Flashback Friday – Halong Bay in Vietnam

18 Friday Jan 2013

Posted by mrsselfish in Asia, Flashback, Food & Drinks, Vietnam

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Flashback, Flashback Friday, Halong Bay, Vietnam

During our homeland honeymoon, Mr. Selfish and I stayed in the Sofitel in Hanoi, Vietnam. The hotel had a French colonial theme and was utterly charming. It is one of our favorite hotels of all time. Since our good friends (Uyen-Minh and Mike) paid for a day trip to Halong Bay as our wedding present, we decided to splurge and arranged for the trip through the Sofitel.

It was a little extravagant but we had a private driver and an English-speaking tour guide to Halong Bay, which was about 1.5 hours away. Along the way, the tour guide made some disparaging remarks about Americans to us, which is fine but we found a little odd since we had just told him that we were American.

When we arrived at Halong Bay, we discovered that we had an entire junk boat to ourselves. It was a two-story junk boat that could probably fit about 100 tourists. There was also an entire crew just for us.

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Flashback Friday – Snowing in Seattle

11 Friday Jan 2013

Posted by mrsselfish in Flashback, North America

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Flashback, North America, Seattle, Washington

In 2008, Mr. Selfish and I went to Seattle. I had heard many wonderful things about Seattle, so we wanted to check it out. Unfortunately, we went during the month of March. Despite the fact that Mr. Selfish told me that it never snows in Seattle, it was very cold and indeed snowing.

The snow didn’t stop us from enjoying Seattle though. We went to the Space Needle to enjoy the views. There was of course a coffee shop at the top.

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Flashback Friday – Japanese Food

04 Friday Jan 2013

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Aronia de Takazawa, Flashback, Flashback Friday, Go Go Curry, Japan, Kyoto, Ramen, Tokyo, Udon, wagyu, wagyu beef, yakitori

Orlando had limited Japanese food offerings. The vast majority of it was sushi, and there was one good ramen place. So, when Mr. Selfish and I went to Japan in 2009, we sampled all sorts of Japanese food.

First, we sampled plenty of udon and ramen. Each time, the broths were so flavorful that you could tell it had been cooked for a looooong time.

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Flashback Friday – Charming Chicago

28 Friday Dec 2012

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Chicago, Chicago Style Hot Dogs, Deep Dish Pizza, Ethiopian Food, Flashback, Friday, Geno's, Illinois, Lincoln Park Zoo, Millenium Park, North America, Wieners Circle

In May 2008, Mr. Selfish and I visited our good friend Becca in Chicago. Becca had been raving about Chicago, and we decided to take her up on her offer to let us crash at her apartment. This was my first trip to Chi-Town, and I found it to be quite charming.

First, we went to Millenium Park, which actually was opened in 2004 (only four years behind schedule). I love taking pictures in front of the Cloud Gate, which is better known as the “Bean.” Also, Crown Fountain is nice because it’s fun to watch all the kids splashing around in the water and their parents trying not to get wet.

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Flashback Friday – Ghibli Museum Outside of Tokyo

21 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by mrsselfish in Asia, Flashback, Japan

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Flashback, Ghibli Museum, Japan, Tokyo, Totoro

Mr. Selfish and I are huge Hayao Miyazaki fans. Miyazaki is a renowned Japanese director. My favorite Miyazaki film is My Neighbor Totoro. So when we decided to go to Tokyo, we knew that we had to go to the Ghibli Museum, which is in a small suburb of Tokyo.

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Flashback Friday – Our Orange Tree in Florida

14 Friday Dec 2012

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Flashback, Florida, Orange Juice, Orange Tree, Oranges, Orlando, Winter Park

Prior to leaving on our selfish year, Mr. Selfish and I moved out of house in Winter Park, Florida and rented it for a year. We had an orange tree in the backyard that would produce dozens of oranges during November and December. We would harvest the oranges and make delicious, sweet orange juice every year.

Unfortunately, we just heard word that our orange tree has died and needs to be taken down. We loved that orange tree, and it was one of the things I really missed about having a home in Florida – fresh orange juice. This flashback post is dedicated to our orange tree.

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Flashback Friday – Mermaids at Weeki Wachee Springs

30 Friday Nov 2012

Posted by mrsselfish in Flashback, North America

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Flashback, Florida, Mermaids, Weeki Wachee Springs

In July 2011, Mr. Selfish and I took a mini-road trip to Weeki Wachee Springs. It is a little water park built on a natural spring. The main attraction is the mermaid show, which is in a theatre that is also built into the spring. Weeki Wachee Springs is old Florida at its finest. It is campy and full of family fun. We enjoyed it immensely.

We greatly enjoyed the water park itself, because you get to swim and slide into the spring. There are huge water slides and a little area around which you can tube. The water is a cool 74.2 degrees year-round.

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Flashback Friday – Inari Shrine Near Kyoto

23 Friday Nov 2012

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Asia, Flashback, Fushimi Inari Taisha, Inari Shrine, Japan, Kyoto

In 2010, Mr. Selfish and I took our first trip to Japan. We loved Kyoto. In fact, we loved it so much that we’re planning on staying there for a month during our selfish year.

One of the most memorable sites we visited was the Fushimi Inari Taisha, which is an Inari shrine a little outside of Kyoto. The Inari shrine was built to honor the Shinto god of rice and is typically represented by a fox.

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Flashback Friday – Brief Stop in Budapest

16 Friday Nov 2012

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Budapest, Europe, Flashback, Hungrary

In 2008, Mr. Selfish and I took a trip to Budapest and Prague. We started in Budapest and then took a train to Prague. Budapest was a delightful city where the currency is cheap and there aren’t many tourists.

In particular, Mr. Selfish and I loved the Hungarian baths and the Budapest opera house. No photos were allowed in the baths, but they were grand and relaxing. As for the opera house, Mr. Selfish and I purchased tickets for a private booth right next to the king’s box for very cheap. We never had such great seats for the opera, but it was too bad that the opera was in Italian and the translation was in Hungarian. I couldn’t tell what was going on most of the time!

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Flashback Friday – A Quick Trip to Pittsburgh

02 Friday Nov 2012

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Carnegie Museums of Art & Natural History, Cathedral of Learning, Flashback, Pamela's, Pittsburgh, Primanti Brothers, Spice Island Tea House

In May 2011, Mr. Selfish and I took a quick trip to Pittsburgh for his sister’s graduation. Mr. Selfish attended Carnegie Mellon for his Master’s but he never really did the touristy things while there. We took care of that in a short weekend trip.

First, we walked around downtown and went into the Cathedral of Learning. It was built in the Late Gothic Revival style. Also, at 42 stories, it is the tallest educational building in the western hemisphere.