San Fran and half marathon

I decided to tag along with Em to San Fran for her October MBA classes. It was nice getting to meet her classmates; they are an impressive group of individuals and I am sure most of them will be very successful in their future endeavors. While they were in class, I got to visit with an old friend from grad school, Mark Witschi. Also on the docket that weekend was for Emily to run the Nike Women's half marathon. Personally, I don't know how she could manage running two half marathons in back to back weekends, seeing as how I was still sore from the Portland half marathon the previous weekend. The race was sponsored by Tiffany's, so she received a Tiffany's necklace at the finish line....I think that is the REAL reason why she signed up for this race. :)

Em and her classmate Alice at the race
(Alice was also kind enough to host us for the weekend - much thanks for the amazing place to stay downtown)

Em must have been relaxed during the run, because I found this pic on her phone - she took it during the race

another pic from the race - rounding the last bend toward the finish on the beach

Em at the finish - staying warm in her space blanket

On Sunday, we met up with Renee, Danny, and the girls. I have been getting a little jealous of all the time Em gets to spend with Naomi and Nina....they are awesome kids. Naomi has just started at a Mandarin immersion school, and she was quizzing me on my Chinese. I was amazed at how much she has learned already; it looks like I need to start studying my Rosetta Stone program more aggressively so I can keep up with her!

Naomi and Nina styling Em's hair

Nina plays until she falls asleep....kinda reminds me of myself as a kid:
a pic from the archives - when I was 3, I used to play until I fell asleep...wherever that may be - this time on my turtle sandbox

Portland Half Marathon

I decided to take my running to the next level this summer and signed up for the Portland Half marathon. OK, it didn't actually happen that way; I'll be honest. Em was running all summer, and I was tagging along on her training runs....call it Quality Time if you will, since she has been so busy with school and work. When one of her teammates for the Hood to Coast race (see earlier blog) got injured weeks before the race, I stepped in as an alternate. After running 16+ miles over the course of 1.5 days during the Hood to Coast relay in August, I decided I might as well run the half marathon during the first week of October. I have a life goal of running a full marathon, but, you know, sometimes you have to lower your expectations. :) Besides, how hard could it be to run 13.1 miles? (I was soon to learn the hard way!) I was quite busy traveling (Israel, St Louis, Chicago - see earlier posts) in the month between the two races so I did not get much training done. On top of that, I had been battling a cold for 2 weeks before the race. But enough about excuses. A week before the Portland half marathon, a friend said she had signed up for the race (which was sold out) but she did not want to run it anymore....so I bought her race bib and ran in her place. The first 10 miles went great and I was running well and keeping on my target pace. Then I hit the proverbial wall that is commonly mentioned by distance runners. I was out of energy and struggling to stay moving. I knew if I started walking I would get cramps in my legs, and it would only get worse from there. I kept going, but my pace slowed to a very slow jog. The last 3 miles were one of the most painful experiences of my life. After the race I could barely walk. I was sore for 2 weeks after the race....the pain is temporary, but the memory will last forever.

Oh yeah, and Em ran the race too.....but it is no big deal for her because she has done several of these before. Case in point, note the differing facial expressions between her and I in these photos.

Em after the race: chipper as always

me after the race: not so chipper and in a world of pain

Chicago Visit, Sept 2011

During the last weekend of September, Emily and I made a trip back to Chicago for the Northwestern Alumni Annual Leadership Symposium. Since we both serve on the Board for the Portland Chapter (and Em is Regional Director for Portland, Seattle, San Fran), we get invited to come back each year to share ideas with other leaders from around the country. It is a great way to meet fellow NU alumni, learn new recruiting/event ideas, and brainstorm on how to make our clubs even better. It's also a good excuse to visit old friends and familiar places.

Em with two of her former NU roommates, Pauline and Amanda

We were on campus for alumni stuff all day Friday and Saturday then we had to leave on Sunday, but that did not stop us from squeezing in some of our favorite restaurants: Buff Joe's Wings in Evanston, Nookies in Lincoln Park, Chi Cafe in Chinatown, and Giordano's Pizza (we got an extra two deep dish pizzas to bring back to Portland).

Of course no trip to Chicago is complete without visiting my sister Kristy and her husband Pat....especially since we got to see Elliot! He is growing up so fast....

Elliot showing off his scooter skills

Kristy and Elliot at brunch
...sorry Pat, you didn't make the cut...JK, I just didn't get any pics of you ;)

Jon and Stacy's Wedding in St Louis

After my trip to Israel, I was home just long enough (1.5 days) to unpack, do laundry, then repack to head to St Louis for Emily's brother's wedding. This is why I have been so slow to get these posts up.....things are happening faster than I can write! But I guess it is a good problem to have. :) We had an awesome time in St Louis visiting with family and enjoying all the wedding festivities.

dim sum

the groomsmen hanging out on Friday before the rehearsal

rehearsal in Forest Park

Mom and Dad looking great

Emily's Aunt, Grandma, and Mom

Jon and Stacy toasting at the rehearsal dinner

The rehearsal dinner was a 12 course traditional Chinese meal including lobster....we ate like kings

Emily's Mom's side of the family - Aunts, Uncle, Mom, and Grandma

the wedding party table

traditional Chinese tea ceremony at the house: each couple is served tea from the bride and groom in exchange for gifts and jewelry

Em got emotional at the tea ceremony - so happy for her little brother!

at the ceremony in Forest Park - the lawn in the distance was decorated with a flag commemorating each of those lives lost in 9/11 (the ceremony was on 09/10/11 - a day before the 10 year anniversary)

the ladies looking their best at the wedding

Jon and Stacy's First Dance

Congrats Jon and Stacy - we are so happy for you both and wish you a lifetime of love!

The Dead Sea

On my last day in Israel, I got off work with just enough time to drive 1.5 hours to the Dead Sea before the sun went down. Driving through the West Bank is akin to being on Mars; it is very desolate, hot, arid, and shows absolutely no signs of life. The only water present is so saturated with salt that nothing can live in it, nor can it even come close to being used as a refreshing respite for a parched traveler. The Dead Sea is aptly named.

the road to the Dead Sea

yours truly at a roadside vista with the Dead Sea in the distance

a resort appears as an oasis

I pulled over near a hotel resort and had some time to take a float in the Dead Sea. It is a feeling that everyone should experience at least once in their life. Put this on your bucket list. I would argue it is worth the plane ticket just to have this experience. Imagine walking out into an oily hot bath only to have your feet float out from under you. You float on top of the hot salt water with zero effort and bask in the sun with a feeling of zero gravity. As you move, the viscous liquid flows around you in ways that make you appreciate all those lectures in fluid mechanics. You suddenly become aware of the differing buoyancy of your different body parts. Lying on my back, if I lift my leg out above the surface, my overall weight stays constant while my displacement lessens....and I sink an extra inch in the water. If I use my muscles to force my legs deeper into the water, my displacement increases so my body floats a little higher on the surface. You simply cannot get this graduated level of buoyancy in regular water nor can you experiment like this because, in regular water, you are usually expending a great deal of effort just to stay afloat. Now I am floating with zero effort. It actually takes effort to attempt to sink. I fail to completely submerge my body. This is fun....I start to laugh....out loud. As other tourists delight in a similar ethereal experience, they too giggle and profess their fascination in their many different languages. You can tell immediately who is a first timer by their giddy expressions. You can soak in the salt water for hours and the skin on your hands does not pucker, it looks the same as when you got in. When you get out of the water, the drops never dry and you do not experience evaporative cooling, despite the fact that it is a very hot and very dry climate. The minuscule amount of water in the drops on your skin is so tightly bound by the salt molecules that they will not let the water release into the air. Eventually, however, evaporation slowly wins and you are left with a thin layer of salt crystals coating your skin.
After a quick rinse, I hit the road for a final trip to the hotel to get my stuff and head to the airport for my return trip home. It was a memorable trip, but hopefully next time I will have more time to see the rest of the country.

Floating on the Dead Sea was a relaxing way to end a trip that was anything but relaxing.

Jerusalem

My time in Israel was quickly running out, and I had been working so much that I did not have a chance to see any of the other famous historical places. So, I decided to try and squeeze in some sights after work in the evening. Jerusalem was only about a 45 minute departure from my normal route home from Kiryat Gat to Tel Aviv, so I took the scenic detour and arrived at dusk. In all honesty, I think this city looks best at night, as the ancient stone buildings bask in modern artificial light.

The Old City

East Jerusalem

The Western Wall

I ventured to East Jerusalem to take some B&W shots of the stone streets. I did not know at the time that this was not the safest neighborhood to be walking around at night alone. I could sense I was being followed by 3 men. I tried to keep walking to keep my cool. Unfortunately, the street dead ended, and I was forced to turn around and walk towards the 3 men I believed to be watching me. They began speaking to me, however it was either Arabic or Hebrew, so I had no clue what they were saying to me. I ignored them and kept walking. As I passed by them, they grabbed me from either side and attempted to rob me. After a short scuffle, I managed to break free and ran as fast as I could. I held tight on my camera as they were trying to pull it from my possession. I was especially concerned since I had just splurged on a new Cannon DSLR 18MP just days before the trip. Later, someone reminded me that I should have been more afraid for my own safety....however, at the time, I gotta admit I was thinking more about my belongings and somehow knew I would be able to hold my own (although it did not even cross my mind that they may have weapons). I must say that all the martial arts training in grad school was worth it in this brief moment. It's not that I went Chuck Norris on them, but the training gave me great confidence and even better body awareness/presence in difficult situations. A couple swift moves to break their grip was all it took to avoid a potentially dangerous situation. After running to a safer area of town, I found a nice restaurant and sat down to treat myself to an amazing meal. Somehow I felt I deserved it or that I was celebrating getting out of such a situation completely unharmed. I just sat there for awhile after the meal, alone, enjoying the view of the city at night, and thinking, "damn, I am lucky, and I have been through some cool stuff, and I have seen a lot of cool things in my life". As I am always rushing through life to see more and do even more, it sometimes takes something drastic for me to stop and reflect on what I am actually doing here. And then I quickly slipped back into my old self and resumed walking around taking pictures at night like a fool (albeit, now staying in safer parts of town)....I hope you enjoy the pics as much as I did taking them! :)

I saw a car that barely made it up this steep road

a typical street in the Old City

the exterior walls of the Old City of Jerusalem

After exhausting the safe areas of Jerusalem, I ventured towards Bethlehem....however it proved to be a little rougher than Jerusalem. After my encounter in Jerusalem, I thought it would be best just to do a quick drive through Bethlehem and not get out of the car to take pics. Also, I didn't have a GPS, so I was winging it old skool style with a paper map.....which screams tourist....so I didn't venture far. After driving by a burning dumpster (below), I concluded that I had experienced enough adventure for one night and drove straight back to Tel Aviv to the safety of my posh hotel. Sometimes you gotta know when to say when...and quit while you are ahead.

OK, I did actually get out of the car once in Bethlehem at night...but only to capture this dumpster fire

(one more final Israel blog coming soon)

Tel Aviv, Israel

After finishing the Hood to Coast race (previous post), I jumped on a flight Monday morning to head to Israel for a work trip. Intel has a newly built chip fabrication (fab) facility in the town of Kiryat Gat, located about 1 hour south of Tel Aviv. If you were watching the news around that time, you would know that Kiryat Gat is in the southern region that was getting hit with rockets from Gaza. Luckily, they agreed to a cease fire a few days before my departure.
So I proceeded with my scheduled trip to Israel for an internal company audit to make sure their local fab is setup correctly and running according to spec before they start running production material. Audits are more fun when you are the one on the auditor side of the equation. :) My schedule was hectic, but I did get to squeeze in a few hours of sight seeing during my week long trip.

the Mediterranean Sea near Tel Aviv

the view from my hotel room in Tel Aviv (23rd floor)

walking around Tel Aviv, you will find a mix of old and new buildings:

the city at night

While I was visiting, there was an ongoing protest against the high taxes and high cost of living. For instance, when you buy a car in Israel, you pay over 100% tax on the car. On top of that, gas costs about $8.50 per gallon. Housing prices rival those of the most expensive American cities. Many middle class citizens struggle to make ends meet, despite having well paying jobs. The locals protested by living in tents in public areas of the city.

Finally, on September 3rd, there was an organized protest in which 400,000 people participated. It was the largest protest in the history of Israel. After getting home from work in the evening, I took my camera and hit the streets to immerse myself in the action! I can honestly say that I have never observed so many people concentrated in one area. It was great to be a part of this historic event.

of course I found some drummers to hang out with

It started getting late (the protest did not start until 10PM), so my jet lagged body forced me to retire to my hotel room before seeing the end of the festivities....besides, I had to get up at 6AM for work the next day......I was working through the weekend and I had been working the previous days from 6AM to 1AM and 6AM to 3AM....it's the Intel way ;) Time for some well deserved sleep.

(more Israel blogs to follow)