Lili - Lili on the Loose

14 04, 2014

Travel Missteps: The art of Dim Sum

By Lili|April 14th, 2014|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2008, California, Dim Sum, food, Good Food, Good Food in San Francisco, North America, San Francisco, USA|0 Comments

San Francisco is known for its food culture and one type of dining is truly unique: Dim Sum. Dim Sum is a type of Chinese food style, where bite sized portions of foods come to you already cooked and you choose what you want to order. It is fun and a different type of experience to eating. And if you aren’t sure what is going on, you are certainly up for some surprises. We had Dim Sum twice. The first time was in a fancy restaurant that my sister and I happened upon. We at were the only people there

5 04, 2014

Souvenir Saturday: Shot Glasses

By Lili|April 5th, 2014|Categories: Buying Guide, History, Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: buying, ceramic, collectable, collection, glass, history, jigger, legends, measurement, memento, memories, New York Times, pour, shopping, shot, shot glass, shot glasses, souvenir, standard, travel, whisky glass|0 Comments

A Brief Un-History of the Shot Glass Shot Glasses have become a common souvenir staple the world round. It surprised me to learn that there really isn’t any idea on who first created the shot glass and what their initial purpose was for. There are actually so many stories and legends on why they were created and how they got their name, ranging from the plausible to outright legends. What can be said is that in 1940’s the first use of the term “Shot Glass” was printed in the New York Times in reference to a standard measurement of alcohol.

22 03, 2014

Souvenir Saturday: Daily Reminder

By Lili|March 22nd, 2014|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: 2004, Asia, daily, exchange program, Japan, kimono, prank, shower, silk, Sister Cities, Sister Cities Japan 2004, souvenir|0 Comments

When purchasing a souvenir an important part of the buying process is what you are going to do with it once you get it back home. Is it just for your collection? A gift for someone else? Are you going to display it? Or is it something you plan on using day to day? In 2004 when I purchased an expensive silk kimono I planned on using it as a display piece, probably hang it on a wall. But I was a poor college student and couldn’t afford to frame it yet, so it sat in a box in my

17 03, 2014

Travel Missteps: Left Over Right

By Lili|March 17th, 2014|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2004, 7/11, Asia, exchange program, Japan, kimono, left, local culture, naked, prank, right, shopping, silk, Sister Cities, Sister Cities Japan 2004, souvenir, spirits, Tokyo, translation, yukata|0 Comments

In 2004, I was spending a few weeks in Japan as a cultural ambassador with my town's Sister Cities delegation of two chaperones and 9 other students. Beyond experiencing the sites of Tokyo for a few days, we all wanted to get some souvenir shopping done before we headed to the smaller, non-touristy town which was our sister city. I had read in a guide book that a store in Tokyo called "Oriental Bazaar" had a great selection of many typical Japanese souvenirs at cheaper prices. So I guided the group there. It was perfect, they had so many great

8 03, 2014

Souvenir Saturday: Its Smaller on the Outside

By Lili|March 8th, 2014|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: 2009, at the heart of it Ireland 2009, castle, CIE, Coat of Arms, coins, collectable, collection, contrade, contrade of Siena, Doctor Who, Dublin, euro, Europe, exchange money, flag, group, Ireland, large, memento, memories, shopping, Siena, souvenir, tour, tour group, travel|0 Comments

I was on my last afternoon in Ireland, and had a lot of euro coins left over. Knowing that my bank won't exchange coins, was buying random souvenirs as gifts. One of the last items I bought was a small county flag of Dublin, Ireland. I had seen them around while traveling and they reminded me of the flags of the different contrade of Siena. But when I returned home and open the package, I found that this 7 euro flag, was not a small flag. But it was actually the size of a traditional flag (about the size of a

3 03, 2014

Travel Missteps: Celebrity Interruption

By Lili|March 3rd, 2014|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2012, celebrity, coffee, crowds, North America, North Pacific Coast 2012, Pike Place Market, Seattle, The Campaign, USA, Washington, Will Ferrell, work, Zach Galifianakis|0 Comments

Sometimes your travel plans are foiled by crowds. And sometimes your travel plans are foiled by…Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis. On a nice July day in 2012 I was in Seattle for a business trip. After my coworker and I settled into our hotel we decided to do a little site-seeing while we got lunch before our first meeting. We headed down to Pike Place Market. After we had lunch, we noticed there were a lot of people…and more people streaming in. It became hard to shop and move about the market, and the sellers at first had no idea

22 02, 2014

Souvenir Saturday: Volcano Snow Globe

By Lili|February 22nd, 2014|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: 2012, Arenal, Arenal Volcano, Central America, collectable, collection, Costa Rica, Costa Rica Adventure 2012, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, glass, group, La Fortuna, memento, memories, rain, San Jose, shopping, snow done, snow globe, snow globes, souvenir, tour, tour group, travel, unique, volcano|2 Comments

My latest snow globe souvenir is a unique find. While on my last full day in Costa Rica, my group asked our tour leader Randy where the best place to buy souvenirs was. He knew that we would be getting into San Jose really late and since most of us had an early flight the next day would not be able to get anything. So on the way back Randy had the van stop at a large and fancy store. He said it was usually frequented by the all-inclusive hotels and so would have the best selection of souvenirs, however

17 02, 2014

Travel Missteps: Lost in Translation

By Lili|February 17th, 2014|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2002, birthday, call, change, door, euro, Europe, fear, first trip abroad 2002, France, French, knocking, lost in translation, money, paranoid, Paris, phone, pizza, translation|0 Comments

Watching painters in Paris made me want to join them. Today is my birthday! And 12 years ago, I was spending my 16th birthday in Paris, France. After a long day of exploring the city and visiting museums we were just too tired to head out again. And so we decided to put my high school French to the test, to order pizza by phone. I thought I was pretty well prepared, but when I called I first asked if anyone there spoke English...just in case I could make it easier. They asked me to repeat the question,

8 02, 2014

Souvenir Saturday: My First Snow Globe

By Lili|February 8th, 2014|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: 1st, 2006, All in the family Italy 2005/2006, collectable, collection, Europe, glass, group, Italy, Mask, memento, memories, New Year's Day, Piazza San Marco, rain, Rialto Bridge, snow dome, snow globe, snow globes, souvenir, tour, tour group, Trafalger, travel, vaporetto, Venetian Mask, Venice|0 Comments

As I often travel during the colder, wetter, and snowier months, snow globes make a great souvenir for me to capture the memory of my travel experiences. It was New Year’s Day 2006 and I was standing under the awning of a small little shop right on the edge of Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy. I was with my mother and we were waiting for my father and little sister to return so we could board the vaporetto back to our hotel. It was alternating between rain and snow that day, and so we ducked into the shop to

3 02, 2014

Travel Missteps: Round and Round We Go

By Lili|February 3rd, 2014|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2002, Backpacking it in England and Scotland, Bath, bed and breakfest, bus, druid tree, England, Europe, hop on and off bus, ley line, London, roman, roman baths, royal crescent, travel, UK, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site, United Kingdom|0 Comments

In 2002, my family and I went on our second overseas trip. This time backpacking it through England and Scotland. We had utilized the hop on and off again buses frequently throughout our trip. In London it helped to orientate us, and we learned a lot of the history. When we arrived early to Bath our bed and breakfast wouldn't let us in yet. So with all of our luggage we bought a day’s ticket for the hop on and off again bus. It was the slow season, so no one else was aboard, so we put our luggage on

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