I was hoping for a relaxing train ride en route to Vienna. We booked first class train tickets from Salzburg to Vienna and searched the posted map on the platform where to stand for our first class cabins. As we got closer to departure time, more and more passengers with big suitcases came up and stood around us. I started getting concerned. When the train finally pulled up, we all rushed toward the closest door. I learned already to travel light - those small steps to get on and off European trains are not luggage-friendly. Once inside, we walked right past [View Full Entry]

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The train departed Augsburg Hauptbanhof on time - the expected German efficiency. We were able to find a nice inner cabin with six seats to ourselves. I actually spread my stuff around to discourage others from stepping in. With that much room around, I turned on my computer and showed some of our travel pictures to Po and Anne. I also showed them my Pebble Beach pictures. That is the beauty of digital photography - as long as I have enough memory space in my computer, I can keep so many old pictures in my computer. Anne brought out a bag [View Full Entry]

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Another day and another destination. We have been in Europe for 6 days and we were in our fifth country - Germany. But traveling in Europe is a lot more pleasant than traveling within USA. We had taken British Airways, Malev Hungarian and Lufthansa so far in Europe and the service was great and the crew was pleasant. There was none of these “Food for Purchase” programs. We always got a nice small sandwich with a snack even on short flights. In fact, alcohol was free on board with your meal. So how come the European airlines can do it and [View Full Entry]

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It was a short 2.5 hours flight from Stockholm to Budapest. Since we came from another European Union country, we were taken straight by bus from our plane to the baggage claim area. No need to go through Passport Control anymore even though I would love to get more stamps in my passport. Before long, we were already checked in at our business hotel. It is a business hotel because it is not located close to the Danube River where all the 5 star hotels are. We did not waste a lot of time in the hotel. Within half hour, we [View Full Entry]

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It was not a comforting thought to see people on the streets bundled up in the morning - after all, we were still in September. We had breakfast buffet in the hotel to get our day started and witnessed tourists and locals wearing heavy jackets, hats, gloves as they walked in front of the hotel. It was a cloudy morning but it was dry. The restaurant was very busy and I noticed a big group of Japanese tourists in a corner. Unfortunately, breakfast was not included in our hotel rate and I was extremely shocked to see the bill … about [View Full Entry]

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It was a very full flight from London Heathrow to Stockholm on British Airways. I was excited to have the opportunity to visit another country for the first time and learn another culture. The girl at Passport Control was very nice and asked me my purpose for coming to Stockholm. “Spending the weekend away from London” was my answer. Yes, I could have spent the weekend in London but Sweden was a more economical choice. She looked at my thick passport and asked if I have ever been to Sweden before. I assured her this was my very first trip and [View Full Entry]

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It’s my first day in England - a business destination that will be mixed with a little pleasure. I am here for customer golf! The customer arranged for a taxi (BMW 520 for taxi?) from Airport Direct to pick us up (traveling with Po and Anne) at Heathrow. Within seconds, I recognized the driver’s accent. Sure enough, he is from Scotland … Gourock of all places. I used to spend a lot of time in Greenock, Gourock and Largs. So I had a nice chat with him as we headed southwest on Highway A3. He is a Celtics supporter and so [View Full Entry]

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It was not hard to get ready for another fun trip even though we just got back from Hawaii. We shared with everyone our engagement news and we were both getting calls and e-mails to congratulate us. As the weekend approached, we packed up again for our next destination - Pebble Beach. I had to make an important stop first ... at my local pro shop to pick up a new Titleist driver. Brent, Martin and I prepared this trip about a year ago and it started out as the boys' golf trip. Somewhere along the line, we changed it to [View Full Entry]

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It was a short 25 minutes flight from Kona to Maui on Island Air. I noticed that the flight was half full of Europeans - US must be a cheap destination with the weak US$. We flew over the eastern corner of Kaho'olawe and the top of Molokini on our way to Kahului, Maui. We picked up our rental car and headed straight south to Wailea ... with Lauren being my navigator. As we pulled into our hotel driveway half hour later, I was immediately taken back. I told my sister before we left for Hawaii that we would be staying [View Full Entry]

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We had been going and going the first 2 full days, so we decided to take it easy on our last full day in the Big Island. The hotel had its own tiny, private beach - our first destination in the morning. After a liberal application of sunscreen (...could the sun in Hawaii be that much worse than El Paso?), we found an area which had some shade and set up camp. Fortunately, there were not a lot of people on the beach, so into the water it was! It was such pleasant ocean that I have had to reform my [View Full Entry]

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