons.

Next stop Brisbane, where we plan to take a break from nature and get back in touch with our city roots.

certified!

2007-04-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

Somehow I got myself up at 5:50 am for the first dive of the day. Not being a morning person, this was almost as painful as Reef Quest. (Just kidding. I'd rather wake up before 6 am every day for the rest of my life than relive Reef Quest.) I forced myself out of bed, put on my bathers (I love that word), and caught the sunrise from my cabin window.

The dive ended up being a challenging one. The current was pretty strong and visibility was low. However, I managed to pass my skills tests and after one more dive earned my open water certification! Clearly, looking dorky in a wet suit and snorkel mask was a criterion for earning certification.

With my PADI certification on the books, I was now free to go on fun dives. Obviously, I would be doing all of the remaining dives with Rob. Rob was not only a superlative navigator, but had an excellent eye for tracking down harder-to-find sea creatures, like Nemo!

That night, it was my turn to get thrown to the sharks on my first night dive. I, like Rob, managed to survive this experience, and came out of the water smiling (but only because Rob told me to for this photo).

In fact, the whole team survived.

The following day, Rob lent me his underwater camera for my last dive and I captured a couple of cool things, including:

another Nemo

and this school of fish hanging out in perfect formation in a coral bommie (look closely to see how organized they are!)

With nine or so new dives memorialized in our respective dive log books, Rob and I packed up, bid goodbye to the crew and our scuba mates, and made our way back to Cairns. The return trip was a little windy, but the backdrop was stunning.

swimming with sharks

2007-04-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

After completing my first two open water dives on day 3, Rob and I transferred to Ocean Quest, our housing for the next 2 nights. Although it didn’t quite compare to the Shangri-La, Ocean Quest was spacious, comfortable, and modern. The hard-working crew from Deep Sea Divers Den took great care of us and fed us very well.

Later that night was the first opportunity for a night dive. The waters were not only pitch black, but teeming with sharks and other monstrously large fish. As you can see in this video, the sharks were visible right below the surface of the water.

And to make this experience even more intimidating, the only additional accessory provided was a dinky flashlight.

If Rob had wanted me as his diving buddy, I would have certainly obliged, but because I hadn’t earned by certification yet, I was not permitted to do this night dive. Oh well! The night dive was all his and he didn’t hesitate for a moment before taking the plunge. Thirty minutes later, Rob and his group emerged from the water, all limbs intact. Yay!

surviving reef quest

2007-04-12T04:40:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday morning, I started my 5-day PADI certification class at Deep Sea Divers Den, one of the largest diving companies in Cairns. The first 2 days of the class consisted of classroom work, i.e., watching a DVD and taking multiple-choice quizzes, and practicing various breathing and survival skills in the pool. On day 1, I met my fellow scuba newbies, Clare, originally from the UK, but living in Melbourne for the past 11 years, and John and Justin, friends from London. I knew that I was in good company after learning that everyone in my class had recently quit their respective jobs and were devoting the next year to traveling around the world. Here's a photo of our motley crew with our instructor, Sven. You can pretty much figure out who's who without a caption, right?

I enjoyed every minute of the first two days, including squeezing into a wet suit for the first time (it's especially fun when you try on one that's too small in front of all of your classmates and your instructor, who looks like this), feeling what it's like to run out of air underwater, and repeatedly being told that the result of most scuba errors is death. However, I had no idea what I was in for on the third day.

I was super excited about finishing (and passing) the first two days of my class, which meant that I would be reuniting with Rob and spending three days with him on the live-aboard portion of the trip. That excitement quickly died soon after we boarded Reef Quest, the vessel that would be taking us out to the reef. The first problem was that the boat, which was fairly large in size, was packed with people. The second issue was that Rob and I were, by far, the oldest people on the boat; our fellow passengers were mostly college students from the states who were on a 7-day drinking binge, i.e., spring break. The third, and most challenging, issue was that the seas were choppy. Really choppy. As in at least 25 teenagers who stayed up drinking 'til 3 am the previous night (as I heard over and over) barfing continuously throughout the almost 2-hour ride to the reef. Some of you may know that I suffer from a condition that I call barfphobia (fear of vomit). Given my unfortunate condition, you can imagine how excruciating this experience was for me. Here's a photo of my torture chamber.

Needless to say, I survived the ordeal. I later learned that the reason that the boat was so crowded was because Divers Den charters out Reef Quest to a company that sells packages of extreme adventures, e.g., bungee jumping, skydiving, and scuba, to spring-breakers. All I have to say is that I'm proud to be old! (And, for the record, I was never like that when I was younger.) More importantly, I took my first two open-water dives. Two more and I'm officially certified!

second stop: cairns

2007-04-09T18:19:00.000-07:00

No sooner than the moment at which we finally synced our circadian rhythms to the local time, Rob and I were up at 4 am the next morning to catch our flight to Cairns. I was groggy for the next 5 hours, but exuberant about the prospect of getting certified in scuba and taking my first dives as a fledgling scuba diver at the Great Barrier Reef. However, the excitement for this part of the trip began well before I started my scuba training. Rob and I managed to get an incredible deal at one of the—as the Aussies would say—swishest hotels in Cairns, the Shangri-La. (To give you some sense of the magnitude of the bargain, if this had been a Loehmann’s purchase, the receipt would have stated that we were saving over $250 a night.) Check out the view from our room of the Reef Fleet Terminal, the point from which all boats bound for the Great Barrier Reef depart.

And here's a photo of the lovely and spacious interior.

One other very exciting pre-scuba development in Cairns was meeting up with Stacy and Patty, friends from New York who were on a two-week long holiday in Australia. Stacy and Patty started their trip in Sydney and were in Cairns for a few days after camping out in Alice Springs. The four of us had dinner at Barnacle Bill's, a seafood restaurant located on the Esplanade.

Next up, day one of my 5-day scuba certification class!

already missing melbs

2007-04-08T01:26:00.000-07:00

We closed out our week in Melbourne with visits to neighborhoods outside of the CBD, including South Yarra/Chapel Street and St. Kilda. I can't tell you how much I loved Melbourne. Here are some photos from our last two days.

Visit to St. Kilda, a laid-back beach neighborhood located a quick tram-ride away from the CBD

(See the sunset behind me through the tram window?)

Melbourne Zoo

(Red Kangaroo - like his human-like arms?)

Finding The Croft Institute--a bar we heard was really cool (even according to Alex)--which required walking down one narrow and dodgy alley to find another dodgy alley, at the end of which the bar was located. (It was closed, but at least we found it!)

(Read the doc's advice for a good dose of some Aussie humor.)

back home, i mean, to melbourne

2007-04-06T00:49:00.000-07:00

After our two-day excursion to the Great Ocean Road, Rob and I returned to Melbourne, this time determined to experience Melbourne's nightlife. We attempted to bar hop on Thursday night, but found only two types of bars/parties: (a) ones in which the average age was 18-22; and (b) goth parties. As Rob would say, "good times." Well, we made up for it the next day when we hooked up with Alex, a Melbourne native and friend of my dear friend Sara. As soon as we saw him, we knew that we were going to have real good times.

Alex took us out on his exclusive "AB Tours" package for Septies (i.e., the term of "affection" Aussies use to refer to Americans), which consisted of visits to bars in Melbourne that were not only non-embarrassing, but cool. The best part of the tour package was hanging out with Alex's mates, including Kirsten and Talbot.

Here's one more photo of us from our night out with Alex & Co. at Windsor Castle. I've already mentioned that Rob and I are moving to Melbourne, right?

more great ocean road

2007-04-04T19:30:00.000-07:00

I know that it’s difficult to appreciate these photos without my witty commentary, but the following photos of sights we visited on the second day of our Great Ocean Road trip require little narration, so happy scrolling!

Walk through the rainforest at Maits Rest. (Everyone is wearing pashminas in the rainforests these days.)

Cape Otway Lightstation

First koala sighting!

The Twelve Apostles

More eroding rock formations

Finally, the sunset from the highway, on the way back to Melbourne.

great ocean road

2007-04-03T19:08:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday morning, Rob and I picked up our rental car from Avis, a white Holden sedan, and headed off for the Great Ocean Road, a scenic drive which runs along the Southern border of the state of Victoria. Enjoying the scenery came easy, but adjusting to driving on the left side of the road posed a bit of a challenge. However, Rob quickly proved himself to be a natural left-sider (except for the fact that each turn signal was preceded by a few swipes of the windshield wipers).

The roads were curvy,

the breezes cool,

and the skies and waters as blue as can be.

We had lunch in Lorne, a quaint beach town with lots of cafes and shops.

And finished out the day in Apollo Bay, another sleepy little beach town.

And, one more note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY IRENE!

more melbourne

2007-04-02T18:09:00.000-07:00

After waiting 4 hours for the sun to rise, we began our second day in Melbourne with breakfast at another cute café located in another cute alleyway.

We ranked the Melbourne sights we wanted to see in order of significance/importance, and hit the first sight on our list, the Old Melbourne Gaol, heh heh. We learned about the imprisonment and hanging of Ned Kelly, one of Australia’s most notorious criminals, toured the different jail cells, and read about the science of death by hanging. We even took some photos of current prisoners, like Prisoner #1,

Prisoner #2,

and Prisoner #3. (And you thought the regression ended in Orlando.)

Our next destination was the Melbourne Museum. We started with the Deep Sea 3-D IMAX movie to inspire us for our upcoming visit to the Great Barrier Reef, and then went straight to the special exhibit, The Great Wall of China.

The Melbourne Museum had a really cool rainforest exhibit; it was like a mini-rainforest planted in an atrium, complete with trees, ponds, birds, bugs, and snakes. Except for the impeccably made wooden pathway in this photo, you’d have never known that we were not out in the real wild, right?

Here’s the view from the outside of the museum.

Before ending the day, we first had gelato,

then, dinner at Il Primo, an Italian café on Lygon Street.

And by “ending the day,” I mean falling asleep at 7 pm.

15 hours to oz

2007-04-01T17:56:00.000-07:00

As soon as I boarded our Qantas flight bound for Melbourne, I knew that I was on my way to a destination that I would fall in love with. For at least the past 10 years, I’ve felt a strong yen to be in Australia and in a matter of 15 hours, I would finally be setting foot on the only habitable continent I had not yet visited. The flight to Melbourne from LA was undeniably long, but with Rob as my traveling companion, a new Sudoku book (thanks Sara!), a set of NYT crossword puzzles, my iPod, and the in-seat on-demand entertainment provided by Qantas, I was set.

We landed at 7 in the morning, Melbourne time, checked into the Ibis Hotel on Little Bourke Street in the Central Business District (CBD) of Melbs, and headed out to explore the city. Our first stop was breakfast at Café Segovia, a lovely café located on one of many little alleys found in between the city streets of Melbourne.

We then hit the requisite tourist sites, including Federation Square

and Flinders Street Station.

By this point, Rob and I had already determined that we were moving to Melbourne. Even the graffiti was cool.

Despite our efforts to seamlessly adjust to the local time, Rob and I started crashing in the early afternoon and headed back to the hotel. Our plan was to take a power nap and then go back out for more sights, dinner, and drinks. I guess we were more exhausted than we thought because we ended up falling asleep at 3 PM and waking up at 3:30, um AM, the following day. (Those of you who know me are probably thinking that 12.5 hours of continuous sleep is hardly noteworthy.) So much for trying to beat jetlag on the first day.

mission regression complete

2007-03-29T20:14:00.000-07:00

I had high aspirations of finishing out the East Coast Regression Tour at Busch Gardens Tampa, but our bodies gave out after Orlando, so we decided to finish the amusement park tour at Universal Studios, which was more mellow, but really fun.

We then drove down to Naples and spent a couple of nights there, running errands and making final preparations for our trip to Australia (e.g., one last Target run, having my last Dunkin Donuts iced coffee). (Thanks Mary Beth, for letting us stay at your beautiful condo!) We squeezed in one night out in downtown Naples and had dinner and drinks at a Paddy Murphy's, a festive Irish pub (as if you couldn’t tell by the name). Like Rob's mustache?

And so the East Coast Regression Tour comes to a successful end. Oz, here we come!

islands of adventure

2007-03-26T19:44:00.000-07:00

Despite the success of the regression tour thus far, I had low expectations for Universal Orlando. I envisioned it as a place for little kids and families where the thrill factor would be minimal. We started our first day at Islands of Adventure, the more ride-oriented park at Universal. Much like Disney World, there were some really elaborate and impressive visual spectacles, like Poseidon’s Fury, pictured below.
Although Poseidon’s Fury was really cool, it had a pretty low scare factor. However, it did not take long for Islands of Adventure to prove itself as one the best ride parks I’ve ever visited. The first coaster we rode, Dueling Dragons, not only had a super cool waiting area inside castle dungeons, but consisted of two separate coasters dispatched in sync and configured in a way that created the effect of the dragons nearly colliding with each other. Here is a photo of me posing in front of the two dragons, fire and ice.

Even the kiddie coaster, The Flying Unicorn, made me scream!

The highlight of the park for me was the water rides. Jurassic Park River Adventure was one of my favorites and had a heart-stopping drop at the end and some really realistic-looking dinosaur animatrons. However, it didn’t offer the benefits of a wet t-shirt contest as this ride, Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls.

We also got some serious water action on Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges.

As you can see from this photo, Rob and I really enjoyed the Incredible Hulk Coaster, a turbo-speed roller coaster which dipped into an underwater tunnel.

Here’s one more photo showing how much I embraced Islands of Adventure.

And, here’s the review you've been waiting for:
Favorite ride: Jurassic Park River Adventure
Scariest ride: Dudley Do-Right Ripsaw Falls
Best roller coaster: Dueling Dragons
Waits: Minimal; the longest we waited for a ride was 15 minutes and we didn’t even have a FlashPass!
Food: Much more reasonably priced than Six Flags; not many low-cal/fat options, but some places (maybe all) were trans fat-free
Best perk: free lockers (which had cool hi-tech fingerprint recognition system)

me and atlanta, meant to be

2007-03-25T19:26:00.000-07:00

Rob and I also hit the city the nights before and after our day at Six Flags. I am the first one to admit that I’m a typical New Yorker when it comes to casting judgment on other cities and don’t know how many times I’ve said, “New York is the only city I could live in anywhere in the world, except maybe London.” Well, I’m determined to prove myself wrong and Atlanta could not have been a better place to start my attitude adjustment. I loved A-T-L!

Given that we were only in Atlanta for two nights, we put together a list of bars to visit and on the first night hit a record number of seven (yikes!) bars. (However, it should be noted that 3 bars were located all within one strip mall.) Here is a picture of us at Halo, a clubby type place, which had live drummers playing with a DJ, a cool two-story layout, and really friendly fellow bar-goers.

Our second night out was not quite as impressive in terms of numbers, but we enjoyed ourselves just as much at a really cool Mexican spot called Frogs, where we had dinner and drinks outdoors.

I really hope to return to Atlanta soon. I always had a feeling that I was a Southern girl trapped in a Korean person’s body. (Although my sister Irene informed me that, apparently, Atlanta has one of the highest Korean populations in the U.S., so it appears that it’s not just me.)

six flags over georgia. yeah!

2007-03-24T03:39:00.000-07:00

After enduring my first stay at a Motel 6 -- which was very clean, safe, and couldn’t have been a better deal -- Rob and I drove down to Atlanta to hit our first theme park, Six Flags Over Georgia. Because we got a fabulous deal on our admission tickets (thanks to the Wingate Inn, Austell), we couldn’t resist splurging on the FlashPass, which for an additional $42.50/person, guaranteed waits no longer than 15 minutes for certain rides, i.e., the good ones. The FlashPass was undoubtedly a worthwhile purchase. It allowed us to keep a ride-hitting pace proportionate to the rate at which we were regressing. All you have to do is hold it up to one of these scanners, like so …

… and then in no later than 15 minutes, you’ll be screaming your head off, like this:

(I swear, this ride was scary at the time!)

Taking the scenic skyway across the park.

Braving Splashwater Falls. Well, not really. It’s pretty tame and there’s one drop at the end where you get spritzed with water. (Like my cool shades? I got them at the mall for $12.99.)

Here is my nerdy review of Six Flags Over Georgia:
Best Coaster: Goliath (heart palpitation-inducing initial ascent)
Honorable Mention: Georgia Scorcher
Scariest Ride: Acrophobia (the updated version of Freefall)
Worst BSI (brain stem injury) Potential: Great American Scream Machine (but still fun)
Biggest Bummer: Deja Vu closed for “mechanical difficulties” (C’mon!)
Food: No healthy options whatsoever; total rip-off, even for theme park standards, e.g., $7 for a slice of Papa John’s! Rob and I had no choice but to leave the park and have lunch outside of the premises at Subway. Heh heh.
Staff: Super friendly and hard-working, although could’ve been much more efficient with filling up empty seats on rides and I got called ma’am way too many times.

seeing skyline

2007-03-22T20:09:00.000-07:00

Although my family has lived in Virginia since the late 80s, and also despite the fact that we grew up taking road trips, I had never taken the drive down Skyline Drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains. As you can see from the pictures, it was too early for springtime foliage, but the views from the mountains were breathtaking. I was really impressed by the beauty and calmness of the Virginia landscape with its rolling hills, verdant fields, and picturesque farmhouses. See what you discover when you leave home!

Here is an un-glamour shot of me, which Rob took at one of the 75 lookout points on Skyline Drive.Rob was much more photogenic at this lookout point.
Mission accomplished: all 105 miles traversed!

springtime in virginia

2007-03-21T23:26:00.000-07:00

For the next few months, I'll be traveling with my dear friend Rob. We decided that before leaving the country, we need to get a little regression out of our systems. Hence, the first leg of our travels begins with the East Coast Regression Tour, i.e., road trip in a rental car from New York to Florida with stops at select amusement parks. Before officially embarking on the amusement park tour, we stopped in McLean, VA to visit my dad and dogs, Sully and Parker. (Mom was in LA, visiting my newborn nephew Elliot. More on him later.)

Sully is a nine-year-old lab and Parker is a three-year-old Maltese. Sully and Parker come together as one unit; they are inseparable. How cute are they?! Here is another shot of them.

Back to the road trip. Rob and I rented this silver Jeep Commander to transport some furniture to his sister's condo in Naples, FL. Although you can't tell from the photo, every inch of the Jeep behind the driver's seat is tightly packed with boxes and random pieces of furniture, all of which we drove down from New York in a Uhaul 10' truck. After executing this impressive packing job, Rob and I decided that if all else fails job-wise, we will start our own moving business ... which won't offer any vehicles larger than this Jeep ... and allow packing only on unseasonably warm days ... and permit drives only on routes that have good amusement parks ... yeah, good plan.

keyless

2007-03-20T22:33:00.000-07:00

As of today, I lack possession of any and all keys. No apartment key. No automobile key. No office access key. I finished out the sublease on my apartment, took a leave from my job, sold or gave away all of my furniture, stored a minimal volume of personal belongings at my parents' house, and am about to live out of a medium-sized suitcase (Tumi Generation 4 FXT wheeled duffel bag in light blue, of course) and an extra large tote bag (Herve Chapelier circa 2003) for the next 5 months.

For the last 8-and-a-half years, I've lived on a map that looks like the famous Saul Steinberg New Yorker cover depicting Manhattan as the center of the world. I've relished living in the city and think that there's no other place like it in the world. However, it's time to move on, brave the world, and stop holding back. As my friend James so aptly put it, for the next five months, the world will be my home.