Second day in Italy

We hit the ground running in true Grace form starting at 6AM. Grace’s reasonings: we were wide awake, lost a day from sleeping and the weather was spectacular! We spent a few hours exploring the waterfront taking in the scenery and shooting beautiful pictures. With no one around and in awe of the beauty around us, our walk to Villa Melzi was heaven on earth. On the waterfront was a small café that had fresh pastries and coffee where the lady was so sweet. She allowed us to eat on credit as we were not able to exchange to the Euro yet.

The ferry system is quite developed and we were able to take the ferry across the lake to visit the beautiful Villa Colatta and gardens, which was once a wedding gift for the Princess Colatta. Some of the garden highlights were the green forest, a natural stream, blue hydrangeas, a cherub fountain with water lilies, and a tunnel of orange blossoms & jasmine.

We rode the ferry back to Bellagio after spending couple hours at Villa Carlotta and seeing the towns Termezzo & Carlotta. We ate at La Grotta, a pizzeria that Flavio recommended for the best pizza. It was really good pizza. After lunch we headed for the church to be picked up by our guide for horsebacking. He was 10 min. late and skeptical enough we were a little scared as he drove about 30 min. away from the lake. It was nice to see how the locals live and see the raw side of Bellagio. Flavio dropped us off at his house with a young boy and some horses that a plethora of flies around their heads. The young boy sagging his pants and cigarette in his mouth looked real professional. With no one else around and the horses being lazy, Grace wondered how safe was this going to be. We set out for horseback riding into the hills and countryside that was so memorable to the both of us. We enjoyed our time, BUTT we were sore.

The earlier walk in town, had markets that had beautiful heirloom tomatoes that we attempted to try on our own in our apartment with fresh homemade linguini from the market and tomato sauce, salad, and orange fanta (yummy). We never did that again. With jetlag, Grace fell asleep around 8pm.

First Day in Italy

We traveled from Ontario & NY to Atlanta to Milan, Italy on an overnight flight. Although we were delayed we did not have too many problems other than our airplane seat shade broken, seat rocking and seat light bulb going out. Along the way, we feasted on fresh apple bread, rice and gim (sea weed laver) provided by Brian and Esther (thanks!!) From the airport we were able to take the Malpensa Express train to the town of Como, Italy. It took about 2.5 hrs to the last station Como Nord because we had to wait one hour at a transfer stop and one hour at a stop that was miscalculated. From Como, we then embarked on a ferry to the little town of Bellagio on Como Lago (Lake Como). The ferry was a wonderful opportunity to see the various towns coloring the borders of the lake. From sunny weather to Como, a sprinkle in Lenno, to a storm in Bellagio, the weather definitely got quite fowl on us. Even with the rain, Bellagio was a beauty at first sight with luxurious villas decorated with elegant topiaries, columns, ivy with manicured gardens and with the calmness of the alps hugging the hazy lake. Due to its close proximity to Switzerland, you can definitely see the influence here compared to other areas in Italy. We checked into our apartment at Il Borgo, a small family run apartment rental only 50 meters away from the harbor. Flavio is a generous man who was our personal “concierge” while we acclimated to our new abode. We walked a lot of stairs on our trip!

Our first meal was just around the corner from us at La Fontana a small mom and pop restaurant where Grace enjoyed gnocchi and Isaac had the lasagna which was the daily special, both were delicious. We explored the town a little, pursuing the shops and stopping by the local cathedral to say our prayers, but we were stopped short due to rain (forgot to pray for no rain… ☺. We both felt so jetlagged that we fell asleep around 6pm and woke up around 2am hungry but well rested. We ate more apple bread and played cards till 5am!

ohhhh---it feels good

before we head out to lake como, italy for our 1 yr anniversary, my husband gave me a surprise gift to open before he headed out to ny.  if you don't know by now, my husband's primary love language is giving gifts.  everyone who knows isaac knows he likes luxury and fancy smacy stuff.  so usually he surprises me with tiffanys or the ritz, that sort and i usually respond with why did you spend so much money?!!  however, my gift for my 1 yr anniversary belongs in a totally different category but i LOVE it soooo much.

okay-its obvious in the picture, what he got me.  BUT the awesome part is that its a travel size and it can roll into a pretty small roll.  i always have carried my therapeutic pillow everywhere previously, even camping to Zion but that is no more!  for the travelpillow is compact and feels so good.  isaac-this is so far one of the best $ you have spent on me.

water

i know some of you make fun of my film taste (ie: Isaac Kim), but for those who can appreciate it- my favorite film i've watched this year is water.  i rented this video from blockbuster last month.  water is about widows forced into poverty and their response in different ages as they adapt to their outcast identities.  the hindu custom requires a widow to marry their husband's brother, throw themselves on their dead husband's funeral pyre, or lead a life of self denial.  one of the characters is a 8 yr old widow, Chuyia, who doesn't understand her separation from her family, who doesn't realize the impact of her 50 yr husband's death and has to join ashram in the holy city of Varanasi.  all the widows are expected to shave their heads and live in self denial at the ashram.  they have no possessions and beg for money at the temples.   the images of poverty and prejudice in this film is very thought provoking.  i googled this information online right after watching the video.  i had found frustrating that though laws have passed to protect the widows, no one enforces these laws. 

furthermore, while i was out to dinner with friends last night.  one traveler of india told me that during her last visit she heard numerous stories about husbands burning their wives repeatedly on purpose.  talk about domestic violence!  supposedly men are taking advantage of the bridal dowry by destroying their wives to remarry and increase their monetary gains.  hence, the wives either die or are left as abandoned widows that no one cares about.  the travelers came back frustrated that social, economic and cultural justice seemed so distant in india.

  

crazy may

couple of you have mentioned that my blog has been quite idle and i agree. its been quite the hectic month. the first weekend of may was isaac's favorite challenge the 5k in downtown redlands. here's a picture from it:

thursday nights were watching the calimesa pigeons playing softball. they did awesome this year and i loved to cheer my hot husband on 1st base. 2nd weekend was mother's day where we visited northridge to celebrate with isaac's parents. we did our usual $20 massage at chinese foot reflexology every week. we have discovered the one in irvine vietnamese town was the best.

third weekend was a fun trip to zion national park. it was the last hurrah before the Chastains were to move back East. Isaac got to do his favorite thing in the world: hiking! we were happy to take mojo with us. he endured his long road trip pretty well.

last weekend was a celebration of graduations. it was really nice to have my mom visiting from san jose. actually the whole family was over at our place after paul's graduation to enjoy ice cream & guitar hero.

its june- time is flying even faster. weddings, planning mission trips, fundraisers for mission trip to Mexico, and our departure to italy is a couple of days away. we feel blessed to be busy, but we are sad we can't spend too much time with our family and friends. keep us in your prayers as we do a lot of traveling this summer.

cos

yesterday, I had the privilege to see one of the finest comedians: bill cosby! the pasadena civic auditorium holds the annual distinguished speakers series that includes famous people such as lisa ling, fergie duchess of york, the dalai lama, etc. the lecture series allows the speaker to talk about anything he or she wants.

with his freedom, bill was all over the place. he could not complete storytelling without going off from tangent to tangent. a comedian at heart, he couldn't resist to getting the crowd rolling with laughter and energy. the 70 something year old definitely holds a combination of calmness and wit that makes you sit on the edge of your seat to hear what he'll say next.

luckily to our friend, jessica who is a teacher at loma linda academy, we were able to get the $60 seats for free. thank you jessica for such a great and memorable experience!

the silver building

The first time I came to visit Walt Disney Concert Hall (WD) was to take my engagement pictures. I have been a fan of the modern architecture of this place. Last Sunday, I was finally able to go inside of the amazing building. Isaac and I had a date in LA (dinner, massage) and ended the evening with Midori playing at WD.

First of all, the inside of the concert hall was totally different from what I imagined. The interior floor and walls are all wood and looked more traditional than its contrasting outdoors. It reminded me of a ship interior. The seating arrangement encircles the stage which allows every seat to have a great view. We sat front middle to receive the best acoustics. The sound in that room resonates a crisp and limited reverb that preserves the original tone. Their Steinway piano sounds AMAZING in that room. Oh—its heavenly. (I can’t wait till my mom gives me my baby soon!)

My second critique is of Midori. All I knew of her was that she was a violin child prodigy in the 80s. When she walked in the room, I felt her attire and look was still stuck back in the 80s Laura Ashley collection. Her portifolio of mentorship and volunteering programs at USC explained the possibility of her modest presentation. To my surprise, Midori definitely has a style for playing her violin as well. Her robotic and stiff movements gave me & Isaac nausea. I know musicians like to follow their emotions, but her movements looked very unnatural like the Ahn trio. I did enjoy her playing very much, I just had to close my eyes so I wouldn’t get dizzy. The whole performance was just the violin and a piano accompaniment. They played 4 romantic pieces by Brahms, Beethoven and one other guy. She was definitely worth hearing and I hope to return back to the WD very soon.