Europe trip: San Sebastian

Only an hour away from st jean de luz in bus we arrived SS, a beach town at spain side of Basque Country, famous for pinxto bars and Michelin restaurants, so more like a beach-gourmet city. I had high hopes of this place because a friend highly recommends it. Uber doesn’t work in this place and there was not taxi outside of the bus station. Fortunately it wasn’t far and it took us 15 min walking to our place.

Day 1: Our airbnb was so on a hill but very funnily they had elevator to the hill to access the apartments. The host greeted us at the door. The place was very nice, we had three rooms and well equipped kitchen. After that, we went to the closest groceries store for some necessities. They had a playground in front, so cool.

After some rest, we walked to the beach which was less than 1km. The beach is in a bay, very beautiful and very crowded. People were like candles. I’ve never seen a beach that packed.

We walked around the beach promenade

kids played at the playground, a carousel ride

and some ice cream to end the day. Heat wave finally caught us.

Day 2: we started with the funicular to get to the mountain igudo for a panoramic view of the beach.

very old fashion funicular

Sooo beautiful.

It was also a very hot day so we didn’t stay long under the sun

We took the bus back and went to explore the old town. After so many old towns we saw, I can still see the difference of this town with the rest.

Then we entered to a pinxto bar, the famous pinxto bar for lunch. I picked up a couple that seems appetising for the family, then pay at the counter.  Pintxos were tasty but not as wooming as everyone claimed.

Rest time was a must especially on that day, it was 39C. I napped a bit while kids played in their room. Then we went to the beach again hoping to have some sand time. Unfortunately a storm was coming so we just played a bit at the playground and went home.

Day 3: I started with a run at the beach which was calm and quiet.

It was our last day and I was debating between staying in SS and chill or visit a nearby town. I was a bit tired for not sleeping too well, and the fact that mentally it was tiring to go to a new place. So we chose the easy one, go to the beach.

We went to the small beach behind la Concha, which was more family friendly, small but comes with a playground. We arrived around 10:30 and rented the last umbrella. We chill there, eating packed fruits and cookies. Kids played while I laid down either listen to a podcast or watch some Netflix. Best decision ever, and more relaxing day of the trip so far. We left around 5pm and so relaxed.

SS is overall nice but I wouldn’t come back

Life lately

Can’t believe I haven’t posted since I returned from the US trip. Well…. needless to say I was busy… busy at work like nobody’s business, and busy traveling… oh yes. I had two short trips. But let’s first recap highlights of what has happened

Sofia got interested in golf a while ago and I got her a kids golf set from my US trip. Now she has proper equipment

and started to take class with Tony’s coach a month ago.

she’s truly a natural! She learned to kick the ball far… when her mom struggled to hit the ball… how embarrassing but so proud of her

Lizzy officially graduated from her crib. Se started to sleep in the sofa/bed and enjoys more space

Sofia loves to go to eat at the school cafeteria.. and I’ve been taking her there whenever I can

Lizzy started to like us to reach her

and loving to swim as well… with her flotties.. she can swim

I finally got to do a group run and it was a lot fun, although super challenging with the weather

on weekends, I try to spend a lot of time with the girls

they have so much fun together these days.. and I love seeing the sister love to grow every day

Lizzy continues to be the funny person in the family… making us laugh at every occasion

Last weekend i spent 2 hrs with her alone and we played all sorts of things

we also read

she changes her game every 10-15 min.. which is totally normal at her age

but the jumping as olympics never gets old… she can go over and over again

it’s the cutest thing to see

so exciting

I took a weekend trip to Shanghai for a conference. Met with my girl friends

chat over a vegetarian buffet

had lunch with my relatives

and headed back home Sunday evening. Lizzy started to sleep at Sofia’s room because otherwise she’d come out from her room and asks Tony to sleep with her. Although Tony has been super nice to do so, it was just not good for either of them as they both get disrupted and can’t have a good nice sleep.

since she moved in with Sofia, she has been sleeping so much better. She still wakes up sometimes, but after Sofia or I comforted her a bit, she can go back to sleep

seeing the sisterhood to grow is incredible. I can’t describe the feeling… it’s magic, it’s more than I could ever expected.

then this week I had a quick work trip, very last minute decision. I went to Jakarta from Tuesday to Friday. It was my first time to the city

and I liked it a lot, especially got to stay at Ritz Residence for few nights

the gym was super fancy

I got to use it every morning after working at my room 2-3 hrs

so I can have a late breakfast, which was not really vegan friendly. I had hard time to come up with food I like

then Friday came quickly and I couldn’t wait to see these ladies again, especially that they were sick while I was gone, Tony too. They were all down and I felt so bad not being able to take care of them. But Tony did great, he took care of the girls and no complain. 🙂

loving to play with them again. 🙂

then I made tofu… yeah… first time trying out

happy to report it was a success!!!

NYC: race weekend with the family

We had our second family vacation with Lizzy. This time we went to NYC for the weekend of Shape women half marathon 2017 event.

Our family of 6 left Saturday morning in a rented mini-van. Tony drove alone for 5 hrs and we arrived the Big Apple around 2pm. Girls behaved really well during the ride. Lizzy didn’t nap at all but ate assorted snacks, same with Sofia who had a sugar-comma that day. (sigh….) After checking in at Hilton Midtown, we went out for a walk. We stopped by a French pastry store for a quick snack. Lizzy enjoyed it.

Sofia got an ice cream instead

Tony went to Metropolitan museum alone, the main attraction for him in NYC. Dad wanted to take a nap at the hotel before dinner, so I went out with grandma and the girls. Lizzy was so happy to see so many people on the street

Sofia was excited too, first time in NYC, and she got a new set of Legos (Elsa obviously).

love love her smile

and Lizzy was being silly with her sister

This picture of 4 women in the family together will be cherished for a long time. I can’t be more grateful to have my mom who’s taking care of my babies the way she does, and how lucky Sofia and Lizzy are to have grandma in their early lives.

then we went to NYRR to pick up the bib and fun pic was taken

we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant with a friend from DC. The food was just okay but we all enjoyed the atmosphere and the company.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel to call it a night for most of us. Tony went to see Phantom of Opera. His first Broadway show. I stayed with Lizzy to have a good rest before the race.

On Sunday I woke up around 4am and got up around 6am. I had laid everything out the night before to not wake up Lizzy and Tony. Sofia stayed at grand parents’ room. I had my coffee and a bar in the hotel lobby and left the hotel around 7am.

I met with the group of girls in the wechat group I created. They were coming from Boston, NJ. First time meeting them and it was nice talking to them in person.

just few minutes before 8am, we went to my corral. My last half marathon back in September 2016 was 1hr 55 min. My goal this time was under 1 hr 50 min, and ideally around 1’48” as my last 10 mile would have predicted.

I Cut 7 min! I started a bit slow due to so many runners (+7000!) which I think was good for me to warm up. Then for the following 2-3 miles I had to hold myself to not go too fast, although I still did pretty fast. Then I worried I was going to run out of gas after 7-8 miles so I hold it back and averaged around 8:15-8:20. I felt great the whole run despite some rolling hills. The last time I did a half marathon race I found miles 7-10 to be hard. Not that day. They went very well. Then the last mile I pushed and finished strong. I think the training really prepared me well. It gave me more confidence for the marathon in June.

After the race, I walked to meet with my crew.

the medal

so happy to see them after the race

Lizzy was happy to be munching on the bagel I had

then we walked to Time Square

so crowded as usual

then we had lunch as Xi’an noodle bar… Tony loved it! I ate few bites on mine before giving it to Tony, it was too spicy and too oily. I then grabbed a turkey-brie sandwich to eat on our way home. We arrived home just past 7pm.

it was a short trip but a fun one. Can’t wait for our next family vacation in early june for my big race, the rock n roll san diego marathon! 🙂