Ashley and I recently traveled to Korea to join my mother’s side family in celebrating my halmoni’s (grandma’s) 90th birthday.  Yup, they live quite long on that side of the family.  It was great being able to see halmoni again, especially on this very special occasion.

During our trip, Ashley and I went to eat sahn nakji (live octopus).  They chopped it up for us, and the squirming tentacles made it a little difficult to grab them with the chopsticks.  It was interesting eating something that could fight back.  The sensation was kind of odd, but it was tasty, and I couldn’t help feeling a little adventurous.  Maybe not Captain Nemo adventurous, but still…

Puerto Rico 017

Originally uploaded by claudezilla.

Ashley and me standing in front of a landmark in Old San Juan.  More photos from the trip available to view here.

Hole 16 green

Originally uploaded by claudezilla.

This is the view I played the Ocean Course for.

I stepped off the plane and was instantly smothered by the heavy, humid air.  This was Puerto Rico.  It reminded me of Hawaii, with a Spanish twist.  My lovely wife, Ashley, was here to attend a conference, while I was here to play golf and drink rum, maybe even simultaneously.  While Ashley had to sit through mind-numbing sessions, I hacked my way through one of the hotel’s two golf courses, picking up an atrocious score and a slight sunburn.  At night, we had receptions and a banquet, drank pina coladas and mojitos, and mingled with her industry colleagues.

On our last full day there, we were able to visit Old San Juan and do a little requisite tourist shopping and sightseeing.  We stopped for lunch at a place called Barrachina, where I had a random celebrity sighting: porn legend Ron Jeremy.  He walked over to me and said, “Hey, good to see you again.  When are you going to unretire?  We miss you.”  Okay, that didn’t happen.  But it sure would’ve freaked the hell out of my wife.