And we reached our last full day in Vilnius. We thoroughly enjoyed our Old Town Vilnius experiences. Lauren and I had never seen such a collection of churches within such close proximity. But it was time to see something different … away from Old Town. We had seen numerous postcards of this red-brick castle during our walking tour of Vilnius. We consulted our trusted guidebook and found a reference to Trakai Castle. So after breakfast, we walked up to the Front Desk and inquired about this castle. The gentleman at the Front Desk pointed us to a brochure, showing a daily [View Full Entry]

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Summer is here and Lauren finished her school responsibilities already. We initially planned to head out to Asia and Australia for the summer. But we decided to postpone that and diverted our summer trip to Europe. Our first destination? Vilnius - capital of Lithuania and the European Capital of Culture of 2009. Again, our friends were curious on our choices of summer destinations. But we were always searching for destinations that were not overly commercialized yet. Lithuania is the largest of the three Baltic countries and got its independence in 1991. This was followed by its membership [View Full Entry]

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And it was graduation morning. I was so glad to see that the weather was cooperating - no more early morning downpour like yesterday. I left the hotel early in order to make sure that we would get to the ceremony on time or early. I picked up my sister, brother-in-law and Brigette at the apartment (Priscilla left already earlier) and drove straight to Chan Shun Concert Hall at the campus of University of British Columbia (UBC). The test run yesterday was great and I had no problem finding our destination. Parking was another issue though. The spaces were all so [View Full Entry]

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Good thing we went to Whistler already yesterday. We had a downpour in the morning and I decided to wait it out in the hotel. Starbucks in the morning was a necessity though and I was so glad that Starbucks was located inside the hotel lobby. There was no need to walk outside and get soaked. When the big storm finally passed, I went to pick up my sister and my niece, Priscilla, again. I had the responsibility of taking everyone to the graduation ceremony the next morning and I would like to familiarize myself with the route. After all, I [View Full Entry]

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Quick! Where is the next Winter Olympics going to be held? The answer is Whistler, located about 2 hours (driving) north of Vancouver, Canada. That was my first Canadian destination during this trip. I went to Vancouver to attend my niece’s graduation from University of British Columbia. It was an opportunity for me to have a quick family reunion. Unfortunately, Lauren couldn’t come along because of her work responsibilities. I asked my niece to introduce me to a hotel that is close to the water. She did just that! So I was pleased to see the harbor and the marina whe [View Full Entry]

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I picked up golf a number of years ago because it was a business necessity. There is so much business conducted on golf courses - what I normally refer to as green meeting - that golf has become a prerequisite. How hard could golf be? I could hit a moving tennis ball and I couldn’t understand the difficulties of hitting a stationary ball. Was I wrong! After hitting so many trees (or houses) and losing so many balls into the ocean or lakes, I could appreciate the time and effort that professionals like Tiger Woods had put in the game. My [View Full Entry]

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We had nothing planned for the day and thought we would sleep in. What’s sleeping in for us? Waking up around 8:00am and taking it easy. We decided to walk up to Coliseum Grill for breakfast. Again, I was impressed with the staff’s uniform and appearance. Casual and yet professional, matching the turquoise color of the Coliseum pool. There were a few families around us. But in general, the restaurant was not full at all. After another hearty breakfast, we headed back to our bungalow. While Lauren was getting ready, I studied the map to find easy destinations around us. I [View Full Entry]

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Where should we go for our long Easter weekend? We talked about going to San Diego. Then we looked at Sedona which would be an easy drive away from Grand Canyon. Then I found out that Po would be in southern California for Easter. So a decision was made - let’s fly to Orange County and spend our long weekend with Po, Anne and Jimmy. We flew through Phoenix and arrived at Orange County airport on time. It’s easy to see why Southwest Airlines has grown so fast in the last decade. No hassles, no assigned seating, no elaborate penalties for [View Full Entry]

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Why did the day go by so fast? Didn’t we just arrive in San Antonio? All of a sudden, it was our last full day already. Worse, it was the last Saturday of our Spring Break 2009. I went to Starbuck to get coffee and breakfast for both of us while Lauren got ready. It was certainly fascinating that Starbuck had become part of our vocabulary. We don’t have to say Starbuck Coffee anymore (likewise, we don’t have to say Kleenex tissue). Also, how did we become so accustomed to paying over $3 for a cup of latte? Anywhere in the [View Full Entry]

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I was reading “1,000 Places To See Before You Die” by Patricia Shultz before our trip and I came across an article about Fredericksburg in the Texas hill country. President Lyndon Johnson called it “a special corner of God’s real estate”. The book also described about the sea of purplish bluebonnets outside and around Fredericksburg. Fredericksburg is located about 65 miles northwest of San Antonio. And we had a rental car! So after a hearty breakfast at Pesca at Watermark Hotel, we got on I-10 West with Lauren as the navigator. We took the exit at Comfo [View Full Entry]

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