[2011] Munich, Germany

Oktoberfest.

Lederhosen and dirndls make me miss living in Bavaria so much. Everyone looked so beautiful and charming in their tracht with 'mass' in their hands. My favourite tent was Augustiner's with the ox revolving in the front. Next time I'll have to check out the other tents too.

And, if you're not in Munich during Oktoberfest, visit the Chinese Tower in the English Gardens in their main park (confusing, I know) for some steins and music.

[2008] Seoul, S. Korea

Throughout the 3 years that I lived in Korea, I visited Seoul only about a handful of times (maybe two handfuls if I'm being more accurate), and I regret not going up there more. The places I always took visitors was In-sa-dong and Hong-dae. I miss walking through Hong-dae and browsing through the most fashionable trends at reasonable prices and seeing the latest art instillation at In-sa-dong plaza.

Beware that if you are close to the city hall area, every Saturday/Sunday there will be some sort of demonstration. Which means, there will be bus filled with "police" to ensure a peaceful demonstration. It always is very peaceful, so it confuses me as to why so many police are there. I never even saw the demonstration, only the police.

[2008] Mumbai, India

Although I was there for a conference and got to see little of the city, I enjoyed all the vibrant colours of the women's clothes and the smell of food. Yummmm

The only unpleasant parts were the sound of car horns and the sight of so many slums.

I wish I had taken more photos.

[2011] Madrid, Spain

My trip to Madrid was ultra relaxing. I stayed with Emily. She was working during the week, so I would sleep in and then head out to explore. I actually need to confess that I did not do that much exploring. I spent most of my time shopping at Muji and sitting at a cafe called Lolina's. It was the best cafe ever! So much character, some over priced drinks and some entertaining people watching. 

The most memorable night was the first Saturday I was there. Emily had organized a pub crawl, but in the form of a scavenger hunt. We were put into teams and set out to find the best places in her neighborhood based on certain criteria. We didn't find the best places, compared to the other teams, but we definitely found the most risky one. It was called "Erotic Bar" and we enjoyed some pheromones and continued on our journey.

[2011] Salzburg, Austria

The Art Walk

We discovered that the Salzburg Foundation had commissioned several artists to create pieces around Salzburg as public installations. We got a map and went to all of them. It was a beautiful day discovering different parts of the city. We were surprised at some of the sculptures that we had walked around before, but had never really even seen,

But my absolute favorite was one of James Turrell's "skyspaces" right next to the modern art museum above the city. It only opens for sunset so we had to go back on another day, but it was really worth it. A whole hour of just admiring the change of the color of the sky along with an array of beautiful lighting by Turrell. He is definitely one of my favorite artists.

[2009] Steamboat Springs, USA

My most 'American' vacation was the few days I spent in Steamboat Springs Colorado during the summer of 2009. 

American experience #1: 4th of July Parade

American experience #2: Listening to the American anthem for the opening ceremonies to the SUMMER ski jump competition...while a fighter jet flew overhead.

American experience #3: First rodeo!!!

American experience #4: Shooting guns for the first time...a rifle and a shot gun. Much more fun than I thought it would be. We eventually had to stop shooting clay pigeons because our shots were falling over a gorge and people down there could hear them falling into the lake. :S

[2011] Brussels, Belgium

Good beer + good company + good weather + free trip = good time