50 Places of a Lifetime By Intelligent Travel

Today I read the blog on Intelligent Travel on this post - '50 Places of a Lifetime'.

What a great post. It has inspired me to look at what is my own list so far. I was amazed at how many places I have seen and how many more places I have yet to see.

The list includes the link to National Geographic site for each city with detail ranging from hotel, restaurant, entertainments, must-do lists and photo gallery. This will be my must-check before we plan any big vacation. I'm a sucker of completing a list. So I will have to try my best to check this one of mine!

Here is my list. I have managed to see 20 out of 50 places. I guess it helps that I lived or live in 3 of the cities.

Atlanta - My current hang out. A great city of the South.

Bangkok - My birth country. There is no place like home and there is no food like Thai food.

Beijing - Oh.. Beijing.. I would love to go back there to shop on Silk street.

Boston - Bean town. I went there over a decade ago. So a lot might have changed.

Chicago - The Windy City. And they are not joking about that. I went there during Winter.. Duh.. What was I thinking about!

Dublin - A quick side trip on one of my business trip. Lovely country.. Really...

Florence - I don't think you can go wrong with any city in Italy. Just the history alone will make you feel smarter already.

Hong Kong - With our recent trip to Hong Kong, I still want to go back there again. The food along will be so worth it.

Las Vegas - The Sin City. Do they provide daycare in the hotel? :)

London - It seems like a lifetime ago when I visit the Big Ben. It's about time to revisit.

Los Angeles - With the biggest Thai population in the US, I can get my Thai food fix from here. If only I live closer!

Miami - Our old playground. Ironically, we went there only a few times whenever we have guests. So recently, we just had to become tourists ourselves.

New York - I was there in 1997 for the countdown in Time Square. I did!!! And I don't think I will ever do it again. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime-experience. Let's just say I have a very small blader.

Paris - City of Romance.. No I didn't go there with Mr. Rojo. It would be nice.

Philadelphia - It was Mr. Rojo playground when he was young(er).

Rome - I had such a wonderful time there with my mom and my little wanderlust brother.

San Diego - My favorite city in California. Ok.. maybe after San Francisco.

San Francisco - I think San Francisco is the most romantic city. And I went there when I didn't even have a boyfriend!

Singapore - Hmm.. Orchard street.. shopping.. food.. clean..

Washington D.C - I can't wait to go back. That's all I can say.

Most of my conquer on this list was done before kids and family and marriage and housework and mortgage.. Needless to say, I really want to go back again with Miss J and Mr. Z. I want them to see the world and learn about different cultures, to open their mind and their eyes to all kind of possibilities.

And here is the rest of the list that will be on my to-do now.

Amsterdam
Athens
Barcelona
Berlin
Budapest
Buenos Aires
Cape Town
Dallas
Delhi
Dubai
Istanbul
Jerusalem
Madrid
Mexico City
Montreal
Moscow
Mumbai
Prague
Rio de Janeiro
Seattle
Seoul
Shanghai
St. Petersburg
Stockholm
Sydney
Tokyo
Toronto
Vancouver
Venice
Vienna

I have to say I like this list much better than the famous 1000 Places to See Before You Die book. It's nice to have a huge goal in your life. But come on.. 1000 places? I'm tired just to read it and I didn't even start my trip yet.

50 places are more manageable. Maybe.. just maybe after I'm done with my list of 50 places then I will move on to the bigger list like 1000 places.

So tell me.. what cities you have been? And what would you like to add to your list?

Happy traveling!

Around the Blogosphere

Another round of Carnival this week.. Check out these fun and interesting carnivals that I have participated!

Georgia On My Mind presents Georgia Carnival Edition #39. Check out posts from Georgia bloggers ranging from The Peachtree Road Race, Savannah Family Fun and The Outrigger Island.

All Rileyed Up presents Carnival of Family Life.

Sounds Money Matters presents Money Hack Carnival #19. Check out the Independence Edition.

Tip Diva presents Carnival of Tips

Sqawkfox presents Festival of Frugality. Sqawkfox did a great job with this fun festival. The Bare Necessities edition will get you thinking about ways to live frugally.

Celebrating the 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!!

What a fun day we had this year! It might be something about living in a small town that make me want to participate and check out all these activities that they have to offer. We have never been to any parade when we lived in Florida. Don't know why.. Maybe now that we have kids we want them to experience different things growing up. Or maybe the small town has its own charm that attracts us more..

Today we woke up earlier than our usual routine for a holiday. We headed out to downtown Cumming again. This time it was for the 4th of July parade. And it wasn't just a typical parade. It was the Steam Engines parade. Anyone who knows Mr. Z knows that he is obsessed with steam engine. He would have a blast here.

We got there right in time to catch the beginning of the parade. I have had several tips regarding the noise and yup.. It's L-O-U-D.. We didn't get there in time to get the ear plugs. But we brought with us one of Mr. Rojo headset. It did help Miss J. Ironically, Mr. Z didn't seem to mind the noise at all.

The parade was really long. I was amazed at how many steam engines participated. Each one has its own style. Some look so new. You will think they just roll it out of the dealership. Some look so old and you will think that they just come straight from the field. I think I enjoyed seeing it as much as the kids.

There were other types of engine in the parade as well. There were Golf cart, horse carriage, tractors and Firetrucks. One of the firetruck was an antique firetruck from 1937! How neat is that!

My favorite one has to be this pink engine. It's not the steam engine but who can resist the pink tractor! We need more of these cute color tractors on the field. Imagine how the cows would react if they see pink tractor. :)

If you ask my kids what they did on the 4th, they will say.. getting a lot of candies.. Candies were thrown almost constantly. Make sure you look and duck when you see it coming. These little piece of sugar are a real weapon. Mr. Rojo got hit a few times. :)

By 11:30am, we were done. It was a great day in Cumming. We were tired and ready for a nap. But.. no.. we didn't nap.. We headed out again to the Outlet mall for some shopping therapy. I wouldn't think we were in retail troubles seeing how many people shop there. Must be tourists!

So how was your 4th of July? Let me know what fun things you did with your family.

Firework Forsyth Style

What a busy long weekend for us. And we didn't even go out of town this year. I admitted I'm such a newbie in watching firework in person. Actually, I have never been to the 4th of July firework in my life!! This is our first year ever as a family and a first year for me as well.

In our town, the firework actually was held on the 3rd. So yesterday we all packed up and headed to downtown Cumming for the annual Firework for the 4th of July celebration. I liked it!!! We live in a small town so it wasn't too big and too crowd.

We headed there around 7pm and walked to the fairground. Along the way, we stopped to check out all the steam engines that will be part of the parade tomorrow. It was so neat to get to see these engines up close and personal. I could feel the heat from the steam engine. I couldn't imagine how hot for the farmer back then to operate and run it!

Once we got to the fairground, Mr. Rojo met up with his co-worker. She showed us the best seat in town. And sure enough it was the best seat. I packed a little snacks for the kids to hold them down till the firework started. It was AMAZING!!! I mean it might not be as big and as extravagent as Disney World but it sure had its own style. The weather was perfect. No cloud. The kids really enjoyed the firework. Before we knew it, it was done!

This will be our new family ritual. It was such a fun activity to do as a family!

WW - Night Life in Macau

The Sin City of Asia - Macau. This is the famous Casino Lisboa. I was told that half of the casinos here own by only one man!

Check out other WW participants here.

Attention Organic Shoppers!

I have been shopping for organic food for a while. I think it started when I picked up coupons and see that the saving I have on my grocery budget allows me to be able to buy more organic food.

I learn a lot along the way on how to shop organic without breaking the bank. Here are a few tips I have learned.

Shop even at the unexpected place

If your area has Big Lots, I suggest you at least check it out. There are several organic items on sale consistently. Keep in mind that Big Lots is like Marshalls of all things. What you see this week might not be there the next week. Also check the expiration date before pick it up. I have found Organic Mac & Cheese that won't expire till 2009. For $1 per box of Organic Mac & Cheese, you can't beat that price

Check out online source for coupons
You don't need to be a price expert to know when it's a good price. Just let your finger do the work for you. Check out online forum or blog ranging from Hot Coupon World, Organic Grocery Deals, Fiddledeedee, Money Saving Mom, The Centsible Sawyers.. These are my main site that I check each week to see what deals are out there. They have done a great job in compiling all the information for you. Then match those deals with your coupons and head to the store to stock up on sale items. This week I paid $1.50 for a half gallon Organic Valley milk. That's $3/gallon for an organic milk.. You can't even buy that for a conventional milk.

Don't buy only brand name
With the push for more Green and Organic products, grocery stores come out with their own generic brand of organic food.. Good news for you! Look for those products when you can't find coupon for national brand.

Wait for sale and stock up

This week the organic milk is really a good deal for my area. I am experimenting in freezing my millk. I will let you know the result later.. If you have frozen milk before, please let me know.

You don't need that Organic Lollipop

It will be nice if we all can afford all organic in our pantry. But the fact is it's too expensive. So shop wisely and don't get caught up in all organic for those junk food. I mean come on.. do you really need that Organic Lollipop? If you can only afford one organic item, then pick the one that you eat the most like Milk, Bread, Poultry, or anything from the Dirty Dozen list. It will be different for each family so you should be able to take the list and see which one your family tends to consume the most.

How about you? What are things you know or learn along the way shopping organically?