Charlene Li's Personal Blog

Costanoa "camping"

Mon, 30 May 2005 04:31:40 GMT

I spent part of the Memorial Day weekend at Costanoa, a nice, high-end "camping" resort about 30 min. south of Half Moon Bay. We stayed in one of their tent cabins, which was just perfect for me and my two kids. The beds have heated mattress pads -- I cranked them to "high" when we went to sleep. About an hour later, I woke up in a sweat and realized that I was cooking with the pad on so high! My kids were still out, but had thrown their multiple layers of blankets, sleeping bags, and sheets all on to the floor.

The reason this isn't really camping is that the communal bathrooms are probably THE highest end bathrooms anywhere around. Open air showers, wood paneled bathrooms, and a sauna are not typical fare at most campgrounds!

It's a beautiful setting, with lots of activities, smore-ready fireplaces, and plenty of activities, ranging from tide-pooling to a quick jaunt over to the Santa Cruz boardwalk. Highly recommended!

The best hotel pool - The Biltmore, Coral Gables, Florida

Mon, 23 May 2005 15:09:05 GMT

I'm in Miami for a Forrester event and I had an absolutely LOVELY swim this morning in the Biltmore Hotel's fabulous pool. When I checked in I asked if the hotel had a pool - and they just grinned!! On the short end, it's about 55 meters and the long way, it's 80 meters.

I had a blast swimming in a pristine pool that simulates open water swiming conditions. Great training for those triathlons. My pool mate was a gentleman who has been swimming at The Biltmore 3X a week for the past three years (although it gets a bit chilly in the winter -- the water dips to a brisk 68 degrees, nothing for us Bay Area swimmers!)

So if you ever get a chance to stay Miami, I highly recommend this beautifully, restored hotel. Rumors are that it's haunted, but no ghosts bothered me last night!

Anyone in Shanghai?

Mon, 16 May 2005 05:39:10 GMT

I have a blogger friend who is visiting Shanghai in early June and would like to meet fellow technology bloggers. If have any recommendations on key bloggers for her to meet, please send me their blogs and email addresses. Thanks!

Looking for wild parrots in San Francisoc

Tue, 10 May 2005 17:33:33 GMT

I'm trying to organize a family/class outing where we go to see the new film about wild parrots in San Francisco. If you have a sighting, please let me know via the comments below - I'd love to narrow down the range of the Telegraph Hill flock. Also, if you know of any Web pages where sightings are reported, please list them in the comments!

"The Long Tale"

Fri, 06 May 2005 03:28:25 GMT

A work colleague of mine have been recently exchanging emails and observations about "the long tail". I couldn't resist passing along his first impression when he first heard the phrase.

"The first thing that I thought of when I heard "The Long Tail" was a story that my grandmother read to me when I was very small - about a boy who wrote to the fairies to ask for a "Long Tale" and ended up with a "Long Tail" because he hadn't paid attention to his spelling lessons... And that fear has plagued me for about 30 years now..."

Priceless.

Wildflower Triathlon results

Fri, 06 May 2005 03:25:12 GMT

On Sunday, I joined 4,000 triathletes at the Wildflower Triathlon near King City, CA and swam (1.5 km), biked (40 km), and ran (10km) to the finish line in 4 hours and 18 minutes. (Just to give you some perspective, the fastest racer in my age group finished in 2 hours and 23 minutes – I’m not exactly speedy, but I got there!) You can see a few photos at photos.yahoo.com/charleneli.

And yes, that's me getting ready for the start of the race. I had a full wet suit to get on as the lake is pretty darn cold -- sorry, but there are NO photos of me with the wet suit completely on.

The best part of the race was the tremendous support of my Team In Training colleagues throughout the entire course. If you ever think about training for an endurance event, I can’t recommend Team In Training or another similar organization enough. It’s not just the training and the cheering section they provide – it’s also because I had a “higher mission” that got me to the practices and across the finish line.

As I pushed up the first major hill on the bike or struggled up yet another hill on the run course, it was the honorees for whom I was racing for – John, Inge, Susan, Lois, Harold, Bennie, Ellen, Marci, Bonnie, Fernando, and so many others – that kept me going. As I biked through the beautiful, flower-strewn hills, my thoughts turned in particular to John White, one of our team honorees who lost his battle against leukemia in February. He loved Wildflower and he would have loved seeing it, especially this year with all of the flowers in bloom.

With your help, I’ve raised over $4,000 to further the research for a cure for blood cancers. My hope – that we’ll someday have a 100% cure rate for these terrible diseases, which strikes both young and old. If you are still planning to donate, please go to www.active.com/donate/tntsvmb/charleneli or send me a check made out to “The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society” before May 11^th.

So again, thanks for your advice, pats on the back, and most of all your encouragement. It meant the world to me to have the good wishes of friends and family on race day!

P.S. If anyone is interested in joining me in some triathlon fun this summer, let me know – I’m looking for racing and relay partners!

2000 Volvo XC70 for sale

Wed, 27 Apr 2005 21:31:08 GMT

We're selling our Volvo station wagon after five great years of service. My son is pretty emotional about having to give up the car, but we convinced him it was time to change cars. It's got 67,000 miles on it, has an extended warranty, and is in great, clean condition. Here's a link to the listings on Autotrader.com and Craig's List.

Tri training update - I feel like a jock!

Fri, 08 Apr 2005 15:49:26 GMT

As a very geeky high schooler, I did everything possible to get out of athletics. This was pretty touch given athletics were a requirement at my prep school. But as a competitive musician, I was able to argue that organized sports would have gotten in the way with my practicing. So....I did "exercises" like sit-ups and push-ups on my own. Honestly! I had to keep a chart of how many sit-ups I did.

I've come a long way baby! On Sat. I biked and ran 10 miles/4 miles respectively, which is more than the distance I did in my first tri last summer. Last night, I biked 12 miles and then ran a fast (OK, 10 min. miles is fast for me!) 2 miles around the track. And I think I could have done more but it was pitch black by the time I finished. Besides, I had to get home and watch Survivor and see if my fav Stephanie was still on the island. Go Steph!

I'm doing my first open swim this Sunday...not looking forward to freezing cold Bay water!

Sonoma winery report

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 18:39:26 GMT

I took Friday off to visit a few Sonoma wineries with my family and father-in-law (visiting from Montreal). Beautiful day, great wine, and fortunately, not too w(h)iney kids. The secret: bug cages, a soccer ball, and wine tasting in shifts. Here's a list of the wineries we visited:

- Rodney Strong
- J Winery
- Mill Creek - we adored their 1998/1999 Merlot, but the recent vintages haven't been as good. Their Gewertzewiner was excellent.
- Quivera - loved their new Steelhead Red and Cabernet Sauvignon.
- Dry Creek: Fantastic (and very cheap!) Chenin Blanc. At $10 (on sale) it's the perfect sipping white.
- Preston: We love this place because of the beautiful picnic area and the two bocce ball courts.
- Pedroncelli: With a huge tasting menu and good relatively inexpensive wines, this is our new favorite place.

What are your favorite wineries in the region? Would love to hear some tips.

Beautiful beach day in the Bay Area

Fri, 01 Apr 2005 02:49:22 GMT

It was apparently a beautiful day at the California beaches -- my family went sans moi (yup, I had to work) and hubby said that it was probably the *best* beach day he's ever had.

They went to my favorite beach, San Gregorio, which is just a little south of where Hwy. 84 runs into Hwy 1. My son collected a huge bucket of sand dollars that had washed ashore -- the tide was so low that they could walk a hundred yards out into the surf.

I did get a chance to go out -- rode my bike for about 45 minutes up and down the hills around my house. Gotta keep that training up!