Where in the World is Kristen San Diego?

I used to watch the show "Where in the world is Carmen San Diego?" when I was a kid.  I loved the show, and, at that time, not only did I have no idea where most of the places on the show were, but had no dreams of ever visiting them.  Heck, my first flight was when I was 13, and was a quick one to New Jersey from Ohio.  I had never even left my time zone until I was 18 and went to Spain... didn't quite understand the concept of "jet lag" at that point.  Life is so different now...  jet lag is a normal part of my routine, and there is rarely a week when I am not on a plane.  The past few weeks have been particularly illustrative of what I just mentioned.  

The past month and a half is somewhat a blur... A few days after returning from Cambodia, I took off for a two week trip to visit our company headquarters in Germany.  When I look back, I realize the insanity that the calendar was... weekend of Feb 9 - Singapore, Feb 16 - Cambodia, Feb 23 - The Netherlands, Mar 2 - Germany, Mar 9 - Hong Kong, Mar 16 - Malaysia.  Seriously.  Insane.  Best part of all of this?  I have a lot of adventurous friends that are ALSO all over the world, so being in all of these different places allows me to get to see THEM.  So, do I miss Brian?  Absolutely!  But, am I alone?  Rarely.  It makes the travel not QUITE so bad.  

Without further ado, the highlights from the past 6 weeks...

First stop, Amsterdam!  I arrived at 5am, and it was FREEZING, but... absolutely breathtaking.  One of my favorite cities in the whole world!

One of my favorite people, Michelle Wald, lives in Amsterdam (unfortunately, she moved there about 6 months after I got back to Portland from living in Amsterdam!  :))  She graciously let me stay with her, and I also got to spend some time with her lovely sister, Mandy.  I love that these ladies always have a smile on their faces.  And... I love that they love to make  (and eat) sweets.  It was the Jewish holiday Purim while I was there, and part of the celebration is to make these ear cookies called hamantaschen.  There are various stories behind the meaning of these cookies, but, one thing is for sure - they are yummy!  :)

Mandy and Michelle

Hamantaschen

I only had about a day and a half in the city, but I tried to make the most of it, and got to see several other of my dear friends.  It's amazing how there are certain people in life that you just can pick right up where you left off.  I feel blessed to still have so many wonderful friends in this great city.  

Next stop... Germany!!  I arrived late on Sunday night, and woke up the next morning to glorious snow!!  About a foot of it was on the ground when I woke up.  Beautiful, but I was glad I did not have to drive in it!  And... I took zero pictures, so you will have to use your imagination!!  The week was full of meetings, which were actually quite productive, but, by the weekend, I was ready for a mental break.  My colleague, Kai, was going to visit his family in Dusseldorf, which is about a 4 hour drive from where we were.  My friend from Holland, Christa, is currently on a short term assignment in Cologne, which is near where Kai was going, so I hitched a ride with him.  It was a nice weekend catching up with an old friend.  My picture taking skills must have been turned off, because all I took was a picture of the drinks we had!  One funny story... we went to a yoga class, and the whole thing was in German!!  Luckily, I know the words for left and right, so at least I was never on the wrong foot, but I realized how long I have to go before I can even have a simple conversation!  :)

Ladies night in Cologne

Kai and I drove back to Herzo on  Sunday, but not before a quick stop to visit some of his friends from college on the way home.  It was so cool to get to go to a German family's home, and get to see what "Sunday breakfast" means in a different culture.  This might sound silly, but I don't think you have truly experienced someone's culture until you visit their home and share a meal.  It was such a wonderful experience, and a great conversation.  The mother is currently studying about health care systems, and it was interesting to compare and contrast the systems in the US and Germany.  

After returning back to Herzo, it was one more week of meetings, and, boy, was I getting antsy to get home.  You see, Brian was getting ready for his own trip for work - taking 20 kids to Tanzania for their "Interim Week".  We had an overlap of about 15 hours in Hong Kong, and, after two weeks apart, I was ready to enjoy every minute!!  I'll let him post about Tanzania if the spirit moves him... it was an amazing trip, needless to say!

View from my room in Germany

Back in November, when I found out that Brian was going to Tanzania, my neighbor and I had decided to plan a "girl's weekend" while he was away.  We booked a weekend trip to Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia.  We really only had one full day there, and so I wanted to make the most of it.  Trusty Trip Advisor had a tour as the number one thing to do in KL, so we booked it.  Now... those of you who know me know that my favorite part of traveling is... EATING!  The tour we booked was called "Eat, Pray, Love", and so as we walked about, we experienced the blend of cultures that Malaysia is via their food, temples, and romantic sites. 

Our Tour Description

This tour did not disappoint.  Malaysia is similar to Singapore, in that it is a real blend of cultures - Malay, Chinese, and Indian people all live together.  Similar to the US, it's a mix - only they don't call it a "melting pot", they call it a garden salad - everything is mixed together, but each piece maintains its own flavor and color.  I liked that.  We tried all kinds of things - anything from a roti with curry for breakfast, to an Indian meal served on a banana leaf that we had to eat with our hands.  We left the tour feeling extremely full, and having a better appreciation for this nice city.  We also met so many wonderful people in our group.  It's so interesting to meet like-minded travelers - I have found that no matter where people come from, there is always something you can find in common.  It was a really wonderful five hours.  For those of you that may go to KL, here is the link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g298570-d2460668-Reviews-Malaysia_Heritage_Walk-Kuala_Lumpur_Wilayah_Persekutuan.html

This was part of the Central Market - the covering is supposed to look like one of the famous Malaysian Kites, a symbol of the country

Mixing the tea and condensed milk to go with our breakfast - yum!

Breakfast - roti and curry

Beautiful color in KL - this used to be a kind of "red light district" for the tin miners from China

The OLD Petronas tower - now the city post office

Part of our tour was trying the local street food

Kuala Lumpur means "Muddy Swamp" - these are the two rivers that come together in the city

Our banana leaf meal - eating rice with your hands is not easy!!

Hindu Temple - Malaysia is a mix of Hindu, Daoist, and Muslim religions

Little India

Fresh lime tea - in a bag - yum!

In the Hindu culture, you mark your forehead with color after going to the temple - this was the first time I actually saw the powder in the temple.

Corinna drinking our favorite drink of the trip - cendol.  It was an amazing mix of coconut milk, shaved ice, sugar, and these funny green worm-like noodles - hard to explain, but delicious!!

The NEW Petronas Towers - one of the most famous sites in KL.  This was our view from the rooftop pool of our hotel - where we spent our afternoon!  :)

It was a nice weekend, but, on the other side of this trip was... BRIAN!  We got home from our respective trips just a few hours apart, and I was so excited to see him!  He hadn't had much cell phone coverage in Tanzania, so I was SO excited to hear all about his trip and see his pictures. 

Finally, this past weekend, we had visitors from Portland - my friend Allison & her fiance Kevin.  Allison and I started at Nike the same week, and have been friends ever since.  It was great to catch up with those guys and hear all about their adventures.  One hostess fail - I didn't realize it was "Earth Hour" on Saturday night, so when we were crossing the harbour on the Star Ferry to see the famous Hong Kong skyline, what we saw was this:

Earth Hour in Hong Kong - complete blackout!

Regardless, it was great to see these two!

So, where in the world are we going next?  It's Spring Break next week, and so we are going to check out one of the other major Chinese cities, Shanghai.  More pictures to come soon!  :)