It has been less than a month since we traveled in Scandinavian countries. Yet it felt so long ago. As memory begins to fade, these are the travel tips to the future self.
- Bring a water bottle. In quite a few countries, the tap water is good enough for drinking.
- Bring some face masks. It is a bonus to be healthy in your trip. Health cannot be taken for granted.
- Put extra attention for a comfortable stay in the first leg of the travel, to have a good night sleep to overcome travel fatigue, time difference, jet lag. Find a place to fit your need, it is not just the price and the number of stars. It brings you extra travel pleasure when your preference matches up with where you stay.
- Take it easy in the itinerary for the last leg, especially you plan to be back to work immediately after. You don’t want to look like your passport photo after your time off,
- If you travel to places famous in fresh seafood, consider a home-away-from-home with kitchen. You can enjoy a meal with self-cooked yummy dish.
- Make small plans for laundry arrangement. In additional to a washer, you also need a dryer or a facility to dry the clothes.
- Pay airfare with credit card that provides travel insurance.
- Couple more things about credit card.
- Some merchants in foreign countries charge extra fee for your credit, even though your credit card company does not charge foreign transaction fee. Cash can be a better option than the extra fees.
- Some merchants in foreign countries allow you to choose to pay in local currency or your home currency. The credit card company seems to provide a better conversion rate than the merchants; it is better to pick the local currency, and let the credit card company does the currency conversion.
- Allow some time to wander off the tourbook routes. In many countries, it is a treat to just walk around and experience the ambience.
- Consider a guided tour from time to time. We like our 2-hour guided city tour in Copenhagen, the 1-hour city hall tour in Stockholm and the 2-hour museum tour in Bergen.
to Scandinavian countries. Instead, there is direct flight from Oakland to Oslo, Norway or Stockholm, Sweden, operated by Norwegian 
Norway.
thing that needs to book ahead – there are some world famous restaurants in these cities, including 
of years ahead. It is a future time machine. It is about love. It is easy to love a bright future, it is something else to love the last mile of a journey. It is humbling and same deal to most. What motivates may just be the constant need to overcome new loss of ability to slow down the deterioration. Life is circular and we end where we start – nothing. Yet, if life is a circle, some draws a humongous one; some is more like a dot, a small number with negative radius. The world is almost shaped by those few who journeys a lot in their lives. Take an example, the smart phones are not a result of public voting, yet it changes how billions are spending their time every day. Internet and search are not the result of the work of the majority; it changes the lives of many. Automation of repetitive tasks is not the choice of majority of workers; it is the effort of bright minds who believe human intelligence will better be consumed in higher order than repetitive and mundane activities, maybe many would not mind mundane jobs to make a possible living. How the world evolves does not tie neatly with the advocacy of democracy in many political systems. No-one protest about technology, the smart phones, Internet, Wi-Fi nor the many apps, we endorse it most wholeheartedly. Are people being selective in the pursuit of democracy?
of mostly disruptive behavior, however people justify them. The city has its share of problems, and more shares of fortunes when compared to many other places. The way it is going creates a real possibility that this generation grows up to see things from great to good, and could be in the hands of a few folks, from good to bad. There could be better outcome from brighter minds, and if not, life is circular so could the path of a city.
n do we have a work week made up of two work days and three days of company holiday? It happened in this week of winter solstice, Christmas Eve, Christmas and Boxing Day. The anticipation for the week started after Thanksgiving holiday. And the week had its fair share of movies, feast and gifts.
ta and information”, taught by Mr. Edward Tufte. Mr. Tufte is a professor emeritus of political science, statistics, and computer science at Yale University. He is a pioneer in data visualization. With hundreds of “adult students” in attendance, he brought his unique perspective on data and gave us highlights of the rich content of his four books on data visualization. It was back to classroom lecture and had reading material that took more of the brain bandwidth and really needed focus. Over the years, we build the habit of the right “messaging” in our presentation with data filtering; we worry about complexity to our audience, and cherry pick “easy” and relevant information to our target audience; our challenge becomes less of a mental and content but more of a political and presentation. It is a day of reminder that rich content is superior to beautiful slides; a reminder to not distort data; and the expectation that communication could be clear, precise and efficient at the same time.
any things convenient, efficient and improves the well-beings of many lives; and it is winning the race with non-technology alternatives. Yet, it is hard to wholeheartedly embrace a complete victory of technology.
ikely way lower than the gasoline consumed in getting to shopping malls. It is as great a thing as free Wi-Fi.
ng a hundred times will give a deeper understanding than the first attempt. After writing 100 blogs, I have learned or “relearned” a few things.
not there, nor do I want to be there. They may just make it look easy.
dset brings more inspiration. Three years have gone by between the 1st and the 100th. There are changes every day, let alone three years – mindset, parents, children, friends, career, workload and health. When we are relaxed and happy, the same thing looks more interesting and the world looks wonderful; no wonder the tennis players p
g nature that goes well with peanut butter, or ice cream or fruits or other companions. There are fries or pastries that are presented in the shape of a mini-waffle, which alone, improve their appeal. My best and worst waffles were both at a hotel near university campus. My best experience happened nearby the Harvard campus at Cambridge. The hotel was upscale where the ingredients were organic and carefully selected; the restaurant was filled with Harvard students with their families. It could be the ambiance, it could be the vacation appetite – the waffle breakfast was absolutely delicious. Fast forward a couple of years, I arrived at Ann Arbor near University of Michigan, just off a red-eye flight. Tired with little appetite and much time to kill, I was at this buffet-style breakfast served at the hotel. It could be the sleep deprivation, it could be the lack of diners, and it could be the waffles have been waiting for a diner for days, the waffle tasted so poorly that it was hard to reproduce. Waffle continues to be my favorite choice, though its carbohydrates make it a challenge now.
nforgettable. The best, in my book, is served in this modest and absolutely cramped 
the highest priorities at some stages of our lives. If we can earn money, can we earn happiness? There was a song about “happiness” by the Canto pop superstar Sam Hui in Hong Kong years ago. Many of the lyrics still hold true to this day. The lyrics translate into:
“Happiness is driving a car with a full tank”
re time, it was impossible to avoid extra persons in the background. Many desserts were on display at the refreshment tables, from brownies, macaroons, cupcakes, banana bread to different types of cookies. The sugary booster was fitting for the graduate students as they got ready for a night-out. The school bus would take them to a secret place and they would not be home until next morning. Is this also an experience for families to be ready for the many more nights ahead without the child sleeping under the same roof?
