About that banner (part 2)

Thanks for the feedback on the banner being too wide -- I've now adjusted it so that it's only 1000px in width, so most people should be able to view it all without scrolling. So to continue with the explanation of the banner pictures, here's square number 2:


This square's certainly got a wider mix of locales. Here are the descriptions and locations, going left to right starting in the top left corner:

• Sculptures on the roof, La Pedrera (1st two pictures) - Barcelona, Spain
• Legs of Iberico ham, La Boqueria Market - Barcelona, Spain
• Hong Kong skyline, from the Star Ferry - Hong Kong, China
• Drayton Hall - Charleston, South Carolina, US
• Sculpture, Hotel de la Paix - Siem Reap, Cambodia
• The Grand Canyon - Arizona, US
• Window in the basement at Drayton Hall - Charleston, South Carolina, US
  
• Temple of Literature - Hanoi, Vietnam
• Tree at Bang Malaea (aka "Tree of Life" from Tomb Raider) - Angkor, Cambodia
• La Sagrada Familia - Barcelona, Spain
• Ceiling mosaic, Park Guell - Barcelona, Spain
• Bang Malaea - Angkor, Cambodia
• Beach swing - Tybee Island, Georgia, US
• Joss coils, Na Tcha Temple - Macao, China
• Ruins of St. Paul's - Macao, China
• Tom Yum Goong soup, from cooking class at Blue Elephant - Bangkok, Thailand
• Cactus, Four Seasons Scottsdale - Scottsdale, Arizona, US
• Chicago skyline, from Millenium Park - Chicago, Illinois, US

About that banner (part 1)

In case you were wondering, all those teeny tiny pictures that are lightly in the background in the banner of this blog, are in fact, my pictures from my various travels. I used the new Mosai option in the Collage feature in Picasa to create them out of piles and piles of pictures collected through the year. I thought it might be fun to take a closer look...

The banner is actually made up of 4 squares, each of which are 300 pixels wide and tall. The first square looks like this, blown up and in full colour:

The first square definitely has a mostly Asia Pacific theme. In case you're wondering, here are the subjects/locations of the pictures, going from left to right, top to bottom:

• Sake offerings, Meiji Shrine - Tokyo, Japan
• Hallway to the Spa, Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi - Chiang Mai, Thailand
• Entrance to the Forbidden City - Beijing, China
• Main pool, Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevin - Chiang Mai, Thailand
• Somewhere off Hwy 101 between San Francisco and Big Sur - California, USA
• Volkswagen Beetle - Valladolid, Mexico
• Octopus at Tsukiji Fish Market - Tokyo, Japan
• Orchid at breakfast - Chiang Mai, Thailand
• Taj Mahal - Agra, India
• Purification stattion, Meiji Shrine - Tokyo, Japan
• Island Archway at Loch Ard Gorge - Great Ocean Road, Australia
• Baumkuchen cakes at Club Harie - Tokyo, Japan
• First glimpse of Taj Mahal - Agra, India
• Gate to the Forbidden City - Beijing, China
• Figurine in yoga asana - Chiang Mai, Thailand
• The Twelve Apostles - Great Ocean Road, Australia

Can you figure out where the other photos are taken? More next time!

3 Days or Less -- an introduction

A (long) while back, working full time began sucking away at all my free time. And even though work technically gives you "weeks" of vacation in a year, the reality is, I don't really have time to take "weeks" (or week) at a time. So I started ignoring lengthy vacations and taking shorter weekend trips instead (some of these being tacked on to work weeks abroad). Based in San Francisco, I soon learned that there were plenty of places that you could travel to if you have 3 days or less.

Just to clarify, I started traveling for 3 days or less several years ago. However, it wasn't until friends started asking me for "best hits" lists for various cities when I realized that I should probably document these trips somewhere. And so, "3 Days or Less" (3DoL) is born today. It's not the end all, be all travel guide for each city, but it's the best (and worst) of what I have done in all of these places...in 3 days or less. Enjoy!

P.S. I do realize I have a backlog of cities to cover, so as a teaser, some of these include: Portland, Phoenix / Scottsdale, Zermatt, Maui, Big Island, Oahu, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo, New York City, Chicago, Barcelona, Hanoi..and the list goes on.