Wednesday, September 29, 2010

My Alaskan Adventure...

A couple weeks after I got back from Bali, I was fortunate enough to go on a cruise with the fam (cruising as sort of become an annual thing with the Chan clan). Last year we went on an Caribbean cruise to Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Maarten. This year, we opted for the exact opposite and went to Alaska!

Lemme tell you, Alaska is a beautiful place. The landscape and scenery is out of this world! One morning, we woke up fairly early (and braved the freezing temperatures) to sight-see as we were passing through Tracy's Arm's Fjord. I felt the most amazing sense of serenity here. The water was a rich green/blue color that was highlighted by blue icebergs. The mountaintops were glistening with snow while waterfalls plummeted miles down to the Fjord. Everywhere you looked you could see old growth forest. Every once in a while, you can make out the fin or a tale of a humpback whale. And despite being on a 2000+ passenger cruise ship, you couldn't hear anything. It was like the whole world stopped on its axis for a few minutes. I know I sound like a sappy Hallmark card but I can't help it - it was absolutely wonderful! Actually, the best word to describe it was majestic. Alaska is absolutely majestic!

Btw: even though Alaska is a beautiful place, I would never go there again on a cruise. We were bombarded with the exact same shady jewlery salesmen, shops selling junk and tourist traps in all 3 ports (Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway)! Thanks but no thanks.

Freezing our butts off

The next few photos are all ones that I snapped as we were going through Tracy Arm's Fjord







in Ketchikan

Holding 6week old Huskies

What did I tell you, isn't Alaska majestic?

Sunday, September 19, 2010

New chapter

It's crazy to think how different my life is now compared to 6 months ago. If you had asked me a year ago whether or not I could imagine myself where I am now, the answer would have been a very loud NO. It's a little disconcerting because my entire life plan has been derailed... which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's simply the end of a chapter in my life... the end of a relationship, the end of a job, the end of security..

However, with every end comes a new beginning (deep I know). This new chapter includes getting my motorcycle license (!!!!), experiencing unemployment for the first time in 2+ years (a good thing), visiting China for the 1st time, renewing some relationships that have fallen by the way side and even starting new ones. In short, almost everything that once was is no more - or at least a little different.

2010 has been such a crazy and amazing year so far. I gotta admit - I'm pretty excited (and slightly nervous) to see how it will end!

And I know I took a break from blogging but I'll try to start it up again.