|| 2011 Wishes

1. Move - At least try a quick walk round the block, but I really should go to the gym
2. Eat Right - What I need is fruit, vegetable, grain and lean protein
3. Drink Water - This is hard on me
4. Laugh - When work is making me nuts and I just can't get along with this cold weather anymore, a sense of humor probably will keep me sane, so much as for the virtual insanity
5. Breathe - 20min reading, 20 seconds of looking 20 feet further out for my eyes; stand up and put my shoulders back, breathe deeply that changes how I feel

May we live a happy and healthy life in 2011 :-)

I took a few days off from work during this last week of 2010. Finally I was able to accomplish a few very modest things a) triple the number of linked-in connections 2) finished a book Crash of the Titans, it was intense narrations of the 2007-2008 financial crisis, giving me some access of understanding board rooms and the different functions within the senior management teams 3) watched a movie Black Swan, loved the music and the choreography, I'm not sure if it's necessary to depict the ballerina work as dark as what it showed in film, but I can understand the inner demons that we all have had at different situations 4) watched my favorite star trek movies and criminal intent series 5) not so proudly but rather painfully, I crashed in 6 doctor's appointment in about three days, and a lot more have already been scheduled in the new year 6) JBL creature III has become my new mini stereo system ... music is the food of life.

Haven't been writing much this year, but I was thinking about many things, too bad that they can't be spelled out explicitly. There's only one thing that needs to be remembered for the past year, it's that I've kept myself sane. I did meet some challengers and at times I felt vulnerable but I gained back the confidence in my own closet. I'm grateful for the people who had coached me because many conversations enlightened me - a) what we should care about and fight for for our national identity b) how we should fight back pre-conceived notions of cultural differences c) what mentors gain from people development d) happiness is an individual and a social outcome ...
There have been somewhat broken relationships and others got strengthened.

It's quite delightful to have a peaceful state of mind at this time of year.

|| Road Trip: Virginia Byway Rt 6

This is a sunny and beautiful Saturday in late October. We spend the day in Carter Mountain orchid, apple picking, and on our way back, we drive the back road via Rt 20 - Rt 15 - Rt 6, pass the quiet town of Scottsville and Rt 6 takes us home all the way.

This is a second trip to the orchid after 2003, and back then it was a very modest apple barn with few people (and cars) on the road. The driveway to the mountain top was very steep and bumpy, but they certainly improve the roads over the years, and very soon I see that it is a necessity as the public traffic has exploded and the business has grown into a massive tourism operations. Cars everywhere, people everywhere, and staff everywhere. However, the place is a lot of fun, and we end up with two big bags of Fuji apples, half gallon apple cider, two hot apple cider donuts, and four pack apple caramel cookies. Quite impressive, isn't it?

Scottsville's James River

Fall Foliage, pumpkin patch, and top of the mountain

|| Surf'n OBX

People talked about staying OBX for a week for vacation, and I always wondered what could be done in one work. For years, I avoided OBX, or shall I say, OBX avoided me. I had visited Chincoteague (twice), Virginia Beach, Bar Harbor, and Myrtle Beach (that was even earlier) after I migrated to the state of Virgina, and finally decided to jump onto the wagon and drive to OBX in North Carolina.

The reservation was made from two months ago. I picked up a motel place Blue Heron solely based on tripadvisor reviews. This turned out to be a perfect place for us, situated in Nags Head, has an uninterrupted view of the ocean from the bedroom also a view of the bay from the kitchen. The set-up is unbeatable and such a treat when the sun comes out, and it came on the third day of this trip.

The first stop on the way south on that day was Bodi Island Lighthouse. We found the lighthouse in full cover of scaffolding (took three weeks to put them up), that is, the building is taking a year off of public viewing pleasure for recovery. There was, however, a short gravel road that we followed and it took us to some amazing views of a sound. Few men were fishing there, they fished and released fish (saw them taking out the hook and got it back to water). There were a number beaches stationed with SUVs, while the pictures were adventurous, they do not belong there. It's worth noting we accidentally stopped by a burger/pizza place near Buxton, we were starving ... and big burgers were perfectly cooked and deliciously prepared for day trippers.

As we went back to roads, we found several stops with brave surfers enjoying kite surfing. I admire the courage, the strengths, the innovations, they were beautiful to watch.

The bridge to enter or exit the inlet was crossing very wide water, gorgeous and simply gorgeous.

I love my blue sweater ...