Hong Kong. October 21 – November 3, 2015.

In some sense this is not a pleasure trip.  Our main objective is to attend a “Celebrate Hope” event scheduled for 10/30, and also to visit a couple more charitable organizations.  Anne also has some family matter to attend to.

October 21.  Yee and HK are on the same flight with us, and suggested that we ride up together.  Anne and I had checked in online, and got TSA pre-check, they had neither.  We got through security more than 30 minutes before they did.  So pre-check helps, and now they want to charge for it, warning us frequent flyers that we soon have to enroll.  Okay, I got that gripe in.  That meant Y and HK could only stay in the lounge for about 30 minutes before we had to go to the gate.  This is a packed plane, with maybe five empty seats (per Seat Map), and neither Anne nor I had an empty seat next to us.

Boarding was smooth, but we were late pushing off the gate, and took off about 40 minutes behind schedule.  I accept delays as part of air traffic life, but would appreciate some explanation; I can’t imagine the pilots are so busy up front to say something like “we have a long line of planes waiting for takeoff, our wheels up time will be 3:55 pm.”  The other thing is they managed to make the dinner trays even smaller; they are now about 2/3 the original size, and dessert is the ice cream they used to serve as a mid-flight snack.  I do wonder if they will now skip that service; it wasn’t mentioned in the announcement.  Of course the airfare was less than $800 per person, so the complaint has to be with the right perspective.

I don't expect gourmet meals flying economy.  Nonetheless, the meals on got on the flight (and on the return flight) were downright comedic.  Good thing we brought along snacks.

Thursday October 22.  Plane arrived about 30 minutes behind schedule.  Airport wasn’t particularly crowded.  The Maxim Restaurant is now Tai Hing, and we ate something there before taking a taxi to Tai Po.  It was about 10 pm when we got in.

Accommodations.  Tai Po House during the trip.

The Tai Po House is a bit far from downtown Hong Kong, but is a nice quiet place to stay.  This is the backyard.

Friday October 23.  Met up with Mamie, a friend from college, at Ngau Tau Kok MTR station to head out to Media Evangelism for a meeting on their work in Nepal.  We talked to ME for about two hours.  Mamie, Anne, and I then looked for a place to have lunch – many restaurants were quite crowded during lunch time.  Found a small eatery and chatted for a while.  After which Anne went to her sister’s house for some family matter, and I dropped off my phone at the HTC Service Center.  What I thought was a cracked screen turned out to be only a cracked plastic cover, but I still left the phone for them to fix a stuck switch.  Purchased tickets for tomorrow’s concert at City Hall, then took bus to Country Club to meet up with others for dinner.

Saturday October 24.  Anne and I walked to Wan Tau Tong for breakfast, and brought some food back for Ruth and Stephen.  After Tim and Whitney showed up at around 1 pm, we all headed out to Tai Po Market for an early afternoon snack.  Anne stayed behind to work on her grant project, so we brought something back for her.  Dinner was home-cooked meal.  Anne and I then headed to the Cultural Center for a Hong Kong Philharmonic concert.  It was about 11;30 pm when we got back to Tai Po.

Hong Kong Philharmonic concert.

Sunday October 25.  Morning boat ride on Tim’s boat to Stanley where Anne and Ruth picked up some trinkets, lunch at Chung’s Restaurant in Stanley.  After we got back to Tai Po, Tim and I went for a short (3-mile) hike.  Dinner at one of Hong Kong’s many “private kitchens,” this one located in an industrial area of the Fo Tan district.

At Stanley.

 Menu at the Fo Tan Private Kitchen.

 Duck stuffed with sweet rice.

Inside this pig's stomach is a chicken.

Monday October 26.  Spent morning in Tai Po Center so Ruth could help with some family matter.  Lunch in restaurant at center.  Took bus to town to have coffee with Elaine, someone we had known for more than 30 years.  Anne went back to Tai Po as I stopped to have coffee with Alfred in Mongkok.

We have known Elaine since the 1980s.  Happy to meet up with her in Hong Kong.  This is taken at the World Trade Center in Causeway Bay.  The Agnes b charges a lot for coffee, the upside is we could find seats.

Tuesday October 27.  Met up with Tony W in Admiralty to talk about the work he does in China.  Lunch at “Belgian” restaurant Frites in Sheung Wan with Nathan and KS about Hope matters.  Went to Cultural Center to buy tickets for (yet) another concert, this time performed by the Korea National Opera.  Met up with Howard, who also happens to be in town, to go to Regal Kowloon where a group of alumni from my high school meet on a regular basis.  About 12 people, and I recognized only a couple of them.

A group of "old boys" from my class meet up regularly.  This was the first time I joined them.

Wednesday October 28.  Had dim sum in Kowloon City with Leungs.  Then met up with Anne in Sheung Wan to collect business cards we ordered yesterday – to my chagrin there was a mistake, we decided to take them since we didn’t want to go back.  So much for the legendary Hong Kong efficiency.  Then it was to HK Club to have tea with Anne’s sister.  Took 307 home, and brought take-out food to Tai Po house for dinner with Ruth.

Thursday October 29.  Spent the morning preparing for talk at tomorrow’s event.  Then went to Fairwood in Wan Tau Tong for a quick lunch.  Met up with an old high school classmate at the Tai Po MTR station – his daughter had requested that I give a talk to her students (she teaches at the same school.)  Went to Hyatt Shatin to have dinner with Howard, who went to the same high school and college as us.

Howard and his wife Ruby graduated from Cornell the same year Anne and I did.  They have lived in New Jersey for about 20 years.  I have only seen them in Hong Kong.

Friday October 30.  After going to the Taipo MTR to have dim sum with Ruth and Stephen, Anne and I went back to the house so we can work on various “business” issues.  We went to The Vine Church at a little after 6 pm, and saw that the preparation for the “Celebrate Hope” event was well underway.  We chatted a bit with others after the event, and grabbed a snack before we got back to Tai Po at close to 11:30 pm.

Saturday October 31.  A late lunch with Kenneth and Anna, followed by an early (light) dinner with Chris, Nathan, and Sharon.  Attended the opera “Soul Mate” performed by the Korea National Opera and Hong Kong Philharmonic.

This is the new Government building in Admiralty.  Somehow I missed its construction phase.

Curtain call, Soul Mate.  Performance by Korea National Opera and Hong Kong Philharmonic.

Sunday November 1.  Anne and I both had a few things to attend to, so we skipped the boatride with Tim.  That didn’t mean we couldn’t find time to grab lunch in town.  After attending a concert by the Taiwan Philharmonic at the Cultural Center, we stopped by Shatin before dinner at the “Royal Kitchen” with Tim, Whitney, Ruth and Stephen.

 Poster outside concert hall for the Taiwan Philharmonic concert.  Attendance was disappointing.

Taken inside the Taipo Royal Kitchen.

Monday November 2.  Dim sum lunch with Kimmey and Windy Chan before heading off to DBS to talk to a couple of classes.  Dinner at the seafood restaurant in Tai Po MTR station with Ruth and Stephen.  Then it was back to the house to pack.

 I had a chance to meet with DBS Grade 12 students.

 Grade 11.

Taken in the Headmaster's Office.

Tuesday November 3.  Mr. Tsang picked us up at 8:30 for our trip to the airport.  We are about 3 hours into the flight.  With an empty seat next to me, I have no complaints.  (Anne is in a different row, also with an empty seat.)  They indeed have cut down on their meal service, and now we have an option to purchase a midflight snack.

Ohio and Pennsylvania, September 24 – 29, 2015.

I came up with the idea of hitting three Midwest cities for three different concerts: Cleveland Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, and Cincinnati Symphony.  I have slight familiarity with all of these orchestras, yet I haven’t seen them on their own turf.  This past summer I went to Lincoln Center to listen to Cleveland Orchestra twice, and enjoyed both concerts; the last Music Director of New York Philharmonic, Lorin Maazel, went to University of Pittsburgh and had a stint as PSO’s conductor early in his career (he also led the Cleveland Orchestra for a few years); Louis Langree, who leads the Cincinnati Symphony, is a regular at Mostly Mozart Festival.

The airfare was quite inexpensive at $170 or so per person, roundtrip.  Since we thought we should stay in hotels close to the concert venues if possible, we picked a couple of downtown hotels which were more expensive than we would like.

Thursday 9/24.  Our flight at 8:10 am meant getting up quite early for me.  The flight was smooth.  For some reason, the least expensive rental car from Alamo was an intermediate SUV; the Ford Escape is actually quite large, and quite nice to drive.

We got in town early enough to catch a lunch cruise on Lake Erie.  While I enjoy boat rides, I had to conclude “not much is happening” in town.  The skyline is simple: Key Building, Tower, Science Center; and the stadium (Cleveland Browns) dominates.

We are staying in the Case Western Reserve University area, and managed a short nap after we checked in.  We weren’t in the mood for a fancy dinner, so we stopped by Qdoba before heading out to Severance Hall for the concert.

After the concert we stopped by the student center, looking for something to eat.  The place was open, but all the eateries were closed.  It was before 11 pm, in a college town at that.

Hotel: Glidden House, Cleveland.  (Glidden of Glidden paint, used to be his house.)

 On the Nautica Queen, with Cleveland in the background.  Notice the First Energy Stadium, home of Cleveland Browns.

 Selfie in front of Severance Hall.

Curtain call after the Cleveland Orchestra concert.  Notice how deep the stage is.

Friday 9/25.  We checked out after having breakfast, and left our car in the hotel parking lot to walk to the Museum of Art.  One certainly can’t argue with the price: free.

We actually enjoyed our visit.  While there are not many “masters” (classical, impressionist, modern), there were many done by artists that learned from the masters, and could be mistaken as work done by them.  It occurred to me if one could find the time, staying in Cleveland for a while to go to museums, take some classes, and listen to CO concerts may be a good idea; and it won’t be an expensive proposition.  Anne brought me back to earth by saying we could do similar things around where we live.

 The outside of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

 The inside of the Museum is also well-designed.

This work by American painter Hassam is perhaps inspired by Monet's "Bastille Day."

 This is a real Degas.

 The Frank Gehry-designed Peter B. Lewis Building for Management, Case Western Reserve.

After lunch in the Museum cafeteria, we headed to Pittsburg.

Downtown Pittsburgh is not nearly as attractive as Uptown Cleveland (where University Circle and surrounding areas are called.)  We walked a little after checking in.  Across the Allegheny River is Pirates Stadium, with a huge sculpture of Roberto Clemente in front.

There are quite a few restaurants near the hotel, many ethnic.  We ate at Indian Palace before attending a concert by Pittsburgh Symphony at Heinz Hall.

 Heniz Hall, home of Pittsburg Symphony.

 Inside of Heniz Hall.

 Pittsburgh is at the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers. Many bridges crisscross these rivers.

Our hotel is the building with a big hole, to the left of the Roberto Clemente Bridge.

Hotel: Renaissance, Pittsburgh.

Saturday 9/26.  The Duquesne Incline was built to transport workers down to the river, about 400 feet below.  It is now a tourist attraction.  While I am sure it is safe, it looks quite rickety.  Cars are kept level by a platform, so one doesn’t feel the incline, as in the case of Hong Kong Peak Tram.

 The Duquesne Incline has been around for quite a while.  It is now a tourist attraction.

 View of Pittsburgh from the top of the Incline.

Panoramic view of the area.

Cincinnati is about 300 miles away, and the trip took longer because of construction around Pittsburgh.  The PA, WV and OH countryside looked okay, and the couple of rest areas we passed by were quite new.

We got to hotel at around 5 pm, left at 5:30 pm.  Stopped by Panera Bread for quick dinner to make the pre-concert at 7 pm.  Parking was cheap ($5, regular day only $2).  Area around concert hall is being gentrified, with many restaurants, but a few more blocks north (on way to hotel) many buildings were boarded up.

The Cincinnati Music Hall is a large venue for classical music, with great acoustics.

We had McDonalds after the concert; it was doing great business with 2 drive-through lines.

Hotel: Kingsgate Marriott at University of Cincinnati. Upgraded to junior suite.

Sunday 9/27.  Anne read about this small eatery called Cheapside, and we had breakfast/brunch there: chorizo/egg sandwich, and pecan French toast.  Afterwards we drove to water front of Cincy, crossed over to KY side (Newport), parked the car, and walked across bridge back to OH.  Both the Bengals and Reds stadiums are located in this area.  Many areas of new development; we joked it is where “those people” live.  Relatively inexpensive (2BR/2B goes for about $1500/month rent), with river view.

Stopped by Audubon Bird Sanctuary, wrong season/time of day to see too many birds.

Drove to Columbus, ate at “Hot Chicken Takeover,” chose “warm” spiciness.  Bought some pulled pork and beans for dinner to eat in hotel room.

  

 Cheapside Cafe in Cincinnati.

 Audubon Bird Sanctuary in Cincinnati.  Not too many birds to see for the casual observer.

 Cincinnati skyline as viewed across the Ohio River from Kentucky.

Hot Chicken Takeover is located in the North Market of Columbus.  We got here just before the place closed for the day.

Hotel: Hampton Inn Columbus/Polaris.

Monday 9/28.  Left hotel at around 10:30 am, drove about 1:30 hrs to The Rail – Akron, highly rated at one of the review websites.  We had sliders, Bon Fire Burger, and Naked Burger; they were quite good.

Drove by Cuyahoga Falls (the City).  Big Falls dammed up, small falls indeed small.  Pleasant town, though.

Spent some time in Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  Visitor’s Center.  Brandywine Falls.  Ohio Erie Canal lock.  Beaver Marsh.  A couple of short walks.  It’s been dry, so not much water in falls.

 The Rail in Akron, Ohio serves up some interesting burgers.

 Possibly (what's left of the) Cuyahoga Falls.  We didn't walk along the entire river to see if there is another fall.  (There is one that's dammed up.)

 Brandywine Falls.

A heron on the Ohio & Erie Canalway.

Left a little before 6:30pm.  Quick meal at Bob Evans, Facetime with granddaughter, and then a conference call.

Hotel: La Quinta, Independence.

Tuesday 9/29.  We decided to check out one of the outlying islands in Lake Erie.  The one that’s easiest to get to is Kelley’s Island, a short 20 minute ride from Lakeside Marblehead on the mainland.  We parked our car at the Ferry parking lot and boarded with a couple of other pedestrian passengers and a few cars.  The island has about 300 year-round residents, and today it felt there were fewer.  Not too many places were open for lunch, and we had simple meals at Village Pump.  After returning to the mainland (the return trip saw many more vehicles and passengers), we got to the airport for our return flight to Newark.

The Shirley Irene took us from the mainland to Kelley's Island.

Maine, September 11 – 15, 2015.

We came up to Boston earlier in the week to help with the grandchildren, and came up together to Portland.  Joe Jr and family will return to Boston on Sunday, Anne and I plan to drive up to the Boothbay Harbor region to spend a couple of extra days.

Friday September 11.  Jr got off work after lunch, and we drove up in two separate cars as the group consists of six people, and in any case we will not be going back together.

We met up at Eventide Oysters Company for a “snack”.  The food is quite good, a bit on the expensive side.  Among other dishes, we ordered 18 raw oysters, all from Darmariscotta (about an hour north).  I ate three, and Joe and Jess had the rest between the two of them; Anne is not into raw oysters.

With small children in tow, we decided to hit a “kid-friendly” restaurant early, at 5 pm.  Slab serves these 1-lb slices of pizza, we ordered one and several wedges.  It was a hearty dinner.  It was then time to say goodbye to them and we checked in at our hotel, less than 15 minutes away and at less than ½ the price.  (We used our hotels.com reward nights which covered most of the cost anyway.)

Emmie, Harrison and Joe Jr in Eventide Oyster Company, Portland.

Anne and I looking over the menu.

 The Lobster Stew has an Asian flavor to it.

A dozen oysters harvested from the Damariscotta River, we ordered another half dozen after this.  No, Emmie didn't eat any.

 Slab Restaurant serves up pound-sized slabs and other fare.

Hotel: Howard Johnson South Portland, 2 nights.

Saturday September 12.  Jr took Emmie to the Children’s Museum in the morning while Jess stayed with DN.  Anne and I caught a ferry to Peaks Island (less than 20 minutes each way).  Two cruise ships were in port (from RCL and NCL), and between the two of them there must be six thousand or so passengers and crew, so there were lots of people walking the streets along the waterfront.  The ride to Peaks Island was pleasant, and we had great weather for it.

Emmie enjoying breakfast at Hyatt Place, Portland.

Upon our return, we went to the narrow gauge railroad terminal to catch up with Jr’s family.  This was actually a working train; it was decommissioned in the 1940s and later restored as a tourist attraction.  The noise drowned out a lot of the narration, but some tidbits did get through: when the train was decommissioned, soldiers were barracked on Mackworth Island so they could not dessert, Maine sent a lot of soldiers to the civil war, and that there are even narrower gauge railways (2-ft instead of 3.)  It was an enjoyable ride, but the one who enjoyed it the most was Emmie.

Narrow Gauge Railroad.

Two large cruise ships were in port.

One reason Emmie enjoys visits to Whole Food Markets.

b.good burger sources from local farmers.

We called in a take-out order at Portland Lobster Company, a small building on the waterfront doing great business, and ate in the breakfast area of the Hyatt.  While the parents were getting the young children to nap, Anne and I walked around the area, stopping by Standard Bakery for coffee and pastry.  We also moved our cars due to the 2-hour parking limit rule.  Jr and Jess had a dinner reservation at 5 pm, so Anne and I had babysitting duty for a couple of hours.  We took them to a nearby Whole Foods so Emmie could get her dinner, DN was on his usual good behavior.  It was about 7:30 pm that we left the Hyatt.  Anne and I stopped by the b.good restaurant and had burgers made from locally sourced food.

Food turns out to be a big part of this trip.  The Standard Baking Company is a rather well-known place for bread and pastries.  A nice place for a coffee break.

 We had quite a few lobster rolls while in Maine.  These are from Bite Into Maine, a food truck at Fort Williams Park.

 This lobster roll was served up at Erica's Seafood located at the end of Harpswell.

Lobster roll in a steamed bun, Eventide Oyster Co., Portland.

 Lobster Roll from Red's Eats.  It contained the largest amount of lobster meat.  While the reviews are mixed, we enjoyed it.  We also ordered fried shrimp and fried clams.

Just for good measure, we ordered a lobster roll from D'Angelo at the Charlton Plaza on the Mass Pike on the way home.  It may not be as "meaty" as the other rolls, but hey, it is a real lobster roll.

Menu at Lobster Dock in Boothbay Harbor, we had steak and scallops and enjoyed the break from lobsters.  A tour bus brought 40 guests in just when we were about done.

Sunday September 13.  We met up with Jr and family at the Portland Head Lighthouse Park (technically called Fort Williams.)  After walking around the grounds and taking in a few pictures, we all congregated at the “Bite into Maine” truck and ordered various types of lobster rolls (Indian, Connecticut, picnic, and others) and ate at the picnic tables set up in the area.  Jr then set off to return to Boston, hoping to beat the weekend traffic, and Anne and I set out to drive further north.

Iconic image of the Portland Head Lighthouse.

Once you are told about these domestic apple trees, you realize they are all over this part of the state.  No, Emmie didn't eat this apple.

In this part of the states there are many “peninsula” (for lack of a better word) formations that run in a SW to NE direction.  We picked one of them – it’s endpoint being called “Land’s End” certainly made it interesting – driving through Brunswick (home of Bowdoin College), Harpswell, Orr’s Island, and Bailey Island.  We stopped for lunch at Morse’s Cribstone Grill, next to a cribstone bridge that is supposed to be the only one of its kind in the world.  Other places of interest included Devil’s Back, where we went on a hike and couldn’t see why it was named thus; Mackerel Cove with one of the many beautiful harbors we would encounter during our trip; Giant's Footsteps; and Land’s End, to me notable not so much for its location as for a grove of poison ivy with a sign advertising a natural remedy sold at the gift shop.

Mackerel Cove on Bailey Island, a typical hamlet along the mid-coast.

Boothbay Harbor surprises by being quite a large village, with many hotels and several cruise operators.  We got upgraded to a harbor view room, which is nice.  Our hotel is located on the eastern side of the harbor, and there is a foot-bridge (built in 1902, hopefully refurbished since) that makes it a short walk to the western side, where many restaurants are located.

We had dinner at Boathouse Bistro.  Food is good, we shared several tapas and a lobster tail, and, as we will find out throughout the trip, reasonably priced.

This house next to the footbridge over the harbor is for sale at $695,000.  The footbridge was built in 1902, and the house a couple of years after that.  While it must have been refurbished quite a few times, it's still a handyman's special.

Hotel: Boothbay Harbor Inn, 2 nights.

Monday September 14.  Anne had a phone meeting until around 10 am, so I walked to the western shore again and bought two Balmy Days cruise tickets for the morning.  This is basically a ferry run to Squirrel Island with limited narration, lasting an hour.  It was a nice morning to spend on the water, and our jackets came in handy as it was quite chilly.  After that we decided to tackle Red’s Eat, which we saw in a TV program, and is on “Maine’s Ten Best” list for lobster rolls.  The wait was just about an hour, with thirty customs ahead of us, and we got a lobster roll, some fried Maine clams, and some fried shrimps … we figured we might as well order more than we should since we waited this long.

Then it was off to Damariscotta to join their 2 pm cruise on the river.  The cruise is operated by a husband and wife team (husband a local, wife from Hungary), using a refurbished 50-foot Navy boat.  They needed six passengers to go, and there were six of us.  There are about eight oyster farms on the river, producing 13 to 14 million oysters a year, about 80% of Maine’s production.  (Note: these numbers are quite different from what I get from other sources.) The trays the oysters are raised in need to be turned over every now and then to kill the sea creatures (lice?) that grow on them.  This river is productive because of a shallow basin upstream that allows a lot of plankton to grow.  We also saw a couple of loons, a bald eagle, and a small seal.  Each passenger was offered one wild oyster from the area.  It tasted much saltier (salinier?) than those I tried in Portland (all from this river.)  It was a nice and comfortable ride.

Oyster Farm on the Damariscotta River.  The trays are turned every few days so the sun could kill the small organisms that grow on the oysters.

A baby seal sunning itself next to several cormorants.

We then drove to New Harbor where Anne made enquiries about their puffin cruises (run by Hardy Cruises, too late in the season.)  There were a couple of workers sorting the lobsters that were brought in.  We decided to order two lobsters for our afternoon snack at Shaw’s Fish and Lobster Wharf.  One would think this trip is a foodie trip given the number of meals we have eaten so far.  In any case, although the meat yield for a lobster is only about 25%, we found them quite filling.

Lobstermen sorting out the day's catch at Shaw's.

That didn’t stop us from going to Lobster Dock for a casual dinner when we got back to town, though.  Anne and I shared a steak and baked scallops; I am beginning to understand why prisoners in the old days wanted to revolt since they were fed lobsters every day!

Tuesday September 15.  After checking out at about 10 am, we made our way to Erica’s Seafood located at the tip of one of these protruding peninsulas.  We got there at about 11:15 am, and were wondering how many people would make it out to such an out of the way place.  We first ordered a lobster roll, some fried oysters, and a seafood chowder.   Prices are more reasonable but the servings are smaller.  The lobsterman showed up and we ordered two soft-shelled ones he then boiled for us.  Even after having had so many seafood meals, this was still an enjoyable meal.  Anne was talking to the lobsterman a bit, his wife owns Erica.  Erica is seasonal, but the lobster sales go on year round.  He owns six lobster boats and employs several men.  He did allow it’s a bit difficult to get out there in the winter, though.

By the time we finished our meal, there were quite a few additional parties that had shown up.  Next door to Erica’s is Dolphins, a restaurant.  We saw a helicopter land and were told it’s a tour group from New Hampshire.  Some people travel in style; we had to drive over an hour.

A cribstone bridge joining Orr's and Bailey Islands.  We had lunch at the Morse restaurant at one end of the bridge.

View from Erica's Seafood.

After lunch it was time to go back to Somerville.  Jess had prepared a huge slab of ribs, and we supplemented that with some takeout food from Yoki’s.  After seeing Emmie go off to bed, Anne and I began our drive home.  Traffic was a bit heavy but we encountered no serious jams, and got home a bit after midnight.