2010 - A Year of Travels

2010 was certainly my best year yet when it comes to international travels. Thanks to some great work opportunities and also some careful planning, I was able to visit 11 countries in 2010 (8 of them for the first time). And Ani traveled to 9 countries (8 for the first time). Not too shabby for either of us!


Here's a brief recap of our 2010 travels:

1. and 2. Singapore and Bali

We started the year in Singapore and Bali and absolutely loved both. We loved Singapore largely for the food and we often talk about going back for a long weekend. If all goes as planned, we will make a return in 2011 where most of our meals are already decided - chili crab at Jumbo Seafood, chicken rice at Tian Tian Hianese Chicken Rice and dim sum at Din Tai Fung. My mouth is water just typing this...

Enjoying a Singapore Sling at Raffles Hotel

(See previous posts on Eating Our Way through Singapore and Exploring the Streets of Singapore).

We also had a lovely week in Bali, where we celebrated both my birthday and New Year's. This vacation was a great combination of relaxation, adventure and culture. We enjoyed the beach and pool at our resort in Nusa Dua, cycled through rice fields in Ubud, and enjoyed kecak dance shows and Indonesian cooking classes where I learned some of my now-favorite dishes. We also had some amazing meals in Bali, with the most spectacular being at Mozaic on my birthday.

A kecak dance performance at Uluwatu Temple

(See previous post on Nusa Dua and Southern Bali and Ubud and Central Bali).

3. and 4. Hong Kong and Macau

We hit Hong Kong and Macau in February 2010. I made it into a stopover on my way back from Sydney (where I was fortunate to go for training and where I was even more fortunate to return to later in the year, so more on Australia later). Ani flew from Delhi and met me there for a long weekend. Thanks to my everlasting supply of Marriott points, we had a lovely weekend stay at the JW over the Chinese New Year. This proved to be both a blessing and a curse. It was great to see the city lit up with festive decorations, but it also meant that many shops and restaurants were closed for the holiday. On top of that, the weather was pretty yucky, so our views from the top of Victoria Peak were extremely limited due to the massive fog.

A lion dance performance for Chinese New Year

We also took a high-speed boat over to Macau for a night. Honestly, I found it to be a strange juxaposition of wealth and poverty - a lot like India, but in a more compact space. We did venture over to the Venetian Hotel, which was just like the one in Vegas, but bigger of full of Chinese gamblers there for the holiday. We also had a really nice Portugeuese-Macanese meal at La Lorcha that was the highlight of our 24 hours there.

(See previous post on Hong Kong and Macau).

5. Australia

I spent 6 weeks in Australia for work in May-June 2010 and Ani was able to travel there towards the end of my stay for a visit. I spent the majority of my time in Sydney, but also traveled to Melbourne on a few occasions and Ani was able to see both during his 10-day visit. In addition, we spent an incredible weekend in Queensland where we snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef and visited the wet tropics near Cairns and had a lovely day-trip to the Blue Mountains, which are just outside Sydney.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge and in the Blue Mountains

I also got to spend time with my friend Yomi from the US and her awesome Australian husband, Dave. For those of you who haven't heard their story, Yomi and I have followed similar paths over the past few years. We both traveled to faraway countries for work project, only to find and fall in love with our now-husbands. And today we now live in Delhi and Sydney, respectively.

(See previous posts on my first visit to Sydney, the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, and The Blue Mountains).
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6. Switzerland
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Not wanting to travel all the way to Europe and not visit a *new* country, I added in a weekend in Switerland before our longer visit to Italy. We started in Zurich where we happened to arrive during Zuri Fascht, a street festival throughout the city. This was a great way to explore the streets, the food and the people all in one go. We spent the following day on an amazing day-trip that took us up Mt. Rigi by train, down to the village of Weggis (which we LOVED) by cable car, and then over to Lucerne by ferry. We rounded out the day with another train ride back to Zurich for our final night in Swizterland.

From the top of Mt. Rigi and Hanging out in Lucerne

(See previous post on Our Swiss Holiday).

7. Italy

We spent nearly two weeks in Italy, which was our longest vacation ever. We started with a few days in Lake Como, which is trily as beautiful and relaxing as everyone says, and where we discovered our favorite pizza. This was followed by a few days in Cinque Terre, where we hiked most of the paths connecting the villages. Next was the highlight of the trip, several days in Chianti for Drew and Simona's beautiful wedding. All of this was capped off with a few final days in Florence and a day trip to Pisa and Lucca.

Our favorite pizza and at Drew and Simona's wedding

(See previous posts on Lake Como, Cinque Terre and Drew and Simona's amazing wedding).

8. US

In September, Ani and I both headed back to the US for what has become our annual trip. I started about a week before him and arrived in time to participate in the HL Reunion and Baby Shower Palooza at Brooke's house on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. There, we celebrated the now recent arrivals of Baby Horak, Baby Oates and Baby Henneman Kastellec.

The following weekend was for the annual trek to Mike's house in Maine for relaxation, lobster and a little outlet shopping. And finally, we headed up to Saratoga Springs, NY for Joey and Jarret's weddingh. Somewhere between all of our weekend travels, we managed to squeeze in some quality time at home with the family.

The gang in Maine and Mike, Ani and I at Joey and Jarret's wedding

9. and 10. UK and Sweden

On my way back from the US, I met up with my bossess for a few days of meetings. I ended up being in London for barely 24 hours, but fortunately I had a bit longer in Stockholm. Our first day of meetings there was literally at the airport conference centert, so we stayed in a nearby hotel and didn't get to see much of the city aside from a brief trip in that night for dinner. The following day, we worked from the Stockholm office and after my bosses left for their flight back to Delhi (via London), I headed to the Old Town to explore for a few hours. I needed to fly back through Paris and could only take an early morning flight in order to connect to the once daily Paris-Delhi flight, which gave me a bit of time to see and enjoy Stockholm.

Old Town Stockholm

11. Sri Lanka

We spent the long Christmas weekend in Sri Lanka for our final trip of the year and our final international trip sans child. We figured that being only a 3 1/2 hour flight from Delhi, a holiday weekend in Sri Lanka was comparable to one in Goa, but probably a bit more peaceful. All in all, it was a nice, relaxing weekend, but we could have done with less road travel. We spent the middle two nights on the south of the island. While it was a mere 200 km (125 mi) from Colombo, travel time on the two-lane road takes about 6 hours.

View from the hotel lobby

So, that's a wrap of our 2010 travels. Again, 2011 will certainly be quieter, but hopefully we'll get in one or two international trips to satisfy our hunger!

A Journey to Hong Kong (and Macau)

Since being home, I've heard from a few people that they still check out the blog from time to time to see what we're up to. It's more than fair to admit, that I've left them down over the past few months, so I thought I would attempt make up for it by giving a run-down of our travel since the last post in February.

First up is Hong Kong and Macau. After my training in Sydney in February, Ani and I met up in Hong Kong for a long weekend. We were there over Chinese New Year, which was both good and bad. The good - it was nice to see the city all decked out with festive decorations and there were several events and a parade over the course of the weekend. The bad - many stores and restaurants were closed for the holiday AND it was cold and rainy. Like India, the holiday is not simply a date on the calendar, but it based on the lunar calendar. And with that, the New Year also marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. It was certainly the end of winter when we were there.

Hong Kong's Happening Nightlife in Lan Kwai Fong

Cable Car up to Victoria Peak

Foggy views of Victoria Harbour and Downtown HK from the Ferry

The Lion Dance for Chinese New Year

On the Ferry to Tsim Shai Tsui

Hanging Out in HK

More views of Hong Kong

After a few days in Hong Kong, we ventured over to Macau by high speed ferry. We had an incredibly tasty Macanese-Portuguese meal at A Lorcha. In the evening, we headed to the Venetian to check out all of the hype. It is much like the one in Vegas, but larger. It was packed with Chinese tourists and gamblers enjoying the holiday weekend.

The following day, we headed out to see the nice, but limited tourist destinations in Macau, which included the ruins of St. Paul's Church and the Museum of Macau.

On the Ferry to Macau

Incredible dinner at A Lorcha

Hanging out in the Venetian

In front of the ruins of St. Paul's

Macau was definitely full of constrasts

After our bit of sightseeing, we headed back to Hong Kong, and then to the airport for our flights back to Delhi. While it was a short trip, it was worth it, only next time we'd plan to go when the weather was better. And Ani may even successfully argue for a trip to Disneyland if we ever return.

Next Stop: Australia