Bridge School Benefit concert at Shoreline

Apple London, Regent St

Au revoir Paris!

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

On the road again

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

Susie making friends...

Poker Night

With the boys...

Night out

Temple after XYZ after John Collins

Hits

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

Photo time

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

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

Good bye, Beijing

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

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

Forbidden City

Currently at the Forbidden City beside Tian'anmen Square

Great Wall

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

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

More blogging

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

Men's 1500m about to start

CELEBRITY STATUS

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?