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.
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