Monday, May 31, 2010

Hanoi heat and photo highlights

The heat index is over 110 (with humidity) and grows hotter each day. The bugs are nibbling on my exposed skin which also has a minor sunburn. Our feet are sore from miles of walking throughout the city...and we're loving every minute of it! One disadvantage for being a tourist in Hanoi on a Monday is that most of the museums and cultural centers are closed on Mondays. I really will try to do some minor musings while on holiday or at least photo highlights but will probably do more post-holiday musings of our experiences once we get home when I actually want to write more.

Off to our overnight trip to Halong Bay this Tuesday and then a train ride down to Central Vietnam, Hue...more adventures and photos to come, yay!

• bridge out to Ngoc Son Temple •

• waiting for Thanh Long Water Puppet show •

• recommend the water puppet show •

• Hoan Kiem Lake at night •

• Temple of Literature at 9:00am and 100 degrees already•

• One Pillar Pagoda •

• Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum •

• sunset from our hotel room •

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Local hike and abandoned houses

Our friends live nestled in the Los Gatos hills and this past weekend, we took a nice stroll through their backyard full of wildflowers, rolling green hills and abandoned houses! I'm looking forward to shooting these houses again especially if I can get some friends to model. This area has potential for fun and creepy photo shoots!

• the old chicken coop •

• main house •

• feels like texas chainsaw •

• porch was awesome but a bit creepy •

• love the old, clawfoot tub in the house! •

• this house felt really creepy & we think people actually squat there so i did not venture in •

• yup, feels creepy •

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Not what I expected...

The husband and I are heading off to spend three weeks in Vietnam and it's going to be exciting to show him part of my history especially since he's never been. We're going to spend a few days alone in Hanoi before taking the train down to Hue (Central Vietnam) to meet my family (parents, sister are also flying out to meet us there) and then we'll spend another two weeks traveling Vietnam by van trekking down to Saigon before flying home.

One of the things that has been on my mind lately is allowing myself some flexibility with vegetarianism while in Vietnam (not with meat but having seafood). When I did my major three month Euro/Asia trip, one of the things that I feel I missed out on was the local cuisine especially since cuisine is a big part of any traveling experience. It has bounced around in my head about being flexible for this Vietnam vacation and I thought that it would be difficult breaking since I've been a vegetarian for almost six years. This past weekend, I did overcome that challenge and had a few bites of the husband's sashimi. I envisioned that the moment this would happen, my taste buds might scream in ecstasy and I would realize how much I've missed seafood. I was surprised to find that this didn't happen and the whole experience was quite "meeehhh." People tend to ask if I ever miss meat or seafood and after this past weekend, it's safe to say that I do not miss it*

So for this vacation, I feel comfortable allowing myself to be flexible if the situation calls for it (i.e. we are doing a two day boat cruise on Halong Bay where they make lunch/dinner from the fish caught directly off the boat) but I don't think that I will be going pescatarian any time soon.

*the only meat/seafood that I do miss is my mother's true/authentic/delicious vietnamese cooking...

• the boats heading out into halong bay •

• fishing boat delivering seafood to tourist boat •

Friday, May 21, 2010

Meeting the new lil' one

An old friend that I grew up with just had her little baby girl two weeks ago and she is just absolutely beautiful. I cannot wait to do the actual real, family photo shoot with her and her parents in the summer, especially since these photos were just an informal, hanging out with her mom kind of photo shoot!

• baby feet are way too cute •

• peeking out of her blanket •

• wide awake •

• mother's touch •

• nap time •

• asleep and hungry •

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Mini-cation highlights

With the husband out of town, I snuck away for five days to Los Angeles and it was the perfect mini-cation to spend quality time with the family and friends. I love little getaways and am overly giddy for the Vietnam getaway in less than two weeks!!!

• i pho-king love this •

• mai being a bad ass biker •

• dad being a bad ass biker •

• together, they make a kick ass father-daughter biker team •

• cinespia: movie in a cemetery - best thing ever (except now it's too popular and overcrowded) •

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Rose Garden Highlights

An evening with the sun setting at the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden made for a perfect evening of fun photo takin'.





Friday, May 07, 2010

Andrew Molera's 8 mile loop trail

8 miles long...4 and a half hours long...bushwhacking through overgrown trails...playing the "avoid the poison oak" dance...super gusty winds.

Worth every moment:

• highlighted red is the loop trail we took •

• the big sur river that you have to cross (footbridge is only up in the summer) •

• river trail •

• hidden trail •

• hidden trail connecting to the ridge trail •

• ridge trail's view •

• redwood grove on the ridge trail •

• ridge trail connecting to the panorama trail •

• overgrown panorama trail •

• driftwood log jam at the end of the spring trail •

• bluffs trail •

• the reward after seven miles •

Thursday, May 06, 2010

Sunset at Pfeiffer State Beach

We arrived at Big Sur on Friday afternoon and didn't have enough time to take a hike so we trekked over to Pfeiffer State Beach to watch the sunset. We spent about two and a half hours walking along the beach, being silly and taking way too many photos (actually, you can never take too many photos but I did go through the SD card and left the other card at the hotel room - oops).

Here are my favorite photos from Pfeiffer's Beach:

• looking down pfeiffer beach •

• ripples •

• love the color clash •

• where the wild things are •

• catching the sun - my favorite photo •

• orange glow •

• blue glow •