Ithaca, NY, June 26 – 30, 2009; Boston, July 3 – 4, 2009.

Ithaca, NY, June 26 – 30, 2009; Boston, July 3 – 4, 2009.

Well, these trips were primarily to attend Joe and Jessica's wedding (Ithaca) and reception (Boston). We managed to make a bit of a trip out of them, which was good.

We haven't been back to Ithaca since Joe graduated in 2002 (didn't realize it was more than 7 years ago, until now), although Anne and I certainly spent a lot of time there in the 70s decade. Much has changed, yet much has stayed the same. Cornell certainly has seen a great deal of modernization, I was surprised to see Clark Hall being surrounded by scaffolding, and that both the North Campus and West Campus (where I spent my Freshman year) have undergone tremendous change.


Risley Hall where Anne spent her Freshman year.


Thurston Ave Apartments where I lived a couple years as a graduate student.

Anne managed to rent a house with a view of Cayuga Lake for a couple of days. Since we had extra bedrooms, we asked the Yangs (including Bing and Melissa) to stay with us. It was quite expensive at $1000 for two nights, but the house was quite new, everything seemed to work, and was an ideal place to host the rehearsal “dinner” which was really a take-out buffet from Wegman's and Purity Ice Cream. The food bill was about $300, decorations and settings about $100, add a bit more for soft drinks, and we fed 30 or so people. It was a nice evening, though. Jessica, one of her friends and Ellie worked till very late to prepare the flowers for the wedding.


Rented house with view of Cayuga Lake.


Working till very late to prepare the flowers.

The wedding ceremony was attended by 120 or so people (I guess they would qualify as Joe's true friends), and went on basically without a hitch. Ellie and I played the music to announce the entrance of the bridal party (Ave Maria by Bach/Gounod; Meditation by Massenet), the bridesmaids walked a bit too slowly so Ellie had to improvise for a bit, all good. And I didn't mess up.


Joe & Jessica saying their vows.


Outside Sage Chapel.

The reception was held at a winery (Lamoreaux Landing) by Seneca Lake. It was a beautiful afternoon for an outdoor dinner. The cheeses served during cocktail hour were quite delicious. I had to give a short talk which I managed to do, fortunately.


These flowers are just about right.


Lamoreaux Landing. Vineyard and Lake Seneca in the background.

After Sunday brunch at North Campus, we (Ellie and Kuau joined us) drove around the campus a bit, including a visit to the Campus Store, and took a walk into Taughannock Falls. The walk was a bit longer than I remembered, but the terrain was flat. And the falls look semi-impressive with the recent rains. We also went cherry-picking at Cobblestone Farm in Romulus. It was raining a bit and the low-hanging fruits were all picked by the time we got there. Joe and Jessica joined us for a tapas dinner at Just a Taste, and we had dessert across the street at Madeline's.


I had never seen Taughannock Falls with this much water flowing.


Reach higher for that bunch of cherries.

Monday was spent at Watkins Glen State Park. We ran into Joe, Jessica, and a bunch of their friends. It was a 1 ½ mile walk from one end of the park to the other along the gorge; while it involved a bit of climbing, we did that at a leisurely pace. A few guys (and Jessica) ran to the other end to pick up our parked cars. After lunch at a local sandwich shop we visited Corning Glass Museum. The last time we were there must be in the 70s, so the place has changed tremendously. Dinner at John Thomas was the $50 “recession special,” a porterhouse steak dinner for two. It was excellent. We again ran into Joe and Jess, with yet another group of their friends. Ithaca must be a very small place, or we were stalking them.


Walking behind a water fall.


Along the walkway in Watkins Glen State Park.


After our walk in Watkins Glen Park.

We stopped by the Farmers' Market by Dewitt Mall Tuesday before we headed back to New Jersey.

We had to forego seeing Red Bank fireworks this year because of the reception hosted by the Tsais. Luckily Ellie and Kuau managed to use the boat to entertain their friends, before Ellie left for California. We were told a lot of ashes came down the marina, indeed we had to wash the boat after we got back.

The reception was held at a country club in Woburn. It was a good place to host such an event, although they could open up another line so guests could be served a bit faster. About 120 people showed up, majority of them over 50 years old and from CBCGB (reflection of our hosts' background). Anne and I were strangers among these people, but did manage to have some interesting discussions with some guests.

Anne and I drove to Salem and took the ferry to Boston. The ride on the high speed Cat took about an hour. We had a couple of hours in Boston, so we walked to the North End and had lunch at Maurizio's right by the Paul Revere Statue on Hanover Street. After ice cream we got back on the Ferry to return to Salem. Salem actually is a nice little town that one could spend a couple of days to explore, but that would have to wait for another day.


Salem Harbor.


Windy ride from Salem back to Boston on the Salem Ferry Cat.

Our drive back to New Jersey that evening was uneventful, other than fireworks could be seen all over after it got dark. While we only did simple things here and there, these were still memorable weekends.

Hong Kong, June 1 - 10, 2009

Since Anne was going to be in Asia for a couple of meetings, I also took the opportunity to visit Hong Kong. Anne was there for a long weekend before heading off to Beijing and Seoul. What I did was to eat (see list of meals below).

Flights to HK via SFO. Somber news about Air France plane lost enroute from Brazil to Paris. Concern about H1N1 had a few passengers put on masks; I did that on and off, a bit uncomfortable. Tim told me another flight from the USA arriving that day had a swine flu patient on board and people were detained.

Ling & Wally met up with me at the HK Airport Express Station and we went to dinner after dropping off my stuff at Tim's apartment.

6/2/09 dinner at Tai Ping Restaurant, Causeway Bay with Ling & Wally, they met up with me at the HK Airport Express Station.
6/3/09 breakfast at Chiu Lau Restaurant, 1 Peking Road, TST, with David & Ruby
lunch at Jade Restaurant in Star House, TST, with David, Ruby & Franklin
dinner at Rice Paper with Tim, Ling & Wally at Rice Paper (Vietnam), WTC, Causeway Bay
6/4/09 snack at Cafe de Coral (Hai Nan checken)
lunch (simple) at Hong Kong Club
dinner at Chinese Restaurant at Hyatt in Shatin, not as good as reviews would suggest
6/5/09 lunch with Tim at 1882 Restaurant at Lee Gardens Hotel
dinner with Ling & Wally at local restaurant near Jordan MTR Station
6/6/09 favorite breakfast combo at Fairwood
dinner with Ruby, David & Ka Shi at Farm House in Causeway Bay
6/7/09 lunch with Uncle Richard & Auntie Fanny at CCC
dinner at Macau Restaurant in Wanchai
6/8/09 Anne & I had lunch at Hong Kong Club with Larry
dinner at “Double Happiness Banquet” restaurant in Wanchai with Anna & Kenneth, a small outfit with an eclectic tasting menu
6/9/09 Lunch with Anne at Cafe de Coral at airport
Snack at Festival Walk with Ling & Wally (Queen's Cafe)
Dinner at Tim's apartment
6/10/09 Late breakfast, Cafe de Coral at airport

Flight UA896 HKG-ORD was packed; it didn't meet the requirement of a pleasant flight as family of three was sitting next to me. Managed a short nap every now and then.

Florida, May 9 - 12, 2009.

The Chius were going to rent their own house for a few days, we were happy to go along. Only regret is Joe & Jessica were in NJ for Dave Sun's wedding so we missed them.

Both our flights were without hitches, which is saying a lot as nowadays Newark seems to have routinely two-hour delays. We did have to wake up very early for a 6:50 am flight, though. We got upgraded both ways, which we were happy about.

We spent most of the time looking at houses and condos in the Punta Gorda area. Thanks to the collapse in the housing market, prices have come down tremendously, however, we still worry whether they have hit bottom yet.

We did spend a couple of hours riding on a small rental boat (21' bowrider). The Peace River was calm, the canals by-and-large easy to navigate around, and I didn't hit anything with the boat. Carita was with us also. The winds kicked up quite a bit that afternoon, and white caps indicated rough conditions on the River.

One other thing we did: eat. Chinese buffet, Japanese buffet (twice), two different restaurants in the Fishermen's Village, and Perkins. We also had the Chius over to our house where we had take-out from the Chinese Restaurant in town. Only simple meal was sandwiches at Subway on our way to the Fort Myers Airport.

All in all a pleasant few days in sunny and (getting) warm Florida.

Hong Kong. March 15 - 24, 2009

Sunday 3/15. CO99 was not packed and seat next to mine was not occupied: my definition of a good flight. Watched quite a few short subject TV shows. Had dinner at Cafe de Coral at the airport before heading to Tim's apartment where I will stay during the trip. Went out with Tim and Alyson to have "Double Skin Milk" at Yi Shun. (This would be Monday evening.)

Tuesday 3/17. Morning dim sum with Ruth and Steven at Jade Restaurant in Causeway Bay. Lunch with Alfred, Joy & Rachel at Grand Century Plaza Maxim Restaurant. Jogged with Alfred at Kowloon Tsai Park. Dinner at Lin Heung Restaurant with Ruth, Steven, Ling & Wally. This is a well-known, traditional, and reasonably priced restaurant well known for its braised duck dish. The HP Mini PC stopped working, to my great chagrin.

Wednesday 3/18. Went to Park Island (Ma Wan) with Ruth and Steven. The attraction Noah's Ark is complete but limited to pre-organized group tours for now. Saw a brief news description of it later in the week: not quite sure what to make of it. Lunch at a local restaurant filled with construction workers. Probably got sick from the food (stomach flu) which put a damper on my enjoyment of meals for the next several days. For dinner Ling brought food she prepared to Tim's apartment. Opened the bottle of wine Col Solare I brought with me. All together there were 10 of us. One of the few occasions that all 5 Cheung siblings get together.


With Ruth at the Ma Wan Park.


Noah's Ark at a distance. Not ready for the general public yet.


Picture taken at Tim's Apartment.

Thursday 3/19. Mid morning tea with Larry. Dim Sum lunch with Tim, Ruth & Steven at Hung Sing at the Times Square Food Forum. Dinner at Ling's apartment. Wally and Ling moved to Shatin about a month ago.

Friday 3/20. Lunch with Ka Shi at Bonheur in Sheung Wan. Tea with Larry. Brought take-out dishes to Tim's apartment for dinner.

Saturday 3/21. Lunch in Kowloon City with Mr. & Mrs. Leung. Did some shopping along Lion Rock Road. Dessert at a local place. Dinner at Queen's Palace in Wan Chai.


Lunch with the Leungs in Chiu Chow Restaurant in Kowloon City Center.

Sunday 3/22. Lunch at Lamma Hilton. Then it was to the Shek O - Po Toi area to look for the humpback whale that has been stranded in the area for a few days. Dutifully warned by the official boat to not disturb the whale. We saw the whale surface a couple of times, and were able to make out the plumes and the tail. Most of us hadn't seen a whale in the open before. Then it was to Stanley for coffee, and we swung by Middle Island before we headed back to Aberdeen Boat Club. Dinner at "Double Happiness", a fusion resturant in Causeway Bay.


Waiting for our lunch at the Lamma Rainbow Restaurant.


Whale watching. Picture taken by Wally.


Taken at Stanley. The character has the same Chinese nickname I had as a kid.


On Tim's Boat.

Monday 3/23. Last full day for the trip. Went to Shatin after breakfast at Cafe de Coral. Jogged two miles with Wally along the Shatin River. Lunch at a Tai Po Shanghainese Restaurant (with Wally, Ling, Ruth & Steven). Took the first afternoon nap of the trip in the afternoon. Dinner at Sang Kee with Kenneth, Anna, and young Kenneth who is home from UCLA for Spring Break. Sang Kee well-known for its Salt-baked chicken and porridge, which we had.

Tuesday 3/24. It rained today! Managed to not get wet on my way to the Central Airport Express terminal. Flight was much fuller than the seat map indicated the day before. Someone close by had an asthma attack and the flight attendants provided him with oxygen tanks to help him breathe. He used up quite a bit; good news is he survived. New Jersey is quite cold!

Australia, January 23, 2009 – February 3, 2009.

Anne and I made the annual trek to Australia for Chinese New Year (year of the Ox).

Our flights (UA95 EWR-SFO, UA863 SFO-SYD) were uneventful compared to our usual experience (that would be missing our connection and staying a night in SFO). We did have to run from Gate 69 to 102, but all that rushing turned out to be unnecessary as many others were in our same boat. In any case, the pilot had to taxi back to the gate because of an unusual noise that came from the wheel wells. We took off a bit late and got in about two hours behind schedule. The plane was packed, the family (of 3) next to me missed their previous days flight by a few minutes, so they were unhappy campers. Immigration was quite efficient, the usual long lines early in the day had thinned out by the time we got in.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn in Chinatown for one night, and for a week at a Walsh Bay apartment, our last night was at 58 Jennings. Walsh Bay was a three-bedroom deal, although Tim and Alyson stayed in the same room because the third bedroom was quite warm, the airconditioning seemed to have run out of steam (or cold air) by the time it reached that room. The apartment has a nice view of the piers and a row of boats, it is a bit noisy from the restaurants on weekends, and in our unanimous judgment not worth the AUD 1.5M (or more), although the daily rent at AUD325 a day seems very reasonable.


Walsh Bay. We stayed at one of the Wharf apartments.


A bunch of us inside the rented apartment.

We got to see our nephews and niece (and their children) on many occasions, usually around a restaurant table. It will again take quite a bit of dieting to reduce the effect ot the past week. While the Australian economy may not be as hard hit as the US's, the level of service at many restaurants seems to have deteriorated quite a bit. We were joking at the rate we eliminated them, there would be very few left to go to in no time.

Some of the restaurants that we ate at: Zilver; Shanghai Tang; an Italian Restaurant (La Spiaggia) in Coogee; Kam Fook in Chatswood; The Living Room (Indonesian fusion) in Walsh Bay; Danny's Seafood in Le Perouse; take out from Chinese restaurant across the street from Walsh Bay; East Garden in Maroubra; the Imperial Peking (dim sum, twice) at the Souths Juniors Club in Kingsford, lunch at “The Catch” at the Spit, take outs (twice) from the Fish Market; and others I forget at the moment. We didn't have as many pies as we would like, though.

Anne & I bought day-tripper tickets for a couple of days and just went on many ferry, bus, and train rides. I find Sydney Harbor ferry rides enjoyable and don't mind doing them over and over again. Only exception was the trip to Parramatta, it was a hot day (as was most days during our visit) and the boat wasn't air-conditioned. Low-tide made the return trip not possible, so we took the train instead.


Manly Beach. A short walk away is Shelley Beach which is much calmer.


The Gap Park next to Watson Bay, Sydney skyline in the background.

On Tuesday we rented a Benneteau 341 for a day. Tim, Alyson, Alfred, Naomi, Toby and I were not going to be sailor that day as it was raining. We went around (about 30 miles) using the small motor on the sailboat. We first tried to dock at Watson Bay for lunch but failed, Alfred and I did manage to get off at the Fish Market and bought takeout which we ate while anchored in the nearby harbor. The weather eventually cleared up, but we were in no mood to hoist the sail at that point.

On Friday Tim, Alyson, Anne and I drove up to the towns of Berowra Waters and Brooklyn on the Hawkesbury River. We rented a small dinghy (with a 6 hp motor) and bought some fishing gear so Alyson could try to catch some fish, unfortunately to no avail. (Alyson did catch a rather large bream off a pier the next day, which Anne cleaned, we each had a mouthful of the steamed fish.) It was a very quiet area, and we got a bit of sun despite the suntan lotion we put on. There is this Inn well-known for its AUD200 tasting menu lunch that lasts four hours. We were not in the mood for such an exquisite experience, so we ate at the cafe at the Marina instead. We also shared a dozen oysters from a road-side restaurant in Brooklyn, I am glad we ordered the Mornays so we didn't have to worry so much about cleanliness. We got back in time to have (take-out) dinner and then catch the Magic Flute at the Opera House. It's a good 30 minute walk each way.


At the Marina in Berowra Waters. Notice the (free) ferry behind us.

On Saturday Anne and I drove to Curl Curl (one of the many beaches north of Manly) by way of the Spit, which crosses the Middle Harbor. Point Grotto Lighthouse provides a great view of the Middle and Sydney Harbors, the North and South Heads, and the open (Pacific) ocean. The waters were full of all kinds of boats, mostly under sail. We also passed by some aboriginal carvings along the way. The descriptions were sparse, bordering on useless, though.


The Sydney Harbor is very busy on a weekend. Most of the boats are sailboats.


Neck and neck.

Sunday Anne and I went to church (Praise Evangelical Free) in Matraville, we were a bit late. We went to Susanna's house in the late afternoon, and then it was to – you guessed it – dinner again.

On Monday Anne and I went to explore another Hawkesbury town: Windsor. There wasn't much to see, so we decided to drive to Katoomba and visit the Three Sisters. Australia has spent a lot of funds on improving their roads, so the trip out was quick. We stopped by Leura (town just before Katoomba) and visited Sublime Point. Turns out one can get a good view of the Three Sisters from a distance from that location. Anne hadn't been to the area for a while, and she was quite impressed with how much it has changed. We walked down to the first sister (she doesn't look nearly as good close up) and took the cable tramway built at a cost of AUD $12M a few years ago. We racked up about 250 km on the car that day, zipped through quite a few toll roads (hopefully the tolls get paid), and got back in time to return the car and went to dinner.


View of The Three Sisters from Sublime Point.


Returning from a visit to the First Sister.


We are told these Katoomba Falls look more impressive after heavy rain.

I am on UA870 SYD-SFO as I type this. We should get in a bit ahead of schedule. Plane load is moderate, Anne has 3 seats to herself. I just got handed an amenities kit as the flight attendant recognized me as a million-miler on United.

Due to a snowstorm on the East coast, the early flight UA90 SFO-EWR was delayed for 3 hours, so we managed to catch it and got home a couple of hours early. There were a couple of inches of snow on the ground when we arrived.

Florida, December 29, 2008 - January 5, 2009.

12/29/08 Monday. Ben took Anne & me to the airport, leaving our house at 6:15 am. We got upgraded on Continental, it was a full flight. We got in a few minutes before Joe & Jessica. Rental car is very expensive during this week, good thing booking through the Continental website got us a discount, but bill will still be around $500 with Joe as additional driver.

Ate lunch at Ted Peter's Smoked Fish. Busy place serving fish that have been smoked between 4 to 6 hours. We had Smoked Mullet and Mahi Mahi, and Smoked Salmon Spread. Not cheap, and a bit disappointing given the hype and consequent expectations.


We all had smoked fish of one sort or another. A bit too "woody" for me.

Visited the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg. Museum has a large collection of Dali's work, and also that of Alfredo Lam. Found out quite a bit about Dali and how complex his paintings were. The tour guided talked in some detail about several of his large paintings.


One of the painting the tour guide described in some detail. Dali's ability to blend many symbols and themes together was interesting. But is it Art? Many seem to think so.

Stay for most of the week is at House Mango Grove located in Cape Coral.

12/30/08 Tuesday. Visited ECHO farm, a facility that supports farming in developing countries. Learned about various agricultural methods from this intern, who was well-spoken and knowledgeable. Some plants of note are the Chaya which contains cyanide, Morimba tree with many uses, Neem tree with its medicinal qualities, and Amaranth which is a grain with a high protein content banned at one time by the conquistadors as they thought it was sacrilegious.

Wanted to join Manatee tour but they moved the time. Went to the Manatee Park and saw a few manatees taking advantage of the warm waters around the power plant.

Lunch at Sonic Burger. We see their ads in local New York TV stations, but I'm told the closest one to us is in Philadelphia. Food is brought out by employees on roller skates.

Visited with Pastor Al & Miss Ruth in Shell Point. Toured the facility and grounds. Rated the “only 5 star” community in Lee County. Had buffet dinner at the Crystal Dining Room. All in all a nice visit.


At Pastor Al & Miss Ruth's place in Shell Point.

12/31/08 Wednesday. Sanibel Island. Joe & Jessica rented a couple of bikes and rode around the island. We took a more leisurely approach: we drove. Walked a bit on the Bailey Tract, drove through the Ding Darling National Park, walked on Bowman's Beach, and crossed the bridge into Captiva Island. Ran into Joe & Jessica multiple times. More birds this time, but not as many as we saw on an earlier visit.


Joe & Jessica embarking on their bike ride around the island.

Took Tarpon Bay eco-tour. A 30-minute talk about animals in a touch-tank, followed by a 90 or so minute boat ride. Quite well-attended by about 40 people. Birds and manatee sightings.

Rib City in Cape Coral for dinner. I had the St. Louis ribs. Better experience than our last visit. Had ribs saved for Kuau and Ellie.

Picked up Ellie & Kuau at RSW at about 10 pm. Uneventful New Year's eve. Joe and Jessica did say we managed to pack a lot in in three days.


All six of us in the home we rented for the week.

1/1/09. Woke up early to take Joe & Jessica to TPA for their flight to Boston. A 260 mile roundtrip.

Lunch at Rumrunner's Restaurant. Slow. Food was okay to good. I had the seafood salad croissant, a better description would be tuna salad.

Went back to Manatee Park so Ellie & Kuau could see the manatees. We debated whether one could really see these footprints caused by the humps as the animals surface.

Dinner was frozen pizza and other junk food from Publix.

1/2/09. Got to jog about 4 miles in the morning. Anne went to Curves and also swam.

Lunch on Sanibel Island. Ellie, Kuau and Anne then went on a 2-hour kayak trip while I walked for about 3 miles, stopping at Island Coffee to have a cup of coffee and a piece of cake.


Start of the kayak trip.

Dinner at University Grill. About a 30 minute wait, large dining room was quite full.

1/3/09. Took Ellie & Kuau to Fort Myers Beach to meet up with their friends. Traffic in town was horrendous, we actually took a long detour on the way back. Nice ocean front condominium that must have cost a small fortune at the peak of the real estate boom.

Had a quick sandwich before we rented a boat for 4 hours from Fish-Tale Marina. It's a small Grady White (17') which either went at a few miles per hour or 20 plus when it got on plane. We basically went back and forth the Bay, with Ellie & Kuau joining us for the last hour.


At the helm of the small rental boat. Ellie & Kuau joined us for an hour.

Dinner at Iguana Mia. I have eaten at one of the several in the area quite a few times already.

1/4/09. Checking out of the house was straightforward. Paid about $50 in electricity.

Went to Village Church in Shell Point for morning service. Met up with Pastor Al & Miss Ruth. We had lunch at La Teresita, a Cuban restaurant in Tampa, before we dropped off Ellie and Kuau at the Jet Blue terminal. Anne & I went to Clearwater Beach to watch the sunset, and then had dinner at Joe's Crab Shack in Clearwater. We topped off the meal by sharing a "Crappy Apple Crumble". Let's hope I can control my diet for the next several weeks!

Staying at La Quinta TPA tonight. We could hear the planes' takeoff rolls as I type this; let's hope the either change the runway or cease operations later this evening!

1/5/09. Woke up at 4:30 am to get to the airport in time for a 7:05 am flight. Turns out the airport is so close that we were at the gate in 25 minutes; couldn’t have slept for another 30 minutes. Anyway, flight was full (no upgrades) but uneventful.

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.