2001: London, England to Sydney, Australia

I rang in the new millennium with Lisa on the Strand in London only to end it in Sydney down under with Kim with perhaps the world's most spectacular fireworks show. In between, I lived mostly in Vietnam with a six week hiatus spent in New York, Washington DC, and Santa Monica. I also managed to squeeze a day in to explore Bangkok.

In Vietnam I spent a lot of time riding (and occasionally driving) on motorbikes, eating in outdoor cafes, relaxing on its Pacific Coast beaches, and meeting a lot of family. I also picked some lychees in the Mekong Delta, met an homme merveilleux, and rode an elephant in Buon Me Thuot. I went to a half dozen Vietnamese weddings, paid my respects at the Buddhist temples of Cho Lon (Chinatown) and at the Perfume Pagoda outside of Hanoi. I had tea by the Hoan Kiem Lake and was visited by Jeff from New York. We hiked in Sapa Valley where we sat in a bona fide H'mong home and cruised through the limestone grottoes of Halong Bay, a World Heritage site.

With the Arts always a significant part of my life, I visited the Van Mieu Temple of Literature in Hanoi, the Imperial City of Hue, and the Grand Royal Palace in Bangkok, Thailand. I watched two Vietnamese plays in theatres in Saigon and Hanoi, and enjoyed the music of the London Festival Orchestra in the City Opera House. I viewed the excellent Jasper Johns exhibit (and one on the Nationalgalerie Berlin collection) at the National Gallery of Art in D.C., enjoyed art at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, visited the Museum of Natural History in New York, and decided I should be a paper engineer after I was wowed at the Origami Architecture exhibit at the Arts & Crafts Museum of NY.

I enjoyed a walk through Park Slope, watched Buster Keaton movie shorts, promenaded on the sandy beaches of Santa Monica, and said my goodbyes to my sweet southern grampa Bone. Kim and I saw sharks and a platypus at the Sydney Aquarium, and sat with the kangaroos and wallabies at the Sydney Zoo (and we even saw a tasmanian devil!). My ride life was practically inactive this year, logging a mere 40km vs. 2400km in 2000, and my volunteer life was, sadly, equally inactive. Most active was life from the gastronomical standpoint as I enjoyed vietnamese, thai, australian, american, cuban, chinese, italian, french, caribbean, and south american cuisines. I learned to read and write in Vietnamese, improved my French, and forgot much of my Italian. I also learned how to manage eight vietnamese employees while doing some graphic design work for a publishing company.

Top five things to do when I return to the States:
1. Find a new apartment in New York
2. Continue to fund my current state retirement
3. Eat a steak and cheese sandwich from Two Chefs
4. Ride my bike in Central Park
5. Publish a book

Happy New Year
Life for me has been one of great joy, great adventure, and great happiness. With the lunar new year approaching, I wish you double happiness, excellent adventure, and joyful peace as you enter the year of the Horse. Happy, brilliant New Year!
I send you much love and cheers. Life is truly beautiful.