2010 Travel Summary
I know I'm way behind on the blogging scene. However, I might not be as behind as you think. It seems like most people lost our trail when we switched to a new blog to post updates with the kids. The name "Taisei Buffet" just didn't seem to be fair to Mirei, so we changed the name. Bookmark abajoo.blogspot.com if you're interested in seeing family updates, especially of the kids. Perhaps this screenshot will tempt you. ;)
Here's my attempt to cover 2010 with few pictures and little text. Last year, we were all over. Thanks to the BYU EMBA business excursion being mostly on Delta, I even got bumped from Delta's Silver Medallion status to Gold Medallion. Sadly, it still doesn't hold a candle to the people with Diamond and Platinum status. On the popular flights, I have no chance of getting bumped to first class. The other day, I was #23 out of 57 for the direct to Reagan International. Wow, that's a lot of high-ranking frequent fliers. That's OK. I'd happily give up all useless status to stay home, eat Wami-cooked meals, and hang out with the family.
Here's where we went last year. In general, Wami and the kids went to the left, and I went to the right. The extreme left was Wami's annual trip with the kids to Japan. This time, it was perfect timing as she went when I was in the Middle East for school.
I've already talked about the Middle East trip many times. It was definitely the trip of a lifetime, but we probably won't be going there for vacation anytime soon. Don't get me wrong though - I would gladly live in some of the countries we visited if I got a good job there. (Egypt is now definitely off of that list though. And Morocco was probably never on it.) There are some great places and amazing food over there. Culturally, it's vastly different from anything I've experienced in Asia, Australia, or Europe.
All of the US travel, except for the Bay Area/Oregon and Las Vegas were business trips, but I made several of the business trips into vacations. Too bad Seattle was in the wintertime, otherwise, that would have been perfect to bring the family along for as well. Newark, New Jersey isn't a place I'll be taking my family to visit. Obviously, I need to see more of that state to appreciate it. Here's my attempt to cover 2010 with few pictures and little text. Last year, we were all over. Thanks to the BYU EMBA business excursion being mostly on Delta, I even got bumped from Delta's Silver Medallion status to Gold Medallion. Sadly, it still doesn't hold a candle to the people with Diamond and Platinum status. On the popular flights, I have no chance of getting bumped to first class. The other day, I was #23 out of 57 for the direct to Reagan International. Wow, that's a lot of high-ranking frequent fliers. That's OK. I'd happily give up all useless status to stay home, eat Wami-cooked meals, and hang out with the family.
Here's where we went last year. In general, Wami and the kids went to the left, and I went to the right. The extreme left was Wami's annual trip with the kids to Japan. This time, it was perfect timing as she went when I was in the Middle East for school.
I've already talked about the Middle East trip many times. It was definitely the trip of a lifetime, but we probably won't be going there for vacation anytime soon. Don't get me wrong though - I would gladly live in some of the countries we visited if I got a good job there. (Egypt is now definitely off of that list though. And Morocco was probably never on it.) There are some great places and amazing food over there. Culturally, it's vastly different from anything I've experienced in Asia, Australia, or Europe.
Florida was a trip where Taisei got to do his two favorite things: Go to the beach, and go to Disney. And boy did we do Disney. We were disney'ed out by the end of that trip... at least for a few months. Then we went to Disneyland in Anaheim - the better of the two. Better weather, better state, better resort. Period. ;) Florida's not so bad either though.
So let's see how good you are - which castle is this?
And the whereabouts of this famous beach?
For Christmas, we finally got to go up to Central Point, OR to see Emily's place. It's pretty crazy - it feels like a modern residential area hidden in a bunch of ruralness in the mountains. I liked it. It seemed like we were living by the folks in Twilight - what's their names - Bella and the Cullens? (I know you don't believe me, but really - I had to Google her name. I could only think of Kristen...) Besides the sparkly vampires and werewolves, I imagine you might start to miss being able to get diverse foods after a while. Maybe just diversity in general.
Some of the beautiful NorCal coast as we took the scenic route down.
On the way down, we stopped in SF for our New Year's Eve dinner. This meal was popular with the kids. We also had fish, crab, squid, and veggies. That night, Taisei got hives, but we couldn't stop him from eating the crabs that we bought in Crescent City. So the next night, he got hives again. He didn't care at all though. He was more interested in the seafood. That's my boy! ;) Recently, he seemed to have gotten it again from shrimp. I hope this whole seafood allergy goes away soon.
Mirei's enjoying clams here.
Taisei and Adele always have a crazy, rowdy, fun time together. I think it was driving Auntie Emily crazy this time. :)
Towards the end of last year, I started to really prefer to just be at home. We started to stay at home over the weekends and do homey stuff. For 2011, I think we'll try harder to just get things done around the house and appreciate all being together at home.
ps. Is there anyone still checking here? If you are, just write "Here!" or something. It would definitely help motivate me to post more often. Lucky for you, Shawn visited from Toronto the other day and inspired me by mentioning that he noticed the Egypt post. I know there are other lurkers out there... or are there...?
| Permalink | 
13 comment(s):
Definitely don't stop blogging. I love seeing what's up. Man, I really want to go to Disneyland with Taisei sometime. That looks fun.
By
Esther, at
2/18/2011 1:29 AM
Here! Sorry, I'm one of your lurkers. I'll be sure to check out the other Blog (Taisei has grown up so much!)
By
chauwell, at
2/18/2011 6:44 AM
Here! I am glad you liked visiting us. I hope you do it again in the summer, when I can take you to see waterfalls and go canoeing on the lake, and see Crater Lake and go hiking, see the Shakespeare festival, etc... I didn't even get to show you the temple by our house.
By
Aaron and Emily, at
2/18/2011 1:13 PM
Here lurking...but totally absent otherwise. ;)
By
andrew, at
2/18/2011 8:39 PM
Hey, nice to see some old familiar faces! Life is hopefully getting back under control soon, so I'll be trying to catch up with everyone. Thanks for checking in!
Hopefully there are more... ;)
By
Jerin, at
2/18/2011 10:20 PM
of course.
By
ricka, at
2/19/2011 11:23 AM
Here. I was given GM status on Delta for a year but didn't find anything exciting about it. Probably because I fly on their partners more often, and to them, GM is nothing, not even worthy of a lounge pass. I just lost my 1K status on UA, but that was like heaven - 6 upgrades anywhere in the world, and amazing service. Now I'm back to Premier Executive, it's just not the same. Oh well. What I've found more beneficial and luxurious is hotel chain status. Beverly can attest to this, we were well pampered as Starwood Platinums. Didn't get much as a Priority Club Platinum though...
By
YourFriendMark, at
2/20/2011 1:18 AM
here... lurker... exposed...
We gotta get together, man! Definitely think a reunion is in order!
By
Michelle, at
2/20/2011 5:52 PM
Last comment was by Jay... lurker
By
Michelle, at
2/20/2011 5:52 PM
You should really travel to Australia one of these days:)
By
Unknown, at
4/18/2011 5:14 PM
Is that an invite? Maybe we will. ;)
By
Jerin, at
4/18/2011 6:34 PM
You went EVERYWHERE! I can't believe how much fun you all have had in one year. Your baby girl is so cute, by the way. I hope we can run into each again and catch up. In the meantime, good luck with your new calling!
By
Margaret, at
4/19/2011 11:12 PM
@Mark
I missed your comment somehow. That's good to know. I've always ignored the hotel ones since my company's so unwilling to book hotels consistently. Maybe I'll push harder there. Also, I didn't realize that other airlines did better. I don't have much of a choice besides Delta in SLC though.
@Margaret
Most of my travel out east was just business, so nothing fun except for too many fancy meals. Wami got to do the fun stuff. :) Yes, we need to catch up. Move back into the ward! ;)
By
Jerin, at
4/20/2011 9:26 AM
Post a comment
<< Home