malianrob's VirtualTourist Home Page

"May the wind always be at your back and the sun upon your face, and the winds of destiny carry you aloft to dance with the stars."

Hi and welcome to my homepage. I dont update it as much as a should but I am trying to work on that!

What a perfect place to live....
I love LA...
What do I love the most? Well I grew up in a small city (Gardena) right outside Los Angeles. My family came to the United States from Ecuador . My neighbors to the right were Dutch Indonesian, to the left Filipino, in front Mexican, next to them Cuban. There were many Japanese families in the neighborhood as well as Anglo, Samoan, and Hawaiian. It seemed as though all the kids on my block were first generation "Americans". Everyones parents spoke a different language. Everyone got along, our neighborhood was clean, and safe. It was a great place to grow up. I think that is what sparked an interest in me to explore, understand, or appreciate other cultures. Every summer someone was going somewhere, to an interesting part of the world. Then they would come back with stories and pictures of somewhere new and exciting.
Most of us kids that grew up in this neighborhood still keep in touch and it is no wonder that we all love to travel and see the world. From a young age we were exposed to different parts of the world right in our own front yards.

"We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And to know the place for the first time."
-T.S. Eliot

I dont know what is is about the ocean, the river, anything having to do with water, It just makes me feel good. I love spending time with my family and my friends. I love to travel. I love to meet new people and learn about different cultures and customs.
Right now I am teaching myself Portugese. Or at least trying to learn some important key phrases for my Rio trip.
I enjoy taking pictures and that drives everyone I know crazy. Especially since joining VT I take more pictures than ever. I take pictures of my food, and all those little things that I once took for granted.
I love being active. I really enjoy walking, hiking, rollerbladding, snow boarding, bike ridding, sightseeing.
I love being at the beach. I love the hot weather, I love the snow.
I get the biggest thrill when I am about to take a plane trip somewhere. Whenever I go to the airport to drop someone off or pick someone up, I always wish it was I that was going somewhere.
I love road trips. I love cruises, railroad trips. I understand that on a road trip the whole journey is "the trip" not just when we get to our destination.
I love having a good steak, medium rare and having a good martini. I love chocolate. I love chocolate chip ice cream, and choclate chip cookies. I love rice crispy treats. I love discovering new things: new restaurants, new vacation destinations, new drinks, making new friends.
I love reading good books, mostly biographies, autobiogaphies, history...anything real. Right now I have been really interested in the lives of women in the Middle East. Amazing!
I feel good when i go to church. I feel a sense of relief or a release of stress. I cant explain it but its something that I need in my life.
I love having a nice garden out side of my house. I love it when it rains but the sun is still out. I love the night after a really hot summer day and I walk on the beach without a jacket because its still warm outside.
I really love planning my next vacation or road trip. One is not done before I start planning the next one. ( I just got back from Rosarito and Puerto Nuevo and I already have Mammoth in March, again, Las Vegas in May, Mexico cruise in May also,Laughlin in August, Ecuador in December.) My goal has been not to keep visiting the same places. But some places just seem to call my name over and over. Another goal of mine is to visit more places within the United States. This is very important to me and some day I would love to do a road trip across the US. Theres so much beauty here to see and enjoy.
Peace and Love, I have these two Kanjis tattooed on my back. Sometimes it seems to be the two things we all want and dont always get.

My trips I did in 2007

Ecuador - twice
Panama
Florida - Walt Disney World
Peru - Cusco, Machu Picchu
El Salvador
Costa Rica
Canada- Vancouver
Kauai
Mexico
Las Vegas

This was a great year for travel for me. The highlight of my travels was definitely going to Machu Picchu. Most of my trips werent planned. I found a great deal and off I went.
I dont know what 2008 will bring for me but I do have two trips planned. In late January/early February I will be in New Orleans for my first Mardi Gras. I am so excited about that. I also have Fiji planned for August with all the family. I would like to go to Spain this year or Argentina. I dont see Brazil happening next year but then you never know.
Some of my trips this year have also been repeat trips, like Canada, Mexico, Vegas, and Ecuador. My goal is to try not to go to the same places that way I have opportunity to see new places. Preferably of my wish list but any new place is fine. Ecuador is a place that I have to visit often because my family is there but I will try to keep it to once a year or once every other year.

SOME DAY..... WISH LIST....
(going to happen, just not sure when list...)
-Samoa
-Brazil
-Prague
-Amsterdam
-New York
-Thailand

These are a few pictures of my very best freinds.

Something we all need.

Here is a little joke for those of you who are married or have been married. I thought it was funny......

Jack wakes up at home with a huge hangover he can't believe. He forces
himself to open his eyes, and the first thing he sees is a couple of
aspirins next to a glass of water on the side table. And, next to them,
a single red rose!
Jack sits down and sees his clothing in front of him, all Clean and
pressed. Jack looks around the room and sees that it is in perfect
order, spotlessly clean. So is the rest of the house. He takes the
aspirins, cringes when he sees a huge black eye staring back at him in
the bathroom mirror, and notices a note on the table: "Honey, breakfast
is on the stove, I left early to go shopping--Love you!"
He stumbles to the kitchen and sure enough, there is hot breakfast and
the morning newspaper. His son is also at the table, eating. Jack asks,
"Son...what happened last night?"
"Well, you came home after 3 A.M., drunk and out of your mind. You broke some furniture, puked in the hallway, and got that black eye when you ran into the door."
"So, why is everything in such perfect order, so clean, I have a rose,
and breakfast is on the table waiting for me?"
His son replies, "Oh, THAT ... Mom dragged you to the bedroom, and when she tried to take your pants off, you screamed, "Leave me alone, lady, I'm married!"
Broken furniture - $85.26
Hot Breakfast - $4.20
Red Rose bud - $3.00
Two Aspirins - $.38
Saying the right thing, at the right time ..... Priceless.

EVER WONDER...
Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?
Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?
Why you never see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?
Why "abbreviated" is such a long word?
Why doctors call what they do "practice"?
Why lemon juice is made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?
Why the man who invests all your money is called a broker?
Why the time of day with the slowest traffic is called rush hour?
Why there isn't mouse-flavored cat food?
Why Noah didn't swat those two mosquitoes?
Why they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?
You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?!
Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?
Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?
If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?