Travelog - Jersey Boys

I love musicals, & always have, whether on the big screen or live on stage.

It was with eager anticipation that I went to the Broadway musical Jersey Boys, which is based on Frankie Valli & his career with the Four Seasons.

I loved it.

Even my husband & two boys, who are usually averse to watching musicals were enthralled almost from start to finish, so much so that once the curtains closed, the first thing my 14-year-old said was, "Let's watch it again." We even bought the CD recording of the music & now, included in their iTunes playlist are Four Seasons classics like Walk Like A Man, Sherry, Big Girls Don't Cry etc!

Listening to the CD which had John Lloyd Young playing the role of Frankie Valli, I think I much prefer Young's voice to Michael Longoria's, whose falsetto, honestly speaking, sounded rather chipmunk-ish at times.

Christian Hoff (who played Tommy DeVito) was brilliant. I could see why he won the Tony for this role in 2006. Peter Gregus , who played the "happy" (*ahem*) manager Bob Crewe was also very enjoyable.

For anyone hoping to catch a Broadway show while in New York, this is HIGHLY recommended!

Here's a snippet taken from the David Letterman show, featuring the original cast doing a medley from the show, with a very enthusiastic review from Paul Schaeffer...

Travelog - College Visits

Stanford.

Berkeley.

New York University.

Columbia University.

Princeton University.

These were the colleges we visited during our trip. We wanted to give our older boy a feel of these higher institutions of learning, since he will start his college applications process in the coming two years.

Columbia University

I know, I know...very lofty aspirations we parents have for our children, but hopefully, by showing our boys what's out there, they may be inspired to reach for the heights! Haha, just kidding. Seriously, these colleges are just a handful of so many excellent schools here in the US, not just Ivy Leagues, but also smaller & academically rigorous ones like Lehigh, Renselaar, Colgate, just to name a few.

Stanford - Corridors of learning

The ones we visited this time ranged from State universities (Berkeley) to private ones (NYU & Stanford) to traditional Ivy Leagues (Columbia & Princeton). All were excellent schools but had very different curricula with foci on different aspects of education. The Ivy Leagues tend to be more liberal arts-centric while the private universities had more professional courses to offer.

UC Berkeley

They all offered information sessions for students & parents, which outlined their curricula, admissions process (generally holistic although given the kind of applications they get, scoring at least 1400 in the SATs is the norm rather than the exception!) & financial aid. College costs are hefty - in these colleges, they were around the USD50K per annum ballpark. Hence schools which give a lot of grants & scholarships (to US citizens) like Stanford & NYU sound very attractive to us parents!

Campus tours were also useful in giving the potential students a sense of the size of the school as well as the atmosphere. For me, I found Stanford, located on over 8,000 acres of land (!) to be less "cosy" than Berkeley or Columbia, while NYU was very vibrant, since its buildings are not confined within the typical college campus, but rather, become part of the landscape of the Village in NYC. Basically, you step out of a school building on to the New York city sidewalk!

Columbia, with its old historical buildings & Grecian columns, had a very academic feel to it. For those looking for a good liberal arts curriculum, this is the place for you.

My personal favorite is Princeton. With a smaller campus than Columbia, it had a more homey feel to it, with the added plus of being surrounded by quaint neighborhoods & nice restaurants :). If I had to do it all over again, this would be my first choice (assuming that I could get in!!!)

Princeton - my favorite!

Travelog - GOOGLE

We visited the Googleplex in Mountain View (part of the Silicon Valley corridor), an astounding complex of about 30 buildings in Mountain View. 

It has the feel of a college campus cum holiday resort cum condo, with its casual atmosphere, cafeterias that serve gourmet food (free for employees!), a beach volleyball court, pingpong tables in the staff lounge, and lap pools. Any company that provides massage chairs & free massages in their massage center has got me sold! I can see why it was voted into the Top Ten Best Companies to Work For, & why this company receives thousands of job applications & resumes per day (out of which less than 1% is successful).

Extremely environmentally friendly, it encourages employees to use bicycles, electric scooters, & funky looking vehicles like this conference bike.  

Employees are allowed to bring their pets to work (and they do), there are special parking lots for expectant mothers, and you can even do your laundry for free. 

If only more employers were half as considerate...

Travelog - California Dreamin'

It was wonderful to smell (or is that not smell) the odor- & fume-free fresh air of San Francisco, and to see the blue blue skies that we have been missing for too long. Almost as soon as we disembarked, I noticed the subtle absence of "bogginess" in the air, and I swear my lungs felt more "refreshed" than they ever did in Beijing.

It's been two years since we came back to the USA.

It is so nice to be able to cross the streets at pedestrian crossings where cars actually stop for you.

I appreciate the simple pleasure of browsing through the seemingly endless aisles of Borders, where the books are arranged in logical order.

We love Target, a store where you can literally find everything under one roof at reasonable prices. From pajama bottoms, to chewing gum, to facial wash, to the latest romance novels, I was reluctant to leave the store!

It felt good to shop at Old Navy for reasonably priced, trendy CLOTHES THAT FIT ME. It is great for my self esteem to find sizes which are too big for me in the "Regular" section of the store.

We've missed shopping at supermarkets with wide aisles & huge variety of food that cost a fraction of the prices in China. We had to restrain ourselves from grabbing boxes of cereal, cartons of chocolate milk, & Jello off the shelves, in view of the limited luggage space we will have after taking into account the amount of shopping we will do by the end of our trip (see paragraph about Target & Old Navy above).

More later...

See ya later, alligator

Well, not fishing actually. But will be gone for a while on our summer vacation in the US of A.

Back in a bit!

Holiday in HK

Hong Kong sure is crowded. We spent the Chinese New Year holidays there. Talk about 人山人海 (literal meaning: people mountain people sea; actual meaning: kazillions of people around).

It was a bit strange meeting Chinese salespeople & waiters who spoke English! Not used to that as most Beijingers can't.

The Police concert at the Macau Venetian Arena was amazing.




























Sting's bass guitar looked really worn out - but that's ok.
And Stewart Copeland looked winded during most of the concert while he was energetically banging on the percussion insturments - but that's ok.
And Andy Summers looked rather pathetic (and rather arthritic)when he tried to jump off an amp like rockers are supposed to do - but that's ok too.

Because despite appearances, they still sound frikkin' fantastic! Sting was trim & toned & still looks pretty sexy!




Sting!





















Surprisingly, my 14 year old son really enjoyed the concert too, probably in part due to the fantastic performance of the percussionist, who not only played on the traditional drum set, but also made brilliant music on a variety of cymbals, & bells & timpani. He was not impressed by the guitarist though, aficionado that he is, of all things pertaining to the guitar & the playing of. :)



Stewart Copeland in action! Believe it or not, this image was taken off the HD screen on stage.





















My 16 year old, on the other hand, found it too loud, didn't really like their music & looked at me in astounded disbelief when I sang along (rather enthusiastically) & knew the words to the classics like Every Little Thing She Does is Magic, Message in a Bottle & Every Breath You Take...:) He actually enjoyed the support band, Fictionplane, more - not surprised as they have a more modern rock sound.

The rest of our holiday was spent shopping, eating & meeting family we otherwise would seldom get to meet. A good time was had, in all.

Happy Year of the Rat!

Impressions from China - Interesting Finds & Factoids

I discovered amazing/unusual finds during our recent trip to Xi'an:

• Manchurian writing looks like there is some Indian influence, but vertical...try turning the picture around & you see what I mean...

• Ingenious inventions like the no-spill water pot which reminds me of child-proof cups I used to buy for my sons to use when they were toddlers. Same principle, different time period.
• the versatile heater-in-the-winter/air-cooler-in-the-summer device from the Qin dynasty - put heated coal in it to warm up a room, or ice carved out from the river (& stored underground) to cool it down & voilá!
• Sudoku! Actually, they used this (replica below)as a charm to ward off evil back in the Tang, I think, Dynasty, because they didn't understand the magic of Mathematics. They thought that this combination of numbers had magical powers because no matter which row it is, the sum of the numbers is always 111!!!
  
• the Tang Dynasty ideal of the perfect woman had a full figure...hmm...I wonder how I might be able to bring that fad back into the 21st century! (apologies for the flash reflected in the picture...museum was crowded & huge & was rushing through so didn't have time to review pictures)


• plumbing actually existed way back then! Remnants of pipes were excavated from the foundations of old buildings. (no picture, sorry)
  
• and finally, something not quite ancient but I thought rather unusual...

...no, not an ancient way of watering trees in China. We saw quite a number of trees hooked up to IV's!!! We think this is how they treat diseases in the trees.

Impressions from China - The 8th Wonder of the World

I figured this deserved its very own blog entry. A designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, the immense proportions of the place together with the enormity of the task of creating it is astounding.

Did you know that the excavated area covers only 1/13th of the estimated entire site which covers approximately 56 sq. km?

Did you know that the first warriors were constructed for Emperor when he was only 13 years old? And that it took over 3 decades to complete (continuing even till after his death)?

Did you know that the bronze weapons found at the site were plated with chromium?

This is 2,000 years ago. How's that for a high tech ancient civilization!

Did you know that when first discovered, the warriors were actually colored with paint replicating the real color of skin, armor etc? And that within hours, the colors slowly disappeared due to exposure to oxygen, CO2 & light?

The pictures below were taken just after the unearthing of the warriors. Note the skin colored faces & bluish tinge on their armor. Now, the exposed warriors are completely clay-colored, and further excavation has been postponed indefinitely...I suppose till there comes a time when they have developed a technique of preventing such degradation.

In this picture, the imprint of a fallen warrior that has been left behind together with the red paint that used to be on its armor.

Did you know that you can tell an archer from an infantryman from an officer from a general just by looking at what's on their heads & what they were wearing?

This is a first-row archer. Note the single top knot on his head, his half kneeling position & his armor.

The archers were grouped in threes - the first row (as above) helped to shield, the second row would shoot & the 3rd row getting ready to shoot (below - note: no armor).

Officers wear a flat leather headpiece, infantrymen wore armor & had single topknots on their heads; generals had two topknots & also wore accessories which designated them as "2 or 3 star"!

Did you know that each soldier is a "different person"?

Check out their faces below. The Emperor handpicked "models" for the warriors, ensuring that they were all tall & strapping lads! So most of the warriors are taller than the average Chinese!

Did you know that most of the warriors were found in pieces which had to be painstakingly put together by the archeologists?

Talk about a difficult jigsaw puzzle!

In the picture below, the fragments are in the foreground waiting for the archeologists to put them together.

Did you know that Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of a unified China, for whom these warriors were made, still lies interred under a huge mound of dirt (which looks like a small hill) & it's believed that his tomb lies among a replica of the map of China with the rivers represented by quicksilver (mercury) to deter grave robbers (due to the poisonous nature of this substance)?

Our visit to Xi'an has been an eye-opener. This ancient city, which used to be the capital of China, has given us a greater appreciation of the richness of Chinese history & civilization.

Impressions from China - Xi'an

We went on a short sojourn to Xi'an, where we...

...walked on the City Wall...

Built in 582 A.D., it is still fully intact & just over 13 km long. It encircles the city center. the bricks are held together by a mixture of clay, lime & powdered glutinous rice.

...visited the Bell Tower...

In ancient China, the bell rang at 12 noon everyday to help the people tell the time.

...saw the Little Wild Goose Pagoda...

This pagoda remains intact after over 1,500 years despite an earthquake & massive bombing in WW2. Only the corners of the tiered roofs fell off.

...saw the Big Wild Goose Pagoda...

Built to house Buddhist scriptures translated by the monk XuanZang who travelled along the old Silk Road to India to learn about Buddhism. This journey inspired the famous Chinese classic 西游记(XiYouJi or Journey to the West). It also survived earthquakes & WW2 bombinh blitzes.

...visited a mosque...

Xi'an is home to 100,000 Muslims, descendants of settlers from the Middle East. And though this structure looks more like a Chinese temple, it really is part of the mosque, built during the Tang dynasty. It was built in a Chinese style to try to enhance assimilation of the Muslims with the local Chinese population. Apparently, it wasn't terribly successful then! Now, the Muslims live in harmony with the rest of the poulation. The children learn the Koran in a mixture of the Shaanxi dialect & Arabian.

...visited the Shaanxi History Museum...

Another fine example of the English translations we see in China, something that the Chinese government is trying to correct before the Olympics. They have a HUGE task ahead of them!

...visited the Forest of Stone Tablets...

Confucius's teachings are etched onto these stone tablets (there were at least 10 rows of these tablets I saw!!!). Scholars in ancient China had to memorise the ENTIRE SCRIPTURE in order to pass their exams (ouch), & poorer scholars who couldn't afford to buy a copy would come to these tablets & make rubbings.

...& the highlight of the trip, we saw the 8th wonder of the world, the famed Terracotta Warriors.

This is Pit 1. There are a total of 7 pits, some only partially excavated.

More on this in another entry.

Back & Blocked Again

We are "home" again. As we descended through a gray haze of smog into Beijing International Airport, I thought, "Well, no more clear skies for a while now." At least I didn't detect any smell of fumes like the very first time we landed.

I'm being blocked again from viewing blogs again so have to use the roundabout way - GRRRR!

Have finally downloaded pictures of our break in paradise (Phuket) & Singapore...

For some reason, I love sunsets. They give me a sense of peace & romance somehow.

This is a picture of Kata Beach taken at sunset. I like that bird flying over the beach. I didn't even realize it was there till I looked at the picture later. The waves don't look as violent as they really were (refer to next picture).

This was taken at high tide & yes, the waves were really that choppy. The red flag was up everyday we were there. Someone drowned the week after we were there off Patong Beach. Some people just ignore the warnings.

I tried to imagine how it was the day the tsunami happened. Scary.

This baby elephant was a special guest at the hotel for a romantic sunset wedding on one of the days we were there (I guess I am not the only one who like sunsets!).

I also took sunset pictures in Singapore...

...this is from the 62nd floor of the Swissotel Stamford....awesome view.

Another picture from the 62nd floor...not sunset this time! This is towards the Marina Bay area. The Singapore ferris wheel doesn't look like much from this angle, but from ground level, it looked pretty impressive.

Phuket Paradise (1)

The Ocean

I close my eyes as the tangy salty ocean breeze fills my nostrils & rifles through my hair. The constant dull roar of the waves lull my senses into a sonorific stupor. I have always loved the seaside. It brings back childhood memories of countless hours of frolicking through the waves, back in the days when our greatest worry was when our parents would tell us to get out of the ocean.

Massage

I literally thought that I had an out of body experience, in retrospect! I swear, in the midst of my Thai massage, I felt myself suspended in that limbo state, that twilight zone between sleep & wakefulness. I was aware, yet unaware,almost like floating in space. It's hard to describe it. I could feel the masseuse applying pressure & kneading my stiff muscles; and yet, I couldn't hear, smell or feel anything else. I guess I must have attained "relaxation nirvana", for lack of a better description! Aaahhh...it was wonderful...

Will post pictures once I get home & download them into my computer.

Donuts!

Krispy Kreme....YUM!

Believe it or not, I only just discovered how good these donuts taste. We didn't have them in our neck of the woods when we were living in the USA although my bro was raving about how great they were.

Then last weekend, on our ladies only shopping/eating trip to HK, I told myself that I HAD to try them, by hook or by crook. Someone had told me that the franchise had set up shop in Hong Kong. So after several hours of walking through shopping malls, we rested our weary feet & filled our hungry stomachs at the Krispy Kreme donut cafe in B2 of Times Square in Causeway Bay. Oh. My. God. They were so good.

My friends had told me about the crazy queues that form at the Donut Factory in a mall in Singapore. Hours of queueing just for donuts!!! Well, I am not sure if I would do that, but honestly, the krispy kreme ones were delicious. And the customer service was amazing. The store manager took our orders for delivery at our hotel on the day of our departure, so that we could feed our respective children with the freshest Krispy Kremes possible. (We ordered a total of 72 donuts between the three of us!!! And that didn't include the 15 that we consumed in total before leaving HK!!!) He was so accomodating with our requests, from the size of boxes to use, to labelling them with our names, to the time of delivery (which was EXACTLY at the pre-determined time).

Singapore customer service could take some lessons from Hong Kong.

By the way, my favourite Krispy Kreme donut was the original glazed. No need for all the extra frosting & fillings. Just pure donut....mmmmmmm.....

Snapshots from Beijing

We managed to find some time to take in some sights in Beijing while we were there, in between looking at houses & schools. Here are a few of the more interesting shots:


External View of the Forbidden City
Some of the buildings inside were closed off for repairs. A bit disappointing.




Square inside the Forbidden City
Notice the worn out stones on the floor. Looks familiar? I think I saw it (or a facsimile) in a Jackie Chan or Jet Li movie. Or in a trailer of a Chinese epic... Those stones have probably been there for hundreds of years. Uneven & bumpy, could be hazardous for walking if you are not careful.




Speaks for itself!
The place to go to broaden your mind & expand your horizons!




East meets West, Old meets New
Want a cuppa Java? How about a Heineken? All available in the Forbidden City!




Ad on Bus Stop
This was an honest to God, true blue ad seen on the back of a bus stop along a busy street in downtown Beijing! I did a double take when I saw it. I guess this is the place to go if you want to become sterile? Looking at the Chinese words, I think it's for abortions & contraception (Chinese experts out there, jump in here to correct me if I am wrong).




Snacking in Beijing
Seahorse? Starfish? Bugs? Worms? How about live spiders (not in picture)?
I think I'll stick to satay or french fries, thank you very much. :P

Ladies Night Out

Actually, it was more like a "Ladies Weekend Away".

I just returned from a long weekend in Hong Kong with two of my oldest & best friends - no kids, no husbands, no stress!

The relationship between girlfriends is a unique & special one. When we are together we can talk about things we would never discuss with our husbands/children/parents. There is a comfort about being with someone whom you have grown up with, through the angst of adolescence, through the teenage crushes, through shared experiences of school/university/relationships.

So this time away was a much appreciated one by all three of us. Not just the shopping or the eating, but more so, the company one was with.

Sidenote: Singapore needs to take notes from Hong Kong as far as customer service is concerned. HK has come a long way from as recent as 5 years ago. The sales persons at the retail stores are incredibly helpful. Even if you walk out without buying anything, they say a cheerful "Have a nice day" as you exit.
Oh, and one more thing: for the best "dou hua" (bean curd dessert) in the world, go to Sweet Dynasty...you won't regret it. I am still thinking about the tub of dou hua we ordered....yum...

Holiday Highlights

On the day we left for Orlando from New York, we walk out to the street to take a limo to the airport & this is what we see...



...these white trailers are lined up along the street outside my MIL's apartment building.

Then I see these things stuck on lamp posts along the same street...



THEY WERE GOING TO BE FILMING SPIDERMAN 3 ON LOCATION RIGHT OUTSIDE THE APARTMENT BUILDING WHERE WE WERE STAYING!!!

My younger son & I had half a mind to stay behind & forego Orlando just so we could watch the film-making process...sigh...but we didn't as plans had been made months ahead of time & we didn't want to spoil it for everyone.

That's the cool thing about being in a city like New York. There's always a movie being made somewhere. During the time we were there, apart from Spiderman 3, 2 other movies were also being shot there (one was called "Enchanted", the other "The Spring in Her Step").

Be that as it may, I don't think I would want to live in NYC. It's too in-your-face for my liking. I prefer a more laid-back existence, preferably somewhere where I can appreciate nature in all its glory.

We did visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art which houses an amazing collection of art & historical pieces from around the world.


The place is huge & you could spend a whole day there & not finish viewing everything. Our poor feet could not tolerate the pressure so we only spent 4 hours there, seeing selective areas.



THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH

Honestly speaking, I think most adults can only enjoy the Disney theme parks if they go with a young child. I remember enjoying them more when the kids were younger.

We did Epcot Center & Animal Kingdom. Epcot was good for the most part, except for the fact that Hurricane Alberto brought along torrents of rain while we were there so we spent half the time trying to stay dry in our rain ponchos (unsuccessfully).



I was disappointed with Animal Kingdom as I kept comparing it with our local zoo (which is pretty darned good as far as world-wide zoo standards are concerned). The Living Tree attraction seemed too contrived for me to really enjoy it. The best part of this park was the Dinosaur ride, but that was about it.



UNIVERSAL STUDIOS & ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE

My boys (as well as A & I) enjoyed these parks more so than the Disney ones. Probably because it catered more to teenaged & adult patrons. The rides & attractions are developed so that one feels like one is part of the fantasy, with the help of a combination of 3-D technology, animatronics & live action stunts.

My favourites were the MIB: Alien Attack (you get to shoot at "aliens" with a laser gun while your vehicle brings you through a haphazard ride through the "streets"); Terminator 2 (a stunt show/3-D experience which amazingly meshed live action with film starring Arnold himself); and Spiderman (a ride combined with 3-D technology so that you actually feel as if you are being attacked by Doc Ock, the Green Goblin, etc & then rescued by Spidey himself).

The boys & A enjoyed the Revenge of the Mummy ride which I decided to sit out of, as my vestibular system was still reeling from the Alien Attack & the ride Back To The Future!

Now, I just need to recuperate from the vacation!

I Hate Flying

You could probably tell from the title that I'm back from our vacation.

My idea of torture: a 20 hour FULL flight in economy seated in the back cabin of the plane, suffering from a cold & a stomach virus, unable to sleep or eat, feeling queasy the whole time & watching the time go by, EXTREMELY SLOWLY. I seriously was considering asking the flight attendants if they had a drip set on board, so that I could IV myself as I could feel the effects of dehydration setting in.

Will post more when I am less groggy...

Checking in...

A quick post from the Big Apple since I have managed to hijack a wireless signal :)

Two weeks away from home...am ready to go back but still have a few more days before we leave.
New York is, well....New York.
The sights, sounds & smells are unmistakable; you are inundated by them night & day. It is truly a city that never sleeps. I hear sirens from ambulances/police cars/fire trucks even in the wee hours of the night.
The hustle & bustle hits you from all sides as you walk down the streets, be it in Chinatown, or Park Avenue, or Broadway. People of all shapes & sizes, speaking a multitude of languages, of different colors, a true melting pot.
The site of the Two Towers still stands bare when I look towards it from Broadway; I visited the site two years ago. Sad. I don't want to go again...no need to. We see the results of terror everyday in the media. Time to move on.
Food - honestly, I miss the good ol' hawker food of
singapore! Tah mee, wanton noodles (not the kind you get here in Chinatown - too bland for my singaporean palate), curry chicken, nasi lemak. Went to Carnegie Deli, famous for its various kinds of sandwiches. Ridiculously large portions...sandwiches 6 inches high (I'm not kidding you). I thought it was over-rated, but then that's just me. Food here in the States in great abundance, but much of it terribly unhealthy. Eg. on the menu in a Cracker Barrel: Fried steak - steak dipped in batter & deep fried, served with mashed potatoes & gravy. Choice of vegetable sides: Turnip greens (Taylor Hick's fave...I tried it; tasted like pickled cabbage...yeech), mashed potatoes, potato wedges, french fries (see the trend here?), apple sauce(!!!), corn (the only remotely healthy vege I found). No wonder the high proportion of morbid obesity here...


Time for breakfast...bagel with cream cheese...sigh...no mee pok...

More later...

On Hiatus

Heading for here...

...and here...

...and maybe here if time permits.

Be back soon. Check back in 3 weeks...

Room with a View

This is the view from the balcony of our cabin on a cruise to nowhere last weekend, a much appreciated birthday gift from my mom (thanks, mom!).

Why go nowhere, some may ask. For the uninitiated, these cruises cater to the casino goers. Singapore has no casino (I should use the politically correct term coined by the government: Integrated Resort, or IR) yet. For some reason, Chinese people like to gamble (not being racist, but based on observation). So the cruise ship is a convenient & comfortable way of doing so without the hassle of having to go all the way up to Genting Highlands in Malaysia or flying to casinos in Australia/Europe/USA.

I am curious to see how the IR wil turn out. I hope it won't be seedy like Reno, or tacky like Atlantic City. I'm actually hoping that it can capture some of the glitz & glamour of Las Vegas, with top-class entertainers (in the calibre of Elton John, Cirque Du Soleil, David Copperfield)& family-friendly venues (think MGM's theme park, or Venetian's indoor water canals & gondolas, or New York New York's roller coaster that goes through & on top of the hotel!). It'll be tough bringing in those stretch- & super-stretch-limos though, seeing the limited space available for parking here.

Did I win any money on the cruise? No, because I don't enjoy gambling. I enjoyed the cruise, though, because the sea calms me - the sound of the waves & the soothing breeze makes me forget all my troubles & stressors. I love sitting by the ocean with a good book & can spend hours doing just that. Forget about the casino, & the multitude of activities planned by the cruise director. I am happy with just my book, thank you very much.

So Many Places, So Little Time...

Planning our summer vacation now. We have to make the obligatory trip to visit my M-I-L in New York City; this will make it our gazillionth time in NYC (no offense to NYC but I really would like to see other places in the USA as well :)). We'll probably have to limit ourselves to road trips on the Eastern coast of the USA within reasonable driving distance from Manhattan. Anyhoo, am looking at Martha's Vineyard (seems pretty enough on the websites that I've seen but don't want to end up going to a tourist trap), Providence (am attracted by the town from what I saw in the short-lived but excellent series a few years ago), Newport (hubby trained there while in the US Navy, & says it's a pretty town). Maybe I should also look south & see what's there.

Kids & husband don't really care as long as they get to make their pilgrimage to Matt Umanov (a guitar store that has been in the Village area forever). Of course, Woodbury Commons (factory outlet stores!!) is a must. Maybe a Broadway musical (been trying to get Lion King tickets for the longest time....seems to be perpetually sold-out...I guess I should start trying to get tickets NOW).

There are soooo many places in the world that I'd love to visit - horseback riding in the Canadian Rockies; cruising down the Nile; riding a camel to the pyramids; a safari in Kenya...these are some of my dream vacations. Oh well, one of these days...