Monday, April 20, 2009

My Computer is Back!!!

Yipee, I went to pick up my computer this weekend in Seattle, all is well and so are my 17,890 photos that I have stored in it. The lesson learned is:
1. Pay attention to the moment ( or wander don't off and leave your carry on in a duty free shop, or any other shop)
2. Back up all your photos and other valuable data on an external hard drive.
(I just spent 2 days doing this)
3. Fly Korean Air (they handwrapped the carry on bag AND my computer and Nikon D60 camera AND sent it through in the cabin rather than cargo so that it would arrive in 1 piece! What an an airline!

So I am ready to start posting with a fervor, beginning with my fabulous adventure in Bali.
It actually started on that Korean Air flight back in February.
I had just had a most luxurious flight from SF to Seoul, Korea, tasty meals and snacks as I mentioned in the last post, wonderful movies, non-stop service etc.
I de-planed in Seoul and immediately upon exiting the plane what do I see after flying a million hours (with no sleep?)
LAVAZZA BAR/CAFFE! Lavazza coffee is one of the biggest coffee brands in Italy and they have bar/caffes all over Italy, their coffee is served nationwide and it is delicious! So imagine my delight to find this coffee bar to start out my 2 hour layover in Seoul!
I ordered a triple espresso and watched the sunset over Korea!
Off to a great start of my 5 week Bali adventure. And thanks everyone for your comments on my computer mishap and your welcome back wishes!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Back from Bali

Hi everyone! I am now back from Bali, finally normalized after a week or so of spacey jet lag.
The trip was fantastic, I had the best time ever! The 5 week journey started out with a bang with Anahata Katkin, her wonderful mom Gina, fab brother Eli, 17 of the coolest students ever + Ms.
Ruth Ann and our one husband; the most wonderful Shanal, Andreas guy whom we all adored!
I would so love to post my photos and I took at least 1000 or so, however I had a little misplaced computer incident on the way home. I brought my laptop and was continuously downloading photos the whole trip. So on my way back via Korean Air (best airlines on the planet)
I stopped in Seoul, Korea to change planes.
I was drifting in and out of various duty free shops, allready in a zone since it was about 9am our time but I had been up over 24 hours en route.
At some point i looked at the little wheely shopping cart i had put my carry on suitcase on the bottom , purse and shopping bag on the top part. i thought: well, there's not much on this cart , ill just carry the purse the shopping bag around...leaving the carry on with the computer etc sitting on the cart in who knows which duty free shop.......
i realized my error about 1/2 hours before boarding for the states , ran all over the airport like a maniac searching for the bag, to no avail.. i filed
a report with Korean Air info desk...hoped for the best and boarded...
And btw , I forgot to mention, I have been uploading photos on my mac laptop for 5 years never backing them up once. So, you can imagine my extreme distress at losing that computer. All the kids pictures, life , all of it!!
well a darling Korean Air official was waiting for me when i got off the plane in LA and informed me they found the bag and it will be sent via Seattle later in the week.
There is a god for sure, maybe who lives at Korean Air!
I tell you, I was so impressed with this airline even before this happened. The food is great, the service outstanding, lots of leg room, I wanted to just fly around for days going nowhere in particular just so i could be pampered. and the little meat savory buns they pass out in the middle of the night for snacks! no pretzels here! Heaven!!!! Maybe I could be a stewardess for them?
Sure enough, my bag arrived safely in Seattle, the Korean Air official in charge of my carry on bag, took the trouble to wrap my computer and camera in bubble wrap so it wouldnt get damaged, then hand carried my bag to the cabin part of that Seattle flight , so that it wouldnt have to stand the rough handling in the cargo part of the plane. Then I received a phone call from Mr. Jun, who runs the Seattle office virtually by himself, and he informed me the bag was here and in perfect shape! Thank you Korean Air!
So in any event that was a long winded way to tell you, i cant post any photos quite yet, since my bag is in Seattle and I will be picking it up in a few.
More on Bali later...much more.......