Of Le Voyage Sentimental

The wine glass in my hand is cool to the touch. I examine the bubbles that steadily float to the surface, disappearing only to have a myriad of others take their place. I tip the glass. The wine touches my lips, sweet, a hint of fruit, and the bubbles flutter, a tickling sensation. An inexplicable giggle escapes me. I cannot pinpoint where exactly this pure delight came from. Perhaps it is the wine.

Or perhaps, it is something more broad. A combination of the place, of its sounds and sights. The taste of the wine on my tongue and the salad on my plate. In this place, this time, 8PM in Tours, France, surrounded by a stream of passing dialogue which I cannot understand, I feel something which had eluded me, which I had been trying to find as I rode on long train rides to far off destinations. Freedom. But most of all: invisibility.

Here, in this place, on my own, I am no one. I have no name, no identity. I do not need to speak with anyone nor is there anyone I desire to speak to. I do not need to follow anyone, to make any decisions for anyone. I only need myself and for once, I am comforted by that.

Here, I am just being.

I cannot say what compelled me to make this independent journey, bereft of the companionship of my friends. Perhaps it was because there was no one willing to come with me. Perhaps I did not look hard enough. Or perhaps, in reality, I wanted to do this one trip alone, to prove to myself that I was truly grown up, ready to make my own decisions, lead my own fate.

And this final trip is but a metaphor for my desired state of being.

They say as you grow older, more independent, you become more comfortable with yourself. And I cannot pinpoint the exact moments where I have turned into a different person, a more confident person. There are times where I feel insecure and insignificant. But not now, not at this moment in time. At this restaurant. At this time of night. Instead, I feel at ease, strangely happy to just be me. As the American poet William Carlos Williams once wrote, "I am lonely, lonely./I was born to be lonely,/I am best so!"

Indeed, sometimes, it's the best way to be.

Of Climbing in Wales

In Rogers and Hammerstein's "The Sound of Music," the Mother Superior says to a lovestruck, yet doubtful Maria that she must "climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every river, until you find your dream!" And as I was trudging up Mount Snowdon in Northern Wales - ascending towards a meager, yet handsome 3000 feet and the highest point in the UK - the song kept repeating itself in my head.

What was also nagging at me was the desire to collapse and sleep for a thousand years.

But in my head, I heard my own Mother Superior telling me to "climb every mountain," not because of any intangible dream, but rather, "you've already been doing this for the last 3 hours, what's 1 more?" It was 1PM and the sun was beating down on us in what would turn out (coincidentally) to be the hottest day of the season. And I had forgotten to apply sunscreen (having forgotten that foreign method of protection). So onward...



How did I get myself into this situation with no sunscreen, no tissues for my sniffling nose, and the sun beating down on me? Well, the whole point of going to Wales was two-folds: Welsh castles and Snowdonia National Park. We were going to go back in February but according to the websites, Mount Snowdon was a "death trap" during the winter season. So we decided to go to Paris instead. And I was trudging up a particularly steep slope, it was a good choice to wait until now. Though I do wish we could have done it a couple of days ago when it was cloudy and misting. At least then I would not be sweating rivulets, wanting to dive into the nearest pool of water, and getting a horrible sunburn to boost (and future skin cancer).



We could have taken the steam train, which had its base in the town of Llanberis. But we decided that as young, athletic, strong walkers that we were, we would just save that 15 pounds round trip and do it the old fashion way.


Every...single...step

And 4 hours later, we were at the top.



A quick stop for lunch at the top of the world, where my ham sandwich and orange juice tasted like the most amazing meal I had ever had. An hour to enjoy the breeze. And what followed was the way down. And the fight continues...



I did soak my tired feet in the cold and clear mountain lake water at the bottom. And it felt amazing. In that needles and potential frost-bite kind of way.

P.S. And about that Welsh Castle? Big, stony, and filled with mysterious dark corridors. What else can you expect from a castle?


Caernarfon Castle. Built by King Edward I to suppress Welsh rebels and inspired by the Roman ruins at Constantinople.

Wales, the photo album

Of Wandering in the Lake District

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

The Lake District is considered one of the primary vacation spots in Britain, the place in many a Victorian novels and poetry where denizens of England can go, unwind, and relax beside the peaceful green hills, the wildflowers, the lakes, and, my personal favorite, the fabulous old-fashioned real estate that had names such as "Lilac Cottage" or "Lipwood"

Continuous as the stars that shine
and twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

Our main spot was the small town of Windermere, right next to the lake of a same name. Up on the overlook called Forest Head, we were able to get a view of the entire lake and hills and valleys beyond. It was cold, windy, and rainy, as England weather is oft to be this time of the year. If I were to look at this positively, I would just say it gave the landscape a sense of mystery, another edge that William Wordsworth certainly did not mention in his books about this place.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
in such a jocund company:
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
what wealth the show to me had brought:

While in the tiny town of Grasmere, we came upon the house of William Wordsworth, where he lived there for 8 years with his sister. In his poems, he often spoke of walking and allowing the beauty of nature to move you, to seep into your senses and inspire you towards creativity. As a result, he wrote some of the richest and emotional poetry in the English language. Not a bad gift that nature gave him.

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils. - "I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud" by William Wordsworth

What certainly filled my heart with pleasure was not so much the daffodils (being dead this time of year) but rather, something else that danced, that smelled like heaven, and that brought a sense of warmth to an otherwise cold day: Grasmere gingerbread. Part biscuit, part cake, this special recipe can only be found in the little town of Grasmere in the Lake District and the scent of it brought home images of warm tea and cakes in beautiful china cups. And the ginger, oddly enough, reminded me of home so for a while, instead of wandering in a little town in England, I wanted to wander home. Time to leave and continue on...

The Lake District, the photo album

Of Friendly Locals in Inverness

After 8 European countries and countless interactions with the locals later, I can safely say that the Scottish are the friendliest people in Europe. Example: we are walking down Church Street in Inverness trying to find a place to eat dinner and at the same time, find Hootenanny's, a pub that was supposed to have live Scottish music. We are discussing the horrid music played at clubs these days when suddenly, an older Scottish gentleman inquired as to what kind of music we listened to.

"We're looking for traditional Scottish music," I said.

He then proceeded to lead us to Hootenanny's, recommending it for both the music and the Thai food (strange combination), as well as giving us two more places we could have dinner. There were no questions asked, no creepy aura, only an inherent friendliness and a desire to talk to newcomers.


Inverness, on the bank of the river Ness

We also made small talk with a souvenir shopkeeper the next day, bonding over common experiences in Lucerne and Paris, while realizing that for young Americans, we have traveled and seen quite a lot. He also gave us a map and pointed us towards the bay near town for dolphin watching. Sadly, you needed a car to get there and I again curse my lack of a car.

Apparently, in order to fully enjoy the Scottish Highlands, you need a car. Or you can sign up for a tour of the area, which is what we did, giving us a bus tour of the area and a boat tour.



Which leads us to Loch Ness, where we sailed down the Caledonian Canal that connects Loch Ness to the North Sea and then proceeded to get splashed by cold Loch Ness water while the other passengers laughed at our soaked frames.

Though we did not find Nessie, Loch Ness did not disappoint as it gave us the right amount of grey clouds to make the lake sufficiently foreboding and mysterious. And out of the mists was the picturesque Scottish ruins of Urquhart Castle. It may have been cold, windy, and slightly misty but I expected that from Scotland. What I did not expect were the friendliness of the locals so every place, as my dad would say, does have its good side. And the Scottish music at Hootenanny's ended up being very good. They even played an old American folk song, "Shenandoah." So ends this part of the UK. Next stop: the Lake District.


According to the shopkeeper, Inverness is deep enough to hold 2 Eiffel Towers.

Inverness, the photo album

Of Ghost Hunting in Edinburgh

The wonderful (and I use this term lightly) thing about living in the UK is that winter, unlike California, feels like winter. It is cloudy, rainy, sometimes snowy, and all the time cold. The real cold, under 40 degrees Fahrenheit and actually warranting of wearing hats, scarves, gloves, and (God help me), Ugg boots. However, the downside of the UK in the winter is that traveling around it is not the brightest of ideas, as exhibited by Allison who went to Scotland in April and assured me that was mind-numbingly freezing (especially the water). Which was why we left places like Scotland, Northern England, and Wales for the latter part of our time here. And Paris ended up being the perfect winter destination anyway so no momentum was lost.

And so it brings me to the first of the handful of last travelogue postings: Edinburgh, Scotland. Or as its known to by those who live there, "the most haunted city in the UK." Did we find ghost? Well, you shall see...

Edinburgh, Scotland's main city and the land of 1000 tartan kilts

Like most cities that we have visited so far, we decided to stay as far away from the center of the city as possible (see Paris, Amsterdam, Venice, Rome). Yet this time, being cheap did not really bite us in the back since the view we got of the North Sea under the sunset was breathtaking. The water was so clear along the shorelines and since this was the first time I had been on a beach since I've come here, it felt almost like home (well, home sans the frigid water and the beautiful shells that I found).

Then, there was the obligatory castle which, according to our tour guide, was defended against foreign invaders (at one point) by only 30 troops. It looks like building castles on the edge of cliffs does have its perks.

Edinburgh Castle

Yet, this time, it was not the big structures that were unforgettable. Rather, it was the more unconventional things that were memorable. After all, at this point, I have already seen more than my fair share of ancient castles, large museums, and medieval districts (though it won't be the last of it, as you will see in future blog posts). Like, for example, I dined at the Elephant Castle, where JK Rowling first wrote Harry Potter on pieces of napkin. Sadly I did not receive any artistic inspiration while sitting there but the meat pie and tea was pretty good.

The most unconventional thing was, my favorite part, the ghost tour. Thus far, it had only been sight seeing and picturesque moments so to do something like this was out of the ordinary for us. Yet, it was also some of the most fun times that we had on this trip if only because of the (allegedly) true ghost stories that were told as we walked around the Royal Mile (center of medieval Edinburgh). There were stories of bloody public executions consisting of mutilations and public floggings. Then there was one of a wandering ghost in the many closes of old city, of a man who was executed for murder and now takes to walking around in the mists, scaring passersby with his echoing footsteps.

Or of the friendly cobbler ghosts hanging around the underground tunnels of Edinburgh who has a penchant for shoes. I'm not entirely sure if any of this was true since I do not entirely believe in ghosts. Yet, what I do believe is the otherworldly aura of Edinburgh, especially those tunnels, with their cold stillness from lack of air flow. I do agree that there is something about those underground tunnels that did make the hair on the back of your neck stand on ends and your heart to race, despite the fact that nothing was moving there.

There was moment when I did scream and I'm not sure if it was the story (of a woman who awoke from a coma but found herself in a coffin and her fingers being chopped off by grave robbers), the scream the pierced the air that was both mine and the tour guide, or maybe just the claustrophobic nature of those underground rooms and passageways. Let's just say that I was glad to step outside again.

Until we paid a 10PM visit to a cemetery and my friend Allison took a picture of a moon that wasn't there. I'm not so sure if there's anything after death but sometimes...you just don't know.

It looks like a stray camera light but it only shows up in this particular photo.

Edinburgh, the photo album

Of Isabelle

I would like to take this time to take us away from our normal programming to talk about events back home, most of all, the birth of a very special little girl.

Meet Isabelle.



She is the daughter of Tieu and my second oldest sister, Thu. She was born at 10PM California time on June 9, 2009. Weighing at just 4 pounds, 10 ounces, she is the smallest baby I have ever seen. And apparently, she is also very adventurous since she came almost 3 weeks early. Maybe one day she'll go abroad and write a blog about it too.

She is also the first baby girl in the family since me, and she is my first niece. Who has a lot of pink, poofy dresses coming towards her because after two nephews and many blue pant suits later, I finally get to shop in the little girl section.

Of Tumultuous Weather

I am sitting in my room, 24 hours and 600 words from being finished with my last Warwick Uni essay (ironically enough, the highest essay score I have received yet was on one that I absolutely abhorred writing. Which always seems to be the case in University). And it just down-poured for a good 10 minutes before clearing up back into greyness.

I am not one for stereotypes but times like these, I do find that sticking to the British stereotype of massive amounts of rainfall is the most likely way to predict British weather. At this point, I have given trying to look up the day's forecast on weather.com because I know that in one day during this season, it can go from overcast to drizzle to downpour then to sun. Sometimes all in the span of one hour. I guess that's part of that British charm; like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get when it comes to the weather here. I have also had a couple of really hot days here that were comparable to California summer. But like most things British, it was quickly eclipsed the next day with rain.

One thing that I can say positively about British weather is, though tumultuous, it is a lot more lenient to its denizens than California spring. Case in point: wildflowers. You never see this kind of bed in Orange County.

Oh look! It just got sunny again!