The list of items contained in our diaper bag for air travel, annotated with how essential each item was based on our experience as follows:

*** Must have

**   Nice to have

*     Not needed

For travel gear that may not fit in your diaper bag, please visit this page.

• Portable changing pad …

We traveled with Boyan, our 13-month son last month to Japan (for those who are wondering, yep, he is the main reason why this blog has been so quiet in the past couple of years. :-)) and spent a unforgettable 10 days there. Before I went there, I searched over the …

After a long drive, the last stop of the second day of our trip is National Museum of Boyana Church, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a very small church, originally built in the lat 10th or early 11th century, with the addition of the central wing in the …

The second day of our trip began with a long drive from Sofia to Rila Monastery, the largest and most famous Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria.  It is the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in Bulgaria we visited in our trip.

This beautiful monastery is situated in the southwestern Rila …

We were quite amazed by the National Archaeological Museum, especially the Thracian treasures. 

The museum is located in the largest and oldest former Ottoman Mosque in Sofia.

Thracian treasures. Can you believe that they were made before the Roman Empire?

Gold jewery

Gold wreath

Gold mask and ring from Thracian …

(1) Sign of Sofia --- City of Lion.

Planning:

Following my usual strategy for travel planning, I first got some rough ideas on the highlights of the country by referring to the "Best of Bulgaria in 12 Days Tour" by Steve Rick. Based on Huahai and my own schedule, I then decided that we could spend at most …

I was traveling in Europe last week. While I enjoyed the history, culture and food very much, I was not a big fan of the airports. Like many people, I would like to stay connected most of the time, at least be able to access my emails and the Web …

I recently stayed in Manhattan for a few days during a business trip. My colleague and I were looking for places to buy some special chocolate to bring back home. We asked a few locals New Yorker as well as consulted the web for recommendations. Here are the list of …

Huahai and I have just returned from our first trip together to Italy. The trip itself was wonderful and unforgeable. However, it usually took a lot of planning for such an extensive trip, unless you hire someone else to do it for you or join a tour group.

We usually …

China is a fast-changing country. Not surprisingly, the list of popular gifts for Chinese family, relatives and friends keeps on changing as well.  When I return to China, I always do some extensive research to gather an updated shopping list of gifts to buy. Here is a summary based on …

I have accumulated over 60,000 miles on British Airlines Executive Club reward account for a while now, but keep on having problem redeeming them. First of all, it is difficult to find any reward flight available; secondly, the fee is extremely high --- for a flight from SFO to LHR …

Place Holder for now.

Day1:

12/16/2007

Lunch with Junwen

Boarding at San Diego Port

Drill

First Dinner

Debarkation Celebration

Raffle at many places (of course we did not win any of them)

12/17/2007

Men's golf tournament (27 vs. 25)

Table tennis

Hairy Chest Contest

First Formal …