First 24 Hours in Iceland

Since arriving in Iceland, we met up with Debbie & Saevar, rented our car for the week and took off to head to Akranes, a fishing village about 30 min. outside of Reykjavik and Saevar's hometown. On our way, we stopped in Reykjavik as we were insanely hungry and stopped at the Bæjarins Betzu ("The Town's Best") hot dog stand for a hot dog. These famous dogs are made with Icelandic lamb and are reputable for being insanely good....and they certainly were. The meat was so delicious and the dogs were snappy. I've never had a hot dog like this---I have a feeling we'll be eating a lot of these while we are here.

We then made our way to Akranes, met up with Saevar's uncle's family for a quick 'hello' and then continued over to his cousin's apartment where we'll be staying for the next few days for some much needed rest after 2 red-eye flights in a row. After passing out for about 5 hours, we woke up, changed and headed over for a delicious meal at the Perlan Restaurant, this round dome atop a hill with a beautiful view of Reykjavik.

The food was delicious: salmon, prawn soup and lamb. When political or royal dignitaries visit Iceland, they are often greeted with a reception at this restaurant.

After dinner, we headed over to a large park where Björk was giving a free concert. We got a great spot near the front and I got some awesome photos:

Note that the majority of these photos were taken between 10pm and 11pm----that's how bright the light is here. Technically, the sun set somewhere between midnight and 1am...and even then, there was still a decent glow in the sky...bright enough that you would barely need to have your headlights on while driving. It is now 4am as I type this and the sun rose about an hour ago -- it's bright and sunny again. This is the most daylight I've ever experienced. Here's a photo of us stopping for some snacks at a gas station taken around 1:30am to give you a sense of what "nighttime" looks like during the summer

Anyway, I need to attempt to sleep now....

Iceland here we are!

I haven't blogged recently as we've been traveling quite a bit --- to Napa and then to Hawaii (both for weddings)....and now, we are in Iceland! We're here for the next 8 days and looking forward to visiting geysers, waterfalls, glacier lagoons and many many dips in geo-thermal swimming pools (such as the Blue Lagoon). Don't know how much Internet access I'll have (using free wi-fi from the airport right now as we wait in the baggage claim for Debbie & Saevar, our traveling partners, to arrive from NYC). First impressions before leaving airport:

• wow, the blue lagoon is huge from the air
• damn, this place looks barren---better not breakdown on a road here
• the airport looks like Ikea designed it
• everyone looks related to Saevar
• that was the easiest passport/immigrations ever

Looking forward to it!

Wii Fit is here!

Man, I can't remember when I pre-ordered this, but ever since I read about this in the winter and then heard stories about it from the Halletts when they visited Japan, I knew I had to have one: a Wii Fit .... and it finally arrived today! Woo hoo! Too bad we're out of town this weekend so I won't really get a crack at it until next week.



Now I've gotta pack as we're heading to San Francisco tomorrow evening for the long weekend! We'll actually be in Napa to attend a wedding. Can't wait!

What I've been up to...

I really haven't had much to blog about lately, so I'll just let you know what I've been up to...

• Constantly searching for good deals on Nikon lenses on Seattle Craigslist -- no luck though. I may just end up buying my much coveted 18-200mm lens from J&R (no sales tax)
• Doing the same thing off of Ebay -- even worse and not really any good deals. The lens I've been wanting is often selling for the current retail price anyway
• I did end up buying a 50mm prime lens for portraits (hopefully will arrive tomorrow)
• Bought a new iPod since I've mysteriously misplaced my old one -- totally loving it
• Cancelled my XM subscription which I've had for nearly 4 years. Just decided that I've spent way too much money on this. I like it but not for ~$120/year.
• Decided to get more into Podcasts as a result---subscribed to NPR, This American Life, Money Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips, and the Best of YouTube so far. Any recommendations?
• Finalizing rental car and hotel details for upcoming trips to Hawaii and later in Boston after returning from Iceland. Yay, can't wait.
• Helped co-organize a bridal shower for Sandra -- super fun, especially the bachelorette party in Belltown afterwards.
• Shopping on Gilt Groupe, a website that Betina introduced me to. Awesome fire sales on exclusive brands. Let me know if you want an invitation!
• Working on my photography technique (see here and here)
• Playing Scrabulous and Scramble on Facebook obsessively
• Working out
• Got my hair cut over the weekend -- it's short again!
• Uploaded my picture on Facestats for kicks (it uses Mechanical Turk to power it). I'm apparently conservative, untrustworthy, totally single and in my early 20's. Interesting. (see also Mikhail and Laurel, the only other people I know that've uploaded their picture. Hemant's also on there but I can't find him...)

Fight at the Symphony!

I just got back from a lovely performance at the Symphony, listening to Dvorak's Cello Concerto and Sibelius' Symphony No. 1. At the end, as everyone was applausing, Matt and I started to duck out to get ahead of the crowd...then we heard some yelling behind us. We turned around and saw a 30-something year old man yelling---like in-your-face-yelling---at an elderly woman with a walker. He was saying a bunch of things, but the only thing I could hear was "you're just a mean bitch!" before I exited. Man! It's one thing to see a man yelling at grandma like that...but at the symphony! And loudly enough so that everyone could hear! And while still applausing---the symphony hadn't even left the stage yet!

Lusting updates

So...I finally caved and bought a TIVO HD -- it should arrive tomorrow! Can't wait. Hope I don't have any problems getting a multi-stream cable card from Comcast.

And....after searching and searching for awhile, I found a pretty good deal on a Nikon D40, including the 18-55mm lens that comes with all the basic kits. I'm still lusting after the 18-200mm lens but I'll have to wait til I catch a good deal AND am willing to drop a few Benjamins. For the meantime, I'm happy to get the basic camera body -- meeting the seller tomorrow morning after dropping Matt off at the airport (bachelor party in Tahoe for the wedding we're attending Memorial weekend).

Now, to think about the accessories I need....camera bag....tripod...filters....

What I'm lusting after

I've had shopping on my mind lately...of the electronics sort. With the trip to Iceland coming up soon and browsing through various websites in preparation for the trip, I've seen so many gorgeous photos of this country (check out this photoset on flickr)...inspiring me to finally dive into the Digital SLR world. Now, if you know me, you'll know that I lo-o-o-o-ve taking photos. I have a camera with me everywhere I go. I love getting great shots...but I've always avoided diving into DSLRs knowing how expensive of a habit it can get. It's more affordable now (though still pricey) but I've been really feeling the itch to learn more photography skills beyond the basic point-and-shoot. Don't get me wrong: I LOVE my current point-and-shoot (a Canon Powershot SD1000), especially since I have a matching underwater case for it---fabulous for the next diving trip (Hawaii!). But man, it'd be great to take some amazing scenic shots with a nice DSLR. After getting advise from various friends and visiting a camera store or two, I've decided that what I want right now is a Nikon D40 with the Nikon 18-200mm AF-S VR lens.

How did I come to this? Well, I started off knowing that I couldn't go wrong with either Canon or Nikon---it was just a matter of feeling which one felt best. So I went to a store to hold a Canon XTI, Canon XSI, Nikon D40, Nikon D60, and Nikon D80. I had heard that the Canon was slightly smaller so I figured that I would like that one better...but to my surprise, I actually really liked the grip of the Nikon. It just made a difference for how it felt in my hand. I then tried to narrow it down between the D40, D40x, D60 and D80. The difference between the D40x and D60 was so minor that it was pointless to get the D40x, so that was eliminated. The D80 was more expensive and a bit more camera than I really needed now, so I eliminated that. So then it came down to the D60 and D40---both cameras that I would be very happy with. I soon decided that the D40 was for me as I started researching lenses and realized that the $200 difference was better spent on a good lens. I soon fell in love with the 18-200mm just purely due to the convenience of having a lens that has such a wide range. I'd also heard fabulous reviews from friends and websites. It was a no brainer. Sadly, the lens is nearly twice the cost of the body of the camera! I'm spending my days browsing craigslist, ebay, adorama, amazon and bhphoto constantly monitoring prices.

What DSLR do you own and what lenses?

The other thing I'm lusting after is a TIVO. Series 3 or HD, I don't care. I'm just sick and tired of the crappy piece of metal that Comcasts calls a DVR sitting in my living room. All I want is that it can record on dual tuners and record HD. I delete my shows after I watch them so I don't even need much capacity (hence why the HD version is probably totally fine for me as compared to the Series 3)