Florida, November 5 – November 7, 2007.

We visited the Sarasota area for a couple of days. Among the things we wanted to do was to see the Musical “A Tale of Two Cities”, based on Charles Dickens' novel.

Sarasota is between Tampa and Port Charlotte, it is a nice area, known for its arts scenes, and is probably an expensive area to live in, without overtly appearing so. We enjoyed the short visit, and the Musical was quite good also.

Tour of Myakka Lake. The lake is about a mile in width, water brown because of the tannin leached from trees, and supposedly full of wildlife. We toured the lake in a large airboat (nothing like the small ones you scoot around in the Everglades), and saw a lot of alligators. There were not that many waterfowl, though. One thing we learned from the volunteer was that there is no distinguishing difference between a heron and an egret.

Various beaches. Generally nice. Lots of people fishing, no one seems to be catching any big ones, though. This guy caught a bait fish and fed it to a Blue Heron that was hanging around, quite interesting.

Ringling Museum. The Ringling brothers of circus fame were big in Sarasota. The museum actually is a complex of four major buildings (and many smaller ones): the Ringling mansion, two buildings dedicated to the circus (one containing an impressive replica of a circus), and an art museum. The art museum has a huge collection, but I had trouble discerning a theme. It gave the impression of someone trying to gain respectability in the “elite world” by collecting whatever he thought would raise his cultural pedigree. (I know it is a bit harsh, I have to give him credit for bequeathing it to the public.)

A Tale of Two Cities. See my review on the show. We were surprised at the relative youth of the audience, especially compared to other cities we have visited in Florida.

One thing about the airport: quiet. It was pleasant to use this airport, everything is so accessible and easy to navigate. Unfortunately Continental has only one daily roundtrip.

Hong Kong. Sept 9 - 18, 2007.

Just another visit to Hong Kong. Stayed at a friend's small apartment where Anne and I kept tripping over each other. Can't beat "free" though.

Had many dinner with family and friends.

Continental flight was quited crowded.

Hong Kong, June 8 - 19, 2007.

Hotel. Le Meridien Cyberport. We have always wondered if the Cyberport area is a nice place to live. It is quite far from "downtown" but there is enough public transportation to make the place reasonably accessible. A friend of Tim's managed to get us a great discount on the hotel. The room had a sea view, although we didn't spend that much time in the room.

Dinners with siblings. We actually had three, on Lamma Island, at Ling's apartment, and at Peking Garden. Ruth was the one absent (she was in Australia). We also had dinner with Elaine and lunch with Kenneth.

Visit Anne's mother.

Flights. Both flights were quite full. There was a vacant seat next to me on the way over, but no such luck on the way back. Anne flew business class Newark to Beijing. Although she probably won't recommend the Beijing connection on her way back.

Florida, May 12 - May 16, 2007

We took advantage of low airfare ($150 RT on Continental) and our friends' hospitality (we could stay with them at their house in Port Charlotte) and spent a few days in Florida. Although it was still technically spring, there was already a tropical depression, and we got thunderstorms and showers most afternoons, which kind of put a damper on some of our afternoon plans.

Our friends Susan and Peter worked in Kwajalein of the Marshall Islands for 10 years or so, and they have quite a few friends who also worked there during that time period. We met for dinner with Sy and Karen who live in Melbourne, each driving 2+ hours and waiting for an hour to eat at the Olive Garden. We also visited Carita and Emil in Punta Gorda. Our church's (former) interim pastor, Al and his wife Miss Ruth, also came down and stayed a night at the house. Now I know six individuals/families who lived in the Marshall Islands! Who would have guessed.

The Boca Grande beach and lighthouse were as serene as ever. Except there were 30 or so fishing boats waiting for the tarpon run. I found out the channel between Boca Grand and Cayo Costo was very deep and a favorite path for the tarpon. That area is actually known as the Tarpon Capital of the World! (Not sure if it is official, though.) Susan was so enamored with the shells on the beach that she collected quite a few of them.

We took a cruise on the Peace River (which flows into Charlotte Harbor). It was a quiet and restful nature cruise. We did see a huge alligator, several spoonbills, and the usual assortment of egrets, cranes, vultures, and ospreys. At over three hours, the trip was a bit long.

Sanibel Island was also quiet. We did the drive-through of the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. This probably wasn't the correct time of the year to visit the place as there were very few cars, and even less wildlife.

It was nice to spend the time down in Florida. Susan and Peter are gracious hosts, and we really enjoyed the visit from Pastor Al and Miss Ruth.

There was a storm in New Jersey (Florida doesn't have the monopoly on storms) and our flight leaving at 8 pm was delayed to about 10 pm. So we gave up our first class seats (upgrade) and took the 5 pm flight which was delayed till 9 pm. I was given a last minute upgrade, and Anne had to suffer in coach (she actually had an empty seat next to her.) Don't feel too bad for her, we are flying to Asia next month, she'll be in business class (at her company's expense), and I'll be in coach.

Hong Kong. Feb 8 - Feb 18, 2007.

Highlights. Siblings dinner. Mr & Mrs Leung. Tai-O Fishing Village. Cafe-a-Roma. Gold Coast Boat Show. Hong Kong Flower Show. Didn't feel well coming back, but was upgraded.

Australia. Feb 19 - Feb 27, 2007.

Highlights. Went after the CBSG Cruise. Sailing in the harbor. Stayed at the Shangri-la, which was the hotel Dick Cheney stayed at. Ocean drive via Royal National Park. Wollongong. Ferry Rides.

Cornell CBSG Cruise. Feb 15 - Feb 19, 2007.

Highlights. Three-night. Cruise to Ensenada, Mexico. Choral groups. Spent the whole time on the ship, mostly in Windjammers. Group photos. Some we hadn't met for over 30 years.

Florida. Jan 1 - Jan 5, 2007

Highlights. Animal Kingdom at Disney World. Holyland Experience. Town of Celebration. Cocoa Beach. Cape Canaveral. Mustard's Last Stand in Melbourne. Nature Boat Tour. Privately operated drawbridge.