Home Sweet Home

After returning home for my MBA reunion, I didn't have any interest in updating my blog. I just went back to my normal routine of catching up with the fam and friends. Now that I am in Nicaragua, I feel guilty for letting my blog go unattended for so long. And I hope my readership, that now includes my dad's Japanese senior center community, has not gone through a withdrawal.

My dad recently informed me that he gathers the seniors during their hot meal time and lets them read my blog. I suddenly feel a little exposed and wonder if I have written anything offensive. Although, my friends tell me that I need to write more offensive things and lay down the real dirt. Well, my blog is what it is, and I still have no idea who reads it, but at least I am entertaining my dad's senior center.

My flight home returned me back to LA in time to attend my 5 year MBA reunion. I'm not sure what I expected, but I was surprised to find that everyone looked pretty much the same, but just more successful than when we had graduated. Most people went into the finance sector, but seem to be doing fine despite the many layoffs. I had to tell my classmates that 5 years after my MBA, I am unemployed and vagabonding. Surprisingly, or not, many people told me that I was living their dream. I tried to explain that they could choose the same lifestyle, they just needed to take the risk. But for everyone, there is always a reason why they can't. Now that I have taken the plunge, I just can't imagine ever going back to the real world of working, but don't tell my boss that since my leave of absence supposedly ends in 6 months. Although many might say that I have been vacationing ever since I left on Mother's Day, I really have been running around and working quite a bit despite my blog highlights of the fun stuff. Though, last week, I took a real vacation in Carmel.

A few months earlier, I met Joy at my friend Don's wedding and she invited me to stay at her house in Carmel for a week. She normally rents it out for $2800/week, but she let me stay there for free so that I could truly just relax. She thought that I needed down time. After sleeping on couches, the floor and hard bunk beds for the past few months, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in her wonderfully serene house by the beach.


I invited a few friends down and we cooked, hiked, and chilled together. Don dropped by during the week and a few girlfriends came down for the weekend. I am so thankful for her generosity and feel refreshed to tackle Nicaragua.

While in town, I was fortunate enough to be around to celebrate Glenda, my sister-in-law's birthday, Kristen's birthday, Ali's baby shower, see my fam including my cousins, aunts and uncles, and attend Tobe' and Roger's farewell party. Tobe' and Roger are sailing down to Mexico and plan to sail around the world in the Spring. I had planned to join them in Mexico today, but at the last minute, I remembered how much I dislike boats and water. Sorry guys.

On Election day, I volunteered at the Obama campaign headquarters in SF and called elderly men and women living in Pennsylvania. I encouraged them to vote if they had not already, and they all seemed so excited to be voting for Obama. Pennsylvania went to Obama. Yeah! I also dropped by SF City Hall and cheered on the "No on Prop 8" folks. And that evening, I celebrated Don's birthday at his election party/birthday party in San Mateo. I even had a chance to photo shoot with Barack and J-Mac. I had booked my next flight so that I could catch the election. Now that it is over, I am in Nicaragua and ready to explore again.

Korean Spas

While in Belize, I sunburned a little and as a result, my skin looked like flaky fish food. When my aunt Terrie saw me rubbing away my dry skin, she drove me to a Korean skin scrub spa in LA. I had experienced something similar at a Turkish bath in Istanbul, but this was slightly different. My aunt dropped me off at a strip mall in Torrance in front of place called the Torrance Health Club. Inside, my aunt made sure to book me the larger Korean woman with the strong hands although, we had to enlist the help of my aunt Jae to work the Korean/English translation for us. The place didn't have much ambiance and focused more on getting the job done.

Unlike U.S. spas in which women usually wear bottoms in the hot tub, sauna, steam room area, all the Korean women walked freely about in the communal spa room completely naked. Therefore, I shed my U.S. based modesty and joined the women. I first took a shower in the communal room to rid my skin of any chemicals and oils. For the next hour, I then tried out every room and tub to the point that I fell asleep in the warm floor room and almost missed my appointment. I soon joined other women receiving similar treatment, and laid on one of the green plastic gurneys that stood in a line. A larger Korean woman wearing a black bra and underwear, traditional Korean spa work wear, donned exfoliating gloves and scrubbed me down. She spent a good 40 min exfoliating off all the fish food. She even commented that it must have been a while since I was last in since I think she must have peeled off 10 layers of skin and the remains sat next to me in balls on the gurney until she threw a bucket of water over me to wash it all away. Slightly disgusting to say the least, but proof that my baby skin underneath could be seen breathing. She exfoliated from between my toes to behind my ears and everywhere in between. Anything I might have brought back from Central America did not leave that spa. She then pounded my back with a shiatsu massage to the point that my body became jello. She literally jumped on top of the gurney so that she could put her entire weight into every muscle in my back with her knuckles, elbows and even knees. At one point, I had to cry out “mercy”. To finish me off, she smothered cucumber mesh on my face, washed my hair, and drizzled some sort of milky stuff all over my body. The entire spa treatment only cost $70. For LA and for the spa world, this is quite cheap. Overall, I quite enjoyed the experience and might need to make this a ritual every time I return to LA along with my usual In N Out run, sushi overdose with the fam, Pinkberry stop and English Breakfast Tea Latte at Coffee Bean driveby. My skin looks great and the knots in my back from carrying my heavy backpack are gone. Thanks Terrie! By the way, the Korean spas are becoming popular and trendy in SF. Look for them in Japantown.