51 Flights in A Year

Now to illustrate how crucial it is for me to have a passport - other than to remain legal in a foreign country - this is a summary of the traveling I've done in 2008.

• I flew at least once every month except February
• The busiest traveling months were May (5 trips) and October (4 trips)
• October was the heaviest month as I was on the road 22 out of the 31 days
• My favorite destinations were Shanghai, Beijing, and the NW
• Altogether there were 26 trips through the air
• Most trips were two-leg round-trip, some trips had more than 2 legs with transfers, and a few trips were counted as one-leg due to additional trips prior to the return flight
• Altogether I took 51 flights (a take-off plus a touchdown constituted one flight)

In other words, on average, I had a trip every other week, and a flight per week! But perhaps here is the most telling number of all:

• Out of the 26 trips, 23 were personal (88%)
• Among the other three, 2 were solid business trips (including one to UAE), and 1 was for my company but not for business (it was a "charity trip")

Now you see how much I like to travel through the air. I must say, however, that 2008 was a bit extreme. :-)

Passport!

I wonder if this is the first time that I use my blog to send out an urgent prayer request. I seem to have misplaced my passport! Of course, losing a passport is not the end of the world; nor is it life threatening. It's just a lot of trouble to get a replacement - not to mention also a replacement for the Chinese visa.

What is bothersome is that this would prevent me from traveling in the near future, as I already have plans:

• A New Year's Day trip to Beijing to visit a friend who has been in hospital for over a year.
• A week after that, a trip to Singapore to meet a group of friends to discuss our annual summer camp.
• Two week after that, around the Chinese New Year, a trip to Hong Kong to meet another group of friends for a retreat.

I would love to make these trip, especially the last one (since the first two can be postponed).

100,000

Occasion: Toyota Camry hits 100,000 miles

Date: Sunday, November 30, 2008

Time: Just about 3:00 PM, Pacific Standard Time

Location: Highway I-880, going south (S.F. Bay Area)

City: At border of Fremont & Milpitas, CA

On Radio: FM 102.1 KDFC, Solomon: Overture (Handel)

The Story: I bought the car more than 9 years ago (1999), as it was brand new. When I left California for China 4 years ago, it was already over 90,000 miles (averaging 18,000 miles a year). During the 4 years since, I put on maybe 3,000 miles a year for the home visits (twice a year).

Live photos taken when the car hit the milestone, or "100-thousand-mile stone"?

(I guess I wasn't speeding. :-)

Some before-and-after shots:

Finally, a video showing the exact moment: