PoD - 12/8/2011 - It DOES Exist!

Ok, so we've been through San Francisco (and actually gone into the city, not just stayed at the airport) at least 5 times in the past year or so.  And this is the first time I have actually SEEN the Golden Gate bridge.  I was beginning to think it was just urban legend, propped up by some pretty fancy photo-shopping.  And I know this isn't a great picture.  You can still barely see it.  But at least it's not so utterly shrouded in fog that you can't even tell there's a bridge there.  

Well, goodbye San Fran!  This may be our last visit.  :(  I really have enjoyed this interesting city.  If you ever get a chance to go, take it!

Picture of the Day 12/6/2011

This trash can is outside of Emart, which is like a Walmart Supercenter in Korea (except minus the "super" part).  Ok, I know this is just supposed to be one picture per day.  But I took the liberty of zooming in for you, in case you didn't catch what this one said.

That's right - fire.  As in, "in case of fire," use this bottle of water?

You have GOT to be kidding me.  It just doesn't get anymore low-tech than this.  

Although honestly, it's not too surprising when you consider the "fire escape" for our apartment is a box with a couple ropes in it that we can attach to the metal arm that bends out the window.  You know, so we can scale down the wall FROM THE SEVENTH FLOOR!  At least we're not on 15.  Maybe we should keep a couple bottles of water there, too.  Just in case.

Picture of the Day 12/5/2011

Cheonjiyeon falls, Jeju Island, South Korea

Cheonjiyeon means heaven and earth meet and create a pond.

We visited Jeju with my mom back in early July.  Dad was supposed to go with us the weekend before, but a tropical storm changed our plans.  I had heard quite a lot about how beautiful the island is but tried to keep my expectations low just in case.  But I was pleasantly surprised - it really is a beautiful place.

Picture of the Day 12/4/2011

This is Momma Puppy.

She lives at the Samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) place near work that we go to every so often.  She is a sweetheart and always seems happy to see us.  She also always seems to have at least one puppy or two from her most recent litter, which is how she got the name Momma Puppy.  If you look to the left behind her head, you can see little, white puppy bodies.  So sweet!  That was one of the first litters we ever saw.  I'm going to miss Momma Puppy when we move back home.

Picture of the Day 12/2/2011

Ok, since I decidedly FAIL at being a stable, dependable blog poster, I'm going to try something new.  I've been going through all of our travel pictures lately, working on photo books of our trips, and it has made me want to share some of these shots with you.  Ironically, lately it's been working on the photo books that has kept me from having time to post blogs, but that's a catch-22 that might just work in all of our favor because it was just the inspiration I needed.  The hardest part of blogging for me is deciding what to include in a post.  I want to show you EVERYTHING!  I want you to see, hear, taste, smell, feel what it was like to BE there.  But I'm already limited to words and pictures (I'm convinced that some day you'll be able to upload other things to your blog to share.  Aren't you glad they hadn't perfected some sort of blog-scent-sharing technology before my "no free lunch" post?  If you're not, you should be!).  And as anyone who has every traveled with me (or looked at my pictures afterward) knows, I take waaaaaaay too many pictures.  Digital storage is so cheap these days, I just can't seem to keep myself to a minimum.  So of course I can't post all of them here, and believe me, you wouldn't want me to.

But that is the beauty of my new idea: "Picture of the day."  Just one picture - that's it.  And there's no sense stressing about which one to use because I can post another one tomorrow.  And the day after that and the one after that and...  Ok, you get the idea.  Oh, yes, and also it should be hard for to drone on and on about just one picture.  (Notice I said should - this is me we're talking about.)

I'll still try to put up "normal" blog posts every now and then, but, with my track record, at least you'll get a few dozen pictures in between my bi-monthly posts.


And without further ado

the first Picture of the Day

 for Dec 2, 2011 is...

This is Uluwatu Temple in Bali, Indonesia.  Absolutely gorgeous.  We went there last January, and that just shows you how behind I am.  As you can see, the Hindu temple is set on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean.  It was so beautiful.