Filling in the Gaps

So I know I haven't written on this for a longg time since I first started it, but here's the next entry. Just to give an update to any followers out there, after graduating from Yale, I spent a week in New York with my family seeing the sights, etc. then I went to Europe on a 10-day cruise with my mom. The cruise was great and I had a fantastic time seeing the Greek Isles and the Aegean Sea.

Here's a quick rundown of the itinerary:
Began in Rome from Civitavvechia,
Sorrento/Naples where Mom and I explored Herculanaeum (?) a.k.a. a much smaller and less crowded (and less hot) version of Pompeii
Back to Santorini where we went to the archaeological museum
Mykonos and the ruins of Delos
Volos and the Meteora monasteries
Istanbul for two nights where I visited the lovely Yasemin
Craggy Chios to see the Nea Moni and sample mastic soda, dessert, and soap
Ephasus and Kusadasi for a visit to St. John's Basilica and the obligatory carpet co-op
Finally ending in Athens with an overnight stay and double visit to the archaeological museum

After that, Mom flew home to Maui and I flew to Madrid to see Breanna and Jenta (friends from High School). Madrid was a blast and I really liked the people there the best because of their welcoming and friendly spirit. There's a unique vibe to the people there that makes them all seem approachable. Jerry (former roommate from Yale) met me in Madrid and we took off from there on another action-packed adventure:
Madrid for a visit with Bre and Jenta
Then Jerry and I headed south to Cordoba to see the magnificent mosque
We met up with Breanna, Jenta, and Niwat (?sorry!) in Granada some highlights of which were the Alhambra palace and the Arab Baths
After realizing that Cordoba was too hot (42 Celsius! yikes!), Jerry and I decided to head north to Bilbao where we visited Gehry's titanium-clad museum
San Sebastian was our next stop, a touristy and hip beach town where we met Emma from England and stayed in a strict hostel
It was still too hot, so we headed up to Normandy to see Mont St. Michel and a walk in the mud and stayed in a little cabin village
Next up was Bayeux to see the world-famous tapestry and a nice cathedral where we stayed in a super budget hostel
From there we took a bus trip to visit Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery and Pont Orson (?) where the battles of D-Day took place
Catching a train to Tours was the start of our next adventure where we rented bikes and caught the train (ironically) to some of the chateaux of the Loire Valley.
We also biked aimlessly around the area and stayed overnight in Blois before biking to more Chateaux and taking another bus tour to maximize our chateaux-ing. This was also where we got the brilliant idea to enter the Amazing Race television show and we started our video at one of the Chateaux.
After managing to make it back to Tours, Jerry and I took an overnight train to Marseilles where we stayed in Le Corbusier's Unite d'Habitation
After one night in mild luxury, it was off to Nice to stay with Uncle Daniel and Aunty Nadia in a little hotel near their house. Aunty Nadia's scrumptious meals were the first homecooked food I had eaten in 6 months!
Uncle Daniel took us to Monaco where we visited the aquarium and the Grimaldi Palace.
Finally after that, I flew to San Francisco and Jerry to Tehran for some work.

San Fransisco was the site of the biannual Wong Family reunion where over 150 Wongs gather to catch up and see our vast and distant relatives. I stayed there for a week with Tricia and spent time with Grandma, Grandpa, the Boys, Uncle Rick, and even Aunty Deets and Uncle George came to this one. Tricia and I went to the William Stout Bookstore where I found some cool books and I also went to a Giant's game with the family and Aunty Jaylene and Uncle Brian for a blast!

Leaving San Francisco, I returned home for the first time in over 6 months (the longest I've EVER been away from home!). It was nice to be back in my own bed and I had forgotten how plush it is. There was no respite at home, however as I began immediately studying for the GRE once some of the books and flashcards Scott sent me had arrived. I studied for several hours a day and went to the usual doctor's appointments, etc. I took the test on Oahu on July 22 at the UH Manoa campus. Luckily my scores turned out to be way better than I ever scored on the practice tests, even though I didn't finish the math section completely. I think I scored well enough that I'm not going to take it again (depending on what my writing score was, which I'll find out later). I also had a chance to go out to dinner with Aunty Dorine and Aunty Joy and Cousin Sherie to celebrate their birthdays. The last day I was there, I ate lunch with Aunty Kaki at Ala Moana and she gave me a bunch of great tips about traveling in Southeast Asia.

Returning home after passing the GREs, I immediately had to start unpacking all my stuff from college. All my clothes, books, art, etc. was sitting in eight boxes in the garage because I hadn't had a chance to unpack. Dad and I went to Home Depot to buy two extra bookshelves to fit all my stuff and I also started to pack for Cambodia and Japan. I had to prepare all the stuff that I am taking to Japan as I am flying straight from Phnom Penh (I can finally spell it!) to Kyoto on August 31. We celebrated Mom's birthday on the 29th and I left for Cambodia the next morning on the 30th.