Pensacola, Florida. November 26 – 30, 2010.

Anne finished her first semester at school, so we were looking for a place to go for a long weekend. One possibility was London and we do have some mileage we wanted to use, but we decided going international maybe a bit tiresome, given we came back from Asia not too long ago, and will be heading out again on December 10. Turns out the flight down to Pensacola (with one stop) will take about as much time as flying non-stop to London.

Friday 11/26/2010. We had people over yesterday for Thanksgiving dinner and they left about 10 pm. So we had to rush a bit to get ourselves ready for today’s trip. I dropped Anne off at the South Amboy Train station, then drove back to our house, and then walked back to the station. I was quite sweaty by the time I was done, even though it was a rather cool morning. From door to security took about 90 minutes, a bit longer than I expected. Security at the airport was easy, no X-ray machine was in sight or in use, and the lines were remarkably short. All the fears of a busy travel day didn’t materialize.

We got upgraded to first class on the EWR-TPA flight, so got free Direct TV and a free light lunch, which is great. The wait at TPA was a bit long at about 2 ½ hours. Good thing they have free WiFi and restaurants on the air side. The TPA-PNS flight was called for early departure (!) and we did leave about 30 minutes before scheduled departure. It was quite easy to round up the 5 passengers. The Beechcraft 90 could sit 15 or so, and we had two pilots. I haven’t been on one of the turboprops for a while, so it felt a bit noisy. Good thing turbulence was a minimum. The 90 minute flight was quite uneventful. The PNS airport looked more crowded than TPA.

Our hotel SpringHill Suites isn’t as nice as I had hoped. We got upgraded to a “ocean and pool” view room, but you have to stand by the window to see the ocean. Let’s hope it’s better during the day. (It turns out we didn't spend a lot of time in the room during the day anyway.)

 On the balcony of the hotel room.

Hotel as seen from the Beach.

Dinner at Crabs restaurant. Anne had the crabs, crabs, crabs (flash fried claws, crab cake, stuffed crab, and softshell crab) and I had the mixed grill (crab cake, grouper, mahi mahi, chicken, and stuffed crab). Each dish costs $19.99. The piece of grouper was exceptional, rest seemed so-so.

And it is a cold evening. With a stiff wind blowing, it felt like New Jersey. Forecast calls for improvement over the next several days.

Saturday 11/27/2010. Drove to Ft. Pickens. Then along Santa Rosa Island to Navarre Beach, Navarre, and Destin. Santa Rosa Island at 40 miles or so is the longest barrier island. Many high rises, but looked quite quiet. Fishing pier at Navarre Beach – Cow Rays were being caught. Late lunch KFC buffet at $5 each. Dinner was sushi and potato salad bought at Walmart and eaten in hotel room. A full day: left around 10 am, got back after 6 pm.

Heron outside entrance to Fort Pickens.  We didn't get to see that many birds on this trip.

Looking at Pensacola Beach from Fort Pickens.  The sand is white.  There are multiple theories as to how the barrier islands were formed.

Cow Rays swimming leisurely at Navarre Beach.  There were fishermen trying to hook them, and we saw one got caught.

Sunday 11/28/2010. We first visited the Pensacola Visitor Center to check out bird watching locations. We then stopped by KFC (again!) but had only light meals this time. After purchasing a pair of binoculars from Walmart, we went to our first site: Big Lagoon State Park. This must be off season as all we saw were a blue heron and a couple of egrets. The place was very quiet. We then drove across Perdido Key which is shared by Florida and Alabama, ending at Fort Morgan. Quite a few high rises – most barely occupied – along the way. Houses are all on tall stilts, I guess both to have a view of the ocean and to avoid flooding during storms. Waited about half an hour for the ferry to Dauphin Island: a 30 minute ride on a boat that can take 25 or so cars. Many rigs in the water, this area is one of the high natural gas producers. The water is quite shallow (11 feet per poster) but the gas fields are 20,000 ft deep. It is evening by the time we got to the other side, and we drove in the dark to Mobile. Couldn’t see anything at night, but we visited the state for the first time! And crossed many bridges, this being “bayou” country. Dinner at Outback’s in Pensacola. It was about 8 pm when we got back to the hotel.

Fort Morgan, LA to Dauphin Island Ferry Terminal.  Notice the oil rig (natural gas, actually) in the Bay.  Our camera's battery ran out at this point.

This area was threatened with the BP oil spill. We saw miles and miles of beaches, there are tar balls here and there, but they don’t detract from the overall beauty. There is a lot of clean up activity involving scooping up the sand, sifting out the oil (not sure exactly how that’s done) and then returning the cleaned sand to the beach. We saw some “before” and “after” stretches right outside our hotel and frankly couldn’t tell the difference. The claim is the oil is somehow buried in the sand – in which case do we really care? Also, there are a lot of safety officers asking beach-goers to be careful, to the point that the make crossing guards downright careless in comparison. Makes you wonder if that’s the best way to spend the $20B or so (or whatever fraction thereof) set aside for the cleanup.

 Signs of Oil Spill are posted throughout the area.  They are more conspicuous than the spill itself.

A stretch of Beach with quite a number of tar balls on it.

Beach cleanup in progress.

Meanwhile many businesses are closed because of the drop in number of tourists.  They are many posters out telling people where to make claims for economic damage.

It’s been sunny the last couple of days. However, it has been quite windy and the highs are only in the low 60s. Cape Coral on the other hand has highs in the mid 80s per weather.com. I am surprised there is that much difference.

Monday 11/29/2010. First stop was Naval Live Oaks Station where we saw an interesting introductory film that talked about the barrier islands, how oak trees were used in ship-building, and the forts in the area. The guns in the Forts were never used to defend the USA from other countries, but shot at each other during the civil war. Drove across the Garcon Point Bridge which is very long, sparsely used, and cost $3.50. Went on a bird watching trail and saw a few small birds – couldn’t identify them. We then drove to Milton and visited the Blackwater River State Park. The river has banks of white sand, is quite shallow but flows rather rapidly at 3 miles or so per hour. Didn’t do much walking as it started to rain. Late lunch at Shrimp Basket in Milton. Headed back to the hotel after that: it was about 4 pm when we got back to our room.

 

Naval Live Oak with Spanish moss.  It takes acres of this to generate enough wood for a battleship.

Blackwater River in Milton.

We wanted to have a “light” dinner so we drove to a Whataburger place in Pensacola. There are quite a few of them in the area, yet I don’t recall seeing one anywhere else in Florida. The burger was okay, but nothing special.

It was quite a bit warmer today, but the sky was overcast most of the time. We ran into a few showers, and there was a stretch of heavy thunderstorm while we were driving.

Tuesday 11/30/2010. Mostly overcast today, and rainy. We drove back to the Fort Pickens area, today there were quite a few pelicans and other shore birds. While at the Fort we decided to drive to the Pensacola Lighthouse, which is less than two miles away as the crow flies. To drive there would take over half an hour, and involve going through a check point as the lighthouse is on Naval grounds. We didn’t go into the lighthouse as the weather was quite ominous, we wouldn’t know what to do if we got caught in a thunderstorm. There was also a Naval Air Museum which seems to be quite popular with the large number of cars in the parking lot. Afterwards we decided to call it a day and had lunch (at about 2 pm) at a Siam “diner” close by the airport. The 3-variety combination was freshly prepared, and cost only $8 or so.

Pensacola Lighthouse up close.  We didn't go because it was threatening to rain, with lightning in the area.

We were booked on the 6:30 pm PNS-Houston flight, and couldn’t get on the 3 pm flight. Many flights at PNS were canceled or severely delayed because of thunderstorms east of the area.  Our flight left on time, but we had to rush from the commuter terminal in Houston to the main terminal, with a few minutes to spare. The plane was late getting into Newark, the luggage (which we had to check because we boarded too late) took a while to find its way to the carousel, and the taxi line though not long moved very slowly. We got home at about 2:30 am.

Portsmouth, NH. November 13-14, 2010.

Went to up see Joe Jr & Jess run the Seacoast Half Marathon. Jess ended not running because she wasn't feeling well.

Hotel (Fairfield Portsmouth) was a "comp" from previous hotels.com stays - cost $15 or so for the processing fee. It was infested with runners.

We drove along the running route and it is quite pleasant. Anne & I had lunch at Poco's Bow Catina and headed down to Somerville to meet up with Joe Jr before we headed back to NJ.

 Meet Ruby, a one-year old dog adopted by Jessica and Joe.

 Joe about one mile from the finish.

 Portsmouth waterfront.  Maine across the river.

Lighthouse at the the Coast Guard Station by Fort William and Mary in New Castle, NH.

Hong Kong and Kunming, October 22 - November 5, 2010.

The main purposes of the trip are (i) attend the 70th anniversary of Grace Evangelical Church and (ii) visit Hope International’s new offices in Kunming, China. Anne has a business meeting in China and will come down to Hong Kong after that is done. She is still in NJ at the moment, leaving on Sunday for Beijing.

Tim wrote me an email a couple of days ago saying typhoon Megi is aiming directly for Hong Kong and will hit about the time I land (Saturday 6 pm local time). Indeed the initial tracking reports were not very encouraging. As the hours progressed, however, the typhoon has been veering a bit more north and will now always be more than 400 km from Hong Kong (forecast). So we dodged a bullet here, the Grace Church events are Sunday; if I missed them there would be no reason to be in Hong Kong until Thursday. Let’s hope it isn’t too bumpy as we descend.

A note on the travel arrangements. I end up flying UA (via SFO) and the ticket costs $1170 or so. When I first looked, CO had an airfare of less than $1000 but the price kept creeping up and got to as high as $1500 plus. And I kept holding off on the purchase while I kept kicking myself for not having done so earlier. So when I saw this lower price on UA I grabbed it, even though I had to leave EWR at 6:30 am instead of 3:15 pm, and get into Hong Kong at 6 pm instead of 5 pm. Hotels are quite expensive also, I booked myself into this L’Hotel in Aberdeen. It’s new but in an industrial area. Wonder how that would turn out. Ruby took care of the Kunming trip reservations.

Friday 10/22/2010. UA91 EWR-SFO. Being incapable of getting to bed early, I woke up “this” morning at 3:30 am after 2 or so hours of sleep. When Anne came back from LAX Monday morning, she said the CO terminals were packed, and lines were so long that they overflew to the next level. I had two suitcases to check – bringing a security system and some wine to Tim, among other things – and was worried on the way up that I might not have enough time. The UA terminal was very quiet, someone helped me right away with the luggage, and security screening had only a few people in line. The plane left one time, I had a lot of leg room with an exit row Economy Plus seat, and managed to doze off quite often during the 5:30 hour flight. Had shrimp fried noodles at SFO Fung Lam.

I have never seen the UA SFO Red Carpet Club (International Departure) so crowded. Very few empty chairs. I wonder if this is a time-of-day or UA/CO merger issue. Now they cross-recognize each other’s elite flyers, there are many more people looking for upgrades and lounge access. With Gold status at both airlines, the merger so far doesn’t benefit me. It may be different if the miles get pooled though. One improvement is the availability of internet access, all I needed was a card from the receptionist.

Of course now CO for its domestic flights sell food (cold) instead of giving it away (sometimes warm). Can’t quite fault them, but still makes for unhappy campers.

10/22/2010. UA869 SFO-HKG. To drive home the point about the merger, Economy Plus is quite packed (this is about 9 hours into the flight.) I have Seat 38G, not much legroom (I have to tilt the computer as I type this), but an empty seat next to me – my definition of a good flight still holds. I also managed to dose on and off a bit. Somehow I managed to catch the three movies soon after they started. They are all mindless comedies that I had no trouble following. “Cyrus” talks about a son trying to ruin his mother’s relationship with her new boyfriend; “Dinner for Schmucks” is about bringing idiots to dinner and making fun of them, and how one participant ended up learning more about himself; and “The Back-Up Plan” has a woman meet a man she likes soon after she got pregnant through artificial insemination. All have potential to be real funny, but ended up being just so-so. There is still about 5 hours to go before landing, I want to do three things: read Oliver Twist on Kindle, listen to Mahler’s Symphonies, and sleep some more. We shall see. (I am resuming this on Tuesday morning 10/25 local time.) Managed to get some sleep while listening to Mahler, didn’t read much of Oliver Twist, though. The descent was quite smooth. Turns of the typhoon (Megi means catfish in Korean) veered way to the north, unfortunately some casualties resulted from its hitting the Fujian area.

Saturday 10/23/2010. Plane landed a bit ahead of schedule. By the time I collected my luggage and arrived at Hong Kong Station, Tim, Wally and Ling were there waiting. We drove to Aberdeen. After checking in at the hotel, we had dinner at the LIS (L’hotel Island South) Restaurant. Busier than I expected – it was after all Saturday – but the meal wasn’t as good as I expected. The lobster and bouillon main course was just a bowl of soup … The hotel itself is nicer than expected. This part of town is industrial, so there isn’t much nearby, but as I found out the next morning, Aberdeen town is only a short bus ride away.

Sunday 10/24/2010. Woke up at 6 am. Took minibus to Aberdeen for breakfast at Café de Coral. Went to ABC (walked from hotel) and got on Tim’s boat heading to Lamma for lunch. It looked very deserted, and we thought we were too early – it was around 11 am – so we went to ABC Middle Island for coffee and then headed back. It was still deserted, turns out some restaurants were closed in preparation for the typhoon that never hit. Had a simple lunch at Lamma Rainbow. Wally, Ling and I were then dropped off in Kowloon City so we could attend the Grace Church 70th Anniversary Service which lasted two hours. Then we all took a bus to Laguna Restaurant in Hong Hom for a banquet, attended by over a thousand people. A bit long. We left before dessert and it turned out to be quite easy to get back to the hotel. Hong Kong does have an amazing public transportation system.

I have mixed feelings about the service. It is good I got to go, but there is a strong feeling of “you cannot go home again,” which is a bit sad. I spent a lot of time at the Grace Church when I was in elementary and high school, and had many good memories of people and events from that time. I did get to meet up with several old friends, but we all felt like strangers with not much in common. I suppose if I live in Hong Kong I will be comfortable with attending this church, but I feel I would need some time reconnecting and regaining a sense of belonging.

Monday 10/25/2010. Went to Aberdeen to have breakfast – Tsui Wah Café. Then to Central Wing On Building to pay for Alfred Wong’s HKG-KMN tickets. Alfred is a last minute add to our group. Also booked hotel in Kunming for Alfred.

Had French Toast and coffee at Tsui Wah in Central – couldn’t resist.

Delivered coat to Liang Huei’s friend while sitting at Starcbucks – Tai Po station. Then went with Wally and Ling to see Tai Po house, coming together nicely. Came back to hotel, tried but failed to sleep. Decided to skip dinner with Ling and Wally, and I went to South Horizon’s Shopping Center to find dinner. Not that many offered cuisines that I wanted, so went to Coconut Hut and had curried lamb. Took wrong bus (90B) and had to change to 75 to get back to the hotel.

Anne got into her Beijing hotel. She will have a late night teleconference call for her USC class.

Tuesday 10/26/2010. Not much to report today. Did bring laundry to Aberdeen.

Ran into a bit of a problem trying to get more pages for my passport at the US Consulate. Last time I went they would just let you in and you wait for them to add the pages, for free. That would be around 2005, it turned out my passport was in too bad a shape that I had to get a new one instead. When I showed up at 10:30 am or so this morning the guard said the system has changed, now you have to make an appointment over the web (I tried calling with the numbers the guard gave me and they wouldn’t make an appointment), but in the afternoon they take ten walk-ins, and that the passports are usually available late in the afternnon. And they will collect a fee. I am a believer of fee for service, so that doesn’t bother me. But it would be three trips altogether where there used to be one, which is really stupid. Since I couldn’t fight City Hall (best I can do is to write a letter) I went back in the afternoon. It was relatively simple and the whole process took about 45 minutes.

Wednesday 10/27/2010. Went to get blood test at Tim’s, then went to the Peak and hiked down to Pokfulam Road (about 3 km). Dinner was at Tim’s. He unexpectedly had to do a show, so it was more hurried than we’d like. Had coffee with Wally & Ling afterwards.

Thursday 10/28/2010. Breakfast at Lin Heung Restaurant with Ling and Wally. Had 14 dim sum dishes. Cost HK220 (Ling paid). Picked up Anne at airport. David & Ruby arrived at about the same time and we had dinner together at the airport.

Friday 10/29/2010. Dropped off laundry at Aberdeen cleaner, then took taxi to visit Anne’s mother who was heading to Central for a medical check up. While Anne waited a while at the Doctor’s office, I went to Tim’s office to pick up Joe Jr’s ID. Then we met up with Larry for lunch at Hong Kong Club. Went back to Aberdeen after lunch to pick up laundry, and I bought several long sleeve polo shirts as the weather is much cooler than I expected. Back to hotel, changed, and took bus/MTR to Ling’s apartment to drop off a suitcase we don’t need for our trip to China tomorrow. MTR to City Hall, and joined up with David & Ruby first for dinner and then a Hong Kong Philharmonic – All Schumann concert. Took bus back to the hotel. A lot of running around, yet not much accomplished.

Saturday 10/30/2010. When elevators don’t have the capacity to accommodate the demand, a couple of things happen. First the cars stop at every floor, the doors open, people realize no one can get in, door closes, and then the process gets repeated one floor below. Second, people jump into the cars going up, ride them to the top and then back down again. This results in a very slow through put for the system when it should be running at full capacity. That’s what we had this morning at 9 am at the L’Hotel. And there were very few taxi’s in that part of the city. So it took us 30 minutes after we left our hotel room to get into a taxi. Good thing the traffic wasn’t too bad, and we got to Hong Kong Station in 20 or so minutes. Rest of “process” was quite smooth.

Met up with Ruby & David for breakfast on the airside of the airport. Flight MU734 to Kunming was rather full, some turbulence, and a bit of a rough landing. After checking into the Grand Park Hotel we went for a walk, then had tea, and decided to have dinner as well. Things are relatively cheap in Kunming, taxi to hotel was RMB30, dinner for 4 RMB132.

Alfred showed up at around 9 pm. He said Hong Kong Express flight was quite empty.

Sunday 10/31/2010. Breakfast at hotel. At 10 am five our us took rented minivan to go to Shilin, about 1 ½ hours each way. This was our second visit to the place and isn’t nearly as impressive as the first one. Nice weather, though. And we got to know the driver got less than ½ of what we paid the hotel, and the guide got less than 1/3 of what we paid the park. Had noodles when we got back. Then we went to visit the Ruyles, chatted for a short while and then to Red Bean Garden for dinner. Had a lot of dishes for about RMB300, for eight people.

 Bunches of ears of corn hung out to dry.  I am told they are ground into corn flour.

 Alfred, Anne, me, Ruby and David in Shilin.

Another picture taken in Shilin.

Monday 11/1/2010. Alfred felt sick, so he stayed behind at the hotel. The four of us went to meet with the Ruyles for a short while and then went to lunch at a Thai Restaurant by Cui Hu (Lake). Chatted for quite a while afterwards, and got back to hotel in time to see Alfred off. Laws and we went to a Yunnan Restaurant (where we went last time) for dinner.

Tuesday 11/2/2010. Early flight to Hong Kong. Had one of the most expensive cups of coffee I ever had at the airport (at RMB48). Checked into the Royal Park Hotel. Went to meet K Choi to talk about some of Hope’s plans and potential issues. Stopped by Hankow Road to try the noodle restaurant Johnny recommended, probably ended up in a different one. Went to Ling’s to pick up luggage left at her place. Late snack with Ruby and David. Anne didn’t join because of class.

Wednesday 11/3/2010. Anne went with Ruby and others to Shenzhen for the day. I decided not to go. Went jogging along Shing Mun River. Went to Tim’s place to have dinner. Ling cooked some wild boar (Italian style). It was so well marinated and stewed that there was no gamey taste. The skin was nice. Worked with Alyson on her physics homework. Anne had dinner with Elaine and Larry Jr.

Thursday 11/4/2010. Spent the day with David & Jamie Hsieh, Alfred Wong, and David & Ruby Law. Started with a trip to The Peak and talked about various landmarks. Had “Mak Un” noodles and Pacific Coffee. Then taxi’s to Aberdeen Boat Club to get on Tim’s boat. Julie (Ruby’s sister) joined us. Today wasn’t the most pleasant – cool, windy, and a bit of rain. We ate lunch at Rainbow/Lamma. Afterwards the ladies went shopping in Kowloon, and the men walked around Pacific Mall and had some coffee. Dinner at Chiu Chow Garden in Vicwood Plaza joined by Mamie, Ka Shi, Kan & Carmen.

David, David, Alfred and me at Mak Un Noodles at The Peak.

Friday 11/5/2010. I’m in the SFO Red Carpet Lounge as I type this. This was one of the more bumpy flights I have experienced, and I had a “regular” aisle seat in a row that was fully occupied. The young lady one seat over threw up, but seemed okay. A good thing is the flight was relatively short at about 11 hours. The audio system didn’t work; wonder what compensation we’d get. The plane landed at 9 am, and the Newark flight is at 2:10 pm. We went to the Hong Kong Airport early this morning because Anne has a different itinerary to get home. She is now in Seattle and won’t leave until 4 pm local time. Alfred Wong and I were in the same flight so we had breakfast together, and we saw each other briefly in the Red Carpet Lounge. He said he slept most of the way, I only did so fitfully.

I got upgraded to first class on the SFO-EWR flight, which was a pleasant surprise. Too bad the seats are just “regular” first class seats. I plan to wait for Anne and take a taxi home together.

[Note added on Sunday] I ended up getting in quite early so took a taxi home and drove back up to the airport to pick up Anne. My seat in first class was in the last row so had limited recline. I still managed to catch some sleep.

Florida, September 17 - 20, 2010

9/17/2010 Friday. Got upgraded to first class EWR-TPA, the 757 is used for international flights and have nice first class seats. Staying at the Chiu's Port Charlotte house with Peter. Dinner with Peter at Sakura buffet.

9/18/2010 Saturday. House inspection. Lunch and dinner with Peter at Iguana Mia in Cape Coral and Red Lobster in Port Charlotte.

9/19/2010 Sunday. A plumbing emergency at the house - couldn't shut the shower faucet. Managed to get the plumber across the street (TitanZ) to take a look. Lunch was takeout purchased by Peter. We then drove around and visited Englewood Beach (nice) and Boca Grande on Gasparilla Island. Talked to a local guy who was telling us how dangerous the current could be. He also complained about the crash in real estate prices in the area.

9/20/2010 Monday. Drove up to Tampa (Pinellas Park) and had lunch at Panera Bread with Paul King. Again got upgraded TPA-EWR.

Overall. Inexpensive trip since plane ticket was less than $200 and I stayed for free at the Chiu's house. Unfortunately the main purpose of the trip (to buy a house) may be for naught as the deal is falling through as I type this.

Boston, Tampa & Cape Coral. August 25 – September 1, 2010.

Wed 8/25. Walked to South Amboy Train Station. It’s only a 15 minute walk but today was seasonably warm (it had been quite cool the last couple of days) so I worked up a sweat. Train to Newark Penn was on time. Waited about 40 minutes at NWK before boarding 3 pm Amtrak Regional to Boston. This train makes many (18 or so) stops along the way. I was seated in the last car and it was very quiet. Joe, Jessica, and Anne came by to pick me up in this commuter van. Anne has been here since last Saturday. Will be staying at Joe’s until Saturday.

Thu 8/26. Woke up relatively early. Went to Costco to shop for stuff for Summerbridge BBQ lunch tomorrow. Ate half a chicken which I also got from Costco; I guess I’ll have that tomorrow for lunch. Did some translation (Anne was helping with a document from Greta). Tried to take a nap in the afternoon but failed to. Took T to Chinatown to meet up with Anne, then came back to Station Landing to have dinner at Kelly’s Restaurant. Despite their name, they serve up traditional fast(ish) food. I had Fried Scallops Platter, Anne had the lobster roll & roast beef burger; we also ordered a large soup to share. Turned out to be too much food.

Fri 8/27. Ran around Mystic River. Dinner at Boston Sail Loft by the harbor. Dishes are expensive, but they look and taste only so-so. Poor service.

Sat 8/28. Brunch at S&S in Cambridge. Place reminds me of Perkins. Flights BOS-IAD and IAD-TPA were quite uneventful. Caught in a huge downpour as we got to the hotel. Went to Checkers to get take-out for dinner.

Sun 8/29. Spent most of the days with the Kings. Sunday Worship at Bay Ridge Baptist Church in Seminole. Lunch in Panera Bread, then back to hotel for a long discussion on some business possibilities. Dinner at Columbia Restaurant in Tampa. We had visited the pier on our prior visits to the Tampa area.

Mon 8/30. Met up with Real Estate agent in the afternoon. Looked around a few houses. Checked into Port Charlotte La Quinta.

Tue 8/31. Visited Cape Coral again. Continued down to Naples and had lunch. Then drove to Venice Beach, and had takeout dinner from a local Thai restaurant.

Wed 9/1. Anne had a morning conference call. I went to the hotel gym. Drive to TPA airport was uneventful. I got upgraded, Anne was left in coach. All I can say is these planes (757-200) configured for international routes have great first class seats, and the meal (beef short ribs) was great. Took train and walked home.

Sydney, Australia. August 11 – August 23, 2010.

8/11 Wednesday. Anne dropped me off at Newark airport, the airport was very quiet, with only a few passengers waiting at security screening. The EWR-ORD flight was delayed by about an hour, so I went to the Red Carpet Club, and there were very few people there. Got upgraded to first class, since this was a non-meal flight, and I had an exit row seat in economy, it wasn’t much of an improvement. The ORD-LAX flight was packed but uneventful. However, listening to the pilot on channel 9, I was amazed how busy LAX was. It seemed everyone had to talk very fast to get the number of conversations in. I don’t fly UA that much nowadays – since CO is that much more convenient – and their planes feel old. In any case, picked up a few boxes of See’s Candy, and am now enroute SYD, about 5 hours from landing. I got quite a bit of (fitful) sleep. Another passenger and I occupy the middle 4 seats, she is acting a bit like a camel, now taking 2 ½ of those seats.

8/13 Friday. Plane landed on schedule at 8:10 am. Since we were one of the first to land, and used a gate close to immigration, the lines were short in comparison. It took all of 15 minutes from the time the plane landed to the time I got to the waiting area. Must be a personal record. Ruth and Steven picked me up. After a brief rest and shower, we went to Hurtsville to visit mother. She looked okay. Dim Sum brunch at a Chinese Restaurant. Susanna came by with Amy and Peter to spend the afternoon. I also took a quick nap in the late afternoon. Ruth prepared dinner. Went to bed early today.

8/14 Saturday. Walked to visit father’s grave in the morning. Ruth, Steven & I went to Opera House to see La Sonnambula. Had early lunch at Opera Café. The owner knew Ruth and Steven and gave us free dessert plus a discount. Walked around the park (Domain) afterwards, then caught train to Chatswood to have dinner at Fook Yuen with quite a few people: Ruth, Steven, Susanna, Chris, Amy, Peter, Wilson, Wendy, Ryan, Ling, Wally, Alfred, Toby – 14 in all.

8/15 Sunday. Went to Praise Evangelical Free Church; we all agreed that the preaching by the seminary student was quite good. Dim Sum lunch at Zilver Restaurant was good. There were lots of people waiting for a table by the time we were done. I then got dropped off at Circular Quay where I bought a $20 Day Pass and took the ferry first to Manly and then to Watson Bay. Finished a novel while sitting at Manly Beach. Got back to Jennings Street at around 5:30 pm; enjoyed a beef pie from “House of Pi” along the way. Dinner was prepared by Ruth – supplemented by some take-out Chinese food.

8/16 Monday. Drove to Watson’s Bay to have lunch with Steven & Ruth. Short run around Matraville in the afternoon. Dinner (mostly leftovers) at Jennings Street.

8/17 Tuesday. Dim Sum lunch at Chinese Restaurant in Marouba (Wilson and Ryan joined us). Bought another DayPass and took ferry to Watson’s Bay for a short walk in the Gap Park. Didn’t get back in time to catch Darling Harbour Ferry, so did another Manly roundtrip – this time it was much less crowded. Took train to Chatswood and got picked up by Ruth to go to Alfred’s apartment in Hornsby. Got to see Naomi and their new son Josiah. Dinner prepared by Ling.

8/18 Wednesday. Lunch at Palace Restaurant in CBD with Steven, Ruth & Wilson (who brought Ryan along). Took Bus 555 (free) to Museum of Sydney which contains a good exhibit on the history of Sydney; spent over two hours there. Then took 555 back down and spent the rest of the afternoon in the Darling Harbor area; finished another novel. Dinner at Szechuan Chilli with Ruth and Steven. Since I didn't want any spicy food to aggravate my cough, we had only limited choice of dishes to pick from.

8/19 Thursday. We left a little after 11 am for the trip to Nelson Bay, which according to Google Map is about 3 hours away. Enroute we had a quick lunch at the Westfield Mall in The Entrance. I am glad the BB GPS managed to have enough battery charge to last us till our arrival, which was at about 3:45 pm. Ruth drove the whole way – a record distance for her. Took a walk along the shore before BBQ dinner prepared by Chris. The whole gang is occupying two 3-bedroom apartments.

47 Christmas Bush Ave, Nelson Bay, NSW

Pool

Nelson Bay Marina

8/20 Friday. We left mid morning for what we thought was a reasonable length trip to Hunter Valley. Turns out it would haven taken over 2 ½ hours each way. Wally suggested a restaurant in Newcastle (called Restaurant II) instead. I had only the main (lamb rack), share in some dessert, and a coffee. Food was reasonably well prepared, a bit on the expensive side, though. Jogged for a couple of miles with Wally before dinner. Ling prepared several dishes for dinner: seafood spaghetti, baked pumpkin and baked vegetables. This was supplemented with raw oysters and boiled shrimp brought at a local market. It was quite hectic with 4 kids running around, which makes the peace and quiet after they go to sleep especially enjoyable.

8/21 Saturday. Drove around the area, including Soldier Point and Fingal Bay. After a simple sandwich lunch, Wally and I made it up the 161 meter Tomaree Head, which involved hiking up a rather steep slope and about 300 steps. Good view of the surroundings. We then visited the Stockton Sand Dunes which turned out to be quite spectacular. Dinner back at the Nelson Bay house.

View of Fingal Bay from Tomaree Head. It was so windy that I soon lost the cap I was wearing.

A tour on camel back of the Stockton Sand Dunes.

8/22 Sunday. Walked around “downtown” Nelson Bay with Wally. It's a neat small town anchored by a marina. Checked out of house at 12 noon. Had Fish & Chips (Flathead) at BUP's, pretty good. The rest of the gang ate at Hog's Breath. Trip back to Sydney was uneventful, but quite a bit of traffic. We stopped by Susanna's house and we all went to Chatswood for dinner. It's now 8 pm and we are all ready to wind down.

Love Birds (pictured here) and cockatoos are very common in NSW.

8/23 Monday. Departure day. Even though the stay has been relaxing and enjoyable, I am ready to go home. Wilson – who has the week off - stopped by with Ryan and we headed off to the airport together. Lunch at Oporto’s in the SYD foodcourt. Plane left and landed on time. UA870 was crowded, but seat next to mine was empty. Didn’t get much sleep on both the SYD-SFO and SFO-EWR segments. Today I must have stood out as I was flagged both at the SYD security check and SFO customs check for additional screening. Neither was too time-consuming as I had only minimum luggage. The SFO domestic security even re-screened my bag of liquids. Chung Shu picked up and I was home at around 11:30 pm.

Shanghai & Hong Kong, July 17 - 30, 2010.

Saturday 7/17/2010. Henry dropped me off at EWR. CO87 EWR-PVG flight was packed. Didn’t get much sleep as flight was during day time. 14 hour flight didn’t feel that long, watched only one movie (Alice in Wonderland) and a few TV episodes.

Sunday 7/18/2010. Pudong Airport is quite modern and seems to be well designed. Clean washrooms. Took MagLev train which reached a top speed of 430 km/h. Train looked a bit old, with some tattering in the upholstery already; let’s hope track maintenance is more diligent. Short Taxi ride from train station to Citadines Hotel. Anne already checked in earlier in the day. Hotel (an apartment) is reasonable, but very far from town – map at hotels.com website indicated a different location. Didn’t do much during the day – basically trying to make up for the sleepless flight. Lunch and dinner (takeout) at the hotel restaurant.

Monday 7/19/2010. Anne met up with her colleagues for lunch while I stayed at the hotel. Met up with her at the LaYa Shopping Center where we had coffee. Shanghai has been having very hot weather these several days (reaching 37C which is about 100F), so we were expecting an uncomfortable afternoon. We first visited the Bund with many buildings from the early 1900s. We then took a ferry ride across the Huangpu River – cost RMB2 one way.

PingAn Insurance Building. Greek columns galore. Who was the architect?

Pudong Skyline, dominated by the Pearl of the East Tower.

Took taxi from Ferry Terminal to the EXPO (Door 4). Very few people at the entrance, and surprising very few people milling about on EXPO grounds. Turns out they were all standing in line. We picked the pavilions that didn’t have long lines and ended up visiting most (if not all) of the –stans. Other places included Mongolia, East Timor, and Iran. We did wait for about an hour to get into the Kazakstan Pavilion and decided it wasn’t worth it. Dinner at an EXPO restaurant.

A few observations. (i) Attendance to the EXPO was very low after the opening days. There is a lot of talk in trying to make the target number of 70 million, the government has been giving out a lot of free or discounted tickets. Our tickets today were gifts from a friend, for instance. Now they are on track to make the number, but – at least in my case, and in some of my friends’ cases – in exchange has made the experience bordering on unbearable. (ii) Queuing is still a strange concept in China. To be able to jump the line seems to be a national sport. I used to think it is people are so conditioned because of the lack of resources, now I am not so sure. Actually I remarked sarcastically to a mother that she would bring her daughter up thinking that’s the way things should be. (iii) Anne thinks many things are there for “perfunctory” reasons. Shanghai thinks it is an international city and thus needs to be bi-lingual, so announcements and signs are also in English. But the English items are just of minimal help. During the EXPO people were just going around gathering stamps instead of trying to understand other cultures. (iv) You see exceptions every now and then, but people are in general not very friendly. Most of the time the answer we get is “I don’t know.”

Tuesday 7/20/2010. Visited the Pearl of the East TV Tower. We wanted to get the RMB150 ticket and they were sold out. When asked when they would be available the agent didn’t know. So we got the RMB135 ticket. It quickly dawned on us they probably sell so many of the RMB150 tickets every hour and then stop in order to control people flow. After standing in line for a while, we took the offer of an “upgrade” to 3-station ticket and a buffet lunch. That allowed us to jump to the top of the queue (actually we went to another line which was very short.) The views were quite spectacular, although the hazy day limited our visibility. I gathered enough courage to step onto the plexiglass flooring with a direct view of the ground 340m below me. Buffet in the revolving restaurant was okay. Visited the Shanghai museum after the tower, rather interesting and informative display.

In front of the Pearl of the East Tower.

View of Pudong Traffic Circle from the Tower.

Tall buildings in Pudong viewed from the Tower.

This observation deck is at 350 meters.

It took me a while to gather the courage to step on the plexiglass floor. These are my legs.

Cicada pupae shells left behind after the insects emerged as adults.

We went to the EXPO again, they didn’t sell tickets at Door 4 (who would have thought) so we walked to Door 5. This time we found ourselves near the EXPO axis and the China Pavilion. We strolled around and were quite impressed with the Axis and the Cultural Center. We then took a bus to the Pacific Area. Visited the Pacific Pavilion with its collection of small nations such as Marshall Islands. A stamp collector’s dream. We also saw Indonesia which was reasonably interesting. Dinner at an EXPO restaurant also.

EXPO Axis. No idea what this represents, but it looks nice and changes color.

EXPO Cultural Center. Quite an impressive building. The black band you see is a glassed in corridor.

Wednesday 7/21/2010. Went to People’s Square and visited Shanghai Museum. Quite disappointed at the haphazard way things were grouped together. One usually expects to learn something after visiting a museum, not this time. I remember going to it before and it certainly didn’t leave any lasting impression either. Developed a cramp in my right calf, very painful to walk. Had to rest at Raffles Plaza across the street from the museum; had lunch and then went back to the hotel.

Took taxi to Big Thumb Plaza and had dinner at a restaurant serving Northeastern cuisine. The “Fish Boiled in Water” dish was very spicy.

In front of the Shanghai Museum. The visit was a disappointment.

Thursday 7/22/2010. Woke up early (at 5:30 am) to get ready for early trip to Pudong Airport. Taxi took about 40 minutes (no traffic, hotel on Eastern part of town). Check in, security, and boarding processes were quite smooth. However, at 9 am the pilot said we were all ready, but airport traffic control couldn’t tell us when we could take off. According to a flight attendant I talked to, this happens quite frequently with Shanghai. Other airports at least will give an estimated time. And there was no obvious reason for the delay: early flight, good weather, airport didn’t seem particularly congested. In any case, when we got to Royal Park Shatin, it was about 4 pm. It should take that long (close to 10 hours) to go door-to-door from Shanghai to Hong Kong. Landing was relatively smooth given that there is threat of a hurricane (cyclone). Hong Kong Express is a decent airline from this limited experience.

Friday 7/23/2010. Went to Langham Place to have Samsung Cell Phone repaired. Then to Causeway Bay to have lunch with Tim. Went to The Peak and had dessert with Elaine. Evening spent eating a quiet meal at Café d’ Coral. Feeling a bit sick – coming down with a cold.

Saturday 7/24/2010. Had a rough night last night with my sore throat and coughing. Woke up after a fitful night’s sleep. Went back to Samsung to get the repaired phone. It was a good thing I asked the customer service rep to try the wifi feature: it still didn’t work. Eventually they got it fixed and it seems to work okay now. Lunch at Jockey Club with Larry and Elaine. Came back to hotel to rest up. Dinner at Japanese Restaurant in Shatin Plaza. Anne went to airport to pick up Joe and Jessica.

Sunday 7/25/2010. Tim picked me up to go to Tai Po to look at his project. Also saw cleanup work with bulldozers and trucks after the heavy downpour on Thursday. A person was washed out to sea. Anne, Joe and Jessica checked out of hotel and checked in at the YMCA. We met up with them and drove to Aberdeen Boat Club where Alyson joined us for the boatride to Lamma Island, lunch and then a short anchor at one of the Lamma bays. Got back to the hotel and changed to go the dinner at The Country Club where most of Anne’s family showed up: Uncle Richard & Auntie Fannie; Ellen; Jane and her daughter; Larry, Elaine & Larry Jr & Justin; Kenneth, Anna & Kenneth Jr & Eric; Gordon and Alex & Lucas.

Joe and Jess swimming in one of the bays at Lamma Island.

Dinner at the Country Club. Relatives from Anne's side of the family.

View of harbor from YMCA hotel room.

Monday 7/26/2010. Started off the day with Joe & Jessica dropping off the laundry they have accumulated over many days. Breakfast at Breadbox which was Malaysian/Singaporean. Then ferry, shuttle, and Peak Tram to The Peak. Walked a bit. Took 15 to head back to town. Anne & I split up from Joe and Jessica. Lunch at Café de Coral. I came back to the hotel to rest while Anne went off to Jordan to check out a bookstore. Dinner at Serenade Restaurant at Cultural Center.

Tuesday 7/27/2010. Dinner with Kenneth & Jr at China Club. Needed to borrow jackets.

Wednesday 7/28/2010. Went to Ngong Ping 360. Quite windy, sky was clear, though. Was about to take bus to Tai O when sky really darkened. So we took bus back to Tung Chung instead. Dinner at Canton Restaurant at Harbor City.

Inside a NgongPing360 cable car. It was quite windy this day.

Thursday 7/29/2010. Dim Sum Brunch at Jade Garden, Star House. Took train and then light rail to Wetland Park. I sat inside the café while Joe, Jessica and Anne walked around the grounds. Went to see Tim before heading back to the hotel. Dinner with Larry and Elaine at the Shanghai Club. Joe just found out his flight will be delayed for 11 hours. He managed to rebook themselves on a 9:30 am CX flight.

Friday 7/30/2010. The day started with Jess calling to say Joe was not feeling well. With Panadol and a hot shower he recovered enough to make the flight. Anne and I were in a full flight also; I didn’t get much sleep. Took train and then walked home.

Lancaster, PA & Delmarva, June 3 - 8, 2010

6/3 Thursday. Drove to Lancaster for a Friday meeting with Hope International. Ruby & David and Alfred were with us. Drive was uneventful, not much traffic. Stopped at an Amish Farm and took a short tour (run by non-Amish folks). Learned that Pennsylvania "Dutch" is actually "Deutsch" and other interesting facts. Couldn't really find a nice Amish restaurant, so had dinner at Olive Garden instead.

6/4 Friday. Morning meetings with Hope International. Afterwards they took us to lunch at a restaurant in a golf course. Took our west coast friends on a boat ride when we got back to NJ.

6/5 Saturday. Drove Alfred to Newark airport early in the morning.

6/6 Sunday. Went to David and Ruby to Cape May. Stayed at the Beach Shack. Walked around a natural preserve.


David & Ruby in front of Cape May Lighthouse.

6/7 Monday. Took Cape May - Lewes Ferry. Lunch at Jerry's Seafood in Lewes. City is quite nice. Had the "crab bomb" which is a crab cake large enough to split as an appetizer among the four of us. Meal was quite enjoyable. Took the Oxford - Bellevue Ferry. Didn't get to join an eco-tour as it was fully booked, to our surprise. Drove around the area and saw a bald eagle landing very close to us. Dinner at Crab Claw's was okay but not spectacular. Stayed at Best Western St. Andrews, very few guests were staying there.


Jerry's Seafood serves up some good lunches.


Oxford to Bellevue Ferry.


Bald eagle.


Typical town in the St. Andrews area.

6/8 Tuesday. Joined the tour on the Rebecca T. Ruard, the oldest skipjack in the United States. It was an oyster boat, we still managed to trawl up three oysters, which someone on the tour ate after Captain Wade opened them up. I had to steer the boat for a while, and the boat was going along at 3 mph. I went to dinner with David & Ruby and their in-laws while Anne went to class.


Relaxing on the skipjack Rebecca T. Ruard.


At the helm of the skipjack. Not too difficult to keep a straight line on a calm day.

Boston and Hong Kong, April 30 – May 17, 2010

4/30. Train from Metropark to Boston. We went to CBCGB to attend the third annual Social Concern Conference with the theme of “Exploited Women & Children.” Friday was a message by the keynote speaker, and there were several Saturday evening workshops. Met up with Sarah of Hope International.

5/1. Boiled water alert for several towns in the area, including Boston. Certainly makes life a bit incovenient. Lunch at a Korean Restaurant in Union Square, Somerset.

5/2. Took Joe's car and dropped Anne off at Logan for her trip to Chicago, then drove down to South Yarmouth (about 90 minutes away) to pick up Ellie who attended a wedding. Trip back took longer because of repairs on Sagamore Bridge causing a rather lengthy delay. Dinner with Ellie, Joe Jr & Jessica at Yuki's at Station Landing, then we dropped off Ellie for her trip back to SFO.

5/3. Joe Jr dropped me off at around 10 am for my trip to Hong Kong (via Newark). Packed plane from Newark to Hong Kong. Plane was late taking off and arrived a little late; it took just about an hour for me to settle in my room at the Rosedale, though.

5/5. Wednesday. Met up with Johnny at YMCA Salisbury and spent a good part of the day with him catching up on various things. Had two coffees and lunch at Prince Restaurant at 1 Peking Road. Also went to Mongkok and bought a Chinese made cell phone (2 lines); battery connection is lose, though. Ruth and Steven arrived a bit late and joined us for dinner after 8 pm.

5/6. Thursday. Met up with Johnny again and said goodbye after lunch. Then off to Hong Kong Club to meet up with Larry and Elaine. Elaine gave me some tourist information. Dinner at a local cafe (Tsui Wah) in Causeway Bay, followed by dessert at Yee Shun, with Stephen & Ruth.

5/7. Friday. Breakfast with Ruth and Steven at Jade Restaurant, Hysan Ave. Lunch with Larry at Hong Kong club; chatted for more than 2 hours. Went to HK Cultural Center; the Beethoven concert was sold out so bought a ticket for the Chinese Orchestra's performance tonight. Turns out the concert was for tomorrow; mad dash to City Hall was for naught.

5/8. Saturday. Went to Tai Po construction site to look at progress of house. Ling fell and now has a large bruise around her ankle.


I ran into this Qilin Dance in the Mongkok area. Probably to celebrate the opening of a new store.

5/9. Sunday. A rather large group (4 Lau's from Clear Water Bay; 6 Cheungs) went on Tim's boat, first to Lamma Island Rainbow Restaurant for lunch, then to Yung Shue Wan to look at the temporary theatre for Chinese Opera – not much happening because it was a holiday. Coffee at ABC's Middle Island club house, followed by a tour of Repulse Bay. Ling cooked for us at Tim's apartment.

5/10. Monday. Looked around Shum Shui Po computer markets. Met up with Ruth and Steven to head out t Noah's Ark. They now have convenient shuttle bus service from Grand Century Plaza in Mongkok. Dinner at China Land Restaurant at the Plaza.

5/11. Tuesday. Morning tea at Lin Heung Restaurant in Sheung Wan. Food at this well-known traditional restaurant isn't as good it is reputed to be. Tea with On Ching at Starbucks in Hopewell Center. Tea at Macau Restaurant in Causeway Bay. Dinner with Derek at Ding Tai Fung, another somewhat overrated restaurant.

5/12. Wednesday. After breakfast, Ruth, Steven & I left for Disneyland. We got there about 11:30 am and it was quite empty. There were more people as the day progressed but the rides were never crowded. The theme park is quite small compared to the one in Florida, with many fewer rides. While somethings were tri-lingual (Mandarin, Cantonese & English), most shows were in English, not sure it is a good idea. A lot of walking involved, but Steven seemed to take it in stride. Evening dinner in Sai Kung hosted by the Lau's. A rather sumptuous event. Quite late when we got back into town.


Hong Kong Disneyland is a rather small theme park.

5/13. Thursday. Visit Ocean Park with Steven & Ruth. Saw the dolphin and sea lion shows, the bird show, and the “clown” show. All disappointing. The desire to add an “ecological” message didn't help as it was quite artificial. Tim joined us for dinner at Ding Tai Fung. Tea with Larry at the Conrad. Bought a new cell phone.


Dolphin show at Ocean Park. It took me a few tries to time the camera correctly.


Pandas are always an attraction.

5/14. Friday. Late coffee at Happy Valley with Larry.

5/15. Saturday. Trip to Kennedy Town took about an hour. Surprised at number of foreigners that live there and the many coffee shops and bars that cater to them. Met up with Ling and Wally at Tai Po Market Station and went to construction site again. Windows have been installed. Went to HK Culture Center concert where a sung version of Fidelio was performed.


Construction site. What would it look like when completed?

5/16. Sunday. Went on Tim’s boat for lunch at a pizzeria at Stanley, then tea at Middle Island. Dinner at Lei Garden.

5/17. Monday. Left a bit late and missed the city check-in window. It was after 9:30 am when I got to the airport for a 10:25 am departure. Managed to get the luggage checked, boarding pass issued, and by the time I got to the gate most people had boarded. It was a crowded flight.