Waiting Room Magazines

You know you're in the Bay Area when you drive in a pack of four Priuses, attempt to avoid seagull roadkill on 101, and have to literally dream of a white Christmas because you don't know what Bing's talking about. You also know you're in the Bay when the old Asian man sitting next to you in the waiting room tries to strike up a conversation and his English pronunciation is absolutely flawless.

The last time I sat in a waiting room was at my dentist's office a few months back, and at that time, I picked up the Nat Geo magazine and read about Croatia. (Btw, people in Croatia are called Croats and not Croations, as I assumed.) There was no difference in preference this time around, and I picked Nat Geo Traveler over Vogue. The Traveler edition had "Great Long Weekends" plastered on the front with a special section on French flea markets. I really couldn't have asked for a more perfect combination for how I want to spend some of my vacation days in 2010, so I quickly grabbed the magazine before the old Asian man did. You know, in "case" of any competition!

I thought of a lot of you as I flipped through and jotted down notes on some potential destinations. I saw ads for Peru, Costa Rica (see right picture), and Maine. Earlier in the week, I was speaking to my best friend about her trip to Costa Rica over Thanksgiving. I was reminded of a bird moth incident my travel buddies and I had in Costa Rica -- shrieking definitely ensued upon encounter -- when she mentioned she saw "tranchlas." She meant tarantulas (jk if you're reading this! :P).

I have this penchant for markets (might even check this one out on Sunday) and am always on the lookout to grow my humble teacup collection, which originated with a Minton's purchase at Portobollo Road Market in 2008. As the Asian man leaned his head back to rest, I jumped to the section on French flea markets. If I head to France next year with a few friends to visit our college buddy working in Paris, then I definitely want to visit the Marché aux Puces St-Ouen to see what plundering damage can be done. I'm going to ask my friend to translate this website because I don't speak any French... just like old times when I asked him to read over my Korean essays in the dorms.

And with all this travel talk, I'll end with a photo from my sojourn to Japan a few years back. Seems fitting for this week. I'm pretty sure the tagline reads High Performance Delivered. Pardon me while I have a Tiger moment.

(Left: Photo from 2008 Google Holiday Party).

(Below: 5x7 puny advertisement on the Japanese subway)