Hong Kong Heartbreak

Who watches ‘The Bachelorette’?  Who likes to travel?

I am pretty sure this post will appeal to a variety of people.

First, Ashley and that disaster she calls Bentley.  Well done telling him to F-off… now on to the real men, and by real men I mean J.P. (for sure) and Ben F. (just because I am a sucker for wine and shaggy, curly hair).  I really hope these two make it to the final episode, the others are just wasting my time.  I watch this show every season and hope it turns out differently and it usually does not.  Please Ali and Roberto do not break-up.

ABC has finally caught on to the fact that Americans LOVE ‘The Amazing Race’, so they have been sending their Bachelors and Bachelorettes to foreign lands to find love.  Fine by me, I love travel probably more than the next person.  Totally love that they were in Hong Kong this week. 

I have been lucky enough to have visited this ridiculously amazing place for WORK (a.k.a. free!), and it ranks in my top 5 places on Earth.

My top 5 places on Earth

1. Venice, Italy

2. Barcelona, Spain

3. Hong Kong, China

4. Chang Mai, Thailand

5. It’s a tie…

San Francisco - I would never want for anything here (except maybe lower prices on everything)

Alaska (too many places and too many memories to pinpoint one exact location) - 

like New England, it will always have a piece of my heart

What did I do for work in Hong Kong?  As I mention in the Me and My Blog section, I work for a cruise line and was asked to take part in one of our Loyalty cruises.  For 8 nights onboard the ship I mingled with our most loyal cruisers at reunion get togethers each night before dinner, conducted a presentation on our cruise/land programs, helped out at beading and arts & crafts classes...  those were the good times.  We also unpacked, moved and delivered gifts to the guests, then sorted and packed up everything before we got off of the ship.  Working late into the night was not out of the ordinary, however, it was not that tough given that while in port we were free to explore, and explore we did!

Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong

JUMBO Restaurant where Ashley had the cocktail party and rose ceremony

The rejected guys were floated away on Sampans

All of this was taking place in Aberdeen Harbor.  There you will see several families' fishing boats all tied together.  Really incredible.

Hong Kong is an amazing place, where most residents live a vertical existence

I love all the signs found in an Asian city, makes it feel alive!

As a true Disney dork, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit Hong Kong Disneyland!

public subway to the park

Gateway to Hong Kong Disneyland!

Familiar site, just in Hong Kong!

Mickey & Minnie are still the same no matter where they are

Judging from my hair, it was windy that day!!

Tomorrowland was small, but Space Mt. was Disneyland awesome!!
Those of you who have been to WDW and DL know what I mean :)

Small World... the pretty version.  Plus you get the
mountains on Lantau Island, beautiful!

Favorite memory from HK Disneyland...
The Jungle Cruise was in Mandarin!  Awesome!

Since we had the hook up onboard the ship, we were able to enjoy the sail out of Victoria Harbor from the Bridge... incredible!!

Hong Kong, I will be back :)

Land of the Midnight Sun

Happy Summer Solstice everyone!  Today is the looongest day of the year.  To most of us here in the lower 48 (a.k.a. the continental United States) that really does not mean a whole lot.  We all know the sun sets in the summer sometime between 8 & 9, maybe a little later the further north you go.  But in Alaska (where I lived for 5 years) Summer Solstice is always a day to be celebrated!  This past weekend in Anchorage there was the mayor’s midnight sun marathon & half marathon, in Fairbanks tonight, there will be the Midnight Sun Baseball Classic where the first pitch is at 10:30pm and no lights on the field will be used, plus you can go hiking, flight seeing or fishing at whatever time you want… it won’t get dark!! 

Today in Anchorage there will 19 hours and 22 minutes of daylight.  If you look outside your window this afternoon that is how light it will be in Anchorage at midnight.  No I am not joking, not even a little bit.

I use to love the daylight throughout the summers and always felt like I had so much energy.  I would even sleep with the blinds in my bedroom open because I loved how it was light all the time.  Hope all my friends in Alaska are enjoying the day!

Thinking about Alaska makes me miss it, so I was looking through my pictures and figured I would share some of them with you all...

Downtown Anchorage

Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in North America (20,320ft.)

Talkeetna, the coolest little town I ever lived in!

Spot on G - log cabin I lived in my first summer in Alaska

Flight seeing in the Alaska Range

Salmon fishing.  I am ok reeling them in, but don't want
to touch the fish... too slimey!

Mt Susitna - a.k.a. The Sleeping Lady

Amazing beer & the amazing
Turnagain Arm in the background!

Picturesque scenery everywhere

Native culture & history

Glaciers!

Need to give a shout out to the cruise industry, without
which I would have never gone to Alaska in the first place

Good friends!

What a week!

Wow, this past week has flown by and has been filled with many highs and lows.  Where to begin…

Last weekend I completed my 26.2 miles for the Cupcake Marathon.  Can’t wait to try out the cupcake recipe we received for signing up!

We had to send in a picture with the
race "bib" to be included in the marathon

On Saturday I helped out one of the relay teams in the Palm 100 relay from Ft. Lauderdale to West Palm Beach back to Ft. Lauderdale.  The team was made up of people fellow co-workers and they are really amazing runners!  They were comfortably in second place the entire first half of the race, then there was a snag on the course where one of the runners got lost for about an hour.  Eek!  At the 50 mile check-in point they were in 11^th place.  The second half of the race was all about catching (and passing) as many teams as possible.  They ended up in 5^th place, it was pretty exciting and, like I said, they were all amazing runners.

I even got a finisher’s medal for helping with the driving!

Cute finisher's medal... a coconut with sunglasses!

Sunday morning two friends from Alaska, Danielle and Bill, came off a cruise from South America and stayed at my place for a few days.  They are always so pleasant to visit with and it was great catching up with them and hearing about all their winter travels…. Europe, Africa, South America and Antarctica.  Yup, they are hard core travelers.  I especially loved seeing their pictures from the Galapagos cruise.  That trip is on my bucket list and I hope to get down there within the next year.  I collect Starbucks mugs and they brought me one from Peru.  Thanks again Dani & Bill!

My first Starbucks mug from South America

Tuesday I headed over to Ft. Myers to catch the last Red Sox spring training game at City of Palms Park.  I have no idea why I have waited so long to go to my first spring training game, it was so great!  The stadium is so small you are so up close to the action, I absolutely loved it!  Can not wait for next March!

Warming up!

Our latest and greatest left fielder!

Immediately following the game, I headed to the Ft. Myers aiport to catch my flight to Boston.  When I arrived, I was told the Red Sox would be there for an announcement at 5pm.  I couldn’t believe my luck!  I got to the see the whole team as they held a press conference to announce the name of their new spring training park…jetBlue park.  I realize I was just at the spring training game, so I saw them all there, and I have been to Fenway a ton of times, so I see them all there, but nothing beats a chance encounter… it was the entire team!  Woo!  I seriously felt like a giddy schoolgirl and I could not take pictures fast enough.

Beckett, Varitek, Gonzalez

Pedroia, Papelbon & Wakefield

Papi!

Love me some Red Sox!

The reason I was headed to Boston on Tuesday was because my grandmother (dad’s mom) passed away on Sunday and her services were on Wednesday.  It is nice to think that her and my grandfather are together again.

I did get to see my niece for about 5 hours on Wednesday and loved every minute of holding her, getting hugs from her and kissing her cute little cheeks!  I do have to say, that my arms were KILLING me after holiding her for about an hour straight.  I am convinced my sister is the strongest person ever :)

On Thursday I got this most awesome medal rack in the mail from my cousin Amanda!  Thanks Mandy, I love it!!

I love my new medal rack!

Well it is now April, the best month for birthdays!  Yup, mine is the 24^th…the first time my birthday and Easter have been on the same day.  Don’t worry I’ll keep reminding you all my birthday is getting closer and closer.  I love my birthday!

Make it a great week!!

Q & A with Guest Blogger and first time race participant!

Last month when I started this blog, I mentioned that family members & friends of mine were also runners, all at various points in their running careers.  Today I want to introduce you to one of my good friends, Annie from Alaska.

Last Saturday morning she participated in her very first road race, the Frostbite Footrace 5k in Anchorage.  Here is her story…

Annie with her friend Michelle
& sister Amy before the race

Your first road race was last Saturday's Frostbite Footrace 5k in Anchorage, AK.  What did you think about the experience?

I loved it.  I wasn't super excited about it when I woke up but once I got there and got started it was very exciting.  This being my first race I didn't have any expectations really I just wanted to see where I stood so that I know how to improve next time.

How were the road conditions?

Cold and icy!  It has been pretty cold here in Anchorage and the roads are very well plowed which means it is slick!  It was 13 degrees on Saturday (which is better than the 0 degrees the weather man had predicted) but there was an icy wind that had blown in over night and it just cut right through all of my gear...it was miserable!  Also this race was part of the Fur Rondy winter festival activities and there were parts of the course that would overlap with the dog sledding course so every once in a while you would go from slick road to about 3 inches of slushy snow to bog through for about 20 feet where the two trails overlapped.

A race trail and dog sled tail overlapping, only in Alaska, love it!

What was your favorite part of the race?

This is so cheesy but my favorite part of the race was just into mile 2 when I was starting to get tired and very cold because the race was downtown and shaded by all the buildings so the wind was just biting.  I was listening to my iPod and "This is your life" by Switchfoot came on.  Right when it gets to my favorite part where all the instruments drop out and it is just the guy saying "This is your life, are you who you want to be?" I came out of the shade and the warm sun was beaming on my face and I got an extra push of energy and a little tear in my eye because I was running my first race and yes, I am working on who I want to be.  It was a very emotional moment for me :)

Awesome!  Any runner who tells you they don’t experience some sort of emotion during a race is 100% lying.  Welcome to the runner’s club!

On Sunday morning for Disney's Princess half marathon I was wearing running capris, a short sleeve tech tee and running sneakers.  I am thinking that would not have cut it in Alaska.  How cold was the temperature & what did you wear?

It was 13 degrees but right about 0 degrees with the wind chill factor.  I was wearing a thin pair of running pants with long underwear underneath and a long sleeved t-shirt with a hoody and a fleece headband over my ears.  I wore my trail sneakers because they have extra grip on them and considered wearing ice spikes but decided not to last minute.

Very different race conditions
in Alaska than in Florida!

Why did you decide to sign up for this race?

Because I had gastric bypass surgery one year ago and I told my friend "Next year I am going to be able to run that race!" Then she made me stick to it.

Awesome Annie!  Everyone is so proud of you for what you have accomplished over the past year!

Do you have any more races planned? 

I've decided to run at least one race every month for the rest of the year so yes, I've got LOTS of races planned!  The next one is the Shamrock Scramble 5K on March 19th (the day after my 30th birthday)

I hate running in the hot, humid Florida summers.  What gets you out of bed in the cold, dark Alaskan winters?

It's actually very refreshing to run in the snow/cold.  I hate getting out of bed early but once I get out there and wake up it is really beautiful and peaceful out there...it is one of the very few chances that I have to just be alone with my thoughts.

Any advice or encouraging words for people thinking about taking up running?

"A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step" - Confucius

I'm no runner; I'm a "wogger" (combination walk/jog).  Most of the time I am jogging at the same pace that other people walk.  But day by day, I will get better.  One day I will be a runner!

Thanks Annie!  I think just having the strength to get yourself to the starting line makes you a RUNNER!  Good job & good luck!  Can’t wait to hear about your other races!

All the runners post race on a beautiful day in Anchorage