The life and times of Alec Detwiler

"Go ahead"

2011-10-05T22:02:00.000-07:00

About a year ago, I was having a normal work day in Cupertino when I walked to Caffe Macs, Apple's main cafeteria, for a bite to eat. After perusing the day's lunch options, I decided to wait in line at the fish station, completely unaware that I was about to have a close encounter with Steve Jobs. The line was pretty short, about 3 people, so I pulled out my iPhone to catch up on tech news and read email while awaiting my turn. Out of the corner of my eye, a short man in a black turtleneck lined up behind me. I glanced back to see who it was, then did a Hollywood-style double take as I quickly realized that indeed, Steve Jobs was waiting behind me in a cafeteria line.

I panicked... should I get out of the way? say hi? bow down? I calmly turned back to my iPhone, pretending to keep reading email. It was common protocol to not make a big deal of Steve Jobs being in the cafeteria. During the years he was healthy, I would see him about once a month at Caffe Macs - often sitting down with Jony Ives for his lunch break. When anyone would see him, they might point him out to a friend or co-worker, but then play it cool. Steve Jobs didn't want to be treated like a rockstar or shake hands with random employees, he just wanted to each his lunch.

After a few minutes, which seemed like years, I was at the front of the line to get my all-important piece a fish. Without really thinking about it, I turned around and motioned to Steve to cut in front of me. After all, his time was approximately a billion times more valuable then mine, and I thought it would be a nice gesture to a man who will go down in the history books along with Carnegie, Edison, and Disney. A man whose persistent vision inspired tens of thousands of employees to work long hours and short weekends for years. A man who revolutionized industries by creating entirely new product categories. A man whose contributions to the consumer electronics arena will delight millions of customers for generations. And a man who wanted a piece of fish for lunch.

In an instant, Jobs declined and said "Go ahead". I couldn't believe it... here stood the legend himself; a man who was probably pondering what other industry Apple should revolutionize; but he wasn't about to take a spot ahead in line. I was first, and that was that.

I thought for half a second of insisting again for him to go in front of me, but alas, my tenure at Apple was not yet long enough to argue with Steve Jobs. So, I turned around, got my fish and didn't look back.

I know it's a simple story, and gives me no authority to say that I knew or really even met Steve Jobs, but it was my moment, my conversation - my two-word, fish-themed conversation with one of the greatest innovators of our time.

As I reflect on his life tonight, I would like to think that "go ahead", his two words to me, can serve as one of the many takeaways from his lifetime. He passionately loved his company, our products and our employees - but he also knew that his time would come. Steve would want all of us to celebrate his life instead of mourning our loss, and simply "go ahead" and make our own "ding in the universe". Here's a quote from his Stanford commencement speech in 2005:

"No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true."

It's a sad day, but celebrating Steve's life and his contributions to the world reminds all of us that we all have the capacity to change the world. After all, "the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do":

Make no little plans.

2011-06-08T15:40:00.001-07:00

Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty. Think big.

- Daniel Burnham, Chicago architect. (1846-1912)

Day 435: Today was a good day

2010-10-03T10:56:00.000-07:00

Keeping on track with my 1,000 days to Boston journey, I passed another milestone today. I ran the San Jose Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon, and met my goal! Highlights from the race included a running Elvis, at least 15 rock bands lining the race, someone offering free bacon (I declined), lots of cow bells ("I gotta have more cowbell!"), a little rain at the start, and lots of cheering spectators along the way.

Time wise, I ran my first sub-8:00 min/mile pace race! I came in at 1:43:59, for a 7:56 overall pace. My previous best was an 8:52 pace half-marathon in February, and an 8:39 pace during the first half of my full marathon in July, so I'm ecstatic with a 7:56. The next big race is the California International Marathon in Sacramento in December. I'm hoping I can run an 8:00 pace for 26.2 miles, but I have a lot of training ahead of me before I can achieve that time.

Day 366: The Next Adventure

2010-07-26T09:51:00.001-07:00

Fresh off my first marathon yesterday, I'm eager to set a new life goal that is even more daunting than my first marathon. I hereby publicly commit myself to running the Boston Marathon in April 2012.

This goal is slightly more complicated than the last one - in order to qualify for the Boston Marathon, I have to run a marathon in 3 hours and 10 minutes. For a bit of reference, I ran the race of my life yesterday at an 8:42 min/mile pace. For a Boston qualifying time, I need to run each and every mile at a 7:15 min/mile pace. Ahhh!

This feels extremely challenging and slightly crazy - which is exactly where I want to be. I felt the same before deciding to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and the 1st marathon, so I just need to create a plan, and stick to it. The Boston race will be especially significant for me, as it happens to take place on the day of 32nd birthday (April 16, 2012) and it will be Day 1,000 from Day 1 (technically Day 995, but close enough :-).

Thank you again to everyone for the congratulatory calls, texts, emails, tweets, and "likes". You inspire me to push harder.

Day 365: Mission Accomplished

2010-07-25T19:11:00.000-07:00

One year ago today, I wrote a blog entry (Day 1), where I set a goal to run the SF Marathon one year from that point, in less than 4 hours. This was a slightly audacious goal, since I had never ran more than a couple miles before, and was very out of shape. But alas, I'm pleased to report that I did it!

Today's race was filled with memorable moments, including running across the Golden Gate, drum circles, gongs, live rock bands, Hip-hop DJs, and crossing the finish line. Some of my fellow runners included an elvis impersonator with a vuvuzela and a guy dressed as a Trojan warrior (metal shield and armor). For myself, I was cheered on by my parents and pushed my running pace from a planned 9:00 min/mile to an average 8:42 for the course, which added up to 3:48:01 for the day - 12 minutes better than my 4:00:00 goal. Although I'm quite sore, stiff, and tired (woke up at 4:30 AM!), I'm thrilled to have successfully completed my first marathon, especially with a time that surprised me. We'll see what's next, but I have a feeling this is just the beginning...

Embracing change

2010-03-11T09:10:00.000-08:00

"When the winds of change are blowing, some people are building shelters, while others are building windmills." -Old Chinese Proverb

Milestone complete

2010-02-09T12:48:00.000-08:00

As a follow-up to my original post 6 months ago, I completed a major milestone in my quest to run the SF Marathon in July. This past Sunday, I ran the the Kaiser SF Half Marathon; beating my 2 hour goal by a few minutes (1:56:31). Highlights of the half-marathon include: running with a unicorn, listening to the one-man drum circle, high-fiveing a human-size Lego man, and finishing!

In order to beat my 4 hour Marathon goal, I still have a lot more miles in front of me. But I'm thrilled to be on plan.

Twas the night before Announcement...

2010-01-26T23:19:00.000-08:00

Twas the night before Announcement, when all through Cupertino
Not an atom was leaking, not even a neutrino,
The banners were hung on the auditorium with care,
In hopes that SJ soon would be there.

The fan boys were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions on gadgets danced in their heads.
When out on De Anza there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

"Now Schiller! now, Johnson! now, Cook and Jony Ive!
On, Forstall! On, Oppenheimer! On, Serlet, look alive!
To the top of Caffe Macs! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

He was dressed in blue jeans with white sneakers of old,
And a black turtleneck to protect from the cold.
He wore circular eyeglasses from decades ago,
His appearance was humble, simple, no show.

A knowing smile, soon covered his face
He knew the media would soon be on the chase
I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Think Different to all, and to all a good-night!"

NYTimes: The New Sputnik

2009-09-28T00:46:00.001-07:00

From The New York Times:

OP-ED COLUMNIST: The New Sputnik

China is embarking on a new, parallel path of clean power deployment
and innovation. It is the Sputnik of our day. Unfortunately, we're
still not racing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/opinion/27friedman.html

Get The New York Times on your iPhone for free by visiting http://itunes.com/apps/nytimes

Alec

A little Apple inspiration

2009-08-17T11:55:00.000-07:00

On my first day of work at Apple one year ago, I received a little gift with a t-shirt (with my start date on the back) and a little cardboard card. Here's the text from the card:

There's work and there's your life's work.

The kind of work that has your fingerprints all over it. The kind of work that you'd never compromise on. The kind of work that you'd sacrifice a weekend for. You can do that kind of work at Apple. People don't come here to play it safe. They come here to swim in the deep end.

They want their work to add up to something.

Something big. Something that couldn't happen anywhere else.

Welcome to Apple.

Witty quotes

2009-08-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

"It's better to fail in originality, than succeed in imitation" - Herman Melville

"Success is going from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm" - Winston Churchill

"Those who lack courage will always find a philosophy to justify it" - Albert Camus

"Some people take no mental exercise apart from jumping to conclusions" - Harold Acton

"Happiness is a singular incentive to mediocrity" - Michel Montaigne

"If everything seems under control you're not going fast enough" - Mario Andretti

"We don't see things as they are. We see them as we are" - Anais Nin

"Awards are merely a badge of mediocrity" - Charles Ives

Day 1

2009-07-26T11:28:00.000-07:00

I drove by the SF Marathon this morning as I head out of SOMA to drop off a friend at SFO, and realized that I no longer have any legitimate excuses to not do something I've wanted to do for a while. So... I hereby publicly commit myself to running the SF Marathon in 2010. This will be my first marathon (hopefully of many), and I'm currently out-of-shape, so I'll need all 52 weeks to make this happen. My goal is to complete the race under 4 hours. I'm heading to the gym right now for Day 1.

2009-07-13T16:52:00.000-07:00

I was playing around with QR codes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code) today, and thought I would post the QR code for this website for future reference. You can make your own QR code for a URL/text here: http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

You can used the free iPhone app "Barcodes" to scan this barcode, which will direct you to this site.

Quotable Quotes (part 2)

2009-05-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

"Set the tired dogma of... small thoughts ablaze with the kerosene strength of your curiosity and creativity"

Michael Port

Quotable Quote

2009-03-19T13:20:00.000-07:00

"Our mind always tries to persuade us that we are nothing but acorns and that our greatest happiness will be to become bigger, fatter, shinier acorns; but…our faith gives us knowledge of something better: that we can become oak trees."

-- Ernst Schumacher

Who we are

2009-02-20T11:43:00.000-08:00

Check out this incredible presentation by a brain scientist on what it is like to go through a stroke.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

2009-01-30T10:17:00.000-08:00

There's been a lot of talk recently about Obama having "great temperament", particularly with how he is able to rise above emotionalism in the face of tremendous challenges. Separately, I've also been thinking about musical tuning, after watching one of the artist lessons in Garageband '09 (Ben Folds). How do these relate? Well, reaching way back to my musical days, I recalled a musical definition of "temperament".

Here's how wikipedia describes it: In musical tuning, a temperament is a system of tuning which slightly compromises the pure intervals of intonation in order to meet other requirements of the system."

This really speaks to me - because it encapsulates our constant struggle to build some beautiful, while compromising each step of the way. Compromising is precisely what makes something beautiful. In a musical chord, each note can only be considered "in tune" after considering all other notes that are being played at the same time - it's all relative! As with our myriad of personal projects and initiatives, we must constantly "tune up" or "tune down" the individual objectives, as we consider the grander scheme of life.

Christmas

2008-12-25T15:18:00.001-08:00

Niña takes a nap on my lap

The gang

2008-11-22T02:14:00.001-08:00

Still bar hopping in the Haight

2008-11-22T00:56:00.000-08:00

Hobson's Choice

2008-11-21T23:52:00.000-08:00

2008-11-21T22:49:00.000-08:00

Amex love

2008-11-21T22:29:00.000-08:00

Cha Cha Cha

2008-11-21T22:10:00.000-08:00

Cha Cha Cha, in the Haight

2008-11-21T22:06:00.000-08:00

Bridge School Benefit concert at Shoreline

2008-10-26T15:32:00.000-07:00

Apple London, Regent St

2008-10-23T02:42:00.000-07:00

Au revoir Paris!

2008-10-23T00:21:00.000-07:00

With four days of hard work, local sightseeing, and culinary bliss,
I'm sad to leave Paris. On the business side, we accomplished
everything we wanted and more. On the fun side, I had some of the
best meals in my life.

The highlight for me was dinner at Maison de la Truffe, my favorite
restaurant this side of the Atlantic. I first went there in July with
my classmates, and was instantly hooked. Thr second you walk in to the
restaurant, the rich aroma of truffles nearly knocks you off your
feet. The meal started with fresh baguette and white truffle-infused
olive oil. My starter was a beef carpaccio with greens and generous
shavings of Burgundy truffles. My main course was grilled lobster
with a truffle polenta. Dessert was a truffle cream creme brûlée.
And I was drinking champagne.

Alec was happy, Alec was very very happy.

I'm currently traveling through the French countryside aboard the
Eurostar, on route to London for more meetings, then back to the US
tomorrow!

View from Apple Paris office

2008-10-21T11:03:00.000-07:00

On the road again

2008-10-18T13:46:00.000-07:00

So, apparently my travel days aren't behind me. Through a bit of luck
and good fortune, Apple is sending me to Europe for a week, in style.
This is my first international business trip, so I am excited and a
little nervous, but I expect to have a great time.

Fiddler's Green

2008-09-27T22:39:00.000-07:00

Susie making friends...

Poker Night

2008-09-20T21:39:00.000-07:00

With the boys...

Night out

2008-09-13T02:36:00.000-07:00

Temple after XYZ after John Collins

Hits

2008-09-04T22:19:00.000-07:00

A map of visitors to this blog, sorted by city:

Photo time

2008-08-31T13:45:00.000-07:00

I've finally settled back in the US, time zone change and all. My time in China surpassed my high expectations - I had an amazing time. With the Olympic events, late-night clubbing, 2-hour massages, new friends, old friends, new food, and familiar food - we had a superb two weeks in China.

From the 4,000+ photos, I've narrowed them down to two albums:

China: http://picasaweb.google.com/alecdet/China

Olympics: http://picasaweb.google.com/alecdet/Olympics

This marks the end of my incredible summer, which took me to nine countries throughout Europe and Asia. I had been planning for this summer ever since I knew I was going to business school three years ago, and it certainly exceeded everything I had hoped for. I am excited about the new friends that I made on my travels, and will always remember the fun times we had together. I'm not sure when/if I'll ever get to travel like this again, but perhaps I can try...

Day in Napa

2008-08-30T15:54:00.001-07:00

Taking the Gondola ride at Sterling Vineyards in Napa with M Lau

Good bye, Beijing

2008-08-26T16:04:00.000-07:00

Ron and Alec part ways to their respective careers. This was taken in
the lobby of the Central Garden Hotel, where we spent the last few
nights in Beijing

Golden Jaguar

2008-08-26T06:49:00.000-07:00

At the Golden Jaguar, enjoying the best meal of the trek!

Forbidden City

2008-08-25T23:53:00.000-07:00

Currently at the Forbidden City beside Tian'anmen Square

Great Wall

2008-08-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

Today we scaled the Great Wall, climbing around 1000 feet of steps.
It was a little foggy, but we had great views of the hillsides and
valley below.

Watercube

2008-08-25T00:12:00.001-07:00

I shot this video of the watercube a couple nights ago.

More blogging

2008-08-24T21:25:00.001-07:00

If you haven't checked our Ron's blog in a while, he has posted
several funny stories, and some of my photos and video: http://ron-fun.blogspot.com

China Doll

2008-08-23T12:43:00.000-07:00

Men's 1500m about to start

2008-08-23T05:07:00.000-07:00

CELEBRITY STATUS

2008-08-23T04:04:00.000-07:00

NOT TO BE OUTDONE

Above: Picture of Alec Detwiler and his new found Chinese family.

Watching this scene unfold was hilarious. The lady asked Alec 3 times to take a picture with her child. At first we thought that she wanted him to take a picture FOR her, but in the end it was that she wanted to take a picture WITH him. Don't they look like they were meant to be?

Inside the Bird's Nest

2008-08-23T02:42:00.000-07:00

Sitting 13 rows from the track... Watch for me as the runners turn the
corner!

Modern Pentathlon

2008-08-22T20:44:00.000-07:00

Beijing at night

2008-08-22T10:47:00.000-07:00

In Beijing

2008-08-22T01:57:00.000-07:00

We made it to Beijing this morning after a "fun" overnight train from
Shanghai. We are now checking out the finals of the Modern Pentathlon.

NBA China

2008-08-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

Alec and RonFun representing at NBA China in Shanghai

Yu Garden

2008-08-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

Jen Case catching up on some reading, while a rain cloud passes

Video from soccer game

2008-08-19T10:14:00.001-07:00

Blogging

2008-08-19T09:50:00.000-07:00

RonFun is also blogging our travels in China. You can check it out at: http://ron-fun.blogspot.com/

Olympics

2008-08-19T04:34:00.000-07:00

Watching Nigeria crush Belgium at the soccer semi-finals

Zhou Zhuang

2008-08-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

About an hour outside of Shanghai is a small village that was
preserved over a century ago. It sits on the edge of a large lake,
and has canals running through it. They call it the "Venice of China".

Dim Sum

2008-08-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

Jen Case and RonFun being adventurous atop the 49th floor rotating
restaurant, tasting the bean curd jelly thingy (loose translation).
Several famous leaders have dined here, including Nixon and H.W. Bush.

China trip update

2008-08-16T12:13:00.001-07:00

It's hard to beleive that only three days have gone by on our trip; we have had a lot of fun and many adventures as the cultural acclimization continues. Our first day started with sightseeing on Victoria Peak, then across the harbor to Kowloon to check out Star Avenue (Chinese version of Walk of Fame). The view from Victoria Peak was incredible - the density of skyscrapers is impressive along with the architectual variety. At dinner that evening, sectionmate Matt Payne joined us as we celebrated the first night of the trip (and only night in Hong Kong). The night continued to a couple bars, Prive dance club, and late-night restaurant. We met a number of ex-pats along the way.

On our second day, we took a bus to Shenzhen (45 minutes away) to enter mainland China for the first time. Shenzhen is a massive city (14 million people!), with an impressive skyline. We spent the afternoon at the headquarters of China Vante, the largest real estate developer in China. We toured a few showrooms then spoke with a few execs. That night (Friday night), we hung out at a nice club, Richy, near our hotel, Lushan hotel. We partied in style with reserved tables, bottle service, and a new drink for me... johnnie walker and green tea.

Today was an incredibly relaxing day. We started with a late 10 am start, then stopped by Lianhua mountain (hill) for a nice view of Shenzhen. We then drove to a private beach 45 min east of Shenzhen for a few hours of fun in the sun, playing a modified-game of beach volleyball (inspired by the olympics no doubt). Along the way we drove by Shenzhen's massive shipping port, the third largest in the world.

In the evening, we had a nice Shanghai-style dinner, then proceeded to one of Shenzhen's signature spa & massage complexes. This was quite an experience. In short, I had the best massage of my life - a 2-hour body massage. I also received a 45-min foot massage while watching the olympics (saw the 100M final), and being brought drinks and watermellon.

The food so far has been great. We have enjoyed several styles of Chinese cuisine (Cantonese, Szechuan, and Shanghai), and most of the dishes are completely new to me. Some of the more memorable items include sea cucumber and pig nuckles. We have had pork, chicken, and duck served in ways that didn't look like pork, chicken, or duck. Some of the fun drinks include a sweetened herbal tea (apparently the "Chinese Coke") and a sweet rice wine served warm (very similar to sake).

Tomorrow we leave for Shanghai, after a Dim Sum brunch at a rotating restaurant atop one of Shenzhen's many skyscrapers.

Chillin' with Deng

2008-08-15T20:31:00.000-07:00

At the top of Linhua mountain, Alec & Ron pay homage to former Chinese
leader, Deng Xiaoping, as he overlooks his crowning accomplistment
(?), Shenzhen

Company Visit

2008-08-15T00:11:00.000-07:00

RonFun and I visiting China Vanke, largest construction company in China

Bruce Lee

2008-08-14T17:27:00.000-07:00

On the "Star Avenue" in Kowloon

Victoria Peak

2008-08-13T19:29:00.000-07:00

Enjoying the view of Victoria harbor with Ron Funderburk, aka RonFun

Krispy Kreme... Hong Kong airport?!

2008-08-13T04:35:00.000-07:00

Heading west to the Far East

2008-08-12T12:56:00.000-07:00

I'm now on my way to China, where I will spend two weeks with a group
of classmates. We start in Hong Kong, and will also spend time in
Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Beijing. I'm excited to see China up close
and take photos of the Great Wall. We also plan to see some Olympic
events as well. I hope to post often, as long as I don't get censored...

View from my room

2008-08-12T02:25:00.001-07:00

The view from our new apartment is pretty spectacular. Here are two sunset shots from my room taken in my first week here. I hope to share many more sunset photos in the future.

Photo time

2008-08-12T02:07:00.000-07:00

I've been back in the Bay Area the last couple weeks catching up with friends and family, and getting moved into the new apartment. I finally uploaded most of my France and Belgium photos... but there's more to go through later. Tomorrow, I start my last trip of the summer, heading to China for two weeks.

France and Belgium Photos

Next stop, Belgium

2008-07-27T01:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our last day in the Loire Valley. We visited Chateau de
Chambord (above), then drove to Paris. Today we head to Bruges for
three nights

Lunch in Vouvray

2008-07-25T13:50:00.001-07:00

We had a sweet, insanely sweet, bottle of Vouvray, on our lunch stop
in Vouvray! I had a delicious cheese plate for dessert.

Highway robbery

2008-07-25T13:43:00.001-07:00

Yep.... that isn't a typo. It cost us 100€ (~$160) to fill our gas
tank. I can't wait to get back to $5/gallon

Gardens

2008-07-25T13:39:00.000-07:00

Amazing gardens at Chateau de Villandry

Adventures on the road

2008-07-24T15:11:00.000-07:00

No roadtrip would be complete without a little adventure. In short, our engine oil was low, so we put in some new oil. However, determining the right grade of oil, hours on the phone with Avis support, and googling our own solutions made for some fun times. In the end, it took a few days to resolve the situation, but it worked just fine (well.. we think).

Photo time

2008-07-23T06:31:00.000-07:00

I uploaded a few photos from our roadtrip so far.

Our Tour de France

2008-07-21T14:51:00.000-07:00

We are now on our the third day of our Tour De France. We are currently in Dinan in the Brittany region of France. We spent the last few days in Normandy, staying at Chateau Colombieres We were minutes from Omaha Beach, of D-Day.

The rest of our time in Paris was great. We had a nice dinner our last night at Benoit (4eme), where we had the ultimate French cuisine - escargot, duck foie gras, truffles, casoulet, veal saute, and a few desserts "to share". I also had two full nights of nighttime pictures in Paris, getting a few shots of the Eiffel tower, the Louvre, Hotel d'Ville, Notre Dame, St. Chapelle, and the Seine. Sumner and I hiked to the top of Sacre Coeur (including the dome), and had a nice view of Paris. One afternoon we met up with Virginie for lunch and then had a coffee at her Mom's place. Alex joined us for 3 days, and we travelled to some of her favorite shops, including two perfumeries. On evening, we had an HBS dinner with 10 HBSers - it was nice to enjoy dinner with the HBS crowd, sans HBS. The Musee Rodin had a beautiful garden with had most of the "must see" pieces (Gates of Hell, Thinker, Burghers of Calais).

We are now on day four of a seven day roadtrip through three regions of France: Normandy, Brittany, and Loire Valley. We were upgraded to a nice Mercedes E220 with GPS, and have had fun enjoying the beautiful French countryside. On the drive out to Normandy, we stopped at Giverny, where Monet lived for a while and installed a pond with the infamous water lilies and japanese bridge. Our first couple days in Normandy, we explored many of the WWII memorials, cemeteries, and battle sites. It was sobering to contemplate the number of people who died there. We also visited a couple small towns including Bayeux. One meal, I enjoyed an "whelts" (Bulots in french), where was a plate of sea snails, served steamed with mayonnaise - they tasted like corn, but were a little more rubbery than escargot. Yummy!

American Cemetery, Omaha Beach, Normandy

2008-07-20T08:24:00.000-07:00

Paris at night...

2008-07-17T16:38:00.001-07:00

We are now on our fifth day in Paris and our having a great time. I have a more detailed update coming soon, but I wanted to share a few pics I took tonight. I was really looking forward to taking a few shots at night, and Paris did not disappoint. Chitra (pictured) joined me for the photo trip. Here are just a few photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/alecdet/ParisPreView

Favorite restaurant: La Maison de les Truffes

2008-07-17T11:16:00.001-07:00

Le Tour Eiffel

2008-07-17T11:14:00.000-07:00

Le Tour Eiffel

2008-07-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

Chitra's new hat

2008-07-17T11:12:00.001-07:00

Le dessert

2008-07-17T11:11:00.001-07:00

Shoes

2008-07-17T11:07:00.001-07:00

Le Metropolitain

2008-07-17T11:06:00.001-07:00

Cafe et croissant

2008-07-17T11:04:00.000-07:00

2008-07-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

Deep thoughts...

2008-07-15T09:21:00.000-07:00

Deep thoughts...

2008-07-15T08:35:00.001-07:00

Deep thoughts...

2008-07-14T22:21:00.000-07:00

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Bonjour!

2008-07-14T19:50:00.001-07:00

Our first two days in Paris have been great. The weather is a perfect
70 degreea. Our hotel, Hotel des Archives, is located in the Marais
district - just a few blocks from a lot of cool restaurants, shops,
patisseries, etc. We spent our first half day nursing our jetlag, and
taking care of Chitra, who has been a bit sick. Today, we slept in
and watched the Bastille Day military parade on TV, but saw the
military planes (fighter jets, AWACS, prop cargo planes...C130?,
attack helicoters, transport helicopters, etc) fly by our window. It
was impressive to see the heads of state joining Sarkozy to watch the
parade, including Merkel. Mubarak, Ban Ki Moon, and the Syrian leader.

In the afternoon, we made our way to the modern art museum, Centre
Pompidou (pictured above), which had provactive artwork as well as
some classics. We finished Bastille Day drinking in solidarity with
the other Parisians at a few cafes near our place.

Alex joined us in the afternoon, so we now have a group of four
enjoying beautiful Paris together.

Photo time!!

2008-07-11T21:01:00.001-07:00

With hours to go before my next travels, I finally uploaded my photos from last trip. Here are my photos from my June travels:

Italy Trek - Places
Italy Trek - Faces
St. Petersburg
Kiev

Tomorrow morning, I fly out to France for my next set of adventures. I'll spend two weeks in France, then a few days in Belgium before heading back to SF. I plan to post to this blog often - this is much easier and more fun than updating my old travel journal. Bon voyage!

Rest Stop

2008-07-01T08:34:00.000-07:00

I'm finally back to the US, relaxing in California and preparing my move into my new place in San Francisco. My travels the last two months have been wonderful. I've never traveled so much in a two month time-frame, and will probably never do so again.

The top three highlights for me were:
1: Petra. I first visited Petra when I was 4, and have always wanted to go back. Walking through the Sikh to come upon the Treasury is the second coolest sight I've seen (hiking down to Machu Picchu at Sunrise is still #1).
2: Caves Monastery. The ancient caves along the Dnieper river are really a series of ancient underground corridors where priests over the centuries were mummified. It was pretty incredible to walk along the small passage ways with only a candle to light the way, and sounds of praying pilgrims.
3: Italy. The entire HBS Italy trek was extraordinary. We ate like kings, partied the rock stars, slept in castles, drank the best Italian wines, and lived la dolce vita to its fullest. Existing friendships were strengthened, and new friendships were formed on this once-in-a-lifetime trip.

So, since I'm a numbers guys, here's the count for May and June. 25 flights between 21 different airports took me to 8 countries. These 8 countries had 8 languages using one of four alphabets (Roman, Cyrillic, Arabic, Hebrew). I slept in 15 different hotels, resting in no city for more than 5 nights. I used 6 different currencies, and took over 5,000 photos along the way. I'll post a few of them soon!

Beautiful Kiev

2008-06-27T17:42:00.000-07:00

The sightseeing around Kiev has been fascinating. We started with the caves at an old monastery...which is one of the most important places for Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The caves are actually small passages, lined with mummified saints and church hierachy from centuries ago. There is little light, so you buy a candle to light your way. Most people stopped at each body to say a prayer. We then made our way to Rodina Mat (previously blogged) and the WWII museum, located in her pedestal.

Today, we visited two churches. St. Sophia was one of the most interesting orthodox churches I've seen. Built in the 11th century, the original structure is possible to see, including pieces of the original mosaic floor. The adjacent belfry offered a stunning view of Kiev and plenty of photo ops. St. Michael's (pictured above) was completely re-construcuted; Stalin bombed the original. We then made our way down to Podil (the lower city) where we visited two museums. The first, the One Street Museum, was a fascinating collection of letters, books, clothing, pictures, etc reflecting the pre-Soviet lives of Kievians. We also visits the Chernobyl museum; appropriately stark and depressing.

Last night, I had dinner with some of Rob's friends (Fulbright fellows), then made it to a bar to watch the intense Russia-Spain Eurocup semi-final. The bar crowd was mixed between their support of Russia, which seems appropriate given the mixed sentiment of Ukranians.

Also interesting was a huge EU flag (maybe 60 ft) on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building. Despite their desire, Ukraine is nowhere close to being part of the EU, but a tentative WTO deal, talks with NATO, and the presumptuous flag seems to unequivocally state the capitalistic, democratic direction of Ukraine.

Hey Mom, I met someone in Ukraine

2008-06-26T13:19:00.000-07:00

Her name is Rodina Mat. She's 190 feet tall, made of titanium, and
commemorates the Soviet victory in WWII. Her name literally means
"mother of the motherland." She's a little quiet, but has a lot of
personality.

In Ukraine

2008-06-26T07:37:00.000-07:00

My arrival to Kiev went as planned. Rob picked me up, and we made our
way to the city center of of Kiev. The weather is perfect here. I'm
staying at the Hotel Ukraina (pictured above) which sits above
Independence Square (where the Orange Revolution in 2004 took place).

Leaving St. Petersburg

2008-06-25T01:48:00.000-07:00

Sadly, my time in Russia has come to an end. I'm in the airport now,
heading to Kiev, where I will spend four days with a friend.

My last day was great. After sleeping in for the first time in weeks,
I headed to Peterhof with Masha. We took the hydro-foil up the Neva
River and across the Gulf of Finland. Peterhof was pretty amazing,
and the fountains (pictured above) were spectacular... easily the most
impressive fountains I have ever seen - I took a few (hundred)
photos. Inside the palace, I saw a number of pieces created by the
Fabergé workshop, including one of the infamous Fabergé eggs...
exquisite (Aunt Jan, I thought of you!). Masha had to leave Peterhof
early to catch her train back to Moscow, so I spent a couple relaxing
hours walking around the beautiful gardens.

St. Petersburg definitely met my expectations as one of the most
beautiful cities in the world. The architecture and interiors of the
various palaces were inspired by the best of Western Europe (marble
columns, gilded everything, enormous frescoes, sprawling gardens,
etc), .... but retained their own luxurious Tsarist flare. The
Hermitage museum is second only to the Louvre (there were rooms of
Matisse, Picaso, Rodin, Monet, etc). The city life itself is vibrant,
as exhibited by the spontaneous, jubilant street celebrations after
Russia won the Eurocup semi-finals. The metro was fantastic -
extremely efficient, clean, easy to get around (if you can read a
little Cyrillic), and deep (supposedly the deepest in the world... on
some escalators, you couldn't see one end from one end to the other).
Despite the lifeless (yet customary) stares on the metro, most people
I met were nice and helpful.

Nightcap

2008-06-23T23:02:00.000-07:00

Jesse and Masha enjoying flaming B-52's on the last night in St.
Petersburg

All about presentation

2008-06-23T16:08:00.000-07:00

Jesse ordered the Lobster Sashimi appetizer... and it came out with a
mini fish tank (those are live fish).... absolutely insane.

White Nights... St. Petersburg

2008-06-23T15:38:00.000-07:00

We are sitting now at Aquarel. Nga, Jesse and I are enjoying the
"home-made lemonade" on this floating open-air restaurant on the Neva
river. Hydro-foils are going by every 10 minutes, shuffling tourists
to Peterhof. We've had an awesome few days in St. Petersburg: good
food, late nights, amazing palaces, beautiful churches, fascinating
metros, and lots of photos.

So far so good

2008-06-20T19:50:00.000-07:00

Just landed in St. Petersburg, and luggage made it. I'm taking a cab
ride to the hotel. It's dusk... but almost 1 AM - White Nights is
upon us. First impressions of St. P is that it is more clean and
Western than Moscow, yet absolutely Russian. Wow, just drove past a
30 ft statue of Lenin (which I guess you don't see too often in the
West, unless you visit Rob).

--
Sent from my iPhone

Next...

2008-06-20T01:26:00.000-07:00

Currently 4:15 am on a winding road, on Costierra Amalfitana. We had
a great last night. After an incredible cliff side dinner, we enjoyed
a midnight swim in the sea after a bonfire on the beach, after playing
games. It has been an incredible trip inwe Italy, and sadly it has
come to an end. Deena, Mike, Tanya and I are sharing a cab to the
Napoli airport. Next stop... St. Petersburg!
--
Sent from my iPhone

Amalfi Coast

2008-06-18T13:08:00.000-07:00

We arrived yesterday on the Amalfi coast, after first having lunch at
classmate's villa in Cassino. We made it to Positano for sunset and
dinner, where we watched the Italy vs France soccer game (initial
round of the Euro cup.... you could feel the entire country hold their
breath as Italy faced elimination if they lost). Today, we visited
the towns of Amalfi and Ravello (above photo) - both incredibly
picturesque with the dramatic cliffs of the Amalfi Coast I'm the
background. Tomorrow, we head by boat to Capri island for the day.
Every view is incredible here.

Siena

2008-06-17T05:56:00.000-07:00

Duomo