Thoughts On My Birthday

As a single woman in my 30's there are a lot of cliches that I have to deal with the most popular being I'm desperate to find some guy, have a some spectacular wedding and then push out babies.  A lot of my friends are in this place (though it's not just some guy!) and it is sometimes bizarre to me that their Thursday night will involve trying to wrangle the kids into bed and then eking out a few minutes of time for themselves, whereas mine will often involve an establishment that serves alcohol.  Not that I don't want all of those things, I admire my friends and their families, but that is not where my life has taken me.  Where my life has taken me since my last birthday?

Philippines - Okay this is one trip I would like to forget since I had to work the night shift and survived for two weeks of about three hours of sleep a night and a diet of Starbucks coffees (black of course) and the breakfast buffet at the Intercontinental.  Maybe if I had visited Boracay or Cebu, my memories of the Philippines would be fonder, but instead they are mostly confined to the greenish, dim fluorescent lighting of the office and witnessing various "transactions" in the lobby of the hotel.  On the other hand, I was with some great people and there were some memorable fits of hysterical laughter as a result of the sleep deprivation and insane work schedule, an amazing hot stone massage, shopping for pearls and one ridiculous trip to the highlands, riding a horse named Princess up a mountain to see a crater in the dark.

Japan -  Oh the dilemma between eating all the sushi, udon, ramen, tempura, yakitori, yakiniku and countless other delicacies and shopping in Tokyo, trying to stuff your Western-sized a** into tiny, doll-like Japanese sizes.  I chose food.  I also chose weekend trips to Kyoto and snowboarding in Gala.

Other silly things...

The button on the toilet at the office which we found out only makes the flushing sound since many Japanese women, being very demure, do not want others to hear them urinate and will continuously hit this button as they go.  And...(the below photo is not suitable viewing for those under 18)..

The porn guide from my hotel room, which me and all my coworkers thought was the TV guide, but were very much mistaken.  Looks like the Japanese love them some chocolate!

France, Spain - This trip didn't start out so promising when me and my coworkers arrived at our original hotel, that resembled a truck stop, which was appropriate since we were driving the largest vehicle in all of France.

But after hunting around for three hours, we found our home for the next three weeks at the beautiful Chateau de Lasalle in Agen.  There was one amazing weekend in Barcelona at the new W hotel and eating our way through tasting menus at Michelin rated restaurants Cinq Sentits and Commerc 24 and taking in the Picasso museum, Gaudi's Casa Mila and Sagrada Familia as well as other sites.  The next weekend was in Paris - *sigh* - my third trip to this amazing city.

India - Bangalore is definitely not the most glamorous city, it's dirty and overcrowded and traffic may be stopped occasionally due to stray cattle in the street - but the food, the clothing (bought three saris) and the culture!  We spent our first weekend in Goa and enjoyed the beach at our resort...

And one not so amazing public beach, filled with Indian men running around in their wet, sandy underwear...

The second weekend was in Delhi, with a day trip the Taj Mahal.  On the way, the driver had to go pay a toll or something and parked at the side of the road - this dude kept trying to get us to look at his performing monkeys when one of them got a little too close....

Actually, it's two of them.  If you look closely there's a baby monkey clinging desperately to it's mama.  I guess since we watched the monkey show and took this picture - the guys wanted to get paid. So they were banging on the windows and trying to open the car!  Meanwhile the driver was lord knows where! Then my one coworker said - "Oh my god that guy has a snake"  I immediately dove into the lap of my boss in the fetal position (very professional I know - but she's kind of like a work mom to me) since I am TERRIFIED of snakes.  So picture this - all of us were screaming and on the verge of tears, there are men banging on the windows asking for money with monkeys and a damn snake outside!  We laugh about this now.

Canada (home) - Home sweet home.  Well Ottawa, but close enough to home.  Friends, family = fabulous!

And of course Ecuador...

It's been a busy year and I'm not sure what's in store for the year ahead.  But no matter what happens and where I may go, I'm super thankful for my wonderful, supportive family, my friends back home and in New York, that still like me even if I don't get to see them as often as I would like and... my life.