ECUADOR (July 22-29, 2011) Quito & Galapagos Islands

7/22, Friday: SFO->Miami->Quito

Spent much of the day en route to Quito, Ecuador (Karl’s first visit to America’s southern hemisphere). Fortunately it's Central Time, so pretty easy to adjust. Lila ended up with a migraine from Miami to Quito, making the arrival in South America’s second highest capital really painful. Fortunately, she was fine the next day.

The Patio Andaluz, our boutique hotel, was located in the Old Town – also known as Quito’s Colonial core. The hotel was a charming, converted home (mansion) from centuries ago. It was conveniently located near the main square. Accommodations were classic and simple.  

7/23, Saturday: Quito and the Andes Highlands

We started the day at 8:30am with a guide and driver who took us back up to the Northern Hemisphere to explore the Otavalo mountain region, about 60 miles north of Quito. The Otavalo Market is famous in South America, especially on Saturdays when locals come for their weekly trades. It was colorful with bright textiles made from Alpaca and Llamas, spices, fruits & veggies, and handicrafts.  The Otavalenos still wear traditional clothing. The men have long straight black hair in ponytails, and women wear multi-stranded gold bead necklaces atop their white and navy blue embroidered outfits. They are one of many indigenous people in Ecuador. The country, which is the size of Colorado, was conquered by the Incas (~1000 AD) and later by the Spanish (~1450 AD).

In the afternoon, we returned to Quito around 4pm to explore the Old City, where we were staying. Quito is an attractive city. It was the first city in the world to be named a UNESCO World Heritage site. The buildings in the Old Town date back to the 1500s, and include over 40 Catholic churches (we didn’t believe the number until we kept stumbling across them every 3-5 minutes walking!). We spent 3 hours walking around – which sounds fine until you consider we were at 9200 ft.   We were pretty exhausted after our exploration. Fortunately, we found a charming restaurant called Theatrum with delicious seafood and ceviche (which turns out to be as much Ecuadorian cuisine as Peruvian).

7/24, Sunday: Quito -> Guayaquil -> Galapagos Islands  (Baltra and Santa Cruz Islands)

We departed the hotel at 5:45am – way too early for a vacation! The journey to Galapagos wasn’t easy. We flew 30 minutes from the capital of Quito to the city of Guayaquil, where we refueled and boarded more passengers. Then we continued to Baltra Island, a former US military base, 1.5 hours away. On Baltra, we took a bus to a ferry to Santa Cruz island. Then it was another bus to the other side of the island, where we boarded an inflatable dinghy over some very rough waters to our cruise boat.

A few things struck us by this point. First, what a pain to get to the boat! By the time we boarded it was around 1pm. There was an older Danish woman with a bad hip and an older American couple from Alabama. It was painful to watch them make the transitions across the different transportation modes. Clearly they didn’t do research to figure out this was an adventure beyond their physical capacity. Second, the cruise boat was not what you have in your mind. The “Coral 1” run by Klein Tours (one of the oldest tour operators in the islands) holds 36 passengers. Most of the Galapagos cruises are around this size, but some boats hold up to 100 passengers. We had a decent cabin and a boat full of Australians and Europeans, mainly multi-generational families who were super fun to travel with. By the end of the cruise, we really got to know everyone. 

At 4pm we went back to the land for a 3 hour journey through the Charles Darwin Research Center. The Darwin Research area was fascinating, especially as we weren’t super familiar with Darwin’s journey to the islands. During the cruise, however, we read a chapter from his journal with The Beagle through the Galapagos. He was still young in his career, talked a lot about the tortoise meat, dissecting lizards, etc.  At the Research Center, there is a big focus on preserving the tortoises. They estimate that over 150k tortoises were killed for their meet in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. The tortoises would last a long time (8+ months), required little food/water, and therefore would be good on the ships to sacrifice when the crew needed food. The center explains how the tortoises adapted to the various islands in the Galapagos, showcasing shells for tortoises in the highlands vs. low fertile lands. This was an early inspiration for Darwin’s theories of evolution and natural selection.  While at the center, we met Lonesome George, the 150 year old tortoise who is the last of his species. We also stumbled upon two giant tortoises mating! It was interesting to be able to stand close to them and learn about the preservation efforts.

Afterwards, we walked through the local, super cute town of Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz island (one of the few that are inhabited by humans). There were some beautiful artist boutique shops and lots of outdoor bar/restaurants playing soccer games on big screen TVs!

The waters were rough that night, but we slept well – and early! - with the rocking of the boat.

July 25, Monday: Espanola Island (Punta Suarez & Gardner Bay)

One of the highlights of the cruise was our first full day: Espanola island. Animals were abundant and interesting, but also fearless of humans. In fact, this is common around the Galapagos – the fact that animals will go along their daily life without concern for the tourists who pass through during the day. It made touring the islands extremely special.  The guide claimed it’s because humans don’t disturb them. The Islands are part of a national park and highly regulated.

While on Espanola island, we saw green and blue footed boobies (birds) performing an awkward and amusing mating dance.  There were marine iguanas everywhere with their red and black markings. They stayed closed to each other to stay warm. We also saw Galapagos doves, a variety of mocking birds and finches. The best part for us was the Albatross birds. An estimated 12k bird pairs (they are monogamous for life!) inhabit this island – all but a fraction of the world’s population. Since it’s nesting season, we were able to see many small albatross birds. We also went to the cliff to see the “Albatross Airport” where the birds take off and land over the ocean. To top it off, we also saw the Albatross doing their courtship fencing with large yellow beaks. It was a spectacular morning!

In the afternoon we went to another part of the island, where we snorkeled with sea lions and stingrays. The beach was full of sea lions and their pups. One was doing a performance in the water for Karl. In general the snorkeling was ok, but not great. The water was a little cold (we were in wet suits) and murky. Despite being near the equator, the fish weren’t as colorful, differentiated, or clear as in the Red Sea.

From the boat, we saw a school of dolphins – at least 150. It was an amazing sight to see such a large school as they raced alongside the boat.

In preparation for our trip, Karl bought a new camera lens from one of his brother’s friends. It’s a 200-400mm lens. Basically, it’s the size of one of our daughters! Needless to say, there were a lot of photo buffs on our cruise. They all had lens-envy of Karl’s massive attachment. On this day, and the ones that followed, he was regularly asked about it by other touring groups, as well as jealously and jokingly teased by our fellow travelers. It was pretty funny.  

July 26, Tuesday: Floreana Island (Punta Cormorant, Champion, Post Office Bay)

The highlight of today was supposed to be the flamingos at the foot of the volcano, but they weren’t there. Instead we hung out at the beach watching birds dive into the water to catch fish – blue footed boobies, swallow tailed gulls. More marine and lava iguanas, as well as orange and blue colored crabs along the volcanic rock.  In the afternoon, we had 2 excursions. The first was a dinghy ride around another volcano. The birds were abundant and unbelievable. Karl got some stunning photographs. The final stop of the day was to the oldest post office in the islands, established in 1793 as a way to spy on the whalers. Over the centuries, people leave unstamped post cards in a barrel. Visitors would pick up a card to hand deliver. We picked up 2 postcards from Cupertino and 1 from Healdsburg!

That night, we took a 2 hour nap on the top deck under the stars. Since it’s winter, the sky hadn’t been clear. We were told the South American summer (Dec-Mar) is a beautiful time to visit – the weather is warm, the days are sunny, and the night skies are clear. That said, we thought this time of year (“winter”) was great because of the nesting/mating season.

27^th: North Seymour Island

What a great way to end our adventure! North Seymour Island is home to the frigate bird – a beautiful black bird with a 2 meter wing span. The males puff up their scarlet throat sacks to attract females. During our 1.5 hour hike, we saw many frigates -  puffed, flying/soaring above, and in massive nests that housed several of the big birds. We even saw a few babies. There were also a few blue footed boobies, iguanas, and sea lions – but the frigates made this island very special!

We boarded the boat and headed back to Baltra island to catch our flight.  Less than one week had passed, and the trip was already beyond our expectations. The Galapagos islands are an amazing sanctuary to wildlife we’d never seen before. We definitely recommend the adventure to people who enjoy nature, photography, or a truly unique experience!  Just make sure you take comfortable enough shoes that you can walk over the lava-rocked islands and go in & out of boats with ease (we loved our Keen’s).

It was much easier getting back to the airport than when we first landed. At the airport, we finally cell service and were able to reconnect to civilization. The best news was that the girls were weaned from their bottles! Our trip was a great introduction to the Galapagos islands, and we’re already talking about our next trip. From Baltra Island, we flew to Guayquil, where we then had a car waiting to take us to the coastal city of Salinas, Ecuador. 

Good to Be Legal: Our 1 Year China Anniversary

We arrived exactly 1 year ago in China, and found out today that we are officially approved for a 2nd year in China. For some odd reason, we had to submit legal paperwork separately. Karl’s went through a week or so ago. Today Lila got the good news. With a renewed apartment lease and work visas – we’re good to go for year #2.
During last night’s dinner, we reminisced about everything that’s happened in the past year…

• Moved to China, with 2 new jobs
• Traveled to Vietnam, Portugal, Switzerland, the Olympics, Hangzhou, the Silk Road, & 4 water villages
• Started to (try to) learn Chinese
• Navigated Shanghai’s silk market, fabric markets, multiple wet markets, and our friend’s favorite: the fake market – as well as learned how to buy DVDs, how to negotiate in Chinese, and how to order food
• Celebrated our 1 year anniversary
• For work, Karl traveled to Singapore, Japan, and around China; Lila to Italy (country#66), Portugal (country#67), Chile, Panama, & Mexico
• We both got to be more active in the World Economic Forum

It’s been truly amazing!

Karl’s Bike Race @ Yellow Mountain, Lila’s birthday, & Our 1 year China Anniverary

Today we celebrated Lila’s birthday, 17 year Intel anniversary, and 1 year since leaving the US. Highlights included Lila taking the day off, lunch wih her friend Mae-Ling, going to the gym. Lila also worked a few hours at a Pacific Coffee -- her favorite brand during Hong Kong days that has only 2 branches in Shanghai - 1 only open on weekdays). For dinner, we went to Lila’s favorite sushi restaurant (Haiku) – continuing our “celebrating over sushi” tradition.

Karl also just completed his first bike race by China’s Yellow Mountain about 6 hours from Shanghai. He went for 3 days with a group of friends from Shanghai. The race went well. Karl’s especially proud that he didn’t finish last and didn’t fall off the bike during the race (something 8 of 9 of his friends couldn’t say). Lila was proud that Karl was able to do the race without training. The next day, before returning to Shanghai, Karl took the cable car up to the top of the Yellow Mountain only to find he was fogged in. Luckily the race didn’t kill him, so he was still able to hike up and down the mountain in the fog. We look forward to going back together to actually see the beautiful mountain top that is in almost every Chinese watercolor painting!

While Karl was at Yellow Mountain, Lila spent the weekend in Shanghai. She spent time at the gym, wandering the city,and getting the apartment organized with some new furniture that had arrived as part of our lease extension. She also enjoyed 1 girls’ night out with her friend Wendy. After a spa visit, they went for Mexican food at our favorite restaurant (Maya), then had drinks out on a bar’s balcony during an unusually warm March weekend. Two great 3-day weekends in a row!

Lila’s Adventure with Chinese Medicine: Magnets, Cups, & Pins with electrical current – oh my!

About 1 month ago, I started acupuncture treatments – something I’ve wanted to try well before moving to China. I was both excited and nervous. Top priority was to find somewhere clean & an English-speaking doctor to minimize any confusion over what was going to happen. I chickened out and made an appointment at the health clinic that caters to foreigners. I knew it would be more expensive, but thought it was safer for me to understand what the process is all about.

Session#1: What did I get myself into?! The first session was interesting. She felt my pulse in 3 areas on my wrist, checked out my tongue, and asked me a lot of question. The doctor said first she would “reset” me, and then we’d work on my problem areas. I was told to lie on my stomach while she lit this torch and held a glass cup. It was a bit intimidating and I wondered what was going on!? Before I knew it she had put the torch in the glass to burn off air, and then quickly suctioned the glass on my back. It felt like a tight suction for the 5 minutes they were attached – nothing painful but definitely an odd feeling. This is called “cupping.”

Next up: the acupuncture pins. I don’t remember how many went in, but they didn’t hurt – except for one on my foot. I had to lay there for 30 minutes which seemed to be tolerable until she pulled out this little machine with wires. I never realized they put some type of electrical current through your body during this process?! It was hooked up to my stomach & right above my knees. It felt like I could feel my heart beat in those areas. Again no pain, though it felt awkward until my muscles relaxed. Apparently some very tiny current is the modern equivalent of a doctor massaging various points to stimulate specific points. The final step was applying 8 small acupressure magnets (covered in skin-colored adhesives) to my ear. She told me to keep them on until the next appointment and press regularly on them.

For the next few days, I had purple circles on my back – none of which hurt. I applied pressure on my ear magnets which actually seemed to help. I did wear my hair down as many days as possible to hide the magnets. You actually see people with these magnets on their ears a lot. We just never knew what it was all about. Overall, I felt more sluggish than usual. Was it the stress at work? The rain? My body’s energy being used to heal/reset? Not sure but I wasn’t ready to give up.

Session#2: Continuing to reset with the addition of fire
Again, out came the cups – this time 10! They were in different areas than before, making my back look polka dottish now. In the summer, you often see people with circles on their back – I guess we know why now. It’s interesting that each one is a different color with only 1 really purple (most toxins being released in that area). Next up: the pins. This time 17, 4 connected to the pulsating machine. Again, my foot and this time the area above my knees pinched a bit with the pins going in. Not sure what that means. The real surprise was the addition to a pin on each arm to help with my super cold finger tips. On top of the pin, she put something that looks and burns like an incense cone. We closed the 1 hour session with magnets added to my left ear. After dinner I was allowed to remove the ones on the right. I notice the left ear hurts less and the day after I felt my insides a bit more (perhaps just aware after the pulsing).

One Month Later...
After 2x/week for the past month, the doctor has started adding in a needle to the top of my head and removed the ear magnets. I’ve noticed I sleep much better since. The cupping is going well, and is my favorite part of the treatment. Although the back tissue drawn into the jar appears to bruise the skin –it doesn’t hurt. The amount of dark red or even purple blood drawn to the surface indicates the degree of stagnation (darker = more toxins in blood). I have gotten to the point where I only have light purple on 2 cup areas, and the remaining 6 leave little to no mark. Progress! Aside from that, I’ve noticed some changes but it’s hard for me to assess how much is related to the acupuncture. I do feel more aware of my body, and look forward to the 2 hours each week laying there doing nothing. I also really like the doctor a lot. She’s my age, and told me how she entered University in the late 80s as China was opening up. Less than 10 years ago, she did a 2 year rotation in Morocco as part of bilateral agreement the 2 countries have. Let's see how I feel a month from now.... !

Nanjing Weekend Get-Away

To celebrate Lila’s birthday, Karl had planned a weekend away in Tangshan and Nanjing. Tangshan,about 3 hours from Shanghai, is famous for its hot springs. The resort, owned by a Balinese company, has around 20 private villas, each with it’s own private lap pool and hot spring jacuzzi, and stocked with your choice of music CDs. In each room of the villa, there were at least 2 walls of floor to ceiling windows – giving the place a very open feel.

We arrived on Saturday, with driver Peter. Upon checking in, we ate at a very local restaurant before sending Peter back to Shanghai. We then ventured out for a 45 minute bike ride through the countryside (Karl’s first time on a bike in three years and his ‘offical’ practice for the upcoming race), hung out in the jacuzzi, and figured out how to make use of the 24 hour butler service. We discovered they made really good (& complimentary!) fresh ginger-lemon tea (Lila consumed about 10 pots over the weekend) and had nice afternoon tea sets delivered to our villa. We also found the butlers very handy in filling the hot tub. They would drain it and put in new water … at just the right temperature! Without any typical spa chemicals, we enjoyed the fresh refills. Between the service and the atmosphere, we quickly relaxed and settled in. To top off a great start to our weekend vacation, Karl had arranged for a candlelit dinner in our villa.

On Sunday, we went into Nanjing city, about 45minutes away (the resort provided transportation). We were very surprised by Nanjing. For a city of 6 million people, it felt small with mountains, lakes, and greenery. Our only experience with Nanjing was knowing it means "South Capital" (as opposed to Beijing = North Capital) & the Japanese occupation as outlined in the movie "Rape of Nanking." Needless to say, the day was a pleasant surprise.

First stop in Nanjing was Purple Mountain, full of trees. Most of this area had been build up in the early 1900s. Highlights included the Sun Yatsen memorial/masoleum and an old Buddhist temple. From there, we went into town – visited the shopping area which we mistook for something completely different. It felt too much like Shanghai. We finally made our way to a beautiful Buddhist temple on a hill in the city. They gave out free prayer incense sticks. Upon watching others, we figured out what to do. The temple was very peaceful – a mustard yellow against the blue skies. We accidently stumbled across the old city wall, and walked that with kite fliers and a few other people, until it ended and we were forced to walk along the shores of the lake. We ended the day with a 30 minute massage and more time in the jacuzzi under the stars. Yes! We could see stars, very special scene which we can’t appreciate in Shanghai’s brightly neon-lit nights.

Monday we had a 2 hour massage appointment to end the long weekend. Driver Peter picked us up around noon, for the 3 hour journey back to Shanghai. We were able to get a lot of work done in the car – very important as Karl left later that evening for a 2.5 day business trip to Beijing. We both really enjoyed the weekend away. Note to selves: was amazing ...need more of these relaxing escapes!

Lila’s US Trip

A quick 6-day trip to the US went well. Our team is going through an organizational change and moving to another group. After nearly 17 years at Intel, I’ve come to realize that changes are part of the norm. It has been just 1 year since my team was formed by combining 2 groups, and now we’re moving more-or-less entact to another group. The good news is we have strong business results, and are well positioned for growth. My trip to California and Oregon was to meet my new peer group, spend time with my new boss, and meet with some of our executives. I’ve returned excited about this change, though sad to leave the old team behind. Although the trip was extremely short, I managed to get in a few personal things too. Aside from the 1 day power shopping for foods/errands, I was also able to get in 2 gym sessions with trainer John. Could hardly move afterwards, but it felt GREAT! I spent the night with Melissa and Hai (who’s a cutie!), hung out with Nabeel (including our 10 year tradition of catching up over Mexican food), spent some time with Susan & the kids, and had happy hour with my old pals in Oregon. It made the trip very action-packed and no time for jetlag! However, I was thrilled to have some personal time. Hard to imagine nearly 1 year has passed.

Two Months Without Travel!

A major benefit of the current economic slowdown is that most travel has cut. We are really enjoying being in Shanghai for weeks without travel. Granted, Karl had a 3 day trip to Tokyo & Lila’s about to leave for a 6 day trip to the US…but relative to our past months, this is nothing! We’ve really enjoyed socializing with some of our co-workers. We had drinks one Sunday night with Glen, Justin, & Eugene. Dinner with Wendy and Darren. Mae-Ling stopped by one evening for a girl’s chat. We enjoyed celebrating Caroline’s birthday, as well as a catch-up dinner with her. When we found out a few friends from work were at a restaurant nearby, we swung by. We have even gotten into a weekend morning routine – gym and return home to cook brunch together. It’s really wonderful!