Hong Kong. March 6 - 16, 2026.

One reason I planned this trip was a Hope meeting.  That got canceled.  However, in the mean time, I had other meetings arranged, and Ruth also planned to visit Hong Kong from Australia, so I decided to make this trip anyway.  While nothing spectacular happened, it was generally worth the trouble and the time.  (I wrote this paragraph after finishing this blog entry.) 

Friday 3/6/2026.  Anne dropped me off at Terminal C.  Last time I checked luggage the "automatic" line was very long and the 1K counters took no time.  Today things were a bit different: no one at the auto line, but a wait at the 1K counters.  I still picked the latter.  As usual, I worry if the two bottles of wine would make it across the continent and the Pacific - spoiler alert, they did fine.

Access to the United Club was straightforward, and I grabbed some of the limited food offerings to eat before I boarded the plane.  Although the terminal areas looked quite busy, the Club was reasonably quiet.

The UA2641 we took last month was delayed so much that we missed our LAX-SYD connection.  Today the plane took off on time (well, wheels up at 7:06 pm against a published 6:15 pm departure), and landed ahead of schedule (9:07 pm vs 9:29 pm).  The gate however was occupied by a late-departing plane, so we didn't get to it until 9:39 pm.  Which mooted the entire "early arrival" thing, and I had to walk the length of Terminal 7 to get to United Club.  This meant I had only little time to eat something.  Indeed Preboarding had ended by the time I got to the Gate.  The LAX experience was less than ideal this time: the lounge receptionist was quite impolite as she enforced the passengers' admittance eligibility - while necessary, the attitude shouldn't be "so you are trying to sneak in."  The Gate agent was also unhelpful, many would re-open the preboard gate, instead he asked me to walk around to the end of Group 1.  (And I hope a passenger needing assistance won't be asked to do the same.)

For both flights I was upgraded to Premium Economy after I boarded.  I had an aisle seat on the EWR-LAX flight, and that worked out well.  I often wondered whether a middle seat in Premium Economy is worth anything (except a better meal), and the LAX-HKG flight proved that an aisle seat in economy is better.

UA820 was delayed by about 2 hours.  If you read the "official" explanations (the messages they sent or "reason for delay" in their APP) avoiding bad weather was the cited reason (not sure why they couldn't fly around it), but the announcements were (1) waiting for passengers from a late incoming flight; (2) more fuel is needed as a result of route modification - and the paperwork; and (3) because of construction at LAX, the affected runway is shorter, and the maximum takeoff weight is thus reduced; they had to offload a container to reduce the weight.  (1) seems to never happen to me; and (3) someone will miss their deliveries.

The official reason given by United for the delay was "severe weather."  The actual announcements we heard pointed to different reasons.

The snacks handed out mid-flight looked nothing like these.

Sunday 3/8/2026.  My usual routine is to get something to eat before heading into town.  This time at Ho Hung Ke.  Things were very quiet.  The taxi driver who took me from the Hong Kong Station to Causeway Bay said lots of people visit Shenzhen on weekends for shopping and dining, and today was no exception.

I managed to get some sleep in the afternoon.  Tim and Whitney were already in the apartment when I woke up.  We decided to go to Kam's Roast Goose Restaurant in South China Athletic Association for an early dinner, and just made their "last call" at 4 pm when staff would take a break before the dinner rush.  The food was good, except their signature Roast Goose dish was a bit tough.

I did get something to eat at Cafe de Coral in the evening.

Meanwhile, we started the process of putting in a bid for a condo in Hoboken.  (Note: ultimately we were not successful.)

Accommodation: Caroline Garden, Causeway Bay.  (8 nights).

Monday 3/9/2026.  Whitney suggested the "Savory French Toast" at the "Right Tea-rific" cafe in Wan Chai, about a 20-minute walk from CWB.  It's a very small establishment, doing reasonably good business.  But I ordered the wrong item!  A sandwich instead of the French Toast.  The sandwich was okay, and the people I shared the table with had the French Toast which looked a bit dry, and too big.

Afterwards I decided to visit Tai Wan Tau.  Last time I tried I made a detour to Po Toi O instead.  It's the same route, MTR to Hang Hau, then minibus 16 to the traffic circle at Tai Au Mun, followed by a walk of about 0.5 mile to the pebble beach.  The walk is now a paved road.  I skipped the village I used to visit, thinking I would stop by on the way up.  The first stretch back from the beach is a bit steep, and some guy was just preparing his car to drive to work.  He offered me a ride back to the rotary, and I gladly accepted, although that meant I had to skip the village I intended to visit.  A minibus (103X, if memory serves) took me to Tseung Kwan O where I had something to eat before returning to CWB.

Tai Wan Tau Beach.

The coke can has a season-specific message on it.  This is the year of the horse.

It was a sunny and relatively warm day, so I worked up a bit of sweat.

Tim gave me shots for my knees.  He had to do a radio show, and I walked to Hysan Place to have a late dinner.

Commercial versus government update: some progress made on the government project.  The two sites started construction at about the same time.

Tuesday 3/10/2026.  This visit is turning into a medical tour.  I got injections in my knee yesterday - they went fine.  This morning I went to Tim's office to have my blood drawn for a genetic test.  While only a few CCs were required, it still took a while.  In the afternoon I did an MRI scan for my lower back.  This was my first time inside an MRI machine, it took much longer than I (for no apparent justification) expected, and I came away understanding why some people have reason to react poorly to the confinement.

Now I have small plasters in my knees and elbows, 4 all together, a first.

I did have an early lunch with Joe T at Tai Ping Koon Sheung Wan/Central.  The dishes were "Portuguese Chicken" and "Fried beef noodles with Swiss sauce."  A European feast.  Or a comedy of cultural misunderstanding: Portuguese chicken originated in Macau, and Swiss sauce is a mis-pronunciation of "sweet sauce."

Tim's neighbor used to have a lot of shoes piled up outside the door.  They got cited as being a fire hazard.  This is a much cleaner look.

These orchids continue to bloom year after year.

Wednesday 3/11/2026.  Went to the Peak for a walk around the Peak Path (about 2 miles).  On the way back (around 3 pm) I was told there was some incident at Stubbs Road, and the bus that was leaving would be the last one (turns out service was resumed later that afternoon).  Lunch was at Mak's Noodles in the Peak Galleria.

A breakfast set like this is quite typical in many cafes in Hong Kong.  There is also a piece of fried spam underneath the fried fish.

A bowl of wontons at Mak's Noodles at the Peak Galleria.

The Peak Trail is about 2 miles in length.  One can see different parts of Hong Kong along the trail.  This is a view of Central and Kowloon across the Harbor.  The tall glass building is the International Commerce Center, at 1588 ft and 118 floors Hong Kong's tallest skyscraper.

The three tall chimneys mark Lamma Island.  The "pond" is Pok Fu Lam Reservoir, Hong Kong's oldest, and is still in use.

The two towers obscured by haze mark the Stonecutters' Bridge.

The runway of the old Kai Tak Airport can be seen across the Harbor.

The Hope meeting that was one reason I came to Hong Kong was cancelled.  As consolation a couple of Hope supporters invited me to dinner at the Hong Kong Cricket Club Chinese restaurant.

Lisa and Alan Fung hosted dinner at the Hong Kong Cricket Club.

Thursday 3/12/2026.  After coffee with Larry K at the Hong Kong Club, I took the Mid-Levels Escalator to visit Joe T's family.  He and I met up at a Fish and Chips place called "Hooked" to collect takeaway for lunch.  The restaurant seems to source a lot of the fish from New Zealand.  "Cod" in this case resembled more of the cod in NJ, as opposed to what is called cod in Australia.  A F&C "meal" costs HK$80, but only HK$40 for students - quite a bargain in my opinion.

In Joe T's apartment for lunch.

Joe T dropped me off at the IFC Mall.  I wanted to use the washroom before I head back, and ran into John L, my high school classmate.  We had coffee at the Jockey Club and caught up on things a bit.

Coffee with high school classmate John L at the Jockey Club.

Ruth and Stephen arrived this evening.  Their flight was originally scheduled to land at 5:50 pm, but was delayed by about 30 minutes, and they had to wait for their luggage.  So it was after 8:30 pm that we sat down at Ding Tai Fung for dinner.  To my surprise, that restaurant was doing great business.

Friday 3/13/2026.  I caught the monthly lunch of the Cornell group, this time at the Shanghai Fraternity Club in Central.  It was good to see some old friends, and meet some new ones.

Lunch of Cornellians at the Shanghai Fraternity Club.

As I was heading to the MTR station, someone called out my name ("Uncle Joe" in this case).  It  was Ken from Tim's radio show.  We chatted for a few minutes.  I am beginning to think the world is a small place.

For dinner we went to this "Art of Canton" restaurant located in Times Square Food Forum.  It serves traditional and re-imagined Cantonese dishes.  It was quite busy.  Other restaurants on the same floor were a lot quieter.

Saturday 3/14/2026.  Joe T and I met with a potential Hope supporter at 11:30 am at the Yacht Club, and I ended up staying at the facility until around 2:30 pm.  

I, Edwin M and Joe T at Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club.

We decided to have lunch at the Club.  I had the Fish & Chips, Joe the roast meats with rice.

A heron among the boats moored at the Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter.

Ruth and Stephen were at Caroline Garden when I got back at around 4 pm.

At around 4:30 pm Tim came by to pick us up to go to the Hopewell Center and the new(ish) Hopewell Hotel.  We had an early dinner at Ship Kee.

A couple of dishes at Ship Kee: Beef brisket in broth, and baked salted chicken.

I did the Link Road walk to work off some calories afterwards.

Sunday 3/15/2026.  Today is my last full day in Hong Kong.

Tim took his boat from Aberdeen to West Kowloon.  He had found a place to dock inside the typhoon shelter among all the working boats that are moored there.  At a slow speed of about 10 knots the trip took about an hour.

Tim discovered one can dock inside the Typhoon Shelter in West Kowloon.  The calm water there makes getting on and off the boat relatively easy.

We had lunch at the Palace Museum.  I had visited the museum a couple of times but never noticed the restaurant.  It provides great views, and has some interesting takes on dim sum - some work better than others.  Alyson and Johnson joined us; it was great to see them.

Lunch at the fancy Chinese restaurant inside the museum.

Prices are reasonable (at least not outrageous) for dim sum.

Johnson and Alyson joined us for the day (lunch and dinner anyway).

I had a coffee appointment with Arthur that afternoon.  The trip from the museum to Happy Valley was made a bit easier with the ferry that runs between West Kowloon and Central - a trip that takes 8 minutes.  One could take a tram from Central to Happy Valley, but it was quicker to take the subway to Causeway Bay, and then catch the tram from there to Happy Valley.  From boarding the ferry to the tram stop took less than one hour.

View of West Kowloon from ferry.  The two towers are the stays of the Stonecutters' Bridge.

Ferry terminal on Hong Kong Island.

Dinner was at Regal Hotel's Chinese Restaurant, again with Alyson and Johnson.  The food was good, and the restaurant was quite busy.  We spent a couple of hours there.

Dishes at Regal Hotel Chinese Restaurant.

The United APP shows there are 29 booked business passengers for 48 seats, but the seat map shows only one empty seat (actually per the seat map there is only one empty seat).  We shall see tomorrow.

Monday 3/16/206.  Today was a travel day.

My usual plan is to take an Uber to the Hong Kong Station, and then the airport express.  Total cost less than HK$180.  I chatted with Tim a bit too long, and by the time I was ready to leave, traffic to HK Station was a bit backed up.  I decided to take an Uber instead.  By 'strategically' taking the Western Tunnel the trip took about 40 minutes.  The cost was HK$400, which the driver thought was about $80 higher than usual, probably due to congestion pricing.

I stopped by the Kyra Lounge for breakfast.  This used to be the Chase Sapphire Lounge, and frankly didn't look that different.  I have no idea why Chase shut it down; it was their first Chase lounge, and the only one not located in the US.

Quick breakfast at Kyra Lounge at HKG.

The seat map vs booked issue was settled in favor of the seat map.  2 were upgraded to premium economy, one to Polaris.  But the numbers booked were 18/21 and 30/48.  With an aisle seat, and a relatively short flight time of 12-plus hours, it was a reasonable trip.  I didn't sleep much, and watched a lot of TV.

Going by this I should have a good chance of being upgraded to Polaris.

This was closer to the truth.  This discrepancy seems to happen quite often.

UA153 didn't get to the gate until 9:37 am (schedule 9:05 am), and I was to connect to UA2127 leaving at 10:50 am. It was a long walk from the gate to customs; but customs was straightforward, just a camera - I didn't even have to show my passport.  I then made the mistake of waiting for the terminal connection bus; none showed up during the 15 or so minutes I waited for it (with lots of others), although many empty employee buses went by.  I decided to walk (at a brisk pace).  Touchless ID was quick, so I made it to gate 74 with 20 minutes to spare.  Boarding had mostly completed, there was still luggage space for both my carryon and backpack (I had an exit row seat).  The gate agent was somewhat surprised that I showed up when I did: the APP said it would take 77 minutes to connect.

At 9:52 am I was still at the Tom Bradley Terminal.  I didn't start walking towards Terminal 7 until around 10:15 am.  Made it, though.  No time to stop at the United Club for breakfast.

For some reason my seat was reassigned to 42A (it was originally 44F).  A bit tight, but being right behind an aircraft door, it was okay.

There was threat of severe weather in NJ - indeed United offered free rebooking - which never materialized.  The flight was relatively smooth.  However, we had to wait for our gate to become available, so Anne had to stop by a rest area on her way to pick me up for a few minutes.  (Arrival scheduled for 6:42pm, landed at 7:04pm, gate 7:34 pm.)  This waiting for gate business seems to happen a lot lately.  In the big scheme of things, it was no big deal.  Nonetheless still a stress point.

Australia. February 10-24, 2026.

Chinese New Year is February 17, 2026, so I planned the trip to be from Feb 10 to 24.  Anne is coming along.  She moved her teaching duties to the second half of the semester. 

I usually get 280 Plus Points every year as a 1K member, but they don't get deposited until mid-January (varies by year, it seems), so I used miles and fees to try to upgrade our flights.  To go from coach to business is a $600 and 30K miles proposition, each way.  If the waitlist clears, it will be a great discount from a typical RT business fare of about $8000.

In any case, the LAX-SYD upgrade cleared about two weeks prior to departure.

Tuesday 2/10/2026.  NJ is in the depth of a long cold spell, and our upstairs heater has been acting up, so we made sure all the appropriate doors upstairs are open so the downstairs heat can find its way up there if necessary.  Also, for the next couple of days the forecast is for above freezing temperatures during the day, and this hopefully minimizes the chance of a pipe freeze.

Things were quite smooth on our way to the airport.  Our flight UA2641 EWR-LAX departed from Terminal A, so we used the United Club at that terminal.

Boarding was quick.  Then the pilot came on and said some "messages had to clear," and Chicago (operations HQ, I assume) would have to do it.  All said and done, an initial 15 minute delay turned into an actual departure time of 9:08 pm (6 pm flight).  The plane landed an hour after the LAX-SYD flight took off.  Meanwhile, I changed my LAX-SYD flight to a day later (Feb 11).  I was able to confirm Business for the two of us.  After we landed, I had to message customer service to get hotel and meal vouchers.

I had a similar problem in November, 2024, when I was connecting at LAX to Hong Kong.  Late arrival of the EWR-LAX flight caused me to miss my connection, but at least there was a flight the next morning, so the delay was about 12 hours rather than 24.

It was close to midnight when we got to the gate.  The LAX-SYD flight left on time at 10:55 pm.

United issued meal vouchers for the delayed EWR flight (we could deplane at one point), and for our missed LAX-SYD flight.  We got a total of six, used 4 of them.

The hotel shuttle bus came not long after we started waiting for it, so that was okay.  Hotel checkout is noon, so I decided to book another day, even though we would check out at around 8 pm.  I will also try to get the second night reimbursed (either by United or through Chase's Trip Interruption Insurance), but that's a problem after the trip is over.  My general complaint is such a delay puts quite a bit of strain on a customer, the responsible party (in this case United) can at least make the customer financially whole.  In today's case, what was the customer supposed to do between 12 noon checkout and 10:55 pm departure?

Accommodation: Holiday Inn LAX (1 night).

Wednesday 2/11/2026.  After we checked in the hotel, I also moved our SYD-BNE flight back by a day, that change cost a bit more than the original tickets.  Perhaps CSR will reimburse that additional expense?  Again a worry after the trip.

It cost more than the original ticket prices to change our SYD-BNE flights.  Of course buying new tickets would be even more expensive.

Breakfast cost $25 per person, and the server mistakenly credited us with $30 (should have been $40).

$25 breakfast at Holiday Inn LAX is slightly better than what most free offers at hotels, barely.

To while away the rest of the day, we visited the Getty Center.  Admission is free, ride share both ways did cost a few dollars.

"Lot and His Daughters" (ca. 1628) by Orazio Gentileschi.  I actually guessed what the topic was by looking at the figures depicted.

One of many Monet paintings of the Rouen Cathedral.

"Strangler Fig: Adam & Eve" (2022) by Chicago-born Afro-Cuban American artist Harmonia Rosales.  The Strangler Fig symbolizes manipulation and colonialism in Yoruba (a West African ethnic group) mythology.

"Draped Reclining Mother and Baby" (1983) by Henry Moore.

Some of the best "art" is the view from the Center, and the design of the Center itself.

We stopped by the Polaris Lounge, it was crowded.  United has three flights (to SYD, HKG, and MEL) leaving around 11 pm, so there are about 150 passengers in Polaris, and the lounge has a capacity of perhaps 80.  We decided to opt for the restaurant, the wait was about 20 minutes, but the food was decent.

Our flight to SYD departed closed to an hour late due to airport congestion, but managed to land within 15 minutes of scheduled arrival.

Accommodation: Overnight in plane (UA839).

Friday 2/13/2026.  Both Anne and I caught quite a bit of sleep inside the plane - even though Apple Watch said my sleep was fitful.  I also watched quite a few episodes of Bad Monkey.

Immigration and Customs were straightforward, even though the automatic gate bounced me, so I had to go see an agent.  That didn't hold things up for long.

Since my SYD-BNE (on Jetstar) was on a separate reservation, I left plenty of time for the connection.  Priority Pass managed to sign up REX lounge for its members, so we spent some time there.  Anne decided to go to the food court to buy something to eat, I was fine with the sandwiches REX Lounge offered.

The lowest priced tickets on Jetstar would charge for seat selection and luggage.  The next level (Starter Plus) includes those and an A$10 on-board food voucher, good for a soda and a small can of Pringles chips.

Alfred came by to pick us up.  After "resting" at Ling's place for a bit, we went to Yum Cha Cuisine in Indooroopilly for dinner.

We had plans to visit Gold Coast for a couple of days after staying with Ling and Wally for a few days. With the missed connection we decided to cancel that part of our plan.  We kept our rental car reservation as flying Gold Coast to Sydney still remained the cheapest of the several options I considered. 

Accommodation: Gibson Crescent, Bellbowrie, QLD (4 nights).

Saturday 2/14/2026.  We basically hanged out at Ling's place for the day, visiting her vegetable garden, and taking a short walk in the neighborhood.

It was raining on-and-off today.  Water can be seen dripping from one cup to one below in this photo.

Sunday 2/15/2026.  Wally had to preach at an early service in Eight Mile Plains.  We were hoping to visit a Chinese restaurant (Parkland) but they got back too late as I had a rental car pickup.  We instead went to Arrivederci Pizza in Milton and ordered a meter-long pizza.  It came with four different kinds of toppings, including shrimp scampi.  The four of us ate most of it.

The 1-meter pizza is basically 4 good-sized pizzas.  One could pick different toppings for each of the four.

Blocks of mozzarella cheese being prepared for the number of pizzas they expect to sell.

Picking up the rental car was easy enough.  We drove it back to Bellbowrie.  The rental agent told me usage of their toll tag costs A$4 a day, which is very reasonable.

Wear and Tear Guidelines provided by Budget.  25 mm is about an inch.

Dinner was prepared by Ling.  Alfred joined us.

Monday 2/16/2026.  The rental car gave us quite a bit of mobility, so we drove north to the Sandgate area to check out the many wildlife related facilities in the area.  We saw some common shore birds, and an osprey.  We had lunch at Doug's Seafood - fish and chips.

Ibises at the Sandgate Second Lagoon Reserve.

The swamphen looks like a large moorhen.  It walks with confident strides and a rhythmically flipping tail.

At the Osprey House Environment Center in Griffin, QLD.  It made the same "squeeky" noise we heard in Maine when it felt somewhat threatened by a passerby.

Doug's Seafood, Sandgate.  One piece is cod, the other snapper.  The snapper was worth the extra A$3.  (In NJ we are quite happy with fried cod.)  Well, turns out QLD cod and Atlantic cod are different species altogether.

Wally's old colleague Vivian and her husband Daud came to Gibson Crescent to have dinner.  Vivian taught at BST for many years.  Daud used to work for the Bible Society.  They now pastor a church in Indonesia.

Tuesday 2/17/2026.  Today was a travel day.  My original plan was to leave early enough so we could spend sometime in the Gold Coast area to look around, before heading to the Gold Coast airport (OOL).  We ended up leaving a bit later than planned (mostly because we were chatting with Ling), so we drove directly to OOL instead.  When we were about to leave the Motorway to get gas before returning our rental car, we decided to drive a few minutes to the beach to take a look.  Today was a sunny day, and things looked nice.  We also decided that staying in the OOL area would be pleasant; the beaches seemed nice, and things didn't look as commercial as we expected at Gold Coast.

Saying goodbye to Ling as we left her house.

Car rental return is close to the terminal area.  We put about 300 kilometers on the car.  After checking in our luggage, we stopped by the Virgin Australia lounge to have a snack; it was quiet.  Our flight OOL-SYD was delayed by about 30 minutes, which wasn't a big deal.  But not finding our passports at one of the "usual" places was a big deal.  We spent quite a bit of time going through our hand luggage.  After we landed, Anne went to pick up the luggage and found them in the small backpack I have: we took them with us when we went to rent our car at BNE.  Meanwhile I tried to locate SYD's Lost and Found office.  They close at 4 pm.

We took T8 and M1 to get to Chatswood.  M1 was a lot more crowded than I remember from my last visit.  The trip was easy enough.

Ruth and Stephen picked us up, and we went to have dinner at Zilver located in the Chatswood Westfield Mall, joined by Susanna, Chris, Amy and Peter.  A couple of "lions" showed up during dinner to perform lion dances.  These dancers are very athletic, but I find the drums (and music) too loud, especially in an enclosed place like a restaurant.

Lobster (the spiny kind) is very expensive, costing over A$300 per kg cooked in restaurants.  This dish came to A$850.

It is an enjoyable dish.

Today was Chinese New Year.  The restaurant (Zilver in Chatswood) engaged two different lions to perform.  The drums were very loud in an enclosed space.

Accommodations: Duke Street, Forestville (5 nights total).

Wednesday 2/18/2026.  Lunch was at Chatswood Westfield Foodcourt with Stephen and Ruth.  I had the Korean fried chicken wings, 12 pieces for A$23.  Anne and I then went on an "adventure" on the Sydney Ferry system.  We first took F3 from Circular Quay out to Chiswick, and then caught the return ferry to Barangaroo where we had coffee.  Then it was another ferry back to Circular Quay, followed by a roundtrip to Manly.  (We took the same ferry back, it was raining on and off this afternoon.)  The trains took us to Chatswood, and we took an Uber to get back to Forestville.  Dinner was prepared by Ruth, anchored by roasted meats bought in Chatswood.  Anne and I also picked up some food supplies from W Metro.

F3 connects Circular Quay with Parramatta.  Sometimes the ferry cannot make it all the way due to low tide.

After riding various ferries for the afternoon.

It took over 1:15 hours to get from Circular Quay to Duke Street.

Today's forecast called for a high of 95F (at one point the forecast was 97).  Perhaps it got that high, but the showers cooled things down considerably.

Thursday 2/19/2026.  Even since I started to come to Australia (late 1970s) there was always a Fish Market, and over the years it had gotten to be a popular tourist attraction.  Despite all that, it always had a "wet market" feel to it, although the fish they sold were always of good quality.  Investing over A$1 billion (yes, a B), a new Fish Market opened about a month ago.  We met up with Tim and Whitney there for an early lunch.  The good thing about an early lunch was things weren't busy, the bad thing was only a few restaurants were open for business.  Touch Wood was offering breakfast and some selected items when we sat down at around 11 am.  I had my go-to fish and chips.

Fish and Chips at Touch Wood, Fish Market.  A bit expensive at A$32.

ANZAC Bridge as viewed from Fish Market.

These King Crabs sell for about A$250/kg.

Despite being a tourist location, prices here are reasonable - I am told.

Tim hooked one of these fish (called spotted mackerel) but a shark got most of it before he could reel it in.

We then drove to Tim's place in East Gosford.  He wanted to go fishing, and I went with him.  It was quite rough when we got out of Brisbane Water into Broken Bay, but the boat seemed to take it in stride.  We didn't catch anything, but it was a nice day for being on the water, the rough waves not withstanding.

Back from a trip to Broken Bay.  The boat is a Yellowfin 7000.

Tim went out on the boat several times.  This fish head was what he had to show for it.  A shark ate the rest as he was trying to reel the fish (a spotted mackerel) in.

On his last day out he caught this cutlass fish.  About 80 cm long.  As the fish is quite skinny, it doesn't weigh a lot.

Twelve units are being built next to Tim's house.  They list for between A$2 to 4M.

Dinner was at RSL Gosford.  I had been there before.  Good food at reasonable prices.  We got back to Forestville before it got dark.  (Sunset was around 7:40 pm.)

Waiting for food at the Gosford RSL.

Friday 2/20/2026.  For lunch we went to the Chatswood RSL.  The sirloin cost A$28 (roughly) and was surprisingly good.  It actually ended up being "free" as the club offers a tenth meal for free.  Many of the customers at the club were Asian, reflecting the population of the Chatswood area.

Inside the Chatswood RSL.  Surprisingly there were not many Chinese new year "decorations" around town as in past years.  All RSL clubs I have been to have a lot of slot machines and similar gambling setups.

After lunch we checked into the Meriton Suites in Mascot.  The location cost about 1/2 of what a downtown property would cost, yet offers reasonable access to the city.  Dinner was at a'Mare with Whitney, Tim, Ruth, Stephen, and Chris.  Chris had just helped with taking the boat out of the water.

a'Mare offers a set dinner for A$210 per person, or one can order from the menu.  The top is a duck dish (minced, ragout), bottom is Moreton Bay Bug and pasta in vodka sauce.

Rib Eye.

Not that A$972 is cheap, but I did expect a much higher bill for a dinner for 7.

We took a taxi (at A$30 a bit steep) to the Opera House to attend the 7:30 pm performance of Madama Butterfly.

The Odyssey Villa Vie Residences is a cruise ship that goes around the world in 3 1/2 years.  One can evidently rent by the month.  It's on the small side (less than 1000 passenger capacity) so a long stay could really present various problems such as rough seas and cabin fever.

Curtain call Madama Butterfly, Opera Australia.

Harbor Bridge and Sydney Opera House as seen from Circular Quay.  Taken at about 10:30 pm.

Accommodations: Meriton Suites Mascot Central (2 nights).

Saturday 2/21/2026.  I didn't realize today's performance of Turandot was going to start at 12:30 pm.  If I had know, I might have shortened my stay at the hotel for one night.  That would certainly save some money.  But having some time to ourselves is also nice.

The opera ended at around 3 pm, so we headed back to the hotel to rest.  I texted my nephew Alfred to see if we could meet up, and decided to do so at a Malaysian restaurant close to the hotel.

View of Harbour Bridge from Opera House.  One can see a group of bridge climbers on the left.

Curtain call Turandot.  The lady dressed in a traditional Chinese costume is Luo Ling, ancestor of Turandot.

Sunday 2/22/2026.  While Meriton Mascot is a convenient place to stay, one negative is that guests are expected to check out at 10 am.  They did give me an hour so checkout was at 11 am.  We were to meet up with Ruth after church, at around 12:45 pm.  Anne and I basically walked around the area a bit; too hot, so we ended up at the hotel lobby until about 12 noon.  The Uber ride to East Village in Zetland was about 15 minutes.  We still had time for coffee for the two of us.

Ruth showed up at 12:45 pm, as expected, and we put our luggage in her car before heading up to East Phoenix for lunch.  It's their usual practice to do lunch with Wan, and Rev. Ting and his wife.  I met them in the same way last time I visited.  Lunch was dim sum and a couple of noodle dishes, followed by coffee at the same cafe we visited earlier (so Anne skipped this time).

House of Pie in Matraville used to be a lot more popular.  We frequented it many times when the family lived in that area.

Visit to my parents' gravesite.

Dinner was again with the Ngo's, this time at Joyful House in Hornsby.  It's neighbor, a Korean BBQ restaurant, was doing great business.  We were the only table occupied for quite a while.  The food was quite good, and slightly more reasonable than Zilver.

Monday 2/23/2026.  The trip is coming to a close, and today was our last full day in Australia.  I was up late last night trying to catch up on my blog entries.  We started the day with dim sum lunch at Zilver in Chatswood, followed by coffee.  Anne and I then left for Manly, via metro, train, and ferry, and walked to first the beach and then towards Shelly Beach.  It was a pleasant walk, although we did work up some sweat.

View of Opera House and Harbor Bridge as boat leaves Circular Quay for Manly.

The Great Crested Tern is common in Australia.

This pose of a Pied Cormorant drying its feathers is similar to the ones we see in NJ.  What is different is here the birds constantly flaps its wings to help with the process.

A some point the siren sounded, and an announcement came on saying swimmers should get off the beach as sharks were sighted nearby.  People evidently take these warnings seriously as the bay soon cleared all swimmers (although some canoes remained).  No one got back in for the rest of the time we were there.  Indeed warning signs were posted along the beach.

By the time we got back to Chatswood it was about 7 pm.  We had dinner with Ruth and Stephen at Mr. Stone Bowl.

Tuesday 2/24/2026.  Today was a travel day.  A winter storm was forecast for Monday 2/23 up and down the East Coast, threatening air travel in the area.  Indeed United canceled all its SFO-EWR flights from mid-morning 2/22 through all-day 2/23.  A total of more than 10 flights.  It also looked like EWR canceled all flights on 2/24 through early afternoon.  So it's a possibility that we will see major disruptions on both ends of the trip - even though that happens rarely.  In the back of my mind, I had always hoped that our SFO-EWR flight could slip in after the airport re-opened.  That hope was borne out.

Ruth took us to the airport.  Traffic was light that time of day, and we got there in about 40 minutes.  Passport control was a breeze.  At SYD Priority Pass and United offer many lounge choices.  My prior visit to The House in 2023 was disappointing, but it is close to our departure gate, so we gave it another try.  This time it was quite a bit better, although food selection is still quite limited.

About an hour before flight departure - and just before boarding - Anne and I got upgraded to Premium Economy.  The flight lasted about 13 hours (wheels up to touch down).  I didn't get any sleep other than perhaps dozing off every now and then: watch all 9 episodes of "Dark Matter" didn't help.  While the plane touched down at 8:15 am (per Flightrader), it didn't get to the gate until 8:51 am.  And we had to take the train to Terminal 3 as we made the wrong turn for Terminal A after exiting customers.  That made for a rushed visit to the United Club, which was very crowded.  Customs was strightforward, even though MPC rejected our passports as being invalid (don't understand why, they worked las time).

We had coach seats SFO-EWR, although bulkhead aisle seats are quite reasonable, and the flight was relatively short at about 4:30 hours.  It landed at 6:17 pm, 40 minutes ahead of schedule.  Again gate unavailability meant 20 minutes before gate arrival.  (Touch down times from Flightradar, gate arrival from United APP.)  We came home via Lyft.

The house was warm (I had turned on the heat while still in SFO), but the water heater stopped working.  I think it was a pilot problem but couldn't get it relit by myself.  The PSE&G technician came and got it working the next day.