The BART doors opened, and as I started to enter, I noticed three very tall, stunning, unusually dressed ladies with musical instruments. I edged as close as I could towards them. I was curious 1 – if they were drag queens and 2 – what they were doing. One played the guitar, one the xylophone (such an underrated instrument!) and the third a violin. As the train pulled away from the station, they started playing a folk version of a song that sounded familiar, but I couldn’t quite recognize. One man was filming them, another was sound recording them. I watched, intrigued.
At the next station, they stopped playing long enough to hold on to the bar so that they wouldn’t topple over. A man entered the train with a newspaper bundle full of fresh flowers. He walked up to them (was this staged or real life?), asked them where they were from (Amsterdam), and said beautiful ladies from Amsterdam should always be offered flowers. They laughed and he continued on. As the train started again, they played another song.
The next stop was mine, and it was honestly one of the few times that I was sad that my ride was over.
Today I received an email from a former colleague that reminded me of one of the best pranks that I ever fell for. Even though I was the victim of this prank, it was so cleverly executed that I still think fondly of the instigators.
When I worked for Room to Read, we had an annual retreat for the headquarters employees. It was usually two days, somewhere in the Bay Area. We usually had a speaker or two, team building activities, and wine/alcohol with dinner and after.
We had two Asian men that joined close to the same time, Eric and Paul. They were close in age, both worked in Finance, and both Asian, but the similarities stopped there. For some reason, though, many employees in the organization confused the two of them.
At one of our annual retreats, a group that was going to the beach to go skinny dipping picked up my camera (not realizing whose it was) and took it with them for the evening (did I mention that I was the HR Director for the company?). The next day, I was flipping through pictures, and was very surprised at what I saw.
I sent an email to group in the photos, which included Paul, with the photos attached, and said I hoped they enjoyed their excursion to the beach, and let them know that I was deleting the photos from my camera. Paul immediately wrote me back and asked me why I had sent him naked photos of Eric. Absolutely mortified that I had confused the two employees, and potentially had sent naked pictures of one to the other, I scrolled through the pictures.
As I realized that no, the pictures were indeed of Paul (not Eric), Paul sent a simple email, “Got ‘cha!”
There are only a few foods that I don’t eat: bell peppers (they make me throw up), cream cheese (it tastes bitter to me), sour cream (yuk), and mayonnaise (double yuk). I haven’t liked these foods since I was a small child. Every so often, though, I’ll give them a try, to see if maybe my taste buds have changed and I suddenly like them.
Tonight was the opening night of the San Francisco Food and Farm Film Fest, where you watch fabulous movies and eat great food. Match made in heaven, right? It’s running for a few more days, so if you’re in San Francisco, check it out.
Tonight’s program included eight shorts (plus one bonus) accompanied by a fabulous spinach and orzo salad. And a thick slice of homemade toast from Josey Baker Bread, slathered with… cream cheese. But it wasn’t any cream cheese. It was Sriracha cream cheese. A thing I love mixed with a thing I don’t love. Which love/not love would win out?
As I sat with my piece of toast, I pondered my options. The Sriracha cream cheese was evenly spread in a thin layer to every corner of the perfectly square slice. Had it been thicker, I probably could have scraped most of it off. Given it was so thinly spread, that wasn’t really an option. The slice of toast was thick enough that I could probably could just eat from the bottom. It would be messy, but I could make it happen. Or, I could just eat the slice of homemade toast, cream cheese and all. After a few minutes of staring at the slice, I decided on the third option.
I broke a small piece off of the corner. I popped it into my mouth and chewed, immediately tasting the freshness of the bread, perfectly toasted. Crunchy on the outside, but still soft inside. And then, the flavor of the Sriracha cream cheese. The hot spiciness cut the bitter flavor that I so often taste. I had another bite. And another. And another. Soon, my plate was empty.
I suddenly felt like narrator in Green Eggs and Ham. “I do so like cream cheese – BAM! Thank you, thank you, Sam-I-Am.”
I received the following text from a friend this morning:
“How’s it going? We are long overdue for a catch up. So much big news to share.”
I probed further – what’s the big news? Do tell, do tell!
“Well… I kind got married a few weeks ago. Shotgun style. Crazy, huh?”
I immediately realized that today is April 1, the day of pranks and tomfoolery. I replied with a hearty “hahahahaha – April Fool’s!”
We worked together from 2006 – 2010, and early on in our work tenure, we started playing pranks on each other, not just limited to April 1. Since then, both of us being the competitive people that we are, we’re always trying to one up each other. It’s become more and more difficult, since we don’t work with each other anymore, and don’t see each other as often, but one thing is for sure – we always think of the other on April 1.
Last week my work team spent the week in Kauai, Hawaii. We completely overscheduled ourselves with work projects, which is not the way to spend a week in Hawaii! One day, however, we hiked a few miles on the Na Pali Coast. Despite the almost constant rain, and the treacherous slippery mud trails, it was a beautiful day. I like to hike slowly, and every so often I would stop (more often than not to gain my balance as I slipped) look over the cliffs, and listen to the thunderous crashing of the waves mingling with the soft pitter patter of the rain. Beautiful!
Double rainbow on the walk back
Paul crossing the river
Lunch spot at the ocean. We kept our eyes out for rogue waves!
A twelve hour layover in Seoul. I was excited when I saw that was one of the cheapest flight options returning from my trip to Vietnam. I haven’t returned to Korea since I left there in 2002. A layover with a good friend, what could be better?
I called a couple of days before the layover to make reservations at a traditional Korean restaurant. “Anh-nyoung ha sae yo!” and was greeted similarly. I love the sing song of the Korean language. My voice rises and I smile when I speak. I inquired about reservations, and they asked my name. “Lo-ri.” “What?” Then I remembered. “Ro-ri,” I said. “Ahhhh! Ro-ri! See you Friday.”
We landed at Incheon. Ah, Seoul. So many memories. During my stay in Korea, I lived in Daegu, but flew in and out of Seoul many times. My last goodbyes before passing through customs. Memories flooded over me.
We took the train into the city, watching the sun rise over a river.
Sun rise from the train
We arrived into the city. Cheonggyecheon had been built since my last visit. We walked along the stream, early in the morning, before the streets were full of people.
Cheonggyecheon early in the morning
We were hungry, but didn’t want the wares McDonald’s, Starbucks, Lotte, or other fast food chains had to offer. We wandered in and out of alleys, until we found a small (four seats) take out restaurant that offered hot jook for breakfast. Kim-chi jook – ahhhhhhh!
Kim Chi Jook
Warm and happy, we ventured to Gyeongbokgung Palace. We arrived just in time for the changing of the guard! Boom! Boom! Boom! went the drums. The soldiers marched in formation towards the gates, marching in unison. Brilliant robes fluttered in the wind as the guards took their position.
Changing of the guard at GyeongbokgungRose at Gyeongbokgung
We had heard about Tom’s Cat Cafe near Hongkik University. We navigated the maze of the subway, and after wandering for a while, stopping in a coffee shop and asking the way, randomly questioning students on the street, finally with the help of the very kind tourist police in all red, we found our way there. We couldn’t tell if it was open or not – no one was there except the cats, but the doors weren’t locked. We stared through the windows at the beautiful cats, then made our way across town for a traditional Korean lunch.
The sign on the door – no idea what it says or what it means
Cats looking at us from within
21 kinds! said the menu. And that’s what we got. 21 delicious dishes. Plus one. Service. Oh, Korea. I’ve missed you.
The first of our 21 dishes for lunch!
We made our way back to Incheon. Satiated with a day of Korean culture.
I first heard of Halong Bay when working for Room to Read. We had moved into a new office, and had a contest to name all the new conference rooms. Someone suggested naming the conference rooms after famous places in the countries where we had program operations. Mount Everest, Kruger, Luang Prabang, Halong Bay…
I hadn’t heard of Halong Bay before then, but the pictures looked magical.
Fast forward five years. I’m working for another company, and we’re having a team meeting in Vietnam. In Hanoi, in the north. And one of our outings is to Halong Bay. On a boat, overnight. I was ecstatic. I was finally going to visit the magical Halong Bay.
And it was. Magical. Even in the harbor, surround by other boats (which brandished “SAFETY FIRST” in big letters on the steam pipes) it was magical. We leaned on the railings and looked out at the karsts in the overcast day. As we began to sail, our host explained that legend had it that the Vietnamese were fighting against invaders from the north. The Jade Emperor sent a dragon to help, incinerating the enemy with fire and emeralds. The emeralds scattered on the battlefield, forming a defensive wall against the enemy (the emeralds eventually turned into the karsts that can still be seen today).
We sailed through the rock formations, each more magical than the last. We paddled in kayaks among the karsts. We swam in the warm waters of the bay. Calm descended. We were quiet as the sun set, enjoying the magic of the dragon’s remains.
LoriLoo 