China & Hong Kong, March 11 - 24, 2010.

3/11/2010. CO89 Newark – Beijing. Anne and I (mostly I) were arguing about upgrading to business class on this flight. By the time we decided to do it, all the upgrade seats were gone. According to the CO website, the business class cabin was only half full, and the coach cabin was packed with several people waitlisted to get on this flight. We even asked at check in, and they said they couldn’t do anything. So we were very surprised when we got called and offered free upgrades. I am sitting in a bulkhead seat (8A), so my coughing (which could be quite severe at times) would not bother those around us. Yesterday I thought things weren’t working out too well for this trip, but I am glad how things have worked out so far. Jamie and David got upgraded also; I suppose they are also happy.

It’s now 6 pm Newark time, a little over 5 hours into the flight. We are now over Greenland, and there has been this orange glow of the sunset for the past hour or so. They do have longer dawns and dusks in these northern latitudes. It’s still winter, so all we see is white. Interestingly, after we crossed the North Pole, East was on our side of the plane, and we get to see the orange glow of the sunset. At first I thought dusk somehow reappeared.


It was like this for several hours outside the plane window as we crossed the North Pole.

We took the airport express and then No. 2 subway to get to the hotel. Even though it was rush hour the trains were not unduly crowded. Met up with David Law who got here a day earlier. Five of us had dinner at a local restaurant (“Little Potato”) in the New World Shopping Mall. Food was only so-so.

3/13 Saturday. Anne, Jamie & David Hsieh went to a training session with an organization helping migrant children. David Law and I took the subway to “Yuan Ming” Garden in the Northwest part of town. This used to be a huge palace complex with many buildings, they were all destroyed and pillaged when the “Eight Countries” invaded China. I wish they would restore some buildings so visitors can have some idea how things looked before, instead you just wander around these grounds you are sure have a lot of history to them. The Chinese government needs to learn how to develop its tourist industry. There are also many signs saying they want the pillaged artifacts to be returned. One would think the proper way is to make the request in international forums. Given today’s climate, things will be returned if the claims are legitimate.


Entrance to Yu Ming Garden.

David and I had a late lunch at Chef Kang’s, well known in the US for its instant noodles. Cheap, and not bad.

Another short subway ride took us to the Olympic Green with the Water Cube (National Aquatics Center) on one side and the Bird’s Nest (stadium) on the other. Quite crowded since this was a Saturday afternoon. Some hawkers were selling these tandem kites that looked quite interesting.


Bird's Nest on the Olympic Green.

Met up with the others and had dinner at the “Cheap Restaurant” which was neither cheap nor very good.

3/14 Sunday. It had snowed quite a bit by the time we woke up. Took a 45-minute taxi ride to BICF-ZGC. Had to teach the driver how to get to the Raychem building using my Blackberry GPS. Long singspiration, interesting sermon by someone who works in Kyrgzstan. Lunch with Sarah H at Grandma’s Restaurant.

Anne bought me a couple of shirts since I didn’t bring enough.

Dinner at a local restaurant before David, Anne and I went to a concert at the new Performing Arts Center.

3/15 Monday. Michael H and Sarah H came to the hotel at 7:45 am. Left for Z in Michael’s rental minivan after breakfast. Trip took over 3 hours. Except for some patches, most of the snow on the road had been cleared. Along the way we saw many disabled cars, and we had to stop for some windshield washer fluid selling at highway-robbery prices. The fresh-covered mountains made for a rather strange landscape. We also passed through the Great Wall.


Mountains we passed by on our way north from Beijing.


Finally, the turn off to the town we visited.

Lunch at Z restaurant with office manager of a charitable organization (H). After an overview of H at their office, David and I visited a small business selling women’s clothing. Anne and Jamie visited a handbag seller. Dinner at a local restaurant. The hotel (Flatroad in English; Transportation in Chinese) we stayed at had shower curtains with mildew on it.


View of city from hotel.

3/16 Tuesday. Left hotel at 7 am to get to XH for office morning devotion. Went to see two customers: a beer delivery person, and a farmer who raises pigs, bakes cakes, and makes powdered hot drinks as a living. Lunch at “Grade A” fancy restaurant. Donkey meat dumplings actually were quite good. The return trip to Beijing went slowly because of the number of trucks on the road. We contacted Franklin to postpone our dinner to 7 pm, which we barely made. The La Paletta in the new financial district served som good food, including a fish head dish (not nearly as weird as it sounds). Franklin’s treat. We checked back into the Courtyard. Who would have thought returning to BJ would feel like going back to civilization? But that’s how we felt.


A residence in the town of XH.


Is this pig cold?


Kitchen where food is prepared.


We encountered many trucks on our way back to Beijing. This stretch of highway later made the news with a 75-mile traffic jam in late August.

3/17 Wednesday. Woke up at 4:45 am to check out at 5:30 am. It seems we have to get up earlier and earlier. 30-minute taxi ride to airport. Check in & security lines were both short and efficient. As Star Gold members, we got to sit in the Air China lounge. Flight CA905 was packed but uneventful (which is good). Kunming landing was a bit rough due to crosswinds. Bought some KFC for our car ride.

Got into Mr. L’s rental car (a moderately beat-up Mitsubishi Pajero); he and Michael H drove the 350 km from Qunming to Dali to get us to the hotel at (Xianghe) about 5:15 pm. Dinner at 6 pm with Michael and his wife Lan, Mr. Li and Joseph C in a Western style restaurant. Good, spicy Nasi Goreng.

Mr. Li has an interesting life story: Born in Inner Mongolia, he came to Yunnan to start his own business. Through contact with other Christians he eventually became one. He started to preach the gospel and joined H through Mr. Joseph’s invitation. They met when Joseph stayed at a hotel Mr. Li was running and noticed a sign saying “Jesus Loves You”.

3/18 Thursday. Went on a field visit with H personnel. The drive out was over two hours, and we had to walk down a steep dirt road to get to a village of about 40 families. These villages look nice from a distance (this is the land of Shangri La, after all), but up close the conditions are quite miserable.


From a distance, one might think this is Shangri La.


Up close, the living conditions are not that good.

We first visited a relief case: the father is blind from a disease he couldn’t afford to treat, the mother is unable to speak, their son is mentally handicapped, and the cooking is done by the 95-year old grandmother. Mr. Li brought some rice for them.

The house we visited belonged to the village elder. The transaction was supposed to be with six families but there was much confusion as to who needed to show up to sign the documents. While the living conditions were wanting, the place was surprising clean, especially considering they were raising chickens, cattle, and a pig with 10 or so piglets in tow in the courtyard. We out-of-towners left at about 4 pm to get back into town.


Inside of Village Elder's home, this is as comfortable as it gets around here.


Yunnan was suffering through a drought when we visited. Parched fields all over.

3/19 Friday. Day in Dali. Went with H and Lan to Old Town, sure enough someone was trying to sell us opium. Visited the church building which was over 100 years old (rebuilt after destruction by an earthquake and the cultural revolution). Took tram to Chang Shan. 1.6 km, elevation rise from 2100 to 2600 m, as indicated by my GPS. Lunch at La Stella Pizza. Dinner at Mr. Li’s, whose wife cooked up quite an elaborate dinner.


Walmarts are quite common in China, including here in Dali. We bought a toy for Sammy which turned out to be of rather shoddy quality.


Picture with Michael & Lan on top of Chang Shan.


View of Old Dali from cable car. Erhai Lake in the background.


Dali Church.

3/20 Saturday. Morning MU flight from Dali to Kunming. David L would wait 5+ hours to get on KA flight to HK. Anne & I couldn't get a hired car at the airport, so we went to the hotel (Grand Park) to check in, and then got a hotel hired car to go to Stone Forest (Shilin) leaving at 11:30 am. Trip took about 90 minutes. Hired a guide for CNY60, an electric cart for CNY200 (a bit of a rip off as it only took us around the outer loop). Toured Shilin for a couple of hours. Interesting, but not as spectacular as I'd expected. Guide took us to tea house where we obligingly bought some tea (CNY150 for 4 small canisters).





Shilin (Stone Forest) scenery.

After dinner at a Yunnan Restaurant we went to the Trinity (3-self) Church. Singspiration typical young worship. Preacher from Hong Kong (Rev. Cheung) talked about attitude towards money. Crowded but not everyone was attentive.

Hotel was the most luxurious yet for this trip. At CNY630 not all that expensive, with free internet and breakfast.


We attended a service at this Kunming Church.

3/21 Sunday. Stayed in hotel room most of the morning. Walked around Cui Hu (Green Lake) Park for an hour or so. Buffet lunch at Palmetto Restaurant in hotel. Off to airport. Anne to BJ, I to HK. Dinner at Tim's, Ling cooked up stewed beef and pasta.


Cui Hu (Green Lake) next to the Kunming Grand Park Hotel.

3/22 Monday. Morning spent visiting the annual flower show in Victoria Park. Lunch at Vicwood Plaza’s Chiu Chow Garden with Ka Shi & David L. Chatted with David in coffee house until after 5 pm. Dinner at Tim's.

3/23 Tuesday. Morning to Tai Po Market/Lai Chi Shan to visit construction site with Ling. Wally joined us for lunch at Tai Wai “Maple Grove Cafe.” Good meal, not inexpensive though. Picked up ticket at Ka Shi's office for tonight's ballet. Took a quick nap. Ballet Don Quixote performed by the Mariinsky Ballet was 2:45 hrs long, with 2 25-minute (closer to 30 minutes) breaks. Had a sandwich at 7-11 during the second intermission, and won-ton noodles at Mak Un Noodle Shop in Causeway Bay. It was about 11:30 pm by the time I got back to Tim’s place.

3/24 Wednesday. Tim dropped me off at the Hong Kong Airport Express Station. Check-in was a breeze. Even though plane was packed and one of the restrooms was out of commission, it was still a relatively painless flight. Took train to South Amboy, and got home at about 3:30 pm. Our house suffered some damage during the storm about 2 weeks ago, fortunately it doesn’t appear to be major.

Australia, February 9 – 22, 2010.

This is our annual trip to Australia for the Chinese New Year. We booked these saver award tickets in United Business Class about 11 months ago. I don’t ever recall planning my trips that far in advance (possible exceptions are the two Cornell Reunion Cruises), but to save on mileage we decided to see how it would work out.

2/9. United usually has a very tight connection at San Francisco (we were going to have 45 minutes this time.) Since it is winter, and the EWR-SFO flight (UA95) leaves during rush hour, any hiccup will make us miss the connecting flight and make us stay in San Francisco for a day. For this trip there was a severe snowstorm that was supposed to hit on Wednesday 2/10. And as of Tuesday Continental had already canceled many of its Wednesday flights. I was watching the weather reports and on Monday decided to call United to see if they had seats available for Tuesday. They did, so we took them even though they were middle row seats. Since they were exit row seats so they were reasonably comfortable. Anne was sitting one row behind me, turns out there were quite a few million-mile flyers among our neighbors. The flight landed early. While we wonder if we could have caught that evening’s flight to Sydney, we decided to stay in San Francisco. Ellie met up with us and we had dinner/midnight snack of Er-Fu noodles, Tofu casserole, and cashew nuts chicken at The Kitchen across the street after checking into the hotel (Millbrae Quality Suites). We then picked up Kuau from the airport and drove them to Ellie’s apartment. Turns out Kuau was planning to travel Wednesday also; he got to travel Tuesday but had a 3-leg flight. Anne actually dropped him off at Newark earlier Tuesday afternoon. And we managed to get there early enough to pick him up. Something interesting about it. And the Wednesday UA95 was canceled.

For some reasons rental car were very tight at SFO (perhaps due to Toyotas being recalled). We reserved a compact car for about $120 for one day – it’s never been this expensive – and all National had left were minivans. So we checked out this huge Dodge Grand Caravan.

2/10. Day in San Francisco. We stayed in our room until close to 11 am. Anne had various business items to take care of. We were at this hotel in December last year. It was undergoing renovation then, it is undergoing renovation now. And the hot breakfast they offered became a continental breakfast you have to eat in the room.

We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge with only a vague idea what we were going to do. First it was Sausalito. We were there perhaps about 20 years ago so I had only a vague memory of it. I do remember eating at a restaurant with a great view of San Francisco across the bay. It was very quiet on this weekend winter day. Many restaurant s and shops were not open. We ate a simple lunch at this Tutti restaurant (ham & cheese for Anne, clam chowder & quiche for me). Then it was to Mt. Tamalpais State Park which supposedly had a nice view of the city. We didn’t make it as the road was too windy for the minivan. Since Muir Woods was close by, we visited it instead. We have been there a few times, and it remains the same – that’s the point, isn’t it? We got back to San Francisco around 5 pm and managed to find a place to park! Walked with Ellie & Kuau to dinner at Eos, a fusion place that offered $40 off for $20. Asian fusion, tapas style (we are told it’s quite popular in San Francisco), pretty large servings. After a quick shower, we headed to the airport. It was quiet and we got through check-in and security quite easily. Security at Newark yesterday took close to 30 minutes, one of the longest in recent memory.

2/12. Enroute Sydney. It is about 4 am Sydney time as I type this; we have flown about 10 hours and still have 4 to go. We had the “express meal” and slept for a good six or seven hours. Business class, if one is willing to spend the money, is the way to go. The new seats lie flat and they have these 15” TV screens; too bad they are a bit far from the seats. In any case, Continental seems to offer (in coach) better entertainment options than United Business.

Visited the Botany Cemetery where father is buried; otherwise spent most of the day trying to keep awake. In my experience, jet lag has little to do with how much sleep one gets on the plane. Went to the House of Pi on Bunnerong Road and bought a few beef pies and a couple of sausage rolls. They are now “healthier” but less tasty than I remember. After lunch at Zilver in the City, we checked into Meriton Kent Street. We have a 1-bedroom apartment on the 53rd floor (street level is 10th floor) with a good view of the Darling Harbor, the Anzac Bridge, Pyrmont, Chatswood, and other parts of the city. Dinner at Fook Yuen in Chatswood with Steven & Ruth, Susanna & Chris and their two children Amy & Peter. Service at both Zilver and Fook Yuen left something to be desired.

2/13. Tim got into town early this morning. Ruth came by to pick Anne & me up to get to Matraville. Then the six of us (Steven & Ruth, Tim & Alyson, and Anne & me) went to Fairlea Old People’s Home to visit mother. Physically she looked quite good, the swelling she used to have in her ankles seems to have vanished, but there isn’t any recognition in her eyes. She was in the lounge with 15 or so other residents in various degrees of distressed health. The place tries to put on a Chinese New Year sing-along but didn’t get a lot of participation.

Lunch was dim sum at the Empress Restaurant in the Randwick Club. Anne & I then came back to the hotel to rest, with I taking a longer than planned nap. We had to rush to the Opera House to catch the 7:30pm performance. After the show we got back to the hotel by taking the train to Town Hall. I didn’t know exactly how to buy tickets from the limited number of machines at Circular Quay, and am quite sure we paid too much for the tickets. Got myself a small Whooper meal at Hungry Jack’s (Burger King); Anne decided not to waste the calories.

2/14. Chinese New Year! Took taxi to Evangelical Praise Church in Matraville for Sunday worship. Went to Ruth’s place and had lunch (which consisted of store-bought pizza, quiche, and lasagna) with their two children and three grand children. Borrowed her car and drove to cemetery to visit father’s grave. Then drove to Little Bay and Le Perouse before we return the car and took the bus back to the hotel. After a short nap it was off to dinner again. This time it was at Palace Chinese Restaurant on Castlereagh Street. Joining the usual group was Alfred, Naomi & Toby; we had altogether 16 people. The 12-people set dinner was sufficient for us; indeed there were left-overs. A troupe came by to perform a lion dance and we offered them a red packet. Anne and I also handed out red packets to Alyson and our four grand niece and nephews.

2/15. Checked out of the Meriton Apartments at Kent Street. Will move back into another apartment later in the afternoon. Lunch at Wildfire at the Overseas Passenger Terminal in Circular Quay. The food was presented nicely, but tasted only so-so. Then we took the ferry to Manly, walked for an hour or so, had ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s, and then came back. Dinner at Pho Restaurant next to the hotel. Managed to get on the elliptical machine for 30 minutes.

2/16. Tim wanted to try Quay, this very famous restaurant at the OPT. It was closed yesterday when we stopped by, but today we could get a reservation for lunch. The restaurant ended up being about ½ full. It offers a prix fixe menu of two courses for $75, and dessert for an additional $20. We all opted for the former. For starts I picked the “Sea Pearls” which consists of four balls made of sashimi tuna, octopus, abalone, and sea scallop. They also claim smoked eel which I didn’t taste. Others ordered mud crab congee and poached partridge breast. For the main course I had the confit lamb loin topped with different kinds of nuts and accompanied by asparagus (not my favorite vegetable, so I appreciated the small servings). Others tried confit of duck and red snapper. A lot of people (certainly Tim & Alyson, but also my two children) like to experience these famous restaurants. I often come away disappointed, an experience I liken to going to just a so-so concert. That’s usually the case when I go to an expensive restaurant, and today was no exception.

Menu at the Quay Restaurant. A$75 for two courses.

The Appetizer. Four balls of seafood.

The Roasted Duck Confit. Compare its size to the camera.

After lunch Anne & I bought an “Inner Harbor” ferry ticket and went around the Darling Harbor route once before getting off at the aquarium. It was then a short walk back to the hotel. We then ordered take out (Chinese dishes from Mr. Wong and spring rolls from Just Pho). Tim bought a piece of steak and some racks of lamb and grilled them for dinner. Anne & I, Steven & Ruth, Tim & Alyson, and Alfred & Toby ate at Tim’s apartment.

Six of us went to see Tosca. This is described as “raw” by local media. The same set is used for all three acts, and some actors are recycled (played multiple roles), the clothing is relatively contemporary, the rape scene is more graphic than usual, and the final scene is depicted as a fantasy/dream sequence rather than the traditional interpretation of an actual execution. We are all scratching our heads a little, but overall I find the performance quite compelling. To use the eating at a restaurant analogy, this performance is less so in the disappointment department. (Not a ringing endorsement of the opera, unfortunately.)

2/17. Lunch at Pepper Lunch, inexpensive but rather tasty dishes of eel & rice and chicken & beef. Served on sizzling hot plates. Then took free bus 555 to Circular Quay to catch Captain Cook Coffee Cruise of the Middle Harbor. I am quite familiar with the Sydney Harbor but still find some of the narrative informative. A British gentleman in his 80s sat next to us and we had a rather interesting conversation about things in general. Dinner prepared by Tim who bought three kinds of beef from David Jones (Wagyu steak, New York Sirloin, and Wagyu Rump) which he grilled. The Wagyu steak sells for A$120 per kilogram, although one would argue the tastes of the New York Sirloin and Rump aren’t that far behind. We bought pretty pieces of cakes from the shop called 85 degrees, a bakery chain owned by Chinese from Taiwan. They tasted quite good also. Each person had about 150 to 200 grams worth of beef, somehow we all felt quite full.

2/18. Checked out at 8 am, taxi to Qantas Domestic Terminal, which actually is quite small at 16 gates. We had some time so we couldn’t resist eating something before getting on the plance. Flight to Alice Springs was uneventful, and Anne & I both had aisle seats with an empty middle seat. They served a quiche for breakfast/lunch, quite similar to what Continental would do. Bought RT transfers to hotel on Shuttle. Walked around town a bit and also bought another tour from Emu Run. The lady suggested we do the MacDonnell Range tour tomorrow, and the Ulura/Olgas tour on Saturday, which we will do.

Visited the Royal Flying Doctors’ Service Center on the southern end of town. RFDS runs a 55 plane fleet, each costing around A$6M when new. Most of the operating costs are provided by the government as grants or the Australian National Healthcare System. The rest (mostly in capital costs) is from donations. The lady said our entrance fee of A$7 each is a downpayment towards a plane. They need a lot of these admissions! Of the four planes based in Alice Springs, two were out on missions when we were passing through.

There are quite a few art galleries in town exhibiting and selling local aboriginal art. We wandered in one of them (Mbantua) which sells large paintings (say 3’ x 5’) priced as high as A$25,000. The most expensive ones seem to be painted by Minnie Pwerle. Her trademark looks something like a snowshoe (imagine that), unfortunately I don’t find her paintings particularly attractive. Now you can buy smaller paintings by street artists for around A$50. Anne is quite tempted, I keep telling her it will be cumbersome to bring it home. Another thing, seems all the artists are women.

Aboriginals painting (outside RFDS), Alice Springs.

Around 5:30 pm we walked up the ANZAC hill, about 150 feet elevation, but it was still quite warm. Hill has good view of town. One notices the town is very small, nestled among the surrounding hills, with the MacDonnell Range prominently on the West.

Town of Alice Springs as seen from Anzac Hill. Yes, this is pretty much it.

Dinner at the Hong Kong Restaurant. Since our expectations weren’t high, so it was okay. Cost about A$50 for three large dishes. Aurora Alice Springs is a budget hotel. Reasonably clean is probably the best compliment I can give it.

2/19. Woke up at 6:45 am to catch the tour bus at 7:45 am. Sam the tour guide was running a bit late. We ended up with a group of 11 people: a gentleman from Germany, one from Melbourne, a couple from Adelaide, two ladies from Greece, two young ladies, an older lady, and the two of us. We were on a similar tour in 1979, during the winter season. I still recall some of the scenery, but have forgotten many of the specifics. We stopped by (not quite in that order) Standley Chasm, named after a teacher of mixed blood aboriginal children, Simpson Gap, Glen Helen, Ellery Creek, Ochre Pits and Ormiston Gorge. We decided to try the helicopter ride for A$50. It lasted about 7 minutes in a "mosquito". Anne has a fear of heights, and I was a bit worried if the seat belts wouldn’t open on their own. Basically we did a loop of about 8 miles and got a great view of the Glen and a meteor crater. One could swim at 3 of the stops, the older woman did them all. It was about 5:30 pm when we got dropped off at the hotel.

Simpson Gap.

Standley Chasm. The flynets are quite effective.

Mosquito Helicopter about to land.

Helicopter Ride around Glen Helen Gorge.

Thorny Devil at intersection of road leading to Glen Helen Gorge.

Ormiston Gorge.

Flies are a problem here. They are bad in Alice Springs, even worse in the country. So we bought a couple of fly nets at A$8.90 each. I slipped and fell in Standley Chasm on soft river bed while trying to take a picture. Okay except for a tiny scrap. Before I knew it, several flies landed on it. I asked for some antiseptic and a bandaid, and that solved the problem.

The guide had some interesting things to say about the local flora and fauna, and aboriginal life. There seems to be very little effort in integrating the aborigines and the whites, and people (certainly the Australians in the group) appear to be okay both with the segregation and with talking about it.

We had morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea during the trip. All were simple, but we were not looking for gourmet meals on the trip. Our dinner was at Bojangle’s in town. Anne had the mixed grill of buffalo, emu, camel, kangaroo, and crocodile cooked different ways. I tried everything except the crocodile, and it was much less gamey than I remembered of the emu medallions I had several years back. She said the crocodile isn’t that good either. I had barramundi fish and chips.

Dinner dishes at Bojangles.

2/20. Got up at 4:45 am this morning to be picked up by Emu Run Tour at 5:55 am for the Ayers Rock/Olgas Tour. We took a similar tour in 1979, except at that time the road from the Stuart Highway to the region was gravel. The bitumen was laid down in 1985 or so. The sites haven’t changed, but now there are many more restrictions on climbing the rocks, and there are even places considered so sacred that photographs are prohibited. What I don’t remember was how long the day was. We didn’t get back to the hotel until about 1 am. The bus drivers (there were two of them, Scott & Tic) said we would be doing 11 hours of driving and about 1100 km. Stops on the trip are: among the Olgas, a couple of walks at the base of Ayers Rock, BBQ dinner at Bus Sunset location (wasn’t there 30+ years ago). The clouds came in about 15 minutes before the sunset, so we (again) missed the perfect orange glow on Ayers Rock. As it is it was quite pretty.

In front of the Olgas.

Olgas Walk.

During our last visit in 1979, I climbed into this cave. Such activities are now prohibited.

Notice the track on Ayers Rock. The chain is used to get up the first couple hundred yards and then the trail levels off. We couldn't climb today because it was too hot. I did it in 1979.

Tour guide Scott explaining aboriginal drawing and symbols.

Ayers Rock about 15 minutes before sunset.

The Flynets again came in handy. Yesterday someone who had been to this area said the flies are worse here than in the West MacDonnell ranges. I think they were equally bad. Except during the BBQ dinner the flies were so insistent on landing on the food that no amount of shooing seemed to do the job.

The ride from Ayers Rock to Alice Springs was mostly done in darkness as we didn’t begin until sunset. With the four high power headlights visibility was generally excellent. The roads were straight but the lanes (one in each direction) were narrow. Someone chatted with the driver and talked about how difficult specialists are (no doubt in part due to Australia’s National Health system) and unavailable to rural areas and about how much help should be given to the Aborigines. The complaint there seems to be much funding is given but little results is seen, and there is no accountability. Sounds very much like the complaint we have back home.

2/21. Ruth called me up at 8:00 am in the morning, not knowing there is a 1.5 hours time difference between Alice Springs and Sydney. I was on the verge of waking up anyway. Walked along Todd Mall where they had a Sunday market selling craft and food. Anne bought some takeout English breakfast from a restaurant. Looks like every non-aboriginal resident was there - and there were a few aboriginals in the mix too – and it wasn’t crowded at all. Shuttle ride from hotel was a bit frustrating as the driver waited for a no show for perhaps 20 minutes, making a 20-minute ride into a ¾ hour one. Waiting at this small terminal (no jetways) and having pie and coffee.

Plane left and landed on time. Qantas is a smallish airline, after all, and things tend to be quite simple. There was an empty row so Anne and I took an aisle and window seat. It may be a bit cooler here, but quite a bit more humid.

Dinner at Golden Dragon restaurant in Maroubra with Ruth’s children and their families. Stayed at 58 Jennings Street.

2/22. Took Ruth’s car and drove to Le Perouse and then along the western edge of Botany Bay to Dolls Point. The area just teems with nice beaches, many with nets around them to ward off the sharks. Supposedly Botany Bay is where commercial shipping is (and you do see these huge cranes) but today there wasn’t much activity.

After lunch at Imperial Garden, it was a quick shower and then to the airport for the long journey home. The SYD-SFO leg will be less than 13 hours, which is great. After sitting in business class for this leg, we found the SFO to EWR leg, in economy plus, to be quite unbearable. Doesn't take much to spoil someone.

Tampa & Port Charlotte, FL . January 22-26, 2010.

We were going to come down the following week but switched it to this week as Ellie was going to be back in NJ January 27. Good thing we found out about her plans in time so we could cancel our flights without penalty. We end up paying an extra $100 ($50 each) though.

1/22/2010. CO218 EWR-TPA. Don took us to the airport. We were upgraded to first class and enjoyed a hot roast beef sandwich and cream of mushroom soup. When we arrived at TPA I had a couple of phone calls with Alfred W and David L to straighten out our travel plans for China in March.

Rental car from Hertz (through Hotwire) is a Toyota Corolla. We drove to Tradewinds Resort in St. Pete Beach, 30 minutes away. Our room (also through Hotwire) alas didn’t face the ocean, it was actually above a storage area. You get what you paid for. We walked on the beach but didn’t get to see much because of the heavy fog that rolled in.

Drove back towards TPA to have dinner with Paul & Genny King, at PF Chang’s. They now take reservations and we got seated promptly at 6 pm. Dinner was not as expensive as I thought ($40 fixed price for 2) and was surprising good tasting if not authentic. We had Dali Chicken, Sweet & Sour Pork, Orange Peel Beef, and Kung Pao Shrimp as the mains; dumplings and calamari as appertizers; hot & sour and egg-drop soups; and various (western) cakes for dessert. The manager had to talk to us (hint hint) and gave up coupons for appetizers to get us to leave. After we were finished with coffee at Starbucks it was past 9 pm. All in all a great dinner.

1/23/2010. Morning stroll in St. Petersburg was disappointing. The Pier is an interesting structure but there weren’t that many interesting activities going on, even for a Saturday. We gave up on the town and drove to Port Charlotte. Had Checkers (double fish, chicken wings) for lunch in Ellentown. Drove by a few houses in Port Charlotte, including that of the Chiu’s, visited the Cultural Center, and then we visited North Fort Myers and Fort Myers, enjoying a sunset in the process. Dinner at Oyster Bar in the Fisherman’s Village, Punta Gorda. They were a bit slow as the place was busier than we had ever seen. Fried shrimp & scallops for Anne and Fried shrimp, scallops, and oysters for me.

We are staying at La Quinta in Port Charlotte for the next three nights. This is a new hotel right at the exit of Route 75, very few guests, it appears.

1/24/2010. Woke up late at around 10 am. Drove to Cape Coral to look at Marina South, went into an open house. Place was quite busy. Met with agent Jim and spent about 4 hours looking at various house in Cape Coral. Lunch at Shrimp Shack, dinner at Olive Garden in Cape Coral. Glad to see more cars in the parking lot at the hotel.

1/25/2010. Drove by Cape Coral to look at a couple of houses again. Decided to rent a boat to check out how long it takes to reach the two houses that interest us. Turns out to be 1 hour and 35 minutes respectively, starting from the lock. Boat wasn’t behaving properly when we took it to the river; it wouldn’t go faster than 10 mph. And it was quite choppy, a front on the verge of coming into the area. Unfortunately I hit the piling by the fuel dock pretty hard, will find out what the bill is later. Somewhat of a bust, I guess. Returned to Port Charlotte for dinner at Sakura Restaurant, back to hotel at 7:15 pm or so.

1/26/2010. Drive to TPA from Port Charlotte was uneventful, highway a bit congested though. Ate lunch at Carrabbas at the airport. Anne has always wanted to try this restaurant. The Pasta Rambo (shrimp, mushroom, spinach, pepper tossed with linguini; lots of lemon butter sauce) was a bit too rich. Flight CO319 TPA-EWR arrived about 20 minutes early; we were upgraded to first class (not a meal flight, though). Took NJ Transit to South Amboy and walked home.

Boston & Fort Lauderdale. December 10 – 15, 2009.

12/10/2009 Thursday. Took Amtrak to Boston. Train came about 10 minutes late but arrived in Boston about 30 minutes early. Joe Jr picked us up and we met up with Jessica at Hana Sushi (Cambridge) for dinner. Will be spending two evenings at his place.

12/11/2009 Friday. Stayed at Joe Jr’s apartment most of the day while Anne went to help with the Science Fair. Lunch at Qdoba, a Mexican fast food restaurant serving up good-sized burritos. Dinner was what we managed to scrounge up in the refrigerator.

12/12/2009 Saturday. Short taxi-ride to Logan to catch the 9 am flight to Newark. Got there early enough to try to get seats on an earlier flight. CO now charges $25 for this change, and we would probably end up with middle seats (instead of aisle exit row), so we passed. I guess this new policy is worth the risk of flying with empty seats. Flight was packed, a bit bumpy but overall not eventful. I haven’t flown into FLL for a while and was surprised at how large the airport is.

Checked out rental car (Hertz via Hotwire.com) and drove by Port Everglades and saw five or six huge cruise ships. There was going to be a boat parade in Fort Lauderdale. We tried half-heartedly to find a parking space by the waterway. We didn’t succeed, our resolve undoubtedly dampened by the pouring rain. Dinner at Antonio’s restaurant suggested by mpdining website.

We are staying the next three evenings at Dania Springhill Suites. Free with Marriott points.

12/13/2009 Sunday. Took the 9:30 am Jungle Queen Cruise which is a narrated tour of the New River. About an hour each way with a 45 minute break at the “jungle” where we saw birds, monkeys, iguanas (just running on the ground), pigeons, ducks, and a peahen. During the boat ride we saw quite a few houses owned (or previously owned) by celebrities and famous people such as Sonny & Cher, Demi Moore & Bruce Willis, David Stern (actually don’t know who he is), Merv Griffin, Barbara Mandrell, several Huizengas, Wendy Thomas, etc. There was also an alligator wrestling demonstration which may be risky for the handler but just so-so to watch. Felt bad about the crew and bought some postcards and the “cruise” photos. Walked along the beach a bit and then had lunch at the café in Bahia Mar. So-so.

After a short (20 minute) nap at the hotel, we drove to the Riverwalk and strolled along the riverfront for a bit. Between museums, concert halls, and restaurants, there seems to be a lot to do in the area. We then headed to Pompano Beach and found a parking space in a boat launch area on NE 14th St. Walked 15 minutes or so to find a restaurant to no avail. Saw about 15 or so boats and decided it wasn’t worth it to wait for more. Dinner at a Thai/Sushi restaurant. Okay but not excellent food.

12/14/2009 Monday. Drove along the coast from Fort Lauderdale to Stuart, mostly along A1A. There are some very impressive mansions along the way, much more impressive than what we see along the Navesink River. Lighthouse Point has a nice looking lighthouse but we decided not to visit. Some towns have houses that are perfectly manicured with the trees and hedges trimmed neatly. Oftentimes you see slum areas just a few blocks away from these huge mansions. The drive of about 80 miles took most of the day.

Tried to eat dinner at a restaurant listed at Mileage Plus Dining. It was in a terrible neighborhood which we later found had houses on sales for $30,000 (many of which are foreclosed). Couldn’t get out of there fast enough. We went to Jaxson’s Ice Cream Parlor instead. We had Carnegie-Deli-like sandwiches which were quite good.

12/15/2009 Tuesday. Flight home CO800 was again packed.

San Francisco Area, December 4 – 9, 2009.

Friday 12/4/2009. UA85 EWR to SFO was packed. E+ seat made it bearable. Waited for 20 or so minutes for hotel shuttle pickup. Millbrae Quality Inn was okay.

Saturday 12/5/2009. Left hotel for airport at 8:30 am after breakfast. Train to car rental, then picked up Alamo rent a car (booked via Hotwire), got a bit lost on the drive back to the hotel to pick up Anne. Whole process took about an hour. By the time we picked up Ellie at her apartment it was around 10:30. We made a quick stop at the UCSF Parnassas Campus where Ellie is a Fellow for a year; great views from many school buildings. Drove along the western part of San Francisco to connect with Route 1. Along the way passed by several vista points (such as Half Moon Bay and Pigeon Point Lighthouse) and took some pictures. Had lunch at Acalpulco in Santa Cruz. Most of the natural bridges at the eponymous State Park have fallen: we saw only one. Dinner at Crabby Jim’s in Monterey Fisherman’s Wharf. There was Monterey Fish Company which had too long a wait, and Ellie wanted to try another place but we were too eager to eat. Stayed at Monterey Embassy Suites.

Pigeon Point Lighthouse. The lighthouse itself is in a state of disrepair, the hostel next to it is still in use.

Sunday 12/6/2009. Breakfast at hotel. Drove down to Big Sur area, hit a couple of scenic spots, including Rocky Creek Bridge and Bixby Bridge, the latter of which is often used as backdrop for car commercials. Lunch was at Rocky Point Restaurant, great view, okay food. The town of Pacific Grove, just north of Carmel-by-the-Sea of Clint Eastwood fame, started a a Methodist retreat. We visited the Point Pinos Lighthouse (which is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the West Coast) and the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary. The docent told us there were about 1000 perch on the several eucalyptus trees; in some years there would be several thousand. It was too cold for them to fly. Actually it was quite cold during the trip. We had to scrap ice off the windshield of our rental car a couple of mornings as it dropped below freezing.

Bixby Bridge on Highway 1.

Point Pinos Lighthouse in Pacific Grove.

If you look carefully, you can tell the brown objects are actually butterflies. The colors would be much better if the sun had been at the correct angle.

We spent a couple of hours at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is relatively small compared to the nationally well-known ones (Baltimore, Coney Island, Boston, etc.) It was a good museum with interesting displays of local sea life and an interesting display of seahorses. Anne took some interesting shots of the jellyfishes. The short video below shows how the moving hairs on the jellyfish give out an interesting blinking-light effect.



Dinner was at Dumpling King in the Sunset area. Ellie wanted to try it out. Very authentic Chinese fare. Not expensive. And it was easy to find a place to park. The place was surprisingly quiet, though. After dropping Ellie off, we went to Berkeley La Quinta for the night.

Monday 12/7/2009. We drove to Sacramento to visit our “old” college friend Ruby who is in Sacramento a lot to help babysit her grand-daughter. Picked up a toy at Sears in Fairfield along the way. Drove to the Tower Café to have lunch. Eclectic cuisines from all over the world (European, Asian, South American, etc.) Walked along the old town for a few minutes.

Hawthorn Suite in Napa. Not as nice as I had hoped. We decided to eat light and went to Panda Express.

Tuesday 12/8/2009. Toured around Napa. Since neither Anne nor I drink, we looked for non-winery activities. We were disappointed that the boat ride business seems to have folded, so we walked along the Napa River waterfront for a bit instead. Then we went to this wildlife park. The name of the park simply meant there might be wild animals around (we didn’t see any). We did do a moderately strenuous hike to about 2 miles, climbing 600 plus feet in the process. I sprained my calf muscle and was in pain for a while. Luckily there was no long term damage. We also wanted to visit The Copia. It is out of business. I guess the recession has hit the winery business also.

We had some extra time before we needed to pick up Ellie so we sat around at the Golden Gate Park. This Park is supposed to be larger than New York’s Central Park. We remember visiting it decades ago: it has improved quite a bit.

Dinner at SPQR which is one of the “in” restaurants in San Francisco. My neighbor’s son is the executive chef there. I don’t think he was in while we were there, but we still got a free appetizer and a free dessert by mentioning this fact. The dishes are good, not too expensive, although the portions are small. The rabbit was a bit dry. I think that was the first time I ate Thumper. They also serve partridge, quail, and sweetbread (we didn’t order).

Stayed at Crown Plaza SFO which we have been at several times (in their previous incarnations such as Westin). Ellie stayed with us because she had a very early flight (6:15 am).

Wednesday 12/9/2009. Travel day. Our flight UA90 took off at about 10:15 am (scheduled for 8:30 am), but favorable tailwinds of up to 125 mph mean we would be late by about 20 minutes. Flight is moderately full and both Anne and I have an empty seat next to each of us. (I am typing this blog enroute.) Ellie’s flight on Frontier was also delayed but she should make her connection.

We also had to circle around for about 30 minutes before we could land at Newark, but only about 30 minutes later than schedule. Took the EWR - South Amboy train and then walked home.

Hong Kong & Jinhua, China, October 22 - November 6, 2009.

10/22/2009 Thursday. Henry took us to EWR via Wheels Fellowship program. Flight was delayed for over 2 hours, unsatisfactory reasons given by the pilots throughout the delay. Anne and I were in aisle seats in separate rows, both with passengers in middle seat. Didn’t sleep much during the flight. Managed to see four movies: Angels & Demons, Ice Age (a sequel), Terminator Salvation, and another one which evidently is quite forgettable; plus several episodes each of The Simpsons and Frazier. Plane touched down after 9 pm Hong Kong time. By the time we got to the hotel (Royal Park in Shatin) and grabbed a meal it was past 11 pm already.

10/24/2009 Saturday. Leisurely morning, then we took bus to Causeway Bay and met up with Tim at his house. He drove us around the New Territories to look at some properties of interest to him. In about three hours we hit Kam Tin, Ho Sheung Heung (by Kwu Tung near Sheung Shui), St Andrews (a luxury development), and Sam Mun Tsai in Ting Kok beyond Tai Po. We then met up with Ling and Wally and ate at SML in the Food Forum at Times Square, where Alyson joined us; Alyson is a few months shy of 16 and has gotten to be as tall as Anne.

10/25/2009 Sunday. Morning service at City One Baptist Church. Then got on Tim’s boat for a ride to Lamma Island. We ate at Rainbow and then walked the 1:15 hour walk to Yung Shue Wan. Dinner at Hakka Hut in the Food Forum in Times Square.

10/26/2009 Monday. Jogged in the morning, got a bit light-headed afterwards. Stopped by travel agents on 7th floor of Link Plaza. Eventually we decided not to do anything as plane tickets proved difficult to change. Dinner at Ling’s and Wally’s, Ling cooked up baked stuffed pumpkins, pasta, mozzarella and tomatoes, baked spring chickens, and sautéed mixed greens.

10/27/2009 Tuesday. Jogged in the morning after breakfast and felt fine afterwards, perhaps it was indeed low blood sugar. Took MTR to Tsuen Wan West and then ferry to Ma Wan. A short walk took us to Noah’s Ark. I have been to the location a couple of times before, today was the first time I got in as it wasn’t finished yet on prior occasions. Well, it took Noah 100 years to build the ark, so some delays should be expected. Wasn’t a particular good exhibit, but still better than what I expected. Spent a couple of hours there, though. Dinner at a Peking/Shanghai (and other cuisines as well) Restaurant at the Link Plaza in Shatin.

Noah's Ark, supposed built to Biblical specifications.

Nice view from Ma Wan island.

10/28/2009 Wednesday. Jogged in the morning. Took bus #89X to Choi Hung then connected to #91 to Tai Au Mun. Ling and Wally joined us. Visited with an old friend Mr. Lau whom Ling hadn’t seen for 40+ years (and I don’t recall ever seeing.) Talked about the old times. Mr. Lau’s mother died last year at age 99. He and his wife are now retired. Afterwards, took minibus to Tseung Kwan O and had a quick lunch at Maxim’s. Anne & I then went to Ladies’ Street in Mongkok to look for bags for a friend of ours.

10/29/2009 Thursday. Lunch with Larry & Elaine at Hong Kong Club. They had just returned from Sicily. Afterwards we went to Yue Hwa Emporium to get silk jackets for Joe Jr and Jessica. Dinner in a café in TST.

10/30/2009 Friday. Flight CZ3092 from Hong Kong to Yi Wu turned out to be better than expected. During the boarding process there was this Chinese tourist who made this remark to the rest of his group: “This is Hong Kong, we should line up to board the plane.” How funny, and how true. Yiwu is a one-runway airport and the plane had to turn around and taxi on the same runway. Immigration was straightforward enough. The taxi ride from Yi Wu to the hotel in Jinhua was “exciting,” to say the least. I had to tell the driver where to get off the highway using the GPS feature on my Blackberry. The Bestwestern Hotel is known for its unique (somewhat gaudy in my opinion) architecture. It is better than any Bestwestern I have ever stayed in, though.

Paul came by and we went to this “Sunshine Oasis” restaurant in Jiangnan. Four dishes, RMB112. Interesting surroundings with many trees and ponds with koi swimming around.

10/31/2009 Saturday. Spent the morning touring Zhejiang Normal University. Lunch at a student cafeteria which cost RMB18 or so for the three of us. Visited Paul’s apartment. Visited a couple of scenic points in the city: “Eight Songs Pagoda” was closed for renovation, and a Satrap’s residence during the Tai Ping Rebellion has a couple of 1000-year old cypresses in them, a museum of calligraphy that is moved from Anhui province. Dinner at a local “western” restaurant (Flying Rock). Food was okay.

Anne has had to suffer through these “eastern style” restrooms. Jinhua, while pleasant enough a city, is still quite limited in how much western influence it has absorbed.

With Paul King at Zhejiang Normal University.

In front of the Performance Arts Building, ZNU.

Confucius statue in front of the University Library. During the cultural revolution these statues would be either defaced or destroyed.

ZNU Foreign Teacher housing. Functional. They were building new dormitories which are supposed to be quite an improvement.

City Gate, Jinhua Old Town.

Thousand Year Old (actually 1100) Cypress Tree at the Satrap Residence.

Entrance to the Satrap Residence.

This Tea House/Restaurant/Museum has a display of many ways how "Longevity" is written.

We happened upon this large building in the center of town with many friezes (stone carvings) of a Christian nature. This is of Samson taking down the temple.

11/1/2009 Sunday. Woke up to a cooler day. Paul met us at 7:30 am and we took a short taxi ride to the Jinhua Church. The building is over 100 years old and used to belong to the Baptist Church. A two hour plus meeting (singing, sermon, communion) with Pastor Xing preaching on Romans 12:1. Afterwards she and Pastor Bao took us to the new church site of about 7000 sq m (10 chinese acres) and a planned 100,000 sq ft or so of building. We went back to the church (the Pastors, husband and wife, live upstairs; their son was home over the weekend from Hangzhou) where Pastor Xing cooked up several dishes for us. Anne and I walked around the People’s Square a bit before returning to hotel to meet up with Paul to go to dinner at the “Country Restaurant” by the University. Quite busy, and not expensive at all. Said goodbye to Paul before we headed back to the hotel.

Jinhua Church - Outside.

Jinhua Church - Inside.

The Pastors told us Jinhua is rated as one of the 10 most livable cities in China (out of 289 or so), and they are quite excited about that despite not knowing the criteria used in the judging. I can see the attractiveness of the city, especially in comparison to other cities. However, a westerner may have trouble with how uncommon English is used by ordinary folk, chaotic traffic, and these Eastern-style toilets. My eyes feel the pollution but it probably is not as bad as other major cities in China, even Hong Kong.

11/2/2009 Monday. Woke up early to check out of the hotel and to catch a taxi to Yi Wu airport. This time the riding experience was much better. As expected, Yi Wu was a bit chaotic, but still manageable since ours was the only flight going out. We had to wait a bit inside the plane for traffic control. The plane was crowded so Anne and I appreciated the empty seat between us. Tarried at the HKG airport and had lunch there. I had dinner with Ling & Wally while Anne went to see her sister and her two nephews. It is a cool and windy day. Also, the Shatin River is at high tide, quite different from the trickle I usually see during my jogs.

11/3/2009 Tuesday. Went to Tuen Mun to see Mrs. Law, whom I got to know reasonably well during my year in LA. Had dinner with David at a Tuen Mun Restaurant.

11/4/2009 Wednesday. Spent some time touring the New Territories, including Fo Tan and Sam Mun Tsai.

Fishnets being dried in Sam Mun Tsai.

It is very quiet in the Hong Kong countryside, Sam Mun Tsai is no exception.

11/5/2009. Thursday. Met up with Alfred W and Pastor & Mrs. Wong and Angela from Media Evangelism to see Noah’s Ark, this time for an insider’s look. Had lunch there and stayed until about 3 pm to catch the 3:30 pm ferry to Central, then the Star Ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui to meet up with David L to chat about various project possibilities. Anne joined us for dinner at the “Ying Yue” Restaurant at the Hong Kong Arts Center. Got back to the hotel at about 10 pm. A relatively “productive” day.

11/6/2009. Friday. Flight CO98 uneventful – except it was packed and I didn’t get much sleep at all. Saw “Spiderman 3” and “I Hate Valentine”. Vardalos couldn’t quite replicate the success of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” with this one. Taxi got us home by 3 pm.

We had been gone for over two weeks and were glad to be home.