I'm an only child with a small family, so no matter where I am - working or travelling - I always go home for the holidays. This year, I got back to Vancouver just in time for my parents' Christmas party with their friends and neighbors. I took to my usual post in the kitchen, which is helping with the turkey and stuffing. Afterwards, I stuffed my face with delicious food throughout the night.

I love the familiarity and the quietness of being home for Christmas. It lets me relax and prepare for the craziness of the new year.

Happy Holidays!

As Google would suggest, 2011 has been an eventful year around the globe. Looking back on all the worldwide events also made me reflect on my own life. These last 12 months have been more than fulfilling. For one, I began to embrace my new found love for travelling, which I discovered in 2010. Thus, with fond nostalgia for the past and eager excitement for the future, I bring you: 11 travel photographs of (my) 2011. 

Despite the chilly February air, I had planned a full day of sightseeing in Budapest and was determined to check off every activity on my list. It was my first solo trip in Europe. I had travelled alone on a day trip to Luxembourg before and spent a few weekends by myself in London, but this was a 14-day journey across Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, and Czech Republic. It required 2 flights, 3 trains, and 13 nights of sleeping in hostel dorm rooms. I viewed it as the ultimate challenge to my courage and independence. It was my European coming-of-age adventure, and Budapest was my first stop.

The morning had started off with a 2-hour walking tour around the Buda area. My tour guide, a Budapest local in her late 30s, was full of knowledge. I was very satisfied with her history and architecture lessons and strolled happily toward the subway station, towards my next destination.



As I turned the corner onto a busy sidewalk, I bumped into a slim man in his 40s, with light brown hair and a tanned complexion.

“Sorry.” The Canadian in me instinctively responds.

“Do you know how to get to the shopping street?” He spoke English with a hint of accent, but not strong enough to give his true nationality away.

“What's that?”

“Do you know where the shopping street is?” He stepped towards me. I did a mental check of my belongings, concerned that this conversation was a coy for pick pocketing.

“Um…” Although I was slightly worried, I still wanted to be helpful. Plus, I was pretty certain that we passed by the shopping area on the walking tour. “Go to the intersection and turn right.” I pointed in the direction I came from.

“Thank you” He smiled, planting a kiss on the top of my right hand before walking away.

I hurried away in slight surprise. As I waited on the subway platform, with all of my belongings safely in my purse, I wondered if it was custom in Hungarian culture to thank a female stranger by kissing her hand. I also hoped that I had given him the right directions.

When I returned to my hostel that night and proudly announced to Alex, the hostel owner, that I had given someone directions on my first day in town, it was him who pointed out the peculiarity in a European-looking man asking for directions from an Asian girl, especially in a homogenous country like Hungary. When I revealed that he kissed my hand as a gesture of thanks, Alex announced that I had been duped - the man was likely a local who simply wanted to chat up an ethnic girl and kiss her hand.



I can’t deny the likely truth in that conclusion, and I can’t say I wouldn’t feel a little used if that were indeed true. Having grown up in a richly diverse country like Canada, I've learned to see everyone as similar in some ways yet unique in others, but I sometimes forget that while I’m accustomed to being surrounded by different ethnicities, others might not be.

Today, nearly 8 months later, I’ve come to view the incident as a reminder that traveling is an exchange of cultures: sometimes, the very people we want to learn about are just as interested in us. 

After a late night in New York, it was about noon when I got out of bed. The first order of business had been determined at the suggestions of a friend who spent a summer living in Manhattan. So, with high expectations, I strolled into Shake Shack.

A delicious guilty indulgence later, I was ready to hit the town. It was a struggle to get around 5^th Avenue as New Yorkers and tourists swarmed the high-end stores. Perhaps folks were just eager to start with their Christmas shopping, but I’m also convinced that the endless sea of 5^th Ave. shoppers is a trademark of the city.

After walking 30 blocks to Central Park, I was glad to finally sit down and catch some free Wi-Fi courtesy of the Apple Store. The day eventually ended at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one attraction on my NYC must-do list that I finally managed to cross off after 4 trips to the vibrant city. I went to a lot of museums when I lived in Europe yet the MET still managed to impress me with its beautifully curated Asian and Egyptian Exhibits. Somewhere between the Monet and Picasso galleries, for a brief moment, I forgot that I was in New York. Instead, I was transported back to this exact time last year, when I stood in front of paintings by the same artists in Musée D’Orsay in Paris.

I definitely miss Europe and hope to go back soon, but in the mean time, I’ll keep myself busy with more weekend travels like this one. 

The autumn leaves may have fallen but the Christmas lights have definitely been put up. With Christmas songs softly bringing me in and out of sleep, I flew into New York City with festive spirits.

I’m a lucky girl to get to experience the city that never sleeps just a few weeks before Christmas. Manhattan is always buzzing but the city’s energy level is turned up 10 notches around the Holidays. With the stores busier than ever and window displays that look like they came out of a Christmas morning special on TV, December is truly a magical month in New York.

My time there began in the evening, after a lovely dinner at Spice Market in Chelsea Market, NY. After a delicious dinner and a round of drinks at a nearby pub, I headed to the Christmas tree and ice-skating rink at the Rockefeller Center. The rest of the night was spent admiring the decorations adorning the shops on 5^th Avenue. When my friends and I tired of that, we lingered beneath bright billboards in Time Square until midnight hunger pains prompted us to visit the nearest Chicken and Rice food stand. Although it was 2am when I returned to the hotel, the night was still young in New York City.