Hong Kong, December 2 – 10, 2008.

Anne had a business trip to Beijing, so I went to Hong Kong for a week or so (there is no logic to that statement; I just didn’t want to spend the week by myself in New Jersey). Airfare was relatively inexpensive, anyway. And I could stay at Tim’s place for free.

Flight on CO to Hong Kong (CO99 12/2) left a bit late because of mechanical problems, but we still got there pretty much on time. I had an aisle seat on the window side, but all three seats were occupied, which made the 15+ hour polar flight somewhat uncomfortable. Tim picked me up in his new Subaru WRX STI. Luckily the streets were quite busy so it wasn’t as much a white-knuckle experience as I feared.

My trip back on 12/10 worked like clockwork. CO98 left on time and landed more than an hour early as the tailwinds helped the plane along, reaching a ground speed of over 700 mph at times. Taxiing, immigration, and customs (I had one piece of checked luggage) took only 35 minutes. Anne picked me up a few minutes after my eating a hamburger and getting a cup of coffee.

Some trip highlights:

Hike on Friday 12/5. With Ling & Wally. It was advertised as a 4 hour hike but ended up being an hour longer. We hiked from the Taipo area to the Tsuen Wan area, covering (in my estimation) more than 14 km; not particularly difficult, but some sections involved long sets of steps that didn’t seem to end. Had dim sum lunch at Tsuen Lung Restaurant. Cost us all of HK$130 or so for a full meal. Took an Advil afterwards to tackle the aches.


Some of these stone steps stretched for a km or so.


Late lunch at the inexpensive Tsuen Lung Restaurant was filling.

Dinner on Friday 12/5. At the Queen’s Palace Restaurant at QRE Plaza with Ka Shi, David & Ruby.

Church on Saturday 12/6. This Tung Fok Church is a bit on the charismatic side, although the service I attended wasn’t particularly so. The sermon on “new insights” into Noah was a bit disappointing.

Dinner on Saturday 12/6. With Tim, Wally & Ling, Alfred, Joy & Rachel at “Fung Sing” in Causeway Bay. Fried chicken cost $88 (whole). Alyson couldn’t join us because she had a competition (which she won.)

Lamma Trip on Sunday 12/7. In Tim’s boat, with Alyson, Ling & Wally. Hiked the 2.5 mile or so trip from Sok Ku Wan to Yung Shue Wan: a piece of cake compared to Friday’s hike. Bill at Rainbow Seafood came to about $1000 for five. Afternoon tea at Yung Shue Wan while we waited for Tim to see a patient.


On Tim's Boat.


At Yung Shue Wan on Lamma Island.

Boat Trip on Monday 12/8. Ruby & David were planning on a two-day Macau trip. I initially said I would go for a day, but then changed my mind. Had breakfast with them and other would-be travelers at Florinda Restaurant at the Ferry Terminal. Turns out there wasn’t much enthusiasm among the group to go; the one who wanted to go the most also relented. When someone suggested Lamma Island, I offered the use of Tim’s boat. Lunch at Rainbow Seafood cost $1000 for seven (others picked up the bill), we also had soft tofu nearby. Then we took the boat to Cyberport, Repulse Bay, and stopped by Stanley to have tea (at McDonald’s, of all places). I hope the others (Julie, Eileen, Ruby, David, and Dr & Klara Chu) enjoyed it as much as I do. The seas were much calmer, except the wakes caused by these container ships are quite substantial.

Coffee with David on Tuesday 12/9. Old friends chatting away for a few hours over coffee and tea at Pacific Coffee at the Great Eagle Center.

Didn’t do much on the trip, but nonetheless an enjoyable week.

New Mexico, November 20 - 23, 2008.

Thu 11/20. CO flights from Newark to Albuquerque via Houston were uneventful. We checked out our rental car and drove the 200+ miles to Durango, much of it in the dark through sparsely populated terrain. We were surprised to see the Durango lights below us as we got close since we didn't know we were driving on a mesa. It's a skiing town, but it was too early for the ski season, so the town was quite quiet. Looked nice enough, though.

Fri 11/21. Drive from Durango to Mesa Verde took over an hour. Anne had to find a payphone to call in to a conference call (no cell phone service), so I wandered about the museum. Drove the “Mesa Top Loop” and looked at various sites that showed the “evolution” of housing from AD500 to AD1500. Then took a guided tour to see the “Spruce Tree House” named after the way the discoverers of the pueblo got down to the site. It's a largish area with a population of 80 people at its peak – an estimate arrived at from the 8 kivas that accommodated about 10 persons each.


The Spruce Tree House, Mesa Verde National Monument.

Aztec National Monument. The pueblo wasn't built by the Aztecs, but the name stuck. We actually had a bit of traffic in this little town. Walked around the ruins.


In front of the Aztec pueblo ruins.

Sat 11/22. Skytram to top of Sandia Mountains took us on a 2+ mile run in 15 minutes, rising from an elevation of 6000 ft to over 10,000 ft. Got to see the valleys and mountains surrounding the area, with the highest mountain at over 13,000 ft. Albuquerque is flat, but surrounded by many high mountains. Very prominent on a reservation is a casino, I wonder how they get enough patrons to sustain the many casinos in the area.


View of Albuquerque from the tram. Notice the casino in the upper middle part of the picture.

Sante Fe. Town has a strict ordnance on how it should look like, and all (most) buildings were different shades of earth tone. The original name of the town was “La Villa Real de la Sante Fe de San Francisco de Asis” befitting the Spanish governor Peralta that gave it the name. Walked around the plaza. Had lunch and then drove to Sante Fe Opera.


Many buildings in Sante Fe are decorated for the holidays. Notice the "paper bags" on the rooftop.

Bandelier National Monument. About 100 miles from Albuquerque. The estimated population here was 700, with a lot of rooms in the valley and others in the hills. We even hiked to the Alcove that is ½ mile away from the development. It rises 140 feet above the valley floor and we had to climb 4 sets of ladders to get to it. Had to jog part of the way as park closes at 5 pm. Somehow city planning is the same across all cultures: the masses and elite live separately, and the latter live in places with a view.


Climbing up the ladder into one of the cliff rooms.


One of four sets of ladders to get to the Alcove. The alcove itself is quite small.


Sun 11/23. We had time to visit the Indian Culture Museum. It is dedicated to the 19 pueblo tribes in the Northwest New Mexico area. I was surprised to find some of the pueblos only had a few hundred people. The short stroll in Albuquerque's Old Town was not particularly interesting. They do have a very old church where a service was just finishing up. We heard a lot of foreign accents there.

The flight from Albuquerque to Houston was via a 737 (it was a regional jet coming over). We were surprised how much they could pack in: passengers and carry-on luggage kept coming in. Flight from Houston to Newark was a bit late, but we got home in good time.

Overall, it was a good trip. We were a bit overwhelmed by all the pueblos we saw on the trip. I was somewhat disappointed that there didn't seem to be a great effort to put the people in the area in context, though.

Chicago, October 31, 2008 to November 3, 2008.

We made a short trip to Chicago. It's a city I had wanted to visit (again) for quite a while, with its proximity to Lake Michigan, museums, and other attractions. We booked a trip (air + rental car) via lastminute.com

Friday 10/31/08. Newark-Chicago on United. Flight okay. Anne and I each had a row to ourselves. Stayed at La Quinta by O'hare.

Saturday 11/1/08. Art Institute of Chicago. I was looking forward to visit this place, with its claim of a large collection of impressionist paintings. Alas, they are building a new “modern wing” for the museum, and thus many of the pieces were in storage. I am sure some van Goghs were on loan to MoMA for the van Gogh “Colors of the Night” show (which I saw several weeks ago in NYC). Fortunately, there were still quite a few well-known pieces like Wood's American Gothic, Hopper's Nighthawk, and Seurat's A Sundady on La Grande Jatte (see below).




We had to wait for 45 minutes or so before we could get into the Shedd Aquarium. They certainly could have run a more efficient ticketing operation, but that would make the exhibit too crowded. I always look forward to aquarium visits but come away a bit disappointed; this was no exception. Surprisingly there was no obligatory shark tank, perhaps we missed it?

To round out the evening, we saw a performance of “The Damnation of Faust” by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Sunday 11/2/08. Walked to Navy Pier. Had a Chicago-style hot dog with pickle and chili pepper. Took the 1-hour architecture river cruise. The tour guide was quite informative (actually we got an information overload) as he talked about the history of the city, the different architecture styles, and some of the landmarks. Buildings we saw included the Sears Tower, the Trump Tower (still under construction), the Lyric Opera, and the Post Office. He also mentioned how the Chicago River was dammed so the polluted water would flow downstream (to St. Louis?) instead of into Lake Michigan. Indeed there are locks to control access to the Lake.

We took the Water Taxi from the Navy Pier to Shedd Aquarium (on Lake Michigan) to visit the Field Museum. We bought tickets for the Aztec exhibit. It was disappointing as I didn't walk away having any deeper understanding of the culture. I did learn the Aztecs empire lasted only 100 years or so. Other displays weren't all that great either. We did get to see Sue, the T. Rex skeleton unearthed in 1990. Another display indicated that out of the last 5 mass extinctions 3 were caused by global cooling and 2 by global warming (if I remember correctly). They are attributing the current mass extinction to man.

Dinner with Cornell friend Emily and her husband Wen at an all-you-can eat Sushi restaurant. We had a lot of food (14 rolls altogether). The food was great, especially when we first started. At about $16 per person, it was a bargain. Time well-spent with old friends.

Monday 11/3/08. Millennium Park. It is a short 15-minute walk from the Comfort Inn we stayed at. Park has many interesting architectural pieces such as the "egg" and the Gehry-designed outdoor concert hall.


The "Egg" (officially called the Cloud Gate) designed by Anish Kapoor.

Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio in Oak Park. Anne is much more of a fan of Wright than I am. All this integration with nature is a bit of after-the-fact rationalization as far as I am concerned. I still don't understand why he liked such enclosed spaces, and why the chairs tend to be so small. What's most memorable, though, is the smell of the rotten gingko fruits.

Flight Chicago to Newark. Upgraded to first class and got a free snack (yay!). We are joking we should plan a “Food Tour of Chicago” next time as there are quite a few attractive looking restaurants. As the tour guide said, every thing about Chicago is bigger. Bigger doesn't necessarily mean better though: CSO (compared to New York Philharmonic), Field (Museum of Natural History), Shedd (Baltimore), Art Institute (MoMA), and I can go on. Nonetheless, the trip was quite enjoyable overall.

Hong Kong, October 9 - 16, 2008.

Anne had a 10-day or so business trip to Beijing. Since I didn't want to go to Beijing, so I traveled by myself to Hong Kong.

10/9/08. EWR-HKG. Middle seat empty. Didn't sleep much, though. Hanged around the airport to have dinner so as not to disturb Tim during his radio show. Staying at his place this time, saving a bundle!

10/11/08. Saturday. Lunch with Johnny, Mamie, and Ka Shi. Had coffee with Johnny until 6 pm. Ate by myself. Noticed that many restaurants were quite empty on a Saturday night, probably a result ot the stock market turmoil.

10/12/08. Sunday. Went on Tim's boat to get to Lamma Island, together with Tim, Ling & Wally. Dinner at a chiu-chow restaurant in Kowloon City. I am generally not a fan of chiu-chow cuisine, but this was a nice meal.

10/13/08. Monday. Walked to North Point mid levels to look at the area. Turns out it's 200 steps up from King's Road to Tin Hau Temple Road, and another 300 plus to Cloud View Road. Tiring, but I'm glad I'm at least somewhat in shape for it. Pretty nice area, but not convenient to markets, restaurants, and transportation.

10/14/08. Tuesday. Lunch at Chiu Lau at 1 Peking Road with Alfred, Ling & Wally. Another chiu-chow restaurant, although they serve regular Cantonese dim sum for lunch.

10/15/08. Wednesday. Went on Tim's boat with Franklin and Theresa; we know Franklin from our Cornell days. They met up with Anne in Beijing this past Sunday. Sailed by Middle Island, Repulse Bay, Stanley where we stopped for coffee at Starbucks, Lamma Island and Bel-Air/Cyberport. Dinner at Vietnamese restaurant in Hopewell Center. A pleasant few hours spent with a nice couple.

10/16/08. Thursday. HKG-EWR. This turns out to be basically a 5-day trip. I wouldn't mind staying a few more days, but this is fine. I have the entire 3 seats on the window side, and not sure how to take advantage of the riches (I tend not to lie down to sleep). The plane is not as highly loaded as the seat maps a couple of days would indicate. Continental has two 777 configurations in their fleet, the newer version which I took EWR-HKG has more AC outlets and entertainment on demand; however, it has one fewer restroom and lines are noticeably longer. Can't have it both ways, I guess.

Michigan, September 13 – 16, 2008.

We were thinking of going to Florida this weekend, but decided to visit the Michigan Upper Peninsula instead. Anne suggested it, I was happy to go along. It was hurricane season for Florida anyway; turns out Ike managed to put somewhat of a damper on our trip anyway.

9/13/08. EWR-GRR via ORD, on United. Tight connection at ORD. Heavy rain in ORD, and we had to walk on the tarmac to get to the commuter plane; soaked our clothes. Our luggage was left in the rain for quite a while, and we ended up with soggy clothes.

Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes. Sand from last several ice ages. Moving dunes (well, that's what the guide book says). There is a steep walk from a dune to Lake Michigan 450 below which we didn't attempt. It looks scary going down, impossible coming back up. Helped someone in a wheelchair on our way back to the parking lot.


It's a 450-foot drop to the lake.

Stayed at Traverse City Quality Inn. They didn't say “high” quality for good reasons.

9/14/08. Crossed the Mackinac Bridge, which looks very slender due to it's length. Can't imagine what it would be like during the cold and severe winters of the region.


The Mackinac Bridge from a distance.

Soo Locks. Pretty impressive set of locks across the St. Mary Rapids joining Lakes Superior and Huron. Our tour boat went up the commercial lock and returned via the pleasure boat lock on the Canadian side, passing by a steel mill in Canadian Sault Ste Marie. Anne wanted to buy a little model boat saying Soo Locks on it, but the gift shop was closed when we returned.


Sault Ste Marie, Michigan. It's a ship going into the lock.


Our tour boat going into the Canadian lock.

Drove to the InterVaristy Cedarville campus. Anne spent a couple of weeks attending a training session at this remote location when she was an undergraduate student. I am sure the place hasn't changed all these years, although the place remains well-kept.


The InterVarsity Christian Fellowship campsite outside Cedarville.

Stayed at Mackinaw City Best Western Dockside. The pier next to the hotel is under construction. We didn't spend enough time in the room to enjoy the view. The buffet breakfast was good.

9/15/08. Woke up early to drive the 3 hours to Munising to catch the 10 am boat tour of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Tour was canceled due to rough seas. We stuck around the area to catch the 1 pm tour. Drove around the area, and had a Cornish pasty lunch at a roadside shop. There were quite a few people on the tour boat; at over $30 per person, this must be a profitable operation. Basically we were taken along the shore for 15 miles and back, with some narration along the way. I wasn't particularly impressed with the “pictures” which looked like the water stains that they are.


The lighthouse guiding boats to Munising. No longer in use.


The root hanging in between is how the tree gets its nutrients.


We managed to get back to Mackinaw City in time to catch a ferry to Mackinac Island. The first impression one get is “horse riding arena” because of the odor. Walked to the Grand Hotel which is not exactly welcoming of unregistered tourists. Had dinner at a dockside restaurant. Someone on a gurney was on the ferry going back to the City. I imagine the medical services on the island are inadequate if one is seriously ill.


Ferry to Mackinac Island. It's still quite bright at 6:30 pm or so.


One of the two lighthouses leading to the Mackinac Island Harbor.


Reflection of moon in harbor, Mackinac Island.

9/16/08. Drive back to GRR was over 4 hours. Anne had to get on a conference call; unfortunately there were areas without coverage. Drove 1000 miles in 4 days; saw 3 of the 5 great lakes. Flights back to EWR were pleasant.

Australia, August 7 – 19, 2008.

My mother was hospitalized in May. My sister Ruth, who takes care of mother, was a bit out of sorts. I thought I would visit her to give her whatever moral support I could. Turns out my other sister Ling will be visiting from Hong Kong at this time, so we can have a “mini-reunion” of some sort. Mother is now back home doing okay, but her health will continue to deteriorate.

Flights to Sydney. I managed to snag one of these “saver” awards on UA for 80,000 miles. I had to take the 3:25 pm JFK-SFO flight though. Anne dropped me off at Newark at noon, and I caught the Olympic Airporter to JFK. The trip wasn't that long since traffic was relatively light. Cost $25. However, I had to leave the house 4 hours before departure (with Newark it could be as little as 1.5 hours). The 757, configured as “premium service”, was packed.

Had a few hours lay-over in SFO. Had dinner at Fung Lam Restaurant and spent sometime in the Red Carpet Club. Bought the requisite boxes of See's Candy.

SFO-SYD flight quite empty in the Economy Plus section. I had one end of the middle row and a young lady had the other end. However, she was like the camel in the tent who eventually took over a good part of “my” empty seat. Even though I couldn't lie down with only 2 seats, I thought it was still impolite/inconsiderate on her part. Anyway, I slept a few hours (it's now about 4:30 am Sydney time, touch down in less than 2 hours).

So far (it's now Sunday 8/17 evening as I type this) Sydney has been cold, although after a few days I am getting a bit used to it. It has been sunny most of the time, rained only once so far. And it isn't that cold that I can't go out and jog. Last week I did 12 miles (3 separate runs), today I jogged another 4. (Measurements with my GPS.) I need to run because of the meals I've been having. Some of them are:

• Dinner at Alfred Tsang's place. His son, Toby, turned 2. (Saturday 8/9)
• Dinner (buffet) to celebrate Praise Evangel Free Church's ninth anniversary at Randwick (?) RSL. (Monday 8/11)
• Takeout dinner from Indonesian Restaurant. (Tuesday 8/12)
• Lunch at Dolphin Club in Maroubra, AUD 4 for Chicken Schnitzel and other dishes.
• Dinner at Zilver Restaurant.
• Lunch at Marigold Restaurnt. (Saturday 8/16)
• Dinner at Regal Restaurant. Ruth's birthday. (Saturday 8/16)
• Lunch at Fish Market Chinese Restaurant. (Sunday 8/17). We really wanted to eat “regular” fish market food, but the place was impossibly packed on weekends.
• Lunch at Blue Fin Restaurant at Darling Harbor.
• Lunch at Temasak Restaurant in Parramatta. (Thursday 8/14)
• Lunch at Jumbo Restaurant, Mandarin Centre, Chatswood, with Uncle Richard & Auntie Fanny. (Monday 8/18)
• Dinner at Seoul-Ria Restaurant in Chinatown. (Monday 8/18)

I am sure there are a few I missed, and there will be a few more before I leave Tuesday. (Some establishments in the list above added while I am enroute SYD-SFO.) Luckily I managed to jog a few times (16 miles in 4 separate runs), but I suspect my weight will be a disaster when I get home.

Whale Watching (Friday 8/15). Cost AUD 55. 57 passengers boarded this 60 or so foot long cat and went into the 6-foot swells on the Australia coast. We actually spotted two humpback whales soon after we left the Head. Probably a mother and a new born calf. They had this pattern of staying submerged for 7 to 8 minutes and then come up for air for a minute or so, blowing the tell-tale plumes. The boat tracked them for 40 or so minutes (more likely the other way around), down to Maroura Beach, before we headed back to Circular Quay.

Lunch with Uncle Richard & Auntie Fanny (Monday 8/18). Took bus to Circular Quay, then caught train to Chatswood. Uncle Richard just returned from Hong Kong a couple of days earlier. They looked good. Afterwards, took ferry to Watson's Bay, walked in the Gap Park which oversees Watson's Bay on one side and the Tasman Sea on the other, took bus to Rose Bay, ferry to CQ, then another ferry to Darling Harbor to meet up with Ruth, Steven, Susanna, Ling, and Wally for dinner at Seoul-Ria.

Enroute SYD-SFO (Tuesday 8/19). Plane had a couple of maintenance issues (we actually were ready for the take-off roll before we had to return to the gate) so we would arrive an hour or so late. I don't think I'll have problem with the connection – just a bit less time to eat. Economy Plus section is quite empty, I have the entire 4 seats in the middle, so don't have to worry about the “camel.”

Turns out the SFO-ORD flight was delayed and I barely made it to the ORD-EWR flight. Luggage didn't, though. One sad note, I learned through my niece that the whale calf was later abandoned by its mother, and had to be euthanized.

Hong Kong, June 12 – June 21, 2008.

June 12 (Thu). Flight from Newark was packed. 777 coach section has all of 5 washrooms, making the wait unbearably long. United seems to run a better long-haul business than CO, for short trips within US, CO is my preferred airline. Met up with Kuau and Ellie who had just cleared customs. Kuau's luggage didn't make it.

June 13 (Fri). Staying at Rosedale for the trip.

June 14 (Sat). Went to Shatin thinking we would be able to see a dragon boat race. Either we were mistaken or they were rained out; we saw some crew practice. Visited Heritage Museum and saw various exhibits. Followed by visit to Temple of 10,000 buddhas. Went up a cemetery by mistake before we took the narrow path to the temple. Quite different from when I visited as a kid, path lined by statues painted in golden colors. Dinner with Tim, Alfred, and Ling (and their families) at “Hung Sing” at the Forum was quite expensive.

June 15 (Sun). Went on Tim's boat and ate at Rainbow restaurant on Lamma Island.

June 16 (Mon). Took Central to Mid-Levels escalator. Visited Dr. Sun Museum; he went to the same high school I did. Then the Peak Tram to and from the Peak. Dinner at Country Club with the Koo's, Auntie Fannie & Uncle Richard.

(Back row) Larry, Justin, Uncle Richard, Larry Jr, Kuau, me
(Front row) Anne, Auntie Fanny, Elaine, Ellie

June 17 (Tue). Lunch with Ling & Wally. Coffee with Alfred. Dinner at Macau Restaurant (but called “Florinda” Restaurant in English).

June 18 (Wed). Went back to Shun Tak Center to book tour for Macau. Lunch with the Koos at Nadaman at the Shangri-la. Pretty good Japanese food; lunch was “inexpensive” at about US$30 per person. We seem to be having a lot of meals, though. Dinner with Tim and Alyson at Vietnamese Aroma.

June 19 (Thu). Day in Macau. Joined the “Macau Essence Tour” which brought us to the Macau Tower with its panoramic view of the city and Zhuhai, Macau Museum, A-Ma Temple where the Portuguese mistook the name of the temple for the name of the city, ruins of Saint Paul, and the Venetian casino. Not bad for less than HK$100, with admissions to the Tower and Museum included. Macau over the course of the last 10 years or so has transformed itself from a sleepy town next to the bustling Hong Kong into the gambling center of the East. For that it has sold its soul – it's now quite a seedy place. The government has done a good job retaining the historical colonial buildings, even though it is incapable of retaining the character of the city.

New Macau vs old Macau (top). We went inside the Venetian Casino.

June 20 (Fri). Lunch with Larry at Hong Kong Club. What started as a walk to get a soda took Anne & me across the harbor to the Avenue of the Stars and the 8 pm Symphony of Lights show. The sky was clear, and the night lights were bright, so the light show ended up being a bit of a let down.

June 21 (Sat). Plane was crowded on the trip back. Despite a delay to fix the cockpit door that wouldn't close, we got back in time to take the Yangs to the airport. Weather was hot and the heavy rains caused quite a few problems for the city, but air was clear most of the time.

Florida, May 28 – 30, 2008.

Stayed at La Quinta in Fort Myers. Visited Punta Gorda, Cape Coral and N. Fort Myers to look at some of the residential developments.

Did find time to join the "Banana Boat Company's" Eco-tour (aren't they all eco-tours nowadays?) Only other passengers were a young German family. Saw quite a few pods of dolphins.

Dolphins swimming next to the Tour boat.

Los Angeles, April 20 – 24, 2008.

Had a ticket which was going to expire soon, so flew out to visit my friends out in the LA area. Stayed 3 nights with the Laws, and one night with the Huis.

Visited LA Botanic Garden with the many peacocks, Getty Museum, Getty Estates, and hiked Wildwood Park which I visited quite often during the year I lived in Thousand Oaks. Dinner with the Wongs before we went to see “My Fair Lady.” Dinner with the Loons and the Waungs, who just had their house in an upscale part of town broken into. They were pretty calm about it.

Scenery along the Wildwood Park walk. The rock looks like a skull when the sun is at the right angle.

Peacocks in full display. They seemed to enjoy doing this even without any peahens presnet.

All in all a pleasant few days spent with good friends.

Florida, May 9 – 13, 2008.

Stayed at an apartment at Marina South in Cape Harbour. Met up with the Chius. Attended Sunday service at Park Alliance Church. Church led by David King, brother of Paul King whom we know from college.

Also visited a friend's building site in Lehigh Acres.

Fort Myers Beach.


City Marina, Fort Myers.

Washington DC, March 28 - 30, 2008

Took Amtrak, both trips, each lasting less than 2 1/2 hours, were quite uneventful. Per my GPS, the train was traveling at speeds of up to 120 mph.

Stayed at the George Hotel right by Union Station. A small hotel, reasonable rate. Area is a bit scary after dark.

Met up with Ruby & David, Eileen, Gary and their daughter Ashley. We knew Eileen and Gary from when we lived in Los Angeles.

Cherry Blossom festival. Caught the flowers at peak time. Gorgeous days to be walking in the groves. Much more crowded than last time we went (a couple of years ago).


DC is beautiful in the spring.

Saw Wagner's "The Flying Dutchman" at Kennedy Center.


Outside the Kennedy Center.

Hong Kong, March 6 - 17, 2008.

Some highlights.

Stayed at Rosedale. Ruth & Steven were visiting from Australia also.

Rode the Ngong Ping 360. It reopened recently after a falling accident about a year ago. Actually the system was stuck a couple of times after our trip. Things at the Village looked more normal, more tourists, more worshipers.

Dinner with Kashi, Ruby & David Law.


Elaine's prize-winning arrangement at the Floral Show. They moved the sign soon after this picture was taken.


Village of Tai Wan Tau, where I spent a lot of time as a child.

Australia, Feb 4 - Feb 14, 2008.

2/4-2/7. Travel to Australia. After over 40 hours since I left the house on Monday 4 pm, we are now finally about 5 hours from touching down at Sydney. This is now Thursday 2:30 am Sydney time, Wednesday 10:30 am New Jersey. Touchdown scheduled for 7 am. We knew UA95 had equipment problems and the original Newark to San Francisco flight was going to be arriving late for us to make the connection. So I left home a bit late. As I was driving to pick up Anne from work, I called United. The agent was kind enough to rebook us on Continental, leaving Newark at 6 pm (same schedule as the UA flight) and showing on-time departure. So we put the car at the EWR daily lot (costing $10 more per day), got to the Terminal A to get the CO tickets, and then to Terminal C to check in. Good thing Anne has a gold card so the process at CO was quite straightforward. CO348 left the gate on time and was moving along the queue when the pilot came on and said we had to return to the gate. The pilot then said someone was sick and needed to get off the plane. Two Port Authority police officers came on and talked to a woman. They left, and a red jacketed guy came in and the woman finally left with him. They then changed the seat cushion. We actually didn't see any commotion during the taxi, and since this all happened a few rows behind us, we are not sure exactly what was going on. The upshot is we ended up getting in SFO at about 10:45 pm and missed the SFO-SYD flight. And instead of 2 Economy Plus aisle seats we got stuck in two middle seats. I did have some interesting conversation with my neighbors, someone who works with an Israeli company, and someone who used to live in South Amboy. After we deplaned, we were met by an agent who took us to the UA terminal. The first UA agent we talked to handed us a couple of coupons and told us they rebooked us on Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong. A rather ridiculous proposition, but evidently is done. She said she wasn't sure what all the booking code meant, so while Anne waited for the agent who knew, I called UA on the phone and found out (i) that was a UA request on CX which CX couldn't accommodate anyway; and (ii) all flights were sold out through Feb 15. The “knowledgeable” agent confirmed all this, and put us on the waitlist for Tuesday night's flight. Getting vouchers for hotel and meals was straightforward. We took the hotel bus (after a rather long wait) and checked into Embassy Suites Burlingame. Tuesday was mostly phone calls and waiting around. Johnny came to the hotel and we had lunch together, which was nice. We got to the airport at around 4 pm, the agent we talked to, Ivan, was most helpful. He put us on the standby list, and said it looked like the flight from JFK wouldn't make it on time, and some seats would thus be freed up. (I guess with an overbooking situation, one's well being may indeed hinge one someone else's misfortune.) The waiting area was chaotic. The CSRs were calling people who had not shown them proper documentation, tagging baby strollers, trying to assign seats to those with confirmations but no seat assignments. Meanwhile I kept calling UA on the phone to check on Flight 17's progress (the one from JFK). Our names were finally called, the seats were 8H and 25B – in the business class section! After some musical chair playing, Anne and I are sitting next to each other. We were quite exhausted and slept for quite a few hours. Anne could always do that without much problem most of the time. In any case, I would still have liked to get there on time, but this is at least some consolation.

2/7 (Thursday). Plane got in on time. Line at passport control was surprising short. Luggage, as suspected, didn't make it. We decided not to wait until the very last piece came out, and it got delivered to my sister's place the following afternoon, instead of before noon as they promised. The shoebox I used to store the two bottles of wine broke, and one bottle hit the tile floor but luckily didn't break. Saw opera Carmen in the evening with Tim, Alyson, Steve and Ruth. Quite enjoyable, even if this must be the 4^th time I saw it. Had quick dinner at Pancakes on the Rocks Restaurant at Harbourside, Darling Harbour. Hotel is Meriton World Tower. Nice 1-bedroom apartment with nice views, costing about $200 per night, prepaid through Wotif.com.

2/8 (Friday). Chartered a small fishing boat (20' Arvor, 85 hp) for the day. Tim, Alyson, Anne and I went, although Anne didn't fish. Anchored at several bays and tried our luck. Altogether caught about 18 fish (I caught 2), many rather small, but all nice looking, except for the flathead which managed to hurt both Tim and me. For lunch tied up at Fish Market and met up with Ruth and Steve for lunch. Many Chinese tour groups making the place even more congested than usual. Ate at Doyle's, food was better than expected, but service was very slow. Afternoon's fishing marred by fouling the propeller on buoy lines in Watson's Bay. Help from boat rental company came rather quickly, the guy dived in and untangled the line. Charged AU$ 100, not cheap, but not unreasonable either.

Fishing off the Arvor 20.

2/9 (Saturday). Taxi to airport took 15 minutes and meter read $20.55, faster and cheaper than we expected. Virgin Blue is quite efficient. Plane ticket to Hobart not cheap at about US$330 per ticket (including all taxes) but airline still nickeled and dimed its passengers with $3 sodas charged to credit cards. Checked out a Hyundai Elantra from Hertz Rental and got on the River's Run Trail. Stopped at New Norfolk for lunch, these small Australian towns are indeed very small. Bought some nectarines and apples at country store, very small fruits but tasted quite good. Salmon Ponds Trout Museum has a collection of ponds with different trouts, water a bit dark to see the fish clearly. Exceptions are the white (albino) trouts. Wildlife Park has collection of Tasmanian devils, koalas, eastern quolls, wombats, and the obligatory wallabies and kangaroos. Didn't see the 85%-sighting probability platypus. Stopped at most of the scenic sights in Mt. Field National Park, driving on gravelly and winding road; got as far as Lake Dobson. Tall Trees Walk and Russell Falls are quite interesting. Didn't know eucalyptus trees could grow that tall (about 70 meters). Hotel: Somerset Hobart right on a pier overlooking a marina. Didn't have enough parking spaces, and we found out the next day they didn't clean their rooms on Sundays either. Dinner at local restaurants, very nice fish and chips. Trevalla is a nice-eating fish.

In front of Lake Dobson, Tasmania.

View from our Room in Somerset Hotel, Hobart.

2/10 (Sunday). Drive to Port Arthur is about 100 km each way. Surprised at the number of people there. Quite well preserved penal colony. Cruised by Isle of the Dead and Puer point. Memorial to 35 killed by gunman about 10 years ago – don't recall seeing that in the news. For the afternoon, took an eco-friendly cruise. The cruise is interesting, but calling it eco-friendly may be a stretch. A 50+ foot long RIB with about 30 tourists. Tour guide/driver drove the boat fast, threading many gaps in 6-foot swells. Windy and cold. Interesting and informative though. Interesting geology. Bait fish chased by pink mackerels (if I remember correctly), fur seals, different birds. Interesting locations include totem pole, candlestick, devil's kitchen, blow hole, and the Tasmanian Bridge. Cost $100 per person, but they must have burned a few hundred dollars' worth of gas. Drove back to Eaglehawk Neck to get the Fish and Chips, which was highly recommended by a tourist from the area. Trevalla fish tasted very good.

Port Arthur, Tasmania.

Boarding the RIB for the Eco-Cruise.

Rugged Southeast Tasmania Coastline.

Are we going into this cave?

2/11 (Monday). Drove up to Mt. Wellington at 1200 or so meters. Great view of Hobart and surrounding areas. Drove along the Huon trail. Bought a bag of apples at a road side “honesty” stand for $2. Small but very tasty. Passed by the Wooden Boat Center and the Apple Museum, didn't go in. Then drove by the Tall Trees Heritage Center, and then part way towards the Tall Trees Walk, didn't have time to go on, so turned around after stopping at a couple of intermediate locations. It takes about 25 years for the trees to reach the harvest stage, and we saw a grove of trees at about 10 years. Flight back to Sydney was uneventful. Altogether we put about 500 km on the rental car. Stayed at Meriton Pitt, not as nice as the World Tower, and not much cheaper.

Looking at Hobart from Mt. Wellington.

2/12 (Tuesday). We bareboat-chartered a Hunter 36 sailboat for the day (9:30 am – 5:30 pm). Forecast was a bit windy at 15 knots. Morning was calmer, so we hoisted the sails at Farm Cove. I took a few lessons before, Tim and Alfred used to sail the harbor many years ago, so we managed to sail the boat to Manly without too much trouble. Took more than 2 hours though. Motored back to Fish Market and had lunch with Ruth and Steven. Good thing many kind strangers came to help us pull the boat in. Fished at the Taronga Park Zoo for a while. Rain came and got us all wet. All in all a pleasant day, except got a bit of sunburn on my head. Dinner at Regal Restaurant on Sussex Street.

It's hard work, trimming the sails.

The four sailors. Used garbage can as camera stand.

2/13 (Wednesday). Not much happening. Lunch at Zilver Restaurant before Tim and Alyson returned to Hong Kong. Dinner at Korean Restaurant (Seoul-Ria).

2/14 (Thursday). Didn't realize we needed to check out by 10 am (a bit early for me). In any case, Anne got in touch with Uncle Richard and Auntie Fannie, so we met up with them for coffee in Chatswood. It's then shower at Ruth's and to the airport. Our plane (we're about 30 minutes into the flight as I type this) is late, so we probably won't be able to catch the last day flight (non-stop) to Newark. Our flight to Newark was for 10:30 pm, so we checked into the Red Roof Inn and got a few hours sleep.

United Kingdom, January 17 - 21, 2008

Thursday (1/17). Coach section in morning flight was practically empty, perhaps fewer than 40 passengers. The most important factor in a pleasant flight is an empty seat next to you: no problems today. Towards the end of the flight, pilot announced there was only one runway in use, and after we landed, he was referring to an incident resulting in severe gridlock on the tarmac. We still got to our gate pretty fast, customs was also quite empty. Took less than 90 minutes between landing and knocking on Anne's door. Turns out the cause of the delay was the Beijing to London flight which lost power to both Boeing 777 Rolls-Royce engines; pilot landed on the lawn, 13 people were hurt during the evacuation – could have been a huge disaster. Hotel was Millennium Grosvenor Square (Mayfair), notorious for where the Russian spy was poisoned with radiation.

Friday (1/18). Went to see the National Geographic King Tut exhibit at O2 (which used to be called the Millennium dome). We had no trouble getting admissions tickets (GP20 per person). There were 130 articfacts from King Tut's tomb. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I didn't find the exhibition particularly impressive, nor was it that informative. A good exhibit would have the audience leave with a much greater understanding of the subject. I did learn how the name Tut-ankh-amum came about, and learned a few facts about the Pharoh. But beyond that, not much. I would like to know why the find was significant (beyond the fact that it was intact), and did Tut's reforms (he “un-united” the religion, which his father united at great social cost) help or hurt Egypt? We didn't even get to see the mask that is so much associated with Tut – at least have a replica, rather than just sell tiny trinkets in the shop. Stayed at the Shaftesbury Premier London Paddington close to the train station. Area quite nice, but room was very small.

Concert at St. Martin-in-the Fields. Concert of Baroque (mostly) chamber music by the Belmont Ensemble of London. I will write about this in my music blog. The church is one of the oldest in London, and is right next to Trafalgar Square. It is under renovation.

Saturday (1/19). Stopped by the British Museum and got tickets for 10:10 pm entrance to “The First Emperor” Exhibit. They have 500 same-day tickets on sale every day, a good thing we didn't get there too late. Toured the Egyptian halls where the collection (which one could view for free) is much more impressive than the King Tut one we saw yesterday.

Temple Church. Not too many people knew about this church until it was part of the plot in the book “Da Vinci Code.” It turns out the Temple was running an open house to commerorate the 400^th anniversary of their charter (I think). The inner and intermediate temples are training schools for barristers, and the Temple Church is a functional church. The Master (Vicar) gave a short talk on the history, which started when the Knights Templer were protecting crusaders in the 12^th century. In the round church there are several effigies of knights and a couple of royalties (Dukes of Pembroke) who died in the early 13^th century.

Inside the Temple Church. These guys have been buried for centuries.

“A Lil Beethoven” at Royal Festival Hall. See music blog.

British Museum: “The Last Emperor.” This is touted as the biggest exhibit of terra cotta statues outside of China. It may well be; but it is puny compared to the display in Xian, China, which I saw quite a few years ago. I think there are 15 or so statues in the display. They do provide a much better context of what one is seeing; of course I have found Chinese museums to have placards for the displays that tell you absolutely nothing. E.g., the would put the word “vase” in front of a vase (well, at least I find it just about that informative.) People seem to know where the tomb of Emperor Qin is but don't think the government will grant permission to dig. This sort of sensitivity escapes me, especially for someone who lived 3000 years ago. A few tidbits I didn't know: Qin unified the written language and the characters haven't changed all that much during the years; the terra cotta soldiers were between 6' and 6'10” tall, and thus taller than the actualy people at that time. I had always thought they were ¾ size. Being able to get close and see the impressive details was quite interesting, though.

Outside the British Museum.

Sunday (1/20). We took the 11 am train from Charing Cross to Dover to see the Castle. It was about a 30 minute walk from the train station to the Castle entrance, quite a bit of that uphill. We spent altogether about 3 hours at the Castle. Dover is situated at the Eastern end of England, and has always been a main defense point (up through the cold war). The oldest structure in the Castle is a lighthouse (Pharos) during the Roman times. Now it is inhabited by pigeons (including a few dead ones). It is still impressive after a couple of thousand years. Next to it is a church (Castro) which is still in use. The medieval tunnels are quite impressive, it is like a maze, I am surprised tourists don't get lost in there. The keep was built in the 12^th century, it is an impressive and imposing building. The 12-minute “1216 siege” illustrated how the Burgh fended off Prince John of France. We joined the 1-hour tour of the World War II tunnels with its annexe, bastien (?), casemate, dumpy, esplanade, etc, quite informative. In 10 days or so 340,000 soldiers were evacuated from Dunkirk. I can't imagine the logistics associated with this, and how the arriving soldiers must have overwhelmed the small town. Had we had more time, I am sure we would have enjoyed a hike along the white cliffs, which we caught glimpses of every now and then. It was windy, though. Forecast said 35 mph. The seas beyond the breakwaters looked pretty angry. However, the rain never came. Indeed for most of the trip it didn't rain while we were out and about – perhaps a light drizzle here or there.

Glimpses of the white cliffs of Dover next to the harbor.


Inside the Dover Castle. The Castro (church) and Pharos (lighthouse).

I am typing this on our way back. Anne probably is sleeping in business class while I am crunched up here typing in coach. I do have an empty seat next to me though. Except for moderate turbulence, so far so good.