2010 Review

2010 was both the shortest and longest year ever. On the one hand, my life in Tokyo seems soooo long ago, yet it was only 6 months ago that I left. I can't believe that was part of this year. On the other hand, the latter half of this year flew by and I feel like I haven't had time to sit down and process - each day was too busy and filled with activity to actually reflect on what was going on.

I think 2010 was, all in all, a fantastic, amazing, life-changing year. Lots of changes occurred in my life, yet I feel like this year was largely drama-free and everything just seemed to flow naturally, as if things were happening exactly as they were supposed to.

I started and ended the year exactly the way I wanted to - in Tahoe, surrounded by sun, fresh air, snow and friends. I spent the first half of the year counting down the days until I could leave God-forsaken Tokyo, which still evokes frowns and furrowed eyebrows when people ask whether I enjoyed living there. I saw a dream come true when serendipitously, a food critic gig fell into my lap and I had the opportunity to eat delicious meals and write about my experiences (in an actual published magazine!). Living in Japan was very very difficult emotionally and mentally, but helped me to pay off my private student loans thanks to the favorable FX. I made great friends, some of whom moved to HK and have helped adjust to HK life tremendously. I traveled with El Hombre through some of my favorite places in Europe and Asia, moved to HK, found jobs and an apartment and settled into HK life. Life is good, and I'm very very thankful.

***

In my usual format, my 2010 Review:

Places traveled to: South Tahoe, SF (x 5), Hakuba, Rome, Cairo, Luxor, Dahab, Niseko, Kyoto, Nara, NY, Shanghai, Paris, Dijon, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Girona, Figueres, Cadaques, Chania, Rethymno, Heraklion, Santorini, Doha, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Angkor Wat, Guangzhou, Guilin, Yangshuo, Chengdu, Kuala Lumpur, Bali, Shenzhen, LA (x2), Tokyo, Seoul, North Tahoe

Spent Thanksgiving in: Hong Kong

Spent Christmas Eve with El Hombre at one of our fave Italian restaurants in HK, then Christmas Day with family in LA

Rang in the New Year (2011) in: North Tahoe, where El Hombre and I both fell asleep before the countdown - most anticlimactic New Year ever

Best Fiction book read: The Book of Joe, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Anthropology of an American Girl

Best Non-fiction book read: None

Best Movie: can't recall, didn't watch that many. The worst was "Eat, Pray, Love"

Best Meal: birthday dinner at Amber

Second best meals: DOC pizza at Salvatore Cuomo in Tokyo, tapas at Cerveceria Catalana in Barcelona, sushi at Zanmai and Dai in Tokyo, bossam at Ko Ba Wu in LA, Gordo's burrito, Guilin noodles followed by passionfruit boba, hotpot (in Chengdu and HK), delicious dumplings in HK

Best food discoveries: Guilin noodles, passionfruit boba, HK dumplings

"Bucket List" goals accomplished: ran 10K at one hour pace, moved to HK with El Hombre, paid off private student loans, got published

Number of Weddings attended: 1

Worst experiences: working in Japan; catamaran ride to Santorini (never ever again)

Funnest events: Snowboarding in Tahoe; Pris in Tokyo; Traveling with El Hombre

Favorite memories: every minute spent with family and friends laughing, talking, eating, snowboarding

2010, in five words: unpredictable, unexpected but ultimately awesome

Key words for 2011 (prediction): grow, develop, mature